Let us welcome ourselves to the new age of social disruption! We are swimming in an ocean of information and drowning in ignorance.
We treat attention like it is infinite. We have traded memory for storage and wonder why we can’t remember our own lives. We have millions of photos in the cloud, but cannot remember how the moment really felt. We are doom scrolling to the point of self-induced paralysis, which is exactly where the powers that be, want us to be.
I am ashamed to be part of a generation that has brought the world to its tipping point. We are about to leave a fractured earth as a legacy to our children.
As a species, we have made a Circus, a theater, a Spectacle of everything we touch. This is what we thrive on.
The irony is, when we see injustice, abuse and exploitation staring at us some days more alarmingly than on others, it galvanizes us. We shout, protest, take to the streets.
Politicians, media, activists, religions, nations – everyone takes sides and discuss the issue threadbare. They rip it to shreds leaving behind a useless carcass of the very issue being disputed, and then what?
Nothing – nothing happens, nothing changes. Focus shifts to something else. It is time to act with some responsibility and accountability, individually.
The common man has the ultimate power he does not realize he has.
I am reminded of a story. A wildlife photographer visits an elephant orphanage where he sees elephants of all ages in an open field eating, sitting, standing peacefully. He then notices a rope around their legs tied to a wooden stump on the ground. The elephants moved only as far as the length of rope allowed them to. Curious, he asked the elderly caretaker, “aren’t you worried that you will have a stampede if these elephants ever try to pull and run away. The rope is too flimsy for their strength?”
The caretaker smiled and replied confidently, “no sir, they won’t, i have been here for 20 years and not one has tried to break free”. How is that possible? asked the photographer.
“The elephants come here as babies. We tie the rope around their leg to stop them from getting lost. When in the beginning they try to pull away, the rope stops them. They grow up unaware of their own strength thinking that the rope is stronger than them. The rope is not around their legs; it is in their minds. We should free ourselves of the fear, the friction and the fabricated news that paralyses us.
Change needs to come from within and the first change is to stop relying on international agencies like the UN/UNHRC/WHO/COP to step up and help. These were formed, in my opinion, as a moral compensation by the stronger nations to relieve their guilt after World War 2 for the innumerable ways humanity and the planet suffered in silence. Perhaps there was a slither of conscience then, but now the moral compass has broken rendering these agencies useless. We need to rely closer home, and it starts with strong communities backing each other.
In an ideal world, every privileged, successful human would consider it a duty to share a tiny bit of what they have acquired with those who have nothing. In an ideal world, the responsibility towards building a safe, secure, peaceful society would be everyone’s duty. In an ideal world we would be moved by the despair, destruction & degeneration of society.
Ours is not an ideal world. But then again, that is no reason for us not to dream or dare to make a difference.
The world needs Peace.
Peace is an emotion, not a commodity, yet we made it one. This was humanity’s first mistake.
No other species on this planet signs Peace treaties and contracts and yet they know more about peaceful co-existence than we do.
And what kind of peace are we seeking exactly?
You cannot bring peace by going to war. The only kind of peace you will get is the eerie peace of the graveyard, not the lively, joyful peace of a happy community.
The only way out of this quagmire is to unite and believe in the goodness of the common man.
I have learnt that you do not need great power to combat evil. Ordinary acts of kindness and love by ordinary people keeps the darkness at bay and stops it from advancing.
Jani Viswanath PhD is a humanitarian, artist, author and film producer who believes in the power of storytelling to inspire peace and empathy. She is dedicated to uplifting lives with stories that bridge cultures and has meaningful impact across communities worldwide.
