Crisis Burdens

In times of crisis, there are a lot of things going through people's minds. "How am going to pay rent?" "Is the world going to fall apart?" "Will the country survive this?" "Will I survive this?" "What's going on?" With all these questions going through our heads, naturally we have a lot of anxiety. Naturally we have a lot of fear. In almost all crises we face, there are a few burdens that weigh heavily on a society and individuals that we must try to overcome as best we can. 

      The first one is the burden of uncertainty. Uncertainty is one of the most fear inducing forces in the human condition, and we are faced with it even in peacetime and socially and economically stable conditions. When you don't know what is going on or how a situation is going to unfold, making rational, calculated decisions can prove to be difficult. You also may not be able to adequately prepare and adapt to the changes that are happening because of the high degree of uncertainty. The way you overcome this burden is critical thought and rational analysis of the situation and just try to maintain a general informed and educated state of mind. 

      This leads me to my next burden: the burden of ignorance. This burden happens because of people choosing to ignore and disregard information and evidence about a situation. The "bury your head in the sand" complex, so to speak. This is a particularly dangerous burden for the individuals involved and the society as a whole during crises. Ignorance is a huge driver of poor decision making and poor planning. The way you overcome this burden is for individuals to ask questions, swallow their pride, and master their fear, and for societies to inforce the rule of law and try their best to tell the truth and persuade and compel people to make responsible decisions without stripping liberty to an unnecessary degree.

      The third one is the burden of confusion. Confusion is often a natural product of the learning process and is very interrelated with uncertainty and ignorance. Confusion occurs when information is too complex and out of your comprehension level to be understood easily, or there is conflicting or false information mixed in that makes determining the truth and accuracy of the information more difficult. This is probably the most difficult burden to overcome for individuals and agencies. It is also one of the most important ones to overcome in order to make accurate and effective decisions.

The fourth burden is the burden of deception. This is a dangerous burden during a crisis and a tragic one at that, as when deception is involved there is usually malevolent intent behind it. The way you overcome this is you tell the truth to the best of your ability at all times, whether you are a government or an individual, and you don't play the scapegoat/blame game. The blame game can lead to things like the marginalization, oppression, persecution, and even murder of the groups or individuals you put the blame on. This, obviously, is incredibly dangerous and a destructive biproduct of deception. 

Fear is the last burden on my list. I've discussed the dangers of unregulated fear before, but I would like to reiterate the seriousness of unregulated fear. Fear is the enslaver of the mind, and when you cannot master your fear, than you are under the control of what is inducing your fear. There is no freedom when you are terrorized, and terror induces irrationality, violence, and dread. During crises, it is absolutely imperative that you gain control and master your fear. If you don't, your effectiveness as a decisionmaker is crippled. If your decision making ability is crippled, how are you going to adapt and influence your environment and circumstances in the face of uncertainty?

Overcoming these burdens, and all of the burdens involved in crisis situations, is very difficult, but if we fail to at least put forth an effort in doing so, we can make the situation a lot worse. However, if we succeed in alleviating a significant and substantial portion of these burdens and their consequences, we can make the situation much better, and we might even avert a disaster. 

Have a good Saturday, friends.