By Wes Annac, Editor, Openhearted Rebel
This is a busy time for all the openhearted rebels out there, as plenty of issues in the world are demanding our attention and action.
Many of them can be traced to the corrupt elite and the institutions they use to reinforce control over the masses. For example: the elite uses the media to create division by inflaming people over unimportant issues they know we’ll take sides on.
The public then bickers and is successfully distracted from important things happening in the world.
By focusing on violence, rioting, and other sensational or emotionally charged issues, the media conditions us to accept ideological extremism. When we hear about the latest corruption scandal, racially charged police shooting, or equal rights issue in the public eye, we instinctively pick a side and defend our views.
No Hate
This brings me to my point: you can stand up against corruption and take a stance on world issues without hating those who represent the “enemy”. You can be in the middle. Whether it’s the elite or someone who disagrees with your viewpoint, hating your “enemy” achieves nothing.
This is one reason I take a moderate stance on most issues, including police brutality and misuse of power. People direct a lot of rage at police for upholding unjust laws set in place by the elite and, in some cases, getting away with murder or other crimes.
We should call out police corruption if we want the problem to end, but does this mean you should hate every police officer? In my opinion, no.
Hate is useless, and you should avoid the kind of hate that makes you stereotype everyone; the kind that makes you assume all cops, all kids in the streets, etc. are bad. Even if you hold some special hate in your heart for the most corrupt police out there, that’s no reason to hate them all.
This perspective is difficult to express publicly, because it borrows from both sides of the ideological spectrum.
On one hand, I agree that we should call out corrupt cops. On the other hand, I see nothing wrong with showing police officers the same basic respect I’d show anyone else. To some, this stance might seem too soft. But I have no grudge against police for what some in uniform have done.
The Woes of Being Moderate
YouTuber Lockstin has made the point that people who are in the middle on issues like race, immigration, or police brutality are often attacked more than those with extreme views.
If you say one thing (like “many police are corrupt and should be brought to justice”), people will associate you with the ideology they think that viewpoint supports. In this case, they’ll think you’re anti-police.
If you then say something that doesn’t contradict your first statement but softens its impact (like “police still deserve basic human respect and they’re not all corrupt”), people might assume you’ve conformed to the opposite ideology.
In this case, they’ll think you’re 100% pro-police and blind to the realities of police brutality.
It’s difficult to be in the middle, and you won’t find many allies. Even if you agree on a lot of other things, people on both sides might reject you for thinking outside their box.
Even some “conscious” people are guilty of this. If a viewpoint doesn’t conform to their mindset, it’s unacceptable. This contradicts the life they claim to live, as a clear sign of true conscious living is the ability to keep an open mind.
It’s healthy to be open to different perspectives. In doing so, you widen your own perspective and help others with different views feel included.
Compassion Brings True Change
Being moderate and exposing corruption without hating the corrupt puts me in a gray area in which making friends is a challenge.
Nonetheless, this is my contribution to the struggle for freedom. I’ll help in any way I can, but I refuse to hate the enemy. By hating them, I’d only stoop to their level and become what I resist. Instead, I choose love.
Love is a revolutionary force we can use to light up this dark world. It inspires us to fight for what’s right and overcome oppression with an added element: compassion for all. Compassion will bring true change, and along with reason and levelheadedness, it’s exactly what the world is missing.
About the author:
I’m a twenty-something writer & blogger with an interest in spirituality, revolution, music and the transformative creative force known as love. I run Openhearted Rebel, a daily news blog dedicated to igniting a revolution of love by raising social and spiritual awareness.
I also have a personal blog, Wes Annac’s Personal Blog, in which I share writings related to spiritual philosophy, creativity, heart consciousness and revolution (among other topics).
I write from the heart and try to share informative and enlightening reading material with the rest of the conscious community. When I’m not writing or exploring nature, I’m usually making music.
Follow me on Facebook (Wes Annac, https://www.facebook.com/openheartedrebel and Twitter (Wes Annac, https://twitter.com/love_rebellion
Recent articles:
- Love: My New Religion
- These 5 Psychedelic Drugs Provide Profound Psychological Benefits
- Whatever
- 8 Cannabis Facts That Defy Traditional Stereotypes
- Indications of a Global Shift in Consciousness
- Untangling the Knot of Fear
- 8 Facts About the Dakota Access Pipeline
- Marijuana Legalization in Colorado: 25 Facts
- Alchemy, Astrology, and Spiritual Transformation – Part 2 (Conclusion)
- Have No Fear
- Alchemy, Astrology, and Spiritual Transformation – Part 1
- Love Brings Spiritual Awakening
No copyright. Share freely with attribution to Wes Annac and Openhearted Rebel.
Comments
Great points, VioletRay! Thanks for commenting. :) :)
Hi Wes, thanks for sharing.
I feel what you are saying and agree to taking the middle way when possible.
Though i feel your example of police and kids in the street is not an equal comparison.
Kids in the street are just that, kids, however, police are grown up kids playing a game of following orders for a paycheck.
And so, just as you say, they are following orders set forth by a so called elite and if they don't follow all orders, are not going to get a further pay check and will have to seek pay checks elsewhere.
That is the difference and also all police in america are doing corrupt things at one time or another, by violating the inalienable god given freedoms of the people.
The corruption you are speaking about, are additional violations even more heinous than the normal orders they are following, which unfortunately, have become legitimatized in the minds of many here.
Like the simple sovereign freedom to travel, which is by far, the most violated freedom of the people, with police harassing, stealing and abducting people on a daily basis, are they corrupt, yes, though too many people are consenting to this behavior and it has become normal to many.
All this, because they have convinced many people that the freedom to travel is a privilege.
The middle way in my opinion is the acknowledgement that we are all equal and we each have the same power and authority.
And the only time one can be considered corrupt in my opinion, is when another is attempting to violate anothers power and authority, when this one is not harming anothers body or stuff or preventing the free use of anothers body and stuff.
Yes, they want us to polarize our thoughts, because they know, eventually they can use this condition, to corrupt some and they can more easily get these ones to judge and subvert the power and authority of another, even though this other has done no harm.
There in lies the danger of judgement and polarizing beliefs, we can become more easily corrupted to see others as not equal to ourselves and thus more susceptible to becoming corrupt and following orders to subvert others freedoms, even though we have not violated the freedoms of anyone else.
Of course, the whole following orders for a pay check is not helping matters at all.
This only further polarizes ones belief that they have some kind of right to subvert anothers power, authority and freedoms, because they are being rewarded.
This is actually Pavlov psychological conditioning in action.