More rage against the machine

Francois replies to my email. I reproduce here a few of his comments, and my replies to them:

Francois: "I am not angry at industrialists, nor do I accuse them of seeking only profits. On the other hand, if you can’t see the folly of our agricultural policies, you are blind. Same if you can’t see the non-sense of the hedonist quest. Our societies are collapsing under their material goods. For example, there are more and more obese people."

My reply: "I do not collapse under the weight of material goods. I am not obese. Neither are you. I am sure that, like me, you do not know many obese people, nor do you know many people who are collapsing under material goods. What society are you talking about? Not the one I know, not the one I live in.

I am not disgusted by my fellow men the way you seem to be. I am not indignant at other people’s choices. The "hedonist quest" is not a non-sense in my view: it is the free choice of some people, and it doesn’t bother me. It is not my choice. I fundamentally believe in everybody’s freedom to explore the corner of the universe that they desire. And I am part of this exploration, given that I am part of this humanity which is One, of this collective consciousness.

I do not see the "folly of our agricultural policies". I do not have the means to judge, so I don’t judge. I trust my fellow men. I know by experience that most people do "the right thing". All the people I know do "the right thing", given what they know. I believe that people who administer agriculture do this also. And if everything is not perfect… nothing is ever perfect. I know that it is useless to comment, judge, badmouth, when we don’t have the power to change things. I know what my sphere of action is, what is inside of it and what is outside of it. I deal only with what is inside. French agricultural policy isn’t inside. But an enormous amount of things are: I know how easy it is to trigger change, or have an impact, in the groups or organizations I am a part of."

Francois: "Children in our schools have never seen a live animal. (…) We are less and less in touch with life."

My reply: "This is a judgment… again, who is this "we"? I am very much in touch with life. I do not understand what you are saying. I do not think that there is a single kid in France who has never seen a live animal. Once again, I don’t understand this caricature you paint of your fellow men. What I read here is a discomfort IN YOURSELF. While you busy yourself being indignant OF OTHERS, maybe you’re not spending the time taking an interest IN YOURSELF: who are you, what do YOU bring to humanity, etc. This obsession of saying that others are doing everything wrong sounds like an escape… what if others were NOT doing everything wrong? Have you ever considered this possibility?"

Now Francois, as a response to my statement that "you cannot change anything to the past, and you can gear the future in the right direction only if you believe that there is any", replies: "But there is no direction. Why believe that there is one? There is where we want and can go. Where do we want to go?"

My reply: "I do not ask myself that particular metaphysical question anymore because I now know where I want and can go, and where I can lead my fellow men (it is easy as soon as you look inside yourself – if only a little), while I am not responsible for "where the world is going" given that it is outside my sphere of responsibility. The sum of every individual movement creates the direction of the whole, but the only thing upon which you have any power is your individual movement – and nothing more. When you understand this, you can start living and ACTING at last. You can free yourself of 90% of the burden that habitually prevents you from acting, and start at last to really move forward… This is my experience. My life has acquired a whole new intensity ever since I made this discovery."