This article was written before “Corona”. I had stated in a number of talks I did at conferences back in 2019 that “we are living in a single-identity world, but we are not aware of it”. Our first identity is as a “human being”—and that we have to hold on to. Being “human” is also the only identity that we don’t assume over the course of our lifespans. In other words, we acquire “sub-identities” that we use to make our planet an uninhabitable place and to torment others to the point that they regret the day they even were born.
Interestingly, Corona introduced the whole world to a supra-identity! The universal fear of death shut down borders, imposed curfews, closed stock markets, and turned our day-to-day routines on their heads. No matter where on the Planet we happen to be, Corona has transformed the world into a “ghetto” surrounded by impenetrable walls. Humanity is helpless against “Corona”. This issue remains unresolved. Our money, technology, nuclear weaponry, and petro-dollar stand useless in the face of this issue. No one can go to work; no one can foresee what’s to come…no one can’t even imagine how we will feed ourselves after we run out of supplies. Being swamped with sub-identities was something like this. With corona, we are paying bill for forgetting our “humanity”. We can’t sleep at night because we’re preoccupied thinking about “when our own number’s up” upon turning on the evening news.
Science will conquer corona, of course. That said, is this the last of its kind? Will humans be able to curb their sense of “greed, selfishness, and insatiable drive to consume”? Will our miniscule common sense be enough to restore the planet’s natural cycle?
I wonder whether I’m being too pessimistic or assertive in saying that from here on out we will have to live the rest of our days under “quarantine”.
I feel as though climate change will walk us towards certain consequences, and as though unusual developments will push us toward our fate. Data shows us that this claim is not set on shaky ground.
The above aside, now let me share the article that I had written when corona wasn’t around yet. I’m curious to see what you think:
A Ticket of Uncertainty to Nowhere
What does it matter what colour of skin we are born with? The adventure of “humanity” starts the moment our umbilical cord gets cut. At this point, our geography (i.e. where we are born), our environment, our lifestyle and culture(s) as well as the norms that all of the above give birth are what shape “humanity”. Either we become “monsters”, or live on this planet as “human beings”… “External forces” control what our will cannot.
For instance…
If we were to travel back in time, we would either be refugees going to nowhere on a ticket of “uncertainty” amid the grey shades of hopelessness—that is wherever “humanity” drags us, or be of those who say behind the borders: “Don’t let them come, let them go… don’t let them burst our comfort bubbles… don’t let them make our lives miserable… we don’t want them to disturb our order of things… We may even be among those who say “no, this is human tragedy. We should welcome them (refugees) as guests and take care of them”—this even though we live in the second group.
The prerequisite for being “human”, I suppose, is first to remember that “refugees are human too!” Does it ever occur to tractor drivers that the “insecticide” they spray along the Turkish-Greek border is in fact part of a greater drama? Does is ever occur to them that what they are spraying are human virtues, or that there might be a refugee and their family, mother and child, waiting in the cold on the other side of the border?
We’re going through a period where we’re witnessing the largest mass migration in human history. Those migrants have starved out of their own homes by others. If they owned property, it was seized. They don’t have access to an education or health care. They have come face to face with epidemics. Either they are forced to fight, as someone slips automatic rifles into the hands of their 12- to 14- year old children and makes suicide bombers of them, or they leave everything behind and flee from the destruction of the war to “survive”.
They’re actually abandoning the honour of being human, for “others” impose arrogance, greed, and ego on their sub-identities! They are being stigmatized by an identity that strips them of their pride and dehumanises them. Walls are being erected on borders and minds as identities are infectious. Others fear that they might infect them if they crossed over to “their side” of the border.
The Fight between Supra- and Sub-Identity
There is friendship, community, solidarity, and love in the supra-identity.
There is respect for the identity, culture, faith, norms, and values of others.
There is the sacredness of children.
There is acceptance of women as “one of us”.
There is the right to life for the disabled…
There is the truth that animals have “souls” too.
There is the sustainability of the planet.
There is renewability of the nature.
There is the greeting of people singing John Lennon’s “Imagine”!
There’s another world, there’s another humanity!
People who abandon the “supra-identity of human virtues” prefer to live by their sub-identity. They hold the wealth of the world’s real owners—those who slave under them!
Selfishness…
Ambition, arrogance, ego…
Power contamination…
A kinked scale of justice…
Moral erosion…
Sub-identities built from these traits are showcased under the guise of “liberalism, capitalism, and globalization”.
When you walk into shop – and pass by the display window – you see kids who aren’t even five years old bid adieu to life every ten seconds. They’re leaving us due to hunger, poverty, and epidemics. You witness a billion people go to bed hungry every night. Photographs showing us that nature can’t regenerate itself horrify us. Water and food crises, soil erosion… The unfathomable scale the world’s nuclear capabilities, the trafficking of drugs, prostitution, and terrorism…
Soon, we understand that humanity has done everything it can to bring about its own end!
Evasive Dates with the Supra-Identity
Our coming together under a “supra-identity” is, from time to time, inevitable. Taking our place in a de facto situation where all humanity comes face to face with a catastrophe… It’s like going on a date with a secret lover. Like the one who says, “Let’s get this done, then let’s go back to normal…”
These days, for example, humanity is being visited by different viruses – one more powerful than the other. We’ve reached a point where we now annually joined forces under a supra-identity to discuss how to overcome the obstacles before. But for some reason, this joint effort does not appear to solve problems such as global warming, the abolition of human rights, wars sparked by unknown parties for purposes, the daily death of millions from starvation and poverty!
G-20 meetings with a “so-called” supra-identity agenda are nothing more than hot dates between evasive couples.
Alas, things become too late the moment we turn into a monster along our journey “towards a better world”. The paper compass scrawled with human virtues and slipped into our hands as a child now claims itself “outdated”. In a way, humans can’t escape being a member of a “criminal organization” that resists being human!
They invent wars in the name of religion…
They manipulate trade relations…
They bribe, dabble in corruption, and violate laws and regulations…
They kill nature…
They assault women…
They mislead justice…
They prevent children from enjoying childhood, instead sending them deep into underground mines…
They engage in human trafficking…
They invent pandemics…
Instead of looking for a solution to the refugee crisis, they care more about selling life vests to refugees…
They see transforming drugs into “brands as” more profitable…
Give they place money above the human values, they’ve convinced themselves that everything they do in the end is for the good of humanity.
Arrogance, greed, and ego dominate the noble feelings of the supra-identity. When you look at the records of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia—who approves an average of 200 death sentences each year—you can see dozens such cases:
- The brutal murder of a journalist (Khashoggi),
- The taking a country’s prime minister (Hariri) hostage during a visit,
- The deporting ambassadors of countries critical of his human rights violations (Canada, Germany),
- The sentencing activists and opposition groups who criticise him to torture beyond question,
- The arresting family members who he sees as rivals for the throne, and
- The needless waging of war leading to death of hundreds of thousands of civilians (Yemen), just to name a few… none of which having nothing to do with “being human…”
Is this how things going to go?
The bad news is, it’s been like this for 12,000 years. There have been “good” trials at certain points in history. The philosophy of “Ahi community” within these lands (Anatolia) had been the artery of society for decades as a reflection of the supra-identity. The Ahi community had put a culture into the cage of norms: One that carried the values represented by the ritual of “putting on of a waistcloth” to the story of “falling into discredit”. They had transformed masters, apprentices, and foremen into a metaphoric room where identities could meet. Over time, they succumbed to the acquisition of sub-identity. Although limited in number, their norms are still with us today… meaning that a greater humanity “was possible”.
But when step back and we look at the whole of history, we see that humanity’s sub-identities have surpassed their supra-identity.
The good news is, “there’s nowhere to hide anymore!” Humanity has turned around the last bend…
Yet, the solution rests in its hands.
There is a need for people who ensure that supra- surpasses sub-identity.
(*) Published in May 2020 issue of BrandMap.
Leave a Reply