Light vs. Dark

There have been pretty dark, sobering events and conversation going on lately. In addition to uncontrollable events, I think the cold weather has brought out the collective cynicism in us.

I had an interesting conversation lately -- an analogy about the bipolar nature of Canadian society as a psychological condition, how in the winter we are depressed and in the summer we are manic. The yin and yang of Canadian society. Long periods of darkness vs. long periods of light. West vs. East. Upper Canada vs. Lower Canada. English vs. French. The toughest vs. optimal of conditions in the span of 365.25 days, over and over again. It forces us to ponder the dichotomies of our lives frequently, and I think this gives Canadians a unique perspective on things. Thoughts of the eternal tug of wars between the individual and the state, exposure vs. protection from which we can never escape shape us as a society. A desire to find a moderate, comfortable place for as many as possible seems to be a Canadian trait. That's how we are fundamentally different than our American friends in national identity. We see it in such extremes that we are forced to reflect on it constantly instead of becoming complacent in our contemplations while living in a more stable environment with more moderate variations until a sudden event shakes you up from your slumber. Canadians deal with extremes that by definition could kill you if you don't keep them in humbling consideration in the decisions you make. Americans historically seem more to have had to deal with sudden, personalizable tumultuous events - in a climatic sense, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires come to mind. This makes them more paranoid than bipolar. Something's always out to get them and/or what they hold dear -- suddenly, tragically. It's more about self-preservation for Americans than collective security whether the threat be real or imaginary.

Americans are paranoid schizophrenic. Canadians are bipolar. That's how we would be diagnosed by a psychiatrist.

We have these ponderings about dichotomies internally as well, and this affects the collective mood as what we struggle with inside affects our environment and therefore each other. Evil vs. Good. Right vs. Wrong. In the closet vs. out of the closet. They're not always opposite, but they are about as different as can be conceived.

Right now in 2006, I think we are in a collective darkness. It's just a product of the unfolding events we see and a growing sense of dread that feeds on itself. I am one of the worst cynics out there (used to be a pragmatist, now a cynic), and there are a LOT of cynics around these days. Many, many more than there were during the exuberant 90's. Is this all a cyclical thing - Like the seasons? Will in ten years we be reflecting on how overstated our cynicism was in the late 00's because collectively in a civil and societal sense we will be in a much lighter place thus our thoughts will reflect this difference, as the individual and collective feed each other?

In my experience to date, I know that things never go as bad as you imagine they will, nor do they ever go as well as you hope. Everything seems to go down a more moderate path, tugging ever so subtly or jumping violently towards one pole or the other, but always working back towards moderation.

I like to think that our concerns we have these days about the state of the world and our own personal vulnerabilities are overblown, that we're 'just in a bad patch' and things are set to work their way back towards moderation.

But I also have to consider that we are also in a unique time in the history of our society, species, and planet and that we are coursing into unchartered territory of scopes of magnitude. This contemplation scares the bejeezus out of me. With so many of our civil, technological, and natural systems being very fragile, at best, things could potentially spin out of our control very quickly and decisively.

How much are we in control anyways? Are we personally, societally, globally up to the task of making the best grave decisions when the time comes that we have no choice but to make them? Do we have the capacity to learn from our mistakes and successes to advance ourselves in the right direction? To gain the gifts of insight and foresight? To remember the lessons from our history? I guess that all works fine in an environment that we can optimally control, medially understand, or at least realize exists.

Maybe the period we're entering into, being the uncharted territory it is, throws everything we know and understand into question. It's time to throw out the instruction manuals, we're flying into this clusterfuck completely blind and stupid. I think the gradual understanding of the gravity of the tasks ahead of us is what's making us in increasing numbers mentally unwell - individually and collectively. We're all getting a palpable sense that there seems to be a little less energy and money to go around to the majority of people with every passing year while our lives move faster and faster, with more quantity and less quality. Some of us are increasingly unable to handle our perceived loss of control and increase in responsibilities while others are increasingly going into denial as a defense mechanism in attempt to maintain a sense of control over a limited set of constants. Very few of us are able to process the concept of being out of control very well. The rates of manic depression and paranoid schizophrenia are rising in more and more individuals as well as groups and civil institutions! I still would like to find out whether the prevalence of mental illness is on the rise, or merely our means of detecting and diagnosing it are improving thus it appears to be on the rise. Does anyone know this for sure? Maybe our entire society is becoming depressed, thus the explosion in cynicism.

Are our perceived future challenges as uncharted as I think? Are things really that out of control? In the scheme of things, is anything really as big a deal as I make it out to be? Many populations and societies have risen and fallen in the past, over and over again, typically due to a perfect storm of overpopulation and resource depletion and/or poor planning. Like Doug said - we're great at building roads but not so great deciding what destination they should head to. What makes our society's situation so unique or special that it is protected from experiencing the same fate as all the ones before?

The entire universe works on concepts of duality and movement back and forth along the range between the two polarities. Rises and falls, explosions and implosions, growth and contraction. Matter vs. antimatter. Order vs. chaos. Creation and destruction. Light and dark. Fantasy and reality. Heaven and hell. Liberal vs. conservative. Purpose vs. lack of purpose.

Infinite scales of magnitude. Forging ahead infinitely on a long-term wavering path towards moderation/neutrality.

Big concepts to wrap my tiny brain around. I don't get any of it, but I appreciate being able to consider it rather than live with my head stuck in the sand, never having the opportunity to ponder the bigger, sobering questions. What a waste of a purely good existence! That concept of contemplation versus denial is a duality in itself!

Denial is an extremely huge waste of time and resources.

I think it is imperative now more than ever that people consider the realities of their situations and the consequences of their decisions and actions. Collectively, these are having a more deleterious effect on the planetary system than ever before -- possibly never again. We can't continue to deny things are not going well around us anymore. Las Vegas and Hollywood are merely fantasies. Hyper-consumerism is a greedy mind-control ploy to distract us from what is really going on in the world. These 'perceptions' aren't very helpful at keeping food on your table or your house warm. They are very effective at deadening the pain and stress for a short period of time. Denial, escape and hope are not, nor result in, positive action.

I believe that most of us understand that in this period in which we live, we are witness to a what will be considered a very interesting and unique historical period. Whether we are moved to action to solve our problems and improve our condition is another question. There are many ways a person can react to big life-altering events, and everyone has something different that motivates them. How the stark reality of these issues are communicated to the majority of the population - the late adopters - while we all plod along will largely determine how we respond collectively to the big scenarios and big questions we are facing now and about to face moreso in the future. I just hope we have it in us to move towards the light and away from the dark.