Mankind United, by Arthur Bell, [1936], at sacred-texts.com
What do you think would happen if every one on this earth today would put aside the struggle for individual financial superiority over others for just ten short years? What do you think would happen if all would unite their efforts for the purpose of supplying each family on this earth with a beautiful home, with enough to eat and to wear—with beautiful surroundings and lovely parks in which to spend generous leisure hours, and would build the facilities with which to enable "all people" to travel throughout the world to its many points of interest and beauty; . . . . would establish educational institutions in order that all might be enlightened regarding those things worthy of man's investigation and understanding; and then would strive to live as one great family—"One for All and All for One"—with no "superiority" or "inferiority" complexes ever allowed to develop; . . . . "all people" helping to provide opportunities for the cultivation of strong constructive traits of character which would enable them to look forward with joy,—and "limitless" expectations of happiness,—to their lives, instead of cultivating the weaker qualities of character and the enslaving false appetites which inevitably result in a loathing of one's self,
and a final hatred of life—(one's own life and experiences, as well as others)? What do you think would happen if we would develop an educational system which would help to make us ambitious for the future of "mankind" and capable of working for "humanity's benefit" and not just our own; . . . and finally, instead of teaching children that the primal object of life, (and the main purpose for which they live), is to "make more money," or to "gain fame and public acclaim" because of their "superiority" over others—teach them rather that their only ambition should be to each day be a little "kinder," a little "finer" in their thoughts and speech and actions—a little "cleaner"—a little "stronger"—a little "more grateful" to their Creator for their lives and for the universe He has given them as their home;—and each day a little "more worthy" of the countless blessings existing here on our earth in limitless abundance and variety for man's use; . . . AGAIN WE ASK, IF THESE WERE MANKIND'S GOALS, WOULD NOT THE WORLD—SOON THEREAFTER—BE TRANSFORMED INTO THE GARDEN OF EDEN,—"THE HEAVEN" WE ALL ENJOY THINKING OF AS OUR ETERNAL HOME?
LET US UNITE OUR EFFORTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING "EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL," AND THEN WHEN THE TIME COMES TO PASS ALONG TO ANOTHER EXPERIENCE, WE SHALL NOT HAVE TO BE ASHAMED OF THE USE TO WHICH WE HAVE PUT LIFE'S "PRICELESS GIFT" OF INTELLIGENCE,—NOR ASHAMED OF THE WAY WE HAVE LIVED OUR LIVES.
Mankind seem to be laboring under the false impression that there are not enough of the necessary or desirable things of life for everyone on this globe, and that therefore each man must struggle with someone else for what he needs or wants, and that only those who are stronger than their fellows can possibly survive this struggle. Can you not see how either this "conscious" or "subconscious" attitude of mind has, throughout the centuries, caused fear, greed, selfishness, envy, jealousy, resentment, hate, robbery and murder to occur among individuals—resulting in feuds between families and groups, and finally,—(as this attitude expands and takes hold of communities and nations),—the all-consuming flames of jealousy, envy, hate and fear of the people of one nation towards those of another, bring to pass the wars of each generation? And do you not see that these qualities of thought are perpetuated largely by those who acquire "financial gain" from doing so?
Do you not see how the citizens of the various nations are taught to believe that they must go out in armies and kill one another, in order that they may weaken the ones from whom they may desire to steal some possession which they have been "mesmerized" into thinking they can get in no other way,—or that they must "kill" in order to protect their own possessions which they have been taught to think someone might attempt to take from them? It is not difficult to recognize the fact that jealousy, envy, fear, or hate, constitute the "primal causes" of crime, murder and war. NOR IS IT DIFFICULT TO RECOGNIZE THE FACT THAT MANY OF THE WORLD'S MOST WEALTHY AND INFLUENTIAL FAMILIES DERIVE
[paragraph continues] THEIR "ENTIRE PROFITS" FROM STIMULATING AND PERPETUATING THESE QUALITIES OF HUMAN THOUGHT, IN ORDER THAT WARS MAY BE FOUGHT, AND THAT THE ARMAMENTS AND MERCHANDISE OF WAR IN WHICH THEY DEAL, MAY BE BOUGHT FROM THEM.
MENTIONING ONLY ONE OF THE BY-PRODUCTS OF THESE FALSE TEACHINGS, WE REMIND YOU OF A FACT WHICH IS HARDLY LESS IMPORTANT THAN THE HUMANLY-PLANNED AND DIRECTED CAUSES OF WAR; NAMELY, THAT THE WORLD'S LEADING PSYCHIATRISTS AND PHYSICIANS—AS WELL AS ITS MOST PROMINENT METAPHYSICIANS,—ARE UNANIMOUS IN THEIR AGREEMENT THAT THESE SAME QUALITIES OF FEAR, ENVY, JEALOUSY AND HATE, "CAUSE THE GREATER PART OF MAN'S PHYSICAL AILMENTS," AND "THE DEPLETION OF HIS ENERGIES " AS WELL AS THE DEGENERATION OF HIS CHARACTER.
Looking still further into this struggle to accumulate possessions, we find it causing two distinct qualities of character in men, and both of them abominable and totally unworthy of any intelligent creature; namely, "inferiority" or "superiority" complexes of thought. The one who, through lack of educational or cultural opportunities, has developed a sense of self-depreciation—or who starts losing his individual battle in mankind's needless struggle for existence—is soon forced into a belief of being inferior. With his spirit broken, his confidence in himself completely
destroyed, (and without even attempting to estimate his "incalculable" loss of happiness or his loneliness and grief), such a one becomes just so much "dead timber"—a lifeless "dead weight" and burden on the shoulders of mankind;—hopeless and ceasing to try, he soon becomes useless to himself and everyone else.
However, the fact of the matter is, that in nine hundred and ninety-nine instances of ordinarily intelligent men or women out of every one thousand whose spirits have been broken, their failures merely evidence a lack of the necessary talent or ability to keep up their end of the "wolfish struggle" for food. But this does not necessarily mean that they might not have found happiness and become useful to themselves and to the world in some entirely different direction,—for there is ample reason to believe that every individual on this globe possesses some quality of intelligence of value to the human race, and there is not the slightest question but that the world's so-called failures would, in the majority of cases, never have been forced to acknowledge their inferiority had they been helped and educated to find their place in the scheme of things in an activity they could enjoy expressing.
WHO ARE WE TO JUDGE OTHERS? IS IT NOT POSSIBLE THAT EVERY ONE OF THE COUNTLESS BILLIONS OF MEN AND WOMEN THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES—(WHO HAVE MADE A FAILURE OF LIFE)—WOULD HAVE ADDED IMMEASURABLY TO THE SUM TOTAL—NOT ONLY OF THEIR OWN HAPPINESS—BUT TO THAT OF THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE, HAD THEY BEEN
[paragraph continues] GIVEN THE ADVANTAGES WHICH WOULD HAVE DEVELOPED THEIR PARTICULAR TALENTS OR ABILITIES?
MULTIPLY BY ONE MILLION, THE BEAUTIFUL POEMS, THE GLORIOUS PAINTINGS AND INSPIRING MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS OF THE PAST ONE HUNDRED (100) YEARS; . . . ADD TO THIS TOTAL "A MILLION TIMES" THE NUMBER OF INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN THE FIELDS OF CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS, AND THE ENGINEERING SCIENCES OF THE DAY,—AND THEN YOU MAY START TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE "EACH WOLF FOR HIMSELF" PRIVATE PROFIT SYSTEM HAS COST MANKIND. AND YET THIS TOTAL WOULD BE BUT THE SMALLEST FRACTIONAL PART OF THE ACTUAL VOLUME OF BENEFITS WHICH MANKIND MIGHT NOW BE ENJOYING, HAD EVERY MAN AND WOMAN ON OUR GLOBE BEEN ENCOURAGED AND HELPED TO FULLY DEVELOP THEIR LATENT POWERS AND NATURAL TALENTS! THIS BRIEF ILLUSTRATION MAY HELP ONE TO GAIN SOME "SLIGHT" COMPREHENSION OF THE LOSS TO MANKIND, AND THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR HAPPINESS OUT OF WHICH WE HAVE BEEN CHEATED BY THOSE WHO HAVE PERMITTED THE PERPETUATION OF A SYSTEM BUILT UPON THE THEORY OF "THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST;"—A THEORY WORTHY ONLY OF "SWINE" WITH THEIR SNOUTS IN TROUGHS
OF SWILL, OR "PACKS OF WOLVES" TEARING AT THE THROATS OF LESS FEROCIOUS ANIMALS.
Is it not possible that "all of us" are created to add something of value—(and that we each really have something to add)—to the happiness and welfare of the entire human race as well as to our own families or ourselves? Is it not possible that nothing more is needed than the removal from around the roots of each one's life, of the weeds of fear, envy, jealousy and hate, in order that there may be revealed the useful natural qualities and talents possessed in abundant measure by even the most lowly of human beings?
A garden is surely lovelier when it is aglow with a variety of shades of color and beauty, than when it is overgrown with weeds, and with but an occasional blossom able to survive. So, also will this world become a place of greater beauty and loveliness, when each one of its occupants receives the advantages which will cultivate latent abilities and truly constructive qualities of character.
When the weeds of fear, envy, jealousy and hate are permanently uprooted and forever destroyed, and one's mental and bodily unfoldment takes place in an atmosphere I of brotherly love and good will, instead of rivalry and distrust, what a vision of joyous beauty our world will soon become.
Why shouldn't mankind build an economic system which would help them to develop into that which they were ordained by their Creator to become? Surely men are not just animals, ceaselessly struggling and fighting to prove their superiority over one another!
SINCE GREED—FEAR—ENVY—JEALOUSY—AND HATE LEAD TO DEPRAVITY, DISEASED MINDS, SICK BODIES—CRIME—MURDER AND WAR, WHY DON'T WE UPROOT THAT WHICH CONSTITUTES THEIR ORIGIN; NAMELY, "POVERTY AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITY?" WHY DON'T WE AT ONCE AND FOR ALL TIME, DESTROY THESE PRIMAL CAUSES OF MAN'S SUFFERING AND WOES? WHAT IS THERE TO HINDER US FROM DOING SO? SURELY THE WORLD HAS ENOUGH MACHINERY, EXECUTIVES, TRAINED WORKERS, AND RESOURCES—AS WELL AS DESIRE—FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF SUCH A RESULT!
Throughout the centuries there has never been a time when the practical application—on a world-wide scale—of the principle of human relationship to which we refer as "The Golden Rule," would not have amply met the needs of every one on our globe, if coupled with it we had shackled and controlled the insane selfishness and mad ambitions of a small percentage of mankind.
Now let us see what happens to the few who win in the struggle of "the survival of the fittest," or who are born with a thousand times as much money and as many opportunities, or a thousand times more of the abundance of this world's goods than the average man possesses. In most instances, we find that there is planted in their minds an almost unavoidable feeling of their "superiority" over their fellow beings, and soon they develop an "ever-growing" desire to prove this superiority—not over their
own "inferior qualities" of character or "animalic natures," but over their brother man. If this feeling of superiority continues for long, there quickly develops an insane desire for personal power,—not that they might thereby glorify their Creator or make the lives of their fellows happier,—but to use for satisfying a ceaseless desire to glorify themselves, or to prove how much more they know or how much more powerful and important they are than others. Gradually such an insistence that mankind recognize their power and superiority takes possession of their mentalities, that even the murder of millions upon millions of their fellow beings seems justified to their depraved intellects. MORAL IDIOCY SOON PLACES "A BLIND OBSESSION" FOR POWER IN FULL CONTROL OF THEIR ACTIONS. They will then unhesitatingly plot and execute a war among the inhabitants of the entire earth, if it becomes necessary to do so, in order to gain more wealth or to further convince themselves of their power and influence. To maintain their prestige, they will even sacrifice their own sons to the "god of War," when the lust for power and public recognition has obsessed and warped their mentalities sufficiently.
THE HUMAN RACE WILL NEVER BE FREED FROM WARS AND WILL NEVER FIND PEACE UNTIL IT RECOGNIZES THE FACT THAT IT IS AS VITAL TO "PREVENT" TOO MUCH POWER FROM REACHING THE HANDS OF THOSE WHO HAVE NOT "FULLY PROVEN THEIR LOVE FOR HUMANITY"—AND THEIR "ABSOLUTE SELFLESSNESS OF CHARACTER"—AS IT IS TO PREVENT
[paragraph continues] THE DANGERS OF POVERTY, JEALOUSY, OR FEAR FROM GENERATING "ENVY" AND "HATE" IN THE HEARTS OF MEN. THE LATTER IS A KILLER IN A SMALL WAY, BUT "INSANE GREED" AND THE CRAVING FOR POWER OR WEALTH CONDUCTS ITS KILLINGS BY THE MILLIONS, AND HAS CONSTITUTED THROUGHOUT TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS, A FORCE WHICH HAS INVARIABLY DESTROYED EACH AND EVERY CIVILIZATION THAT THE INDUSTRIOUS AND RIGHT-THINKING MEN AND WOMEN OF THE HUMAN RACE HAVE EVER CONSTRUCTED.
Mortal man is not God, nor should he be glorified or worshiped as such. Let his joy and his reward come from bringing greater happiness and security into the lives of his brothers—not from the accumulation of power, excessive wealth, or flattery. Instead, let him be so filled with the desire to make this world ever more joyous and beautiful, that he has no room left within his mentality for a desire to seek praise or to be thanked. Let him forever be turning the thoughts of mankind to gratitude and thanksgiving to the Creator of this vast limitlessly beautiful universe, and to an acquaintanceship with the "All-wise" and "All-loving" Father and Mother of us all. Let no man desire to draw the attention of others to himself more than to another, for we all have the same "Divine Parent" and this universe—"Our Home"—belongs as much to one as to another. Is it not time then, that the inhabitants of our world unite into one family, with no favorites?
LET THE STRONG GLADLY SHARE THE FRUITAGE OF THEIR GREATER TALENTS OR ABILITIES WITH THOSE LESS FORTUNATE, AND IT WILL NOT BE LONG BEFORE A CONDITION OF ABUNDANCE, BROTHERLY LOVE, AND AN "EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY" FOR SELF-IMPROVEMENT AND MUTUAL RESPECT, APPRECIATION AND CONFIDENCE, WILL UNIVERSALLY EXIST AMONG MEN.
LET NONE BE TOO WEAK NOR NONE TOO STRONG IN HIS OR HER OWN EYES, AND FOR THE PRESENT,—UNTIL WE CAN BE TRULY PROUD OF THE "JUSTICE" AND "EQUALITY" OF THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM UNDER WHICH WE LIVE,—LET ALL HONOR OR PRAISE GO TO THE "ALL-WISE" CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE FROM WHOM ALL LIFE HAS COME;—HE WHO IS FATHER AND MOTHER OF US ALL,—AND FROM WHENCE COMES ALL OF MAN'S STRENGTH, ALL OF MAN'S CONSTRUCTIVE IDEAS, AND ALL OF HIS WORTHY ACCOMPLISHMENTS.