The movement to slow, systemic thinking will not be easy. In many ways, the outcomes of our attempts over the past three decades (in Eastern Europe and elsewhere in the world) could have been predicted. As I have documented in previous essays in this series on freedom there have often been strong pulls back to authoritarian perspectives and practices. We know that all VUCA Plus issues are usually not handled in a thoughtful manner by virtually anyone in the world. These issues tend to be heavily ladened with anxiety—and this anxiety impacts on the way we think about and feel about the source of the anxiety. The anxiety must be metabolized (transformed) in a way that contains and reduces the anxiety (Bergquist, 2020).
Typically, the metabolism only takes place by regressing to a lower level of thought and feeling. We turn “primitive” in our assessment of the lurking force or entity that wishes to do us harm. For instance, Christakis (2020, p. 21) notes that bats are often the ultimate culprits in the transmission of viruses (for some reason pathogens move easily between bats and humans). They are perfect sources of evil, having often been the source in many societies of profound villainy and horror (Dracula?). We envision bat-like, shadowy viruses lurking in our closets, ready to bite us in the neck and turn us into flesh-eating zombies – or worst yet into political opponents.
In seeking to metabolize our anxiety, we not only identify evil forces and figures, but also seek to find safe refuge from this evil, by looking to a leader who can fight against or flee from this evil. This leader will offer simple ways in which we can reduce our anxiety (Bergquist, 2020a). These ways often include not only identifying the enemy of evil who “caused” the underlying problem and/or blocked its solution, but also providing a simple portrayal of the problem itself. Such has been the case with “deliberations” regarding herd immunity.
