The Cosmopolitan Blog

How great is this? I’m actually writing a post called the meaning of life. Here it is folks! I have all the answers…

Actually, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t have YOUR answers, I have MY answers. And for me, I know what the meaning of life is… What makes me get up in the morning. My purpose in this world. The standard by which I choose to live.

Is it groundbreaking? No. It’s it original, different, unique? No. But it’s mine. It’s the statement that I would be willing to sign, the oath I would be willing to take. It’s not complicated, in fact, it seems so obvious now. The next step, I guess, is to establish concrete goals in specific aspects of my life, but for now, here is my 2-fold mission in life:

1. Consciously, constantly, everyday, be the best person I can be at any given moment: each and every time I have a choice, I chose the option that makes the most number of people happy and contributes to a more peaceful world.
2. Live a rich, fulfilling life where I want for nothing, emotionally, where my need for giving AND receiving, emotionally, is fulfilled in all aspects: family, friendship, love, culture, spirituality, work, hobbies… this includes surrounding myself with those, and only those, that contribute to this goal.

In order to achieve a more peaceful world, the number of emotionally fulfilled individuals must increase. I know that the only one that can make me truly happy is me, therefore I will only act in ways that emotionally fulfill me.

My personal philosophy is a cross between the Objectivism and Pragmatic Pacifism philosophies, the result of which is: to ensure my emotional fulfillment in order to contribute positively to the world, making sure it does not create a negative/disruptive result for someone else.

…Throw in a healthy dose of Cosmopolitanism (see this post), and I’m good to go!!

Well, actually, this is a very tall order to live by, and to those who feel like this is just navel-gazing mumbo-jumbo, I say, yes, absolutely, I agree it is. What’s your mission in life?

Part of the cosmopolitanism philosophy is the acceptance that no nation, culture or political model is better than another, that there are pros and cons for each, but that they each have a reason for existence. After all, each culture, nation and regime exists because it grew from a need for this ideology. If no one agreed with it, no one would adhere to it. There aren’t enough people in this world that can be mass-coerced to adhere. So should we be looking at the tribal way of life in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq (I mention them because they’re on our daily news, so I figure everyone knows where these countries are) and feel sorry for their backward way of life? I’m not sure.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the world is a better place without Saddam Hussein. I think that the tyrant deserved to be held accountable for his crimes. Should we show social responsibility by sticking around once we remove a dictator to ensure that the country will fall back on its feet? Possibly. But the very least we owe the citizens of that country is to see the world through their eyes. How did they get to this point? What motivated them to remain / accept this regime? Are you telling me that 25K+ Iraqi citizens have been sitting there praying for the brave westerners to rescue them? Really? Convince me, I dare you!

But we’re there now. So let’s see the world through their eyes for one moment. Can we honestly claim that democracy is a better regime that the country should aspire to establish? Why? Because it allows individuals to have their own rights and create their own wealth? Sure, that sounds like a good reason, and apparently, in the West, we believe it is, that’s why most western countries have adopted it. But why would be so arrogant as to believe that it will work best all over the world? Why do we think we’re doing other countries a favor by encouraging democracy?

It’s like criticizing woman in Islamic societies for wearing the hijab. Have you tried speaking to one of them and suggesting that they should be independant and non-submissive? Good luck with that! Yes, there will be a large number of them who will allow themselves to dream for a couple of seconds, and imaging the independant life they could be living, with their own goals and careers. And then they will submissively resign themselves to the current state of things. But! But, there’s a huge number of them will defend their choice and their way of life. They respect it and want it that way… It’s the way they’ve been brought out, to take care of the house and the family, and to think of the community before they think of their individual desires… And this is less noble than a career-minded western woman because….?????

I’m struggling to understand all of this… I should probably not think of the state of the world at 2am… *sigh*