Thoughts on the Mess

The world is a mess. America is a mess.

People are terrible to one another. That’s not the whole picture, sure. There are good things. There is good work being done. Those good things don’t negate the mess; they exist in addition to the mess.

I’ve been carefully considering my response to the latest evidence of the mess. I could sit and mull over what to say and how to say it for a long time, but that would result in silence. Silence in the face of wrong is consent.

It seems that we tend to stack ideas and additional framework on top of basic, foundational concepts of right and wrong. We say things like, “Sure the ‘abuse of authority’ is bad, but so is looting and rioting. Actually, the latter is worse than the former.” We sugar-coat and use euphemisms for the hard language of labeling something wrong, or more appropriately what type of wrong it is. We minimize and cherry pick and deflect and use “what about”-isms. We use politics to pick teams and call the other wrong and us right. We do this to people. We pick teams and consider the other to be less than us, even inhuman. It’s much easier to rationalize violence against another human being if you don’t consider them a human – someone of equal value and worth as you.

Here are some thoughts, as incomplete as they may be or seem:

Racism exists and is wrong. No examples you can offer of individual behavior or conditions can soften or negate that truth.

The term “white privilege”, as I have been told by other white people, is a politically loaded term. Yes, it’s used in political speech. For your careful consideration, here’s my take on a definition. It doesn’t mean that a white person hasn’t, doesn’t, or can’t experience hardship. It doesn’t mean a white person was given something, per se. It means that the white person isn’t the object of, the target of racism. If you, as a white person, read that and felt anger at me or disgust with me, I recommend you re-reading from the beginning.

Most people who protest in public do so with the goal of peaceful demonstration. Others seize upon the opportunity for anonymity in a large crowd to instigate violence for their own purposes. Sometimes, a group of people can be led off course by those instigators. “If the majority of protesters are peaceful, why don’t they keep the instigators in check?” one might ask. For the same typical reason that cops who “aren’t the problem” don’t speak out against or otherwise turn a blind eye to the cops who are a problem. It’s not just a cop problem. It’s not just a protester problem. It’s a people problem. If you are a student of management, you learn something like the 10-80-10 rule. It’s stated something like this:

• You have the 10% who will do right no matter what.
• You have the 10% who will do wrong any chance they get.
• You have the 80% in the middle who will tend to adopt the behavior of whichever 10% is more rewarded (either through incentive or by lack of rule enforcement).

People tend to operate using the “principle of least effort” otherwise known as laziness. It takes effort to do right no matter what. It’s easier to go with the crowd. It’s hard to take a stand. Do the hard thing.

I’ve seen the meme/post/sentiment shared that, “It’s okay to support law enforcement and also condemn officers who abuse their power.” While this seems to be a wholesome, worthy sentiment, it overlooks something. Here’s a rewrite: “Supporting law enforcement is condemning murder and abuse.” See the difference? It’s not an “and” or an add-on. It’s part and parcel. There’s a sugar-coating that goes on in the original statement. I’ve had the privilege to know many extraordinary law enforcement officers. I’ve done my best to keep them safe at work. Just like any collection of people, a slice of the collection doesn’t do what’s right when no one is looking. Many cops are good. Some cops are bad. Many protesters are good. Some protesters are bad.

Language is tricky and not everyone is keen to nuance. I look for nuance, perhaps to a fault, perhaps not. It takes time and effort to peel back the layers and see past the labels. Do the hard thing.

If you are thinking about or treating another human as anything less than how you want to be treated, you are in the wrong. It’s the golden rule. I worship the God of Truth and Justice and Love. Those qualities and concepts are not mutually exclusive. You can’t scream for justice and omit love. That’s not real justice. You can’t demonstrate love without truth. That’s not real love. You can’t find truth without finding both justice and love.