Binary Blindness

I spent 16 years in Catholic schools and, for most of them, had at least one Nun as an instructor. My first experiences receiving a Catholic education largely revolved around Good and Bad. I learned about Mortal Sins, Venial Sins, Purgatory, Hell, Heaven and the now theologically defunct - Limbo. While I was required to think critically that was not universally acceptable. I was forced to think critically about things such as politics, philosophy, Eastern religions and Capitalism. I was taught to accept, on faith, the unfailing truth taught by the Roman Church in all its 2,000 years of glory. My first foray into a non-Catholic school was at one of the Claremont Colleges where I was accepted into and began a PhD program in Philosophy. I remember early on wondering why most of the other 11 students accepted in the program knew so little about right and wrong, in any sort of substantial way. After getting a Divorce rather than a Doctorate I went to work in Banking. I found banking was easy because, after all, numbers are exceedingly black and white especially when it comes to numbers that represent money. After working in that industry for nearly 20 years I decided to return to school for the sole purpose of becoming an attorney. The world has been much less black and white ever since.

In the years since I graduated from law school and started practicing law I’ve come to realize that, in the Western World, having everything boil down to This OR That is the norm. I’ve also come to realize that trying to live in a world that is NOT binary using only an either/or approach does little more than set one up for a life of frustration, anger and unhappiness. Indeed, I believe that the “Founders” of the USA were incredibly binary in their approach to life and that this view of the world so negatively impacted the new nation as to be mind boggling. In a world where something MUST be either Good OR Bad, Black OR White, Left OR Right, etc…, happiness is far more a matter of luck than the result of one’s life experiences and openness to the World. Indeed, it seems increasingly clear this forced Binary approach to our world and our lives is behind pretty much EVERY problem we have in the country today.

Consider the views of 18th century “progressives” regarding brown people. It was not happenstance that most “Christian” denominations associated dark skin with evil, it was an outgrowth of the need to force everything into the Binary view of the world those folks embraced. Indeed, I believe it is all but certain the ongoing perpetration of systems and organizations that are skewed against those with brown skin is traceable to the Binary approach so many TODAY, thoughtlessly embrace. Many watched in horror as George Floyd literally had life squeezed out of him but so few of those who correctly concluded what happened to him was criminal seem to understand there was and IS so much more going on. Behind the mentality that allowed a man, with a history of questionable choices while in uniform, to kill George Floyd was an approach to everything we see around us based on the self-delusion that we actually live in a Black and White world. Days are NOT Good OR Bad nor are humans however we try, often unconsciously, to fit our fellow humans into such categories (along with almost everything else we encounter). In doing so we don’t just miss the point, we miss the Universe itself.

While law school taught me how valuable my early training in critical thinking was it also showed me how rare it is to find someone claiming to be an American who was genuinely open minded. It turns out we do not like a world where there are more questions properly answered with a “maybe” versus a “yes” OR “no.” I have no doubt whatsoever this is the foundational problem that underlies almost every social problem in our society. Consider, for example, the question of “reparations.” Most folks, when asked whether ANY groups in the United States should receive reparations will quickly answer with a Yes OR No when, in reality, the answer is, necessarily - MAYBE. Many presume that such a response represents an unwillingness to “take a stand.” In fact it represents the only reasonable response because it is open to a reality where the term “reparations” is fully discussed both in terms of what form they ought to take and who should receive them. In this country however the average person would have no idea what I’m talking about when I say that Maybe is the only truly acceptable answer.

If I ask a person opposed to reparations if someone who was a victim of physical violence should be “compensated” their answer much more often is - Yes. If I modify the term “victim” to refer to someone who was brutalized by a member of law enforcement the numbers might be fewer however I believe most folks would say that such a person should be compensated for their pain and suffering. When I change the term “victim” to mean someone who has had significantly fewer opportunities both in terms of education and work because of systemic racism the numbers will almost certainly invert. At this point in our Nation’s history I don’t think it matters as much how someone responds to the question of reparations so long as there is an intelligent, well-reasoned and HONEST basis for their response. I won’t drone on here but my answer to the question of reparations is - Yes. What do you think (and why)?