An opinion editorial
by Donna Clark Fuller
I began by thinking about the ideas of control and the environment. That is, to what extent do people or should people control the environment? And then after the events of September 11th, I began to think in broader terms of how people try to control each other, and I saw a connection between our attitudes to each other and our attitudes to the environment.
Too often, I see in our culture the tendency to divide people into two opposing groups. Although the names may be different, this game is essentially the same, it is necessary to create “them” and “us”. People are either Type A or Type B, leaders or followers, men are from Mars, women are from Venus.
We begin in school. There are the jocks, stupid but athletic, and the nerds, smart but unathletic. It is a game that has a certain appeal in simplifying life. If you can quickly pin a label on someone based on superficial appearances or traits, then you don’t have to take the time to get to know a more complex person. But it is also attractive because the label for “them” is usually negative and we love to feel superior. All of us do at times, but for some it becomes a way of life. Perhaps most importantly, it can also be a way to gain power over those we label in a negative way. Once a label had been issued, we begin to perceive only those things that reinforce our label and ignore those things that contradict it. Because at that point, to change our opinion would be to admit that we were wrong, and people do not like to be wrong.
The terrorists of September 11th had a label for all Americans. It didn’t matter how long they stayed in this country, how many different people they met or how much time they spent in conversation with Americans. They had the label “enemy” from the start. They found a way to gain power over a country they perceived as having power over them.
I think that this cultural attitude has gone on for a long, long time. In spite of the major religions of the world preaching love and respect for all people, it has been a constant struggle for them to counteract the “might makes right” philosophy that existed in many cultures for a long time.
Even with our pride in establishing democracy in this country, we still too often use very hierarchical systems, whether they are necessary or not. Some large corporations have moved to teamwork approaches with great success, but most have not. And how often do we admire people who grab for power, or find it amusing to hear someone insult others. Our television industry alone profits from this mentality with many of its programs. At the same time, we too often consider kindness to be a sign of weakness to be exploited.
It is not a very far step then to looking at nature as the enemy, as something to be conquered. To see “us” humans as superior to “them”, i.e. other life on this planet, and therefore of greater value and more deserving of survival.
Some people believe that competitiveness is innate, even in nature. Survival of the fittest, with fittest being defined as those who are capable of destroying others.
But I believe that although a common attitude, it is one born of fear. The fear that if we don’t attack others they will attack us, which becomes a cycle of striving for power. I also believe that we have a choice to resist that fear. There have been cultures that have emphasized creativity and the diversity of life over the acquisition of power. And I believe that we can create that kind of a culture again. It requires first of all opening our minds to the possibility.
Imagine a world without labels. How much could we, as individuals or as a group, accomplish if we did not spend time labeling others or have to spend time fighting the labels others want to pin on us? Take the time to talk to one of “them”. Take the time to see the vast diversity of flowers in a prairie. For how can we appreciate the diversity in the rest of nature if we can’t appreciate it in ourselves? How can we stop trying to control the environment to suit only humans, if we don’t stop trying to control each other to suit only “us”?