1. Writing Again!
Late last year, I published my book, Natural Wonders. Sometimes I can’t believe I actually finished it. Writing that book took a few years, but I really spent much of my lifetime thinking through the ideas. As readers know, I grew up in a religious home, and the Catholic faith shaped how we saw the world. Siena College, a Catholic college, helped me grow so much and find my voice. There I saw a wide variety of ideas, and my teachers challenged me to think critically.
One sunny afternoon after class, my religious background and philosophy course wonderings merged in a moment of inspiration. New ideas flashed through my mind, ones that complemented my religious upbringing but shifted my thoughts more to the natural world. This was the initial spark for me in thinking about the big questions of life. Since then, I have been turning those ideas over and over, working on them to fully uncover their meaning. Eventually, this all came together in late 2024 to form Natural Wonders.
For those not familiar with it, Natural Wonders is a memoir of my struggles and eventual growth on the major questions of life. In it, I tackle daunting topics such as God, nature, morality, individuality, and connectedness. I was obsessed with the question of morality. What is right and wrong? I was raised religiously, and my family trained me to try to be good, but what is good, really? Is it biblical, as in a command from God, or could it be even more fundamental, built into how the Universe works? In Natural Wonders, I propose that morality is real, and it is not based on supernatural considerations, religion, the Bible, or other books. It derives from life itself and the natural world to which we belong. It is essentially a question of problem-solving success for life.
Here is a refresher on the key points I wrote about morality in NW. First, the underlying principle is the Life Ethic. This idea says that good behaviors are those that, if performed by all life, would make the Universe a better place for life to exist and grow. Good behavior is acting in such a way that if every life acted that way, life would be more likely to thrive. Following that, I listed six principles for living a life that supports the Life Ethic. I say that we should try to be truthful, compassionate, aware, vital, generous, and positive.
Since the book came out, I have posted very little on my website (bwilhelmideas.com). For one, I am still employed full-time on my career accounting path. Second, writing is demanding, and I wanted a break. Now, though, I am back to writing. I feel a need to continue to develop and share my ideas. That Life Ethic and the principles described in the book can’t be all I write on the subject. There is more to uncover. Particularly as the world has shifted so in 2025. The contrast of current events with the ideals expressed with the Life Ethic is stark.
Having put that view of morality out there, I must raise my voice against much of what is happening in the US today. The actions of our president and his supporters contradict the morality I outlined in NW. We are eight months into the second Trump administration, and I am disgusted. The world he is ushering in is not at all like the values I espoused in NW. He sends up one false narrative after another with no real consequences. Besides the constant deceit, he apparently delights in adding a note of cruelty to just about every move he makes. Deceit and cruelty are two of his go-to moves. These are skills of the jungle, the lawless. These are not actions that, if everyone did them, would make the world a better place for life to thrive.
Somehow, many people seem OK with it all. Congress is silent, acquiescing, and life goes on apparently unchanged for most people. This makes me feel even more confused. What is happening? What can we do to lead in the other direction? Is there something I can offer based on my views from Natural Wonders that may help? Can I use my voice, my words, to help process this situation and form a useful response?
To be clear, my issues with the current direction in our country are not about politics. I am good with the pendulum of politics swinging one way and then the other. Political shifts and changes in governmental priorities are fine. I have voted both Republican and Democrat over my lifetime. For most of my life, I saw myself as fiscally conservative but socially liberal. What is happening now in our country is something different. This administration is attacking my values. For me now, I need to speak up.
Natural Wonders is not a political book, and I won’t be political with these essays either. I won’t comment on policy differences, such as whether the role of government should be large or small, or what tax policy is best. However, I will call out actions that have a clear moral component, particularly ones that I think are exceptionally bad for humanity, for life.
In this series of essays, I will look deeper into the six principles of morality I offered in NW and use those principles as a frame of reference from which to view our current world. While these six values are meaningful individually, they are at their best when seen through the prism of the Life Ethic. This Life Ethic is the core metaphysical foundation underlying the six principles. The contrast between the values expressed in the Life Ethic and the actions of this current government regime could not be more pronounced.
