Post 6 - Discrimination and its impact on Prosperity
Discrimination, is not an innate aspect of human behaviour.
No-one is born to hate or abuse people.
It is a learned behaviour, social conditioning & experience that teaches humans to discriminate. Most people feel / know its wrong, against the law. Yet, it continues in daily life.
There is irrational fear of people who are different to us.
A fear of people, being not in your own human "tribe".
In this age, it is unnecessary and unacceptable behaviour, and needs to be overcome. Perhaps that fear is translated into jealousy, insecurity, xenophobia, discrimination, hatred.
Yet that fear, lack of understanding, and consequent behaviour, is possible to be managed.
It is possible to feel irrational fear, without disrespectful behaviour. There is also simple hatred, destructive and unjustly applied in the form of abusive behaviour.
Why is this so important?
Discrimination, of any form puts people at a disadvantage.
This discrimination and abusive behaviour, impacts the whole country's security, health and ultimately the economy.
This directly impacts the productivity and growth of people. It is emotional stress, that makes it seem life is like, an uphill battle for those who are discriminated against.
There are social media outbursts, direct physical violence, there is discrimination in employment, in every day life.
During COVID, there was a dangerous precedent set. Age played a part, in the medical decisions, due to bed/equipment shortages. A dangerous knee-jerk ageism, where the older we get, the less value we have and the less important our lives are to save. It is human nature, to make sacrifices for younger people. Yet the way that sacrifice is made is a choice. Who makes those kind of choices is a key factor.
The WHO uses a tool called the “disability-adjusted life year” to measure the years of life lost by premature death and the years of life lived in less than full health.
The more DALYs a disease causes to be lost, the greater its global burden. Age is only one type of discrimination.
Difficult to hear, and admit that these sort of decisions were made.
There is a direct correlation between the amount of cases of reported discrimination, and the well-being, and prosperity(GDP) of a country.
Irrespective of social status, race, creed, age, gender, sexuality, there is discrimination.
It costs the whole of society happiness, safety, health, and ultimately, a country's wealth.
What needs to be done urgently?
It is possible to manage & reduce hate speech on the internet, as well as in real life. Complex, but possible.
Is there a need to respect a person's right to express themselves, whatever they "feel", so there needs to be a safe outlet, without bottling it up.
It is not illegal to feel fear, envy, or hate people.
It is illegal, when that fear, hatred, translates into disrespectful discriminatory behaviour.
An outlet, plus a managed way to stop people abusing each other not only on the internet, but also in real life. To prevent those fears, turning into discriminatory actions / behaviours.It is unacceptable, illegal, to incite discriminatory/ harmful behaviour or abuse people.
Perhaps a specific outlet social media channel with no reciprocity, that allows people to express these feelings to get help, education.
Perhaps a person to talk to in real life, that can then help calm those emotions, and encourage understanding and positive behaviours.
This needs to be solved as soon as possible. It is implemented in law, in most countries, however cases are rarely brought to court. Is it worth pursuing a tweet?
What is the consequence for sending hateful messages? There are little or no consequences for sending abusive tweets, for example.
They have devastating emotional impact on people, and their daily lives.Is it the place of the tech social media companies, to moderate such abuse? Does that solve the real issue, of the fear /hate leading to disrespectful/ discriminatory behaviour and actions?
What needs to be done in longer term?
The strongest weapon against hateful, abusive behaviour, is education. Diversity in education, breeds understanding rather than hatred. To train people from a young age, not to disrespect people who are different to themselves, but to understand and respect, their view point, their stance, their beliefs.
There is a difference between educating a person's knowledge and understanding, and changing behaviours/actions.
At this point in time, it is mostly during school, that we see education taking place.
Does it need to be done continuously throughout life, where it happens? How is this possible?
There is workplace behavioural training, yet even that doesn't solve the people who aren't in work. Is it possible to make this part of adult life, when this disrespectful behaviour is observed?
Unless there are consequences for even the seemingly small offences, it will continue to be an issue.
3 Take-aways: What can I do to help, in my bubble?
- You could firstly understand what constitutes discriminatory behaviour, and recognise when you are seeing this type of behaviour.
- Report it, and provide the appropriate consequences. Act so the person needs to face a consequence, for that inappropriate behaviour.
- Educate and encourage positive behaviours, that allow expression of fear/doubt, in a respectful way.
Discrimination has negative impact on health, security, and ultimately the wealth of a country.
There is a difference between "feeling" fear and other emotions, and "behaving" and "taking actions" that are disrespectful/discriminatory.
Unless there are consequences for even the seemingly small offences, it will continue to be an issue, and cost us all health, happiness and ultimately wealth.
A big bounce-back, or a bounce forward?
Post 6:Discrimination and its impact on Prosperity
Post 2:Growth & Trade Challenges