Who do you blame for all the atrocities, all the horrific tragedies that occur – the genocides, the wars, the murders, all the crime and cruelty, the poverty, the homelessness, the unmet needs of the sick and mentally ill and on and on?
Who do you hold accountable? Who should be investigated, prosecuted, held up for social ridicule and dishonor, punished and put in jail? Who? Is it this thing we call life, God, individual souls, entire communities and nations, societies/cultures, human ignorance and limitation, one’s parents and/or ancestors misdeeds, the lack of proper moral training and/or education, poverty and the lack of opportunity, the lies, distortions, fabrications and propaganda of our politicians, media and social platforms? Who…what?
It is so easy to sit in judgement…to blame someone, some group, some political party, some religion, some race, some nation. And certainly, it is our human need to do so – to find and implement some form of justice. But when one looks deeply into life and its situation’s, it is not such a simple task to place blame. In fact, it seems like we are all implicated to some extent, we are all to blame in some manner, and yet no one is to blame. Life and its occurrences, its happenings, just is!
I know…I know, it is vital that we seek for justice, to right the wrongs, bring to justice, punish and hold accountable all of humanities short comings. Yes, we must do so, but at what peril do we do so? What grave injustices and harm do we commit by our need to blame?
I know, I know we are individually responsible for our actions, but there is no individual who stands alone and separate from his environment, from his parents and upbringing, from his economic status, from the forces that impinge upon him – his culture, his country and their customs - his experiences and those who impact him for good or I,ll and so much more. No man (person) is an island it is said, and for sure we are all connected with everything and everyone.
And yet, surely it appears we need someone, some entity to bare the brunt of human-kinds avarice, ignorance, injustices, criminality and cruelty – someone, something to blame - so we can feel some kind of vindication, some kind of relief from the incomprehensible and the at times horrific vicissitudes of life. and remain individually blameless. So, we can say to ourselves that this world makes sense. That there is a right and a wrong. So, there is such a thing as justice. So, one can rest easy. So, one can say, “it is not I, it is them…it is those others.”
I think of the holocaust , and the Nazis who were brought to trial at Nuremberg. Their defense was simple – “I was just following orders. I was just being a good soldier. ” So, who do you blame? Hitler? Those that followed his beliefs and committed the horrific acts? Those that gave the orders? Those that developed the “final solution” – the brains behind it all; the German people who voted the Nazis into power and went along with their dictates; the debilitating reparations brought against Germany after the first World War which created financial depression, much anger and resentment, and stimulated the rise of Hitler; the centuries of antisemitism and debasement of Jewish people held by many throughout the world; all the nations and people that sat back and did nothing to stop the genocide, including then President Roosevelt, our antisemitic State Department, and the many that egged it on; all the business and corporate entities in Germany and beyond that supported Hitler and his policies and profited from it; the beings that invented the lethal gas and built the crematories; the lack of proper moral values and education within German society; the Nazi Bundt in America; Father Coughlin, the fascist Catholic priest and radio commentator here in the USA who promoted antisemitism ; all his followers who lauded Hitler and his horrific policies and on and on? Who do you blame?
There is one life, one body, one reality. We are all responsible.
Lastly, re: individual responsibility - while it is true that blame and judgement is not that simple a process, at the same time one needs take individual responsibility not only for one’s actions, but also for how one thinks and feels about people and life. The lesson of the Buddha is harmlessness. To do no harm to others, to the natural world and its denizens. Furthermore, to limit one’s judgmental and critical attitude and manner, and be more compassionate and understanding, and to not so easily cast blame on others for their wrong doing.
A Great Wagon
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”
doesn’t make any sense.
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.” (Rumi)