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IS IT ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSE'S FAULT August, 2009

Is it always someone else's fault?

Today we live in a world that is experiencing fundamental change. This rate of change is increasing over time. Yet the world has always changed ... just not as constant or as fast as today. If we look back through history in order to understand our present position, we can clearly see that even small changes can have a massive impact. This impact would send out ripples of consequence through geography and time to induce further changes which themselves may or may not have an impact. And so we see the gradual build up of a 4-dimensional matrix of cause and effect, increasing the latent knowledge over time and so increasing the frequency of change from an ever higher level of understanding.

From this complex position it is also clear we are all interconnected. No matter how isolated we like to think of ourselves, no matter how much we may want to or not want to take responsibility for our actions and our lives, no matter how much we tend not to notice the warning signs rampaging over the horizon ... we are all connected in one way or another.

So, what does this mean?

It means that an action somewhere will have a consequence elsewhere. This is most definitely NOT the "butterfly effect". It also means that as we are all connected and there are always consequences streaming out of actions, the negative consequences can only be endured - the negative consequences of someone else's actions can only flourish - if we allow them to.

People all over the world are very fond of "burying their heads in the sand", pretending something has nothing to do with them. It's a bit like seeing a street robbery. How many people would cross the road to get away from what's going on, in spite of the calls for help? How many would stand and watch? How many would call the police or intervene in some way? Let's be honest, most would try and ignore the situation in case it brought threat directly to themselves. Yet by ignoring it, the people effectively allow it to take place, they allow the robbers to be more brazen next time, and allow more robbers to haunt the streets choosing victims at will. And the next time ... the victim may well be the people who ignored the original crime.

What's the point then in crying foul?

Indeed, today we are faced with a series of quite incredible challenges - locally, nationally and globally. No matter how much they are ignored, these challenges will not go away. In fact, precisely because they are largely being ignored, they will increase in intensity until they do become a direct threat to the individual. By this time, of course, the damage will have been done. Rectifying the situation at this late stage will be by far more painful and costly than rectifying the situation at an earlier stage.

We see this through global warming. We see this through the potential for nuclear weapons from failed states such as Iran and North Korea. We see this through political correctness and "cultural sensitivity", how many, many people make excuses for religious extremism, terrorism, forced marriages, the continuing blight of slavery and human trafficking. The most current one to hit the headlines are women being flogged in Sudan for wearing trousers. Yet by no means is this an isolated case. It's been going of for years. In some parts of the world girls are not allowed an education. Women are not allowed to work even to feed their hungry families. Women are punished for showing their hair. Women are executed if they defend themselves against their violent husbands.

And we ignore this barbarism?

The barbarians are at the gates.

What sense of civilisation is there that allows us to know these things are taking place ... yet turn away as if it is of no importance? Turning away brings shame on us all. What is taking place in the world today is not just someone else's fault. It won't just affect everyone else. Ignoring them, defaulting on responsibility, only means the problems encroach steadily piece by painful piece from far away until they are at our doorstep, and then they bite us. And when they do bite us, when Iran passes the first nuclear weapon to Middle Eastern terrorists, when a woman is stoned in London or Washington or Paris for daring to wear makeup, or when the police can no longer ensure safety on the crime ridden streets ... will it always be someone else's fault?

When those days come we will all surely look back on today and shake our heads with the deepest remorse. We will understand we could have stopped the bad things from happening earlier, better, faster. Yet we chose to ignore them and hoping it was someone else's fault. We all want a better world. This world will never happen by chance. It will never happen simply by ignoring the bad things in the desperate hope it is someone else's problem or someone else will take responsibility. It is our responsibility.

It is our responsibility - each of us and together - to actively create that better world.

If we don't do it, who will? Who will stop the barbarians at the gates? And if no one does it then for sure the unthinkable will take place ... and then whose fault will it be? Together we need to dare to be better, dare to reach forward, dare to achieve that better world - together.

Regards

JS

If you don't understand the risks, how can you prepare? Can you afford to let the issues be blurred?

The turbulent 21st century

life isn't black and white

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