Thoughts

Ghandi believed that there existed 7 deadly sins.

Wealth without work,
Pleasure without conscience,
Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality,
Science without humanity,
Worship without sacrifice, and
Politics without principle.

First, let's look at the first words in each one of these propositions:

Wealth.
Pleasure.
Knowledge.
Commerce.
Science.
Worship.
Politics.

The above words represent things that various individuals crave--some of which depend on an individual's preferences, others of which are universal. Individuals might obtain gratification from obtaining large amounts of any one of these things. An individual may dedicate his entire life to pursuing wealth, pleasure, knowledge, commerce, science, worship, or politics, simply for the personal gratification that these activities allow him or her to enjoy, often supported by one's personal understanding of the world. Each one of these pursuits are, therefore, SELFISH.

It is just as selfish to pursue science for the sake of science, simply for the personal gratification of obtaining knowledge, even if that knowledge has the potential to physically or emotionally harm large amounts of people (such as a deadly weapons technology or genetic information that might put into question the equality, in some respect, of a particular national group), than it is to pursue as much monetary wealth as possible, despite what horrible, disgusting things that individual had to do to get the money (i.e. or killing individuals, or threatening to do so, for the sake of obtaining a ransom, or tossing millions of workers into unemployment in a particular area in pursuit of a cheaper location).

Now, lets look at the third words in each proposition:

Work.
Conscience.
Character.
Morality.
Humanity.
Sacrifice.
Principle.

These are things that any individual could, at his or her primal level, do without. People don't want to work--they want to be as rich as possible by doing as little work as possible. Many people would love to have as much fun as they wanted without thinking about how they may be harming themselves by having fun in that manner (i.e. taking a particular hallucinogen to obtain a particular effect, thinking only about how fun it might be, and not of how that drug might harm one's body), simply pursuing information without having no substance, no spirit, zest or flamboyancy whatsoever, thereby dehumanizing an individual to the level of mere biological machinery, making as much money in any way possible without thinking about how one's pursuits might be negatively affecting others, pursuing scientific knowledge without actually considering the positive or negative human implications of that science, worshipping a particular religious deity to ask for forgiveness for each and every crime committed without actually making an effort to prevent oneself from committing these moral crimes, and pursuing political power without having any principles to propagate--or thus any reason to lead a population other than the will for power itself.

The above words represent things that are SELFLESS. Individuals do not necessarily obtain any personal gain from doing these things, but they add MEANING to things that the individual does. The human race needs a moral basis for its activities. This moral basis is what separates barbarism and civilization. Individuals cannot do things without considering how these things might be negatively effecting themselves or society around them. Simply pursuing things without considering why they might be good or bad in a respect other than self-gratification turns us all into pigs and whores in a free-fall of unsustainability. Without principles, we will be extinct, both physically and existentially. A human race without principles at its base is a race based on indulgence, not a race based on humanity.

Something for you all to consider..........