Some days it feels as though we are surrounded by fear and anger and judgment and the failed expectations of a generation. There are people who would call those who ask that we practice peace and love, naive and idealistic. That’s fair enough in one sense. Yes, there are bad things, bad actions by people, groups, governments, countries. In this we are not, any of us, naive. But idealism is not a dirty word. It represents hope. And that is what we have to foster for our children and grandchildren. It is vital.
Those calling for love in the face of atrocities and miscommunications
and greed and disappointments are not naive. They are the wise. And that
wisdom is powerful. It is the act of loving understanding and
compassion that is the antidote to anger. It is the antidote to fear and
it is the antidote to despair. To bitterness. To futility. It is the
antidote to divisiveness. And it is the only “rational” response to the
world we have now.
I am going to quote Scott Alexander who said: “I don’t know how to fix the system, but I am pretty sure that one of the ingredients is kindness. I think of kindness not only as the moral virtue of volunteering at a soup kitchen or even of living your life to help as many other people as possible, but also as an epistemic virtue. Epistemic kindness is kind of like humility. Kindness to ideas you disagree with. Kindness to positions you want to dismiss as crazy and dismiss with insults and mockery. Kindness that breaks you out of your own arrogance, makes you realize the truth is more important than your own glorification, especially when there’s a lot at stake.”
There was a time after 9/11 when Canadians desperately attempted to explain to our younger siblings, the Americans, that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and they didn’t really need to invade it. They didn’t listen to us of course but the point is, we Canadians were sane then. Whatever has happened?
No matter what the issue, We can observe. Not absorb the hysteria. That is the difference. Observe, support, work towards whatever we believe in, bridge the gaps of understanding most importantly, but we cannot absorb such nonsense of divisive politics and judgment. We have to remember who we are. Canadians. We are a peaceful people. We make peace. We are neighbours.
IMHO We do not need any more social justice warriors. We need social justice peacemakers. This does not mean giving up ground or gains achieved or goals but an understanding that the present and the future needs to be negotiated with good will at its heart between all sides. And though sometimes this is not possible when some are incapable of good will because they are lost in anger and righteousness, absorbing that is incalculably damaging. Observe. Forgive and if necessary move on.
Loving kindness is the simple solution to a complicated world with complicated issues.
I am going to quote Scott Alexander who said: “I don’t know how to fix the system, but I am pretty sure that one of the ingredients is kindness. I think of kindness not only as the moral virtue of volunteering at a soup kitchen or even of living your life to help as many other people as possible, but also as an epistemic virtue. Epistemic kindness is kind of like humility. Kindness to ideas you disagree with. Kindness to positions you want to dismiss as crazy and dismiss with insults and mockery. Kindness that breaks you out of your own arrogance, makes you realize the truth is more important than your own glorification, especially when there’s a lot at stake.”
There was a time after 9/11 when Canadians desperately attempted to explain to our younger siblings, the Americans, that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and they didn’t really need to invade it. They didn’t listen to us of course but the point is, we Canadians were sane then. Whatever has happened?
No matter what the issue, We can observe. Not absorb the hysteria. That is the difference. Observe, support, work towards whatever we believe in, bridge the gaps of understanding most importantly, but we cannot absorb such nonsense of divisive politics and judgment. We have to remember who we are. Canadians. We are a peaceful people. We make peace. We are neighbours.
IMHO We do not need any more social justice warriors. We need social justice peacemakers. This does not mean giving up ground or gains achieved or goals but an understanding that the present and the future needs to be negotiated with good will at its heart between all sides. And though sometimes this is not possible when some are incapable of good will because they are lost in anger and righteousness, absorbing that is incalculably damaging. Observe. Forgive and if necessary move on.
Loving kindness is the simple solution to a complicated world with complicated issues.
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