When I ask, "Is this the meaning of life?", I am not asking about individuals, but as human beings, as a society. Maybe I am asking too big a question, but I think it might be appropriate after watching and reading about the Republican National Convention.
Many of the posts and discussion on DailyKos are centered around improving life for all, or exposing people who try to take things (education, healthcare, etc) away from society that are necessary to make the world a better place.
By improving life I mean, better wages for all, better education for all, better health care for all, etc. All the things that would make society better for all. The basic issues most Liberals work on, or at least talk about.
As a society, and as all human beings, we should be striving to make society better for all. We work on making society better for all, and we end up with a population that is healthier and better educated.
When the population is better educated and healthcare is taken care of, we can spend more time working on things like better sources of energy, raising crops and animals in a healthy way to use for food, working on a way to explore worlds outside of our own.
We can work on progressing the human race, intellectually, emotionally, and physically.
That being said, can those ends be reached by answering the following questions:
Can the meaning of life really be making the most money for yourself, or gaining the most power, at the expense of others?
At the expense of others, both emotionally and physically?
Can the meaning of life be killing, or suppressing, other people who don't share your belief system?
Can the meaning of life be fighting AGAINST equal rights for all people?
If you have spent anytime watching, or reading about, the Republican National Convention, which I assume you have if you are on DailyKos, you would think that the above four questions are answered "Yes" by the Republican Party. Not only are these questions answered with a "Yes", but the best way to achieve those ends is to lie. Lie about the current administration, lie about women, lie about homosexuals, lie about anyone different from you, just so you can take away from others and get more for yourself, and get more for others who are greedy like you.
Whatever you believe, I have a hard time believing that what Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, etc, etc, expouse are the means to the ends of what society should be.
What the Republican National Convention has shown is that a large group of mostly white men can get together and try to deceive a nation into electing men who will take from the poor, the middle class, women, minorities, basically anyone who is not a rich white male, and give to the wealthy.
I think they believe that the American electorate is not smart enough, or too lazy, to figure out they are lying, and to a certain extent they are correct. There is a segment, unfortunately a segement of the population that is too large, of the electorate that takes what is said at face value, or is so in love with a politician that they believe whatever they say, Paul Ryan's disciples for example. Or they believe everything they hear on TV, no matter if it is FOX, or CNN, or whatever. Although, in the case of Paul Ryan the media is doing a better job than usual at calling him out. That being said, to defeat these horrible Republicans, people have to get out and vote. The only way we will lose this election is if people do not get out and vote, and vote for the Democratic Party.
Anwyay, it makes more sense that the meaning of life has to do with making things better for all people, which at the same time would be beneficial to oneself. The only way we are going to move forward is to elect people that will move this country, this society, forward, not backward.