On Bullying

We live in a world that has been run by materialists for quite some time.  They gradually 'took over' the important institutions in society, in the same way that weeds will surely take over an ill-tended garden.

This implies a natural process. It also gives us the key to solution. One can of course take the nuclear option in the garden, and just raze it to the ground, but this is merely a temporary setback for the weeds' campaign. In fact, many weeds grow better after the devastation.

Continuing with this analogy, the only way to achieve a beautiful garden from the wilderness is a whole lot of sweat and tears, it always takes time and labor to create beauty. Culture is society's garden, we must cultivate what we desire instead of tearing down what is already collapsing.

Nature shows us how to deal with bullies, cultural or otherwise. The contemporary materialistic push has dominated because we have lost much of our idealism. We have gradually accepted the popular, yet skewed interpretation of survival of the fittest, that the strong rule the weak. But this is not strictly true in Nature.

If only the strong survived, most of the species we have in the world would have long gone extinct. The strength that Nature keeps around is of the inner variety. People like to point out how empires fall, yet what is rarely mentioned is how the collapse occurs at the pinnacle of physical success. Empires do not fall because of a weak military.

A culture becomes militant when it is crashing internally. Rome was conquering the world to escape her own problems. Dictators thrive like weeds in broken environments. Hitler, for example, was initially popular because he gave a dying nation a vision of external strength.

Bullies, in individual or collective form, are those who have lost interior orientation. They can be very dangerous, just like any other predator in nature. Predators, like parasites, prey upon the unhealthy. They succeed most when a herd (or community) has lost cohesion.

Throughout history, political philosophers have pointed to the family as the key to a lasting state. The family is our first taste of community, it is here that we learn to be unselfish or to look out for number one. The values instilled here gradually become our cultural perspectives.

We do not primarily need to hunt down all the dictators, although there is a civil responsibility to do so, it does not require everyone's direct involvement. We must support Law & Order, while holding those in civil positions accountable. When Law & Order breakdown, we must strike at the root of the problem, the loss of unity in society.

The vast majority of people have the same basic desire to live in a safe, secure environment, in which they can do those things they are drawn to by nature. The conflict arises from differing belief systems, political views, and basic assumptions about life.

We must come to realize that personal character is more important than our ideologies. We live in such a divisive environment that it is in vouge to cast people out of our lives for their political beliefs. If we believe them to be stupid, is it kind to refuse to deal with a stupid person? Are we so internally weak that we feel that we will become stupid ourselves by osmosis?

We do not have to become best friends with people we feel to be fools, but in the end, we must learn to get along somehow. This can only happen if we begin to shift our focus towards what we agree upon, and learn to ignore ignorance. Rarely does anyone change their mind because they are told they are ignorant, and if they did, they were essentially wise to begin with.

Bullies love to fight, they love to engage in useless argument. We must learn to disengage ourselves and build that which we wish to see in the world, in our own small sphere. In a vacuum of constructive pursuits, we fall prey to the constant bickering, gossip and never-ending strife we see around us.

Politics has become an important subject merely because we have lost sight of our idealistic visions. Political leadership can change the world, but all it gives us is Napoleon, before quickly returning to the dust from which it sprang.

We need to focus on long-term, deep-rooted change. Once a tree takes root, it will beat out the weeds every time, because it takes away the light and nutrition they need to thrive. So we must cultivate trees, long-standing cultural institutions, and these begin at home, quite literally.

Temporary influence comes and goes, social media influencers will be forgotten in less than a year, but we remember those who have given us hope and vision. A lifetime of forced propaganda cannot counter a wise phrase from our grandparents. We must focus on influencing future generations and things will begin to gradually improve.

The bullies will collapse, but we must still live with them. Frankly, they need meaningful work to do. They will be the same belligerent people they have always been. We must help them develop into mature adults, and like children, we must ignore the foolish things they do and say and keep them re-focusing on the more important things in life.

Yes, it is unpleasant and difficult work, but keep in mind that while you get to leave them and go back to your inner world, they are stuck with themselves 100% of the time. Have some compassion for the foolish, we have all been foolish at one time or another.

Do not bully the bullies, it sets a bad example. We must show others that we care about them as people, beneath all the exterior appearances. Because we do, after all. We do care for people who are hurting, we do not wish their state upon anyone, certainly not ourselves.

Let us leave the hard-heartedness to our past, and get down to the business of making life beautiful. As we have been forgiven much, so must we forgive the more.