Wisdom
Wisdom is the knowledge necessary for a good life. It results from an objective understanding of life’s experiences. Wisdom teaches us where life's real values lie. A wise person respects nature and the laws that exist in it. They have a productive orientation, continually improving themselves and their environment, and therefore live well. A wise person is always responsible for nature. For example, a person who does not know how to swim would not jump into deep water because their judgment tells them they will drown if they do. This is wisdom, though we often call it knowledge that is harder to understand. Ordinary people cannot see such wisdom. Only a wise person can.
We are proud of our intellectual development, production capabilities, and the successes we achieve throughout our lives, and we believe that our good life mostly depends on them. The authorities imposed this idea, and therefore it might not be true. Today, people have a higher standard of living than kings did in the Middle Ages. Therefore, they should be more satisfied with their lives than kings in the Middle Ages were. Are they? I doubt it. The standard of living has little to do with people’s happiness.
So, where is the problem? The problem is that our subjectivity sends us off course. We easily overestimate our successes and underestimate objective reality. It is more comfortable and, in the short term, more convenient to accept the subjective way of thinking. Practically anything a person thinks may quickly become the truth in their subjective mind. Anything a person does may be easily justified in their subjective mind. Such a fact could easily release people from fear and bring them great happiness. So why waste time finding objective truth when they can reach it faster through their subjective mind? The answer lies in the fact that subjective knowledge is alienated from its objective reality. Therefore, subjective knowledge easily conflicts with objective reality and often causes more significant inconvenience than the initial happiness.
The most common subjectivity that alienates us from objective reality is our need to have power over people. Such power creates the illusion of overcoming powerlessness in nature or attempts to compensate for a person’s weakness in life. At first, it feels very satisfying and brings great happiness. This is the reason why most people try to achieve power over others. This is why parents rule over children, teachers over students, bosses over employees, and Heads of State over citizens. The rich rule over the poor.
People have difficulty recognizing wisdom when their societal power is questioned, as this power creates an illusion of overcoming their powerlessness in nature. If happiness lies in power over people, then the wealthiest and most famous people in the world should be the happiest. Are they? The more a person builds power in society, the more they live in illusion, and the more easily they come into conflict with the objective laws of nature. The more disappointed they become, the more pain they feel, and the more destructive they become. If you enjoy making money, you fight for power in society. You strive for power you can never get enough of.
The result is stress that damages your body. Or, if you are pleased with your physical appearance and invest a lot of energy in preserving your beauty and youth, you are also fighting for your power in society. When you see the first wrinkle on your face, it brings pain. The stress that comes from it slowly but inevitably kills your soul and then, of course, the body. Rich and famous people are often the most dissatisfied. They drink the most in an attempt to find peace in their minds; they are depressed, and they confront other people the most because they cannot find peace. They divorce the most; they live an unhealthy life and are quite destructive.
When a person rises above others, further rise is limited and therefore can hardly bring satisfaction. At high altitudes, one can easily fall, which causes pain. A person would never commit suicide if they cannot satisfy their natural needs, such as hunger and thirst, but they would if they lose the illusion of power. Therefore, a wise person would never try to gain power over others, just as a person who cannot swim will not jump into deep water.
Some people have asked me how they can learn wisdom in the short run. Wisdom is not something you can gain quickly, though it is not complicated. Wisdom should tell them to set aside their ego and improve the world around them. That way, they can keep their health and happiness. But a person obsessed with themselves can no longer enjoy enhancing their environment. Wise words will hardly encourage a powerful person in society to relinquish that power, as it contradicts the character he has built throughout his life in an alienated society. If he gave it up, that would hurt him. Intellectual understanding of wisdom is not enough; one needs to feel it the right way. The person becomes wise by living a righteous life. Wisdom results from a healthy lifestyle.
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Wisdom is hard to achieve because everyday life presents significant obstacles. Authorities build their power by imposing subjective knowledge on people. Such knowledge is often wholly useless, yet it successfully prevents free thought and diverts people from real problems. Authorities have always determined what way of life people are going to accept, what they are going to think and what they are going to do. Very little of that results from free choice. The human being was never the real basis of any system or ideology. They have always served various ideologies and therefore cannot be satisfied.
When people accept alienated knowledge, it becomes valuable to them. For example, rich people use vast propaganda that imposes money as the most significant value. That’s why people are obsessed with money. It is just this obsession that gives power to rich people because they have money. Money cannot be the highest value. Once accepted, these wrong values in society become real and challenging to change. But the problem is far more significant. When people become accustomed to following authorities, they lose the ability to draw independent conclusions and, consequently, have a reduced capacity to recognize the objective essence. They are alienated from their nature, feelings, and logic, which prevents them from finding the truth within themselves.
Taking away people’s freedom begins with cultural heritage and is instituted by the education system. The education system imposes knowledge, and that is wrong, even if that knowledge is objectively necessary. Proper education must follow students’ interests. Today, education not only fails to follow students’ interests but also imposes a massive amount of unnecessary knowledge. The education system has the task of burdening students with useless information that dumbs them down and makes them powerless and obedient followers of authority. That is all the opposite of wisdom. I wrote more about the problems of education in the article My Clash with Sciences.
When a person starts working, the fight for the job and the work itself become obstacles that prevent the person from dedicating enough time to himself to discover what wisdom and the good life are. When a person arrives home after a hard workday, the media compounds this difficulty with alienating values that prevent him from following his real needs. The media teaches us everything diametrically opposed to wisdom and the good life.
Today’s control over people is very organized. Authorities take great care to prevent the development of ideas that could diminish their power and privilege. Authorities obstruct people from seeking truth and achieving wisdom. A person has learned to follow the authorities and finds meaning in their existence in imposed wrong values. They become a machine that lives, unable to be wise. That is why society cannot develop. That is why people are unsatisfied no matter what they have achieved in life.
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A person who wants to become wise must not allow imposed knowledge to guide them. They have to follow his path. If a person wants to be wise, they must make time for themselves. Time to analyze the world around them and their actions, time to discover where real values lie, to find out what is best for them. They have to engage critically with every form of imposed knowledge. The more and the earlier they begin, the more on the right track they are. It is not easy to achieve, but just in that way, one can develop the ability to find the real values of life. That builds objectivity. Objectivity is a sufficient condition for developing wisdom.
I followed just this path. For as long as I can remember, I have developed my own way because it has been more valuable to me than anything the authorities have imposed. At first, it was nothing significant. I didn't accept the knowledge imposed in school, and as a result, I was a lousy student. It was unpleasant because society does not value people who deviate from accepted norms of behaviour. But in this way, I kept my natural sense and logic, which led me on the right path. Money was not a great value to me, and I did not need power over people, so I have largely avoided the major pitfalls. That has eased to me the path to wisdom. I found that creative work gave me great pleasure, which is why I worked so much.
Of course, as part of the society in which I lived, I was also prone to the influence of authorities. I was particularly attracted to competitions. Competition is probably natural for young people. As an architecture student, I won the Yugoslav contest for the arrangement of Republic Square in Zagreb, Croatia. It brought me fame, money and happiness. At the time, I thought I was on top of the world. On the other hand, this success created pressure to stay on top. It was stressful. In my subsequent attempts, I couldn't repeat the victory, which disappointed me. Generally, I do not remember this period as a successful and happy period of my life, but I have learned from my own mistakes.
I worked hard to get to the core of the problems, and from that work emerged the philosophy I have been developing for thirty years. It taught me not to seek happiness by comparing myself and my power to others. Such comparisons inspire a competitive spirit, which alienates people in their nature. Philosophy taught me to seek happiness within myself. A person must rely on their own power whenever possible because it makes them more independent and allows them to enjoy life more. I think it is wisdom. This kind of satisfaction is easier to achieve than winning competitions, and unlike contests, it brings stable joy. I cannot say I am happy every day, but if you exclude the state of the world, I have no problems that make me unhappy. I am not stressed, and I do not feel depressed. Indeed, I have my inner peace, and I am often happy just because I am. That is a reward big enough for me.
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If an individual finds wisdom, it is not enough for society's success. The whole community should learn what is objectively good so it can change and achieve a good life. A population can reach wisdom more easily than an individual because achieving objectivity is easier in a group than through individual contemplation. A wise society will be built through equal rights among people. This is what has never before existed, and therefore, society was never wise or good. Without equal rights, evil authorities and people's obedience develop, which cannot bring a good solution. We must overcome the intrusive power of the authorities. The only proper authorities are those that affect people only when asked. All others are bullies. When people have equal power to pursue and represent their own needs, no authority will be violent. Most of the problems in today’s society will disappear. In the wild, the stronger animal often eats the weaker one, while equally strong animals respect and do not attack one another. Something similar will happen when people establish equal rights.
The basis of wisdom lies in the fact that no matter what success a person realizes in their life, they must never, for their own good and for the good of all who surround them, forget that they are equal to every other person. When a person loses their ability to exercise power over others, they will stop seeking that power. Equal rights among the people will eliminate the illusion of power, stop alienating values, and build respect between every person and every other person. It will teach people wisdom much more than an individual could achieve through contemplation. Then a good society will be built.
When I discovered the importance of equal rights among the people, I knew I needed to find a way to implement them in society, and I succeeded. I created simple ideas that will gradually and unconditionally form a good community. The first idea is to reduce work hours proportionally to the rate of unemployment. This measure will lead to full employment, which is the basis of people’s journeys toward equal rights. When unemployment ends, owners will have to pay workers more. Workers will gain greater buying power, and capitalism will be better off.
The second fundamental idea is creating a system of mutual evaluation. Each person will have equal power to evaluate positively or negatively; let’s say, three people. With such an assessment, everyone will strive to cause fewer inconveniences and more conveniences for others. This builds the most important social wisdom: “Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you.” People will value each other and respect one another, regardless of their positions in society. People will learn what is objectively right and wrong by receiving evaluations from others. Such assessment should be exercised wisely and in a good society.
I have promoted these simple ideas for twenty years. They can quickly solve the significant problems of today’s society; however, they do not reach the public. What kind of world do we live in? People who visit my website mostly like my ideas but expect scientific authorities and the media to promote them. I offered my work to thousands of authorities, usually in the form of short articles like this one, Humanism Extensively. This article briefly defines an entirely new social system that will secure a bright future for mankind.
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The social scientists did not accept me. Why? Generally speaking, the science authorities have always been privileged. Their privileges have kept them from devoting enough attention to equal rights among people, regardless of the philosophy they develop. Any philosophy that is built on unequal rights in society is wrong or not correct enough. The more a person is educated, the more they have to accept the wrong or insufficiently right knowledge imposed by authorities. When social scientists have the opportunity to think independently, they already think through alienated premises, under a heavy burden of alienated knowledge that prevents enlightenment. They can hardly understand objective reality and be wise. Under the influence of wrong or insufficiently proper authorities, the social sciences are on the wrong or insufficiently adequate path. That is why sociology today has no solution to society's problems, and society cannot prosper.
I have to mention Professor Erik Olin Wright, elected President of the American Sociological Association. Influenced by the philosopher Karl Marx, he searches for a “realistic utopia” that would, among other things, make all goods and services freely available to all people. However, following Marx, he does not propose anything new that might bring the goal even slightly closer. I contacted Professor Wright and informed him that I had developed a system that will one day achieve Marx’s communist utopia. He said that he did not have enough time to study my work. But the problem is more profound. People who have invested significant effort in studying any ideology fall in love with their efforts and do not accept changes to the ideas they have adopted. Professor Wright has built his opinion so that there is no room for brand-new ideas inconsistent with the knowledge he has taken. Acceptance of such ideas would have been painful for him.
I offered my critique of Marxism to many magazines. Among others, I submitted it to the journal “Science & Society.” The editor replied to me that Marxism is not a religion and he would gladly publish my criticism. With his support, I wrote the article "The Failures of Marxism and the Right Path to Socialism and Communism," but it was not published. Their acceptance of my ideas implies their recognition that a significant part of what they were doing is worthless. They are not ready for it.
I also contacted Professor Noam Chomsky. He is a great critic of U.S. policy. Unfortunately, his criticism cannot improve the society we live in because he does not propose a solution that could bring change. I told Professor Chomsky that I had created a new system that would create a good society. He replied: “You could well be right, but I simply don’t see it.” What Professor Chomsky does well compared to his colleagues is that he admitted he did not know.
I have offered my social system to politicians. They didn't reply to my letters because my philosophy gives power to the people, which reduces the power of politicians, and of course, they don't like it. Besides, in the system I have proposed, politicians would, for the first time, really become responsible to the people, and they love that even less.
The media, no matter how independent they are, cannot be independent of the owners. The owners don't admire social justice, so they don't want to publish my work. Instead, their interests are the opposite. They not only don't want to support my ideas, but they are doing everything in their power to deceive people. I cancelled cable television because I am sick of it. Now I only use the Internet.
The education system, the media, the government agencies and corporations control our thoughts, and therefore us, practically from birth. In the article, Jacob Rothschild is guilty of the Conspiracy Against Humankind. I accuse Jacob Rothschild of organizing a conspiracy that prevents society from developing. He hides his power so that no one can blame him for the problems he creates in the world.
Finally, I want to stress that my work does not allow individuals to have more power in society than others. Individuals cannot profit privately from it, and that is why they are not interested in my ideas. That is why my views lack support, even though only they can lead society forward.
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The system I have proposed will truly empower people and, for the first time in human history, take power from authorities. Person will become the center from which everything proceeds and to which everything returns. Each person will have equal decision-making rights in society, and the system will, for the first time, follow the needs of the people. Each person will have free access to any work post at any time, which will definitely eliminate the privileges and disadvantages associated with them. The system will democratically establish an efficient way to hold individuals accountable for their actions, contributing to cooperation among people at all levels of human relationships. That will make a good society. That will teach people wisdom.
One day, the world will accept my ideas because freedom and equal human rights are essential to achieving a good society. When people realize that person-to-person relationships are the highest value, they will more easily share the benefits they possess with others and reach wisdom and a good life sooner. It will also teach people to love. Wisdom is to find a way to love. Love is the highest possible value after basic human needs are met. Love brings joy. People who do not feel love have nothing, regardless of the success they have achieved in life. People think that they can love. I realized that behind their love often lies narcissism and the need to create power over people. This is mainly because our culture supports the development of alienating values, which in turn prevents love from growing. Do you think you love? I created a short test that can tell you whether you love. The test is here: Do You Love?
My philosophy, which I have worked on for 30 years, gives me pleasure, although I still have not managed to present it to the world. From the beginning, I envisioned that my work would not be accepted readily, but to be honest, I did not expect it to be this hard. I will probably not be able to see the results of my work being implemented. Sometimes I am sad about that, but there is nothing I can do to speed up the process. It now depends on you people. My work has given me a tremendous reward because it has helped me to penetrate deeper into the laws of nature. I found wisdom. Whenever I develop new thoughts in my philosophy, I feel better and love this world more. I also enjoy writing because I know that one day my work will lead to a better life for everyone.
December 17, 2010
Updated February 28, 2013