Quietly, Carefully, Consistently
Everything we do matters. It all has an effect and we get to choose the effect we have. Some people are considered and careful, some live somewhere between “move fast and break stuff” and FAFO. Some people break things and the people who already knew what the consequences would be suffer the same consequences thay do.
People and issues are rarely as simple as they are made to seem with the amount of time and consideration that most are willing or able to give them. “It’s complicated.” describes nearly everything under the sun, tangible or not. Rare, non-existent really, is the person who has time or interest to understand and consider everything worth knowing. Some lack the motivation to understand even those things that they could.
How do You Deal With It?
One of the things I’ve struggled with, for nearly my whole life, is what a mixed bag people are. Some of the best things and some of the worst things reside in the same human. Sometimes they even use their best parts to attract you to their worst parts.
Do people negate their good parts when they commit terrible acts? We’re taught to reject behavior, not people, but at some point, that becomes a superhuman feat. I want to be this warm accepting entity that doesn’t impose my will on anyone. I also like for people to behave. I have an almost black and white view of what is right and what is wrong. It butts right up against my accepting, inclusive other side. Hurting people is wrong. It robs them of something. When I bring up robbery, I’m referring theft in the sense that Khaled Hosseini wrote in The Kite Runner.
“there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. When you kill a man, you steal a life… you steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness… there is no act more wretched than stealing.”
Making the right difference as often as I can is my best coping mechanism. I try to do that in a more considered and less cancelled way.
Canceled or Natural Consequences?
We tend to feel helpless when one person harms another, part of the reason some people get the schadenfreude power rush from “taking down” a powerful person or entity. The rush can be so high that cancelers may want to do it again and again, leading to unclear judgement and the negative, less genuine side of “canceling.” Others shut down and check out because they don’t know what they can do.
We aren’t powerless though, and we don’t have to live in the extremes. We can operate on a daily basis to support better things and not to support worse things. If we’re steady, things get better. If quietly, carefully, consistently, we choose the right things to support, giving our support to those things makes all the difference.
For me, and most people, this mostly takes place in the consumer market. There are all kinds of ethical issues to look at when buying a product (or idea). Most of the decisions where I exercise my ethics are related to human and environmental justice. For instance, I finally made it a habit to carry a water bottle so I contribute less waste from single use plastics and avoid sugary drinks or substitutes. I switched to waterless laundry detergent sheets for a number of benefits, and I’ve recently changed to recycled toilet paper that’s not wrapped in plastic and the company I buy from donates 50% of all profits to increased sanitation in developing economies. When I see a lost child, I stay with them until they see their adult or a police officer takes over, and I pick up random trash from other people when I go to the beach, or other outdoor places.
The time honored measure of an action is to ask what would happen if everyone made the choice you are thinking of making? What would be the consequence? What if everyone littered? If everyone rolled coal? If everyone supported businesses that don’t pay a living wage or that dump their waste in rivers that supply your drinking or farm irrigation water? If everyone supported real estate tycoons who buy up properties and control the markets with crippling rents? Or, supported businesses that don’t pay their contractors? One can do all sorts of mental gymnastics, from “I’m different” to “It’s just…” to “My act won’t matter.”
But, it does matter. That’s where our power lies, in choosing the actions that have fewer negative consequences for others and more good effects.
The truth is we all buy from companies that we wouldn’t choose if information was more transparent. But, if we didn’t even try, litter, pollution, homelessness, sickness, bankruptcies, habitat loss, theft of all kinds and more would be onerous beyond our imaginations.
Reacting without overreacting gives us the world we live in. It’s a collective choice, not one that can be separate. Supporting a company that pollutes drinking water pollutes everyone’s water. Supporting a company with leaders who abuse power is aiding and abetting once you know it’s happening. Our world is the sum of our decisions as part of the whole. Supporting ethical transparent companies, making better substitutions, making better habits, withdrawing support from businesses and other entities that do harm. It all matters.
What world do you want for yourself and the people you care about?
Hope you find a way to make a difference this week. Have a glorious day and we’ll see you on the trail.
