How the World Should Work

I’ve been thinking.

This morning I was reading (The Prince by Machiavelli) and something occurred to me. Philosophers are perhaps the most important individuals in human society.

I know that a really broad statement, since technically anyone can be a “philosopher” if they have their own unique view of the world. Still though, look back at history and consider the types of people who truly made a mark.

Usually we think of revolutionaries, right? Which can be loosely associated as philosophers, since their campaigns are grounded in creating a new system. We remember those who came along and reshaped how the world functions or how people think. People like Che Guevara, Mahatma Ghandi, Moses, the Founding Fathers, and so on.

I often find myself asking how these people achieved the monumental things that they did. How does someone become SO great that their name literally lives on for centuries?

I think the answer is easy. It’s conviction. A willingness to change something no matter the cost. And it consumes them completely.

Don’t you wonder what goes through he heads of people like this? What they think, how they think, and why they think it? History’s greatest disrupters are the people who quite literally care nothing about the current status quo because their only focus is on what they think is right. They don’t conform to society. They look at the world as a blank piece of canvas and they relentlessly paint the picture that they believe in.

That’s what the world needs. We’ve outgrown the tribal/geographic mindset. Humanity really needs to start recognizing that we need to cooperate as a species if we expect to be around for awhile. We need someone who can unite people and actually show them that we’re all human. Because once we do that, we can start focusing on advancing as a species. Space, healthcare, and so on. Could you imagine that? If the entire world began working together to solve the big picture problems. I can’t even fathom what we could accomplish.

Hopefully one day we’ll realize what actually matters. We sure could use a modern age philosopher to shake things up.