Don't let Politics make you crazy
Hello everyone!
Politics everywhere in the US and Europe is going wilder and more intense than i ever thought i would be able to witness in my lifetime.
I used to be appalled by politics, as it seemed to be nothing other than power hungry people lying and cheating their way to the top, no matter what it took and no matter who they had to throw under the bus - even if it was a whole nation.
Honesty, justice and common sense seemed to be missing entirely.
At that time i also knew very little about it though, and i noticed greatly just how little i really knew when i started to get more involved in learning about it a couple years ago. I also saw, how easy it is to let yourself be taken over by emotion in politics, and how the politicians are using it to get their way, whatever way it is.
This is very valuable to them as it is one of their sources of control, with the Media being the platform they seemingly use to constantly reinforce beliefs and deepen your emotions, which i would argue is most often fear and anger.
As i delved more and more into depths of politics, i saw just how intensely people got invested in it, and more often than not in a very emotionally driven way. It seemed there was this intense sense of urgency that required every bit of energy
of people, even if in many cases it seemed as if their fears and anger took control of them completely, erasing any foundations for open discussions and casting out otherwise healthy people from their lives.
I was getting frightened myself to a certain extent, because while people were focusing on the newest issues that popped up in the media, the big elephant in the room was more and more overlooked: everyone was starting to take very strong sides/stances, and began to turn on each other in their own countries, viewing the opposite viewpoint takers as actual enemies.
I was afraid i would not be able to talk freely and openly to those i held dear anymore, as i saw how ruthlessly they and everyone else got showered with this constant stream of negative emotions and stories, disencouraging healthy exchange of ideas without labeling the other as < insert most insulting/discrediting term here >.
I read a lot about how effective this is and has been in history to get people to no longer view the other side as genuine human beings, so i knew it was a serious possibility. I had the advantage that i could focus on not letting this feed get to me and keep an open mind, but they didn't as they were very busy and caught up in other issues.
From what i've seen, because of all the overwhelming feelings, it became more and more a matter of trying to destroy the other side, rather than have at most a heated discussion based on facts and humanity.
People losing their jobs, their spouses, getting alienated from their communities, getting called the most insulting and degrading labels you could give to someone in the west while being in reality decent people, not be able to speak their mind without digital and real shunning, and in some cases even physical attacks were justified in the name of political ideology.
I also witnessed how even healthy families got into very serious arguments as they expressed their viewpoints in a meet up. Even in my own family, i was sad to see how suddenly they divided in 2 camps on the big dining table, shittalking the others in a very passive-aggressive way.
Well versed Academics versus "uneducated rednecks", humane & liberal ways versus conservative ideas. I sat there, wondering wtf had happened that people even like them could suddenly seek separation in a family ritual based on getting together, celebrating our plain company and relations, which we had done many times before in the most fun, peaceful and enjoyable settings.
Even humor suddenly got more complicated than ever, as saying the wrong terms or joking about the wrong people seriously started to offend others deeply, which ended in retaliation instead of just a grumpy face until they forget about it the next morning anyway.
The amount of trouble you can get into for being "insensitive" seems to me a bit too far away from sanity at this point. When people seek immunity from ridicule and ask for punishment to those daring to joke about the unjokable, you know our priorities are messed up and need a reality check.
In my case, although i would generally avoid people out of principle...
...i have great sympathy love for humanity overall. I know we're all connected on a deep level, which is why had sleepless nights where i tried to come up with solutions to suffering.
I was wondering how to best help the Refugees of the Middle Eastern War, and where the culprits lie that led to it in the first place. I thought about what the Immigrants must value and think, how they view the world based on where they grew up and what values their culture taught them. I get sad when i see them suffer, just as most other people.
Yet because i have some conservative views, i get quickly put in a box (out of the 2 boxes, left and right), attached with some labels that have nothing to do with my values, and depending on who of the 2 boxes looks upon my labels, i get a warm welcome to the cool kids club, or a ban to human scum land forever and all of eternity.
I don't care for either of those, although i'm aware at this point even people who just seek truth and a clear, big picture view without excessive emotional attachments feel like it's necessary at this point to openly take sides, as it is almost forced on you by society right now. I'm still wondering what to do on this, but i have a strong, repelling intuition against conforming under social pressure.
I conform to facts, common sense, and a good dose of understanding & respecting people enough to help in a way that gives them what they need to prosper, which does not always align with our views & cultures, but aligns with theirs (which the majority of them cherish and prefer according to my research).
Realizing this, and experiencing the consequences of the expression of my mere thoughts and ideas which are very much subject to change depending on the information i get, i decided to take it very easy in how much politics i consume and how much i talk about it, and instead focus on making people more grounded again, so they can have a sensible conversation again, no matter their viewpoint.
Thankfully there are ways to get to a place of understanding and connection with what really is, which will, i believe and dearly hope, lead to more awareness in politics and about how to tackle the big issues/questions, without excessive hostility and tensions.
With this intention, let me end this post with this little story, which also helped me a lot in staying calm and centered, no matter what symptoms of this current situation were thrown at me:
He takes his boat out to the middle of the lake, moors it there, closes his eyes and begins his meditation.
After a few hours of undisturbed silence, he suddenly feels the bump of another boat colliding with his own. With his eyes still closed, he senses his anger rising, and by the time he opens his eyes, he is ready to scream at the boatman who dared disturb his meditation.
But when he opens his eyes, he sees it’s an empty boat that had probably got untethered and floated to the middle of the lake.
At that moment, the monk achieves self-realization, and understands that the anger is within him; it merely needs the bump of an external object to provoke it out of him. From then on, whenever he comes across someone who irritates him or provokes him to anger, he reminds himself, “The other person is merely an empty boat. The anger is within me.”