The world is scary right now. Politics is increasingly a tribute act to the 1930’s, we head, eyes wide-open into environmental catastrophe and if that isn’t enough to make Munch’s “The Scream” look nostalgically cheerful, we have a pandemic, silently demolishing our health and our jobs in its wake.
How are we supposed to react to this? After all it was only 20 years ago that we seemed to have arrived at “the end of history”. The Berlin Wall had fallen, signalling the triumph of capitalism over communism, we were beginning to take action to avert environmental disaster and the eradication of small-pox showed we had conquered the plagues that decimated our stupider, dirtier ancestors.
If we face the magnitude of these issues face-on, we are liable to feel puny and impotent. The global effort and determination that is needed to turn us back towards progress is huge. The human mind has ways to stop us facing the things we do not feel equipped to face. We disengage and go into denial and live our lives in a sort of fantasy. At any moment, our day-to-day lives can seem normal. We snuggle into old routines and cuddle up to that stoutest nanny of denial; “it won’t happen to me”.
Politically, we may seek refuge in the rhetoric of leaders who offer simplistic answers to complex issues. Tactic 101 for them is to pick a group of people and pretend they are the problem. Just get rid of them and all will be well.
Or we become easy prey to conspiracy theorists. It would be great if coronavirus and Climate Change were not real so we choose to believe they are not. We are all children in times of threat and want the soothing words of Mummy to tell us “it’s all OK really”. If you are less prone to gullibility, you may employ “magical thinking”; the free market will solve it or some genius inventor.
It is important to keep our heads in the midst of this maelstrom. The serenity prayer offers us guidance in how to avoid the twin crumbling pillars of hubris and defeatism;
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.”
We can make small changes. Join a political party to effect change or be better informed so as not to fall pray to extremism. You cannot solve the environmental crisis on your own but you can make sure you put the boxes in recycling. You can take the sensible precautions for you and those you love to reduce the chance of spreading Coronavirus. You can phone an elderly or vulnerable person (even one you have fallen out with) to check they are OK.
The World faces massive challenges but by taking small actions in the right direction you are part of the solution and you will begin to see that you do have power. Taking action will also improve your sense of self-efficacy and if enough of us make small changes, the effect can be bigger than we ever imagined.