Politicians, influencers, specialists and the whole patriarchal history of life in war, needs to think about how we might survive into a sustainable world. First we need wisdom. Second we need to recognize how fear of admitting mistakes hurt our chances for survival.
Thinking is not the same as doing and admitting where we have made mistakes makes us targets for ridicule. Much easier to talk about what others are doing wrong.
How bipedal creatures with a life span of 80 years destroy hope for the future is mostly about beliefs and values. It shouldn't be but we get stuck here and can't seem to see the big picture.
We as represented in corporate media, politics and religion are trapped by our stories, reluctant to simply shrug and focus on today. So how can we liberate ourselves from self-delusion? We can't! We can self-interrogate but this doesn't mean we will be free of delusion tomorrow.
Do we really want to see ourselves as others see us? Are others clear of their own self-delusion and do they want to dismiss "the other" in a way that makes us feel good?
Beware of generalizations that smear the other. I remember receiving a call from a man who did not identify himself before saying "you don't have the authority to do this." What was it "I" was doing? Writing newspaper columns on history using materials from the museum? Working for a group of seniors creating programs on history? Multi-cultural conversations bringing people of different backgrounds and religions together? Identifying feminist conversations?
At that time, women were targets of criticism and verbal attacks if they expressed ideas for changing conversations about the role of women in the world. That's not to say this community was misogynist. This was a community run by Christian traditional views that emphasized men as head of the family. Men as the authority on right and wrong.
Human societies have established hierarchies, pecking orders, but do not talk about it or reason with it.
Humans are ruled by unspoken values that allow us to believe we are right and that all is well. We leave our beds and go into the world with this confidence until somebody challenges us.
We tell ourselves we are strong. We can tackle the constant messages from "out there" telling us more than we want to know, telling us we are not always right, we don't know everything, we don't know anything. Shut up and go back to bed!
The best thing about our species is this. WE DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING. WE ARE NOT ALWAYS STRONG. WE ARE FLEXIBLE. WE HAVE MORE TO LEARN. WE ARE CAPABLE OF COMPASSION. WE CAN CRY, FEEL GUILT, EMBARRASSMENT AND SAY SORRY! AND ALTHOUGH WE HAVE CONSTRUCTED COMPLEX SOCIETIES. We cannot assume anything! But the most valuable tool in the kit, is, love. It binds us through emotion as long as we are not trained to dismiss our vulnerability.
WE ARE CAPABLE OF LOVE, SELF DOUBT AND COMPASSION! That is our strength.
Well that's my opinion anyway.
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