Meaning and Purpose

The life's journey of an individual.

Aug 26, 2024

We all live, we all die. Knowing this is the start of universal joy. You should be allowed to live with as much or as little happiness as you desire to make a reality for yourself, with whatever good fortune or bad fortune that should also come.

For me, the cause of all time, to be addressed right now, is that collectively we should be discussing how we want our society to maximize not just our individual happiness, but to maximize all possible journeys away and toward that happiness. And for that discussion to be worthwhile, it should be working in tandem with organized action to change the structure of society to support every individual, you and me.

As best I can tell, after studying the situation for 48 years now, there are 335 million truths today in the United States, and roughly another 8 billion different truths around the globe. For each and every human being alive right now, and I do mean right now, there is their one truth that only they will ever know. That goes for you, too.

Now, a fair share of people will honestly and forthrightly tell me there is in fact only one universal truth and that they alone know it. I am 100% for their absolute right to believe that truth, and to point right back the fact that I don’t agree with them and the very act of my not agreeing proves my point. This might even be you.

The only takeaway I care to have at the end of any such discussion is that each of us can live without interference our version of that one universal truth, always held so dear. Dedication to this idea is to never accept someone taking your truth away. The ultimate devotion is to never accept someone else taking another person’s truth away, and always speaking out that all truths are valid for each individual.

For me, the Liberalism of the Enlightenment, the first celebration of the individual in the West since the total victory in the West of Judeo/Christian/Islamic-theism, is still the best argument for the individual. And when I say individual, I mean you and me.

Liberalism is a standalone philosophy that applies to individuals and society, maximizing each individual’s happiness in relation to minimizing any force of government to insure the safety and security of the people and the government. Liberalism is the only philosophy that embraces no absolute answer on how to organize and admits the two precepts are always in tension. As an individual living in society, you have a sacred right, always available and delivered on demand, to participate in the discussion of what happiness you will give up in exchange for safety and security at the hands of the government.

We’ve never had a completely Liberal society where every individual was actually free to pursue their happiness. For all of time, the societies that have most approximated the ideal, always fell way short. In fact, many of Liberalism's greatest voices used their reasoning to argue for liberty for only the few, almost always white, male owners of property.

I believe that by having an open and honest discussion of what government is and what it should do, that Liberalism and the centering of every person as a whole and equal member of society who can pursue life as they see fit will win, and that we can universally live the ideals embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

My starting point is that my purpose as a human being is to live this one life free to enjoy the wonders of happiness under my own terms, and that to have any impediments put before me because of someone else’s morality or virtue and their belief that I need to follow their morality and virtue in order to achieve my own happiness is an affront to my human dignity. As someone who cares so deeply for my own happiness, I know the best way to secure the sacred right is to make sure my family, my friends and you, the stranger, are always free to pursue your life as you see fit.

Having defined my purpose, and in effect yours, I believe Liberalism, maximizing each individual’s happiness in relation to minimizing any force of government to insure the safety and security of the people and the government, is the best and only just governing philosophy. As it is the only governing philosophy that cares for the input of the individual, Liberalism embraces the tension and contradiction between the freedom of the individual and the stricture of society, it requires, but cannot force all participants to engage. By pursuing the impossible dream of perfect engagement, only Liberalism can lead to the best approximation of perfection that is each of us pursuing our own happiness.

I’m now dedicated to my purpose and to the cause of Liberalism for all. I don’t think our current politics serves Liberalism well. This is not the false argument that both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are the same. But the recognition that neither party represents Liberalism in the Law or Economy, and that in order to achieve Liberty for all, a new conversation must start before a new movement can blossom.

My timeline to cause change lies somewhere between today and an infinite hope for the future. Not only is that ok, that is the point.

To start this journey together with you, I have two questions.

What is the meaning and purpose of an individual human life?
How would you design a society to allow each individual to fulfill their meaning and purpose?

I look forward to your answers. And I look forward to this journey with you.