Incremental Change is Pretty Much All the Change You’re Going to Get (Oct 30, 2020)

For those of you who insist on avoiding politics or disagree with mine, forgive me for hijacking my little platform here to deliver these thoughts. I couldn’t resist.

If the current people who get to pass laws in this country, including those in the U.S. Congress and state legislatures, perform well in the upcoming election, it will not be because most of our citizens want to be governed this way. It will be because of the many folks who choose not to vote. From some conversations I’ve had where “righteous parts” were able to step aside, I hear thoughtful reasons for not voting. A good case can be made that Democratic politicians have perpetrated plenty of heinous acts, and that when offered two bad choices, it is better not to choose either one. On an emotional level, it can feel bad, or out of integrity, to select a choice that you don’t feel good about. Instead of choosing pragmatism, which feels like selling out for an inadequate change, you choose idealism.

I wonder if a psychological perspective might tell us something.

Playing a game involves being presented with challenges and choices. How we respond determines whether we gain points or resources, or whether we lose them, and it also influences what the next challenge or choice will be. The game of life is the same way. Life presents us with a challenge or choice and we respond. A good response leads to a good result, which then puts us on a better path to the next challenge or choice.

Perhaps you grew up in an environment that presented challenges that were impossible for someone of your age, or choices that led to a negative result whichever direction you chose, putting you in a double bind. In these situations, there is only one way to keep your sanity: refuse to play the game.

If your childhood is untenable, what do you do if presented with an opportunity to improve it a little, say by behaving well and receiving a treat? If you play that game, you are sending a message to your parents that the game is acceptable, thereby letting them off the hook. You might choose instead to forego the treat in order to hold out for the change that you really need, which is a radical change. If you can keep your hopes down and make it through childhood, the radical change will happen when you transition from child to adult. Then you will no longer be dependent on neglectful or abusive caregivers, because you can care for yourself.

What do we learn from this experience? That incremental change is to be rejected. That it is better to hold out for radical change.

When presented a choice between two ways of governing that you loath, it will feel better to hold out for the change you really want. But how do you see that actually happening in the world we live in now? Armed revolution? Anarchy? Collapse of our whole civilization and the huge suffering that would entail? Perhaps the only possible way to get to the world we want to live in is through incremental change. Obama made that point in his Philadelphia speech last week, starting at around 27:00.

Remember the Burger King slogan, “Have it your way”? Try going up to the counter and ordering Blanquette de Veau. For this year’s elections, there are two items on the menu for each course – a “D” and an “R” (unless there is a third party who has a chance somewhere). If we don't make a selection, we'll just be stuck with what we get. The people who are hurting the environment, the underprivileged, the marginalized, our relationships with allies, and the health of our citizens will not be chastened by your protest. In fact, their stated strategy for winning this election is to suppress your vote.

Perhaps incremental change is pretty much all the change you’re going to get. I encourage you to vote for the incremental change you prefer, from the options that are actually available.

Of course, there’s an exception to every rule – breathwork can sometimes catalyze radical change! Here’s what’s on the calendar for November.