What will it take to root out hate and violence everywhere?
Tragic instances of hate-motivated violence invariably precipitate various calls for action. Most recently there is a call for a national summit on Islamophobia. In the call there is lacking what the content of the summit should be and what a summit on the topic is anticipated to accomplish. In lieu of knowing what else to do, a call for a summit is better than no call at all. Perhaps. Sadly, the call serves only to draw attention to a problem that has existed since forever. Solving a problem involves first defining it and then knowing what to do. And, despite current and past events, when the defining and knowing are determined, we human beings are very good at fixing what is troubling us. However, our desire to do so is required. If we wanted to solve the problem, Im about to define, that is manifested through hate-motivated violence we would have solved it 3,000 years ago when the Chinese philosopher, Laozi, described a virtuous life as a life lived in harmony. Every philosopher and prophet since then, has had this as the central theme of their message. So its not like we have not been told what the problem is nor how to solve it. For certain, violence and hatred of the other is not a phobia. By clinical definition a phobia is a natural fear that has become exaggerated. For example, it is sensible to be afraid of heights, spiders, snakes and such. It becomes a problem when the fear grows to be debilitating. Those who coined the concept Islamophobia surely did not mean that it is sensible to be afraid of Muslims and it becomes problematic when the fear is exaggerated. Once again here is evidence in support of the contention that words and concepts matter. They matter a lot because they can and do lead to fuzzy, wrong-headed, non-constructive thinking. For example, violence is rooted in hate and intolerance. It is not! Violence is part of the hate and intolerance triumvirate. A very significant distinction insofar as it reveals the three to be a powerful symptom of something else. Something no one wants to acknowledge, hear, read about or fix. For sure they wont hear it because the majority of the media is very aware of the sensibilities of its consumers. Specifically, they are very much aware that the majority is a significant part of this persistent global problem. This includes equally both victims and perpetrators, roles which have and continue to shift back and forth over time. The underlying problem, the root cause of violence, hate and intolerance is that most of the world is developmentally stuck at the tribal stage perspective. Consequently, the global population is not divided or polarized. The majority are card-carrying members of a tribe of which there are many. And membership requires subscribing to the specific tribes beliefs, values and ways of behaving. Hatred, intolerance, prejudice and then violently acting these out are some examples of tribal membership requirements. No one. Not one elected official or media outlet so far does. So, since before the time of Laozi the problem persists. A solution to this long ago acknowledged, but suppressed problem definition, would start with a call to hold an International Summit on Obstructed Developmental Potential. The outcome of the proceedings would then precipitate another International Summit on the Activation of Every Childs Innate Developmental Potential Through Education. But then again, no summit is required to speak the unspeakable that the world is tribal. Only courage is required. Also, no summit is required to identify that most of our global educational systems have failed miserably to activate the innate developmental potential with which every child is born. And no summit is required to discern how to do it. There are many in the world in possession of the knowledge and skills. All they need is the mandate, to do what needs to be done. Last but not least, no summit is required to confirm that good behaviour cannot be legislated. That there is no stamping out of hatred and that there is no meaning to standing shoulder to shoulder with victims. Informed, sustained purposeful work will produce the fix which no commandments, laws, rules or force ever has. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...