Tonight we are continuing in the
series "The Politics of a Burning Building". For the full context of
this series, please check out -
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The Burning Building -
Imagine
that you are in a burning building along with a thousand other people, and
there is only one exit. Above this exit is a sign that says
"Survival". This exit to "Survival" is only big enough to
fit two regularly sized people at a time, or one large person at a time, or one
person with a disability that requires that they use a wheelchair or be
assisted by others in order to pass.
You
realize that there is limited time before the structure collapses above you and
the fires engulf the entire building. If everyone finds a way to cooperate and
calmly proceed through the exit to "Survival", moving at a reasonable
pace and ensuring that people who require assistance are helped along the way
so that they do not become blockages for the rest - it is likely that everyone
will make it out safely to "Survival" with some time and effort.
If
the people do not cooperate in consideration of each other's common need to get
to "Survival" and adapting as a group to meet that need, then there
will be chaos, disorder, and panic. Energy will be wasted trying to find or
force a path to "Survival" and this will ensure casualties, as well
as risking the fires spreading more quickly during the commotion. But those who
are first to act on instinct and can fight best, will get through
"Survival" first and ensure they are not left behind in the chaos.
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Day 23 - The
Politics of a Burning Building: Mass Desperation
Tonight we
will have a look at the next group of people in our burning building, which are
here referred to as the "unfortunate". Here is a recap -
"The Unfortunate - When the fire broke out and the other means of escape became impossible except through the single door through "Survival", many were in positions far away from that exit, and will have the most difficult time making it through, and will likely not make it at all unless all cooperate and move together smoothly, or unless they become more ruthless than the Survivors." - Day 19 - The Politics of a Burning Building: Introduction
When there
is only one way out of a life for death situation, those who are furthest away
from having access to that way out are the most desperate and unfortunate -
because their chances of survival, let alone any promise of a dignified and
enjoyable life, are greatly affected by the behaviors and the decisions of
those nearer the exit - and often through no fault of their own, even though
they as much as anyone else would like to walk through that exit of "Survival",
the desperate and unfortunate are kept from the very thing that all people in
the burning building want equally.
Imagine
for the moment that you yourself are at the very back end of the room, and the
exit through the door of "Survival" is on the far opposite side.
Between you and "Survival" are a thousand other people. As time goes
on, the chances of your reaching "Survival" narrow as the smoke gets
thicker and the fires spread.
For you,
one of the "unfortunate" - everything truly seems beyond your control
and your fate very much rests upon the ability of those in front of you to come
to a solution and work together to ensure that all are able to vacate and reach
"Survival". Even if you are willing to wait until everyone in front
of you is able to make it through, all that it takes is for conflict to break
out from the front or the middle as people lose consideration for what is best
for everyone and instead begin to see each other as obstacles in the way of
their own survival.
When there
is cooperation and a steady group movement, it is likely that even though it
will be difficult and you will need great patience and willingness to not
charge ahead and disrupt the flow of movement, you will eventually make it as
the crowd is able to disperse with minimal strain.
But where
there is conflict - where people begin to lose sight of what is best for all
and instead decide that they will see to only their own survival at the expense
of everyone else, because it is a "free for all" and anyone who
really wants their survival enough should be willing to fight for it... or die
trying.
This means
that for the "Unfortunate" -
when there is conflict and competition to reach and get through
"Survival", the struggle becomes much harder because not only must
you break through those at the front where "Survival" is more
cut-throat as people may force each other out of the way at the last moment,
but you must fight your way into the MIDDLE - where the fighting is most
competitive
For those
already reading between the lines and seeing the bigger picture that our story of
the burning building symbolizes, it should be clear now that the world system
that we are currently participating in currently has a large population of
"unfortunate" people - those who through no fault of their own find
themselves born into an economic reality that is beyond their immediate control
- this population is composed of more than 3 billion human beings (nearly half
of the human total population) who must fight for their way to survival with
less than $3 a day.
It is not so
far a stretch of the imagination to reconsider the story of the burning
building and how it is only a matter of time before the building collapses from
the damage caused by the fires, and to realize that the same imminence of
collapse exists in our current world economic and political system - and those
who will suffer most and suffer FIRST are those who are the unfortunate who are
so far away from having effective access to survival that it can be said that
they are worlds away from it - so far that they can be said to exist in a
"Third World Country".
For these
people to survive - let alone live with any real dignity or honor, they must
fight harder for what little access they have - and must fight their way into
an already contested and highly competitive "lower class" where there
is very little opportunity and often the only viable options are illegal and/or
dangerous.
Most have
not considered that the longer the other half of the population continues to
struggle and compete with each other for survival, or continue believing that
competition is somehow the only way to get to "Survival" even though
it is what all of us want, and the longer conflicts are allowed to take place
in the name of getting to "Survival" at "any cost" - the
harder it will be for half of the population to continue surviving and continuing
to pay the real price of survival.
What is also
not being considered is that eventually those who have suffered the greatest
will reach a point of fatigue that will cause them to simply "give
up" as they see and realize there is no "hope" for them when so
much of the population is busy fighting each other for their own exit to
"Survival", or it may drive them to a level of desperation where they
really have "nothing to lose" and will do whatever it takes to fight
their way into and through the crowds - infiltrating by any means necessary
into the lower, middle, and upper classes - not because these unfortunate
people are inherently violent or untrustworthy - but because their fight for
survival is more real and for them the stakes are much higher.
Here we see
that when we understand the position of people in the world facing the various
economic, social, and political problems that plague us, and really consider
what we are all facing and the various aspects and dimensions of our particular
placements, we more and more realize that ultimately everyone is after the same
thing and reaching for the same goal. For everyone we have taken a look at thus
far - from the masses of people, to the survivors, to the keepers of the peace,
and now to the unfortunate - the common goal is "Survival", and in
every dimension thus far the best and most effective choice is to consider each
other and cooperate. We see also that when we instead choose competition and
self-preservation at the expense of others, we not only create disharmony for
the entire group, but we more and more lead others to react and justify doing
the same thing, which puts us at a disadvantage as well.
So having
seen this and being able to understand that cooperation is our key - why then
are we NOT doing it? There is one last group within the population that are the
most influential of all due to their ease of access to "Survival" -
and where it has been a simple matter of getting most people to see and
consider that all are after the same goal and that all have much better odds of
reaching the goal when acting cooperatively - this group will be the most
difficult to convince - because they in fact benefit the MOST from conflict and
suffering and have the most to lose if things ever became cooperative within
the population. This group is the Fortunate Deciders - and in the blog to
follow we will have a look at how and why such a group benefits from the
opposite of what is best for all, and how eventually even this group will have
to reconsider and do what is best for ALL instead of what is only best for
themselves.
Continue to the next segment "The Fortunate Deciders"
