To trust or not to trust is the question that puzzles one when faced up with meeting others. One may either be seen to be too gullible or naïve in a world where the other appears as a threat to my being. One never quite knows what to expect in the garb of what seems to be projected. The other may either be a living warmth or a rogue appearing disguised with a different agenda.
Recently there have been cases of some famous public figures who were initially in their prime as respected beings to be later condemned for vile atrocities in the form of violence, tortures and rapes of others. That we live in a sickening world on the one hand is there for all to see with its hypocrisies, hatred and confusions.
Its antithesis being that it is the only world we have and yet somehow one has to ambiguously try seeking not to somehow simply be indulged in non-trust for its own sake or a form of a misplaced one.
That would negate at a stroke that just as there are disguised ruffians about who is ready to pounce at every opportunity likewise there are genuine beings who are not simply a product of mere schooling/ higher indoctrination through partial and highly effective specifications to the point of ignoring every other but one own self as there are equally others who are as noble and gentle as one self.
Due to the former way of interactions whether it be violence, hatred coupled with anger and similar negatives; for sure it is always prudent to be alert and vigilant as one never knows: Recently a young man asked to have his battery charged at my place as I pulled in my driveway. He was walking on the footpath.
And he added that he would stay out and await. Within the approximately 60 seconds of brief exchanges, he added that he had an important call to make and would I oblige? I opted promptly towards my discriminative instincts with a firm negative. That led me to think that we had forgotten to trust others particularly in a world where one hears too often of knife attacks (a recent increasing British phenomenon) and or other stories of robbery and similar.
In retrospective, I took a thoughtful decision as the passer by as described above could have carried on and some less than fifty yards there was a BP Petrol/ M&S shop and on the opposite side of the road there was another public venue … a restaurant where a similar request may be made easily.
In this instance again it is wise to be vigilant at all times as one never knows the motive of the other or any other for that matter. So a well-placed mistrust has its raison d’etre.
At the same time. I do not wish to simply develop and nurture a sense of misplaced view on this matter and or to instead move away from trust altogether thereby developing a global mistrust of others completely.
That would be to fall prey and be a victim of the known in its crude sense as in adopting such a view point one fails to appreciate the other. That there are significant others who create damages to the functioning of a civilised society likewise that are ample of others who are want to live in a world of peace and where non hatred or violence in every form towards any other is repudiated. Therefore, it seems that it not be appropriate to simply merely espouse a vigilante attitude towards all others. Perhaps towards a few others… yes!
In some ways we may not quite pronounce that all the when we may remark that it was better in the good old days. Or that it is a modern phenomenon. That would be too simplistic as we take take shelter of our historical past.
Or that our ancestors were more in tune with how to be or that there were hardly if any problems of the form one is faced up in a modern world where communication has got easier and easier. Let just say that the problems were there even in the past. It is just that one was not aware as a society.
From a generation to the other to be sure different challenges are faced. The problems were there. It simply did not surface for lack of communication as hinted above.
Or one may remark that such things were always there whether it be sexism, paedophiles, terrorism or similar lack of respect to the other where the latter is ever ready to pounced on the victims. From history we learned that women as a group accepted a large amount of violence as would those belonging to the oppressed.
The oppressors have been those who were in relatively safe position of trust and had the security of tradition or wealth behind them which they would sometimes abuse. We know too of horrors stories emanating from the second world war or how a group of people suffered or how others suffered due to different skin colours.
Or how some were exterminated because of their beliefs. Such events are ample even now as some are persecuted either for their beliefs or non-belief. It is a kind of an ongoing distress of the human malaise at lack of respect for others whilst somehow some other gives themselves the liberty to either commit atrocities and or simply be involve and promote a culture of hatred and abuse which perpetuate itself all the times.
How does one live in a world of confusion? Or should do? Is it possible to adopt a way of being which cancels out negativism and where one may not want to simply lead a fragmented existence? Or should one withdraw within one shell to the extent of denying that there may be yet another way whereby one may continue to have trust in humanity rather than just seeing all others as a mere threat?
Could it be the question that surfaces from our discussion that it is no longer a question of whether ’to trust or not to trust but how to trust!’ or that of trying to be sensitive thereby perceiving both rascals as well as comrades as they manifest rather than having a trust or non-trust !