"To live without loving is not really to live"We have science to understand nature. But we don’t have science to understand humans. Social “sciences” give mutually exclusive formulas for common wealth. But real science teaches that mutually exclusive statements cannot be true at the same time. Some of them—or maybe all of them—are false. People, who unaware of this rule and tolerate contradictions, can be politicians or clergy, anyone but scientists. Scientists do not tolerate contradictions. Scientists conquer them. Tolerance towards contradictions disqualifies people as scientists.
Molière
I believe that science about humans should start with discourse about feelings—about needs and joys, about egoism and love, about justice and envy—by agreement to equally understand these words. Axioms are the best way to achieve the harmony of sense.
Earlier I listed eight statements—eight axioms—about human feelings that should be taken into account by anyone, who debates about economics, politics, law, social philosophy or life itself:
About Humanism: Only humans feel; collectives do not feel.
About Isolation: Feelings of other people can be judged only by their acts.
About Insatiability: It is impossible to overcome all needs.
About Tastes: People value powers differently.
About Egoism: Strangers' needs are not important.
About Love: Loved ones are only few.
About Justice: The worse the offense, the more offender is hated.
About Envy: The richer the person, the more he is hated.
Each of these axioms cuts away a huge mass of statements as antiscientific ones. And only the statements not contradictory to these axioms can be considered as scientific.
We have already discussed five axioms. Today it’s turn of the sixth axiom—about love: loved ones are only few.
Nature (or God, depending on your taste) created humans egoistic. We don’t even feel directly the needs of other people. We can judge these needs only by acts of those people, including their words. As if the nature told us: “Take care of yourself, others will cope on their own. You’re the only person responsible for your life, don’t shift responsibility to other’s shoulders”. But on the background of indifference and even hostility towards other people, the nature created islands of love, where needs of beloved ones stand on the same level or even higher than your own needs.
Our relationships with own children, grandchildren, spouses, siblings and friends are infused with love. Our relationships with beloved ones are altruistic, unselfish, based on formula “what’s mine is yours”. The joy that our gifts bring to our beloved ones is also our own joy. Gifts—unconditional transfer of property—are external indicators of grantor’s love towards grantee.
Compassion towards poor people is also love.
The poorer the man, the more one’s will to help him, i.e. the bigger one’s love towards him. A poor person, i.e. person with low abilities, suffers from the most urgent needs: hunger, cold or thirst. Thus it is easy to make him happy with just a little: a loaf of bread, a coat or a glass of water. Despite their insatiability and egoism, people compassionate each other and feel joy about others’ joys. A poor person’s enormous joy from just a little spreads on public. That’s why people compassionate and help poor ones, and not the rich ones, who won’t feel joy about little.
Compassion is also used by politicians struggling for votes of electors. All governmental programs demonstrate care about poor and powerless and not about rich and beautiful. Even when it comes to business, government claims to support only the small one, at the very least – medium. Big businesses are almost certainly monopolies, acceptable only when controlled by government.
It is very important to distinguish compassion of private persons from compassion of government. While private people compassionate at their own expense, government people do it at others’ expense, at expense of taxpayers. Government people give away what belongs to others, fascinating naïve voters, who readily vote for those who promise more. Governmental giveaways are quite profitable business. Everyone wants to get some, but not everyone gets. That’s why potential receivers of government resources are ready to share a part of received with those who distribute. Such share is a type of bribe often called kickback.
Love is beautiful feeling, but it cannot embrace a lot of people at the same time.
