LIBERTY INFINITY

About those barbarians who defeated the Ancient Roman Empire. They are presented by mass media as retarded orcs who defeated advanced elves.

But it’s not that simple. The empires had autocracy. The emperor’s power was absolute (divine or heaven-given as they believed). Laws were made by emperor’s will, and any opposition was destroyed.

And now think about this: the barbarians had military (!) democracy.

Also, military service in the empire was forced, and the imperial soldiers weren’t really motivated to win. Meanwhile, the barbarians fought because it was easier to grab things from others than to produce them themselves. Barbarians were also running from climate change and attacks from hostile Northern tribes. It was like a domino effect. And if the empire refused to accept barbarian refugees, the barbarians would simply attack.

Yesterday I realized that I think about solipsism very often. I think that I cling to the idea that life is one and that this historical passage is universal for all incarnations. I feel there’s nothing to be found in science except for space travel and the evolution of cyborgs. So that will be it for the next 40 years, if I survive… So yesterday I was listening to a lesson about the pre-historical period of humanity and found out that humans have millions of years of history, but Homo sapiens only about 40,000 years of history… I really can’t understand such huge numbers. I think that a person, even during a 30-year lifespan (as was before), could have invented seed growing and animal domestication within a single lifetime. Yet scientists say there were millions of years of evolution. In moments like this, I feel this information is like a bug on the prism of my solipsism, very close, like in The Matrix. And in this bug, all the people around me somehow believe it and don’t doubt it.

Before I discovered Hinduism, I thought that it was the Buddha who introduced the ideas of karma and reincarnation. However, he actually took them from Hinduism. The Buddha himself contributed his own insights – that the root of suffering lies in desires, and by escaping from desires, one becomes happy. But here’s my question: is that even possible through an act of will? I mean, if you try to force yourself to “stop wanting,” aren’t you just suppressing that energy and ending up wanting it even more?

So the ideas of reincarnation and karma are eternal… they have existed and will continue to exist for as long as humanity itself exists, while the ancient teachings are merely the written records that have survived to our time.

And Buddhists and Hindus do think about monotheism. And monotheists think about reincarnation and karma.

What I mean is that we need to separate the eternal Dhamma (reincarnation and karma), which is universal, and the ideas introduced by the Buddha, which are essentially his personal vision.

I’m studying ancient philosophy now. It’s interesting that in the 5th-4th centuries BCE, ideas that would later appear in world religions and political systems had already been articulated.

For example, Plato’s idea of the Demiurge as a creator is quite close to the biblical narrative – in both a man was first created after a women. He also had his own version of a socialist system, according to which the ruling class (philosophers and warriors) should own no property, money, or families – neither men nor women. The lower classes, however, may have all these things.

It’s also interesting that Pythagoras believed in reincarnation and was a vegetarian for that reason. The first recorded idea of saṃsāra and karma appeared in Upanishads in India earlier, in the 8th century BCE.

It’s also worth noting that the Christian ethic of humility was preceded by the ideas of the Stoics, who taught that an ascetic life elevates the spirit.

In short, the Buddha Gautama said that the Dhamma (the teaching) has always existed, and the role of past and future Buddhas is to rediscover the eternal teaching for people who have forgotten it.

Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921) was a Russian anarchist and philosopher who believed that mutual aid—helping and cooperating with others—was the key to human progress. Unlike capitalism, which focuses on competition, Kropotkin argued that people thrive through solidarity and working together.

His famous book, *Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution* (1902), challenged the idea that only the strongest survive. Instead, he showed how cooperation exists in nature and human societies, proving that kindness and teamwork are just as important as strength.

Kropotkin’s ideas inspired labor movements, anarchists, and socialists in the 20th century. Even today, his message matters: in a world of inequality and isolation, building strong communities and sharing knowledge can create a fairer, better future.

By spreading compassion and working together, we can follow Kropotkin’s vision—a world where everyone supports each other, not just the powerful few.

The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. And the first to forget is the happiest.