I wanted to continue with my discussion on time, but with all that is going on in the world, I thought I’d take a break to discuss another matter. As you are probably aware, events in the United States of America (USA) have escalated and the pandemic has been lowered in priority in that country. This has occurred in some other countries as well. And the short response I would like to offer up is: it’s about time.
Actually, that response is far from complete. It is too short a response to really reflect what my feelings are on this matter. And, it is a little misleading, as the revolution that I think is needed is still a ways off. Peaceful protest, I believe, will be insufficient to affect the sorts of long term changes that are required by the human race in this situation. Allow me to explain.
While the following will be an over simplified view of humanity, I think it captures a lot of what has led us to this point. When I look upon the world, I am struck by what I see. I find that there are those things that are similar or the same as I am familiar with, and those things that are different. For example, there are these other beings that wander the world as I do; these other beings are very similar to me in some ways, but very different in other ways. The more similar they are to me, the more comfortable I might feel; the more different, the more uncomfortable I might feel. When I am comfortable, I tend to relax and trust. When I am not comfortable, I tend to fill with anxiety and become protective of myself.
Perhaps my personal history is unusual or unique, but I find that the differences vastly outweigh the similarities most of the time. I focus on the differences far more than the similarities. Personally, I don’t find many other beings like myself. Now, I could choose to be hostile to all these different other beings. I could choose to lash out and harm these other beings. But I don’t. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that I was pretty well alone in the world—alone in that I cannot experience the world from the perspective of those other beings, and those other beings could not experience the world from my perspective—and so I would have to withhold my complete, blind trust from those who had not in some way given me a reason to trust them. I am paranoid. I am resistant. I feel compelled to ALWAYS assess knowledge and information for myself. This is a large part of the reason I was not cut out for military service; I am unable to blindly follow orders without first thinking about what is being asked of me, and assessing whether I ought to obey or resist the command.
For me, I exist in a world full of challenges and obstacles. Like the philosophical Existentialists, I desire to exercise my freedom to assign value in a world that I believe holds no intrinsic value. It is a lot of work assigning value to everything, but it is what I expect and I am comfortable in that situation now. But it also means that I am reserved in expressing my hostility and aggression as well. I am slow to make decisions, and I am slow to choose my actions. I’d rather take some time to “get to know” another being, before I pass judgement. I’m far from perfect at doing this, but I try my hardest.
Yes, my skin is on the lighter end of the spectrum. Furthermore, when others observe me, I am categorized in the masculine class of beings. And, as may be obvious by this blog, I think and understand in the language of English. This places me squarely in the category of the privileged. In my youth, I did not understand what this meant, but now I do. The world appears to me in a certain way. I understand the things I see in a certain way. I fear some things, and do not fear others. My privilege allows me to move through this world mostly unimpeded. My privilege allows me various advantages with things such as employment and commerce. My privilege is a large part of my world view. What I think is most important for me to always remember is that most of those beings around me do not share this world view.
In the USA, those beings with skin on the darker end of the spectrum than mine have become outraged because an authority figure—who happens to have skin on the lighter end of the spectrum—clearly and purposefully overstepped his authority in a situation that lead to the demise of another being—who happens to have skin on the darker end of the spectrum. The issue that is of concern is that the authority figure chose to behave in the fashion he did as a direct result of the world view that he holds, a world view that diminishes the status of those with skin on the darker end of the spectrum. In my personal opinion, those beings—who now hold frequent and vast peaceful protests in response to this incident—are more than justified in their actions. My largest fear is that the peaceful protesting is not sufficient to bring about the sort of change we appear to desire.
I admit, most of the conversations I usually have are not concerned about the colour of a being’s skin. My conversations more often are concerned with the configuration of the being’s physical body, and what categories those beings are assigned as a result of their configuration. I am more concerned with the issue of sex and gender than I am with the issue of “race,” especially as I think categorizing humans by “race” is completely ridiculous. It would be like deciding to categorize humans by the colour of their hair, or the colour of their eyes, or the length of their bodies, or any number of other physical qualities. There is no good reason to believe that these physical attributes have any direct correlation to other aspects of those beings, such as mental acuity, or ethical ability.
To be clear, I am not suggesting that there isn’t a difference that occurs between those of various “races.” But those differences occur not because of direct differences in physical attributes; they occur as a result of social pressure, which is often related to cultural and political structures that exist in those societies, that have already categorized those beings and afforded different opportunities to those beings, which as a result provide different levels and forms of education and employment to the different “races.” In other words, the game is rigged, which is what the protests are all about.
It should be of no surprise to anyone that the COVID-19 virus has disproportionately affected the black community in the USA, and probably in many other places in the world as well. The reason we ought not be surprised is because those people have more challenges and less resources with which to deal with the situation. Unlike those of us who are privileged enough to have a savings account, and are not living paycheck to paycheck, they cannot simply stay home and self-isolate to protect themselves and their families from a pandemic that is sweeping the world. This simple fact means that there are likely to be more black people wandering the streets, as they go to and from work, to and from the grocery store, etc. And there being more black people wandering the streets means that there is a much higher probability of an authority figure encountering such a person. And if that authority figure is already disposed to believing that a black person is more likely to pose a threat, and then happens to encounter that black person, they are more likely to manage the encounter poorly.
I’ll put this another way. If I tell you that it is considered a bad thing to hold a lit stick of dynamite, because it will likely be poor for your health in the long run, and then I hand you a lit stick of dynamite, because that is the only light source you are allowed to use while travelling in a dark passage, what do you expect is going to happen? You could refuse the lit stick of dynamite, citing my first statement, deciding that your heath in the long run is more important to you than being able to see in the dark passage. You could then muddle your way through, with great challenge, having to feel your way along the walls. Or you could accept the lit stick of dynamite, using it’s meager light to aid you in travelling through the dark passage, bearing the constant risk that the dynamite will explode in your hand, injuring you grievously. This is the situation of many people in our world, including black people in the USA.
So what is the correct answer? Well, how about “why do I need to travel through a dark passage?” Or, “why do I not have access to an alternative light source than a lit stick of dynamite?” Or, “can I talk to someone other than you for assistance, because you are not doing a very good job of providing assistance right now.” These “solutions” clearly don’t address the immediate concern—travelling through a dark passage. They point to something outside the immediate situation. They acknowledge, at least on some level, that there is something like a “bigger picture” that needs to be considered.
In the case of racism, peaceful protests may improve the situation marginally, but I do not believe they will provide a lasting, long term solution to the problem. Yes, change is something that happens slowly over vast periods of time. However, in some situations, change occurs very quickly and violently. And in those situations, it may be necessary to affect the needed change.
Putting this another way, what is needed is not policies of employment equity or defunding the police. While these measures may produce seemingly desirable results in the immediate, short term, the repercussions in the long term would be/are disastrous. What is needed is a cultural/political shift, and not a small one. Institutions need to be broken down. Marriage needs to no longer be a thing, because men don’t need an excuse to enslave women. And people need to not be judged by the colour of their skin, or any other physical features they possess. I would like to say that people should instead be judged by their actions, however, I am not so naive as to think that behaviors have only simple reasoning; that they may instead be extremely complex networks of perfect rationality if considered at length.
I do not have the answer to this issue for one very good reason; I don’t have an alternative. I can talk in negatives as much as I want, saying how things ought not be. What I am not able to provide is a positive response, saying how I think things ought to be. I do not know how the world ought to look. I do not know what world view is best to hold. I obviously privilege my own world view, but that does not make my world view the correct world view. This is simply the opinion of one individual in a world full of billions of individuals.