Social conflict, whether manifesting itself through violent or non-violent means, occurs as a result of competing visions and agendas among groups with different social and political identities. Social change is a concept which can signify the strategies, goals and/or outcomes of socio-political transformative projects. It is important to note that even the struggle against change--i.e., to remain "the same" by adhering to time honored traditions or to go back to the way things "used to be"--produces its own kinds of changes and conflicts.
We are living in troubled times- times when honesty and decency are hard to find and making an attempt to change things for the better for the sake of honesty, decency, patriotism and selflessness can sometimes be like a death wish. While one believes or have the impression that he/she is doing the right thing, he/she can actually be a catalyst/perpetrator for more confusion and chaos. What is good for one may not be acceptable or right for the others. But then, you cannot make everything right for everybody or make everybody happy. God himself doesn't do that eventhough He definitely can if He wanted to. What God doesn’t want or doesn't do, we, being mere mortals definitely can't. It is therefore like walking on a tight-rope. This is the dilemma faced by every right-thinking members of the society. Due to this very reason, some even went to the extent of saying that "to be patriotic, sincere, honest and be decent is to get killed or if not that, to be stymied and rendered immobile. So, it’s better to leave things as they rather than be dead or be rendered immobile. Self-sacrifices are a thing of the past. It’s now every man for himself."
Inspite of the whining of those already discouraged and disillusioned, there are still some people who continue to work unceasingly (all the while knowing what the consequences could be if they make even one 'wrong' move) for a better tomorrow, a better tomorrow that will invariably involves both micro-macro de-structuring and restructuring present systems resulting in creating spaces for transformation of both the physical and meta-physical dimensions which is often easier said than done but yes, possible. Many of us at HYG are among the latter while some may also be there among the former. Whatever, wherever our roles and positions may be, we can definitely make things better if we really wanted to and...The answer lies in knowing our own capabilities, abilities, commitments and limitations while at the same time creating openings for the basic ingredients to sustainable peace and societal prosperity like unity, understanding, accommodating, caring, sharing and most important of all- LOVE to grow.
A very good friend by the name of Chris Spies once said: "The dilemma with change is that everyone likes to talk about it, but very few have insight into their own willingness to change, let alone their ability to influence change. Those who see the need for change often want others to change first. That applies to adversaries and onlookers, but also to analysts and practitioners. Why is this the case?"
These words have been alive within me ever since. History tells us that many-a-times, people have been led astray by orators, scholars, politicians, humanitarians and religious leaders alike by ideas that have no applicability when it comes to the practical level eventually and unfortunately leading to their total destruction. We need to be really careful in our approaches, methodologies and techniques of how we deal with issues by knowing what we think; be sure of what we really and sincerely believe to be right but at the same time accommodating; cultivating listening skills instead of drowning oneself into one's voice; having the will to listen to others and the will to incorporate others' ideas where and when applicable; the will to compromise one's stand and the will to take one's limitations and shortcomings like a man even when somebody who's considered a 'nobody' points/expose it to us.
The Bible says "Love your neighbours as you love yourself" and the people who we hate are not just our neighbours but sometimes our very kits and kin. And if we all cannot be honest with ourselves regarding this commandment and our very poor practice of IT, we just can't expect others to be honest with us. Can we? The Bible further says "Don't commit unto others what you yourself don't want others to commit unto you". Thus, we must now try to practice what we preach and one cannot do this while we wait for others to first do or have commitments to something. It is an injustice to ask others to do things which we ourselves are not ready to do or to be committed to. But wait, caution is needed here. One thing that needs to be taken into consideration is that we all should never forget the realisticism and practicability of what we preach and try to practice.
Ideas and theories are not always practicable or realistic. Sometimes, the ground reality may be quite a different story. This, therefore, is what we all need to be careful not to ignore.
Nevertheless, Man without ideals is like a ship sailing on the high seas but without a compass and oars for he has no directions and no active strength. We need to keep our idealisms and dreams alive for they are the only source of hope and strength for us. Ideals and practice have a 50-50 role to play in dealing with reality All the great men in history were dreamers and idealist first and then practical. Their biggest quality was they knew when to wake up from their dreams and knew how to nurture the ideals born out of dreams into maturity- where maturity becomes the pragmatic. They have had their hopes shattered at least one time in their life but they kept their ideals and dreams intact that enabled them to rebuild their hopes and their strength. So we cannot but stop dreaming and having ideals for they are our only hope. However, we need to know (1) when to wake up from our dreams (2) knowing what dreams are or can be translated into ideals and (3) knowing how to channel those ideals into inspirations and strength that will help us to deal with the present. Have we really known and tried these?
We all have been shouting ourselves hoarse over the need for unity, peace, honesty, etc etc, but it seems like we still missed something somehow, somewhere because we are still afflicted with the same diseases as we were before, no matter how hard we all have been working. Maybe we are so engrossed with ourselves; so very much in love with the sound of our own voice and ideas that we have actually made the people for whom we are supposed to be working and profess to be working with the "Forgotten People"; maybe we have become dictatorial and forcing down all our hi-fi ideas down the throat of the people and choking them without even being aware of it.
Inter alia, I've had my fair share of ups and downs in my life as members of a family, a social being and also of a societal group; my fair share of dilemmas in my roles as a researcher, social worker and peacemaker that sometimes almost drove me to madness. However, God has been gracious to me. He gave me the ability to dream. The dreams I had became ideals. The ideals I had became hope and poetry. Hope and poetry gave me the strength. Strength gave me the energy and enthusiasm for life. Enthusiasm gave me the needed inspiration and integrity to deal with reality. And these chains of events have led me to where I’m now. Nevertheless, I personally feel that even if the scenario is as bleak as it appear; even if I be the only man standing, I will still happily hunt for a means to peace through the non-violent way for, I'm sure and fully convinced that the much-hankered DAWN is somewhere and I only need to know where and how to look for it or grope around in the dark trying to find the door that will show me the way...patience, patience, patience,... I do have a matchstick but I sure need a matchbox to light it. Is there anyone who can join me in finding the way; one who's willing to compromise for peace but unwilling to compromise for violence; anyone?
It’s not the right way to do it and therefore I'm not trying to impose my ideas and thoughts on anybody. I have no right to do that. Therefore, attempting to do that will be an attempt on my part to breach the very rights to self-determination given by God Himself to man from the Garden of Eden till now. However, I believe I also have the right to hope that it will at least influence others to think if not convince them. In our fast-paced world of today, everyone is so busy that we have very little time to think. This is where the main fault line lies. Great things are discovered, invented and accomplished only when one allows himself time to think. So, let’s start thinking. We've done enough without thinking. Let’s start doing things alongwith thinking.
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