ON VOLTAIRE

358 Words

il faut cultiver notre jardin — Voltaire

Voltaire suggests that in order to change the world we must first get our own lives in order. Many of us would like to see change in the world, we speak of revolutions, the end of capitalism, the end of hunger, or maybe the end of deforestation. But we seem to fall short in our quest to right the world. I personally break the point of life into two ideas: enjoy relationships and help others. Voltaire understands that the most important relationship we will have in our life is the relationship with yourself, you won’t spend more time with anyone else. When cultivating our garden I think it is important to realize what is in the soil you stand on. The privilege of fertile soil for your garden is easily forgotten, which I think Voltaire understands. Take the common environmentalist (like myself), thinking that simple actions like becoming vegan or driving an electric car is a check on their eight-fold path. The expense of these luxuries leads me to believe that many environmentalists are actually just benefactors of the systems they wish to end; wearing veils of organic hemp to cover their true roots that no doubt benefit from cruelty in the world. I often struggle with the hypocrisy of my own beliefs: anti mining but of course I might need new climbing gear or perhaps a computer charger, anti fracking but I sure do like coming home to a warm home each day, anti industrial agricultural but I don’t blink when taking advantage of a sale at Winco. So before I preach about stopping deforestation or drilling for oil in the arctic, how about I use that wooden skateboard til it breaks in half, and hitch hike to go climb and take one set of gas-guzzling wheels off the road. To cultivate your garden is to dig deep and understand that to incite change in the world you must first incite change in yourself. Then and only then can you grow a bountiful harvest and share the fruits of your labor with others.

Or maybe Voltaire was just a big gardener…