New narrative, urgently needed

…Every society, in order to live and prosper, needs stability, cohesion, and a common value code:

it needs shared values that shape commonly accepted rules of coexistence…

…and which, ideally, become laws:

they crystallize into a commonly accepted and respected legislation.

All of this requires a common vision that will give hope, resilience, stubborn effort, and patience for achieving goals and solving problems.

A common vision granted by God, from the transcendent realm, is the best and most authoritative solution.

A story that (almost) everyone accepts as true is a great solution.

Leaders who enjoy metaphysical favor and who communicate with the transcendent — which guides them and informs them about the right course for the people — are exactly what is needed.

The story can be modified over the years, but not radically:

a radical transformation of the foundational myth on which a society rests entails the transformation of that society…

…its transformation into a different society, or its disappearance.

Ancient Greek society had as its core value the value of virtue (aretē):

the human ideal was the virtuous and heroic person.

Society cultivated heroes in body, mind, and soul:

fearless, upright, and strong people.

Weakness and cowardice were bad things.

Killing and cruelty toward enemies were justified behaviors.

The gods were human-like and had virtues and flaws just like humans:

they did not inspire fear but respect… as superior beings.

Humans had hope for further life and glory.

The greatest heroes were promoted and became demigods.

Sometimes they were even accepted onto Olympus.

Christianity destroyed all of that and replaced it with its opposites.

The Hero was replaced by the Saint.

The Saint was brave and aggressive only when it came to defending his faith:

only when faith was in danger did the believer become a brave lad…

…though even then without using violence.

Society was supposed to be somewhat… communist:

a society of equality, common ownership, collectivism, social solidarity, and mutual support.

Unfortunately, all these were characteristics required of angels, not of egocentric and insecure human beings who never managed to become heroes.

A class of intermediaries arose between the insecure people and the almighty God, so that social life could be more stable and people could endure their miserable existence without protesting that the ideal Christian communist democracy had never been realized in two thousand years.

The intermediaries became power-holders and corrupted the communist equality and common ownership.

When the common people finally became outraged by the arbitrariness of the intermediaries, they became revisionist — that is, Protestant.

The Protestant is a practical person who wants to live a good and secure life:

he believes that God does not want followers who are wretched, poor, and humble… to the point of material destitution.

He believes that God loves hard-working, respectable householders.

God is the Great Householder: that’s why there is Order in the Universe.

Work is blessed and not a punishment as they were told in Paradise: they misunderstood God’s great generosity.

The products of work are also blessed.

…Money and material goods too, as long as they are the fruit of honest labor.

Comfortable living is also acceptable to God — as long as it concerns respectable householders.

A house with a lawn in the yard, parking for shiny cars, washers and dryers — these too are blessed.

Gifts from God should be appreciated, even if they are paid for with bank loans secured by future salaries.

Capitalism and Protestantism walked hand in hand in excellent cooperation, until the loans ballooned, wars consumed huge amounts of taxes, and factories moved to China and Korea for cheap wages.

The house with the lawn went to foreclosure at a bargain price because property values collapsed along with unemployment.

In general, it seems that respectable householders no longer enjoy God’s favor.

We need to find a new story.

A story to replace the old, worn-out stories.

The transcendent must give us a new good story for guidance and inspiration.

It just needs to hurry.

To do it soon — before we completely devour each other, or before we have to fight the Iranians.

It’s terrible to no longer have a house with a lawn… and to have to fight filthy Iranians just to survive.