This month of war is a good time to talk about predators. Our world is full of them. Every time we turn around, it seems there is someone out there who is trying to takes something dear to us away from us, with callous disregard for our rights. It seems that there are millions of persons whose only interests are selfish. If there is something that they want, they make plans to get that item, property or money, regardless of whether it belongs to them or not. These persons also do not care how much they hurt you in order to get what they want. Our local, national and world news is loaded with stories of violence, greed, self-aggrandizement and pure egotism, describing acts which have been committed in selfish pursuit. Those who can take, and get away with it, voraciously grab whatever they can that belongs to anyone else. We not only have uncivilized bandits, including bank robbers, petty thieves, murderers, home invaders and stick-up men, but also have an even greater population of civilized bandits, those who, within the laws, but without moral conscience, steal millions from other hard working citizens in order to inflate their own pocket books and egos. We all vie with one another. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Predators don’t accept losing. They intend to always win, whatever it takes.
In one sense, this is a normal part of life. Every organism is out to do whatever it takes to survive, and create a comfortable nest. We are all programmed to look out for ourselves, and when we do not, often pay very dearly. It is rather difficult to take care of anyone else if you do not take care of yourself first, at least in a nominal way. That’s why the airlines instruct passengers, in case of an emergency, to place the oxygen mask over their own faces first, and then over the face of their child. Altruistic adults who give of themselves for other’s needs, at the cost of their own health and sustenance, find themselves sucked dry, both physically and emotionally, and unable to take care of anything or anyone else. Having a total lack of predation, the other end of the predator spectrum, is also not a healthy attitude, for these reasons. If we do not take care of ourselves enough to function, we are not able to meet the needs of any other form of life.
It is not that this phenomenon of constant predators, every which way we turn, is not understandable. It is. As in any amalgam of personalities, there will be some who don’t care what it does to other persons, for them to get what they want; there will be the vast majority, who will have a predator/altruism mix; and a few at the other end of the spectrum, who only strive to give whatever they can, without regard for their own personal welfare. Those who are always predators are called psychopaths. They have only self-interest. Other lives have no value to them. There is a long list of great rulers who were psychopaths. Moammar Gadhafi, recently deposed as the dictator of Libya, was nowhere close to being the greatest psychopath of all time. That honor probably belongs to Genghis Khan, or Alexander the great. In our time, such men as Pol Pot, Stalin, and Saddam Hussein accounted for several million murders each, in order to accomplish their political power. None of these, however, comes close to Chiang Kai-shek, who caused the death of over 10 million civilians.
We do have a problem knowing how to deal with predators. We tend to let them get away with their nefarious schemes, as long as those evil actions do not touch knowingly and directly on our personal lives. Good recent examples are the Wall Street bankers who have plunged our economy into deep depression, for which all of us are paying dearly, but they are not. Another prime example is the lawyers who file malicious lawsuits, citing any outlandish claim that they feel will be allowed by the courts, so that they can settle out of court, and put multiple thousands of dollars in their pockets. Those hundreds of thousands of dollars are sucked out of our floundering economy, at everyone else’s expense, but at their gain. Financial and tort reform are desperately needed, but are not happening, because the bankers, who finance the politician, and the lawyers, who make the laws on their own behalf, are only willing to consider what will give them gain, and not what will be best for their society.
The next question then is this: what is the right answer? How do we deal with predators, and establish a stable, vibrant, loving and learning community. Predators love capitalism, but are not very fond of democracy. They only understand force. Unless they are stripped of their riches, or imprisoned, they will continue to victimize their society. Yet if we become such a tightly regulated society that there is no opportunity for those to have a vision to take risks and ventures, to build something new, we become a stagnant and suppressed society.
The answer, in my opinion, is neither capitalism, which fosters predators, nor is it communism, which fosters suppression to a common denominator. It is some form of democratic socialism, which fosters individual effort, but does not reward the rich to get even richer; which takes care of the poor, but does not encourage lassitude; and which gives every citizen the right to pursue their dreams. The rights to obtain life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, cannot otherwise, in my opinion, be established. I personally pray that all nations may become socialist democracies. I pray that the people of all nations may learn to love their neighbors; and that they learn how to practice tough love.