The Green Book: Part Three

Chapter Two

            THE FAMILY


  To the individual man the family is
of more importance than the state.
Mankind acknowledges the individual
man and the individual man acknow-
ledges the family which is his cradle,
his origin and his social 'umbrella'.
Mankind, as a matter of fact, is the
individual and the family, not the
state. The state is an artificial econo-
mic and political system, sometimes a
military system, with which mankind
has no relationship and has nothing to
do. The family is exactly like an in-
dividual plant in nature which is
composed of branches, leaves and
blossoms. However, adapting the natu-
ral environment with farms and gar-
dens, and the like is an artificial proce-
dure which has nothing to do with the
actual nature of the plant. The fact is
that political, economic or military
factors have organized groups of fami-
lies into a state which has nothing to do
with mankind. Equally any position,
condition or measure resulting in the

                  [11]


dispersal, decline or loss of the family
is inhuman and unnatural. Indeed, it is
an arbitrary condition, exactly like
any action, condition or measure
which leads to the destruction of the
plant, the breaking of its branches, the
fading of its blossoms and leaves.
  Societies in which the existence and
unity of the family are threatened, in
any circumstances, are similar to
fields whose plants are in danger of
being swept away or threatened by
drought or fire, or of withering away.
The blossoming garden or field is that
whose plants grow, blossom, pollinate
and root naturally. The same holds
true for human society.
  The flourishing society is that in
which the individual grows naturally
within the family and the family itself
flourishes in the society. The indi-
vidual is linked to the larger family of
mankind like the leaf to the branch or
the branch to the tree. They have no
value or life if separated. The same is
the case for the individual if he is
separated from the family, i.e. the
individual without a family has no
value or social life. If human society

                  [12]


reached the stage where man existed
without a family, it would become a
society of tramps, without roots, like
artificial plants.

                  [13]


Chapter Three   Table of Contents