lately i’ve been catching myself whenever i feel the inclination to blame humans. which is often, especially the more time i spend reading the news or lurking on social media.
when the mood isn’t of fear and anxiety, it seems to fall into the realm of anger and frustration. these feelings aren’t unjustified – there are plenty of government officials peddling bad messaging and policies, plenty of people going about their lives as if nobody else matters. this has been a problem far before this outbreak.
but how is it helpful, for me to utter humans are stupid or humans are the problem, even if it’s out of a justifiable frustration? it ends up putting me in a worse, more cynical mood – and if i’m talking to someone, it either entices them to nod their head in agreement, or feel shitty because, well, i just said something terrible about our entire species.
this outbreak has made clear to me that all of us, regardless of our various statuses in the world, are victims of a system that we all participate in whether we like it or not. when we see someone enjoying and benefiting from this system, it’s tempting to either zoom all the way into them as if these individuals are the sole purveyors of the world’s woes, or to zoom all the way out and say that all humans are fucked.
how i’ve coped with these impulses is not to choose a side about whether or not humans are stupid, or whether or not humans are the problem – these diagnoses only lead to dead ends. i’m trying my best not to spend energy engaging in that debate at all. whether or not we’re stupid – it’s within us to be smart about this. whether or not we’re the problem, it’s within us to be the solution.