I believe I’m a simple person – a very simple person actually. But people think I’m complex. I think they are wrong. I think they are the ones who are complex; I am simple.
I’m idealistic. I have ideals. And I work towards those ideals. I work to see them being achieved.
I believe people with great ideals are simple-minded people. Say for example your friend died because of an injustice and crime someone committed. However, this person who killed your friend was not arrested. Would you let him get away with it even though you knew the truth? I think you would pursue justice. You would pursue an ideal – the ideal of justice. Any simple thinking person would want to see the murderer arrested. Any simple thinking person would want to see justice prevail. Any simple person would want to see his ideals being achieved.
Let me ask you what’s 1 plus 1? A simple person realizes that the answer is 2. A complex person sees beyond simplicity and will give a different answer – or worse still, not even care about answering the problem.
If you tell the person that 1 plus 1 is something other than 2, he will not understand. He will not get you. That’s because he’s simple-minded and he knows 1 plus 1 is equal to 2 and not 4 or 5. Tell him that the answer is 5 and he’ll strongly disagree with you.
Let’s focus on the poor and oppressed in the world. There are so many poor in the world. Poor because of economic exploitation – because the rich take advantage of the poor. There are also so many oppressed in the world. Oppressed because of military imperialism – because the Western world takes advantage of weak nations for their own interests – which are ultimately economic interests, of course.
How does a simple person think when faced with the depressing situation described above? I believe a simple person will realize something is not right in this world and therefore will seek to correct such things.
Simple people realize that when there are problems, these need to be corrected. Simple people understand that when things aren’t right, they ought to seek to make it right. Simple people get troubled by the injustice they see going on in the world. They are troubled by the poverty that exists in a world where consumerism and materialism reigns. They ask, “Why do I see injustice and war in the world rather than peace? Why do I see so many starving to death when there are so many rich?”
Simple people worry about these things. Others become too complex for themselves and explain the problems of the world away. Simple people disagree when people tell them 1 plus 1 is not equal to 2. Complex people will agree with you when you tell them 1 plus 1 is not equal to 2. They will come out with all sorts of excuses and complex reasons to explain why 1 plus 1 is not equal to 2.
When faced with problems of the world, complex people try to explain it away. They will tell you to accept the situation – maybe even appeal to the selfish human nature, as though fallen human nature justifies accepting and being passive about injustice, evil, oppression and poverty. They will give you many complex explanations.
Simple people don’t accept such explanations. To them, no poverty should exist. No oppression should exist. No injustice should exist. They dare to dream of a better world. They dare to dream of a more ideal world. Call it utopia, call it whatever you want. But they just don’t accept the world as it is. That’s because they are simple. They want simple love, simple co-operation among people. These are the simplest of things – the way things should work in this world.
Complex people extol and glory in the virtues of being “streetwise.” Many complain of my simplicity and simple ideals and tell me that I should “grow up and realize things aren’t always as you want them to be.” They say “I’ll understand eventually.” I don’t seem to be able to understand why poverty and oppression must exist in this world. I am idealistic. I am a simple person. I think I shall continue to remain in my stubborn and simple self…