... question everything
I was very lucky to have some inspirational, wonderful teachers. They shared their wisdom and helped me to realise that unless we question everything, not only do we stay ignorant, but things will never change. They also taught us that it is everyone's responsibility to question why things are as they are, and especially to question anyone in power about how they got that power and how they intend to use it. Will it be for the good of everyone or just them and their friends? They cherished our hard won democracy but warned that it would wither and die unless we all take part, and continually test it.
Growing up after the Second World War, in the so called 'cold war' when the world was divided between west (US, UK, France etc) and the east (USSR and eastern Europe), there was great tension and a real, almost daily, possibility of another war. If it came it would have been a nuclear war. All the major countries had nuclear weapons that could utterly destroy the world many times over if they were used. Governments said they were only 'deterrents' and that they would not use them, just threaten to use them. To me that was insane. Why spend billions on something that you were not going to use rather than use it to improve schools and hospitals. It was like a huge game of poker with everyone bluffing. Surely if everyone agreed to give them up we could end the threat of nuclear war and have a better society at the same time. Lots of people felt the same and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was formed. CND organised marches which attracted thousands of people, and I was one of them.
At the time the press and TV portrayed all the marchers as hippies, left wingers, rebels, troublemakers, Soviet sympathisers. But the people I met on the marches were teachers, doctors, plumbers, shop workers, business people, students, all united by a genuine fear of nuclear war and a desire for peace. Did they succeed? Not if the goal was to immediately scrap all nuclear weapons. But it raised awareness and slowly but surely things changed. Nuclear testing was banned, and countries agreed to reduce the number of weapons they had. Some countries made a big stand, New Zealand declared itself nuclear free and upset the USA by refusing to allow nuclear powered ships to enter NZ harbours. Well done NZ! David takes on Goliath and wins.
I still try to question everything, and hope you will too. In these days of instant news that is pumped out globally by giant corporations I have to wonder how much is 'real' news and how much is what they want us to believe is news and 'important'. But important to whom? The government, the press, big business probably. Not you and me. There is a huge danger that we are being fed news and the vast majority of people don't seem to notice. All this nonsense on TV about so called celebrities is just a big ploy to stop us thinking about anything that is remotely important.
Anyone who questions what we are being told is immediately branded a troublemaker - sound familiar? Nothing much has changed in the last 40 years, except they have got better at it. Anyone fighting for freedom is automatically branded as a terrorist, in fact anyone who disagrees with the policies of the USA and their unthinking 'allies' like the UK. I've never been a huge fan of the French but I do love the way they refuse to be bullied by the USA.
Learning to question everything does not mean that you have to disagree with everything - but it does mean that you have to think about everything. Decide for yourself what is important, not what other people say you should think is important or right.
Be true to yourself ... it starts with learning to question. Some people may not like that but usually it's because they have something to hide or are not telling you the truth.
I was very lucky to have some inspirational, wonderful teachers. They shared their wisdom and helped me to realise that unless we question everything, not only do we stay ignorant, but things will never change. They also taught us that it is everyone's responsibility to question why things are as they are, and especially to question anyone in power about how they got that power and how they intend to use it. Will it be for the good of everyone or just them and their friends? They cherished our hard won democracy but warned that it would wither and die unless we all take part, and continually test it.
Growing up after the Second World War, in the so called 'cold war' when the world was divided between west (US, UK, France etc) and the east (USSR and eastern Europe), there was great tension and a real, almost daily, possibility of another war. If it came it would have been a nuclear war. All the major countries had nuclear weapons that could utterly destroy the world many times over if they were used. Governments said they were only 'deterrents' and that they would not use them, just threaten to use them. To me that was insane. Why spend billions on something that you were not going to use rather than use it to improve schools and hospitals. It was like a huge game of poker with everyone bluffing. Surely if everyone agreed to give them up we could end the threat of nuclear war and have a better society at the same time. Lots of people felt the same and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was formed. CND organised marches which attracted thousands of people, and I was one of them.
At the time the press and TV portrayed all the marchers as hippies, left wingers, rebels, troublemakers, Soviet sympathisers. But the people I met on the marches were teachers, doctors, plumbers, shop workers, business people, students, all united by a genuine fear of nuclear war and a desire for peace. Did they succeed? Not if the goal was to immediately scrap all nuclear weapons. But it raised awareness and slowly but surely things changed. Nuclear testing was banned, and countries agreed to reduce the number of weapons they had. Some countries made a big stand, New Zealand declared itself nuclear free and upset the USA by refusing to allow nuclear powered ships to enter NZ harbours. Well done NZ! David takes on Goliath and wins.
I still try to question everything, and hope you will too. In these days of instant news that is pumped out globally by giant corporations I have to wonder how much is 'real' news and how much is what they want us to believe is news and 'important'. But important to whom? The government, the press, big business probably. Not you and me. There is a huge danger that we are being fed news and the vast majority of people don't seem to notice. All this nonsense on TV about so called celebrities is just a big ploy to stop us thinking about anything that is remotely important.
Anyone who questions what we are being told is immediately branded a troublemaker - sound familiar? Nothing much has changed in the last 40 years, except they have got better at it. Anyone fighting for freedom is automatically branded as a terrorist, in fact anyone who disagrees with the policies of the USA and their unthinking 'allies' like the UK. I've never been a huge fan of the French but I do love the way they refuse to be bullied by the USA.
Learning to question everything does not mean that you have to disagree with everything - but it does mean that you have to think about everything. Decide for yourself what is important, not what other people say you should think is important or right.
Be true to yourself ... it starts with learning to question. Some people may not like that but usually it's because they have something to hide or are not telling you the truth.
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