“Never again” Jews and humanitarians proclaimed after the Holocaust 76 years ago. Never again will the world sit by and allow Jews and others to be murdered in a mass genocide. Today (well, when I first wrote this), on Yom Hashoah (April), was Holocaust Remembrance Day and marked the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943 when Jewish resistance fighters fought the Nazis. In 2021, finally and fortunately, Derek Chauvin’s brutal murder of George Floyd’s resulted in a guilty verdict. Today, in 2021, amidst anti-Semitism (and escalating Israeli/Palestinian war), anti-Black, and most notably Anti-Asian hate and violence continue, I have to ask, ‘So nu? What happened to ‘Never again’?
(One follower shared her thoughts from reading this – scroll to the bottom. I hope you’ll share your thoughts too in the comments.)
Oh ya, here in 2021 we’re in the midst of a global pandemic – a global virus. A virus shares a host with fear and is deadly.
How is fear the most virulent of all viruses? How is that in all these centuries of person against person violence, no vaccine has been created?
My theory? It’s Human Nature. To be sure, not the best of Human Nature, but still Human Nature. I think it’s:
Where does that fear, xenophobia come from? People used to believe mice spontaneously generated. Is this true for fear and racism also? My attempt at humor… of course it doesn’t come from ‘nothing’!
Yup, Dr. Von Helmut believed life evolved from dirty underwear (and wheat???). But it’s living things that give birth and keep life going.
And yet, nobody – even in our current state of pandemic lockdown -sits and dreams of growing up in fear and becoming a bully/racist.
This fear is everywhere: another ‘old/new news’ example as written in the Atlantic daily briefing April 15, 2021 below…
An example highlighting: ‘Find a misunderstood group.. convince voters… that group pose an existential threat to society… using state power to crush them.’ – Again, one example – everyday the news is filled with them – An example of how we humans keep fear alive by sharing it with everyone and anyone who is different…
Deep inside of us is Fear….
Deep inside of us is fear – doesn’t really matter what we’re afraid of, right? We’re multi-layered. I think our fear is nestled in our inner Matryoshka (Russian) nesting doll layer.
Let’s acknowledge our fear. Listen to other’s fears. We all have them.
That fear NOT to lose has lots of emotional fuel – aka anything we hear, imagine and most of all feel. It’s also what makes us human. Let’s acknowledge we ALL have fears. Let’s learn and practice listening to others. Let’s be kind.
Me on a good day!
Easy to say… harder to prevent bullying until we build self-confidence through curiosity and communication skills. Curiosity and Communication are two important life skills needed. I think it’s time they were taught with ABC’s and the scientific method in science classes!
Using scientific method skills (observation, exploration and variables) to promote curiosity and communication. Cool, right?
Auschwitz.
Genocides start with bullying and fear of differences.
From a Darfur protest = but from BLM to the current Palestinian/Israeli war shows fear fights to live another day.
Have a weekend filled with curiosity and communication. Listen. Be kind. Take a walk; eat chocolate. Don’t we all need that right now?
The following quote is from a colleague and follower who left this in her comment. I’m thankful for her thoughts – thoughts prompted by this post since that’s what I want this work to be: a prompt and conversation starter for all our thoughts, beliefs and fears. Here’s hoping you’ll share yours.
I can’t remember where I heard this but I am passing the story along anyway greatly paraphrased.
“Tell me a story, grammie,” the little boy said. He climbed into her lap as she powered down her tablet and put her arms around him.
“Would you like to hear the story of a great battle that is going on inside every person on earth?” she asked.
“Yes, yes, ” the 4-year old urged.”Who is fighting?”
“Two wolves,” she replied. “One is full of hate and fear of anything that isn’t a wolf. The other wold is curious and eager to learn about the other people and animals of the earth. The battle is very fierce and both wolves are equally strong.”
The little boy was quiet. He put his hands on his stomach, trying to feel the battle. Finally, he looked up at his grammie and slowly asked, “Who will win?”
“That is up to all of us,” she said.
“What do you mean?
“The one who wins is the one we feed. It’s up to us to feed the right one.”
Jerilyn@JWillinconsulting.com
Human Nature Concepts 