It seems anymore the anger in society enables ignorance to be the norm, not the exception. Anger over climate/environment, anger over conspiracies, anger over the growing dehumanizing policies enacted under the banner of making things better. Many are desperate to understand who to blame, desperate for leaders to step forward and illuminate the problems while taking on the burden of research and proposed actions. Many resigned to angrily voicing their discontent based on ignorant understandings while shrugging impotently in the next moment. Resigned to the seeming truth that the little energy they have that is left after the machine extracts its sweat is powerless to making a difference.
Those who step forward perpetuating the anger, perpetuating the ignorance count on this anger to be the catalyst that transforms the potential awesomeness within each of us into a despair that shapes the masses into impotent human cattle. They do this using their polarizing pulpits to stir the brand of anger and hate, each flavored for the limited understanding those groups lean towards.
The frenzy recently on two issues has been glaring. The uproar over Greta and the recent 9/11 conspiracy beliefs. They both have in common the same structure we find everywhere. The structure being one that turns people into fanatics with hard lines who are unable to find the common areas of agreement to focus on. In the case of Greta and climate change, regardless of which side one falls on, it gets muddied by "experts" produced by both sides proclaiming opposing "truths" on the issue. Some are even saying now that we are not entering global warming as was originally proclaimed by Al Gore as he flew all over (see what I did there) warning us to stop emissions, but instead another ice age.
Many like myself are ignorant of whom to believe, if either side is even right. We do not have the education, nor the instrumentation to hazard any form of intelligent argument for such a hard position. Yet I rarely meet someone who is willing to embrace the idea that they are ignorant on the issue (pick your issue). Ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of, and if we are to unshackle ourselves from the paid experts who are employed by those who are often the ones profiting from the problems in the world, profiting from our anger with one another that they encourage, we must embrace our ignorance when it is so.
I have yet to meet the person, regardless of their belief they are on the right or left, who feels we should be polluting the land and waters. Who feels that goods used to survive and make life easier should be made with less quality so it has a shorter life. The list of ways that pollution is in many ways forced upon the common person by those in power almost never comes up directly in conversations I see.
It is usually fingers pointed at groups of common people as the cause. If we weren't such greedy consumers. If we weren't demanding these products. No one in my circles has ever demanded less quality. That's the same argument made for pro immigration. I have yet to meet the person complaining we have to many jobs and not enough traffic on our roadways.
The truth is, these types of decisions are largely made for us by a small percentage of people who own the majority of resources and product flows. Own this and are aided by their lackeys in government. As long as they are granted the right to do your thinking for you, the right to stir the anger in you, things will continue to get worse as has been demonstrated for many decades (and longer depending on the structure).
The conversation must turn from one where the masses eye each other warily with anger that often crosses into hatred, into one where we find where we agree on. If this happens, the illusions they create fomenting this anger will be dispelled. Of course, this will require not only embracing the idea we have ignorance within us on so many topics, but ownership of our choices and actions.
Part of the solution as mentioned is self ownership. An area that is in desperate need of this is conspiracy discussions. It is easy to get caught up in ideas of conspiracy. So easy because those making the decisions for those they view as cattle are indeed conspiring to siphon our energy and freedom. But the problem comes in when so called truths are tossed out (often I believe by disinformation agents) that are easily verifiable as not true. This aids what I call the dueling experts structure as once those with credibility begin citing these untruths, it calls into question everything else they have shared.
I came across this recently here on Steemit, by a blogger many hold in high esteem. The claim was Rudy Giuliani had foreknowledge that the towers were going to come down. While I have stopped doing research for posts almost six months ago, this was a claim I had to look into myself. My finding being that what he said was taken drastically out of context. Here is the video for you to see for yourself in case you have also encountered this claim.
When you listen to the interview, he talks of those in command (Police commissioner, Fire Chief, etc) warning him that they believed the buildings would come down before they did. Keep in mind this is after they have already been hit. While one could question if those at the command center were in the know, his admission is one of his experts warning him of a dire possibility. A structure that all businesses/leaders employ, entrusting certain flows/scenarios to those with credentials. It wasn't like he was walking around before they were hit talking about they were going to be hit.
Reporting this kind of easily disprovable "truth" steals from energy that could be devoted to verifiable truth, of finding our common ground.
There are many reasons for us to not like our neighbors. To not like many we interact with. Real reasons that are justified. Those dislikes should never intrude on our common ground. When it does, as it does so often, it makes us weaker as a community. Makes it harder to keep ourselves free from being shackled more by those amplifying our dislike of one another. The more fractured we are, the easier it is for them to clamp down on us as the waves are smaller. Easier for them to find support for the clamping down, because it affects THEM (insert the hated party in THEM).
If we venture more willingly into areas of common ground, we will find many of us desire the same things. The disagreements over the methods should not obscure the truth that we agree there is a problem (or a good thing). It is evident there is corruption, evident that the common person is being screwed harder by the year as those who own the flow grow fatter. It's time to take these angry lenses off the others in the same boat and focus on the truths that are within reach and the agreements that can be had from them. To find our agreements without the "experts" intrusion between us. We don't need an expert to agree on most truths, and if we can push them out of our common areas it will be easier to dispel much of the created ignorance being perpetuated in this information overload we are being immersed in.
One can view the intent behind NEWSTEEM as a structure attempting to find common ground. Had to mention it.