I'm exhausted by the labels that force us into corners of a metaphorical political boxing ring.
"In this corner, the Democrats! And in that corner, the Republicans! Which side are YOU on in this epic battle to maintain the status quo?!"
I believe we've all been duped by this narrative. I believe we've been duped into picking sides, always framed in gross dualism:
"Are you on the red team or the blue team?"
"If you don't think capitalism is working, then you must be for communism."
"Are you for abortion/gun rights/immigration reform/etc or against it?"
Never any nuance allowed. If you suggest nuance, they cry "then you aren't for our side at all!"
I believe that the current mainstream paradigm, the worldview that upholds our current societal structure, is starting to crack. For example, we were born into the story of "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps!" and so we believe that it is fair for Jeff Bezos to have billions of dollars because he "earned" it.
Our minds are so powerful - take the placebo effect, for example. We are told that if we take this pill, it will heal us. Time and again, the placebo effect has been proven an actual phenomenon. The power of the mind.
That same power of the mind allows us to be born into a story of "how things are" in the world, and we believe it to be reality. Our minds are so powerful, they uphold that story as "truth." That's how powerful belief is! But in actuality, we could be living out a very different story... one that isn't capitalism or communism, but something new and evolved. A story that uses technology to bring good to all people. A story where we don't have to bottle up clean water and sell it back to people for profit, but where we ensure that everyone has access to clean water. We need to imagine what a more just and beautiful world looks like, and then work together to make it the new reality. We need to have nuanced conversations about it. We need to re-frame the story to one where everyone has their individual rights, and also, we see that we are an inter-connected ecosystem that must work together, lest we kill off our species. Seriously. In my next blog post, I'll share a metaphor for a new story of reality that really speaks to me.
Have a great day!
p.s. Here is an example of something in our current story that confuses me:
Flint Michigan is having a water crisis in which people have no clean water.
Nestle is pumping 400 gallons/minute of clean water out of Michigan (paying a $200 fee), and then putting the water in bottles to sell to....the people of Flint, Michigan? All of us who rely on clean water to survive? Here is a link to an article about it.
How does this make any sense?
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