Be afraid, be very afraid! Americans are experiencing more than an average amount of anxiety lately. Many of us are upset and confused of late, but as Ross Douthat puts it: “we all sense that in this political disaster, we’re seeing a glimpse into a cultural abyss.” (1)
If we have no understanding of the structure of human consciousness (our worldview determines our identity, and our identity drives our behavior), we have no foundation upon which to rebuild a sustainable American community after the trauma of a Vietnam, a 9/11 or a Trump presidency. Are we heading for an abyss and if so, how can we pull back before it is too late?
As we receive shock after shock to our sense of morality and adjust to the changing reality of the human condition are we experiencing the lowered expectations of a disintegrating human community in America? Are we using self-medication strategies to survive by numbing out or are we still capable of being shocked and stressed? A recent editorial in the Washington Post entitled “The Scale of the Catholic Church’s Criminality Still Shocks,” suggests that many of us are still vulnerable to the weakening of civility in the U.S.
It is never too late to commit to creating a sustainable and compassionate community in the U.S. and on the planet but we cannot continue to accept self-destructive behavior as the norm. “As soon as we accept something as the human condition, we stop talking about it or holding others to account; we simply adapt, admit defeat, lower our expectations.” (2)
Click on the link below to read what “higher” expectations would look like.
Insight # 51: In man himself lies the supreme unity, and it is there he must
begin—and end—his search. – Vedanta (3)
Link:
- “Vedanta” in The ABC’s of Simple Reality, Vol II (2018), by Roy Charles Henry, in print and on this blog.
References:
- Douthat, Ross. “An Age Divided by Sex.” The New York Times Sunday Review. September 30, 2018, page 3.
- Renner, Nausicaa. “Stress Test.” The New York Times Magazine. September 30, 2018, page 19.
- Johnson, Clive [ed.]. An Anthology of Hindu Scripture, Commentary, and Poetry. New York: Bantam, 1971, page 6.
