Scapegoat Society (baa...d)

"It's not my fault" mentality allows us to shift responsibility and does not allow us to question our decisions. Decisions which were, believe it or not, wrong. (Yes, despite what your mum told you, you're not perfect.)

But let's take things from the beginning, so to speak.

Pharmakoi

In Ancient Greece, a Pharmakos was that unfortunate individual who had to suffer for events that took place that were completely out of their control, like when a plague or a natural disaster ???happened. The unlucky fellow was stoned or beaten, and although not killed, was always expelled from the community. And all was good (unless you're that person).

Scapegoats

In the ancient Middle East the same practice took hold but not with people. Instead, a pair of goats got were seen as more convenient. One goat would be sent into the desert ??or wilderness carrying all the sins of the people, while the other one was sacrificed. Again, everyone was relieved. ??

Baptism

Christianity offers a milder version of catharsis by including no stones, and no goats, but a lot of water. Sins are washed away, no one is hurt, and purification is but a few steps away...??

The buck does not stop here

But the question for modern society remains: Who do we blame when we are all "purified", and there are no "goats" or "Pharmakoi" left to shoo into the desert or beat?? ??

The answer is simple.

We create a figure to blame, an effigy ??, an idea ??, or even the past. And as is the case with human ingenuity (for we are clever), we usually blame something that is abstract, like governments??. We blame the government for our dirty streets (hire more cleaners ??), we blame the teacher for our terrible grades (teach me better ??), and we blame the more accomplished for our lack of achievement (they have an unfair advantage ??). And the truth might actually be that the government is to blame for certain areas being messy, and bad teachers obviously do exist, just as those who have accomplished more, did actually cheat. But that's not the rule.

For if it were the rule, then it would be true for our achievements, too (we all know how hard we have worked on a personal level).

"Why are we so focused on others?"

We are extremely good at shifting responsibility for our own actions onto others because our world has become so fast paced that we get distracted. The generation of information today is phenomenal. Over 400 million photos ?? are uploaded every day on Facebook, over 3 million emails are sent every second ?? (damn!), and over 1 million Tinder swipes per minute ???? (users are probably swiping automatically)... Nevertheless, that's a lot of interaction!

So the question remains: when do we not interact with the outside world? Of course, the answer is different for everybody, but one truth is probably true for everyone...

It's becoming all the more difficult to focus on yourself.

And it's here that we have learnt to look for scapegoats. For when you are always distracted by the world around you (Gossip TV ??shows are excellent at grabbing your attention, and so are news headlines), you are inevitably not going to be in touch with yourself (we know who won the gameshow "Survivor", but not who won the Pulitzer ??). So when something goes wrong (and life is such whereby things will go wrong #getoverit), it's not your fault because taking responsibility is something that shifts attention back to you.

"Taking responsibility needs self-reflection."

What we have been teaching ourselves is to express our feelings, not to reflect on them.

"I am angry ?? at what happened and I will express it," involves a totally different dynamic when it becomes, "I feel angry at what happened. Why do I feel this way and how have I contributed to this feeling?" In the second instance, responsibility for how we feel provokes self-reflection and demands you get in touch with your feelings, while the first example simply encourages us to act on how we feel.

Scapegoats and Pharmakoi have today been replaced by governments, conspiracy theories ???, and secret organizations, etc. This approach has taken power from our hands and the opportunity for change as we become content with the "fact" that there is nothing we can do (#dontbethevictim).

But there is something we can do. The little things do matter, change does begin at home, and our small choices can have a huge impact. But for this to happen we need to understand the hypocrisy of our ways, and accept that the society we live in is a reflection of our subconscious.

And self-reflection ?? would do wonders in challenging the way we interact with the world around us and provide us with the chance of making ourselves more balanced ...????♀?