Today’s world is confusing and conflicted. We have people in leadership positions who substitute fantasy for fact. We have people being told that the U.S. presidential election was stolen, when the Department of Homeland Security has stated that the 2020 presidential election was the safest in the history of our country.
These same people who assert that the election was stolen established the previous president as their leader, towards whom they developed loyalty and allegiance. Who would choose to be loyal to someone who lives in a world of fantasy and delusion, rather than someone who deals with what is real?
If you tell people a lie often enough
What this delusional leader did was to put into practice the teaching of the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels’ assertion was that “if you tell people a lie often enough, over time, people will come to believe the lie to be the truth.”
What does this mean? It means that if it is stated by the leader that the election was a fraud, that the election was stolen from him and that he had actually won the election, then the followers of this leader will believe that the election was a fraud and that it was stolen.
If the leader says that global warming and the pandemic are a hoax, then the message to his followers is that the global warming and the pandemic are a hoax, not real and nothing to worry about.
Is this how people really behave and come to discern what is real from what is not? In fact, this is how conspiracy theories are given their birth. Who are these people who support Trump? Many of these supporters are drawn to him because of what he says, how he behaves and what he represents. His followers wish they could behave as he does.
Many are closet bullies and full-blown racists, men who look down on women and view immigrants with disdain. Many of them are white supremacists who feel that they have been mistreated and forgotten by their government. Trump supports such people and has pledged that “I am with you” to such white supremacist groups as the Proud Boys. He even pledged that he would be with the rioters as they went to attack the Congressional buildings on January 6, 2021.
It is clear that without an aware, educated citizenry, we are open to chaos and confusion. Such behaviours destroy what we are about as an American society, our way of maintaining our governmental structure and institutions, and our means of improving upon them. Trump and his enablers have only highlighted their need to be at the front and centre of the confusion and conflict they created for their own purposes.
On January 6, Trump fired up a mob of rioters and told them to go to the halls of Congress to “stop the steal.” He asserted, “You’ll never take back our country with weakness.” He told his supporters, shortly before they knocked over fences and forced their way into the Capitol building, “you have to show strength and you have to be strong.” He further admonished his supporters to “fight like hell.”
He encouraged an attack on the House and Senate, as members were attempting to carry out their constitutional obligation to certify the vote of the Electoral College.
The crowd of an estimated 8,000 attacked the poorly prepared Capitol police force that numbered, by some estimates, 1,400 to 1,600 officers on duty on the day of the riot. As the mob of rioters powered through the Capitol doors, they shouted, “hang Pence and get Pelosi.” Some were reported to have it in mind to shoot Pelosi in the head. Offices were ransacked and items were stolen and strewn on the floor.
There were reported to be pipe bombs and firearms in the hands of the rioters. The police were attacked and beaten with various implements, one was killed due to being repeatedly hit on the head by a fire extinguisher, and four died from the experience of being in such a violent and stressful situation.
There is reason to suspect that what took place on the sixth of January had been planned by various people inside and outside of the government. The details of such participation are slowly becoming known. It was reported that various staff members had provided guided tours, the day before the riots, to provide the rioters with familiarity with the Capitol building. These tours had been forbidden since March, when steps were taken to protect people from contracting the Coronavirus.
Trump was impeached by the House for his role in instigating such an attack, for inciting insurrection. It was the second impeachment of Trump during his four-year presidency.
The root of suffering is ignorance
What can we mindfully take away from this mayhem, to find meaning for ourselves at this time in our history?
There are several things that have been written by the Buddha, Adyashanti and others that can point us in the right direction. Buddha has said that the root of all suffering is ignorance. The impact of not knowing what we don’t know causes us emotional pain in our lives. Adyashanti writes that “suffering occurs if we believe in a thought that is at odds with what is, what was and what will be.”
What we went through in the era of Trump is ignorance and the belief in things that are not true, and for many of his supporters, not knowing any better. It has been a culmination of centuries of mistreating one another, as members of the human family. What is taking place today is the last gasp from this world of ignorance and mistreatment of one another, as we move on to the beginning of our healing process as human beings and as members of the American Family.
What we are going through today involves the last vestiges of an old power system coming face-to-face with the fact that a new day is before us. We are going from a dominant, white-based cultural way of life to a multiracial and multiculturally empowered way of life. The old guard is fighting to preserve their 400-year-old ways, and their time is running out.
Today, after Trump, we still see vestiges of this battle for and against change: between the rights of whites and blacks; between men and women; between a government of, by and for the people, and a government of special interests, lies and the misleading of its citizens.
The welfare of others
We cannot live our lives as a society and survive, if we remain ignorant of facts and reality. We cannot live our lives as a society if we believe in thoughts that are not true, have not been true or will not be true.
In addition, the Dalai Lama goes on to say:
We cannot live our lives as a society and survive if we do not realize that our own survival is so dependent on the help of others that a need for love lies at the very core of our existence. This is why we need to cultivate a genuine sense of responsibility and a sincere concern for the welfare of others.
The Dalai Lama’s point was highlighted during the January 6 riot at the Capitol. A Capitol policeman, Daniel Fanon, was being pummeled on the ground by the crowd. He was being stripped by the rioters of his taser, so they could repeatedly use it on him. He said that he felt his life was being threatened by those who were attacking him.
His mind was spinning about what he should do to save himself. He thought that if he pulled his gun and shot those who were beating him, he would kill some; and it might well happen that eventually, his gun would be wrestled from him, the crowd would use it on him and would feel justified in doing so.
So, he went from that reactive, aggressive survival-thought to responding to the group members’ humanity and compassion. He called out to those around him that he is the father of four children. As soon as he blurted this out, a group of people who were near him began to surround this battered police officer, and served as a protective barrier between Daniel Fanon and those who had been beating him. These folks stayed with Fanon until help arrived.
Such is the way of being when we bring awareness together with compassion and loving-kindness. The transition from ignorance, reactivity and the underlying fear that motivates such behaviour is a necessary progression to a world of Love, Peace and Joy. It is a necessary evolution that allows us to survive as a species and grow together as members of our human family.
«VERWANDTES LESEN» EINE VISION FÜR 2021: Der mittlere Weg des Buddha"
image 1 Photo from PxHere 2 Photo by stergw from PxHere 3 Photo by PxHere
