Maria Arpa

28 July 2021

Separating an incident from the system

Plus…

Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness

and

The Wednesday Whisper

Resolving the incident does not change the system.

In life there are many ‘incidents’. An argument at home, a road rage episode, people frustrated at someone who breaks a rule… the list is endless.

In my work I like to check how an incident relates to a poorly designed system. One problem in our society is that we like fixing incidents but we’re less able to change systems.

We live in a system which favors the few and punishes the many. Protests, organized actions and resistance are usually carried out by the oppressed many. Yet, remedies which are hard won are often just gestures or concessions to placate people but not really designed to change the system.

When that level of oppression is unattended to, I believe that ‘incidents’ are a pressure valve for letting out the frustration because the system does not change.

Teenagers are a great example. Teenagers often create ‘incidents’ at home and at school because they are trapped in a system where adults use power-over to get compliance. So we spend lots of time attempting to resolve incidents using bribery, punishment, neglect or over-compensation but rarely do the adults ask themselves, if we were to treat young people as equals is this family or school system is fit for purpose?

Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness

I recently read a quote by Upton Sinclair that says;

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it” This contributes to it being less likely that a salaried professional will go beyond their remit and address the root causes in the system if the system requires him to use a band aid.

Separating an incident from the system

If you like this blog, please share it far and wide.

And don’t forget to leave a comment.