Ungovernables

Whether we realize we are building society every minute or not, society is being constructed by our thoughts and actions. Of late, we have seen how vulnerable we are to half truths, coruption and apathy. These intrusions upon our society have come to a point where questions are not even asked about it. What is ironic is that many people claim to be great at critical thinking and communication. At this point we maust ask oursleves, What are we building?

Take for example the group of people who ransacked a street in Hamilton Ontario Canada a few weeks ago. A group of people marched and caused damaged together while holding a banner stating they are "ungovernable". How did they even get together as a group? Who made the sign, who decided to carry it and ultimatley what collective purpose are they banding together to popularize? Are they trying to inform the public about irony, oxymorons, idocy or perhaps their meeting was just a mystery of chaotic happenstance?

In all reality we know what an ungovernable, anarchistic society looks like and that is Syria right now. Knowing that, why would anyone want to promote such a society? To answer such a question it might be helpful to use a cliché – “the subject of a persons complaints or accusations are more about that individuals needs and wants than what is taking place outside their life”. Where does that leave us with building our societies?

For example, the axiom popularized by Winston Churchill, “Democracy is the worst form of government except all others we have tried thus far”. In that statement the questions arise, “What is the best form of government and what are we doing to implement that form”.

No matter where you live in the world there are basic rules everywhere which begin with respect for each other. Although the frameworks, systems, laws and cultures vary, each society is rooted in similar foundations of peaceful existience. Within that interplay, each person needs to have their own point of decision, to make their own experiences, to have their own sphere of understanding and ultimately live a successful life.

When a person begins to feel that society is out of control the individual seeks control. This is exactly what has taken place in Syria. This is most likely why a band of “ungovernables” went on a rampage in Hamilton as well. There is also the reality where you create chaos and then bring order just so you can be the one to be seen as the person who brought peace to chaos. Such a tactic sounds stupid but this is the reality of many peoples thought process. Then again there are those who cause havoc so they can watch the mayhem. A form of sadistic behaviour.

With these types of people rampaging across the world, we must look at how these actions provide informtation to improve society. Clearly we need more of an involved and informed citizenry. We need to strike a greater balance for peaceful discussion when difficult situations arise. We need to provide avenues for the public to release their anger in a positive manner. We need to improve education on being peaceful. We need everyone to improve their skill sets in areas of peaceful societies.

Chaos, fake news and easy living.

During the past month I have been working on a youth model government exercise. The need for such an exercise hinges on three factors.

One, there is an onslaught of harmful chaos griping the world at this time.

Two, the life of instant gratification is doing a tremendous amount of dammage.

Three, our individual responsibility towards governance is being used against us as a weapon of war.

These factors are a very real threat to peace around the world. In all truth, the threats are not new yet they do take on a different form. We have the trojan horse situation taking place within the technology sector, we have planted news stories in our social media and we have the groups inciting apathy, idiocy, ignorance and/or hatred.

Having worked at building societies which endured years of war, these tactics are easily noticed. What will always remain is the ease in which youth become influenced. That is how we get youth joining Daesh in Syria. This is where the point three comes into play. Each of us must do our part to counter the chaos, give support to the fact the road of happiness is unending – not instant and that each of us relies on the other to ensure a peaceful society.

For years we have seen the efforts put into studies that say one thing and another study which points to the exact opposite side of an argument. If you want, you can get a study done that points to the impact of Jupiters orbit on the size of eggs. Should we be concerned about such a study? Well not to any great extent but it might be good for a laugh and the math would be of great interest. The point is not so much the content but the reality of such a study being done.

Part of living in a society is that we must understand where the information we receive is coming from and for what purpose. This is the trust we have seen eroded in the sources of information. What is so alarming is that we have been through this erosion of trust many times and yet we still fall for it. At present the RUSA is dealing with the Russian media influence. Here in Canada we had to deal with the same thing when the RUSA conducted similar operations during the late 1950's and early 60's. Now it comes back and we must be prepared for the same influence from more places.

We need to sort through the chaos of information, we need to work hard to gather the best intelligent information and we must know to stop spreading harmful information. These three points are the reasons for youth to be educated on proper research, proper debate, proper conflict skills and proper community building.

We have experience what happens in Syria, Libya, Yemen, RUSA and even in our own communitites when we lose focus of the diligent hard work needed to maintain a peaceful society. How often have we asked politicians to stop the partisan mud slinging? It takes a strong dose of calm resolve to pull back. It takes each of us to act in good faith. That is our responsibility to each other and ultimately, to our own selves. Our communities do not unravel unless we actually do the unravelling.

 

In the end we find out that easy living is rarely satisfying nor easy. We find out that our hard work is more rewarding for us. We also find out that being peaceful is not about just getting along. Peace is about valuing each other, supporting those who falter, knowing when we falter ourselves and having the courage to face up to it.