Self-Awareness: does lack of it means you are doomed to keep making the same mistake?
I wonder if it takes self-awareness to realize when one is making the same mistake over and over again or when one is being a hypocrite. Or does the lack mean that one is doomed to keep repeating mistakes?
Tax Cut Insanity
Take Kansas. The people voted in Republican Sam Brownback for governor because he promised them immense tax cuts and he delivered those cuts.
But after a few years, the voters realized that those tax cuts meant a huge cut in education for their children. A cry of anger went out and the people voted Brownback out of office. They found they were willing to pay taxes for education.
And yet in the past mid-terms, the voters still pretty much voted in the Republicans, with the exception of one House seat flipping.
Or take this situation which seems to lend a slightly racist aura:
Opioid Crisis
In the 70’s or 80’s when crack addiction was raging throughout the black population, people thought we should get tough on the addicted because they were “bad” people.
But today, it is mostly the whites who are abusing opioids. And there are calls to treat them as having a disease, not label them as “bad” people.
This change in opinion could be a lesson learned or it could be due to subtle racism.
Or take an even more recent news, this time coming out of Indiana:
Environmental Issues
And now it is Trump country in Indiana who fighting cutbacks in EPA regulations because their children are suffering, some dying, of cancers as a result of hazardous chemicals.
And yet, they still support Trump – the one who brought in the people deregulating the EPA. Do they not understand that Trump is the one making their environmental situation worse?
So I’m thinking I’m going to have to be very conscious of my thinking process. How does one do that, I’m not sure.
