Nowadays, people seem to think that 1 person in charge can single-handedly implement massive, immediate change in the world, while believing themselves incapable of such a power. Even worse, many seem fine with relinquishing their critical thinking and choice to another. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy for authoritarianism: complete obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom. I encourage everyone to push back against this fallacy.
What’s to blame for this learned helplessness? In short, the death of local journalism, education declines, and the rise of populism over pragmatism.
What can be done to combat this? Plenty.
Local journalism keeps influential people in check, and boosts the visibility of smaller, local groups whose plights and triumphs won’t attract national news otherwise. In “news deserts”, information is still abundant, but it is either national-level headlines or gossip far below journalistic integrity standards.
Education declines, particularly literacy, hamper critical thinking skills. If you only take things at face value and never learn how to read between the lines (or feel comfortable reading fluently), you rob yourself of the ability to fact-check and synthesize information to better inform your worldviews.
Populism is many things, but at its core functions as an “us vs them” model. Demonization of the “out-group” is a trick older than civilization. When people are successfully convinced to blame their troubles on a vague “enemy”, they will bear the worst conditions imaginable and relinquish all freedom so long as they believe that the “other” is doing even worse.
If these are some of the causes, then perhaps the reverse is the solution. Restoring local news networks and journalistic freedom to research and share local stories would go a long way towards general truth and trust. Improved media literacy and continued emphasis on thinking through issues over rash decisions help people make better choices today that they want to make to better their tomorrow. Encouraging people to find consensus and rewarding decision-makers big and small on working together instead of railing against the “other” destroys demagoguery and dictatorship.
At an individual level, it’s even easier to make progress. Start with yourself: be open to hearing others’ advice, and always make sure to think things through (“What is the message this person/entity is trying to convey?” “What makes them more or less trustworthy or knowledgeable about this issue?”). Next, talk to people in your local community. Say hello in a coffee shop, catch up with colleagues, listen and learn and engage in real life wherever you go. You don’t need to fact check every person you meet, but as you continue you’ll find the right opportunities to think critically and come to consensus together. Point out local realities and you can slowly deprogram talking points designed to disengage and depress.
Remember: a governor cannot wave a magic wand and eliminate homelessness. A CEO cannot single-handedly fix a massive network outage. The President cannot raise and lower gas prices at will. No one can shake the mountaintop or hold back the tide on their own, but each of us has the ability to create massive change together.
Behind the scenes, many people work in parallel to make things happen (or not) in a society. Choose honest conversations over blind obedience to populism. Be fearless when authoritarians tell you to fear the “other”. And above all else, remember that a Democracy is hard-fought to gain, a Republic is hard-fought to gain, freedoms are hard-fought gain, and winning those rights for and with your fellow peers is always worth it.
Andrew Jabara 