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Self-Determination or Pre-Destination?
by Henry E. Benjamin
Are we really in control of our lives or are we merely puppets whose strings are being pulled by society and traditions? We all want to believe that all we do is solely by our own choosing (so do those trying to control us!). Dote upon this for a moment.
During the child's first few years of life, he is sorely manipulated by his parents and society into believing in such inconsequential things as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. When his parents deem him old enough, they finally admit to their falsehood. This is the child's first warning that all is not black and white; later in life, he will probably wonder how he was so easily led astray.
When a child is five or six years of age, he is sent off to school to begin his education in earnest (the foundation of learning having been laid down by the parents over those first five or six years). He learns to be sociable and responsible (hopefully). He has hardly a care in the world. He has no say in his education since his school and courses are chosen for him. After eight years he reaches one major crossroad in his young life: choosing a high school.
Once he has made one of his few life decisions, and the school has accepted him, he now has a little more say in his education. Although there exists a core curriculum, he can now choose several courses of his liking. Now he is expected to excel academically and socially, to become active in extracurricular affairs (all of these being tactics to try to force him down an already planned path and keep him occupied from thinking up less typical things to pursue). Four years later, he is expected to endure this all over again.
After no less than four years of all-nighters and sometimes narrowly snatching a passing grade from the jaws of failure and the professor, he merits his third diploma, and heads out into the real world to start his career. When he reaches 65, society tries to force him into retirement (life is supposed to end at 65?!?!?). If he has saved well and wisely, he has a nice nestegg to fall back upon in addition to any pension he may have earned and that much too small monthly Social Security check he'll start receiving (Since Social Security comes out of the paychecks of the work force, what will become of the last of the work force when they are forced into retirement {or forced to never retire?!?!?!}). Perhaps he'll move to Florida and start looking like a raisin sooner than he should.
He'll have some regrets; of that I've no doubt (anyone who claims to have no regrets must surely be lying or is totally disillusioned). Boredom and he will not be best of friends. Just reviewing his life daily is enough to take up most of anyone's time. Sometimes, one is so preoccupied with what he would have changed, if he could, that, in his mind, he eventually remembers things as they could (should?) have been rather than as they were (mental anguish will do that to a person).
Dying is a touchy subject for all concerned (and that includes every sentient being). Supposedly, one should be glad to be alive and dread death. Why is that though? Perhaps because we live in a society which has always had an aversion to the unknown (death is the greatest of the unknowns). People cannot be educated in order to dispel their bias of death since no one has ever returned from the dead (though a few have claimed to). Therefore, there is no first hand information with which to allay their fears. When someone asks 'What makes life better than death?' and you can't give an immediate answer, take heart in realizing that society does not have as much of a mental influence on you as it thinks.
How can humans live in a society which wants every person to be interchangeable, indecernible (dull!)? Every person is unique (interesting!). Without uniqueness, such things as dating wouldn't even exist. Why go out with different people, when the first one would be indifferentiable from any and all others? Why choose your friends when they'd all be alike? Life would be most uneventful. Could human beings really be indiscernible? I doubt it.
To be totally indiscernible, all facets of one's life would have to be the same as those of anyone else's: same education, same amount of wealth, same opportunities, all jobs of equal importance. This could never be accomplished since there will always be those who would strive to be superior to others rather than equal; individuals could never have the same jobs since a myriad of tasks need to be accomplished just to keep the planet going and no one could be involved in all task, just some (variety!). Ambition would be outlawed. With a society whose goal is indiscernibility and a species which has uniqueness inborn, it's no wonder racial/ethnic unrest exists (two conflicting disciplines).
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