The Road Forward From A Dying Paradigm

Crisis points happen when the flaws in a given paradigm become undeniable. It’s quite natural that some will become aware of them sooner than others, those more sensitive or those more harmed by the cracks, those living in the leaky basements of society.

Those who have been most able to embrace the existing paradigm, who have been most rewarded by it, will be the last to perceive it, the last willing to entertain the possibility that a change is necessary.

And who would those people be? The very ones in charge of the media, our government, our businesses. Those with the first-class cabins will be the last to realize the ship is sinking. Those who are in charge are reluctant to acknowledge catastrophe because they will be blamed for it. They will never be the ones to lead you from a sinking ship into a new ship in which they will no longer be in charge, or admired, or trusted.

Keep plucking away, keep pointing out the flaws in the paradigm. If they can fix them, all the better, but we have seen for too long now that they won’t. They will distract you, blame others, call you fearmongers, but they will do nothing to fix the flaws that anyone who has their eyes open can see. Force them to reveal themselves, force them to reveal their hatred, their irrationality, their contradictions and hypocrisy, their wish to censor dissenting voices. Force them to reveal their utter lack of real solutions. You are winning. You are on the right side.

But here’s the most important thing: have an exit strategy. Do not simply expect people to jump into icy waters. They will be less inclined to leave even a sinking ship so long as there is no hopeful alternative, no well-prepared evacuation strategy. Even as you point out the failing paradigm, you must be busy working on a new one, a better one. People will respond better to the ringing of hammers building life rafts than they will to the dire warnings that the end is nigh.

The captains of failing paradigms have always glibly said that if you don’t like the paradigm they have provided for you, make a better one. Now is the time not merely to talk but to prove you do more than talk. Not only is it necessary, it will be easier to demonstrate better alternatives the further the ship sinks into the sea.

If there is a better alternative, you must envision it. You must create it. You must be it. Start small but do something. Start small and new possibilities will reveal themselves. You may deny the paradigm they have built but much of it still shapes your attitudes. You think your job is to change THEIR minds, but you must change YOUR mind. And YOUR actions. You’ve been following so long you think you need leaders. The truth is it is enough for any man or woman to be able to lead themselves. And perhaps influence a few others along the way.

Change happens slowly, slowly, then all at once. Change happens one person at a time, until the tipping point is reached and the masses come spilling into a new way of doing things. Once they’ve seen something better truly waits on the other side. Don’t just call for a better way, envision and create it: by yourself, if necessary.