Each of us is captive to embedded ideologies

Ideology holds us all captive.

That, of course, is neither good nor bad, rather simply a consequence of being human with a large and contemplative brain

Robert Jensen.

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Further, the ideology to which we are enslaved with was not present at birth rather it arose from our culture, family environment and the influences of our peer group.

Again, whatever myths, values and beliefs become the software of our lives are of themselves neither good nor bad either rather, it’s how we intimately experience them, apply them to our lives and relate to others through those ideas.

Beyond all that, the accident of our place of birth brings with it a host of ideologies, some that are simply about survival and others that reflect the essence of the society in which we are raised.

Australia’s recent federal election was a subjective struggle between ideologies; ideologies distorted invariably by the personality cult and played out before an audience frequently unable to distil individual emotions and wants from the broader and critical public needs of Australian society.

Ideologies are, of course, not fixed, although their permanence is such that to rise above or beyond them can be a task beyond the capacity of most and so although a prevailing ideology may spell doom, rarely can we escape it.

Our ideologies have changed because of major revolutions with the popular view suggesting that those of most significance are the America, French and Russian, but the better answer is really the agricultural, industrial and delusional revolutions.

The first gave us what is considered civilisation, but that robbed us of the egalitarianism of tribal living, the industrial revolution accelerated our extractive behaviour and now we live in delusory times.

Writing in “Arguing for Our Lives”, Robert Jensen says: “Perhaps the most stunning example of this is that during the 2000s, as the evidence for human-caused climate disruption became more compelling, the percentage of the population that rejects or ignores that science has increased.”

“Why would people who, in most every other aspect of life accept without question the results of peer reviewed science, dispute the overwhelming consensus of climate scientists in this case, he asks?

It is here that ideology intrudes, overriding good sense and leaving people marooned on what was once an isthmus, which science having sliced though leaving it remote from the mainland.

Our extractive behaviours take no account of earth’s finitude and nor do our pre-conceptions, our ideologies or our willingness to discount the future expand our chance of escaping from this delusory age.

Again, ideologies are neither good nor bad rather, it is how we respond and apply them to the lives of others and, of course, understanding how pursuit or ignorance of them can impact on the planet.

Opportunity and reason lead to the Shrine of Remembrance

Opportunity, and reason, was cause to visit Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance last week.

The St Kilda Rd sign
pointing to the exhibit.

Entering from the nearby St Kilda Rd a sign alerted me to the reason for my visit, a temporary exhibition entitled “Peace”.

The overall energy of the exhibition warranted curiosity, but particular interest arose from that fact and that included in the display was the print, “Journeys and Destinations” by Melbourne’s Benjamin McKeon and Nathalia’s Bill Kelly.

Bill and Ben’s collaborative print represented Australia at the 50^th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights International Print Portfolio.

This print was inspired by the human right: “Everyone has the right to the liberty and security of person” and one of the limited edition prints sits in the collection of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) library, Switzerland.

Being at the height of the remembrance “season”, the shrine was alive with people from guides and advisors through to a seemingly ceaseless steam of school groups and others obviously eager to see the shrine and experience the sense the wonderment it invoked.

Interestingly, while the “war” section of the shrine captured the interest of most, while the “Peace” exhibit languished almost unnoticed in one corner of the main entrance area.

The drama of conflict appeals to, and seems to ignite, human emotions, while peace, the reason for the shrine appears to escape the understanding and interest of most, and so the idea that today we can live peaceably appears well down the hierarchy of importance.

Remembrance is obviously a key reason for the shrine, emphasized by its exquisite placement on high ground just south of the city making it obvious and ensuring the reality of conflicts to which Australia has been a party are constantly considered.

“Journeys and Destinations” by Melbourne’s
 Benjamin McKeon and Nathalia’s Bill Kelly.

The idea that we acknowledge those who died or suffered to preserve the life we presently enjoy warrants applause, but as we do that, it is important we escape the violent and quarrelsome paradigm promoted by the military/industrial complex.

Just last week a climatologist told an Echuca conference considering an indigenous response to climate change that a world-wide effort to mitigate that unfolding difficulty would cost some $30-40 billion a year, which is considered by most to be too costly.

However, confusingly and in what was a stark contrast, he pointed out, that the world spends about $780 billion each year of military machinations, not including the death or injury to thousands of people, the damage to property or the accumulating injury to the earth’s atmosphere.

Peace was one of the four “pillars” on which the shrine was founded, but it is something that will forever elude us unless we expand our thinking, challenge and change our adversarial behaviour, understand mutuality and be cautious with our use of language.

Adulation brings intellectual paralysis

Continued adulation of battlefield exploits point to intellectual paralysis.

It seems our thought processes have stalled, leaving us locked in an era when conquest of the other, and nature, signified elevated status.

Humans have always sought status resorting frequently to conflict and defeat of the other to cement their superiority with the ruins they have wrought being evidence of their success.

Celebration of that perverse success and, equally, the repeated remembrance of events past, even if that moment in history can be shown to be the antithesis of human betterment, draws on powerful human emotions making the event almost transcendental.

Most see participants in the conflict, survivors or otherwise, as sublime, attributing to them god-like ideals and values, adorning them in garments of splendour, awarding them medals and recognition for doing something that was simply a waste of human capacity and the manifestation of mob-madness.

An example of this recently dominated our popular media when a young man acted out the doctrines of our militant thinking; thinking that sees solutions in only physical confrontation.

Our intellectual stasis sees us trapped in a paradigm in which past events become a pattern for the future, negating adventurous and expansive thinking that allows us to understand that decency and discussion are better tools than bludgeoning another.

Decency and discussion is simply that and doesn’t need to be clothed in gaudy colours, adorned with medals or given to rapturous celebration, rather just thoughtful talk and kindly consideration of the other, embracing the realization that others, whatever their beliefs or passions, cry, bleed and feel just like us.

Life may appear linear – destiny that takes us from A to B without change – but it is not for with courage and commitment, and deep thought, it is unquestionably possible to change human behaviour and make what was common, a rarity.

Our ongoing adulation of battlefield exploits needs to stop for if we allow ourselves truly expansive thinking and consider 10 000 years hence what happened at, say Gallipoli, will be irrelevant and lost in the mists of time.

Rather than looking back and devoting time and energy to what was, we should, conscious of our errors, use our vigour to build our life around realities of the moment, rather than though an addiction with imagined glories of fruitless events.

Long has the wisdom of crowds been an article of faith, but such belief is slipping away, compounded, locally, by recent city council elections and in a broader sense, the apparent inability of many to accept that human behaviour is changing our climate and, in this instance, the absence of reason about disagreements that manifest violence and how recognition means reinforcement of failed ideas leading, inalienably, to more anguish.

Submit to our primal selves and we will create harmony

Walking recently next to an Asian woman talking on her mobile phone I didn’t understand a word, but then she laughed and I understood immediately.

Laughter escapes the rigidities of language – it’s a communication everyone understands, irregardless of race or background.
In fact most human emotions can be understood, or at least sensed, by everyone.
The impact of laughter is obvious, happiness is a little more subtle, but often obvious, joy is similar; fear if not seen is still palpable; sadness may not be blatant, but tears make it so and although contentment is difficult to describe, it becomes evident when you look at a way of life.
Confusion brought on by language confirms the adage that we should take little notice of what people say, but keenly watch what they do - actions speak louder than words.
Much of the difficulty in our world, be it personal or somewhat more sweeping, can be traced to a failure to recognize and acknowledge an emotional state or even something more subtle, body-language.
Upon entering a room of strangers, you seem to know immediately, without anyone uttering word, which of those people you like or dislike suggesting that something about our survival, even beyond body language, is connected to our primal being.
Beyond the façade that all humans wear to help us understand race, status and a host of other surface values is a human being living with all the emotions, difficulties and delights each of us experience on the big wheel that is life.
Many of the world’s cultures have gravitated to Shepparton and to live in harmony we need to think about, respect and honour those inexhaustible and “raceless” human qualities of laughter, delight, happiness, courage, fear sadness, discipline, skill, morality and a sense of belonging..
The next time you encounter someone who appears different than yourself, then look beyond what you can see and connect with the essence of the person, the human who lives inside and in a fundamental sense feels all the same emotions as you.
Like the lady on her mobile phone, your new friend laughs just like you, I can guarantee that.