It seems we blindly follow the trajectory of thoughts and beliefs that have gone before us. Old habits are so deeply ingrained that they are the last to go.
The recent mass murders in California point again for our need to change. Yes, the numbers and types of guns available are out of control. And yes, there are many people distressed enough to harm themselves and others. We use the label “mental health” to bundle gun violence, suicides, and other anti-social behaviors as we seek solutions to an ever increasing problem.
We dissect behaviors and talk of laws, but seldom do we discuss the roots of violence. We refuse to acknowledge that the isolation many of us experience and the strait jacket / conformity we demand of one another are disrupting our humanity.
They are symptoms of a culture that glorifies masculine toxicity, symptoms of a culture satisfied with hierarchy and status quo. We are a culture who has successfully placed property values over human life.
We have created systems where defenders of the earth are now intimidated by threat of death and unwarranted imprisonment. SAY HIS NAME: MANUEL TERAN – “Tortuguita”
We have created and accept a police state, where too often law enforcement has become judge, jury and executioner. SAY HIS NAME: TYRE NICHOLS
And we have created a numbed populace who no longer knows how to identify right from wrong, let alone knows how to respond to the inhumanity enveloping us.
Yet, if we could look honestly at our illness, we would find the antidote is close at hand. We need clarity, courage and conviction to upend the ignorance we face. Those elements are within us and can and must be cultivated.
We can carry on unsuccessfully trying to eradicate symptoms, or we can dust off and remember the source of peace within.
Choose.