The Polarity Paradox

(10th November, 2016)

The year 2016 has been a year full of actions and reactions. And it has always been so. But we had never been exposed, fed and actively involved in all things probable, like this year. This is unique and profound. And we truly are privileged in this process, to live it, to encounter it and to observe it. I consider myself an observer and an outsider. Yet, I am an insider and the experiencer. I am attached and detached.

The last 20-30 years, has led to the moments we are living today. The rise of Trump was inevitable. Brexit. It was a must. And it happened. We all are equally responsible for this. Democrats, republican, libertarian, non-sectarian, queen or whomsoever, everyone.

We have created a society based on diversion and differences. Differences are truly beautiful, it creates a spectrum of variety but when we only focus to what makes us different, we tend to forget that there is so much which is common and in unity. We are so tightly focused on making things right, that we only see what is wrong. What is ugly. We portray a paradise future that needs to happen, rather than living a potential, elaborate and beautiful moment right now. Our education system is focused on the coming moment, rather than this moment. The whole thing in itself seems to be a trap. And we trap ourselves in this.

Before 8 years, United States, elected a competent president. Barack Obama, the beckon of hope. The working class, the middle class, the poor, the rich, everyone had their own version of what he could do to make their life easier. Everyone had expected a lot from him. They elected him twice. But at the end of the cycle, they felt betrayed. The middle class, the working class and the poor were still suffering. The difference between those who have a lot and those who have nothing, just got wider and wider. A competent president from the system could do nothing at least for them. Their voices were unheard. And it was not just in the States. But all over the world. People were expecting a huge change, all around. And did it happen, I don’t know. It doesn’t seem so. Now as Clinton was campaigning she promised the change. She was competent like Obama, she was a strong candidate. A person who had a lot of expertise and understanding. But she belonged to that system that people were already suffering in. It’s already a crisis, the system that is prevalent. And people surely couldn’t see a solution in her. All they could hear was ‘Make America Great Again’. An emotional slogan for the many.

The people knew something was wrong, and something has to be done. Clinton couldn’t offer a change in clarity. She was too intellectual for many. Her academic competence and statistical correctness was not being heard by the people. Because they don’t know how to understand them. Or what they meant. This is a paradox. People genuinely want change. Not that they are stuck with the old. They are just fed up. In United Kingdom, in the Arabian countries. In the United States. It was the same people who helped Obama win, not once, but twice. Where Romney had lost. In no way are the people irrational, or blind. May be there are some extremist groups and sects, but people are free to choose what they feel is right. That is democracy.

The Clinton campaign was incapable on convincing these people, that the change they want is possible with her presidency. She couldn’t make an appeal for the new. Sanders was passionate about this, he wasn’t talking about the political correctness. Rather a compassionate change for the people and by the people. And the system didn’t want that. He was an absolute change. They were scared of him. He was new, his ideas were new. And the old system couldn’t comprehend, that is was essential. So, they gave Clinton to the public. The same old system from the Washington. Trumps victory over the old was inevitable. How much stupid he might seem, he belonged to the new. To the uncertain. And for the people things already are uncertain, hence they could give that vote to him, rather than to the establishment which was leading from the past 8 years. Had it been Sanders (the other new), the outcome might have been very different.

Trump, the president elect, has done and said so many things which is morally unacceptable to many of those people who voted for him. It’s absurd. But people voted for him. Now this is fascinating. Let’s not blame the people, but let’s try to understand why this happened. People saw Trump as an alternative to the system even though he is the worst of the worst option. It seems to me that, people simply and genuinely wanted change. And what Clinton was offering was not convincing enough. The fact is that it’s not that Trump won, it’s that Hilary lost.

The equation in which a person like Trump could become the president was made possible by those who were in the system, the establishment and who failed to prove that there is a better alternative and they are doing it. The ‘It’s Okay’ attitude failed. Trump tapped into that fear and anger within people against the system. He was not supported by his own party, he was ridiculed by media, and even Obama himself ensured people that voting for Trump is the worst thing. This was the paradox. The more Trump was outlined and kept outside the border, the more people associated with him. Political blindness of the experienced people led to Trump. It was same with the Brexit. The cause and the effect.

What Now?

Recognize the fact that people need a better alternatives to what is already available. People need a meaningful change. People need real change makers rather than huge discourses.

Don’t blame people for voting Trump. Be compassionate and loving to them and make them understand that this was not a good call. Reach out and understand the fears they have. Understand why they feel like this. Let’s not be presumptuous. Burning the American flag won’t help. It’s a symbol for a grandeur, possibilities. Anger cannot beat hatred. Many of us are not feeling the weight of the world, of surviving with minimum, we are privileged with what we have. The people who voted for him were marginalized, may be by their own self. But they are lost. The rich did not vote for him, the poor did. The educated did not vote for him, the uneducated did. Just google the statistics and see. The white did not only vote for him, even the minority did.

Our task at hand, mine, yours, and those who are ready to take the leap of faith is that we need to make sure to create a world where Trump is not necessary. If you think it’s impossible to do so, there will be Trump rising all over the world. He has given a model for the world. And not this thread of stupidity will continue. Trump was the continuum to the Brexit. If we aren’t compassionate, and filed with hatred and anguish, this wave shall follow.

This change is not going to happen with the system or establishment. Trump would create another system. The system is a default state. The change needs to happen within us. It needs to happen in our education system, in our schools, in our homes and in the way we commute, in the way we think. It has to happen in our mind-set. May be few, but powerful, significant change.

If our friends, neighbors or loved ones, see trade, immigration, cultural mergers and globalization as a threat. Show them how it is not, and show them they understand the flaws, but people like Trump cannot be our answer to the problems we are facing. The change needs to happen in our mind-set, not elsewhere. Clinton winning wouldn’t solve the problem. Or anyone. Our problems cannot be solved by anyone else but us. We have a huge responsibility now. We have the ability to respond compassionately and with gratitude. Not with anger and weapons, to be change makers starting from ourselves. The collective consciousness of humanity is shaped by individual beings. The change we have been looking outside elsewhere is within us. Here, this moment.

I know lot of us are scared and uncertain. And that’s okay. But because we are in fear we cannot be condescending to each other. To ourselves and to the world. That for sure is not the solution. This had to happen. There was no way out. It has happened. But be optimistic about the world we live in today. The achievements we have made as a humanity. The singular sense of being, a sense of responsibility we feel today.

I was born in Nepal, it has for the past two decades been in absolute chaos. And as a Nation, WHOLE, I feel we have found beauty in this chaos. From 18 hours light outs, to political instability to lack of infrastructure, to low bargaining power with the neighbors, to the recent Earthquake to so many other things, the situation might look like a post-apocalyptic era. But it’s not. It’s a reminiscence of beautiful chaos. An archaic order. Oneness. Living in the United States for about a year, I feel like an absolute outsider. A nomad who is surprised with what you have created. Everything is wondrous, but detached. You spend more time outside your home and with your family just to seek momentarily peace. This is not a good example of a developed society. It seems to be in infancy to me. It’s a good thing and it has the possibility of growth, not in the outer (you have achieved it already, but in the inner, within yourself). Friends in the United States and so many part of the world, remember you have so much. You are living a life someone in Somalia can only dream about. You don’t need to lose your hope and faith in humanity because of a person like Trump. For a while think of what you have compared to billions of people. You are lucky, even with Trump. You live in a material paradise, the only change that is needed is in the mind-set, and when we work with ourselves and share this beautiful symbiosis, you already are living in a paradise.

If you fight today, you will ruin this paradise. The wall that Trump might build would do nothing, unless you create a wall within yourself. The blockage that Trump might create would do nothing, unless you block ideas ad spectrum of thoughts within yourself. People like Trump feed on your anger, fear and hatred. They always have. With compassionate reinforcement, they can never win. They never have. Imagine Tibet for a while. Tibet never lost Tibetness, it just lost a little bit of land. Today Tibet is everywhere.

This is our task. To not be guided by fear, hatred, anger, disappointment, jealously and blindness. But to be driven by love, compassion, mindfulness and peaceful affirmation and action. Above all, this is of utmost importance.