The Story Of Mankind - Part 4

Planet Of The Apes: It’s probably fair to say that the origins of war on Earth go back beyond the planet of the apes and to what we know as the alpha male. In nature, he who is biggest and strongest gets the pick of the spoils, usually at the expense of the other weaker males. Every now and again challengers come along who are interested in displacing the leader and acquiring the spoils for themselves. This mentality, part of our evolutionary heritage, has been manifest in mankind as a whole and has dominated this planet and our way of life ever since, causing us considerable problems. In the animal kingdom it is always about individual one to one combat. The loser, who dies, or is left badly injured and licking their wounds, has to surrender their rights to the winner. The winner, who will then reign supreme, can enjoy their new position and the spoils that come with it until they are defeated by the next challenger. Life goes on once again with the new leader in charge, business as usual, until the next challenger comes along. A little less physical perhaps, but our modern political system is played out in exactly the same way even today. In the animal kingdom it is worth noting that the spoils are not fairly distributed and are always heavily stacked in favour of the winner, so giving considerable incentive to ambitious potential contenders to mount such a challenge for control if one is powerful and confident enough to do so. This is also true for humans.

Planet Of The Men: Although perhaps not very fair, in nature this is the way it has always been in the forest without causing problems for the planet as a whole. The stakes were raised on Earth when men became slightly cleverer than the apes, perhaps defined metaphorically in the Bible with the apple and tree of knowledge story. The period we have been coming through since then is a bit like mankind’s childhood and teenage years. Our relative teenage is an especially tricky time for mankind because just like most teenagers, we became clever enough to be able to question, argue and presume to know better, but not quite clever enough to actually know better. A little knowledge is dangerous thing and as most of us eventually come to understand, knowing is one thing; knowing how to behave and behave with that knowledge is something altogether different! However, as individuals and teenagers, and until we actually do grow up, we are prone to being narrow minded, selfish, and get involved in fights and arguments. We can see that mankind as a whole has been in a similar period behaving just like a teenager, reflecting a similar mentality and suffering from all the kinds of things that teenagers suffer from, including spots. Trouble spots!

Language And Communication: Upon the advent of our slightly superior brain power, the development of more sophisticated communication and language, mankind became able to employ other mechanisms and tactics, apart from his individual brute strength, to gain control over his domain. He realised that the battle for leadership did not have to be a battle of grunts, butts and one to one combat. Men realised they could get others to do the fighting, at first with them, and then for them, and the more people you could get on your side the better your chance of winning and disposing of the competition. So it all came down to the size of your power base and your gang and amassing an army of supporters. This then all came down to attracting, manipulating and controlling the ordinary people. The task, to win over as many potential supporters as you can and give yourself the best chance of winning and dislodging the current leader and their gang.

Controlling Mechanisms: Men have used all sorts of ways to achieve this end over the years and to gain popularity. The promise of plunder, or exalted positions, bribery, lies, devious manipulation, fear, imposition, retribution, money, religion; anything to achieve control of the numbers and win yourself the power that goes with it. Of course, God is a great excuse and religion has been a major controlling mechanism, dragging God’s name through the mud in the process. Even now, we see some factions in the world using God as an excuse to attract numbers and behave appallingly, committing vile acts that defile the very principles of anything evolved or Godly. I wouldn’t like to be in their shoes when they come up before that entity or his representatives. I don’t think they’ll be quite so bold, or enjoy the experience that is coming their way, but then, why should they? They’ve caused suffering to others on a massive scale and then blamed it all on God. It doesn’t get much worse. However, they’re not the only ones that have abused their position, or that have used God as an excuse fight. Everyone likes to think that God is on their side as we go about the business of killing each other for selfish reasons. How deluded we are at times!