Week two

Control

I have quite enjoyed pondering over the choice of topic for this week and  one which seemed to persist was  the idea of ‘control’. The question of where control might lie and who can control who seems to be at the heart of many current issues.

Many ‘leavers’ in the Brexit debate may now be delighted that we have apparently ‘taken back control’.  I can concede that there could be a time in the future when we, as a nation, might reflect that it was indeed a good move. However, as a ‘remainer’, the issue for me  was always more one of the value of co-operation over competition and the broadening of a sense of identity rather than  a narrowing.  To what extent is the control to which we might aspire real or illusory? Might we be replacing one set of controls with another?

Then there are the shocking scenes in the USA and the frightening possibility of some kind of dystopian future where social media continue to spew out the ramblings of the perpetrators of fake news and people abandon any notions of truth. Divisions deepen with each ‘side’ being convinced of the wickedness of the other.  Each looking for ways to control the power of the dangerous ‘other’. Scary stuff!

And of course there is the control of our behaviour in order to control the virus. Whilst the majority would accept these controls as necessary for the greater good, a handful resent the imposition, asserting their rights to freedom of choice and freedom of movement. Whilst I think that view is misplaced, nonetheless, perhaps they serve to remind us that we need to be wary of a future where we are so frightened of illness or the possibility of dying that we cease to live fully. Many argue that we have become overprotective of our children for fear of the potential dangers presented by the world.  Where in the past children played out freely for extended periods of the day today they can be found in front of computer screens. Paradoxically there could be  inherent dangers in believing that the way to deal with various kinds of threats  is to bring in ever stronger controls. Life is not only about being safe.

So where does that leave us as individuals? In many ways it can be easy to feel powerless when faced with the enormity of these issues. What can you do? Write? Vote? Join a protest or sign a petition? Give up?!  I have many dear friends. One wrote to me this week sharing her list of objectives for the year: things she wanted to see or do, new experiences to be enjoyed. She said it was her way of resuming a degree of control in her own life.  

That sense of personal control seems so important, but for many their choices can feel severely limited. Viktor Frankl was a Holocaust survivor  who wrote a famous book entitled ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’.  In it he described not only the horror of the camps with their brutality but the qualities of the few prisoners who were able transform the experience by finding some deeper meaning and an inner freedom based on compassion for others.  He argues that ultimately we all have that inner freedom to  choose how we think about and respond to our circumstances. 

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.  Viktor Frankl

So, do I have any answers? Well, no.  Another dear friend recently commented that a deep question was better than a shallow answer. I suspect he is right; so I shall stick with the questions. Perhaps if we can remain with the uncertainty of the questions for long enough, valuable answers might emerge.