The Individuality of World Change

The collective mindset

I use this term for lack of a better description of this phenomenon. The typical activist is likely to assume an ‘us vs. them’ position in most matters. In this form of thinking, those who are of the same opinion on the issue of contention are ‘in the right,’ and those with dissenting views are ‘in the wrong’.

Collective ‘morality’ or ‘immorality’ is assumed and the activist may believe that just holding a certain idea or point of view is enough to make them a good person. In their opinion, it is those with dissenting views that must change their ways so the world can become a better place. If I haven’t lost you at this point, that’s great…stick with me a little longer..hehe.

When society begins to esteem a certain ideology as superior - because it is beneficial, interesting, or simply trendy - there will be those who will slide into that school of thought, merely because it is the way to be seen as a good person. In other words, the collective mindset may allow many people to assume a moral standpoint without any real action to back it up.

Here is an example of the result of a prolonged collective mindset. In Nigeria, we can see the ‘us vs. them’ way of thinking in action - us being the average citizen and them being the government. Nearly everyone accuses the government of being corrupt and not seeking the best interests of its citizens. Political fanatics can be seen arguing over what each politician is doing wrong.

However, if you scale down to the average Nigerian, you will very often (not always) find that people, in some way, are corrupt and do not have the best interests of others at heart. From traders and unreasonable prices to buyers and unreasonable bargains, ill-intentioned university lecturers or civil servants who need a bribe to do jobs they are being paid for - the situation is almost laughable.

I imagine that if all the government officials were replaced by random educated individuals, the nation would not necessarily be better off. This is not peculiar to Nigeria, but is a problem that occurs whenever the collective mindset is favoured over individual actions.

Individuality

In his book, ‘The trouble with Nigeria’, Chinua Achebe highlights a number of issues within the nation, including, but not limited to, corruption, indiscipline, tribalism and mediocrity. None of these is simply a government problem, but a trait that can be observed in every stratum of society.

One can argue that people follow the examples of their leaders, which is true to an extent. But I would also argue that most people know when they are acting in a right or wrong manner. The proof of this is that we have no trouble pointing out the vile characteristics in others.

Now and then, there comes along a person who does something that sets off a series of events leading to local, national, or global change. More often than we would think, these people did not set out to cause such change initially. They were simply living by the principles with which they had approached everyday life, and when met with these challenging situations, they acted out their lifelong convictions. They served their communities by standing by what they thought was right.

Do you remember when you were little and you thought you were gonna change the world? Maybe you still think so, or maybe you’ve never had such lofty thoughts and are content to lead a simple life from day to day. Well, no matter what category you fall into, you have it in you to change the world.

In the last decade, the global discussion landscape has witnessed an entrance of group after group - each with a seemingly righteous agenda. They claim to be solving one or more of the world’s many problems, including poverty, climate change, gender inequality, corruption, racial discrimination, etc. Each member of this group considers themselves an effector of change - and they are in a real sense. While such activism has certainly yielded some valid results, it is not without its cons. For the sake of this discussion, I will focus on one.

No individual leaves the world absolutely the same. However seemingly insignificant, your net impact will either be positive or negative. In my experience, the most difficult but most profound changes to make are the changes that concern us as individuals.

It is easier to claim to be a loving person because you fight against racism, for example - easier to profess love for people you don’t even know - than to show love every day to your neighbors, friends, and family and intentionally treat them in the best way possible no matter how you feel about them. A significant portion of people demanding change from the government, institutions, and people groups are less-than-ideal husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends, and neighbors.

The aim of this post is not to discourage activism, but to act as a reminder that we cannot always change others, but we can change ourselves. What if we all focused on becoming the best versions of ourselves - being disciplined, loving, kind, respectful, and so on? Maybe we can become the kind of people that those around us will aspire to be. Then maybe we could actually change the world, one individual at a time.

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