Hard binaries
Hard binaries are absolute.
Very little in life is an absolute. Some absolute examples include. We are born. We die.
We have placed absolutes hard binaries around many things because a spectrum removes simplicity and our perceived ability to control.
Gender is a spectrum. The social order is easier when it is not, just as it is easier when we can fit people into neat categories. We are finally acknowledging the spectrum of multiple intelligences.
Considering the absolutes we favour, like good and bad, exist on a spectrum, depending upon where you stand. The United States, for example, was founded by revolutionaries and dissidents opposing the rule of a king. The Source Idea of the United States is being the rebels against the Empire. The Empire considered the rebels the bad guys.
The world I observe today is one that turns the Source Idea back upon itself. The rebels become Empire, and seek to prevent dissidents and rebels from speaking. The victims become the perpetrators. Again and again this card is played around the world. Hard binaries of right and wrong are the easier path to making sense of the world and keeping a tight reign of control.
I contemplate hard binaries. This is right. This is wrong. Against this background. I look at myself. Where am I turning a Source Idea back to become the weapon used against others? Where does my victim become a weapon against others?
Where is my sense of rightness such a hard binary I might heed its warning?
I hold that treating others with respect and dignity, honouring the sacred in all life, and acting with integrity even when the price is high is inviolate ground for my being. This is a daily practice and commitment. I surround myself with people who seek the same. Together, we hold each other to living as imperfect yet always seeking to become more caring, compassionate and integrous humans, holding humanity as sacred.
Hard binaries are rare, yet our current operating system thrives when they are in place. Earth and all her creatures pay the price.
*I am speaking about the United States from the time of colonisation. I hold in deep respect the fact that, just as with Australia, neither country was ever ceded to the colonisers.
Photo Taken April 30th 2024