Rhino Ramblings

Granddaughter’s (Quinn’s) 2 Rhinos Artwork

So this is either a prequel to my last blog since I wrote the first draft before abandoning it to write DEI. NSFW? WTF! Or it is a sequel as I view this final version as a companion to that previous blog.  In either case, I decided to return to that first draft and craft a pop-up (i.e. shorter and sooner than normal) blog.  The urgency of the devastating and meticulous chaos being wrought requires continuous vigilance and introspection and extrospection (had to look that one up – introspection is used all of the time but I do not ever remember hearing extrospection; I guess with my blog I am an extrospectionist – that one I did make up)

The world of yesterday, today and unfortunately for the foreseeable future has, is and will be undermined in no small part by the “The Other”.  Sounds like a sci-fi or horror movie.  And that in itself is telling.  In my teen years I was fascinated by the aliens who were being credited with ancient phenomena like the pyramids (there was a comic this week that showed the pyramid with the sarcastic line “Aliens are credited with recently uncovered simple ramps and levers that helped in building the pyramids”).  In the case of aliens, or of a superior (i.e. white/western) civilization who must have helped build civilizations such as the incan and Aztec Empires,The Other may at first come off as benevolent uplifters and god-like leaders; while in reality they are myths that promote the concept of inferiority (how could those people have accomplished the feat on their own) for indigenous people of South America; Polynesians; African; etc. (side note – a wonderful, myth telling and myth busting podcast called Our Fake History dives into several of these stories in a highly entertaining and educational way.  One of my favorite pods).

In the modern world, The Other serves several harmful narratives:

• The Other as the scapegoat.  A bad thing happened.   Throw your anger at The Other.
• Remove the need for accountability.  I do not need to look at myself if The Other is responsible
• Obscure the actual issues.  Look over there at The Others so the actual issues are out of sight and mind. 
• Defer any need for action.  Action on my part is not necessary.  The Others need to fix it or be blamed for an inability to fix it
• Making The Other “less than” automatically makes me “more than” or at least justifies my own actions and thought
• Generalizations and collectivism simplify the world.

Here is the unfortunate truth – The Other is ingrained in our human psyche.  We can only succeed if we consciously understand and accept that tendency and then work to change it. I am both an Other (being trans and a vocal LGBTQIA+ member and supporter and a woman I am also a “Normie”; i.e. Not The Other” (Caucasian, European descent, American born, for 40 years presenting to the world as male, identified as a Christian, a grandparent and a parent – of course grandparent always comes first). I have to be wary of labeling as The Others those who did not vote the way I did or who have different beliefs.  It is not that simple in reality. The trick now is to determine if there is a way to change the dialogue from The Others vs the Normies, whichever category you fall into at the time. Instead rejoice at successes whether from ourselves or from Others. And seek answers to failures within ourselves and within objective truths. As some examples, the housing issues are not caused by immigrants   but by landlords and prejudice and housing laws, etc. Diversity did not cause the wildfires, it is inarguable that the LA fires and many others in recent years are directly due to our lack of action on climate change (and no, not using a straw is not a useful action).  Failures in education, whether perceived or real, is not due to an influx of trans athletes  or teaching our children to treat all people respectfully.  And DEI had nothing to do with a horrific plane crash that has been only a matter of time to occur considering the increase in traffic, the narrow airspace that is shared by helicopters and airplanes with different jurisdictions (Army and civilian).  Allowing the dialogue to avoid how we can improve all of our lives and find actual solutions will only continue to provide fodder for inaction and disastrous outcomes.