I had a very troubling experience the other day that I’d like to share with you. Now, we live in a time that things are pretty good. I can walk down the street to the local store by what I want. I have a little money in my pocket. There’s no violence in the streets.
Things are good, but we are rather tragically becoming weak, weaker and weaker. I’d like to share an experience. The other day was November 12th and I just happened to say in passing that the day before which was November 11th, Armistice Day was a profoundly important day. And one young woman said, for sure, it was a wonderful shopping day. And I said, I’m sorry?
And she said, yes. Don’t you know? It was a discount day on the Internet or something to this effect. And then of course, being a bit of a historian, I immediately pointed out that no, November 11th was the day that we finally ended the carnage of killing 50 to a 100 million human beings. Most of whom were not expecting to die because this war, like virtually all wars amongst the middle and upper classes for the previous centuries had been fun because the middle and upper classes certainly didn’t die.
The peasants died. The farmers died. The inconsequential died. But this time, real people died. And the 1st battle of the Psalm in summer 1916, the first day, July 1st, when the British army went over the top, 35,000 were killed the first day and 35,000 wounded.
But, of course, no antibiotics, not until the forties, 19 forties. So those 35,000 undoubtedly died as well, first day. And of course, this particular assault went on until the fall and 650,000 imperial soldiers of the British Empire were dead and 650,000 of the opposition, mostly German forces. But more importantly, here were an an enormous amount of so called POW battalions. These were kids that had been recruited in high school to join up because it was going to be fun and it was going to be over in about 6 weeks or so.
And now, of course, into the 2nd year, now we’re gonna get our chance to put it all asunder. Soon will be over. What a bloodbath and it continued on for another 2 years. So at the end, then of course, the Spanish flu 100,000,000 to 200,000,000 people dead within 5 years, from 1914 to 1919. The world certainly has never recovered.
So what were the consequences of this? Well, because the British Empire was mostly run by a tiny group of upper class people in the intellectuals who graduated from the best universities, they could no longer govern the empire. Conflict came to pass in India, and then, of course, the great blunder, the 2nd World War and another, god only knows, a 100,000,000 dead as well and a new level of evil. Two stunning books. If you ever have a moment that you might really, I wouldn’t say enjoy, but they really give a bookmark to actually what went on during the First World War.
One from the German side, which is All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, and the other one, Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves from the British side. They document the pain of what really went on. And Hitler actually banned the book, all quite on the western front, because it really describes the horrific nature of these high school kids from Germany, and they all die in the end. They all die. And in Robert Graves’ case, most of the men around him die.
It’s a mess. A true mess. And yet, once again, we’re fighting in the Ukraine, and we’re fighting in Gaza and in Lebanon. Lessons to be learned here. When will humanity learn that war is accomplished?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. So how am I going to become strong? How am I gonna protect myself for the changes that are inevitably going to come in our civilization? They’re gonna happen in the not too distant future especially if we have fools for leaders, especially if people want to lead us once again down the path towards war and destruction.
What are we going to do? Well, I think the very first thing we’re going to do is to follow 6 Stoic principles. I was reading this the other day. Number 1, don’t multitask. Focus on what you’re doing.
Secondly, become a philosopher. Philosophy means of course to search for truth in your own lifetime. Stay prepared. Number 3, stay prepared for what could happen. I have a friend who tells me I should always keep some money at home.
Bottles of water, stay prepared. Embrace hardship. Have a shower in cold water. I attempt to have a shower in cold water everyday, And, of course, the weather is relatively warm in this part of the world so it’s not too hard. I tried this actually once in Paris and I literally thought I was going to die.
The water was so cold it felt like daggers had descended upon my body. And then don’t be a victim. Poor Leon. No. Sorry, babe.
There is no poor Leon. My life is 100% my fault. I’m responsible I’m responsible for my successes and yes, for my failures. And then practice solitude. Take those long walks that we’ve talked about before.
But I think the most important one of all is that we have to say, I am strong. I’m strong. It doesn’t matter what my body is. Really doesn’t. If my body is powerful, nice.
If it’s not powerful, make it strong. But most importantly of all, psychologically be strong. You can do it. No matter how you feel, you can do it. You can always succeed.
And I think if you tell yourself this on a daily basis, you will feel much better. And even when you awaken in the morning and you feel sick, angry, frustrated, lost, gosh, whatever emotion you have, say to yourself, hey, I’m going to get up. I’m going to clean up. I’m going to dress up and I am going to somehow show up. I’m not going to be beaten down.
I’m going to survive. You know, I was having a talk with a friend of mine today and this was actually our theme that we’re survivors. Whatever goes on in life, we will somehow pull it off. And I think it’s a very positive mentality because we’re not god. We cannot control the world around us.
The changes that will occur around us is impossible, but we can control the world that we occupy. We can. So be a little bit brave. And you know what Osho says of course, there are no cowards. There are no heroes.
There’s only action. So act. Most importantly, act upon your own life. Improve your life. Make it better so you can be an example to others.
It’s your mission in life. Improve yourself so others can follow you. It’s an important component. So be brave and you know what they say. You know what they say.
Steel yourself against the oncoming battles in the future. Critical thinking is necessary if you’re going to do this and critical thinking is great, truly great. You take care. God bless. Bye bye.