3rd Act Article - Finding Hope in 2020

The year 2020 was dreadful. While there is hope and optimism associated with the inauguration of new leadership, the dangers of domestic terrorism and an unchecked pandemic continue, to say nothing of the existential threat of unchecked climate change. For my own sanity, I need to keep focusing on the positives and on reasons for hope.  

This podcast is a reading of an article I wrote in the midst of 2020 for 3rd Act Magazine. My theme was finding hope in the midst of the dreadfulness of 2020. In essence, I think it is still pertinent in 2021. 

I believe that the human mind is gradually evolving in positive ways. Minds that are hard-wired for hate, revenge and violence are, ever so slowly, giving way to minds that are wired in more pro-social ways. I see the rage and violence of the domestic terrorist  groups as a last gasp expressions of a way of life - as a kind of primitive mind - that is being left behind.  Groups that have felt sheltered by white privilege and male dominance realize that the social structures that support these oppressive systems are eroding. They are terrified and are fighting like hell to hang on to their sense of privilege and superiority.  

The terrorists are waging a losing battle, but it appears we must suffer through their final acts of outrage and destructiveness. Saner - more evolved - minds will prevail. But we must never forget that the human mind is plastic and malleable. The plasticity works in both ways depending upon the influences we exert on our minds. To keep the plastic change in human minds moving in the right direction, we need to protect pro-social institutions and cherish compassionate behaviors. As the metaphor of  good and bad wolves inhabiting our mind instructs, we must daily feed the good wolves and starve the bad.