Change should bring pain but not hate

Everything comes down to this: love, kindness, compassion and empathy. All or nothing.

Do people have it in them? Without these qualities people on the prairies, the country, and the world will continue to have this ugly power struggle.

The world is currently in a state of turmoil. Hate. Violence. Racism. Dominance. Intimidation.

Whether you are talking about bullying, passive aggressiveness and gaslighting on a personal level all the way to different levels of government and government services, there seems to be fingers pointed every which way.

Whether you want to blame COVID-19 for initiating the issues by devastating the economies of industrialized nations which in turn caused social and individual stress on people — the seeds of hate, oppression, malice along with self-loathing, no confidence and no faith were already there and planted from previous generations. While there were pressures which have caused people to lose their patience and no longer able to hide their true inner most feelings, much of it is not good.

The pandemic’s stone which was thrown in the water has not caused ripples but gigantic waves.

So many are struggling with the extreme of a lack of work or too much with having to take extra duties on depending on circumstance.

With people either have time to actually think; there seems to be time to either hate each other more or figure out there has been injustice.

Many people who of white privilege, but aren’t necessarily racists have been shocked by the murders and genuine out and out hatred of people of colour that have been videotaped. With the murders caught on tape, it has taken some time but society is starting to listen to the Black Lives Matter movement. Still a long way to go, but some things are changing.

There is a release of the heartbreaking and horrifying of the previously repressed stories of oppressive acts towards blacks in the United States and of natives and other people of colour in Canada. Those of white privilege are listening, at least some are and hopefully that will lead to meaningful change.

No matter who you are, we are horrified of what they are seeing on social media with the stress caused by current economic conditions caused by the pandemic and the release of angst during these social conditions. Many are reacting badly.

We feel the need to arm ourselves with weapons, including cell phone cameras.

We have always been in North America a ‘gotcha” culture — with the gradual progression from Candid Camera to America’s Funniest Home Videos to now the far more serious cell phone video camera, amateur videographers are catching pure ugliness out there. Viewers are watching beatings, murders, police and civilian brutality both physical and verbal… all parts of the world are seeing the vilest aspects of society that we haven’t actually witnessed before.

Sure, you hear about cruelty but now we are watching the video replay of it complete with all obscene language and brutality leaves nothing to the imagination. People fighting in parking lots, those protesting doing it peacefully or during over cars, looting, setting things on fire or fighting police. Why? Fight fire with fire?

Standing up for what you believe often is equated with violence and shows of force and mental intimidation because that is now the human condition. “Only the strong survive.”

“Survival of the fittest.”

“Don’t be a wimp.”

“This is the way it has always been.” Everything is not about putting forth new ideas, it is about airing grievences. Taking back what was taken or grabbing what people never had.

If we were spurned by love, kindness, compassion and empathy more instead of being driven by ego, a quest for power, dominance and riches, the world would be a far more peaceful, better place. Currently it isn’t this way. All we can do is hope and act for change when we can, and hopefully from a good place in our hearts.

Ryan Dahlman is the managing editor of Prairie Post East and Prairie Post West