Namaste and welcome to my friends, family, and fellow knowledge seekers to my blog. There's been a growing trend lately of violent crimes such as mass shootings in the US. A lot of this has been blamed on guns or mental illness, but I feel like there could be more to it than that.
Before we start to diagnose others, society, or self with mental illness, first we must understand that we are indeed surrounded by a lot of under-educated, opinionated, and asshole people. It is also my personal opinion that much of the quote unquote "mental illness" is caused by external forces. For example, we as individuals, are forced to endure a society that condones violence, inequity, inequality, sexism, and racism, among other negative traits. We are raised to be fearful of others, yet we don't hold the well being of others in mind hardly at all. We are raised with this ideal of nationalism and unity, but then fight amongst one another over petty differences like skin color and financial or social status, in order to keep up with the Jones's.
The real mental illness is how we go about our daily lives and all too many people ignore the injustices of the world as if this is how things are SUPPOSED to be. Daily, I see people throw cigarette butts or other trash out their car window. I see kids disrespect their parents. I read about priests and cardinals of the church molesting children. I see hard working people being denied health care just to see their premiums continue to rise. I see murder, bombings, greed, death, and much human suffering... and it really bothers me to the core. How can someone justify the dehumanization of their fellow men and women? Unfortunately much of this is caused by money, primarily the disparity of income inequality where the wealth of the nation and the world is consolidated into the hands of the few.
I wonder, perhaps, if this is how the fall of the Roman Empire began. Income inequality, constant wars, fat greedy politicians that no longer serve the will of the people, hungry, angry, and broken hearts fill the tired and huddled masses... I see the seeds of dissent and revolution, but too many folks point that frustration at one another, commit crimes against their fellow human beings, and are filled with hatred in their hearts.
I don't presume that I have the answers for all of our problems as a species, but I do have some good suggestions. Start simple with the goal to cause no harm or to leave the world a better place than when you got here. You don't have to love or even like everyone all the time. But we can show empathy and recognize that all others are going through their own respective struggles, not just us. We all know life is hard and often unfair, so why make it worse on ourselves and our fellow humans? A lesson from kindergarten we could all re-learn is the golden rule: to treat others the way we would like to be treated ourselves. No one expects perfection, just effort toward a positive direction. Baby steps. Things didn't get out of whack over night, so we cannot expect the solution to be immediate either. The goal, I believe, is to keep moving forward in the right direction. It may take several generations, but it will be worth it. I think, unfortunately, that is a hard pill to swallow for many. We, as Americans, have become accustomed to having things on demand; instant gratification. It's difficult to come to terms with the fact that the seeds we are sowing today will grow up to be the trees of the future, metaphorically. If we plant good habits and free ourselves of the hatred and prejudices and negative behaviors, future generations will reap those rewards and have a more positive life.
This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse.
Before we start to diagnose others, society, or self with mental illness, first we must understand that we are indeed surrounded by a lot of under-educated, opinionated, and asshole people. It is also my personal opinion that much of the quote unquote "mental illness" is caused by external forces. For example, we as individuals, are forced to endure a society that condones violence, inequity, inequality, sexism, and racism, among other negative traits. We are raised to be fearful of others, yet we don't hold the well being of others in mind hardly at all. We are raised with this ideal of nationalism and unity, but then fight amongst one another over petty differences like skin color and financial or social status, in order to keep up with the Jones's.
The real mental illness is how we go about our daily lives and all too many people ignore the injustices of the world as if this is how things are SUPPOSED to be. Daily, I see people throw cigarette butts or other trash out their car window. I see kids disrespect their parents. I read about priests and cardinals of the church molesting children. I see hard working people being denied health care just to see their premiums continue to rise. I see murder, bombings, greed, death, and much human suffering... and it really bothers me to the core. How can someone justify the dehumanization of their fellow men and women? Unfortunately much of this is caused by money, primarily the disparity of income inequality where the wealth of the nation and the world is consolidated into the hands of the few.
I wonder, perhaps, if this is how the fall of the Roman Empire began. Income inequality, constant wars, fat greedy politicians that no longer serve the will of the people, hungry, angry, and broken hearts fill the tired and huddled masses... I see the seeds of dissent and revolution, but too many folks point that frustration at one another, commit crimes against their fellow human beings, and are filled with hatred in their hearts.
I don't presume that I have the answers for all of our problems as a species, but I do have some good suggestions. Start simple with the goal to cause no harm or to leave the world a better place than when you got here. You don't have to love or even like everyone all the time. But we can show empathy and recognize that all others are going through their own respective struggles, not just us. We all know life is hard and often unfair, so why make it worse on ourselves and our fellow humans? A lesson from kindergarten we could all re-learn is the golden rule: to treat others the way we would like to be treated ourselves. No one expects perfection, just effort toward a positive direction. Baby steps. Things didn't get out of whack over night, so we cannot expect the solution to be immediate either. The goal, I believe, is to keep moving forward in the right direction. It may take several generations, but it will be worth it. I think, unfortunately, that is a hard pill to swallow for many. We, as Americans, have become accustomed to having things on demand; instant gratification. It's difficult to come to terms with the fact that the seeds we are sowing today will grow up to be the trees of the future, metaphorically. If we plant good habits and free ourselves of the hatred and prejudices and negative behaviors, future generations will reap those rewards and have a more positive life.
This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse.
No comments:
Post a Comment