Thanks to every amathiac who has failed to take action against the move to the right that started in the 1980s, the world now feels like it is on the verge of war (and I am accessing my past life memories of the preludes to war that I have experienced [especially in past lives as a ciswoman] when I make that statement).
The direct trigger is, if that sense is correct, the appalling attack by violent extremists from Gaza who I refuse to give publicity by naming - who were reacting to the right wing drift and resultant abusive actions of Israel after an assassination and illness ended the chance of peace in the 90s, and the massively abusive reaction of Israel now.
Terror for terror for terror ad infinitum.
We almost broke the cycle there, but now ... an eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind ... or dead.
We also almost broke the cycle of abusing workers in the mid-20th century ... until neoliberalism and the amathiac tools who got sucked in to that evil philosophy got busy - which created conditions that meant fascism could recur.
In all of these cases, a few people with more power than they should have are the ones who start driving conditions for the worse.
It would be nice to say we’ve also got a few powerful individuals driving things towards a better state of the world, but we don’t.
That means it is up to every single one of us - the “everyday people” of the world, a phrase that confounds academics, to stand up in every conversation and plant a seed for a better world.
Don’t contribute to the psychic soup of hate, bigotry, intolerance, cynicism, corruption, other character flaws, and other forms of evil.
Give strangers the benefit of the doubt instead of assuming they are operating in bad faith, don’t be afraid of nuance (shades of grey), and argue for tolerance.
It might be as simple as, when someone says something judgemental, responding with “I disagree”, or “I think there’s more to it than that”, or even “I'll keep my opinions to myself”.
But don’t let evil go unchallenged - we need to be upstanders, rather than bystanders.
There is one exception, at the moment:
Gaza
Feelings are too inflamed on both sides by people who, in many cases in nations outside of West Asia, are helpless sock puppets to hate.
Pity them - don’t hate them. If you hate them you are just feeding the masters who are controlling the helpless, weak minded sock puppets.
The other thing to keep in mind is, if war does spread - and it could spread widely, given what is happening in Ukraine (Zelensky needs to accept an imperfect stalemate for the pragmatic sake of the rest of the world, unfortunately), what could happen in Taiwan and/or the South China Sea, we have to think what sort of world we want to rebuild.
The climate crisis will probably take some of that choice out of our hands - and definitely our choices will be extremely limited if we wind up in a nuclear, but ... if you are one of the survivors, you will need to be prepared to be COURAGEOUS, OUTSPOKEN, and UPSTANDING enough to not be duped by the rich & powerful, not chase material wealth, not allow patriarchy (or matriarchy), and actively allow, welcome, and embrace diversity of people, as that is the ONLY way we will find the solutions we will need as a species in order to survive.
You may not have the chance to pursue your life goals and ambitions: if that is so, try to make sure others can chase decent goals instead - others in our future.
So, work at being a good ancestor now - someone who was progressive, and contributed to a better (more progressive) world.
PS - after I posted the above, the following turned up, which is relevant and more positively framed:
https://tthorncoyle.substack.com/p/on-culture-change
but also
“One Theory [“systems justification”] Explains Why We Can't Have Nice Things” https://www.okdoomer.io/one-obscure-psycholtheory-explains-why-we-cant-have-nice-things/ - see also https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/social-justice-pacifists/202106/theory-system-justification-pr-cis, https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/systems-justification-theory, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=System_justification&oldid=1181918077, and https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv13qfw6w
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Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk.
