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the human virus

Remember that book I talked about awhile back? A Failure of Nerve? Well, I picked it up again this week and my head is spinning again with all the good stuff inside it.

I just finished the chapter on surviving in a hostile environment. First, the author described the behavior of viruses in the biological world, how it needs a host and has no self-regulation. Then he went on to describe the behavior of disruptive or "viral" members of society. These people can be a malignancy in a family, a workplace, social organization or public sector. But they have these traits in common that the true leader must develop a resistance to.

  • They tend to be easily hurt or victimized. (no outer membrane to protect them)
  • They tend to idolize leaders with unrealistic expectations and then are quick to crucify them.
  • They never see how they contribute to the condition they complain about
  • Their responses are limited to on or off, us and them, black and white and are unable to tolerate discord or dissent
  • They focus on ritual and procedure and get stuck on content.
  • They find light and truth toxic and thrive in the darkness of conspiracy.
  • They have a high degree of reactivity.
  • They tend to ooze into relationships with others and tend to subvert communication and connection with others.
  • They are easily panicked and stampeded into group thinking.
  • They are relentless and invulnerable to insight. Unless walled off or totally defeated, they tend to come back with a vengeance.
So does this sound at all like those people out there disrupting the town meetings on health care? Does this sound like the faux news and group think we have been spoon fed for years? Does this sound like the behavior of our past administrations? (and I don't just mean Bush - but Clinton as well) Does this sound like a virus we want to keep alive in our society?

I, for one, would like a little light and truth, communication and connection, debate and dissent and evolution. Won't you join me in fighting this virus? Like any parasite, it can't live if we don't give it a host.

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