Seeds, Hope, and the Benevolent Universe Premise

This essay, written late last winter, captures the sense of urgency coupled with calm determination that intelligent men and women need in these times.

by John Young

TODAY I PLANTED seeds. There is still a foot of snow on the ground, torrential rains have flooded out roads and we got an inch of sleet last night. Still, today, I planted seeds. I planted them indoors in little containers and put them under close fluorescent lights.

Why?

Because I know that even though the weather today is taciturn; in six weeks it will be smiling on the transplants as I place them in the tilled earth. Planting the seeds now, means I will have the transplants later. And I know that given proper care, those transplants will bring me vital sustenance.

Is it hope that leads me to plant those seeds today? No, it is not. Hope is not required. All that is required is the ability to visualize a value that I wish manifested in the future; and take rational action today that, based upon knowledge of nature, is most likely to lead to that value.

This is the core of the idea of a Benevolent Universe. The Benevolent Universe Premise is not the belief in a universe that is benevolent in and of itself. Rather, it is a belief in a universe in which the laws of cause and effect apply; such that an effect can be manifested through creation of its cause. In other words, a benevolent universe is one in which knowledge, reason, and foreseeing outcomes are rewarded whereas ignorance, whims, and lack of foresight are punished.

So today I planted seeds, not because of hope; but as an application of reason and knowledge in pursuit of values.

There is a lesson here.

2010 will be the last year in which the majority of Americans born are of our genotype. It is a preliminary tipping point that our current President aims to cement through offering illegal immigrants amnesty and even the right to vote. Such a move, if successful, will irrevocably create an environment in which our economic system will be socialist and it will not be reversible any longer through democracy.

This situation is rather dire, because it is a harbinger of the effectual removal of an entire race of people from the planet. No matter where you stand in the political continuum; the removal of an entire race from the planet, no matter the means, is genocide. And when it is an actual planned result of public policy, it is evil.

But how are we to counteract this evil? Hope? No. Through the application of knowledge, reason and foresight.

Read more at John Young’s Blog