1196:
Even though we are up against
the very worst levels of indifference, an almost total lack of responsibility
towards the weak, and an acceptance of a very damaged future, all this
shouldn’t make us pessimistic. It’s the
ultimate challenge, to face each other and yet not go to war against each
other. It’s as if we are the victims of a divide and rule system,
designed to keep us at each other’s throats, to keep us bickering and weakened.
Our non-acceptance of each
other’s views easily turns into a non-acceptance of each other as whole
persons. Dislike and disapproval turn
into ‘dismiss and destroy’. We bully in
order to win, but why? There’s nothing
to win. There’s something to lose
though, by spoiling the one chance we have of coming together.
Pessimism keeps us weak and
at war with one another. It’s no different to the dysfunction in homes where
the dominant adult goes ‘over the top’ with the submissive child. The adult shows disapproval of a child (for
behaving badly), ignoring the fact that this young person is handicapped by
their own inexperience of life. By
giving the child a sense that they are lesser, because of their behaviour, we
cause separation; the attempt to exert pressure on them, to bring about better
behaviour, strays into non-acceptance of the whole person. It then becomes really destructive. Both
parties recognise something is badly failing, that a faith is being broken,
that things aren’t progressing positively. And the further we go with it the less chance
there is to restore balance. There’s
pessimism (between adult and child). Even
violence creeps in. There’s a feeling of
being overwhelmed, like something is irrevocably failing, that a profound faith
is being shattered. And pessimism is all
we can hold onto. We abort on each
other. Many parents give up on their
kids, and vice versa.
If we can stay optimistic
through thick and thin, we can break the victim mould. We can insist on forging a positive reality. When we see violence, we then also see it
giving way to non-violence, setting itself up, as it were, for a break through.
The optimist actively avoids the trap of
separation by never letting go of the positive.
As an example: If I predict
that the value of my house will drop because Abdullah has moved in next door, I
am a pessimist; the optimist would see things differently – their value system
would be based on the need to make friends with Abdullah. And then, as it turns out, this good neighbour
becomes a great asset. While the
pessimist sees only gloom, the optimist sees Abdullah to be the one person who
can lift the gloom. What better aim
could there be than to focus on changing things for the better, moving towards
the integration of different cultures, building the global village. If we bring this about it will simply be
because we are capable of it.
Ideally we live together in
one garden, where cats and cabbages and kids all rub along nicely together. In a future world, there won’t be any need to hurt
those weaker than ourselves, to make us feel stronger. And there will be no reason to eat pigs or
milk cows or kill chickens. If we are up
to date with what’s happening in our world, we would already know that being
vegan and having a plant-based food and clothing regime is possible and
efficacious in every possible way.
If we accept that, then, it’s
just a stroll along the garden path of the future, to where all this becomes
natural and fashionable. And normal.
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