We humans have always had an arrogance problem. I’m not talking about the neighbor with the perfect lawn who keeps telling you what you’re doing wrong with yours. That’s just annoying. And you can simply walk away shaking your head while he says, “Did I say something to offend you?” Yeah, you did. Goodbye.
No what I’m talking about grows much deeper. It has roots that are large and go deep. That which sprouts from these roots are not easily moved. The plants that grow are nourished by the narcissistic sap that is generated within the dark labyrinth of these roots.
The fruit that grows is arrogance and self-importance. It is “my way is the only best way.” Such is the way of things.
I don’t say this to accuse or castigate. I’m simply making an observation.
This is what I see.
There has always been an inclination in humans to assume that my way of seeing things and doing things is the only correct way. Anyone who is ‘Other’ than me has no idea what’s best for them. Their way of thinking and living is harmful. Or worse, savage. Every conqueror or conquistador or tyrant or king or priest or fill in the blank thinks that they know best. In recent times we in the U.S. need only look to our colonial past. (Yes, in the overall scheme of history this was recent.) The rich and powerful Europeans came to this land. They looked around and said, “Aha! We know what’s best for this land! Secure it and cultivate it.” Of course, we know that there were millions of indigenous people already here and doing quite well, thank you very much. But the colonists insisted that these people inhabiting the land didn’t know any better. They were poor, uneducated simple savages. “We need to save them from themselves!” our forebears cried out. So, the colonists took the land that the native peoples lived on in order to “improve” on it with farms and houses. They forced their so-called superior knowledge on the humans who had lived on the land for thousands of years. We can see the results. The land has been harmed in some cases irreparably. Cultures and languages that had filled the hills and valleys and plains of this continent were not only displaced, they were destroyed. Because “we know best.”
Arrogance.
We can look further back into history to people like Alexander and Augustus; Genghis Khan and the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt. Where there has been power, this arrogance has caused untold harm to people and land and every type of creature.
Right now, we’re witnessing another example of this arrogant “I know best” attitude. The U.S. and Israel have gone to war, no wait, they are engaged in a Major Military Operation, not a war. There are many reasons given by our leaders for this action. None of them are good. None of them are accurate. I will agree that the political regime in Iran is notoriously nasty. They oppress their own people. They foment conflict throughout the Middle East. They threaten their neighbors as well as international commerce. Ok, not good people. Any caring and compassionate person would look on this regime as cruel and harmful. Perhaps there needs to be a change. But who are we to decide what that change looks like? How can we, who can’t even make our own systems work, tell others how to fix theirs? This is again the arrogance of humanity, stick your nose in where it does not belong.
Are there ways to move forward that are not so harmful and divisive? Yes. These ways, however, should be driven by the people who are most affected by their oppressors. Has any leader of an international power asked the Iranian people what they actually desire? Have they talked with alternative influencers in Iran to offer the support that they really need? At what point in this conflict has anyone considered the welfare and future of the people of Iran? None that I’m aware of. Yet we think that we, who share neither language nor culture with the Iranian people, know better than them. So, we force our own ideas and strategies into lives that are not ours.
Arrogance.
Do I think that I know the way forward for the Iranian people? Oh hells no. I’m as ignorant as our political leaders. The difference is that I know that I’m ignorant. That’s a hard thing for humans to fess up to. Because we grow from roots of arrogance. It’s the air we breathe and the water we drink.
The only cure for arrogance is humility. That’s a commodity in very short supply. Humans don’t want to admit that they don’t know everything. We certainly don’t want to acknowledge that someone else might know better. Heaven forbid that we should appear with any weakness. Until we do, however, people will suffer. The land will suffer. The world will suffer.
Be First to Comment