Morality In The Modern World: Mactoism

Deciding on your own moral "code" to live by can be a difficult task. It helps to read the philosophies of those before us, however I believe it more desirable to form ethics of our own making in order to facilitate challenges of the modern world. I must not take credit for the influences of Existentialism and Stoicism.

I believe there are principles in which we must abide by to live a "good" life. The word "Macto" in Latin means to fight, to magnify, glorify, honour, slay. As tradition goes, most factions of ethics have a particular name. I have decided Mactoism fits the bill for my particular beliefs.

Equality
The most important human "law" must be fairness for all. To treat others as you would have them treat you. In order to maintain dignity and live a "good" life we must ensure all others have as many opportunities as ourselves. This effectively sets "the class system" as void. The challenge is to set others as your priority, above yourself and your own needs, even your very life must be put to the side if the situation calls for it. Each individual's life is worth as much as the next, despite wealth, quality of life, disability, group associated with or family status. No one is better than another. In the end we are all just piles of bones in the ground and we should take it upon ourselves to rise above petty childishness that causes terrible evil to be committed. To lead a "good" life, in situations that require us to save other people, we are obligated to put them first even if we should lose our lives in the process. Equality also includes other species and the environment that deserve respect. No one gets left behind.

Bravery
By following the human "laws", we must first be concrete in our beliefs and stay true to them unless we are called to a greater need that trumps our laws. If so, it is our responsibility to change our views accordingly after thinking deeply about what the changes require us to do. Despite all adversity, we must maintain our "self" by in-keeping with what we believe to be "good" and "righteous" and avoiding what we deem to be "evil", "unproductive" and "unnecessarily harsh". In order to completely carry out true equality, we require extreme courage to put other people selflessly before ourselves, especially if the process endangers our very lives. However, this remains a choice and if not chosen freely by the individual, the act becomes void and the "good" done is rendered nonexistent. This is also the case should the individual seek reward, profit or glory for their "good" act. The latter would be a worse damage on society and would bring great shame upon the individual that desired the idolisation. Living with courage and bravery and conviction leads to selfless love of others and that itself is "good".

Individual Development
As an intellectual species, we must maintain a certain "standard" of thought. We must aspire to gain further knowledge, deep wisdom and curiosity for the world around us to develop as "good" well-balanced persons. Possessing an impartial, unbiased mind throughout our lifetime enables us to fully induce equality and make quick yet right decisions. As humans, we are given a special ability to think, question and investigate with our powerful brains and to disregard this duty to ourselves and society would be deemed "unproductive". We are effectively protectors of our own progress and it is important to nourish our skills. We should strive to change the world around us for the better.

Endurance
With life comes both pain and joy. It is extremely important to accept the inevitability of one's death and to conquer the fear of such an end when it is impossible to stop. One should not be frightened by the prospect and in fact welcome it at the time it happens as the mind and essence is at peace. However, we must not squander our talents by indulging in excessive means such as food, drugs, alcohol and one must not become "reckless" or "foolish". These are deemed shameful and should be avoided at all times. Bravery must be contained in an appropriate fashion to ensure we follow the right path for the circumstances. Pain should not be feared but embraced as a typical symptom of life or payment for the ability to be alive. Pain and fulfilment are illusions of life: one does not exist without the other and death is our rest from fighting and enduring. However, one should not seek out pain deliberately to spite ourselves or others as this is unhealthy and damaging to our very unique essence. All those that do so should be treated sensitively but should not be shamed. To love our enemies, those that oppose us and those we do not know is the endurance of pain and difficulties of life and is perhaps the most admirable strength within an individual.

Honesty and Authenticity
To live as a "good and righteous" individual, we must be true to our inner essence. This echoes the principle of bravery in stablising one's beliefs and sticking to them unless a higher law demands evaluation of them. Living an authentic life, we must not relabel valuable things such as love, sex, family, friendship and having children as merely trivial. To stay honest to oneself and the rest of society, we must strive to reach our full potential and be our "full selves" or our true essence. Honesty in all acts must remain a priority and lies should be avoided if possible. This maintains us as "good" well-balanced people that will benefit society and the world by working hard to the best of our abilities.

The Post-Love War: Is it all you need?

I can't say I'm terribly more qualified than the average reader in this domain. Maybe you didn't notice but seventeen years of school ties around one's neck isn't much different to a stripy noose. Even so, I can speak from personal experience but don't expect it to be decorated with billion dollar castles and dashing princes on white horses leaping out of fairy tales.

There are abundant slick little phrases that describe love, billions of books so eloquent, from Romeo and Juliet to Jane Eyre. As the tales commonly begin, I wasn't interrogating every testosterone-ridden teenage male in a five mile radius for my other half. To be honest, I can't imagine many people that would carry out such an effort. As the story usually starts, we were friends first of all. I could go as far as to argue that there were sparks immediately, perhaps in a way I had yet to fully comprehend. I need not to wander into the depths of detail and I can inform you that things soured too quickly for anyone to notice it was out of date.

Two years have shed and life is a very shaken-but-not-stirred kind of paradise. So what is this bizarre thing we dedicate so much of our limited and precious time to? Religious leaders have sworn it is the mark of Gods, mothers said it was in their smiles when they first held their babies in their arms. For decades, the great philosophers have bickered that it could be all just an illusion of the complex mind. Nowadays, animal rights activists will protest that other species are born with it too. Scientists spew out five thousand word dissertations on chemicals in the human brain in their sleep and psychologists will each individually define nature over nurture and past experiences as "the key". How can we possibly answer this question?

A different viewpoint is needed. Average out human life events. Birth, early years, school, next stage in school, university/college, work, marriage, children, more work, retirement, hobbies, grandchildren, illness and finally death. A grim description of a very normal eighty or so years. However, let's cut out the generic gooey "fall-in-love" stage.
After some careful thought, I believe our desire to love and be loved by others is our intrinsic horror of our own individuality among a pack of over seven billion, the harsh realisation of our contained impact on the globe that dies with us upon becoming an octogenarian and a defense barrier to protect us from the poisonous negativity and bitter hate that thrives within a corruptible doubtful species such as our own. And to the scientists, I must tell you that I don't quite have the same emotions munching on a chocolate bar as kissing my beloved goodbye. Chemistry isn't everything, is it, Mister Potter?

The consequences of rejecting the joy-inducing Beatles song seem rather severe. However, I think we can use our logic to say shelter and food would remain our main sustenance - unless you are a vicious love-gobbling monster going under the alias of Ian Duncan Smith. Why do we need it? Is it essential? Well yes and no. To some degree, love is a necessary ingredient for the cake of a human life to rise to proper maturity and sophistication. There are thousands of studies that state in order for your little mini-you to become the doctor/lawyer/engineer/dancer that you so hope them to be, you must love your child and show this affection on a daily basis - sounds tedious. Scum that neglect their offspring can inspire terrible events in which can land that particular kid in care, living with other family members, being bullied, assaulted, turning violent, aggressive, in trouble with the police, lonely, with mental health problems, a drug dependency or onto the streets to live or make their wage out of desperation. The list composes itself. And so, since it is essential to enable babies, infants and children to form bonds with family and others, is love so important after these developmental stages? Does it still shape us as a person during adulthood?

Again, the answer is interchangeable. We have grown up with a good childhood, minimal issues, healthy relationships with family and friends. Now what do we do? Do we still need the elixir of love? I would argue, yes. This is because in order to maintain that healthy mind and personality we require a dose every so often. And the tearful reality is that many do not reach the developmental stages with full love and support. Plenty of adults will speak of neglect and abuse present in their younger years. But now more questions have been raised than answered; What happens when we reject offerings of love?

I name this my "Post-Love" era. To the ear it sings a depressing tune but I personally find peace. Perhaps humanity has become severely dependent upon receiving lashings of love and we have detached from the selfless endurance that is caring for one without expecting a form of "payment". Suffering through rejection with an open heart is the most eye-opening glimpse of reality one could ever dream of. You might be curiously confused yet I have discovered the experience somewhat liberating. This enables you to empathise in the shoes of another, to logically piece together their situation and to apply compassion as a strong shield of armour around them. Without pain we are not "human". As an artist, I can appreciate the quaint beauty that twists through everything.
Although, I have been informed by several friends that denying love and affection is self-neglect of the mind, soul and heart and I am merely cutting off a metaphorical poisoned limb to ease the burning loneliness if I convince myself I am a better person without it. Understanding their opinion is different from accepting it. They make a fair point - to deny others is to deny our own essence and being. But I am not doing this out of spite. I think it more of a respite from constant chasing of whimsical things that are unlikely to exist and by that I mean the pursuit of one's true love. It would be very difficult as a human to not desire to believe in such a fantasy but it is in no way logical. Love exists but no two people are perfect for each other.

My motivation? Constant rejection. Loneliness. Watching marriages crumble, divorce papers flying in with the wind, rebuffed children, families separated by continents, murder, abuse of babies and infants, kids dumped in care. Surely we need to address other people's happiness instead of diving into the pool without thought to grab ours first. It's not a path I wish to jog down because it is a wasteful hateful way that will lead straight to unfulfilled dreams gathering dust on a wonky shelf. We forget we have the ability to love without being tied into a give-and-take contract.

Rejecting the common love-and-be-loved ideal does not mean you can't hum along to that catchy Beatles tune. When it's over, you should visualise all the billions of minds inspired by those words, empty hearts that found kindness in those notes, pain healed by the dedication rather than the band watching the clock spin while playing tonsil-tennis with their beloveds. Because that would be all we needed.