It is the way of things. You can't rebuild till you've cleared the rubble. You can't plant till you've cleared last season's stubble, or ploughed the field. You need to dismantle old thinking and old structures before you can embrace a new way of thinking and living.
Today I came home from a productive, international business day here in Chiang Mai, Thailand and had mercifully been immune from the US election debacle thanks to a flat phone battery. Despite a fully charged power bank in my handbag, I chose to stay switched off. Eventually though, needs must, and I begrudgingly turned on and charged up. Opening Hive, one of the first things I saw was this on #HiveTwitter:
"If you voted for Trump, please unfollow me."
And I saw-felt-was-reminded that decentralization and Hive can NEVER evolve or become mainstream in the world where ignorant polarity rules.
I was sooooo sad to see this statement on Hive, where we bleat on about censorship perhaps a little too easily and yet seemingly can't allow a difference of opinion to even exist in our circle of connection.
Is this not where censorship begins? Disallowing or blocking an alternate voice? Is this not how wars and invasions begin, with one side exiling the other?
What my Dutch self loves about Hive and Decentralization is the long corridor of different rooms, communities and online spaces with vastly differing viewpoints, coexisting.
Perhaps the really sad thing is that Americans believe that this Us-Them model, Red vs Blue, Republican vs Democrat, is democracy. It really couldn't be farther from the truth. Let's name it for what it is: a dualistic, polarized, antagonistic, ego-driven power struggle which rejects compromise and differing opinions.
Real democracy is about allowing the diversity of opinion to be represented & voted on, giving different groups a voice, listening and, ultimately, compromise to form government.
My favorite example of real democracy in action is the formation of the Dutch parliament in 2017 post election.
Nearly seven months after they voted in an election on 15 March, Dutch voters are to get a new government after the leaders of four parties agreed on a centre-right policy programme.
The negotiations have been the longest to form a new government in modern Dutch history and will be officially presented to parliament on Tuesday, when the process of appointing ministers will begin.
“I am very happy,” said Rutte, who will form his third ruling coalition. “Precisely on the day that this [government] formation is overtaking the longest previous formation we have ... a negotiators’ agreement.”
Cementing a stable marriage between Rutte’s business-friendly VVD, the progressive D66 and two Christian parties, the relatively moderate CDA and the far more conservative Christian Union, may however prove challenging.
D66 is pro-choice, pro-LGBT rights and pro-EU, and wants pioneering Dutch euthanasia laws extended so that not just terminally ill patients can decide to end their lives. The Christian Union is opposed to abortion, same-sex marriage and euthanasia, and has in the past argued that the Netherlands should pull out of the eurozone in its present form.
Nonetheless, agreement on the government’s key policies – on tax, sick pay, welfare payments for refugees, and defence and education spending – has reportedly been reached. Source.
That the pro-choice, LGBT and pro-euthenasia party can enter a ruling coalition with a pro-right christian party who opposes them on many issues is monumental. How did that happen? They allowed each other to hold differing views and worked out what they COULD agree on!
They put the greater good first.
There are many dictatorships and terrible governments in the world which need to fail - governments of oppression and government systems with strongly polarized only-two-party systems. But before they can fail, we need to allow this attitude of polarity and excluding difference to die within ourselves. We can't expect the right to speak our mind freely if we don't allow the other to have that right too.
There IS a time when it's OK to simply walk away - from a violent or destructive relationship, from a burning building, from a country which is imploding. This thought process is clearly well and truly "out there" and not just in my head:
In the end, the old values, the broken system, the corruption and the intolerance of difference MUST be allowed to die. And when the fire has finished raging, new things can grow in the fertile soil which is enriched by the ashes of what came before.
It IS time to move towards a decentralized world with many view points, many ways of doing things and a global culture which allows & enables compromise, negotiation and power-sharing.
I'm thrilled to see #Hive in its infancy and am here for the long haul. Yes i'm here to HODL, but mostly I'm here cos I can FEEL the beginnings of change. Today showed me just how far we still have to go, but I soothe and comfort myself with the words of one of my favourite writers, Arundhati Roy:
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This is such a beautiful attitude. Thank you for sharing it. Yes, again this quote of yours needs to be remembered:
And I know, there may be people around who think it's okay to eat babies (speaking metaphorically to illustrate an opinion extremely contrary to mine), but the best way to deal with them is to let them speak, and see how everyone feels about it. And even if they are not liked for their ideas, they may have others that we can agree with. So let them share it all. Words and thoughts have never hurt anyone.
I think you have a Dutch soul somewhere... the libertarian shines through!
Let's start of book of quotable quotes when we have nothing else to do.... 🤣
Sending love. !ENGAGE 25
Hahaha, love this! It could well be, you know (though it's probably more German, but that's all details). However, I have always been attracted to the manifestation of this libertarian attitude in the way they handle recreational drugs and uncomplicated sex.
ENGAGEtokens.Wow, I have so many conflicting views from this. Someone on Twitter asked my thoughts on this and I thought I'd leave a quick comment.
I do agree with a lot of this. I think the concept of censorship like many other terms is starting to become warped. Censorship is when a government, corporation, or other entity tells you what you can or can't read or write. Blocking someone you disagree with is a choice, a freedom, and in no way censorship. Although people shouldn't be so closed minded as to not at least try to understand the other side of the argument. I think blocking does have its place though.. For instance someone posting nudes or imagery you find disturbing all day, or posting religious views you don't agree with. Those people shouldn't be censored, but I should have a choice of what I choose to allow in my stream. I should have a choice of what I find acceptable. Just playing devil's advocate. I rarely block anyone unless they're mean or demeaning to people.
I obviously don't want to see my country collapse and fail, but it seems to be doing that well enough on its own. I'll be the first to admit the 2 party system has to go. I'm a pretty avid libertarian and believe in the concepts of personal liberty and freedom and free market capitalism. The world is changing though, and some constructs obviously are outliving their usefulness. I honestly don't have the answers but I'm open to suggestions. I think eventually the world needs to find a middle ground we can all agree upon with some form of global oversight. Seems that's a long way off, but let's face it, that's not just because of the US but because of every other major global power in the world. Frankly, to be fair, ALL GOVERNMENTS NEED TO CRUMBLE AND FAIL. The people need to rise up and dictate to the rulers what we will and will not accept anymore. Anyone that watches international news can see that seems to be happening. I've thought for awhile the next revolution will be a global one. I believe we're starting to see the birthing pains of that now.
I don't have the answers, I'm open to suggestions, the one thing I think we can all agree on is that as a GLOBAL people we can no longer allow our leaders to carry on like this. We must demand change. Our world is dying and these imaginary borders are part of the problem. ALL GOVERNMENTS ARE GUILTY.
I think bible quotes are tacky and I'm not a religious man but I think this quote is more than appropriate to end with.
"Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."
We're gonna have to agree to disagree on the blocking thing... why not just agree to let someone have an opinion you disagree with? In shutting down all dissenting or challenging or uncomfortable points of view, we DO plant the seed of censorship. The only difference is that when a government or a corporation like twitter does it, we feel slighted and "censored'.
Imaginary borders, nations, patriotism... it DOES all need to fall and fail.
I'm the former wife of a baptist minister so I can probably match you on bible verses, only in Hebrew. 🤣 I have developed a strange distaste for organized religion too, much the same as government. But I can own my faults and be working on them whilst still calling it out there when I see it. One does not need to be perfect before one is allowed to speak.
Loved your "brief response" and appreciated it very much!!
!ENGAGE 25
My pleasure. I enjoyed yours as well. These are wild times we're living in! Better days are coming! Cheers!
ENGAGEtokens.