Conspiracy theories seem to be quite popular these days – ranging across the spectrum from religion, politics through to historical events. If this interests you (and you have 2 hours to spare!) then the film ‘Zeitgeist’ might appeal (see the end of this article for the embedded video).
Personally I don’t need conspiracy theories or elite underworlds to explain the state of the world. I also don’t need alien or divine intervention to explain it.
We did it ourselves!
Obviously we didn’t create the world itself but we did create the state much of it’s in now. It took many generations to build our societies, our nations, our cities, mines, armies and populations but it is our current generations who are responsible for maintaining and improving them. Humankind created many truly wonderful things we can be rightly proud of but we also created poverty, crime, war, violence and much of the suffering around us.
I know the causes of the suffering are neither simple nor easy to fix. I guess many of us have our pet projects, our own opinions about what to do and differing levels of motivation for action.
The first, and I believe the most important, step is to take responsibility.
They did it
They created poverty, crime, war, violence and much of the suffering around us
It may be comforting to take the position of righteous indignation and blame others for the things I don’t like, but that approach doesn’t much change anything. Even if it’s true, this way of tackling the issues often puts them on the defensive. There’s also a risk of putting myself into a ‘victim’ position if I’m passing responsibility onto them.
It’s also rarely clear who they are anyway!
Clearly there are some people who are doing things we’d all be better off without (apart from them, presumably, or they wouldn’t be doing it) and, while it might be tempting to use guilt or even violence to change things, I don’t believe it’s effective in the long run.
What I can do is put my energy into getting my message across in a way that’s most likely to be heard and understood. That means trying to avoid criticism, aggression or taking a moral high ground as that will only get the same response back. I can attempt dialogue, mutual understanding, gaining co-operation and working on problems together. And there may be times when I’m prepared to use force to protect life – but not as an instrument of fear or coercion.
I’m not claiming this is easy – especially when they don’t want to listen and when they are using aggression. But using those same tactics to effect change is to become them.
We did it
We created poverty, crime, war, violence and much of the suffering around us
I recognise that I am part of the problem – and so am also likely to be part of the solution. Included in this way of thinking is a strand of criticism – after all you are part of the we and so you created it too. That’s fine if we’re in agreement but not if you disagree.
There’s amazing value though in collective action as a group carries more weight than the individual and a sense of community can be a very powerful thing. They are more likely to listen (in fact they are part of the we) and we bring more ideas to the table.
What I can do is put my energy into building a common cause, persuading and mobilising others.
I did it
I created poverty, crime, war, violence and much of the suffering around me
Is it true?
It may not be the whole ‘truth’ but isn’t it at least as true as the previous versions of the quote? There’s a risk I take upon myself the burden of all the problems and collective guilt of the world. On the other hand I find an incredible power for getting off my backside and doing something when I take personal responsibility (= ability to respond?).
I created – or at least contribute to maintaining – the problems, so it’s up to me to fix them.
Here my focus is on changing myself and the things in my life I have direct control or influence over. I look for the areas of my life where I create or maintain poverty, crime, war, violence and suffering – and I do something about it.
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ZEITGEIST
for those who enjoy a good conspiracy theory (btw I’m not endorsing any of the views in this movie!)
