It takes great guts for one to live truthfully and authentically in today’s world. The odds against living in truth are countless and immeasurable, and anyone who dares to try must brace themselves for greater challenges.
First, it became a crime to have a different opinion and before we knew it, merely having a thought alone became a crime. The punishment for such crime began to be meted out publicly to set the tone and example for anyone who may harbour thoughts of what has always been a natural and basic right. It is for this reason that most people would rather just blend in and toe the line, even when, in the deepest of the soul, one knows it’s wrong.
In all history of mankind, constructive discourse and arguments have been the source of wisdom. It encouraged the sharing of ideas and enhanced society’s collective responsibility to steer itself in the most desirable direction. Every idea would be questioned and investigated. Every law would be transparently examined from different angles until common ground is established. This was the way by which most of the strongest nations were built. Because those who were bestowed with positions of power and responsibility did not take it for granted or grandeur and self-gratification. They understood that to rule justly and establish a formidable nation, the views and ideas of the people become the pillar of this leadership and power.
Today, society finds itself in a complete conundrum. Systems, either by design or mistake, shut the door to questioning and investigation of any information. In its naivety, the populace risks its genuine livelihood in exchange for an illusion. It becomes an accomplice in the annihilation of its creativity as well as innovative and inquisitive nature. Instead of brainstorming and collaborating with peers, the answers are written in stone, and the mind is a mere memory storage facility. In a perpetual state of FOMO (fear of missing out), television and the news shape the masses’ perception and view of the world, and drain every drop of free thinking left. Together, all these put together is a culmination of an opportunity to divide and conquer. Not to merely conquer territories as in yesteryears, but to pitch a brother and sister against his own in disunity. This ensures that at no point, as a phoenix rises from the ashes, will they ever rise from their poverty, or be free from the mental plantation.
Polarisation, the world over, has become the only last obstacle to every sane human being’s wish – the wish to live a happy, dignified and fulfilling life surrounded by family and friends, working together for not only the greater good, but even more for every individual to have an opportunity to live out their dreams and ideas. It is unimaginable that one would have a happy life while spreading hate and intolerance. It is unimaginable that one wishes to live in a world where all should simply share the same views and thoughts about anything, and only disappear into the darkness of oblivion. It is a disposition that is against almost every pillar of a harmonious society, and which every truly freedom-loving person must detest.
*karlsimbumusic@gmail.com
Uncommon Sense is published every Friday in the New Era newspaper with contributions from Karlos Naimhwaka.