People Who Inspire Me

I decided to update my Facebook profile a little today by adding some more likes to books, music, video games, and TV.

But there's this fancy little "philosophy" section of the profile that I've never touched.

It wants things like my religion and my political affiliation. No one needs to know that kind of stuff, right?

But then there's this "People who inspire me" section.

Of course, I can ramble off how my mom and dad and extended family inspire me (which they do, don't get me wrong), or about Jesus or something equally as cliche, but then I tried to think about it for real.

Who are the people who inspire the way I think and feel and act?

Now, the sad truth of the matter is that I'm much more likely to be inspired by a book or a movie than I am by a person in general. There's just something about the emotions those can evoke that make them so inspiring. And then I can formulate my own original opinions and whatnot.

But, I thought about it and I came up with this list:
The Dalai Llama
Pope John Paul II
Misha Collins
Niccolo Machiavelli

Yeah, the last two are kind of "Are you serious?" worthy, but yes- I am serious.

The Dalai Llama and JP2 are two of my favorite spiritual leaders. Their main messages are about peace and working together in the goal of making a better world. This is especially impressive of JP2, who's kind of the only pope that non-Catholics like. That deserves a shout out in my mind.

They just kind of focus on the matter at hand- faith and goodwill. Do we really need anything more than those? Don't our religious identities kind of drive a wedge between us? (I have a nice long essay about this...be on the lookout for it!)

The last two are more about activism and politics.

Though unconventional in most of his life, Misha uses his influence to try and make a difference (this is where I should rave about Random Acts again). He just kind of goes for it because he knows that people want to help and do the things that he's doing, they just don't know how or who to trust or maybe never even really thought about it before.

Now, Machiavelli holds a special place in my heart because I kind of follow his political doctrine as described in "The Prince" - The ends justify the means and it is better to be feared than to be loved.

I know, that sounds awful of me, but I think there's a lot of truth in that.

I'm very politically minded...when it comes to politics. I do believe that the needs of the many should probably outweigh the needs of the few, but I also believe that the many who have the means should help provide for the few that can't.

I also believe that there are certain things that are bigger than politics (e.g. getting food and water to everyone on the planet); we need to recognize that we have an obligation, as humans, to help other humans. This isn't the Roman Empire, we don't have to try and eradicate all other villages, forms of government, and cultures.

Similarly, I believe that politicians would probably be better if people feared them. In the United States, we elect politicians that supposedly reflect our own values; then they spend their 2-year or 4-year or 6-year terms trying to get reelected. Those years? Pretty much wasted as far as legislation and productivity go.

Hence- fear is the ultimate weapon. If they're too afraid not to vote for you come election time, it's a lot easier to do what you feel is best. (Also, it's a lot easier to get someone to fear you than to like you...at least in my experience, anyway.)

So, there's my list of people that inspire me. People who mostly look beyond all the crappy things about the world and hit the point right in the heart.

Ultimately, this list is composed of people who get that everything we do should be about people.

...and the planet, but I don't feel like saying that Aldo Leopold inspires me in any way other than to take a nap.

Ok...I do like Aldo Leopold's ideas, but he's so dry and boring. But he does make one really good point- "Think like a mountain."

Recognize that everything you do will last for a long, long time. Make sure that they're good things.