This originally appeared on my political blog at https://politicalmusingsofkayleen.blogspot.com/2021/09/a-plea-for-ideology-free-character-ei.html.
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In my opinion, a major part of the problem with denialist and other anti-lockdown fantasists is flawed thinking. Loss of trust is a key part also, true, but if the denialists were thinking clearly and understanding their emotions, they would understand that they have wrongly conflated expert medical advice with all government pronouncements, whereas those that are enacting expert medical advice are different.
This happens for two reasons, also IMO:
- Parents being unable to break free of the conditioning they had which limits their emotional intelligence (EI) and ability to think clearly;
- Education
systems that have been poisoned by ideology - neochristianity for
millennia, neoliberalism over the last four decades, and a general
warped view that - effectively - people are economic cogs and nothing
else ... which is shown particularly by every single teacher who is
uncomfortable with the notion of teaching EI and/or clear thinking (both of which lead to a better character) in schools.
We need better education - and it is going to take three generations before such change is embedded into society, so, allowing for lobbying time beforehand, this may take a century or more.
We don't have that much time, so adults are also going to have be taught these traits.
The good news is, many either have these traits, or are open to them. It is the minority that have been most damaged by ideology that most need - and most deserve - help on thee aspects.
Trying to provide that help in the midst of an inflamed, combative situation is obviously not going to work, but as soon as we get out the other side of the pandemic, we - the human species - need to start working on this.
