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Urgently Objectivist
By G.E. Nordell
Published November 2001
"The individual
can take initiatives without anybody's permission."
R. Buckminster
Fuller
In reference to Ayn Rand and her statements
about Mankind's Highest Value being that of
Survival, I am, I guess, quite cynical in
that I believe that Mankind is on its way
to non-survival: that is, that Mankind [currently
Homo sapiens] will soon die out, like the
dinosaurs and the species Homo erectus that
preceded us. The growing ozone hole; square
miles of Alaskan tundra thawing each day;
the poisons in our oceans and rivers and bodies;
the poisons in our society; the burning of
the 'lungs of the Earth', the Amazon rain-forest;
the death of coral reefs around the planet;
the freaky weather – all are demonstrations
that the current path of Mankind is leading
to an unconscious self-destruction. The Culture
Structure that is supposed to ensure our survival
is instead pointed directly to species suicide.
I say that the very survival of this species
that you and I belong to requires of us
all an extraordinary effort that is not
now being generated, at least not inside
the Culture Structure. This species must
bring into use the 90% of the human brain
that lies fallow in unconsciousness; the
species must direct major effort toward
overcoming the existing mess – ecologically,
economically, ontologically; increasing
numbers of members of Mankind must develop
new personal skills to prevent our predictable
future, which is non-survival.
There is Something inherent in the unused
and unfulfilled potential of this species,
possibly to take shape as a new species
[which I designate Homo cogitus: Reasoning
Man], and we must bring forth that Something
or else the cetaceans will be left as rulers
of the planet.
The intention of my book "Working
Minds: A Philosophy of Empowerment"
is to reach and enroll one reader at a time
into individual and active concern for the
terrible urgency of the modern situation,
so that eventually folks with developing
and mature Working Minds will find themselves
working in concert, working together as
individuals to generate Empowerment, to
fulfill each individual's potential, so
that Mankind can fulfill its dormant potential
– without which Mankind will not indeed
survive.
Said another way, Mankind will not survive
by complacency, by half-heartedly attempting
the survival of our present institutions;
Mankind must fulfill its potential –
great numbers of individuals must do so,
in many and various forms – or Mankind
will simply die out.
And you the reader – and you members
of We The Living and other Objectivist groups
– must take this on, and pass the urgency
on to others, or Mankind has no future.
copyright 1999 by
Gary Edward Nordell, all rights reserved
The preceding
is an excerpt from Chapter One of G.E. Nordell's
forthcoming book, "Working Minds: A
Philosophy of Empowerment". An excerpt
of which is also posted on the Working Minds
website Working
Minds.
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