The Power of the Collective

I was in the middle of teaching my first course at St. Francis Counsellor Training Institute. I was teaching Integral Theory.  It can pretty dry theoretical stuff so I needed an activity to get the students out of their chairs and talking to each other.  We were talking about the three modes of consciousness, Art, Science and Morals. So I decided to pull out a favorite exercise that I have done many times in the past with a variety of people.  It is call HIROSHIMA and it is a values clarification exercise.  The group is given a list of twenty people of different backgrounds and expertise.  The story is that a bomb will be dropped that will eradicate human life on the planet. The group is tasked with naming ten people who will enter the shelter and live and ten who will not and die and they need to tell why people live and why they are to die.  In the past people worked diligently to pick the ten people. Sometimes they argue as to why but in the end they all came up with their list.  So this time was not so different, at least on the surface.  The class broke up into four different groups and worked on the task.  Again, in the past, the responses reflected the group as it did this time. Answers vary from group to group.  The most interesting came from a group of prisoners but that is another story.  On the list of twenty people were:

an HIV+ doctor             a male nurse                 a lawyer              a  housewife                 

A woman with 2 children (the children counts as one adult)

A farmer                         a traditional healer      a politician          a gay teacher

a truck driver with a criminal past

Female police officer  an army soldier             a boda boda driver*           a convicted rapist        an elderly woman

A teenage student       a chemist                       an electrical engineer           a schizophrenic man   a professional football player

*Boba Bodas are the main means of quick and cheap inner city transportation by motorcycle. The drivers are not known for their honesty and are usually resourceful and clever.

Well the first group shared their results. They explained who they chose and why. The second group went through each person on the list and told of how he or she may be important to the new society and why they could not exclude that person. So at the end of the list I asked, “So what is your answer?” They said, “They all live!” This is the first time in ten years of doing this exercise that I got such an answer.  Without letting in on my surprise I asked them to justify their decision.  The group leader said confidently, “If it is a matter of space and sharing food we have been doing that for centuries. We know how to do that and do it well. There is no reason why anyone has to die.”  We discussed the African culture as a collective society.  That each member is important and that people live for one another and for the group.  I was evangelized by this response.  Why does anyone have to die so others can live?  In the US, elections are coming up and I am reflecting on how my votes in the past may have saved a life or taken a life. Big question. Something I will ponder before making my next X. Peace  ODE