There is a deep need in this world to take a long hard look at how we communicate with each other. And even more importantly, how we communicate with ourselves.
Good communication is about good thinking. It is a form of creativity but also an awareness of how knowledge works and views are formulated.
I am often astounded about how tightly people hold on to their beliefs and how little they like to be probed about them. This is who they are. Identities and nations and religions and other ideologies have been built around this refusal to be questioned.
It is easier to accept things as they are. Lets drink and dance and laugh and watch movies and be happy and positive. Lets rely on others to do the heavy lifting. Let others create our systems and infrastructures. And lets complain about it when things are not always pleasant in the world, when there are some warped distortions in disneyland.
Lets go watch comedians turn these complaints into jokes. It is always safe to rely on an hour of comedy to have exclusive rights to saying what is true. We are shocked with the absurdities presented, so we look at each other and laugh. This is what causes laughter. Laughter becomes a convenient escape. A drug.
After the show is over (or youtube clip for the adhd:ers) we can go back to living out our dishonest lives where we drug ourselves to manipulate our states and then justify it all with “but I enjoy it.” We smile and play nice and pretend all is fine.
That is, until some asshole like me comes along to tear apart everything you thought was true.
All those things mentioned above are good of course. There’s no harm in laughter and pleasure. These are essential ingredients to a good life. Even survival. Right? Not entirely.
There is great harm. And the risks for not being aware of this harm are enormous.
The refusal to engage in honest conversation with one another and ourselves (nor having the skills to do so) is really the epitome of everything that is wrong in human society around the globe, on all levels from individual, family and as a whole species.
We have problems. Big problems.
War. Violence. Poverty. Oppression. Misery. Depression. Disease.
The problem is you. And me.
That is a big claim. The biggest claim of all because it is a direct attack on YOU and your character which is the very fabric of our world. Not something external or some arbitrary “they” somewhere out there.
I want to provide an argument for this outrageous claim that witholds scrutiny of the highest standard. I am writing this as much for myself as anyone. I want to test whether this is a viable way to move forwards in life. And the only way to test ANY claim is with our power of reasoning.
And just to be clear, I am also other people. I am the problem. I am you. We are society. We are the world. It is NOT something out there. It is right here, right now.
There is a saboteur inside and he doesn’t like change. I have lived the first 35 years of my life letting that evil bastard run the show. I have been through the swamps. Depression. Addiction. Narcissism. Lies, lies, lies. I have manipulated myself to where I am.
I no longer want to live this way. I am done with all the lies.
I have been a terrible person. Maybe one of the most evil humans who has ever lived. Not in what I have done but what I have failed to do.
But I am also a saint. An angel.
Behind it all I am just a creature surviving and as a conscious being, understanding and exploring what is possible. This often involves discovering my own limitations which can be quite disheartening.
Hitler and Jesus are both within each and everyone of us. We must take responsibility for the shit happening around us and in the world. But the good also. Things are getting better and worse at the same time. Our freedom always comes with a price. (There is data to suggest things are getting better and not worse overall but I am skeptical and will tell you why).
Ultimately freedom and world peace is possible. I know that sounds naive and crazy. That is the other outrageous claim I intend to argue for. In fact, it is part of the previous claim where I said YOU are the problem.
You are also the solution.
Maybe I will force myself into an intellectual corner I cannot get out of. In that case this will have been a useful exercise and I can go back to thinking of other ways to live out my days.
But if you are reading this, it means I made it through to the other side. It is possible that I even survived!
And now you are invited to take the journey I have already taken.
I will wait for you.
But not with you.
And I cannot promise that YOU will survive. In fact, it is very likely that the idea you have of who you really are, will be completely obliterated after you have listened to what I have to say.
You might want to pause and consider going back to the way things are.
Once you see what I will show you, there is no going back.
Your choice.
You are the creator.
You are the destroyer.
You are my god and I am yours.
I hope to meet you on the other side where we can thank each other.