The Spell of the Status Quo

Nothing new here. “Be the change you want to see in the world.” But like the advice “be yourself,” it is at the same time vague and inspiring. This little substack seeks to provide its readers with concrete actions, taken every day, to change your life and the world.

Status quo?is almost like water to a fish. You really don’t notice it too much until it is somehow taken away or disrupted. That invisibility leads to unthinking acceptance, and is the tool of anyone who wants to take your freedom away: spouse, cult or political movement.

Most of our life is unthinking automation. With good reason, it is how we can function without taking most of the day to get something done. That tool allowed us to react to tigers hunting us in the African savanahs. It allowed us to harvest crops before a storm.

But it can also be used against us.

Tactics

Because every interpersonal revolutionary needs weapons of the mind - that is where the battle is fought.

Meditate

Interruption of our daily routine to be still and reflect on what is in our lives, whether we need it there, what our priorities are is crucial to hijacking the status quo of our lives. We need to stop to let our feeling match up with our actions and thoughts.

The pandemic offered that opportunity to a lot of people. Relieved of busyness and commute, a mass reflection took place. Its results are the mass resignation of people who decide their work life doesn’t meet their needs.

On a personal level, we ask ourselves if we are happy. Are we? Is this situation what we need, or even like? Critical is our current experiences, not fuzzy memories of the past. Our day-to-day experience of our current relationship must be felt, and processed.?

“Processing” is another one of those words that can be vague. It means taking the time to have your feelings match your thoughts and experiences.

Stand Out

“Stand out,”?Timothy Snyder?advises in his book?On Tyranny - Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century. Allow yourself to be different. Don’t worry about others’ judgements. Most likely, they are more worried about lunch than you.

When I visited my parents in early 2021, I was the only one at the gas station wearing a mask. I stood out. It was an odd feeling, but OK.

In the vein of “be yourself,” ask for what you want even if it is odd. My husband was dragged along on many ham radio adventures.

Stand up

Immediate thoughts of the?George Floyd protests?of last summer come to mind. People were outraged. They went in the streets and let everyone know.?

When a?Karen starts yelling?in a store, bystanders will stand up and calmly confront them. They refute outrageous Karen reactions and accusations with video and social media.

In relationships, if something is not what you want, say so. We teach people how to love us.

In devouring all the recent cult documentaries, one part of the recruitment process stood out. When a friend asks you to go to a seminar, and they start saying weird or objectionable things, people stayed quiet because they didn’t want to upset the friend who invited them.

Upset your friend.

The spell of the status quo gives onlookers the false impression that everyone agrees with what is being said. If you don’t agree, say so.

Dissent

You may be the only one. Be that person anyway.

At a public talk about Cuba, someone talked about Cuba having the right to have nuclear missiles. I piped up and pointed out the context of the Cold War. “You can’t ignore?THE COLD WAR?when talking about the?Cuban missile crisis!”

My friend slunk low in her seat, although later said she was proud of me.?

Revolution

Personal and political revolutions are connected, as?Vaclav Havel?writes in?The Power of the Powerless?(one of my favorite books). The tools for implementing it are the same.

Do it!

Be it!

Say it!