Selected stories on ILLUMINATION-Curated

The World Wants to Be Fooled!

Selected stories by Øivind H. Solheim hosted on ILLUMINATION-Curated

Distributed to #Election 2020 #Politics

In this essay, I address current issues related to democratic processes in one of the world’s superpowers. Is democracy in danger? Is it acceptable not to follow the rules of the game in democracy? Should aggressive attacks, lies and manipulation have leeway in the election? How can democracy be saved?

How We Behave Towards Each Other Reveals Who We Are

Unrest and war around the world are always initiated by individuals. First they act alone and then, together with others, they carry out actions and do things to achieve their own selfish goals. Of course, selfish goals and self-interests can also be the starting point for selfless actions, but very often selfish goals and narrow self-interest are the basis for unrest and wars.

There have always been (and will always be) individuals who have put their own personal needs and desires above others and who have used other human beings as a means to achieve these goals. We like to call such people power seeking men or manipulators. They are found in all societies, and they are often people who ruthlessly follow their own goals and use other people to achieve their own progress.

They are people who often systematically bully and who do not take into account the feelings and needs of others. They base their selfish actions solely on their own experiences of the surroundings and events, and follow in their struggle for power mercilessly their own principles of dissociation.

These people very often act based on lies, manipulation, bullying, etc., and they sometimes succeed very well and manage to gather large crowds of followers around them.

We do not want it: unrest, destruction, war and death

Unwanted behavior of the type of bullying, manipulation and domination is ultimately something we do not want in society, and it is therefore very unfortunate that people with such characteristics are able to achieve status as a role model and leader of large groups of people. In this way, they can gain great power, and they can create great disasters. It is enough to look back in world history and think of some key names there, so one knows what this is about: unrest, destruction, war and death.

What can we do?

How are we to meet such challenges? How should we behave when we see such persons, such ruthless, power-seeking human beings?

Can it make a difference if we try to stand up to such a power seeking man?

What can we as individuals do where we are, and how can we together create a future where liars, manipulators, narcissists, dictators and other power-seeking people do not get leeway?

How can we prevent those who have the least empathy from seizing the greatest responsibility and the greatest power in the national and international arenas?

Instead of writing further on this essay today, I will challenge readers to think further, and perhaps also to write and publish their own thoughts and answers to some of the great challenges that we as members of society today face.

I encourage all writing enthusiasts to react: think, discuss and write, and publish your own thoughts on this major topic in comments, in your own articles / essays, here in this publication, or elsewhere.

After a while I will think about writing further on this essay, hopefully wiser after reading what others have written.

All rights reserved. © Øivind H. Solheim, author of novels, poetry, articles, essays, short fiction and experimental writings. Contact: [email protected].