We are all
frightened daily by news we hear regarding the state of the world, frightened
by glimpses of problems seemingly too big to be solved. Panic does nothing to
help, it merely gives us the impulse to run away. Sometimes it gives us that
initial jolt of adrenaline, but our inability to conceive of a path of action
eventually causes us to turn away.
It is the fight
or flea impulse--with which we are all familiar—on a societal level. We mostly
choose flight, we avoid doing anything, and so choose to live in a bubble and
pretend that we are safe in it. Turning inward is society’s equivalent of
flight. And when some demagogue comes around and plays upon our fears, then
society turns to the fight impulse. Whatever grand delusions we have about
ourselves being individuals, creatures on par with lions, we are herd creatures
that succumb to the common mind when we are troubled. We gather around, afraid
to wander too far from the herd. Humans don’t do this physically but intellectually.
When we become frightened, we constrict our thoughts so that they do not
stray too far from the herd mentality. It is how we are designed as a species
and an area of study too little researched as of yet, at least by those who
would seek to do good with the results. I suspect advertisers and special
interest groups could give us insights into such behavior, though they use such
knowledge for personal gain.
Many adult human
beings have experienced the urge to fight or flee, at least on a personal
level. To truly mature into a well-functioning adult means you are able to
overcome to a good degree those baser impulses of fight or flee. You learn
wisdom, real wisdom, understanding that such basic reflexes can often lead you
astray. You have learned that to accomplish the goals you wish to accomplish
you must set aside your fears and work with a fixed determination towards those
goals, putting aside your fear and anger. Those fears never go away but you
learn to identify them for what they are and keep them in check when you start
to notice them influencing your behavior in a negative way.
Perhaps society
too is in the process of maturing, of learning how to gain control over such a
herd mentality of fear and anger that so often leads us into war and financial
disaster. It certainly doesn’t feel like that now, it seems the world is in
utter chaos, and the best thing we can do is either to confront things with
violence or else flee from attempting to deal with the situation at all. Here
is an alternate viewpoint, one which I think appeals more to the adult in us,
mature creatures living in an increasingly mature society, despite whatever
fears and doubts we may harbor.
Our era already
has a good idea of the problems it has to face, it is merely taking its time to
gather its courage. It is taking its time, too, to make sure it deals with the
pressing problems of its day not merely with courage but with wisdom. Courage
alone is how people of a century ago faced their problems and it created world
wars. We today know we cannot confront our obstacles in such a manner. As
frightening and destructive as the technology was then, our advances will make
such an approach the end of human civilization.
So we wait and we
debate. We wait although emotion and passion pulses strongly within our veins.
We wait as Hamlet once waited in order to ensure that balance is once again
restored.
We tread
cautiously because we have seen the danger of courage unbound by humility. That
does not make us weak, it makes us wise.
That might seem
like an unrealistically optimistic view of the situation as it now stands. All dramatic
turnarounds begin in such a manner. That is how it is done. Humanity must put
the skids on and come to a decision about where our lives are heading and then
make adult decisions about how we want to spend our lives from here on out. It
happens with individuals everyday. A drug addict decides to quit or seek
treatment, an overweight person decides to get his eating under control, a
worker decides upon a career path that will lead him to a degree of success.
People turn their lives around all the time. So will society once it admits to
the situation it now finds itself.
It will begin
with individuals, deciding a change has to take place. These individuals will
encounter like-minded others and be encouraged and assisted by them. And once
it has hit a critical mass, that herd mentality that has been resisting the
change that must come will suddenly become its greatest asset.
It will come. It
has to come. We are ready because we must be ready. We wish to be more, we all
do. We want a society that is equitable, a society that nurtures the best
aspects of human beings. We have great things inside us and we all want a
chance to let them grow. It’s time now, we are adults who are ready to live our
lives. We are a race that has seen too much mindless bloodshed and indifference
to our fellow man.
It has begun. Minds
all over the world are locked into a commitment to a better world. This is not
like the adolescent well-meaning but immature rumblings of the 1960s. This is
the maturation of the human species that does not want to be an addict or a
screw up any longer. This is not believing, it is doing. It has begun.
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