Sidebar
This is an old revision of the document!
Problems / Solutions
added per request of Beth 10/30/17
Problem: People are all different.
This is both a problem and part of the solution. We are where we are because we pay lip service to the importance of individuality, but we don't really value it. We do not take full advantage of what everyone has to offer. We tend to limit our admiration to those who “succeed” in the system, and this dispite the fact that their success often means our loss.
Likewise, we do not identify those who are destructive to society and to each of us personally. I have thought a lot about this since I have had close friends and family members whom I consider to have antisocial character structure. The Sociopath Nest Door by Martha Stout is a good read for opening one's perspective. She says that 4% of the population fits the criteria. That's one in 25 people that you know. I would suggest it ranges from Bill Cosby to Bernie Madoff. They are smart, charming and completely without conscience. We love them. We trust them. We follow their lead. We vote for them.
This is one aspect of the larger problem of how and why we got to the edge of the precipice over which we now peer.
Solution:
Firstly we have to be willing to recognize the problem. Then we have to be on the alert. We need to appreciate our own ideas and talents, even when they don't make us rich or famous. And we need to question the motives of anyone who is charming and pleasing to be around. We have to stop contracting-out our judgements, just as we must stop voting for other people to represent us. They never will.
But as well, we need to listen to people who express different opinions and desires. Even very different ones. Because somehow we have to all live together.
