Great Self-Delusion

Photo by Leon Rohrwild on Unsplash

Origins

Corona Virus has brought into stark contrast the reality of life on our planet and the illusion we have that we are in charge. It appears we are not in control of the planet, our environment or the universe.  What we can control is ourselves: our behaviour, thinking and our attitude toward the planet. The origins of our own self-deception dates back to our primitive survival instincts.

Photo by Louis Hansel @shotsoflouis on Unsplash

Back then the environment challenged our ancestors’ ability to overcome invasions, pestilence, disease and starvation. Man is a resilient species and probably will survive future challenges. The problem is, in our effort to control, conquer and progress, we forget that we are not in charge. We have deceived ourselves into thinking that we can do anything with little or no accountability. We have to change our thinking if we hope to overcome the setbacks created by our own delusion.

Priority

If our priority is survival, then we must realize how our lifestyles affect the very effort that makes this happen. Definitions of ‘realize’ are: become fully aware, give reality to, and so forth. What is it that blinds us to the reality we see all around us? The reality that pollution, consumerism, and a need to control sabotages our survival efforts? Are we really unaware or are we living in an unreal bubble? Or are we just plain stupid? If we are unbelievably stupid, will we learn our lesson when we see how stupidly we behave? Will the latest challenge of COVID-19 teach us? A challenge depicted so perfectly in several aspects of our current situation.

The Common Denominator

Depicted in the visual of a boot on the neck of George Floyd cutting off the life-giving oxygen needed to breathe. Is Covid putting the boot to humanity’s neck, cutting off our supply of oxygen to get our attention? What of the visuals of overcrowded hospitals running out of oxygen for COVID-19 patients. Or the sea-life dying from pollution and unable to produce the very oxygen humanity needs to breathe! The visual of the depleted rain-forests cut down for our needs, no longer supplying oxygen to the very hand wielding the axe.

It strikes me as strange that we cannot do simple maths to work this out? Are we bent on mindless destruction for the sake of destroying?  What will it take to learn this most vital lesson, that we are the greatest threat to our future and that we have to learn to live with viruses? It all depends on the level of our concern and respect for all life on the planet.

Photo by Lucien Lumumba on Unsplash

Water

We often hear that water is so vital to survival that future wars will be for water supplies. This is already happening in some African countries that threaten war over water.  However, water and people need oxygen to exist: no oxygen, no water, no oxygen, no soldiers to fight any wars! We put the cart before the horse  – what’s the point worrying about secondary issues when a vital ingredient for them is nowhere in sight? Nature will always restore what man has destroyed. Will man live to see the restoration? Only we can restore within ourselves the proper regard for the planet. We lost our respect for nature when we advanced to current levels of industry, innovation, and exploration. This fooled us into thinking we are invincible.

Lessons

It is so easy to forget that in all that we do and attempt to do, we only advance as much as our natural boundaries have allowed.  As tempting as the idea of boundless exploration and development may be, we have to stop to fix the basics first. I have a mind so I must explore yet, there is so much on this planet to explore and learn about before we try to colonise other planets. We must seek the simple solutions first, before we try to bask in the glory of conquered new planets or try to be the first to land on any other planet. Populating other planets with destructive human beings will not do the universe any good either.We have to walk before we run to achieve and deserve the prize. If we have not taken care of this planet, how will we care for any other we hope to occupy? When we stop deluding ourselves into thinking we can go on as before, where nothing changes in our daily lives, we may still have hope for our children’s future.

Lynda Rogle©

The post Self-Delusion appeared first on lyndaroglebooks.

The saying implies that two separate ideas have the same value, as in a coin where the value is the same regardless of which side is up. However, we often have to turn the coin to see the true value, so too with the idea that entitlement and privilege are the same things.  Are they?

Entitlement

If I am entitled to something it could mean that I have earned it but also that I paid for it. That I assume entitlement to something without ownership or without having earned it, is what I see as privileged, sometimes incorrectly. We say that people who are privileged feel entitled – meaning they have no appreciation for their advantage in life. This can happen because of a lack of exposure to realities other than their own.  It can lead to the perception that privileged people have no empathy for anyone less fortunate than themselves.

Disadvantaged

When we turn the coin, what do we really see? Does privilege entitle and is entitlement reserved for the privileged? What of the entitled disadvantaged people? Is there such a group? Are there people who feel entitled to a better life because of their disadvantages? Something, who knows what, gives them the sense that they need not earn that better life. Hard work is not part of their plan. This group, and yes it exists, will take the shortcuts that can lead to corruption, crime and chaos; very much like the crimes of the entitled privileged. Two sides of the same coin?  So is the problem with advantage and a sense of entitlement, or is it something else? Whether advantaged or disadvantaged, they seem to have the same problem of entitlement.

Privilege

We may have to look to the origins of privilege for an answer. It seems too easy to dismiss this as human nature and that it’s merely that the ‘have-nots’ will always want what the ‘haves’ have.

There is nothing wrong with wanting what we don’t have, there is everything wrong with feelings of entitlement. The privileged class stands on the shoulders of the underprivileged. The very terminology suggests an imbalance. So how is this re-alignment to happen where one side has less and the other has more?  We developed as humans from where the strong become the dominant group.  Where the smarter people outplayed the not so smart, to extreme situations where slavery became the norm in the ancient and the modern world. Society saw itself as humane, even to thinking to enslave meant to care for and also that enslaving would have a civilizing influence on ‘primitive’ people. We have changed little, so I shouldn’t call it developing perhaps we morphed into a more virulent state with the escalating human traffic industry!

Trapezoid

I’m not advocating turning society’s triangle into a trapezoid because this is not in human nature to do so, as there will always be people who reach the peaks of achievement faster than others. Would we not be in a better place, though, if the planet’s nations considered the advantages of a more fair society?

Would it not be better if competition took a back seat to allow the world’s inhabitants, human and non-human including vegetable, some breathing space.

Why not focus on innovation, co-operation, and survival, instead of who must dominate and how?  Will COVID-19 teach us this? Can we not try the practical route instead of the philosophical idealism, which seems ever unattainable? Can we not mint a new coin where the two sides are labor and unity which will stand for working together for a new world!

Lynda Rogle©

The post Entitlement and Privilege appeared first on lyndaroglebooks.

Symptomatic

If this is so, what condition are they a symptom of? Perhaps the condition of a sick society infected by a lack of genuine love? God created man to love him, to serve him and to be with him in the next life, says the old catechism. The best description of actual love is the well-known biblical verse on the definition of love 1 Cor. Chapter 13. If I took this description of love seriously, I should be less gloomy, right? 

Lost the plot

Be positive, stop being so negative echoes the voices in my mind. Voices of so many well-meaning positive gurus out there. And yet, I still find it hard not to wonder where we went wrong as a society. Have we lost the plot? If there has been a time in history when we have had more wars on so many fronts, giving rise to so many genocides and so much abuse of the weak by the strong, then I know nothing! The abuse, sexual and otherwise, is not unique to Hollywood. It is a pandemic that overwhelms even the most hardened stoic.

Actual Value

Related

With the groundswell of opposition to denuding of forests, rampant consumerism of natural resources, driven by big business greed for more and more power, most of us know that we have discarded real values for the very ‘needs’ of humanity, that are in reality mere ‘wants’.  We need very little to survive, but we need a great deal to satisfy our lust for wanting more of the same day in and day out. What’s this to do with sexuality? Well, just about everything! The two things are relatable. It reflects our general attitude  – a lack of nurture whether it be nature, environment or people.

REVERENCE

The Zulu greeting ‘Sawubona’ shows us the first step in reverencing the other person at the first meeting and every other time you meet someone. ‘I see you’ acknowledges the other person’s very existence.  Have we traded our respect for each other for pseudo-sophistication? If we truly saw in each other the dignified life embodied in each person, we would think twice about disrespecting or ignoring their humanity. The veneer of sophistication appears to be super thin when we descend to the lowest human depravity which is child abuse.

Transactional

Disregard for the other by devaluing their worth and reducing people to transactional entities, ‘what do I get out of this situation?’ IS THE ROOT OF ALL OUR PROBLEMS! The wanting never stops! We cannot separate it from who we are as a society, starting with family and how we relate to each other. The glue that keeps a family strong, confident and progressive is trust, sincerity, openness and kindness. However, often we confuse our children by doing things that lose us their trust. Instead, we teach them to be secretive and we show them cruelty rather than that rare ‘milk of human kindness’?

Poor Role Model

The man who sexually assaults a vulnerable person was probably taught that he must always look for ‘what is in it for him’ in any interaction. How often have we not showed this same thing to our children when we say, ‘Don’t be stupid. Make sure you get what you deserve or, there is nothing for nothing and there is no such thing as a free lunch!’ All wonderful advice, you may say, but there lies the seed of Narcissus. We teach them it’s all about me, me, me!

Power Games

This thinking has been acceptable for centuries, and despite periods of enlightened thinking, it keeps repeating. From periods of serfdom, slavery and when primitive people developed into a fairly civilised society, there has always been a class of people who we treat less than human; the stronger, more powerful group dominate. What is it in our psyche that drives this behaviour? Has pseudo civilisation hidden abuse so well that it is this dirty dark secret at home, at work and in society at large? The power-play remains the same – I have the power you must submit. Can we ever change?

‘Oh dear, how morbid can you get?’ that small voice in my head again! The scene before me has changed from calm and balmy to choppy and cool. The sound of the crashing waves is less soothing. A light aircraft flies by, perhaps on a rescue mission or tourists on a day out. Life goes on and perhaps that is all there is to it? Life being life.

And now it has become decidedly cooler. Time to go inside to my cosy nest? A sign perhaps that if by now you have read this far you may agree with most, that perhaps I am too negative? That I should embrace the joys of life more? Perhaps your sunny and positive disposition needs a dose of cool reality?

Tipping Point

Whatever your personal philosophy, the reality of the sexual abuse tipping point – along with the global shift in the balance of powers, notwithstanding the prevailing madness of powerful leaders – has within it the seeds of a monumental wake-up call for humanity; a call that the time has come for restoring the fundamental actual values that promote sustainable human development.

Self-Destructive

Values that are not self-destructive or planet destructive; values crucial to preserving the planet and humanity.  If you love your neighbour you will respect his home and yours, planet earth, too. It starts at home. Respect the people in your life and really love your children because loving anyone requires respect for them first; that I see you respect.

Conundrum

So what is this sexual conundrum? We have to start by looking at early human societal practices for acceptance of our sexuality as natural and necessary for the continued existence of the species. Humans have instinctively always known the importance of preserving the species before sexual practice, even had a name. But how to present this to children without turning it into something dark and secret, and unspoken. Huh, I hear you say, that horse left the stable centuries ago.

History

There are centuries of history of child abuse. These days we have bombarded them with so much sexual innuendo, as if sex were something secret and nasty, that they have no compunction treating it so in speech and action. That is why you the modern, enlightened parent have to be open. Encourage a conversation where we answer questions honestly, so that the child has the confidence to confide any concerns. We can only do this when a child is sure that he can trust the parent. The most diabolical thing to do is to betray that trust with abuse!

Divine Gift

We have to combine the acceptance of sex as natural and good with respect for each other. Unless we do, we will misuse and abuse our sexuality. We do this to the detriment of society and personally, by losing our sense of identity, our sense of value and our sense of personhood. We lose when we do not acknowledge that our sexuality is precious. Precious because we have it as privilege to co-create with the Divine Creator as something to venerate as a divine gift.  We should hold it in high regard, second only to real love. It is when we squander divine gifts with abuse and demean our neighbour through these gifts, that we turn on ourselves.

Change

And now it really is quite cool and choppy, despite a clear sky and bright sunshine. Another conundrum? So, what can we take away from all this? I think the only way forward, to begin with, is to start with you and me. To make a change it starts here and now with us, by talking about it, then doing something, anything to help breathe cleaner, fresh air into a polluted situation.

Weapons for Battle

Honesty, respect and integrity, develop trust, understanding and confidence for the child. Armed with these children can stand their ground in any sexual circumstance unless very young and helpless. The sexuality conundrum does not have to be one. We have to choose – genuine love or self-hatred because it is only when we cannot love ourselves that we cannot love or respect the other.

 Lynda Rogle©

The post The Sexuality Conundrum appeared first on lyndaroglebooks.