The Bonds of Man

The Bonds of Man



Man to Self
A) Prize your own life
Man, like beasts, aims for liveliness.
As Man grows in liveliness, he moves from survival to wellbeing to fatherhood.

B) Never lie to yourself
Man is both thought and flesh.
Thought may dwell on what was or could be, but flesh lives now.
So, thought must hold to truth and cast out error for Man to thrive.
Guard against holding to beliefs just because they feel good or you wish them to be true.
Take to heart what you can change and what you must bear.

Man to Man
A) Seek fair exchange, not harsh taking
There are two ways humans deal with each other:

Robber and Robbed – one causes pain, the other feels it.

Helping each other – both gain from the link, as in trade or family.
And then there's no link at all.

Robber and Robbed are of the same kind.
Arms undo the edge given by size and youth.
Group acts, whether payback or setting things right, further lessen the loot of robbery.
So the robber must risk his life to get even small gains.
Thus, it's a losing game, and more could be had by willing exchange.

Keep from becoming a robber through trickery or by helping another hurt himself, lest he feel robbed and make war.

When a few rule by harsh taking, they grow rich at the cost of the many, but their power is lent by those they rule.
Should the many harshly rule the few, the few soon waste away.
Wisdom calls for the robbed to choose: break away (either flight or disobedience), war, or submit.
The few need the aid of the many, so widespread disobedience ends the rulers' harsh taking.

Man to Nature
A) Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.

B) Humans are part of Nature
Humans are not gods above Nature, nor spirits caught inside it, nor evil beings blighting it, nor mere waste below it.