A Discourse on Change

Most of us like things to stay the same. Sure, we can tolerate a little change here and there, but any major change is considered a threat, especially change that challenges our thoughts and deep seated beliefs.

Over the next several paragraphs, I will have an open discourse on the subject of change. My thoughts are my own; I am not presenting them as right thoughts or correct thoughts, only as my own thoughts free to be challenged. My only goal is for these thoughts to prompt your thoughts on these thoughts. These are random thoughts of mine and should not be read as a formal thesis. So, here I go, talking out loud about change.

I will start our conversation with one reference, Hegel's definition of social change. He defines social change as a dialectic model of change that is based on the interaction of opposing forces. Hegel believes change starts from the point of momentary stasis, Thesis, then countered by Antithesis yields conflict, then it subsequently results in a new Synthesis which is change. Change tends to come primarily from two sources, the random and the systematic. This is change according to Hegel and will serve as the foundation for my discussion.

Change is about the future, and a moving away from things of the past, if you will. The past will lose its power and cease to be what it was in time. The problem with the past, especially those elements of the past that do not embrace change, is this: they are in the past and were created as part of the past to address issues of the past. They have not moved forward and will not adapt unless they change. Therefore, each day that goes by they become less relevant, less efficient and more mediocre. Yet, we cling to them like they are life itself because they are familiar and comfortable; yet, we do change. Have you switched cell phones recently? It was not easy, but you did it. Why? Everyone else did. Can you imagine if you still had one of the first cell phones made? You changed because everyone (group mentality) else did; remember this point. Culture and life have changed; failure to keep up with that change will have severe consequences, yet we fight this change all the time while embracing other change, like our cell phone. Why?

We must begin with our own response to change. For the most part, our initial response to all change is negative. Why? Well, change is not easy because it often comes in response to... change. To embrace change, there must be something in it for us or else we will resist it. This feeds into the very reason we fight change (another important point to remember). For Americans, it is even harder. We, Americans, live our lives with a privilege that most do not enjoy. Most of us get up and go about our busy day never considering the privilege afforded to us by virtue of our birth in this country or by our race, gender and ethnicity. There are many reasons for this, but one to consider is the way we now live. We, in America, have moved past merely living to survive and have now risen to living for our own enjoyment. Many of us will never think about the idea of privilege unless confronted by it because it has melted into the ideas of contentment, comfort and enjoyment. This is the American life - happiness, is it not?

What does this do to us? In my opinion, living with a focus on our own enjoyment actually harms us because it makes us more self-centered and egocentric, which are two of the demons we battle daily. We become more entrenched in our own ways and our own ideas and less tolerant of others and their ways and ideas. We become less likely to help those in need, see things from a different perspective or tolerate those not like us. Our energy is spent trying to convince others to turn to our way of thinking because we know, the more who agree with our thoughts the more powerful our thoughts become. This produces groups and group behavior. The rejection of change manifests itself most noticeably in groups mainly because there is strength and comfort in numbers and all groups are greater than one. There are many studies on group behavior that will confirm this simple truth: people will do things in groups that they would not do as individuals. Groups tend to resist change more than individuals.

Resistance to change is more prevalent today than it has ever been; one of the main reasons for this recent development is that we, now, have the power to determine our own course of life. We no longer worry about if we will eat; we now worry about where we will eat. America is full of personal choices, and each one reinforces this resistance to change because each choice that we make reinforces the big lie - the choices that we make are ours to make. The facts are these: most choices that we make are already made for us. Most of our choices are not our original choices but the choice of the those before us. And, if we are in a room full of people who all make the same choice, the chances are that we, too, will make that same choice even if it is not our own choice, and we will make it because everyone else did. This resistance to change is found in everything we do. Here are just a few of the subtle ways we resist change without even realizing it.

We are a people who have worked to survive, and we now work to enjoy. This breeds more comfort and contentment. Once comfort and contentment have become part of us, we will do almost anything to avoid giving them up. We will sacrifice truth, service, friendship and even family just to continue this life of comfort and contentment. We will especially sacrifice change. We live in homes that are too big, drive cars that we do not need and carry debt that is not necessary, and we do it all to enjoy our lives because we think we deserve it. Comfort and contentment are old idols wrapped in new clothes, and most Americans worship them without even thinking about them anymore. We don't have to think negatively about them because every way that we turn culture is there to tell us that we deserve it. Change brings doubt and uncertainty and a risk of losing what we have worked so hard to achieve, and no one wants that.

Because we live to be comfortable and content, confrontation has disappeared. We, Americans, do not confront each other anymore. We would rather gossip, spread rumors, send emails or text, but a face-to-face confrontation has almost become extinct. And, if it should happen, it will be done, not in love, but in emotion. It will be done quickly in order to end it, and it will be done incorrectly. We do not confront because we do not really know each other. We talk in positives with little or no disagreement. This produces, what I call, paper mache relationships: we know each other on the surface, but down deep, where we all live, we know little about each other. And, we like it that way because we do not want to be bothered by other people and their problems which would cause us to change our plans, change our feelings or change who we are.

Thought, at least logical higher categorical thought, is disappearing too because thinking is... hard. We would rather be told what to do than to think logically about anything. We are content to let our politicians speak in lies and fallacies because, for the most part, that is the way we speak. Reporters do not check facts and tend to write their own opinions into their news stories; we know this but do not seem to care and allow it to happen with little consequences. We have bought into this idea that to think is to agree, and that one thought is better than another thought. Disagreement is rooted in the fallacies of today; each day we are confronted with fallacies: ad hominem, red herring, straw man, argumentum ad baculum, and of course, the most popular, argumentum ad populum. Doing what is right has all but disappeared because it will "get us involved" and disrupt our comfortable lives. And, it will bring about change, which is something we do not want.

This idea of change is daunting and difficult, but it is necessary in our growth and survival. There is a famous quote about history that states, "those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." While the quote is about history, it is also about change. Failure to change means we are doomed to repeat the cycles of the past over and over. Even good trends run their course. Change is inevitable and healthy.

Well, there you have it, some of my thoughts on change. They are today's thoughts, ever changing because I have learned that the more I learn the less I know. Thanks for reading! Blessings to all!