Responding To The World At Large II

Anisthenes

Yesterday I touched, on a personal philosophical level, of how I am managing my response to The World at Large.  And a basis is important for having a reason for doing something.  But basis without practice is merely a set of ideas.  So practically, what does someone do who is seeking to thread the needle of living according to one's principles and mores in a world which is at best thinks poorly of them and at worst is vehemently opposed to them?

I have had to put some thought into these to bring them into the form of a written form, as it is not something that I had done before consciously.  I do not know that they rise to the level of a manifesto, but certainly the represent my current thinking and to the best of my ability my current practice.

1)  Do Not Engage

This principle can take many different forms.  It appears in simply to refuse to engage in certain conversations and activities - much like traffic law, as a citizen or organizational member or employee I will do what it asked of me - read the document, attend the training - as long as it does not undermine some belief that is a core principle (and trust me, few of these things rise to that level).  But that is all.  If conversations start on such subjects, I do not offer opinions or thoughts.  If no more is required of me than "read and acknowledge" that is all I do.  

I find as a consequence of this, I simply tend to disappear from many people's radar and calculations.  This is an unexpected feature, not a bug.

One especial thing I personally have to fight in this matter:  the need to respond to things.  This is especially prevalent in the electronic world, where responding is as quick as a simple typing exercise.  I do not have to respond to every thing I disagree with or every bad comment I see.  I really do not.

2)  Do Not Support

This principle takes two forms.  The first is simply to not support, by my presence or involvement, anything that is outside of what I support.  This is actually much easier than it sounds:  Just do not go. Do not show up.  Do not follow the group or post or person.  Just walk away.  This denies them attention, something that the modern world and the movements in it desperately crave

The second form is that of the pocketbook, one of the real remaining powers that we possess - especially in a consumer based society.  Many if not most of the businesses that exist are somehow based on providing a consumer service or a consumer product.   Those businesses depend, ultimately, on someone buying something to pay for something.

I know what some may say:  "TB, the companies are too big.  My not-spending there does not make an impact or difference.  Boycotts do not work."

I agree that boycotts - generally - do not work in the modern world, but that is as much a function of the fact that the word "boycott" will immediately invoke a visceral response as due to the size of the companies.  But if we think people walking away do not make a difference, it may be that we are not looking in the right places.

If you have an hour or three, I might suggest doing a study about events in the entertainment and video game industries of late.  In short, they have chosen not to serve their markets.  And their markets are responding with a lack of support, both verbal and financial.  That lack of support has critical impacts for those companies and those industries.  

I suspect that as time goes on and economy continues, this lack of support will become easier for many (due to economic reality) and more impactful to those companies that remain.  Extend that to every sort of human endeavor and association and one can begin to see the potential for impact.  All done, I note, with any sort of formal declaration.   The reason people have left will become clear to any that have the curiosity to understand.

 3)  Do Become The Quiet Revolution

Since my last two points have been detractive in nature ("Do Not"), it makes sense to have something that is a positive action that I can take.  After all, someone who is only ever negative tends to drive people away instead of pulling them on.

Becoming The Quiet Revolution is going to look different for every person depending on any number of factors including location, economic position, relationships, etc.  And people will likely participate in all kinds of different ways that I cannot imagine.  Here, at least, is what I am trying to do:

1)  Become Independent:  Independence can mean a lot of things.  To some it means complete self sufficiency.  To others it means being able to do something which is not dependent on "The System" to do (even a single planter box in an apartment balcony or making yogurt is a step in the direction).    To others it means foreswearing social media to focus on actual human relationships.  But in all of these, it is taking action to free one's self in some way from a system that wants us to just "Go along" and "Be Dependent".

2) Make Money Count:  To some extent this is the opposite of Item 2 above (Do Not Support), but it is meant as more than that.  It may mean swearing off national chains or even local chains that do not comport with one's views and practices.  It may mean being willing to settle for not new items and going without certain things (A note:  In a society as rich as ours, "going without new things" is not hard at all if one knows where to look).  And it certainly means spending with those individuals or companies that we do find are compatible with our beliefs and practices, even if it costs a bit more.

3)  Become Intellectually Independent:  A subtype of the first item on this list, it could go there but I feel it important enough to break out separately.

We, as a society, have the knowledge of ages at our fingertips but for the most part limit ourselves to a paltry number of sources for our information.  This is something that I have had to actively work on for years myself, to give myself a second education  which 100 years prior would have been par for the course but even in my high school years was quickly fading.

What could it be?  Literally this is a choose your own adventure experience.  History, economics, science, public policy, philosophy, theology - literally any subject is out there for gaining more information on.  A small note here:  the closer information gets to our modern era, the less without bias it becomes.  So it has ever been, so it will ever be - even the great historians of old tended to write in a way that would not offend their current rulers.   And as a second note, expect this to take time.  Knowledge is not gained in a single short span.

4)  Be A Engaging Example:  The World At Large has a public image that they like to portray of people that will not fit in.  It is generally a cross of a Neanderthal savage with the learning power of the mob trying to burn the library at Alexandria clothed as the Spanish Inquisition and the economic sense of a miser on the day that rent is due.  It certainly not flattering and while by no means completely earned - but by actions in the past, we who do not fit in have made ourselves a target for this.

Be different.

Be engaging.  Be knowledgeable.  Be the man or woman with the pleasant demeanor and a quick hand to help.  Know things.  Do not make every event an opportunity to "preach" about the problems of The World At Large or what is wrong with them.  Be helpful and share what you know. 

And, of course, always be kind.

Because here is the thing:  listening to people talk and discuss in my own circle of contact, there is a sense that there is "something wrong with the world today", to quote those great purveyors of modern wisdom Aerosmith.  People cannot bring themselves to identify it but they know it is there.  It is staring them every day in their personal economics; it shouts from the current narrative where things should be better but are not;  it cries to them to them as the hint of things not quite right from history begin to resemble the current circumstances in which they live.

They do not need someone lecturing or shouting.  They do not need the equivalent of Pharisaical demands that demands complete adherence before forgiveness.  They do need someone - us - to show them a different way.  And that we can do not by the volume or decibels or vehemence of our words, but by the simple act of living a different and better life.

Gandhi is quoted as saying that we should be the change we want to see in the world.  If the world does not see it in us, in whom will they see it?