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02/11/03
A virus called HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)
which causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome) has been terrorizing the whole world,
from Africa, America, Europe to Asia. Globally, 42
million adults and children were living with HIV/AIDS
at the end of 2002. During that year, 5 million people
were newly infected with HIV, and there were 3.1
million adult and child deaths due to HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS
2002).
What makes HIV so deadly is because it destroys the
body’s system that fights diseases and make people
very vulnerable to any diseases. It simply destroys
the body’s immunity system.
While HIV, which destroys the body’s immunity system,
has been known to the world since 1982, another kind
of HIV has spread a long time ago, but disappeared for
a moment, and now it apparently emerges to the surface
again. The resurrection of this virus is hand in hand
with the emergence of the Internet. Unlike the real
HIV which destroys the body’s immunity system, this
virus destroys human mind’s intelligence system. It
is called Human Intelligencedeficiency Virus
which causes AIDS (Acquired Intelligence Deficiency
Syndrome). It simply attacks human’s mindset.
As a result, people who are infected with this virus
would have difficulties in succeeding in life since
their mindset are jammed to a certain pattern and not
able to find creative and constructive solutions to
their problems. The Human Intellegincedeficiency
Virus (HInV) is a combination of “always blaming
others” and “able to see an ant in others’ eyes, but
fail to see an elephant before his/her own eyes”
attitudes.
Just like HIV which terrorizes and paralyzes—and
kills—people in a short period of time, HInV is
terrorizing and causing people to live in a perpetual
poverty and misery. But unlike HIV which instantly
causes pain, this virus brings delusion to the people
who got infected. Its effects are similar to those of
drugs, but the HInV’s effects are more dangerous
because unlike drugs, HinV also implants hatred to
people’s mind which could bring disaster to the whole
world.
No human being can advance to a higher level of
civilization or to a better standard of living only by
blaming others for his/her condition. Also, no human
being can advance to a higher level of civilization or
to a better standard of living if he/she is only able
to see others’ problems but fail to recognize his/her
own problems.
Equivalently, no nation can advance to a higher level
of civilization or to a better standard of living if
the nation is dominated by the two poisonous attitudes
above. Sadly, the two poisonous attitudes—HinV—are
commonly found these days. Many irresponsible
individuals spread this virus through the Internet and
other medium. The HInV not only attacks individuals
but also attacks nations.
Once an individual got infected with HInV, the
immediate effect is the individual does not believe
anymore that his/her attitude does matter in any
struggles in life. For him/her, all that matters is
others’ attitude. And for him/her, the roots of all
his/her problems are other people’s attitude and
actions. The individual becomes ignorant of the fact
that his/her attitude is powerful more than anything
else in shaping his/her future. The next effect is the
individual would develop hatred toward others and
finally this hatred would become a self-destructive
weapon.
Attitude Defines People
It is true that external as well as internal factors
could influence the life of an individual. But how
will these factors shape one’s direction in life is
ultimately determined by one’s attitude and
determination. Two illustrative examples and two real
life cases will support this assertion.
Imagine a simple case where two students taking a
difficult course X. Both have difficulties in
following the course. The first student always
complains about the teacher, hardly studies and
sometimes even threatens the teacher with intimidating
words. He always blames the teacher of his bad
performance and considers that the teacher’s teaching
style and the exam questions are the root of all
problems. The second student also has difficulties in
digesting the materials, but he is studying and
working very hard, asks the teacher questions about
the course materials he does not understand and always
show his interest in the learning process. He never
blames the teacher of his difficulties in
understanding the course. Both students score 49 in
exam where 50 is the passing point. A rational teacher
would give credit to attitude. After all, learning is
not in the absent of attitude. He would pass the
second student and fail the first one.
Imagine the second case similar to the above
illustration but instead of two students who are
taking a course, two workers are given the same
difficult responsibilities by their superior. The
first worker always complains about the job and blames
his superior every time he encounters problem with the
job. The second worker tries his best and consults
his superior if he encounters problems he could not
solve. He neither blames his superior nor complains
about the job. It is easy to imagine the outcome of
this illustration even in the case where the two
workers produce the same results. It is most likely
that the first worker will be terminated while the
second remains in his job.
The followings are the real life examples shown by two
extraordinary human beings. The first, Helen Keller
was faced with difficult internal factors, but with
positive attitude and determination, she triumphed.
The second, Mahatma Gandhi was confronted with
difficult external factors but emerged as a victor.
Two Great People
Helen Adams Keller was born on
27 June 1880
in Tuscumbia, a small rural town in
Northwest Alabama,
USA. The daughter of Captain Arthur Henley Keller and
Kate Adams Keller she was born with full sight and
hearing. But in February 1882, when Helen was nineteen
months old, she fell ill. The doctors of the time
called her ailment “brain fever”. When the fever
eventually subsided, Helen's family rejoiced believing
their daughter to be well again. However, soon became
apparent that Helen's illness had left her both blind
and deaf.
Her fame and triumphs were best described by the
followings. In the Autumn of 1900, Helen entered
Radcliffe College, becoming the first deafblind person
to have ever enrolled at an institution of higher
learning. On
28 June 1904
Helen graduated from Radcliffe College, becoming the
first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts
degree. Helen Keller became a famous writer. In 1964
Helen was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
the nation's highest civilian award, by President
Lyndon Johnson. A year later she was elected to the
Women's Hall of Fame at the New York World’s Fair.
In Helen’s own words:
“The public must learn that the blind man is neither genius nor
a freak nor an idiot. He has a mind that can be
educated, a hand which can be trained, ambitions which
it is right for him to strive to realize, and it is
the duty of the public to help him make the best of
himself so that he can win light through work.”
Another lesson that should be a universal interest is
the life of Mahatma Gandhi. Born on
October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, a small town on the western
coast of
India,
Gandhi did not exhibit in early life any extraordinary
gift that is not shared by the common run of men.
However, something very extraordinary must have been
latent in his spirit which later developed into an
iron will and combined with a moral sensibility that
made him a Mahatma (a great guru). The something
extraordinary was the external difficulties faced by
him and his fellow Indians under the British’s
colonialization.
One of the remarkable characters shown by Gandhi was
when he defended the people who almost killed him. In
1896, during his visit to Durban, South Africa, an
infuriated mob fell upon him, stoning, beating and
kicking him and would probably have killed him had not
a brave English lady came to his rescue. News of this
cowardly assault received wide publicity and Joseph
Chamberlain, the British Secretary of States for the
Colonies, cabled an order to Natal to prosecute all
those who were responsible for the attempted lynching.
But Gandhi refused to identify and prosecute his
assailants, saying that they were misled and that he
was sure that when they came to know the truth they
would be sorry for what they had done.
As a great guru, Gandhi taught people of the
principles of satyagraha and taught them that the
first condition of freedom was freedom from fear.
This is what perhaps inspired Dr. Martin Luther King
in the US when he said, “freedom is not free”.
On his birthday
October 2, 1947, when messages and greetings poured in from
all over the world, Gandhi asked: “Where do
congratulations come in? Would it not be more
appropriate to send condolences? There is nothing but
anguish in my heart . . . I cannot live while hatred
and killing mar the atmosphere.”
Why Are Conflicts Everywhere?
Both real life examples above show that greatness and
success can only be achieved when people overcome
their internal and external obstacles and challenges
by virtue and positive attitude. As in the words of
Confucius, “We may learn wisdom: First, by reflection,
which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is
easiest; and third by experience, which is the
bitterest”. A willingness to self-retrospect is the
first virtue that people have to develop. And this
attitude will emerge if people recognize that the
solutions to their problems are mostly in their own
hand and mind. It is their attitude to the problems
that determines the outcome. People may therefore
derive courage and inspiration from the knowledge that
if Helen Keller and Mahatma Gandhi made themselves
what they were, there is no visible reason why people
should not be able to do the same in all circumstances
they are facing.
Unfortunately, there are numerous messages floating
these days, online on the Internet and offline,
suggesting that the solutions to people’s problems are
in other people’s hand. This dangerous principle
believes that by destroying other people, people would
solve their problems. Ultimately, the result is a
perpetual killing which would lead to an inexplicable
disaster to the whole world.
There are many examples but the following is a typical
one. One man who lives in poverty believes that his
rich neighbor is the one who makes him poor. The man
tells his conclusion to another man who lives nearby.
Although the other man is also poor, but he is still
half-convinced of the first man’s conclusion that both
of them are poor because of their rich neighbor. Then,
an outsider comes to the neighborhood. The outsider
who is viewed by the two men as a more knowledgeable
convinces the two men that the existence of the rich
man is indeed a threat to their existence and their
poverty is caused by their rich neighbor.
Believing in such conclusion, the two men begin to
develop prejudice and hatred toward the rich neighbor
which then impedes their creative thinking and efforts
in promoting their lives. Indeed, in the end, it is a
self-prophetic word. As the old saying goes, “You are
what you believe”, it is their belief that makes them
poor, not the existence of the rich man.
This example is not limited to an economic issue: Poor
and rich. It is also typical in social conflicts
caused by race, religion and ethnic group
differentials. The bloody conflict in Sampit,
Kalimantan,
Indonesia, in 2000 best described this assertion. The
conflict was mainly caused by ethnic group
differentials. One ethnic group considers the other as
a threat to its existence. Equivalently perilous is if
one nation/religion considers that the other
nation/religion existence is a threat to its
existence.
This principle must be abandon. People must be able to
live side by side with any other people regardless
their backgrounds and status. And people must examine
theirselves first if they have problems or
difficulties and not quick to accuse others as the
root of their problems. Even under external
difficulties such as living under colonialization,
such attitude, as shown by Gandhi, is not effective in
achieving freedom. Rather, it is a self-destructive
attitude. This is a great lesson for people who care
of a peaceful and mutualism solution to any conflict
in the world today. Blaming one party without being
able to see the problem from the other side of the
equation will lead to nowhere.
Many problems in the world today, including problems
which are hindering the efforts to build a better
Indonesia,
are instigated by misunderstanding and misperception
about other people. Paradoxically, as we are living in
the information era where the technological revolution
is supposed to bring people closer to each other,
people are becoming more distant from each other.
While it is true that, as the technology has overcome
time and space, people are getting closer to each
other physically, emotionally is just the opposite.
This is partly due to the widespread of HInV. Unless
people do not protect themselves from this virus and
show others that only by virtue and positive attitude
will one succeed in life, the world would never be a
safe place to live.
And a person who is infected by HInV will never be a
winning individual.
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