OUTSIDE-IN SOLUTIONS

This past week President Biden wasted his “address to the Nation.” I say that because he apparently does not understand the principles of change. Namely, for lasting change, the change has to be inside–out. If we have a problem with crime (and we do), if we have a problem with mentally ill people (and we do), and if we have a problem with gun violence (which we do), then the problem itself is an inside–out problem.

This is actually true of all problems. They are all inside–out. That’s because it is the person who plays the most determinative role in crime, mental illness, and gun violence. Therefore any so-called solution that ignores the person, or that thinks we can control the person by laws, that solution will be inadequate. During Prohibition in the 1920s, laws did not solve the problem of alcoholism. It actually created additional problems, namely the black market.

The solution to human problems, all human problems, is inside–out. It begins with the person— his or her thinking, emoting, speaking, acting, and relating. The solution has to start there—with the person. In the US, the democratic party or leadership has seemed to have gone over to the outside–in approach. This is the approach of controlling the outside, the externals. “Control the guns as the instruments of the violence, then the violence will go away.”

But if external control was the answer, then prisons would be one of the safest and most loving places on this planet. After all, there’s lots of rules and regulations and controls in prisons. They are not allowed to have guns or knives or weapons. But, of course, prisons are not one of the safest places, not at all. And why not? Because you can take away all of the external instruments and a violent person will find another way!

External outside–in approaches to gun violence, are at best only band-aides to the problem. They deal with a symptom, not the cause. Control has to come from within. Control that truly controls for violence has to be self-control. Imposing it from without is the approach of Socialism and Communism, which we have seen in China in recent days in how they are trying to “control” covid. The problem with imposing from outside is that you need bigger and bigger government, and more and more intrusive government.

Conversely, true control such as self-control, self-management, self-leadership, E.Q., self- determination, etc. is inside–out. That means the solution goes to non-controlling and non- manipulative responding. It goes to teaching, coaching, training, enabling, empowering, self- actualizing, etc. It goes to new approaches to mental illness. It goes to cultural change in terms of cultural values. It goes to healthier families, parents who take parenting serious enough to be trained in how to parent, how to communicate to teenagers, how to demonstrate the respect of human life. It goes to teachers and administrators to teach basic morals and ethics, to demonstrate care and respect.

I expected Biden to promote the outside–in approach in his speech. As a politician who wants more and more big government, what else would we expect? But he is wrong, dead wrong. True and lasting change has to come from within. A person with a heart of violence— hate, angry, rage, fear, inadequacy, etc., will find a way to be violent and won’t care about gun laws. Look at Chicago— laws that totally ban guns and yet shootings and killings every week. What needs to change are the hearts.

For more, check out— Inside-Out: Empowered From Within Coaching Change The Crucible and the Fires of Change Inside-Out Persuasion