Think in a circle.
Last edited Wed Jun 10, 2020, 09:21 PM - Edit history (3)
The mother of a good friend of mine when I was growing up was very wise. She was a beautiful good hearted woman, who always said you could judge a man by how he treats animals and children. She was quiet, as light as a bird, and she had guts, determination, compassion, and humility. I was privileged to know her at all.
One thing that she used to say was “think in a circle.” She also used to say “never take away a man’s dignity.“
To think in a circle means to recognize human interactions are not linear; they are not simple action and reaction. They are circular, with actions and responses that build on each other, responses that bring counter- responses, feedback loops. Cause and effect rotate around each other like the chicken and egg.
The simplistic worldview of right wingers and of Americans in general depends on shortsighted linear thinking. As if there will be no response when people are pressured, punished, abused, put in corners, over-policed, or attacked. As if it was possible to take away a person’s dignity without consequence.
Rightwingers think that crime can be solved with severe punishment, that danger can be solved with guns. That not wearing a mask is fine if you aren’t old or in a high risk category.
Democrats get accused of over complicating issues. Republicans are guilty of constantly oversimplifying. I’m not sure how much of it is attributable to intentional messaging techniques, how much to educational deficiencies, and how much is just the way their brains work.
Balance is a key to happiness. You can’t keep suppressing part of the population without it coming back to haunt you. You can’t keep suppressing the ideas and power of half of the voting public without your government getting out of balance. Trying to “win everything” at the expense of others creates resentment and desperation. Like in the movie Parasite, obscene wealth creates a violent and desperate underclass because such drastic inequality is itself a type of violence. Taking away a person’s dignity, depriving people of an opportunity for education, stealing their votes, and making them like desperate hamsters on a spinning wheel without rest in a gig economy — these behaviors make some people rich and other people powerful, but they also create a society that cannot support a balanced or healthy future for America.
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