Tony Chapman Asks The Tough Question

I’ve been so blessed to work with Tony Chapman for years. And if there’s one thing he does better than most - it’s ask the really hard questions. Recently, he posted the following on his LinkedIn Page. And the response he got was through the roof. It was clearly a quandary so many were struggling with, but few had the courage or audacity to say it aloud. Take a look, as it’s worth the read:

Buffalo Springfield formed in the 1960s combining the Canadian talents of Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin, with Americans Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. Their 1966 song "For What It's Worth", composed by Stephen Stills, with its haunting guitar riff and lyrics is considered one of the iconic protest and counter-culture songs of that era. Read these lyrics and then answer my question below.
 
There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
 
I think it's time we stop, children,
what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
 
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
 
I think it's time we stop, hey,
what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
 
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
 
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
 
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
 
You step out of line,
man come and take you away
 
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
 
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
 
And now my question. If you pull out these lines from Still's song
 
'There's a battle line being drawn.
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong.'
and then
'and paranoia strikes deep,
into your life it will creep.
It starts when you're always afraid.'
 
WOW. Is this not a reflection of where we are as a society today?
Social media, powered by our own data, feelings and emotions, float us into the cloud where we find ourselves trapped inside fortified castles with walls forged by impenetrable biases.
 
Here we socialize with like-minded people, who read like-minded content and validate like-minded opinions. In our castle, everyone is right, and over there everyone is wrong, so we catapult out our anger and frustration.
 
Common, consensus and common sense give way to inertia and paranoia. And the reality. A handful of people own all the castles and make it easier for us to weaponize our anger.
 
And the result - a BBC study.
60% of young people felt very worried or extremely worried. 
75% thought the future was frightening.
56% say they think humanity is doomed.
66% reported feeling sad, afraid and anxious.
 
I think it's time we stop people and look at what’s going down. Imagine if we vastly reduced our sharing, commenting, whispering and seeding conspiracy, negativity and a growing sense of impossibility, especially with our youth. Imagine if we focused on celebrating and voting for the positivity and possibility that is happening here. What do you think?
 

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I told you! Tony asks the best questions. They also happen to be the hardest ones. He asked for my input and I will include it below. However, what’s more important and why I wanted to share this excerpt - is so that we too have the courage and strength to engage in these conversations. Not with accusations and judgments - but openness, curiousity and tolerance. Because let’s be honest - things will not improve if we all stay silent.

Amy’s Response:

I think you are spot on. We are so fearful, yet so distracted. Despite our online connectedness, we’ve never been more lonely. The media can be polarizing. Our government officials rarely offer solutions or strategies for genuine unity. On social media, we go from wildfires and war to workout tips and new makeup trends. It is beyond disorienting. In my opinion, one of the best things a person can do is commit themselves to better understanding “the other side”. Have challenging conversations. Seek to listen. Do your own independent research. Get off your phone and get into the world. Get involved with your community. Bring back the concept of “let’s agree to disagree”. Build up your tolerance for people who share different beliefs. Spend time with people – love on your friends, family and neighbours. BE the unity we all crave in the world.