So much trouble in the world.... Bob Marley wasn't far off. If we watch the news or read the major media outlets then we'll know that peace is not global and happiness is often out of reach. That sucks, and most of us want to do something. Often, we feel completely overwhelmed by the red tape between us and a viable solution that besides from signing a petition or maybe standing in the cold with a placard for a bit if we're really keen is the only option.
That's where the problem is, and I'm not suggesting we take the LAW into our own hands, yet I am suggesting that we do things within our right that can help. We can all do our bit and then there are those of us who can do a bit more than the rest. Let's use our initiative more when it comes to things that are fundamentally at fault with society.
Why not take an example of a recent tragedy to make this point. There was a nasty school shooting in America the other month which resulted in teachers carrying guns in school. I trust teachers with guns, if they're trained to handle a class of teenagers then they're responsible enough for me. Whether killing is on the job description for an educator is another matter. I'd say not, and staff need financial compensation and extras for carrying this role. That's one example of a response, taken by government, that could help prevent the situation again.
What could we do, as a society? We could ask ourselves, how could we prevent this, what went on in the world around the gunman that ended up creating the deadly mix of emotion leading to murder. The kids empathy must have been completely numbed for a start, either through emotional distress or desensitisation over time. Either can be down to environment, and with the specific genetic coding that can lead to narcissism and lack of empathy combined, the end result was criminal. The environment played a role, and that is us whether you like it or not.
We have an opportunity to put antibodies into the cultural world, songs, poems, artworks, messages in any form, that undo the poisonous thinking that sanctifies evil behaviour. If we own a business and have a large number of people who use it, finding a way of getting the message to everyone can be as easy as finding a slogan that firstly promotes you and secondly does something good as a whole. We see it all the time, like with Tesco saying “every little helps”, it really does and that logic can be applied to anything. It's okay that it's selling a supermarket, the heart is in the right place. We can do that too, in our own way.
Even by wearing a t-shirt with a clever slogan, messages can be communicated quite easily. We don't have to get all serious on people, if its wrapped in smiles then it's easier to digest. So yes, government has a use, let's use them to the end of time, but we have a use as well. We can use our own ideas in our own way to tap on that eggshell which is everything 'wrong' with society. Putting an end to the things that make it feel okay to do terrible things has to reach down to every level. From top to bottom, we can all play a role in changing the experience of the world so that these things don't continue.