The beginning and end of all conflicts
Im going to go out on a limb here and talk about something that has been tackled in an infinite amount of ways for an infinite amount of time. Im going talk about it because even though we can find more literature on this than any other subject, the essential question and the lessons that are sleeping within the pondering of this question occupy the hearts and souls while consuming the mind of every living person on Earth. Not only this, but ever since I was a boy, I’ve been able to see clearly how being engrossed in this without understanding what it is causes all unhappiness, struggle and interpersonal conflict within and amongst us, but its complex because without this “thing” we are faced with another difficult scenario, to fly in a void of opportunity or to drown in a sea of chaos?
The idea of a “venomous ideology” came to me around 14 years old, I chose to frame it this way because I realized we all have ideologies, we all have frameworks in which we see the happenings of life though and in turn apply to situations to illicit “our correct” responses, this is a necessary evolutionary tool we develop as we grow up to help us function properly, not only in society but also in relation to our inner world. This brings us stability, peace and clarity in a world where the only constant is change. Throughout the blossoming of this idea, I realized this is healthy enough and helps much more than it hinders in most cases, and especially that there is no “wrong ideology”… where it gets tricky is it is easy to be tantalized, to be seduced by the power, purpose and clarity an ideology can give, and this is the venomous potential of every ideology.
An ideology, in simple terms, is a set of beliefs or philosophies. We can hold many ideologies and for the sake of my point, an infinite amount because we can make anything ideological if we want to attribute that much meaning to all the little things we say, do and think. It seems to me, I should tackle this idea of mine from the macro, then progressing into the micro because I think a proper understanding of what I’m going to attempt to explain has a strong grip on every single aspect of our lives.
From the top down, we can see this as any ideas or set of ideas you believe to be true, right or important. This is normal and helpful for orienting your moral compass and life’s course. Now, when we allow this set of beliefs to create, what I’ll call a “Military” this is the onset of that ideologies “venom” taking effect. Why would a set of ideas need a military? You guessed it, offense and defense. An ideology can begin to develop an “offense” to set siege to any ideologies that counter, undermine, delegitimize or even merely scrutinize it. In the opposite way, an ideology can begin developing a defense to reinforce, empower and outlast any other ideologies that may question, critique or outright disagree with it.
How does this manifest in our lives? You don’t have to look far to see people holding and exhibiting traits of venomous ideologies. I’ve often referred to Nazism as a clear example of an obvious blatant case that many have heard of and vaguely understand of what a venomous ideology can manifest as in a large scale, now of course that is a complex example with many layers, but one of the most obvious ways to see what I’m examining here is by looking at politics and political ideologies. When you use the word ideology, peoples minds will undoubtedly directly go to different political associations, capitalism, conservatism, liberalism… while this is one of the most broad uses of the word, I think its valuable to reference for a second, how easily we can see venomous ideologies at play in American Politics.
There are two major parties which basically have become, in America, two idealogical belief systems that have under their control massive and powerful “militaries”… I feel silly to even use this as an example because it is so absolutely base and ridiculous and this post isn’t in anyway supposed to be something political, but for the sake of having a golden shining trojan horse staring us all in the face, go watch Fox news, then go watch CNN, watch them cover the same stories and topics and you will see strong “idealogical militarism” at work, and if you have a have a difficult time remaining objective during this case study, that may be an interesting thing for you to think about!
But what if I’m right and they are simply wrong?
Do you think you have thought about the things that are held as important in your mind from every possible angle? Do you not think that someone can tell you something you may have never thought of, ask a question to catalyze some development of your ideas? I feel like more often than not people would rather hold beliefs that are as hollow as the words used to express them. For example “ I do things like this” “ I think this is important” “these are my values” “I think this is best” have you ever tried presenting a “why” to anyone giving these statements? These days I feel like “why” is seen as the first shot that started the war, the ideology immediately has the “military” ready and you often get presented with the most disorienting, and deadly tactic of all, complete dismissal. As if, someone who doesn’t hold the exact same “beliefs” as you off the drop of a hat without even the slightest explanation, without needing to explain clearly what our beliefs actually are or where they actually come from, the person becomes “an other” or “one of those” people. Where is the curiosity? The humanity?
Are you using your ideologies or are they using you?
As you’ll see above, the example statements I gave all have something of the “I” or “my” in them… let’s take a closer look at why.
Can an ideologies secret weapon be our own vulnerabilities? How do these ideas become so important to us that we are willing and ready to condemn, worship or even kill others over them? The ideologies can swiftly, smoothly and gracefully make us believe that they are actually us. This no longer becomes an idea, it becomes part of you or I, we’re no longer defending or fighting for an idea, we’re fighting for our sanity, fighting for stability in our framework, that we mentioned earlier, from an earthquake threatening to tear it down. For most of us there is nothing scarier than being “torn down” left with nothing.
Not only do we surround ourselves with material wealth and creature comforts, we surround ourselves in a suit of armor composed of firmly held beliefs and convictions fortifying the idea of our identities… becoming “serious, respectable and stable” people. Like I said before, this is natural and even to some degree very necessary, I’m not advocating for never having passion or lacking the ability to care about something or living by some sort of “code” I think we both know this can be incredibly healthy, but when your ideology, strips away your empathy, telling you to join them and leave the rest, those people are crazy, this is the only way to do it right, your idea has gotten you to “other” something real, humanity. Im not saying you need to agree with everyone, or that you need to love everyone, but to “other” someone because you believe the ideas they hold conflict with your own is not dignity or discipline, it’s fear. If you’ve thought about your ideas clearly and embody them in your heart, not your ego, it doesn’t matter what others say because your mind is free to listen, its not been subverted by venomous ideology, instead you have benevolence, acceptance, healthy curiosity and a desire to engage and share.
This is a tricky thing to talk about, maybe not for all of us, but for me at this moment it is. To formulate it in a way that I think the general public will get the macro and micro implications of what I’m saying feels elusive. I think its complex because one could say, for example “ I’d never be curious or loving of someone who believes in murder as a great hobby” and I wouldn’t have a lot of wiggle room in that situation but I’d have to also say that we have to be able to distinguish between things that are “meta” right and wrong, which is a topic for another blog post because that is a whole universe within itself. I hope that if you’ve read this far you’re being left with something interesting and constructive to think about, I know having the ability to be asked why has led me to becoming a much more dignified, happy and healthy man and the ability to ask why has led down a road of triggering the hell out of a lot of people, who, if they choose to stay in my life, appreciate the hell out of it later.
I’ll leave you with this, a bit dramatic but if contemplated on is a beautiful anti-venom :
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
—— Martin Niemöller
Stay in light, stay in love,
Jay Bierschenk