You Must Be The Change
As cliche as it has become, Mahatma Gandhi revealed his wisdom when he said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
One of the problems I have with progressives, anarchists, and other peace-loving types like myself is that they are too aggressive and, often, mean about… just about everything. They have not personally integrated the traits which they preach the loudest, such as peace and tolerance. If they had, they wouldn’t be so ready to jump down the throats of opponents and allies alike in the case of minor factual mistakes or a simple difference in experience or opinion.
“Arrogant Jerks for Peace” is not a movement you’re likely to run into, and yet it’s the message being broadcast by the intelligentsia of this country every day. Perhaps instead of trying to solve All The Big Problems all the time, we should first focus upon fixing our own problems. Society is a collection of individuals. If those individuals are not ready to evolve, neither will their social and political institutions.
To sum-up, a little compassion and understanding goes a long way.
~ NG
Make the microcosm match the macrocosm you wish to manifest.
Exactly. One of the foundational ideas of Hermetics is that by fixing yourself, you also fix the world. “As above, so below”, etc.
Most people who “adhere” to a policy of tolerance or freedom fail to allow people to have a dissenting view of that very tolerance. Tolerance becomes it’s own intransigent ideology one based on extreme moral relativism it seems.
I agree, but that begs the question, “Are such people really adherants of those policies?” I don’t consider myself to be a moral relativist myself, as I do believe in “right” and “wrong”, however “right” and “wrong” can’t always be applied in the same way, so I don’t make a habit of trying to force other people into acting in a specific way as long as they aren’t hurting anybody.
I would so No, they are not adherents of the policies they claim to espouse. They preach tolerance, but they really mean “agree that I’m right when I do this.”