We are living through a time of escalating crisis: a growing right-wing movement edging toward fascism, rising economic inequality, and expanding wars with no just resolution in sightfrom Russias invasion of Ukraine to Israels devastating war on Gaza. How did we arrive at this point? The answer may lie not only in political and social systems, but in the contradictions we carry within ourselves.
We often imagine that our personal attitudes and behaviors have little impact on politics or society. But this disconnectionbetween our inner lives and the world around usis not a coincidence. It is a form of fragmentation at the heart of todays crisis. As the Argentine thinker Silo argued, the violence of society is both a reflection of, and sustained by, the contradictions within us.
We can define contradiction simply: thinking, feeling, and acting in disconnected or opposing directions. Contradiction not only creates inner tension but also generates suffering, which in turn manifests as violence toward others. Contradictions also fracture our sense of meaning and drain our ability to act coherently in the world.
In The Internal Landscape, Silo writes:
These moments, he suggests, predispose us to further contradictory acts. We feel weaker, more confused, and increasingly cynical about the possibility of changeboth within ourselves and in the world around us. These contradictions might appear in a variety of ways: We want peace, but spend over 50% of our federal budget on the military. We want justice, but dont engage in activism. We want democracy, yet struggle to vote and are afraid to act. We want community, but avoid social contact.
These inner contradictions dont stay containedthey affect how we relate to others, especially those closest to us. In the U.S., intimate partner violence affects an estimated 12 million Americans annually. According to the CDC, 41% of women and 26% of men report experiencing some form of IPV in their lifetime. These personal contradictions echo the broader violence and disconnection that permeate our culture.
Right-wing movements have learned to weaponize our internal fracturesturning confusion into fear, and fear into hate. When people feel powerless or emotionally disconnected, they are more vulnerable to simplistic narratives that blame outsiders or promise control. This is no accident. AsBernie Sanders warned as far back as 2003, economic elites exploit this disunity to dismantle collective support systems and weaken resistance.
The urgent task now is to align what we think, feel, and doto reclaim our capacity to act with clarity and purpose. Inner coherence gives rise to collective strength. Its not about perfection, but about intentionally choosing a direction that, in time, will compensate and eventually overcome our past contradictions.Healing ourselves and transforming the world are not separate effortsthey are two parts of the same struggle and need to happen simultaneously for either to be successful.
So the question remains:
When will we begin to transform our lives and finally break the cycle of violence that has ensnared us?
David Andersson
