Moving Beyond the Struggle of Left v Right, of Good v Evil
The current global political situation is often described as polarised. Left versus right. Socialism versus capitalism. As much as we may believe in whichever ideology we pursue, lies a shadow of tribalism that hinders actual progress.
It is understandable to be weary of this shadow, as its mentioning usually comes bundled in an attempt to undermine real attempts at progress. As calls for “unity”, which usually involve unbearable compromise and empty promises.
Even still, the shadow remains, shaping the actions into ones of hostility. We choose a side, the one we deem to be morally superior, and ascribe all evils of the world to the opposing side. While choosing a political stance offers an experience of purpose and order, it can also stifle any actual progress, acting as a shovel with which we dig ourselves into our respective trenches.
It stops us from truly questioning our worldview, and instead accept anyone who agrees as an ally, and anyone who disagrees as a villain. The discourse becomes an echo chamber where only likened views are welcomed, or even attempted understood.
The very ideologies that promise progress, become a barrier for understanding and empathy.
We then accept any views that coincide with our own, even if they originate in institutions of a state, we would otherwise have great reason to distrust.
On the right there is a tendency of blind faith in the market, nationalism and religion.
On the left, a tendency of blind faith in scientism, power structures, and the state.
Both sides seek to either mock or morally indignate the opposing sides for their views. The right mocks the left for being weak people living of a sense of victimhood that fuels their feelings of entitlement and moral superiority. The left frames the right as selfish oppressors, seeking to maximise their own short-term gain, no matter the cost.
The point here is not to say that any matters that are currently debated by either side are insignificant, but that the way we try to create progress is fundamentally flawed. Demonising the opposition may make us feel morally superior and grant us acknowledgement of our group, yet we are simply attempting to win a zero-sum game with people who are much more similar to us than we can imagine.
Progress doesn’t come from conquering, but in understanding and finding solutions that work for everyone. Attempting this is certainly a blow to the ego and a reminder of our human limitations, but this is a small price for opening the door to true progress.
Furthermore, as long as we stay in the trenches, we are ripe for manipulation and control by the state and its corporate masters, seeking to keep people fighting amongst each other, so that they may continue their hoarding of wealth.
The world is the way it is because we all consent to it being so, and we all carry the mutual responsibility of changing it. Millions of people are trafficked into slavery. Billions starve while producing goods for the western countries, who in their own short-sighted stupidity outsourced most means of productions to save money. Our agriculture is being destroyed by glyphosate and other toxins, falsely disguised as solutions to food shortages. Most people, even in the richest parts of the world suffer either psychological or physical disease, as a clear reflection of how misaligned our way of life is with nature and health. These issues usually remain out of sight, making way for the illusion that life will be good when we achieve a certain standard of wealth and status.
We may feel powerless to change the world, but we are not. We all have the opportunity to change who we are and what we do, and as we make these changes, the world follows. Now the time has come to move beyond the labels, groups and narratives that shackle us to complacency and illusions of progress. It is a choice between acting within the existing system and thereby perpetuating it or choosing a new way forward.
Through debate, empathy, and understanding we will find solutions that will remain obscured as long as we focus only on gaining moral superiority to whatever opposing faction that we perceive. This takes boldness and courage, but it will yield us the very change we so desperately need to see.
