The Way of the Gun

The Way of the Gun

I could just as easily call this short piece The Way of the Virus, or The Differences in Eastern and Western Philosophy, oft mistaken for theology. For years now however I have been working on a theme along the lines of “what if we humans got it wrong from the start, or what if we have chosen a path to deal with our threats that is completely ineffective, and has just worsened our chances to survive as a race? There is a thread which flows through societies and permeates every aspect of a peoples’ socio-psychological make-up. That commonality among us comes from our struggle, since time began, to control our enemies, from microbial form, to human.
I posted something along the lines of “they that choose the way of the gun shall perish” and was met with a mixed reaction, and well deservedly so. My cousin Steve, whom I love dearly and a new friend Brian, also made great points. I chose to write this little piece to expand on what I meant to convey, in a weird, metaphorical or philosophical sense.
In choosing the phrase “the way of the gun” I meant to convey the way of conflict. This is the thread which permeates our Western culture, religion and philosophy. From the beginning of many of the Holy Western texts, there is an immediate conflict established between a so called “good” and “evil”. We are taught from a very young age to watch our backs, to look out for the boogeyman, and to be ready to defend ourselves. Our medicine approaches this struggle in a similar way. If one gets a virus, then we make a vaccination to kill the virus. The very next year the virus is stronger, and we must alter our vaccines to kill the “new improved” virus. In warfare the same practice has been observed for centuries. We have learned that if one plane, or ship, or tank won’t do the job, we will make a better one, all the while, perpetuating that which I feel is ingrained in our Western psyche.
In most Eastern philosophy, these so called “good” and “evil” forces are viewed as parts of the same whole, there is no separation. In order to live a balanced life, one must respect every aspect of living, whether sickness, or tragedy, as part of the necessary whole and turn inward for answers. We in the west turn to leaders for actions. In the East, it seems that many people accept that whatever they have done, wherever they have placed themselves in time and space, they have done so willfully, and any consequences must be dealt with using a different type of understanding, one which seeks balance, and not victory.
I have often thought of writing an Orwellian style novel about man versus virus and how we have gotten it all wrong from the beginning, and in the end it proves too late, the virus wins. In Eastern medicine and the holistic Western styles which borrow much from the East, illness or imbalance is treated as a natural thing, and countered often with natural remedies put on the planet before we were in an effort to restore a body’s natural balance. When confused, or sad, they turn inward, and seek the reasons within their thoughts for why their actions have brought them to this state of being. In the West, we go to churches, and offer money in exchange for the absolution of our transgressions, but how many of us fully gain any understanding of the far reaching effects those transgressions may have had?
In closing, if we choose the way of the gun, the vaccine, the conflict; we will eventually be undone as a species, in my opinion. If we choose the path of understanding, that of community and compassion, and learn to treat our enemies as ourselves in an effort to understand them, from human to pathogen, we may have a better chance.
Keep in mind, I know nothing really, just musing here, and expanding in about 700 words on a very simple point. I do not own guns, nor do I fault those who do, but every decision we make leads to a consequence of some sort, and it is my opinion, that as long as we in neighborhoods refuse to accept the differences of our neighbors, we will never truly realize harmony and balance as a global community.