Disobey

Just out of mandatory diversity workshop at work. In this the presenter played back a media "expose" intended to demonstrate how racism still exists in society. In the piece, ABC News takes over a diner, places a blatant prejudiced man behind that counter, has a series of Hispanic actors come in and be refused service, called illegal immigrants, etc in the presence of average customers, and then watches how customers reaction to the situation. The intent being to prove the existence of racism by showing how the vast majority of people will either do nothing or agree with the man behind the counter when placed in the situation.

It is also a completely inaccurate depiction of anything to do with racism.

It represents the very kind of unscientific, overly-simplified major media fear-mongering that the American public has been inundated with for generations. It approaches a serious issue with a cavalier experimental design that makes a mockery of the very cause it is trying to draw awareness to.

The fact is that such a social scenario confounds a number of different variables yet attributes them all to the most visible attribute about the customers - namely that they are Mexican. In fact, it is discriminatory in and of itself by focusing so much attention to only one attribute.

Race, class, fear of safety, and, most critically, fear of authority are all present in this situation. I have mused on this before in prior posts and we have seen it depicted in countless social experiments: the majority of people when placed in awkward or potentially harmful situations, even when they may have a direct impact on the outcome of events, will not stand up, will not follow their better sense of conscience due largely from fear of authority, being ostracized, etc.

Stanley Milgram's studies of obedience at Yale in the 1960's. Phillip Zimbardo's prison experiments at Stanford in the 1970's. The examples of people unable to follow their better judgment when confronted with perceived authority are simply terrifying in itself. We see this in virtually all societies, generations, and organizations.

The true challenge of most societies is not forcing blind obedience to authority, but encouraging civil disobedience to it.

Gandhi said it much better, "The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within."

We need a society of people not trained to obey authority by a military with bullets, but trained to question authority via their own sense of conscience and confidence in themselves. We need citizens not asked to blindly pledge allegiance to symbols, but pledging engagement to higher ideals that are continually evolved through open dialogue and debate.

The real tragedies of our shared humanity are not resolved by attacking them in direct response. We do not solve the world's problems by naively attributing cause and effect to the first, the easiest, factor that emerges before us. We begin where and with who we are at this moment. We begin by first becoming consciously aware of the limitations of our own minds, of our own tendency to simplify by stereotype, to categorize by classification, to continually break things down into their most elemental forms. We progress by understanding how to think critically, both about our wold and about our selves.

The same man above once said, "The only devils in the world are those running in our own hearts. That is where the battle should be fought."

It is only by seeing both limits and possibilities of our shared humanity that we come to that critical point where we are free to focus our energies on those things we want to manifest in the world versus those we do not.

Belief

"The power of belief, in a sense -- it's one of the strongest of all," he said. "And like religion, if you strongly believe in something, it comes true and it becomes a reality. In acting, I find that as well. If you believe it, you discover a truth and it's quite spiritual.... Along that path, in discovering that character, you discover a lot about yourself."  

- 1994 interview with Heath Ledger

J.Allison

Beliefs are choices.  No one has authority over your personal beliefs.  Your beliefs are in jeopardy only when you don't know what they are.  Understanding your own beliefs, and those of others, comes through focused thought and discussion.  Most public dialogue is now propelled by media outlets owned by a dwindling number of multinational corporations.  A healthy democracy needs ways to bypass gatekeepers so we can communicate with one another directly, and perhaps even find common ground. 

Jay Allison

"This I Believe"

Drive Slow

How to make the most out of driving 2.5 hours for 1 ski run in the
worst snow conditions ever:

Stay hungry enough to enjoy a great meal with good friends.

Stay long enough to catch a sunset pour out over the mountains.

Drive slow enough to chase a full moon lighting up the night
clouds.

Fire

I am hurricane. I am mind fire. As I awaken to the light of this day I feel this pulse in my veins quicken, these pupils dilate, this mind come alive. I take this potential for infinite thought, of insatiable curiosity, of open-eyed wonder, and I make it my possibility. I embrace this day as all that I may ever have, all that I have ever had. I define myself here and now. I keep this mind open to the lights of others to shine upon it. I step into new worlds and understandings. I evolve from more than self, but ceaseless wonder of a wider world. I take these experiences with me down this road. I am not alone. I am, by pages turned, through sights perceived, connected to all who came before and all who come after. I leave my mark, yet I carry these experiences with me as timeless companions. In so, I am manifestation, I am amalgamation, I am the eternity of this moment.

Jump

This weekend I jumped off an ice cliff while skiing. 

It was no accident and, after doing so, I felt more liberation than any jump, mogul, or vertical incline ever provided before.  

Why? 

Because it scared the hell out of me, because every inch of my defined limitations screamed, "impossible"... yet I did it anyway. 

I cannot explain euphoria I felt the rest of that day, I cannot explain how I was OK with nearly breaking an ankle further down the trail, I cannot comprehend how a little ice in the woods could have impact it did.  But it did so for Jay too so I cannot claim to be crazy. 

What I do know is that there are times in life we can feel out of touch with our better selves, when it takes an act so apart from the confines of our predefined limits that we elevate our awareness and appreciation for things that much higher.  I would not have dreamed of jumping off an ice cliff in the middle of an unmarked trail on the last run of the day before that moment, but in that moment doing so was all that mattered.