We hear it all the time, don’t we? Our political system is corrupt, we are ruining our environment, there is too much violence. We lament the hunger and poverty that many of us are experiencing. We say we want to live in a prosperous and peaceful world. We want a world based on humane values…love thy neighbor. And we ask how did it get this bad. Many say we are on the verge of destroying ourselves. I know I have been concerned about the state of our political system, race relations, the climate, the epidemic of violence, and the killing of innocent people by law enforcement. I hear us lament about how bad it is. And I, like many of us, am asking how can we get out of this situation.
I believe that many of our problems as a society can be traced back to our wrong ideas about how we should conduct ourselves as human beings, and how we should treat each other.
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Wrong Idea 1-We are on our own…wholly separate and apart from one another.
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Wrong Idea 2- There is not enough. Therefore some must go without.
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Wrong Idea 3- We must compete rather than cooperate to get our share.
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Wrong Idea 4-Some people are better than others.
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And, Wrong Idea 5- When conflict inevitably occurs as a result of our wrong ideas, it is acceptable to kill.
In my opinion, almost all of the maladies we face as human beings can be attributed to our wrong ideas about each other and the world we live in. We have been socialized into accepting these ideas as the truth and that we should conform to them. We learn it in churches, temples, synagogues, mosques. We learn it in school. We learn it at the dinner table and on the playground.
We accept them as our reality. We have come to believe that living this way with these ideas will make us secure, safe, prosperous, and able to live with one another. And we have created a way of being that reinforces them. But I think we can agree that given the current situation, these ideas have failed us miserably. By almost any measure as human beings, many of us feel more afraid, more insecure, and certainly less safe. And for many, we are living paycheck to paycheck trying to survive.
The truth is these wrong ideas have been useful and beneficial to a powerful few. Although most of us have learned to live by them, very few of us reap the benefits. If you are a straight white male in America, the chances are very high that these ideas can work for you because it is the white male patriarchy with the help of religious dogma that has sponsored them. Now I am not suggesting that all white men are morally corrupt. But white males sit at the top of the human food chain. They step into a world that is theirs and therefore have power. How do these wrong ideas show up in our everyday life?
Rugged Individualism- We celebrate the idea that one can make it on their own. Pulling yourself by your own bootstraps is the best way to be. We look upon those we consider vulnerable… the poor, the homeless, the marginalized with callousness and often contempt. It is considered a sin to need help and more of a sin to ask for it. We call them grifters, welfare cheats, frauds, and deadbeats.
We look with pride at the robber barons, those who employed “any means necessary” to get ahead, unless they were a person of color. Then they are considered criminals and are treated as such. The current situation with our former president is an example. Most right-thinking people know about his crimes. The facts are clear. And he has admitted to most of them because in his world he is entitled. In his mind, it is OK to sexually abuse women, to lie about his taxes, to create schemes that cheat people, to commit adultery, and to discriminate against those who do not look like him. His primary interest is himself.
And a large portion of our society honors him and respects him because he does those things. They see him as a powerful leader and support his political aspirations. The vast majority of the 1% are white males with wealth and power like the former president. Self-interest is a powerful motivator and should be respected. But in the words of a powerful prophet, If I am for myself only, then what am I? Perhaps this is a question we should ask ourselves. What are we? And does it get us the peace and prosperity we crave?
Wrong idea two in my next post.
The Everybody as Our Own Movement is bold, audacious, courageous, elegant, compassionate and ethical. Let’s start the wave and create an Everybody as Our Own nation.
You Are Welcome Here.
Lutricia (Pat) Callair