The discussion group is back in season and we chose the theme of “Reconciliation” to explore for the quarter. Our first open topic was on Resetting – a relevant idea given some of the conversations around COVID-19, the Biden presidency and even to an extent, the memeified GameStop rise. Why are movements so keen to topple and start from scratch in order to exert justice – that’s the question we sought to answer.

As with every open topic, here are the resources we looked at:

1. Slowing down to speed up – Bec Heinrich
2. The benefits of resting and how to unplug in a busy world – Forbes
3. The pointlessness of unplugging – The New Yorker
4. Now is the time for a Great Reset – WEF
5. A ‘Great Reset’ Is Coming… But Not For Capitalism – Forbes
6. Can Joe Biden restore America’s belief that government is good for people – The New Yorker
7. GameStop shows that Biden must fix capitalism before it’s too late – The Independent

Destabilizing power structures to establish new ones

Whether due to uncontrollable circumstances such as COVID-19, or arising from intentional interventions, the outcome of “resets” are that they divert or remove power away from those that have it. In the vacuum lies an opportunity to establish new power structures. For example, the pandemic took away power from businesses that weren’t already digitally transformed or from governments that weren’t adequately prepared for a public health crisis. In these vacuums, we saw calls for a new way of thinking – ways that were more climate-conscious, digitally transformative and socially inclusive. These trends had always existed but COVID-19 saw the acceleration of these trends in gaining legitimacy.

Resets provide an allure that we can right what’s wrong, but there’s an assumption implicit that there’s a successor waiting to replace the old power structure. When the GameStop saga was done, we went back to our old ways of stock investments and capitalism. Regardless of whether regulators had done anything, there wasn’t any clear indication that the meme-frantic series of events was seeking to replace the allegedly self-indulgent practices of career investors. It was merely providing resistance, but while it branded itself as a reckoning on the stock market, there was no reset created.

Resets are not the same as Reconciliation

If resets in themselves don’t actually lead to justice, that may explain why we also don’t feel reconciled when they do happen. Resets must be accompanied accountability and ownership of the past, as well as a commitment to be different. At a personal level, this may explain why New Year’s Resolutions hardly pan out, or why we don’t trust when people who wrong us say they’ve made an 180. Reconciliation and healing require a movement towards wholeness – and if one just starts from scratch, we miss the opportunity to integrate the shadows of our failings and lean on the abundance of our aspirations.

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For the purpose of our discussion, we were unusually broad and rather scattered – but we were talking about a topic that was happening alongside massive structural changes in various parts of our society, not just one. What does it mean to reconcile, heal and find peace – I’m looking forward to the journey.