Beyond Ideology, Into Nonduality

“To do things right, we need to UNITE black and white, red and blue, blue and white - all stars and stripes. We need to either apply all the lessons from the past - or get rid of all the stories and START AGAIN. This is what the world needs. Our unity. In our schools, neighborhoods, communities, state offices and economic equations. Choosing to stand with the right wing or left wing, or this group or that group, is only going to keep this country divided and grounded. In the end, all human needs are the same and they will never change. So what is there to fight about? Let's hit restart and unite.” - Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

So, I’ve never been much of a political person for most of my life, but it has been interesting to see the opposing views between the left and the right regarding the identity politics that has been going on in recent years.  Now, I haven’t delved that deeply into the subject, but it all appears to be one pointless debate on what people’s “reality” should be.  And so we have both sides reducing each other’s arguments down to ad hominem attacks, with liberals calling those on the right “neo-Nazis” and conservatives calling those on the left “radical leftists”. 

As always, conservatives fight to preserve traditional values, and the left likes to portray this as the preservation of bigotry, sexism, racism, misogyny, xenophobia...honestly the list goes on forever.  Liberals, on the other hand, are portrayed by the right as naive millenials trying to take down the social order in the name of political correctness.  Obviously, these are reductionist views of both parties, but this is what the media likes to do.  Oh, but wait, they’re not “supposed” to be biased, right?   Ironically, and perhaps even comically, those that know about this still fall into this us versus them mentality.  The easiest thing to do nowadays is to blame “the institutions” or “the patriarchy” behind the agendas of the government, the media, you name it. 

Trying not to be judgemental of the psychology behind these beliefs is especially difficult, given that today’s higher education is filled with all sorts of philosophical and political agendas.  I think we’re so drawn to these causes due to our need for certainty.  Yet, part of being put into the “real world” is realizing the nuances behind the human condition.  Women’s vs men’s rights, free speech vs. hate speech, non-binary vs only-binary.  These are only a few examples of how we are constantly distracted from considering the viewpoints of those who may hold different beliefs than our own.  As much as we’d like to feel victimized by indoctrination, we should all play a role in carrying out more considerate discussion.

Now, I think being open-minded isn’t necessarily taking a centrist view on all issues, but it is a good start.  Our views on sensitive topics will always be polarized.  Yet, one of the most redeeming qualities of the human condition is our ability to transcend ideology and dogmatism, to be more systemic in our view of the world.  In doing so the imperfections that lead to the sharing of ideas.  We can come to terms with the fact that, although there is great “evil” in the world, said opposition is inherent, dare I say necessary to expand our collective consciousness.  Because it is in these moments of well-meaning confrontation that we drop the distinction between what should exist and what should not, and see how the ideals that we strive for are all-encompassing and infinite. 

“I regard free speech as a prerequisite to a civilized society, because freedom of speech means that you have combat with words.  It doesn’t mean that people can happily and gently exchange opinions.  And the reason that that’s acceptable, and why it’s acceptable that people’s feelings get hurt during that combat, is that the combat of ideas is far more preferable to actual combat.” - Dr. Jordan B. Peterson

The Middle Ground is a great channel by the way, so feel free to check it out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbh64LX6-HY

Oh, and who could forget Jordan Peterson, “a meaningful life” :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvOeWgZMXR4