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how do you deal with the immense inhumanity of man against man?

I wake up every morning and every day i see or hear of something that disgusts me, some very financially wealthy person ripping off someone far poorer.

Or just that capitalism itself is innately oppressive and ultimately bound to destroy itself at the expense of the oppressed and most needy.

systems of law claiming to be rehabilitative but ultimately being more interested in keeping criminals in their system as long as they can.

that media and advertisement and social concsiousness is just as racist and praiseing of prejudice and social segregation as it was in jim crowe. And how it just shifted into a less obvious and less specific manner of communication.

or environmental dissasters committed by corporations that really dont seem to understand the gravity of their screw ups and wonder why everyone is so upset.

or how all the technological advancements of modern life seem to pull the modern population deeper and deeper into the throng of the rich elite than there ever has been before... almost leaving us hopelessly dependant uppon them.

And ive been told that to worry about this stuff is a waste of energy, a waste of heart and that it will only lead me to a very hard and very miserable depressing life.

people tell me that people arent compelled by social powers and desires placed upon them by the systems they exist in... that they have will power and they make decisions for themselves ... but i cant accept the idea that people suffer and commit sin because they choose too with their own mind alone... I cant accept the idea that there is no solution to poverty, i cant accept the idea that there is no solution to racism, i cant accept that there is no solution to mass hypnosis much less accept that there is no such thing as mass hypnosis at all.

but those people were right i feel like i am wasteing my heart, and i am heading to a hard and miserable life because of it... i feel like i cant wake up in the morning without thinking "i hate people" because people can do this to eachother with such dissreguard with such greed and power lust.

my desires, however sincere, however compassionate and aspiring to help just brings suffering... as much as a vain desire to be smart and capable and innovative leads to suffering...

but.... i cannot accept the "you must let go" idea... i cant stop careing... i cant stop feeling like i need to fight this. I cant help but think it is going to kill me.

i think this is the most poinient for me... I think on it now and maybe the path of suffering I feel like im walking is not entirely the desire to expose the evils of the world, but that i do it with hatered. I HATE THE PEOPLE THAT OPPRESS. I HATE THE PEOPLE THAT ENABLE OPPRESSION WITH APATHY.

and thats a wrong direction, a wrong motivation.

its not the hate that should motivate me agianst these evils but my compassion for the victims of these evils.

thank you very much.

I've realized how hard it is to "deal" with the way big business treats the little man. Especially "dealing" with environmental issues.

I try to make as big (or little) an impact as I possibly can, however, it's rough when you're only 17. I don't know how CEOs can enjoy their yacht races while they're killing sea turtles and the fishing industry. I don't know how owners can drive their BMWs past homeless veterans on the streets without noticing them because they're talking on bluetooth. I don't know why people think global warming and environmentalists are a joke, while polar bears are drowning in melted ice caps. I don't know how people can slaughter baby seals and climb on their high horse to brag.

Of course it makes me angry. But the more you get involved, the better it will be.

All of these things are uphill battles. Most likely, we're always going to be the little man. It's oppressive, it's insulting, but it's not enough to whine about it to your friends. I'm part of numerous campaigns to stop this oppression. The best way to fight is to get involved, no matter what. We are the ones that make big business, well, big business. So we can stop them, too.

i would say that you are most likely correct that you cannot trust them. just use your best judgement.

but i would also say that i lik eto think of the possitive side of the term "uphill battle." it may be hard going up, but at least it isn't downhill! xd

now, S.D.a.R, i'd like to know, what projcts are you part of? =w= i am interested. i have been working on a number of projects and campaigns myself.

A drop of water cannot carve a canyon over night. We move on, one drop after another. As we go the rain of humanity falls and gives us more drops. Soon we stand together, a powerful river, and in time, we make our way through the immobile stone.

In the Chuang Tzu is the story of a man named Yen Hui whom went to see Confucius, asking permission to go to the state of Wei. In Wei, Yen Hui states, is a ruler whom is a tyrant. He leads his people into peril and thinks only of himself with the dead piling up. Yen Hui states that he wishes to go to Wei because "I have heard you say, Master, 'Leave the state that is well ordered and go to the state in chaos! At the doctor's gate are many sick men.'"

"Ah," said Confucius, "You'll probably just go and get yourself executed is all.

Though your virtue may be great and your good faith unassailable, if you do not understand mens' spirits, though your fame may be wide and you do not strive with others, if you do not understand men's minds, but instead appear before a tyrant and force him to listen to sermons on benevolence and righteousness, measures and standards-this is simply using men's bad points to parade your own excellence. You will be called a plaguer of others. He who plagues others will be plagued in turn."

Confucius then asks Yen Hui what his plan is and Yen Hui states a variety of ways in which to approach the tyrannical leader but Confucius shakes his head at them all and says "Goodness how would that do?" Finally Yen Hui asks Confucius how he should approach the man to which Confucius replies one should fast the mind.

Fasting the mind requires making it empty. You observe reality as it is and react in the style of wu-wei, that is to say acting as little as possible with the largest impact possible. "Ruling a large country is like cooking a small fish." When cooking a small fish, you hardly touch it lest it fall apart from over handling.

When one is overburdened by all the great wrongs in the world the mind is not empty. You attach yourself to the idea that 'this' is horrible and 'that' is horrible. There's so many attachments here and there that you become depressed. When you become depressed, it's hard to act. Instead, one acts as is necessary. One does not preach on benevolence and righteousness, mostly all it will do is cause contention. Instead, one learns their own mind, much like a tool. When that tool has been sharpened, one can then go out and use it to bring about change in the most effective way possible.

It is good to add that many Buddhists see all men as having the potential for enlightenment while the Taoist point of view is that all the myriad forms of existence are equal to one another, because they all have the same source. Hating people because of their actions and clinging to that extreme dislike is to deny the self as much as it is denying the other person, hence your depression.

(I know, old post. I couldn't help myself.)