33. Ideal Humans
We should actually say more precisely: humans who want to be ideal! Yet even here, we must first of all very carefully exclude all those who may indeed call themself that or like to be so described, but do not even belong among those who truly want to be ideal. These are the large class of weak-minded, sentimental humans of both sexes, to whom we must add the imaginative types who have never learned to harness their gift and use it in a beneficial way. We must also exclude those who are always dissatisfied with existing conditions and trace this dissatisfaction back to their supposedly more ideal disposition than that of all others, and who therefore claim they do not fit into their time. Then we also find the masses of the so-called “misunderstood” of both sexes, the largest number being girls and women. This type of human imagines themself to be misunderstood. Put plainly, they live constantly in the illusion of carrying within them a treasure trove of values that those with whom they happen to be associating, with whom they are dealing, are incapable of recognizing. In reality, however, there are no treasures hidden in these souls, at all, but instead only an inexhaustible spring of boundless wishes that can never be satisfied.
One can well simply call all so‑called misunderstood individuals “useless” humans, because they prove themselves useless for real life in the present and cling only to what is unreal, sometimes even to frivolity. But always to that which is unsuitable for a healthy life of earth. Yet the path of such eternally misunderstood girls and women very often unfortunately leads into the sort of life that is commonly described as “frivolous,” as immoral, because they are always far too willing, far too easy, and far too frequent in letting themself be “comforted,” which a certain type of man naturally understands and exploits without scruple. Precisely these misunderstood ones will also always be, and remain, unreliable in every respect. They fancy themself ideal, but are completely worthless, so that a serious person, who does not harbour base intentions, does best to keep out of their way. Offering help would be futile. Almost without exception, only “comforters” with malicious intentions draw near to them, resulting in the Law of Reciprocal Action takes effect very quickly. For in the heart or in the arms of a so‑called comforter, an “ununderstood” girl or such a woman will, after only a few days or weeks, feel “misunderstood” and yearn to be understood anew, because they do not know at all what they actually want.
Finally, joining all these unsuitable groups is the group of harmless dreamers! Seemingly harmless, like children. But the harmlessness of such dreamers lies solely in the effect it has on themselves, on their own personality, but not on their surroundings and everyone with whom they come into contact. For many, such harmless dreamers, through conversation alone, already have the immediate effect of a slow-acting poison, destructive, corrosive, because they are able to tear them out of normal and thus healthy earthly life with the developments of their ideas, in order to lead them into the realm of what is inappropriate, the unreal, for time on earth. But note well: I do not say that such a dreamer is impure or even bad; on the contrary. They may wish for the best, but they will always want it in a way that is unrealistic for earth, practically unworkable, and thereby they have an effect upon earthly existence not of furthering but of hindering, of destroying.
But even among the remaining “ideal striving” humans now left over, we must again make a division and observe closely. We then still always find two kinds: humans who “strive after” ideals and humans who strive ideally. The humans who merely strive after ideals are for the most part weaklings who always long for something that can never be attained at all, at least not on earth, and who therefore can never become truly happy or even simply joyful. They stand very close to the group of the “misunderstood” and, in time, fall into a morbid sentimentality that leads to nothing good. Yet, having made such a sharp separation, we must, figuratively speaking, search even for those few still remaining with a lantern broad daylight, so few are they.
These few cannot yet be called “ideal humans” either, but, as I already said, humans who “strive ideally.” Striving for the ideal, considered as a personal quality that actively expresses itself on earth. Only they are the humans who can be fully valued, who indeed have a great, often enormous goal in sight, yet never become detached from reality; instead, they anchor themselves with both feet firmly in earthly life so as not to become detached into what is unreal for the earth.
Step by step, with a clear-sighted view and a skilful hand, they strive towards their far-reaching goal without thereby causing undeserved harm to others. The benefit that humans of such a kind bring rarely applies only to a few individuals. Exploitation of any kind never comes into question here, for if it did, the designation “ideal‑striving” would have no justification. And every human should and can be ideal‑striving, no matter what activity they pursue here on earth. They can thereby ennoble every kind of work and give it far‑reaching aims. They must only never forget to keep everything within the framework of earthly life. If they go beyond that, it becomes unreal and thus unhealthy for the earth. The consequence is that genuine progress, which is the basic condition and hallmark of all ideal striving, can never be attained.
On earth, humans have the duty to set as their goal that which is for them the highest attainable, and with all their powers to strive to reach this goal. As a human being! This excludes from the outset that they only exert themselves like an animal merely to provide food and drink, as unfortunately so many humans do, or that they allow themselves to be driven by the intellect to gain purely earthly greatness or fame without having the common good and the ennoblement of the human race in view as the primary aim. All such humans are of less value for the earth than animals, since an animal is always unaffectedly and fully what it is meant to be, even if its purpose is only to keep creatures alert so that no hindering slackening may set in, which could result in decline and decay, since movement in Creation remains a condition of life.
To be alert! The truly ideal-striving human beings can therefore be recognized by the fact that they seek to elevate what exists on earth, not in the intellect sense towards augmentation and power, but rather refinement! All their ideas will also carry within them the possibility of earthly realization, bringing benefit to the individual human as well as to the community, whereas those who merely want to be ideal wallow in ideas that, in a healthy life on earth, can by no means be put to practical use, but only distract from it and lead into a dream world, which brings the harm that one overlooks the use of the present in maturing one’s spirit, which every human is meant to form and develop through their present earthly experiences.
Thus, taken seriously, those humans with ideal‑communistic ideas are also pests of humankind, because their realization would have to bring only what is unhealthy, although they, for their part, intend good. They are like builders who carefully assemble a house in the workshop for a different site. It looks neat and fine… in the workshop. Once brought to the actual building site, however, it stands crooked and unstable so that nobody can live in it, because the ground was uneven and could not be levelled despite the greatest effort and exertion. These builders had forgotten to take this into account. They overlooked the proper assessment of what already existed and was given as a conditional and unalterable factor for this building! A truly ideal‑striving human does not make such a mistake!
Idealistic communist ideas cannot, in their implementation, grow out of the ground, nor can they be anchored in it or joined with it at all, since this ground – humankind – simply does not fit them at all! It is too uneven and will always remain so, because it is impossible to bring about uniform maturity among all people on earth. There will always and forever be a great difference in the respective maturity, as the individual humans are spiritually completely separate personalities and will remain so, who can only develop in different ways, as these spiritual beings must never have their free will over themselves taken away!
The free will outwardly, as it has existed up to now, has been taken from humankind at the turning‑point of the worlds through the Incarnation of the Will of God on earth, which from now on quite naturally is to rule over the will of humans, since It stands above them and is stronger! Only inwardly can each individual still once more decide about the path of their spirit, which leads either to the Light of preservation or to the darkness of disintegration! Now seek to recognize the truly ideal‑striving humans on earth in order to further their deeds, for they will, in building up, bring only benefit.
