The Centre of the Universe

A lot of my posts are about how much I dislike conservative politics and often those espousing the virtues of that ideology, however for this post, I might just have a dig at some of my fellow lefties, you know, just to prove that I can be offensive to everyone equally.

Back in the 1400s, people in Europe were working on the belief that the Sun and the "heavens" revolved around the Earth. This was just how it was and you weren't supposed to argue with it. This was largely because the Church called the shots and that was the end of that! Yes, I'm not a historian. However, good ol' Copernicus came up with the theory that the Earth actually was the one revolving around the Sun. Now there's a lot more to the whole story, but suffice it to say, a lot of folks weren't impressed by this and generally kicked up a stink.

Troublemaker!

How does any of this relate to anything else in 2021? 

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, and this IS my personal belief, there are two types of people; those who think of themselves first and those who think of others first. Now I'm not talking about one on one interactions as such, if you always put the other person ahead of you, you would be at a permanent disadvantage in life. Of course, there are sacrificial instances where the individual does actually put the stranger ahead of themselves. 

"That woman ran into the fire and saved my baby..."

"He jumped in front of the gunman and saved my life..."

"The guy gave his parachute to me when we realised there was only one left..."

Those things stand out because they are massively unusual and incredibly honourable. Giving or risking your life for another person! So we're not talking about that, we are talking about a level up from that, the approach to decision making of whether a choice is better for you or others.

eg: It might cost me more to buy this non-carbon emitting item, but it's better for the environment and therefore people and the planet.

 OR

It's no skin off my nose if I call the trans person over there by their desired pronoun, but it will show them, their family and the trans community that I respect them as individuals.

 OR

I know COVID might be about, but I don't want to wear a mask because I'm wrong and stupid and don't give a toss if I infect anyone else because I'm showing no symptoms but am able to transmit the virus anyway, something I might have an understanding of at even a basic level if I hadn't been fucking about in science class in 7th grade and paid attention to Miss Smith who was actually attempting to make me a better human, as opposed to the horrendous cretin I've become.

Yes I know, just potential examples of course.

Anyway, my point is also to remind my fellow lefties that we can often be the same. Most of us have a lot in common with those on the right, in that we are regularly so certain of how correct we are, that we don't stop to consider the other's position. We start to develop an attitude whereby our own thoughts and views are it, they're the right thoughts and views, and then we go online and find other people with those same thoughts and views. That, in itself, is not a problem as such, but when we stick our fingers in our ears to any dissenting opinions or different versions of the same opinion, we start to develop that anti-Copernicus type attitude that we are the centre of all that is right in the universe. 

When we only listen to our own views, they narrow. Now this doesn't mean go hug a nazi or have dinner with a cannibal. The views I am talking about are the views of regular folks who just happen to think differently to you. Think about how sure you are of your opinions and realise that they may be just as sure of theirs. Only through conversations do we get the opportunities to delve into why people think the way they do and present the chance for them to see why we think the way we do.

One of the hardest things to accept in politics is that both parties tend to agree on the majority of concepts, it's usually just the path to getting there that differs. So it might be time to stop thinking about yourself so much. Stop approaching conversations with "I'm right" and listen.

None of this changes my feelings that a lot of people on the right of politics do actually put their financial success and security at the heart of their decision making. It doesn't change my feelings that a lot of what the politics is about is control and power. But what I do understand is that just because I believe that the path I choose to go down is the best, it doesn't always make it the case. My world view aligns best with left leaning ideologies and principles, but I'm not so arrogant as to believe that's the only way or that everyone else should believe the same thing.

You may be the centre of your universe, but always remember, you're not the centre of THE universe.

llama

@SirWonderLlama