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Nothing Has Changed (Or the Courage to Cease to Insist)

30 Comments

Nothing has changed

Some time ago we did insist on getting privileges
based on the race inherited from our parents

Nothing has changed

Nowadays still we insist on getting privileges
based on the wealth inherited from our parents

Nothing has changed

If in the future we will insist on getting privileges
due to the thinking inherited from our parents

Nothing has changed

Only if today we ceased to insist on getting privileges
through the courage independent of our parents

Something has changed

 

The world produces enough food to feed the planet’s 7 billion-plus people, so why are so many going hungry?* It’s mainly because most hungry people don’t have the resources to grow or buy food.

*1 in 3 people suffer from some form of malnutrition, which means they lack sufficient vitamins and minerals in their diet, which can lead to health issues such as stunted growth in children. Each year, poor nutrition kills 3.1 million children under the age of 5. (http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-global-world-hunger-day-20170528-story.html)

  • Spot on! Most of the chaos we see can be avoided by prioritizing compassion and blissful communal living. When we reduce the society into a battleground of power for the egotistic and narcissistic, ruination is inevitable.

  • I have never road on my parents tails. I have always made my way on my own accord. You earn what you have not count on what your parents have. I remember when my father in law was dying he told my husband, “Your sisters are like vultures sitting on a finish.” I promised myself I would never be a vulture.

    • Thank you for your comment. Yes, the vulture metaphor is a good one. I have also seen “sibling vultures” fighting for even only a couple of dollars, never talking to each other again just because one thought the other had gotten a bit more. That is another example of how much some people prioritize following the money. Because they want to secure privileges money can lend, like a better table in the restaurant?

  • I believe that at least in part this is due to broken spirits. One some levels those who are unable to feed themselves believe that this how it’s supposed to be. I have a friend who lives in the city and was complaining about the costs of food. But even as I offered to help her grow her own she came up a dozen excuses for why it wouldn’t work. She’s not lazy. But she has a defeated spirit and cannot accept anything beyond charity.

    • Hi Lloyd. Great example; thanks a lot for adding that!
      As you say, this person might have given up. I also agree that this isn’t just because of an irreversible/unchangeable “lazy gene” personality predisposition. Instead, the combination of personality with more or less “traumatic” experiences in the past might be the constellation for having learned helplessness. As she has learned to not believe into her, in this case, entrepreneurial ability, even you offering her help is not triggering a pro-active behavior on her side. Likely, she would need more step-by-step boosts in self-esteem before having restored sufficient hope as required for her to become more actively engaged (again).
      In conclusion, we need to prevent people from learning helplessness by providing equal opportunities consistently and from early on. Encouraging all children (not just the ones from privileged families, for example) in finding and pursuing their passion, would be one effective way. The teaching/imposing of the myriad of man-made societal rules targeting the protection of privileges should give place to more promotion of hope and deliberate development of human potential.
      Thanks again for that discussion, and all the best!

  • There was a situation, of which I read, several years ago. Some famine relief workers gathered in Asmera, Eritrea, for a group effort, The firs thing that they experienced was- A sumptuous buffet, followed by the group meeting! This was used to teach them not to feel sorry for the people, but to focus on showing the people how to access the bounty that was present in Eritrea.

    • Excellent story. Thanks a lot for sharing it! I agree that it is healthy and good for all to maintain an ‘Abundance Mindset.’ There is enough food on this earth to easily nourish 8 billion people and more anyway. However, there are two kinds of altruists: The first type brings the fish to the hungry and helps them suffering a bit more comfortably. The second type, in contrast, teaches the hungry how to fish themselves, which is much more sustainable. Unfortunately, the knowledge of how to fish, to remain with this metaphor, is a severely protected privilege today. For example, the sea is taken, and its proprietorship is secured for generations. For me it should belong to all.
      Further, without start capital from Venture Capitalists or Banks, one can’t start a fishing practice him-/herself (unless one is already wealthy). Third, the elite schools who teach how to fish well and who are in contact with the dominant fisheries and sea owners, are expensive and require references from influential people who accept only in-group entrants from other influential families. That’s why we should have the courage to cease to maintain the reinforcement of privileges and reduce respectively by reducing excessive cravings voluntarily.
      Thanks again and all the best!

  • This blog post and the comments remind me again of why I like the “DIY” movement. It embodies the concept that it is possible to Do It Yourself. I think we are taught to forget this by corporations and religions. They each, in their own ways, desperately need us to need them – and to ensure that they get what they need they teach us learned helplessness. As in we are taught to look for an item from a corporation (rather than do it yourself) to not repair an item but to buy a new one. To not create your own ritual but to wait for a priest (etc.). Even with food – many of us would rather wait for food to be delivered to us than to take the same amount of time to make it ourselves. “A slave is someone who is waiting for someone else to free him” Ezra Pound.

    • Thank you so much for your very insightful comment. You are right, and the DIY possibility is a very empowering reminder.
      We even don’t trust our own thoughts and ideas anymore. We are put to shame if we don’t think the way “they” want us to think as consumers of their products and services.
      Thanks again, and all the best!

      • Your comment just now reminded me of a favorite quote by Christopher Morley “Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity” Thank you again – and all the best to you too!

  • In dependence on others – may be our own, create a feeling of lethargy that there is somebody who will help us but if we are independently performing everything including taking decisions ourselves then things will certainly move ahead.

    • Thank you so much for your excellent point!
      I would add that everything changes in our earthly/material life – yet nothing changes in eternal spirit. The point is that positive change in our worldly existence is needed to free people from the kind of pain and fear that is causing them resisting to be more aware of their eternal human soul. Therefore, only through positive change, we can arrive at the peaceful place where nothing has to change.
      All the best!

    • Sorry for my late answer; I still don’t know how to answer (apropos wisdom):-) But your comment made me really smile; thank you! While unsure about the appearance, I know that since early childhood I’ve never been more open-minded, curious, and excited about learning and personal growth than these years. From that perspective, I might be comparatively younger than I look:-).
      How about you?
      Thank you very much and all the best