Done.
Human Evolution: Cultural Responsibility.
These last few years I've found myself contemplating the nature of humanity and it's evolution. Truthfully, I can thank Professor Warren and his philosophy class for this, right along with Neil Postman and his book "Amusing Ourselves to Death", for starting me down this introspective path. At our beginnings, we were simple hunters doing what was necessary for survival with little regard to right and wrong. From that we have made a genesis to a complicated global culture with materialistic trappings with a core belief in basic values.
I believe it's not just the “good” beliefs we hold that make us human, because the amount of different beliefs are astounding. One man's murder is another man's justice, and it is our own belief that makes us judge the morality of an action, and morality's viewpoint is subjective at the very least due to the singular nature! What truly defins us as "human", as anything other than bipedal flesh-toned animals with opposable thumbs, is the ability to stand by what actions we do, the decisions we make. I believe in the idea of taking responsibility and accepting reactions to what I say, write, and do. The people I care about know me, and I think they understand this. The idea is a universal concept in every major theology and can be universally accepted to be "good".
So then, why does Humanity, at the evolutionary state it's currently in, not follow this idea wholesale?
We choose instead to lay blame left and right on others for our actions, be it because of other people forcing their hand or God made them do it, or predestination, or the government, or anything and everything under the sun. People blame Bush for many faults, but we forget the fact we, as a people, voted him into powet; we chose him. People claim to kill in the name of God, that He is guiding their hands; this is a misnomer. We choose to "listen" to Him, then, and choose to kill for his glory. Parents blame television and pop culture for the degradation of today's youth, but the truth is the youth chose his way of life; you can't force someone to make a life decision if they aren't willing to do it.
The writers of the Declaration of Independence, those great men seeking the freedom of America, chose to put down a clause in that document to endorse future revolutions should our government become oppressive. They chose to put that in with great logic and great foresight.
Choice. It all boils down to choice upon closer inspection, so the logical conclusion is that somewhere in our past, we chose to disregard the notion of responsibility as a culture, knowingly or not. If this is the case, then two likely outcomes are probable for Humanity as a culture: Self destruction, or realization.
We will destroy ourselves through the bickering and violence that go hand-in-hand without responsibility and accountability for our actions. From that self destruction, however, we can hope that enough of us will be left to realize the error and begin anew with a better understanding of ourselves as a race.
The second outcome is one that I genuflect upon constantly. Humanity will realize the error of our choices and realize how grievously close we came to an Apocalypse, and then we will rise above our differences, our bickering, and take responsibility firmly back into our cultural lives. We will prosper, we will thrive, and we will reach a new epoch in our evolution that may well be its culmination.
There are only two factors that will affect this outcome: time and people. I hope we don’t run out of either before we realize the grievous condition of our currently irresponsible culture.