Ben Shier

The desires that express the essence of emotion: lust, sensual desire, sexual desire, love (the desire to protect), anger, excitement, greed, sycophancy, laziness, the desire to live, the desire to fight (the desire to compete), and the desire for power (the desire to control). The actions through which life expresses desire: plundering, manipulating (enslaving), giving alms, sharing, giving, and devoting oneself. These are the directions desire can take, the things desire makes possible.

Desire is like a dark, murky pool. Its ripples are invisible even in the moonlight. Sometimes it churns wildly, and what it strikes and swallows is the rational mind of the "I" walking through its waters. Desire is a prisoner that grows with sensation, while the "I" is a child led by desire. If we live only for ourselves, thought will crawl beneath desire. If we live for an ideal, thought can stride across desire and confront the existence of the "I".

Though curiosity and desire propel human thought forward, in the end, the greatness of ideals means that the choices and actions guiding humanity's path through life must rise above the curiosity and desire that have grown into nothing but murk and filth. The future is where the balance of life and civilization begins. Will life always remain vigorous? Like cells that grow and expand without end, our future path will follow the same pattern as the beginning of all things: joining, stabilizing, absorbing, growing, evolving, and maturing. From particles to cells, then to tissues, nerves and organs, mature individuals, and stable populations. From individuals to couples, then to families; once production is no longer carried out by individuals, the next stages begin: collective division of labor and management, the building of mature communities, and the establishment of stable global populations. All rules of civilization serve this purpose: "stabilize the life of my population." From there, we will discover and seek again...