In the last few days prior to the Hamas massacre, I’d been watching the dysfunctionalities of the U.S. House of Representatives on television. It seems to be the focal point of news and analysis everywhere I turn. That, and the dysfunctionality of our 45th ‘president.’
I was struck by the immaturity and disregard that some of the House members demonstrated in their treatment of one another, of the public they’re supposed to serve, and of the institutions that serve as the pillar of our very Democratic way of life.
There are a handful of these ‘Representatives’ who view the government shutting down as something that would ‘shake things up’—and, from their perspective, that would be a ‘good thing.’ For these folks, there is no regard for the consequences that would follow such an event: the programs that would go without funding, the people who would go without pay, and the children and poor citizens who would go without food as a consequence of such cavalier treatment.
Race-driven callousness in U.S. history
What these individuals highlight, for me, is how callous we Americans can be in regard to one another and as an ongoing practice throughout our history. The people whose lands we ‘invaded’ in our migration to this continent were mistreated as ‘foreigners’ that we needed to control for our own survival. They became objects in our conquest of this new place.
Agreements were made with these Indigenous human beings and were easily disregarded. Whole tribes of these original owners of their land were forced onto ‘reservations.’ Along with this relocation process, their traditions and languages were prohibited and disregarded.
The next example of our historical callous treatment of other humans is how we treated the Africans who were forced to come over to this continent, as slaves, to make the economy work so we could survive and profit in this ‘new world.’ Families were ripped apart, children were taken from their parents, and husbands and wives were treated as pieces of property that could be used and mistreated at will by their ‘masters.’
This historic event gave birth to centuries of discriminatory behaviour against people of African descent. We’re still living in the aftermath of this ongoing mistreatment of a race of human beings who are members of our Human and American Family.
Our history is replete with our disregard of the Chinese, the Japanese, the Mexicans and those from other parts of the globe who have been mistreated in the United States. The Irish, the Italians, the Polish and many other groups of immigrants all had to withstand discrimination for being who they were in regard to the primary occupiers of a particular city or geographic area. Why? Because we can’t stand the perceived threat of ‘differences’ in our lives. Differences have been equated with threat, which mobilized our fear of the unknown.
The role of women
And let’s not forget how women have been treated since our establishment of the Colonies. Historically speaking, American women have been considered ‘less than’ men. They weren’t permitted to vote or participate in politics and their primary focus was the family. They were the primary homemakers who took raw goods and transformed them into food to eat, clothing to wear and candles for light. They were responsible for the raising of children, which included providing a spiritual upbringing and maintaining a warm home with a fire in the fireplace. Without the role of women, we wouldn’t have evolved into the inhabited society we experience today.
It must be remembered that women couldn’t vote until 1920, with the passage of the 19th Amendment. In 1973, Roe v. Wade was passed and gave women the right to choose to have an abortion. On June 24, 2022, after nearly 50 years of women having the right to determine what they were able to do with their bodies, the Supreme Court reversed itself and outlawed their right to have abortions.
So now, a woman has lost her right to control her own body in the case of an unwanted pregnancy due to incest, rape, her own health issues or the health of the fetus she’s carrying—not to mention, any consideration of her quality of life. And it was a male-dominated court that decided on this change. It has also been a long-standing tradition for women to be paid less than men, even when they’re doing the same job. Laws have been passed in an attempt to change this, but still, a woman’s pay is normally less than that of that of a man for the same tasks.
The current problem with the GOP
The Presidency of Barack Obama, for two terms, definitively demonstrated that White Supremacy was dead in the United States. This reality stimulated the birth of the shadow side of regard for others, meeting the needs of others and respecting the rights of others. Today, the party of Abraham Lincoln and John McCain has become a bastion of those who disregard the needs of fellow Americans and adhere to the assertions, attitude and anarchy of Donald Trump.
Because people can be devious, as has been shown by Trump’s pathological lies, along with his delusional thoughts and behaviour, our founders created a Constitution based on concepts that we agreed would be the course our institutions would take. The Constitution would ensure that the rights of all citizens would be respected—including the right to life, fulfillment and liberty—and that all humans would be created as equal before the law, with no one above the law. This Constitution is now our safeguard against individuals and groups who attempt to disregard what We, the People have agreed to in our basic Democratic institutions.
With Trump, the GOP has become a radicalized movement that is disregarding Constitutional standards, regardless of the truth of the matter. It’s become a free-for-all that is devoid of law. These folks want to remain in power when they’ve lost power. They even advocate violence like ‘executing’ the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Armed Forces because he didn’t agree with Trump.
This approach to chaos implies that the solution to change is violence. The movement’s approach to trying to maintain power when it has been lost entertains the idea that individuals can be above the law and act out in any way they wish to achieve their ends. January 6, 2021 is an example of how the disregard of others can shockingly play itself out.
Buddhist psychology can help us
So, what are we to do? The first step in dealing with these seasons of abuse is to acknowledge what is happening. To acknowledge that notre fears become our threats and that we project onto others the things we fear most about ourselves. We can then take steps to protect ourselves. As Americans, many came to this new land with the fear that they’d be overcome by the unknown. They viewed others as that potential threat to themselves and reacted accordingly.
If we live in our past, with our hurtful experiences, we create storylines about ourselves and others. As long as we live in the past, we’re stuck in reliving these emotional events, and we’re doomed to anticipate re-experiencing what was once hurtful to us. It’s important that we bring our awareness into the present, which will allow us to be in the now of life.
Sur Buddhist psychology, the underlying cause of all suffering is ignorance. Ignorance is not being aware of what you don’t know. Our most essential task is to become aware of what causes us pain, insecurity, a sense of helplessness and a fear of the unknown. This can only happen if we stop living in the past or anticipating frightening things in the future, and instead bring our awareness to the present moment in life.
Namaste.
«LECTURE CONNEXE» HUMAN BEINGS: Objects, things and concepts or beings with needs, feelings and compassion?»
image 1 : Wikimedia Commons; image 2 : GPA Photo Archive
