TEN COMMANDMENTS

Especially since the last world war, certain philosophers have made the point that people in general may insist on having a say in their governance, but what they really want -- at least in difficult times -- is for someone to tell them what to do.

Traditionally dictators and religions have fulfilled that need, but dictators tend to rule by their whims and run their countries to ground, and religions tend to be appropriate for societies as they were thousands of years ago when the religions formed, not the world of today. Therefore, this week I've thought about what The Ten Commandments for people living today should be, and here's what I came up with:

TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR LIVING ON EARTH
  1. Take care of the source of your drinkable water.
  2. Take care of the purity of the air you breathe.
  3. Take care of the soil needed to grow your food and to sustain the global biosphere.
  4. Take care of your open spaces and beautiful scenery, needed for your sanity and inspiration.
  5. Recycle the resources you use.
  6. Human population numbers must be kept in balance with the Earth's ability to supply resources to all in a sustainable manner.
  7. Rights of the community supersede those of the individual, and the rights and needs of untold numbers of future individuals and communities supersede those of the present.
  8. Scientists, teachers and administrators shall receive special honors for their services, but if a scientist falsifies information, a teacher misrepresents what is known, or an administrator yields to corruption, he or she shall be banished from service, and receive punishment at least ten times that which a private individual would receive.
  9. The body and mind shall be kept as healthy as possible. This means an unending struggle to overcome laziness, excessive self indulgence, and self destructive habits such as addictions.
  10. Never abandon the struggle to achieve ever higher levels of understanding and of feeling.