THE IMPERATIVE OF REVIVING ENLIGHTENED SELF-INTEREST
We are going to have to begin developing a sense of “enlightened self-interest”, frankly, with regard to non-Muslims. We have to take an interest in their problems if we ever want to do anything to solve our own. Because the fact is, as long as they are being oppressed, impoverished, and disempowered; their ruling class is going to divert their discontent in our direction.
We, the Muslims, have become the global scapegoats, the decoys, that can be used to redirect public anger and resentment about the economic misery being imposed on the We population by the 1% of the super rich. We have to start addressing the real core issues behind this misery, the cause of this resentment; because it most certainly is not us; but as long as the misery and resentment exist, we are the ones who are going to be offered as the target. The Muslim Ummah is being held up like a “human shield” by the elites, to absorb the hostility of the masses; and it is therefore in our own interest to begin to address the problems of the masses.
We are not the reason you don’t have a job. We are not the reason you can’t pay your bills. We are not the reason you can’t afford medicine. We are not the reason you are in debt. We are not the reason you are hungry. We are not the reason your children do not have educational or professional opportunities. We did not cause the gap between rich and poor to expand so dramatically. We did not impoverish you, we did not drive down your wages, or increase your cost of living, or eliminate your social services, or de-fund public education. We are not why your infrastructure is crumbling.
But, when you get angry about all of these things, we are the ones you will be told to hate. But we are suffering all of this too, and we need to actually work together to resolve the real problems we all face.
We need to understand what is happening, and resist the provocation of anti-Muslim sentiment. We need to help people understand that they are being manipulated and misdirected. And, I think, the best way of doing that is for us to become involved in the issues that are affecting the general population.
الحاجة لإحياء مصلحة شخصية مستنيرة The imperative of reviving enlightened self-interest
External Context سياق خارجي
الحاجة لإحياء مصلحة شخصية مستنيرة The imperative of reviving enlightened self-interest