You’ve heard it said that…
If only people would just realize that under the skin we’re all the same,
Then,
We’d get along with each other.
No more discrimination, no more exploitation, no more hatred of one group by another group.
It seems like such an easy answer to big problems. But this answer has got a fatal flaw in it.
It is, in fact, true that under the skin, we are all the same, but…
We’re the same in being compulsively divisive.
The human genome is tribal. It’s competitive. It sets us against them and them against us. So it’s not the answer we need.
Our compulsive divisiveness is going to kill us. It shows up in different ways in different countries. In some places ethnic divisions are the dominant and dangerous ones. In other places religious divisions are the problem.
In my home country, the US, anti-Black racism has been the major dividing force for hundreds of years. And the second place force, I’d say is Christian fascism.
But there are so many ways we split apart from each other and against each other—class, gender, sexual identity, political party, etc.
And when it comes to activism, we can turn the issue of hope into a dividing force, with hope-based activists (HBAs) on one side and post-hope activists (PHAs) on the other side.
What’s the cure?
Maybe it’s in…
Realizing that we have a common enemy.
Inside both hope-based activists and post-hope activists, is this damnable genome which fractures our species into a myriad of us-versus-thems. It can fracture our activist movements, too, and cause confused, disabling dissension where we need vigorous, forthright cooperation.
And the thing is, if we can’t transform this ancient, enduring element of human nature there’s no way we can save ourselves.
As long as we remain compulsively divisive…
No amount of hope-based strategies will save us.
And…
No amount of post-hope strategies will save us either.
Of course, those of us who are post-hope activists don’t believe that anything can save us. But we do believe in doing everything we can to turn our tribal divisiveness into trans-tribal partnerships.
And if we did have a chance to save ourselves, if that were really possible, this trans-tribal work would still be the first step to get to that salvation.
So while HBAs and PHAs might not agree on the ultimate fate of our species…
We have every reason to come together on the first, most important step of our activism.