I have always wondered how some communities achieve so much in transforming their raw emotions into fine manifestation of humanity. Yet many cannot even dream of determining moral codes in day to day life. Even when people think of alteration in prevalent social practices, they find themselves a victim of directionless thoughts, which is not just a habit but a culture.
During my extensive travelling around the globe, I had started evolving a new perception of accomplishment and thinking skills. I have noticed a clear distinction between communities who have formulated laws and abide by them, while others have compiled a set of laws, however compliance to the rules is practically too difficult for them. There is still another breed of communities who is not even aware of the circumstances they are in. They don't even think about change of any sort.
Let's examine what makes the communities stand out in designing, developing and executing communal projects to bring a positive development in society which can be gauged in terms of permanency and not just a social event. I have tried hard to figure out, is it the symptomatic problem solving skills of individuals or a cumulative vision of a community to explore possibilities rather than looking for limitations or constraints.
Communities thrive on the basis of an established set of rules braced by social and ethical values. A stark difference can be seen between successful communities and groups that have failed to achieve success in terms of emotionally intelligent and empathetic people, economic, social, ethical or political progress, and infrastructure.
Before the thought processes of the population can be examined, questioned or perhaps even pointed a finger at, the decisions and the way the leaders of the community work is to be looked upon. People led by men and women who have let their reputations be compromised learn to accept the deplorable state of their land, and in years to come, get accustomed to it. Fighting back to regain the community's lost sense of direction becomes too difficult a task. However, this is not the only reason why the energy to bring about a revolution fades away. Sometimes, people have their silence bought. Sometimes, people have their voices taken away from them by force.
Progressive communities revere the law. They fully understand how abiding by the rules is beneficial for the people and, in due course, the state. It can be concluded that the primary reason why these communities thrive is because the people have discovered that personal gain is not a priority by evolving role models in society, upholding the law and looking after the benefit of the people who have put their faith in the system is what dictates their code of conduct. Such communities and people deployed to serve realize that the system is not present to grant personal wishes or pump one's pockets. But the system is there for the good of the people who make that community.
Communities - be it the size of a tribe, as massive as the most developed nation on this planet or the most struggling developing nation - are dictated and designed by the way the people think and the degree of self-discovery. When one thinks of changing mindsets, it is always the youth of the country that is aimed. But perhaps it is high time we realised that if bracing the youth is not working at the expected speed or with as much vigor as planned, perhaps a different approach ought to be used.
Maybe instead of 'changing', the society can choose to 'incorporate' ethics and beliefs at a younger age when the minds are malleable and more prone to allowing in framing, at the cost of alienating one generation from another. Perhaps Pakistan can come up with something as sentimental as the Australian Sorry Day. Even this strategy needs a Vision, not merely a set of incentives, calculated resources and selected cosmetic action plan. Vision is the core ingredient of successful community leaders as well as nations. Jonathan Swift once remarked, "Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others."
My experience tells me that sustaining any vision needs conviction, tolerance and empathic communication. Therefore the three magic words to conjure a new image of the society are passion, people skills and patience. Let's discover the meaning in thoughts and not in text.