Society's slow-witted behaviour

The religion of pretence – acting to care and understand – while in fact demonising a person who has revealed a vulnerability is the bedrock of our society and has been this way as a result of family, peer and relational influences.

As a society, we really do not care about others and will pick only information that is of interest to us to either use to vilify a person rather than assist a person who is down or augment our social status.

We continue, inwardly – which shows inadvertently outwards – to condemn, vilify people for not only their mistakes but things they have no control over. If it’s not for being a woman, it’s for being a man or having some mental health issue, being jobless or not following their rules (personal ideals not public).

If we truly do not want to associate with a person why not say so. It is better to be known as someone who stands up for what s/he believes in even if s/he may be wrong than for someone to pretend to be something or someone that they aren’t.

For example, a person may exhibit mental health issue and rather than support the person employers either sack or refrain from employing the person because they feel s/he will, not necessarily be a burden to the overall goal of the company, but a misfit. A misfit to them is someone who can’t adapt to their social norms. Social norms of cracking jokes which are often demeaning to other colleagues or going out and unwinding in a way that they can relate with.

I beg to ask, who created the social norm? Who said others are misfits and the one calling others a misfit is the representative of all fits? It is true that the public order to be good is forced upon us

However, what we fail to understand is that we are all misfits, but when put together create a perfect fit. Our individual stories, in terms of physical abilities and lack thereof, mental abilities and lack thereof and spiritual abilities and lack thereof, are what weaves us all together protecting each person’s vulnerability/misfit/imperfection.

Yet some are shunned because of s/he who is seen to be the leader of the pack feels they are not fit for the journey they are about to engage. I do love the story of David and Goliath cause while everyone doubted David’s strength and sought to get someone of Goliath's strength to fight him David showed it’s not by a show of physical might but mental.

Sometimes the ones we look down on are the ones who can actually do the unfathomable. Sometimes they are slow due to whatever challenges they are facing at the moment but in due time, if patience is used to teach them, they surprise you.

We need to also know that not everyone learns at the same pace as others and no matter how many times they fail calling them names or saying things like ‘don’t come with empty brains’ does not help the situation. This alone shows our fallibility, but yet even that is condoned.

While some are praised as intelligent, not all of them will use their intelligence in the best of ways or beyond a certain level, while that in itself is not bad it, however, makes those praised as intelligent to become arrogant and lacking tolerance and humility.

As painful as this is the truth is we all end up losing out. No one is victor everyone is a victim. We become a victim of a society that refuses to grow, even when public policies are in place. We pay lip service to the policies as we have no intention to limit or distort our personal gains for the benefit of society that we feel we are unable to see immediate returns.

We believe ourselves to be different from ‘the others’. Our IQ and mannerisms all poised and polished yet when we lose all financial and material values, we struggle to find meaning to life because we never believed in our years in the arrogant bubble we would ever get so low.

Agree no society is perfect and we will continue to have a mixture of all fallibilities that exist, but we can, in our own way push to become better humans than we were yesterday to someone because the truth is, even if what you dish today is never repaid back to you, it will be repaid back to a loved one or worse still when you are old and grey and unable to fight off or reproach the person.

This is not to instal, in any way, fear - oh no please, but to get us thinking about how we really push for the change that we advocate for.

Why can't we come together so we can win in this race called life? This we can only achieve if we are able to shoulder each other regardless of how heavy the weight is. 

#LearningtobeDifferent #ChangingOurMindset #EncouragingEachOther #StopTheVilification #SayNotoOppresiveBehaviour #ChangeStartsWithMe #IDaretobeBetter