Discussion as Activism: The Evil in the World

I wanted to ask the question ‘what is going on in Israel?’ but as I delved into the discussion with my five participants at the ASHA Centre, the question ended up becoming ‘what is going on in the world’? In our modern times, with all our current knowledge and technical development, we are still afflicted by great evils. Genocide, war, modern slavery, torture, suppression of free speech, and the list goes on. To make it worse, we live in a part of the world where the impacts of these evils don’t press on us so much. We are comfortable here,  in this quiet and wild part of England (Forest of Dean), but many around the world are not. For two hours, my small group attempted to sit with the discomfort of this reality.

Brief note - we didn’t use the term 'evil' very much in the actual discussion. In fact, I usually avoid using it because it is already philosophically complicated. I use it in this post, however, as shorthand to denote the collection of ‘bad stuff’ I have listed in this first paragraph. 

The first question became ‘who or what is the cause of all this evil?’. Philosophically, this is already very interesting. Is there a person to blame? Someone or a group of people who are doing this (intentionally or unintentionally). Someone we should be able to stop or punish for their actions. Or is there something to blame? Maybe a natural reaction to something that happened earlier in time, or some underlying law of life that we still do not appreciate. If this thing doesn’t have ‘intent’ and it's just happening, then how to do we stop it? Do we even have the power to stop it?

I started writing our ideas on the board. The cause could be linked to a large variety of things: money, power, the very rich, the use of language, big companies, ownership mentality, resources, religion, politicians, trauma, repeating patterns, control, greed, disconnection, competition, policing, etc. So, to try and make our discussion more manageable, I split our list of causes into three categories:

1. The evil is caused by a particular person or group of people. 

2. The evil is caused by a build up of historical trauma.

3. The evil is caused by a misdirected ‘us vs them’ mindset that has also left us disconnected from true selves and from nature. 

After a break, I shifted our focus and asked: ‘Now that we have discussed the potential causes, what are the things we can do about it?’ Or, as another participant suggested, ‘with what intention do we start approaching our actions’? This conversation was difficult. Whichever of the three categories we chose, we were confronted with problems. 

If it is the fault of a group of evil people, then we need to take some action to change the powers that the evil group has. Perhaps through pushing for change in law, governance and policies. Three of my participants felt exhausted from just talking about this. They were activists in the past and all reported spending a lot of energy with very little return. However, it was recognised that when a large group of people act in unity, this can be very effective. We have seen that if enough people decide to protest or go on strike, then governments can be forced to change their course of action. 

If it is caused by historical trauma (think back to events like the world wars, and acts of colonialism and invasion), then we need to do something to heal that trauma. We need to open our hearts and minds to the reality of the pain that the human race has experienced over the last few hundred years and grieve, empty ourselves of negative patterns and start taking accountability in such a way that will help us form a more positive future. This felt possible. All humans are connected to this, and all humans can work on it in their own time and in circles dedicated to healing. But the reality of this is that it can become egocentric and won’t stop any of the evil taking place outside of our comfort zone any time soon. 

Finally, if it is caused by a fundamental disconnection from life and separation-based mindset, we need to become embodied beings again and live with nature. For if we were more connected, we may think twice before we chop down trees or use animals for our benefit, let alone cutting down and enslaving our own species. We can do this work from the comfort of our own homes, and many of us are. We are starting to care for the earth and trying to be more careful with day-to-day decisions that determine our relationship with the planet. That’s good for us, but it is not yet clear if this change will ‘trickle up’ to the stuck mindsets of those who are making the evil choices.

As a group of hippies, we loved the second and third categories. Piling our energies into healing, reconnecting, and making more sensible daily choices sounded like something we could all realistically do, but I was disheartened. I expressed my concern that, as good as all of this is, there is still no clear way we are actually relieving the evil that continues to impact our fellow humans who live outside of our comfort zones. 

We sat together with this difficulty. Then we were reminded of ‘the power of the people’ we had discussed under the first category. If there is something we can do, it is clear that it can’t do it alone. It has to come from a collective, from a community. A ‘common unity’. I felt a trickle of inspiration ripple through us. What if we took the lessons and skills we have harnessed from the second and third categories (a change in mindset and focus on healing), and have them lead a group action as seen in the first category.

I loved this response as it embraced something I am finding to be true in many discussions I lead. That is, every perspective often holds a ‘kernel of truth’ and to appreciate a whole means appreciating its many parts. In the end, what is asked of us is to approach a problem by holding all parts in our minds. To apply them in a careful way that is responsive to the deep nuances of the questions we are faced with. That is exactly what I see here, and is exactly the next problem and enquiry we were running into…

The idea was great, but a reality about humans who are trying to heal and reconnect is that everyone has their own experience and is on their own path. We all have a different story to tell as we deal with their own sense of being - something that is created through a mixture of personal experiences and innate tendencies. We may more or less agree on what the right thing is, but we do have very different ways of approaching it. The matter of coming to unity is confronted by subjectivity and a deep diversity.

So how on earth do we get a group of people like-minded, but individualised and different human beings to work towards a common goal? What should that common goal look like if it is to enact change? How do we implement it? And how do we deal with conflicts that will inevitably turn up? 

This is the topic of the next discussion: Activism in Community: Finding Unity in Diversity.

You are welcome to join me. Details of the event can be found here.

My deep gratitude to those who joined me in this first discussion: Jewels, Linda, Sol, Paul and Joe.