Malcolm Gladwell wrote an extraordinary piece in the New Yorker on Learned Helplessness a couple of years ago, and it remains one of his most important articles. What is Learned Helplessness? It's the exaggerated feeling of lack of control, of enormous
danger, of inability to respond to danger, that comes from repeated exposure to
actual or apparent threats.
It's
the syndrome that afflicts battered spouses and children, and citizens
who have given up on the apparent inadequacy of law enforcement and,
armed to the teeth with weapons, taken the law into their own hands.
It's what causes people to buy SUVs in the fear-driven and utterly
mistaken idea that they will be in less peril on the road in them than
they would be in smaller vehicles. It's what causes us to slaughter
tens of millions of farmed, domestic and wild animals in the hysterical
belief that that's the most sensible way to reduce exposure to poultry
flu and BSE. It's what caused the US to be able to divert trillions of
dollars from needed social programs to the lunatic extravagance and
cruel, arbitrary and idiotic policies of 'homeland security', sold as
somehow making people's lives 'safer'. The war in Iraq was sold on the
same fraudulent basis. Firestone was almost bankrupted when a few
faulty tires resulted in deaths and spread panic among buyers, despite
data showing that tires as a whole are remarkably safe and Firestone's
tires were no worse than most competitors'.
While conservatives are especially prone to this syndrome (it fits better with their crime-obsessed worldview),
liberals are far from immune to it. It's easy to whip up by those with
a political agenda or ulterior commercial motives, because most of us
are unable to put risks, dangers and fears in proper perspective,
especially when they hit close to home.
So what can we do to avoid this syndrome, and to unlearn helplessness if we're already afflicted with it?
Well, first, we can get our facts straight.
Gladwell's article shows data, taken from reliable and extensive
studies, that show that you're safer off in a convertible than an SUV,
for example. If we think the best way to prepare for and handle an
emergency is to wait helplessly for the authorities to look after it
and tells us what to do, we should read about FEMA's track record and
compare it to that of Central American countries like El Salvador whose
preparedness is local and community-based. Data on rare/unlikely but
devastating and uncontrollable catastrophes (like being deliberately
murdered by a stranger) can be easy to misinterpret, and must be
compared to data on far more common, less disastrous and preventable
occurrences (like dying from common influenza, or an accident on the
job). Only by comparing risks objectively can perspective be achieved
and learned helplessness over the uncontrollable averted.
Secondly, we can empower ourselves to be less helpless. Get rid of debts that make you paranoid about job loss, illness or injury. Learn to live on a smaller salary (the average low six-figure
income earner would be in financial crisis within a month if that
income suddenly ceased). Become less dependent on the electrical grid
and on heavily-subsidized oil and food prices. Take charge of your own
health so you're not dependent on your doctor for every little thing
that happens (and so that fewer little things do happen). Build up your
critical technical and social and thinking skills (see the mindmap
above), and build reciprocal relationships with handy friends and
neighbours, so you don't have to run to the yellow pages or the store
every time something breaks down, wears out or falls apart. Buy fewer
and more durable things, so they don't break down as often. Learn to
'make your own'. Have fewer possessions that need huge amounts of space
and maintenance. In general, make yourself more self-sufficient and
resilient and less dependent on others and on infrastructure that can
break or break down.
Third, we can learn how the world really works.
Don't believe those who tell you that someone is in control, or should
be in control. Don't believe those who tell you crime and risks and
danger are rampant, because in most places they aren't, in where they
are the perpetrators are usually well-known to the victims. Involve
yourself in the political process enough to realize that it doesn't
take much to get the attention of those in power, and that those in
power don't have much power anyway. The more you know about the systems
that govern much of our lives, the more you will realize that it's less
harmful than you feared and less in control (especially in a crisis)
than you might hope. Learn especially about the power of communities
working in common cause.
By doing these things, you change how
you see the world in two important and positive ways: You fear the
unknown and uncontrollable less, because you realize how unlikely it
is. And you increase your control over what is controllable, which, for the most part, is things that are far more likely to occur.
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MADE IN CANADA
trust your
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