The Rigged Game
In my last blog post on the Pachamama Alliance training I discussed the importance of choosing grounded optimism over pessimism despite the very scary and disheartening issues we face in our world today. There are answers to these critical problems. The changes needed are “urgent, but possible”, and therefore not hopeless. It’s just that time is of the essence. So it begs the question, if this is critical and urgent, why haven’t the changes been made? The answer is because the game is rigged to keep the status quo in effect. This post looks at the “rigged game”.
This module of the training was so intense and loaded with material that the best I can do is highlight the most important points from my perspective. I think we probably all sense that the issues we face today are the “symptoms” of much deeper and larger problems. The training has helped me see that we must address both the “symptoms” and the root causes.
To begin we must go back to the post in this series on the power of story and revisit the old story that has been in place in our culture – the story of separation and domination. It starts with the story of “self” as a separate being. As separate entities the tendency is to want to control and have power over others and the natural world. This leads to a “me versus you”/ “us against them” mentality and to a hierarchical system of domination whereby some people are deemed to have more inherent worth than other people and the web of life, itself. This became our cultural story and has shaped our world.
This old story is built into the systems and institutions of our society – education, criminal justice, healthcare, media, military and legal systems, to name a few. The game is rigged in favor of a privileged group and against the majority of people, especially the poor, people of color, women and others who are “different”. It allows the oppression of some people for the benefit of those at the top. The social injustice and environmental exploitation in our world are the outcome of these intentionally designed systems.
Two glaring examples of the rigged game are racism and wealth inequality. The current demonstrations and unrest in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City, as well as, across the nation are highlighting the racial bias in our criminal justice system. There are lots of statistics to back this up. For example, one out of three black males, as compared to one out of seventeen white males, can expect to go to prison in their lifetime. Black men are not only more likely to be arrested; they are more often convicted, and routinely serve longer sentences than white men.
Occupy Wall Street and the offshoot demonstrations were bringing attention to the wealth inequality in our country. Wealth provides power and with this increased power the richest amongst us influenced policy decisions that further benefited them (lowered their taxes, protected corporate interests, etc.) at the expense of the middle and lower classes (public services being cut at all levels).
In this country the top 1% of the population own 40% of all the nation’s wealth, receive 25% of the national income, and own 50% of the nation’s stocks and bonds. Really? At the same time upward mobility for the middle class has become increasingly difficult and the poor now have less access to getting out of poverty.
This financial inequality is threatening our society. It’s threatening our economy, our ideal of equal opportunity, and our very democracy. As former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis allegedly said, “We may have a democracy, or we may have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both”. The financial elite are buying our elections and basically running our country.
Knowing all this, how do we make the necessary changes? First we need to change the old story of separation to the new story of interconnectedness and a just and thriving way of life for all. Individually, this is where we need to do the inner work I discuss in my book, Emerging Self, Embodied World. And, we need to become more informed and educated so we can see the rigged game and see our part in it – where we’re complicit with the systems and structures that perpetuate an unjust and unsustainable world.
Community projects are another essential part of the change efforts. We need to bring people together to raise awareness, build bridges, redress wrongs and start dialogues around these challenging issues. Things like bringing the Restorative Justice project to the city of Ferguson and other communities that have been torn apart by injustice.
And, since we’re dealing with powerful institutions, the change requires masses of people getting involved in social movements that demand change. This is the only way to address the root causes of the injustice and inequality in our world today. All of us need to support in whatever way possible the grassroots movements that are addressing these issues. I’ll be saying more about this in my next blog post.
Remember the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has”. Now is the time to take a stand and get involved. We owe it to each other, our planet, and the generations to come.