Recent U.S. Events, and Opportunities for Change
A letter sent by Tim Jackins to the RC broadcasts mailing list on January 14, 2021
Dear RCers,
Events in the United States continue to illuminate the difficulties our societies are having in sustaining themselves. The inequities and injustices are increasingly visible. They have always been used to support the economic system and the many levels of governments in this country, but the pretense that the system works for people is sounding increasingly hollow.
The country’s economic and legal structures attempt to both (1) justify exploitation and the irrational treatment of people and (2) set limits to the extent that the oppressions and injustices can be acted out. As societal inequities grow, the irrationalities both show more clearly and are acted out more fully. The agreement to limit the irrationality and greed in society’s functioning is eroded, and more and more irrational and obviously oppressive steps are taken.
It is an important step when a less irrational path is chosen, but it doesn’t change the basic irrationality and exploitation of the society. The U.S. society and government may have pulled back from the more irrational course this time, but that does not solve the ongoing problems. The oppression and exploitation must still be addressed and removed. Injustice and exploitation must end, and societies based on them must be left behind.
Those of us who use RC to regain our minds and ever more rational thinking can recognize where our undischarged distresses push us toward irrational thinking and active or passive behavior. We have great opportunities. We can discharge on the distresses and gain increasingly clear judgment. We can ever more clearly see the current situation and make decisions about how we handle it, both to protect ourselves and others and to help change society to a more rational and caring one.
To effect these changes is a long-term project, and it will take our sustained and united thoughts and efforts. We cannot be separate and passive; that will simply slow our collective progress.
We will need to continually reach more and more people with the tools we’ve developed in RC so that they, too, can work to free their minds from the confusions of undischarged distress. This includes reaching for people who hold very different views from ours.
The recent events in Washington, D.C., are being used by media to restimulate people about each other. Those who stormed the Capitol are being portrayed as typical supporters of the current [now past] president. This is inaccurate. (Also, some people are spreading the idea that the insurrectionists were anti-Trump people impersonating Trump supporters.)
Many of the people who voted for this president have been economically exploited and disregarded by the U.S. government for a long time. The distresses installed by that mistreatment are being manipulated in the current situation—but the injustices have been and remain real.
To move society forward we must not turn away from, disregard, belittle, or forget about these people. Rather, we must understand how they have been and are being mistreated, oppressed, and exploited. We must oppose and end that mistreatment. And we must provide the resource they need to recover from the resulting distresses. This must be done to have the society we wish, and the sooner we begin working in this direction, the sooner that society can be achieved.
With love and appreciation,
(Present Time 203, April 2021)