At the end of last week’s post “Understanding the revolution“, one of the points I wanted to emphasise was our individual role in dealing with it. I had mentioned two factors that I believe have led us to this point – rising inequality, and intersubjective realities. An attempt to fix also needs to begin here.
When demonetisation first hit us, I tweeted this
Our maid is the most disciplined person I know in that social strata. Her currency struggles tell me I cannot even fathom my privileges. :/
— manu prasad (@manuscrypts) November 10, 2016
Surprisingly she didn’t have an active bank account. We had a reasonable amount of Rs.100 currency notes and D suggested that we should help her with five of them for her immediate needs. I wasn’t averse to it, but caught myself hesitating for a moment. It was only a moment, but it served as a reminder that habits accumulated over a lifetime aren’t easy to dislodge. Acknowledging one’s privilege is hard enough, and going beyond empathy into compassion even more so. In my case, I have a scarcity mindset on both time and money, and it’s a struggle to go against it. I’ve learned to take small steps, and to not grudge the small difference I can make to the lives of those less fortunate than me in my immediate surroundings and daily interactions. One need not contribute to global causes. A smile, a help, an encouragement to the maid, the watchman, the Uber driver, the delivery folks – it can be anyone, but I can contribute everyday. And in an infinitesimal way, fight the divide.
The intersubjective reality is a more tricky proposition. I instinctively understand that rhetoric on the lines of “Time for the elites to rise up against ignorant masses” will most likely do more harm than good. My mind also immediately nods at the conversational approach that will breach filter bubbles – explained by Vimoh and Shefaly already. While it might be easy to blame social media platforms for bubbles, our brains are equally culpable because it loves shortcuts and easy labels. Expanding perspectives and spheres of thinking, and creating more balanced intersubjective realities requires engagement. But then I think of the effort involved – what if the other side does not want to understand/listen? I am also worried whether we are unwittingly normalising the abnormal! Sometimes I even humour myself that I can keep myself detached enough to survive my own lifespan. That’s wishful thinking though, and I realise that compassion, an open mind and conversations are probably the only way forward. (though it’s going to be a struggle) Access and inclusion are key, whether it be ideas or wealth, and it is up to us to be a part of it. And thus the goal
P.S. An excellent perspective in the Trump context