Welcome
A wise man once said (and I’m paraphrasing here) that the Internet was an amazing place that doesn’t restrict access. You can put an idea on one small edge of the internet, and if the idea is good, it will spread until everyone knows about it. So, welcome to my corner of the internet. I hope my ideas resonate with you.
On Combating Extremism
I believe extremism is the outlet that poor people use to vent their anger at the unfairness of the world. Crony economic policies have made the rich richer and the poor poorer. This is true no matter the economic philosophy (e.g. Capitalism vs. Communism, which is not the focus of this piece). A consequence of being poor is that many forms of Identity are denied to you.
What do I mean by Identity? Identity (according to me anyway) is the meaning of life that we all search for. Why are we alive? Establishing our Identity would be the first part of the answer. So much of our culture revolves around the question “Who am I?” Here’s my attempt at coming up with a method to answer that. Here are some example traits by which I would describe myself:
Profession, Physical Appearance, Citizenship, Religion, Hobbies/Interest, Political Philosophy, Language Ability, Educational Qualifications, etc.
Let us set aside parts of our Identities that we have no control over: Citizenship, Physical Appearance, etc. Most of the others require money. Hobbies, Language lessons, Higher Education, etc. need money to be a part of your Identity. So, which forms of Identity are free? I’d say, anything related to “belief”, i.e., Religion, Political Views, etc. These are the only forms of Identity accessible to 99% of the world’s population.
Thoughts on government and policies require critical thinking, which can be subverted by placing your trust on a politician or a party. Hence, many educational institutions (that are accessible to the poor) are careful to avoid critical thinking exercises in their curriculum. Either by circumstance or through propaganda, the only remaining form of Identity, Religion, is pushed on the masses to dominate their entire definition of Identity. For most of the poor, downtrodden people of the world, it is very easy to identify themselves as Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist or what-have-you, and nothing else; because they have nothing else.
Hence, it is my belief that once you introduce other forms of Identity to the masses. Religion may no longer dominate. Once that happens, any perceived attack on their religion will be an attack on only a part of their Identity, instead of their entire meaning of life. Otherwise, existential threats throw reason out the window, and we are left with genocide (if they’re winning) and suicide bombers (if they’re losing).
So, what forms of Identity can the poor adopt easily? How can they diversify their psychological investment? What do you suggest?
Congratulations @thehumanfaction! You received a personal award!
Click here to view your Board
Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:
Congratulations @thehumanfaction! You received a personal award!
You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!