Populism: a way forward out of it

 

 

Populism explained and how to avoid the dehumanization it brings

 

Make no mistake, populists are aware that their liar in chief is lying.

Yet, they support her/him because of the thrill that comes with the feeling of “freedom” they associate with the possibility of lying, destroying, bullying, hating, and a bunch of other ‘isms, without consequences.

The motivation behind this thrill is three-pronged:

a)        The liar in chief and her/his cronies creates an ecosystem where lies and hate (among others) are rewarded.

b)        It gives the comfort of being part of a group, even if this one is the liar/hater/oppressor group.

c)        It frees from what defines “homo sapiens”: the responsibility of reflection.

 

Here is it useful to explain that science has shown that the human brain takes up to 76 seconds before deciding on an action although the first “decision has been taken within 5 seconds. The rest is called reflection, during which we assess our instinct in relation with our experiences, to try to avoid making a mistake. This process can be extremely energy and emotionally consuming. Since it is in fact a difficult task, unless one has established that this process is “who they are” because they decided that this reflection is of high value to them (maturity), the tendency of those who did not “grow up” (did not decide that reflection is of high value to them) will be to revert to a state where instincts control their actions and they will welcome/embrace the “chance” to bypass the reflection process. In doing so, they make themselves totally dependent on the liar in chief, who in fact is the only one protecting their “lack of reflection”. Reflection needs practice and consequently, 4 years without reflection is identical to staying 4 years in bed. Your leg muscles are kind of gone. Populists therefore harbour great fear in the face of losing their liar in chief and will go to great length to protect her/him, no matter what.

 

 

The prospect of getting out of bed and re-learn to walk will take place only if those afflicted by this condition can practice “walking” in a safe and respectful place. It is the responsibility of all those who still can reflect to help those who want to learn/re-learn “how to reflect”. A few guidelines include:  (to which you will have to add your own)

 

a.        Re-establish communication and offer to listen

b.        Do not guide, do not pretend you hold the truth: all you have is your “truth of the moment” which may change

c.        Remember: they are re-learning to walk, not you: listen.

d.        Be patient, honest and humble

e.        The no-go feelings are: superiority/inferiority, hostility/false kindness, fear/drama, cynicism, indoctrination, etc., you get the drift.

 

Now go and be the one you want to be.

Breaking the spread of hegemonies around the world

 Breaking the spread of hegemonies around the world

Breaking the spread of hegemonies around the world

 

We need to maintain (and grow) the core deliverables of ethical freedom in as many governments as possible around the world.

The recent events in the US have brought to light the cause for the international spread of the despots/tyrants.

We have forgotten a part of ethical freedom that is suppose to be implicit in democracies: merit. In other words, the value of people does not depend solely on their success in school, in other words on their diploma, nor on their wealth. Yes it is a part of it but just a part.

The consequence of this negligence by most democracies is that the tyrants have it easy when they tell those without diploma that they have as much value as those with diploma. And guess what, they are right.

But, what the tyrants do, without telling you, is that they include in those who deserve recognition, the bullies, the violents, the sociopaths, the lazy, the egomaniacs, the "wealthies", etc. You get the drift.

To open a humane future for the following generations and to change, now, today the slide into the upcoming dark ages, all of us need to redefine the societal values already included in an ethical democracy and implement them in real life (Such as salaries, recognition, etc) . These lived values should include empathy, patience, care, true knowledge, and yes, hard work, courage, etc. They should exclude bullying, mobbing, oppression, violence, abuse, sociopathy, dictatorship, criminality, wealth, etc… you get the drift.

Should we not do this, we will allow for the decay to accelerate and condemn the next generations to much sufferings. Notoriously, It takes 500 years to get out of a dark age.

 

The threat to authoritarianism posed by democracies is soon gone, unless...

 

 

Demise of the humane in humans?

 

My original premise is that creativity, openness, empathy, ethics, and wealth brought by most democracies is the only genuine threat to despotism, dictatorship, and imperialism. Russia’s choreography is a well-planned strategy to eliminate the attraction power of the slightly better US democracy. Under this premise, it is impossible in the long term for Russia oppressive regime to keep its grip on the people if democracies continue its growth worldwide.

Therefore, the only way forward for oppression to survive in the long term, is to bring stronger democracies around the world to falter. Quite understandingly they started with the U.S. First, they “bottled” a like-minded tyrant which had some potential to be elected. One of them was our Donald. Of course, they have something on him in case he would not behave as planned, but essentially, he had to be a natural wise despot and tyrant, a true egomaniac and natural sociopath as well as an effective populist.

 

Then he needed to be elected. That was the job of Russia to influence the voters and Russia-Kremlin is traditionally very good at that. With the growth of social media technology they became extremely efficient. They do it according to a well-known mass influencing tool ((https://thinktank2-thinktank2.blogspot.com/2016/04/). 

 

Now the vast majority of institutions, including the press, corporations, agree to hide the truth, stop the human resources programs that Trump’s administration do not like, schools accept banning books, universities bend over to please the administration, etc, etc.). This is the known path to authoritarianism. Once, more or less similar to Russia or China oppression, the risks pose to these tyrannies will be significantly reduced, and on the mid-term gone... with a good dose of violence.

 

Russia and their partners have succeeded to elect Trump for two terms. Unless they effectively kill the U.S. democracy in this second term, they will find ways to maintain their grip on GOP beyond the actual term.

 

The outcomes are bleak but there is hope as the peaceful warriors are more numerous and most importantly wiser and more creative than their hateful and violent counterparts, BUT…

 

The outcome is the responsibility of all humane ethical individual on earth, all, everyday. We know that the humane soul in us long for freedom and one of its implementation tool, democracy, as a wanderer longs for water in the Sahara. To reach water, you indeed need to walk: get involve, stand for what you believe in and learn through your errors, always in peace and in love, the definition of true strength.

 

 

 

EIGENVIELFALT III

 

Eigenvielfalt II

 

At 68...

 

At 68…

Realizing what I would have liked to know, really know, down into by bones, when I married the women of my life and what it would have meant for our three children…

I would have liked to know, really know, that her criticism was not a condemnation of my inaptitude to be a man, but a guidance to understand her and myself,

I would have liked to know, really know, that her doubts were not the end of all life but a step toward improvement,

I would have liked to know, really know, that her questions were not a call for a solution but an attempt to start a conversation,

I would have liked to know, really know, that her happiness was a guide to know her, not a present to me,

I would have liked to know, really know, the depth of unfairness women go through daily,

I would have liked to know, really know, that I was not expected to be the master nor the servant, nor the knight,

I would have liked to know, really know, that pretending to know was poison and that the admission of error or lack of knowledge was essential to a healthy relationship.

 

If I would have known this, I would have avoided…

For her, Anger, fights, fear, and despair

For myself, Anger, fights, fear, despair

For our children, fear, self-culpability and anger

 

And we would have more time to…

For us parents to…

To love them,

To Play with them,

 

For our children…

To grow stronger, to be more confident, more fulfilled.

 

EIGENVIELFALT I