George Floyd / Changing the System

Breaking/Turning point — Wake up!

We are all in this together because we’re all interconnected.

We are in the middle of a metamorphosis. We, as a species, are going through a process of change.

Change is natural, and a part of life on Earth and in the Universe.

Change is a constant in the physical universe and is cyclical by its design.

Day turns into night, and night into day. The changes during the daylight are intentional and visible. The changes at night in the dark, not so much, but are an essential part of life.

The changes at night, while we sleep, though not visible, are more essential to life than the changes during daytime, the period of “activity” where we can see the effects of the changes.

Our bodies go through wear and tear during the daytime activities, and we repair them during the sleep. It may appear as nothing is happening, but there is a lot of activity going on in our bodies. Things are torn, repaired, and rebuilt to strengthen them and make them more vibrant.

Similarly, we have a little larger cycle of a year. Seasons change, and we see growth and decay as a part of the life-cycle. Evolution takes place as nature becomes more resilient through this process of life and death. The Qur’an tells us that “Allah Creates, and Allah Removes.” Life goes on.

Then there is a larger cycle, maybe not so well defined or well understood, but observable through a scientific process. As a child, growing up in India/Pakistan, I learned about the ruins of Mohenjo Daro.

There are other archeological discoveries all around the world that tell us about the civilizations that existed long ago.

Folklore, mythology, and spiritual traditions in every part of the world talks about People who prospered and became disruptive and disharmonious with nature, and as a result met their demise.

Allah Creates and Allah Removes

Life goes on. Earth keeps spinning, and the Sun keeps shining.

If the myths and folklore teach us anything, it is this: There is an intelligent power much bigger that humans capable of self-correcting the course of our passage through the Universe.

Whenever we are too arrogant to think and act in a way to believe that we are separate from the whole and we can do whatever we choose with no consequences; it brings us to our knees, or some people cease to exist.

What if It’s a New Dawn

There was a tremendous uproar in 2012 about the upcoming end of the world based on a lack of understanding of the Mayan Calendar. We don’t know what the calendar signified in the larger scheme of things, but people who were the descendants of the Mayan civilization, had a celebration to mark the end of a long cyclical period.

Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae were proposed for this date. A New Age interpretation held that the date marked the start of a period during which Earth and its inhabitants would undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 21 December 2012 would mark the beginning of a new era. (source)

We are in the middle of a metamorphosis

What if, as Kathryn A. LeRoy, Ph.D., is so fond of asking, we are, indeed, in the beginning stages of a new cultural and spiritual life cycle?

What if we are going through a birthing process?

What if life as we know and experience today is the rapid and violent process of metamorphosis where some parts are destroyed to provide the energy and material to create other parts necessary for the survival of the new creation?

About a hundred years ago, a global pandemic wiped out a sizable portion of human population, but giving pause to people to re-think and re-evaluate life, which in a few years brought an end to the colonialism that had spread far and wide.

We are experiencing similar circumstances today. There is a global pandemic forcing humanity to slow down and re-evaluate life as we know it. A different kind of colonialism exists today. What if the violence and the disturbances are the building block of the upcoming changes, leading to progress we failed to make the last time?

What if this is just another act of self-correction being implemented by the Infinite Intelligence? What if this is just another opportunity for us to learn a lesson we missed a century ago?

So What Now?

As we look at the events in our world, the injustice, the discrimination, the disregard for the environment, and the rampant greed, it is easy to get overwhelmed and get angry or throw up our arms in frustration.

“An eye for an eye will leave the world blind.” ~Mohandas Gandhi

While what happened to George Floyd is inexcusable, and it certainly isn’t an isolated event. But these injustices and disgrace to humanity are not limited to the USA. They are taking place all over the world.

The question is, what can we do about it? What are we doing about it?

People are out marching in the street protesting the injustice. Great!

We have seen injustices and protests before. How effective have they been?

Maybe they have had some affect, maybe not. But Kudos to those who took action. They did what they felt they needed to.

The way I see it, there are three drawbacks to this strategy.

First, it is reactionary. It is after the fact. We know about these injustices. They have been going on for a long time. Not every injustice gets the visibility to cause organized protests. And, after a while, they fizzle out.

Second, the guiding energy behind the protest is the same energy that is the reason for the protest. It is the energy of separation; us vs them.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein

Finally, you can’t put out fire with more fire. You can’t bring about peace by waging wars. As Gandhi said, “an eye for an eye will leave the world blind.”

“The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Solving the Problem

There is an old saying, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

It is better and easier to prevent fires than try to put them out again and again.

We see these injustices taking place again and again, and they have been going on for centuries, and we keep demanding an end to them, yet there is no progress. The reason is simple. We’re trying to alleviate symptoms instead of addressing the cause.

The proof is in the pudding. The protestors are met with more force than necessary. Tear gas and rubber bullets are meant to be a tactic of last resort, not first.

In the current situation, police brutality is not the problem, it is the symptom of a broken system. Even if all four police officers are prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to maximum punishments, we haven’t addressed the problem. It will be a small victory, yes, and most probably it will appease many people, but the problem will still be there.

It is kind of like the modern medical system where we see the symptoms as diseases when they are actually drawing attention to the real problem. We take medicine to stop sneezing and runny nose instead of treating the issue that is causing the sneezing and runny nose.

The problem is a system which favors the people in charge, instead of the people that are meant to be served. The solution is a complete overhaul of this broken system. Easier said than done, I know. Absolutely! But anything else like putting a band-aid on a gaping hole and is simply an exercise in futility.

So, what do we do?

This morning I saw a tweet from my friend Chris Guillebeau.

I may or may not see the system changed in my lifetime, but for the last decade or so, I have stopped playing by the system. I understand that there are possible consequences, but there are consequences of playing by the system as well. I had to weigh them both, and I made my choice.

Becoming an outsider allows you to see things that you can’t from within. For one thing, your perspective on the solution moves from “it is impossible” to “wow, that’s going to be a challenge. Let’s go!”

When you see the symptoms as signs pointing to the need for correction, you are able to identify the problems that need solving. You find solutions to the underlying problems when you focus on the bigger picture.

With COVID-19 disrupting the system, we saw the cracks in its armor. The system is built on greed, and the antidote to greed is gratitude. When forced to slow down, more people are finding time to do things that brings joy and gratitude in their life instead of the hustle and stress that is a requirement of the system. People are already talking about a new normal, recognizing that the way things were will no longer be useful.

I am an optimist and I like Timothy Key’s notion of a turning point as opposed to a breaking point. The concept of a critical mass, or a tipping point rests on the notion that when a certain number of individuals of a species start acting in a certain way, other members pick up on the behavior without formally knowing or learning about it. Have you heard about the 100th monkey?

Love and Meditation.

According to a story published on August, 1, 1993 in New York Times, a group of people, when mindfully meditating on a desired outcome, can affect the world to manifest the effect.

I have taken part in group prayers and meditations for years. Every night, as I lay down to sleep, I say a prayer for world peace. I am like that frog with a mouthful of water. I am just doing my part. I share this idea whenever I have an opportunity. If I could influence a few people to do it, who may get a few more, eventually we will reach the tipping point. Until then, I’ll keep doing my part because when you’re committed, the Universe will conspire for you.

This is my response, with gratitude to Henery X (long)’s call for Wake Up!, and Sherry McGuinn’s call for Breaking point. It took me a while to respond because I was employing the power of a pregnant pause. I also want to thank Desiree Driesenaar for her support and encouragement, and Timothy Key for his use of the pregnant pause. It is always refreshing to know that you’re not the only one, even when you pride yourself on being Mister Weirdo.

How will you play your part? What are you doing to change the system? It’s an open invitation to everyone to share their thoughts on the issue in whatever manner you see it fit. However, there are certain people whose opinions I am interested in reading, and would love it for them to chime in.

Rosennab, Julia E Hubbel, Dr. Mehmet Yildiz, George J. Ziogas, Amy Marley, Trista Ainsworth, Terry Mansfield, P.G. Barnett, Helen Cassidy Page, Gurpreet Dhariwal, Salam Khan, Tom Byers, Elisabeth Khan, Simran Kankas, Paul Myers MBA, Bob Jasper, Saloni Joshi, Priyanka Srivastava, Sinem Günel, Kristi Keller, Roz Warren, Charles Roast, Kevin Buddaeus, René Junge, Joe Luca, Terri DelCampo-Nelson, Michele Thill, LauraRaduenz, Holly Jahangiri, Michelle Marie Warner, Marilyn Flower, Sherry McGuinn, Agnes Louis.

As always, thank you for reading and responding.

More about me:

Rasheed Hooda is a published author and a regular contributor to ILLUMINATION, a writers’ community on Medium where writers support each other.

He is a self-proclaimed weirdo who lives a Freedom Lifestyle and writes about related topics — Travel (a top writer), Personal Growth, Freedom, and entrepreneurship. (Get the Newsletter)

“You can let others tell you what it means to be successful, or you can decide it for yourself.”