Reflections on an Economic Crisis

William R. Colagrande, MS

All of this recent concern about the economic crisis has gotten me to thinking about the potential good that may come of it. Oh, I’m aware that at some level this type of focus on my part may be some subtle form of denial. But I’m also aware that just as personal crisis and upheaval are opportunities for significant growth and development, so too are global ones.

Simply stated, this crisis is due primarily to greed, a common and alarming human tendency to think only of advancing one’s own fortunes with little or no concern for the impact that rigid self-interest may have on others. This is how I got to thinking about duality.

Duality refers to things having two natures or qualities, opposites. For example, on earth we have men and women, day and night, hot and cold, left and right, rich and poor, etc. The concept is so ubiquitous, we rarely if ever give it a second thought. But rather than simply accepting this state of affairs as an outcome of evolution or even of God’s will, I was struck by the thought of how it might look to someone else, someone, let’s say for the sake of argument, not from this planet.

To someone reared outside of this dualistic system, it might seem quite odd. All that personal, political, social, sexual, economic and religious discord could appear to them as quite a bit of unnecessary wear and tear, and for what? Are the satisfactions and accomplishments we achieve really worth all the personal and collective strife, anxiety, suffering and pain we put ourselves through? Perhaps, our imaginary visitor from another planet might say, you should consider viewing these dualities as obstacles to be overcome rather than just mindlessly acting them out every time you turn around.

Imagine that you want to learn to speak Swedish and so sign up for a week long language emersion course at some college. While you’re there everything around you is normal and routine, eating, sleeping, playing, working, with one exception: you and everyone around you are speaking Swedish. While this does call for extra effort on your part, you don’t complain about it; it is, after all, the whole reason why you went there in the first place. In any case, you know you can tolerate it because soon enough you’ll be back home where you can speak English as much as you like.

Now imagine this example: you wake up one morning and find yourself living in a huge dualistic emersion program. Everyone around you seems to place a great deal of emphasis on whether they are male or female, Christian or Arab, light skinned or dark, rich or poor, Mets fan or Yankee. It’s bewildering and the worst part is that you can’t seem to recall having signed up for this program. It’s like the Swedish language emersion program from hell.

But somehow you understand, deep down inside, that it needn’t be this way and, in fact, you can learn to overcome and correct these dualistic tendencies. You sense that even though men are still going to be men and women are still going to be women, these opposites can be perceived and understood as more complimentary than antagonistic, each making the other more complete rather than less.

So perhaps we find ourselves living in this dualistic world in order to hone our skills at working through the dualism. Perhaps separateness and apartness need not be the way in which we choose to live our lives. Perhaps it is a big mistake to not only tolerate this duality but to actually strive for separateness as we unconsciously do in so many ways in our lives.

The current world economic crisis is a perfect example of this. I doubt that anyone on this planet is going to be spared the effects of this situation in some form or another. And as the initial shock begins to wear off, most people will come to a clear and simple understanding of how it came about: greed. While it’s easy to point the finger at the heads of financial institutions, policy makers, etc, I also think it’s a good idea to ask ourselves: How does my own personal sense of greed (and separation) enter into this situation? In what ways am I only thinking of my own benefit and failing to be my brother’s keeper? What can I begin to do differently in my life to help turn the tide from selfishness to compassion?

The large scale greed (as well as the fear that drives it) is, after all, only a communal reflection of what we each allow or tolerate within ourselves. As we become aware of our own tendencies in this direction and take an interest in encouraging those we know and love to do likewise, we can have an impact upon the larger scene. Perhaps not earth shattering but never the less significant. And we can draw comfort from the fact that we have transitioned ourselves from simple victims to masters of our own choices and useful citizens of the larger community.

Think of things you can do to overcome instances of subtle greed and separateness in your life. Perhaps you can volunteer at a soup kitchen or slip a few bucks to a homeless person you pass on the street. Talk to your kids about greed, help them to identify it in their own lives and discuss ways for them to counteract it. By taking a constructive approach any crisis can be turned into an opportunity to make the world a better place.

2008

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I’m always interested in hearing your comments and feedback on my essays. You can send them to be by e-mailing bill@i4hd.com