War! What is it good for…?

in case you’re not already singing the next bit, courtesy of Edwin Starr, let me refresh your memory. ‘Abolutely nothing!’
Surely as true now as then and for all the millenia that have gone before. And how sad a truth that is.
But keep going back through the millenia and we seem to find something interesting.
Well, according to Steve Taylor in his book, ‘The Fall – The Insanity of the ego in human history and the dawning of a new era’ that is. (Not the catchiest of titles, I’d agree!)
According to archeologists’ findings, if we go back 6 or 7,000 years, there are few if any weapons or mass graves  Then a dramatic change in the clmate in Central Asia & the Middle East led to the birth of what Taylor calls the ‘Ego Explosion’.

This he describes as the beginning of a kind of collective psychosis which he suggests that ‘for almost all of recorded history, human beings have been – at least to some degree – insane’
More disturbing for me is his conclusion that ‘….we have come to accept the consequences of our insanity as normal…’
Examples like killing each other, abuse and destruction of the natural world and for small groups of people to wield massive amounts of power and dominate and oppress massive numbers of other people.
Then there is the insatable drive to acquire massive amounts of wealth, far in excess of what anyone truly needs with the associated craving for fame and success which, like any addiction, proves never to be enough.
Strong stuff, hey?

Are we then powerless to do anything about it?
Well, there are the standard democratic processes (voting) but I’ve never been very confident about the effectiveness of what I call this ‘illusion of having a voice’.
Far better to ‘bring it on home’ and adopt a different ‘lens’ through which to view ourselves, others and the world at large. This leads to a changed mindset which requires additional knowledge and skills to be applied.
In short, this change takes us away from conflict being viewed as if it were a ‘competitive sport’ with winning (at any cost?) as the desired outcome, to an approach that reshapes our understanding of its true purpose, which is to increase understanding of our own motivations and those of others.
The best way I’ve so far found to change this ‘lens’ is to connect with my body and my feelings because they are designed to tell me whether a present need of mine is being met or not.
Basically if I’m experiencing physical sensations and feelings I’m not enjoying, that tells me that one or more of my present needs of mine has ‘gone missing’.
And equally importantly, it allows for the creative, wondering part of my brain to come up with additional, alternative strategies/behaviours that aim to meet my needs. 

So why doesn’t everyone jump on this sensations, feelings & needs ‘bandwagon’?
My answer?
Being creatures of habit as we humans are, having an ingrained habit of moralistic judgement of self and others that goes back several thousand years is a tough one to break and is easily misunderstood, genuinely or deliberately.
After all, there’s little financial gain to be made by people resolving differences in a peaceable way, is there? But the gains in so many other ways are priceless.