Good or Bad, It Was Planned

The Rwanda Genocide Memorial in Kigali depicts a horrifying story. Over 1,000,000 people were killed in a span of 100 days, hacked to pieces with machetes, beaten with blunt objects, and buried alive. Women were raped, children were bashed against walls, and pastors killed their own congregations.

 

As I understand, the trap was sprung quickly and by complete surprise. Your children are playing with the neighbors and the next hour the neighbors are identifying your children to men with machetes, who will kill them immediately.

 

A notable aspect of the Rwandan Genocide is that it was not quick or spontaneous. If over the previous decades you had been in the right meeting rooms, it wouldn’t even have been a surprise: it was the plan.

 

1. Hatred was built over decades through propaganda.

2. Tutsi’s were forced to register so that they could be easily tracked.

3. Death lists were pre-written.

4. Extermination schedules were written, preparing for 1,000 deaths every 20 minutes on the first day.

5. Civilian militants were trained at a rate of 300 per week.

6. Machetes were purchased and delivered nationwide.

 

“I must return to Rwanda… to plan the apocalypse,” uttered politicians in the years leading up to the genocide.

 

And yet, when radio broadcasters began shouting ‘kill the cockroaches!’, when neighbors killed neighbors, friends killed friends, and family turned on family… few victims were ready. It all happened so fast.

 

But, the truth is that it didn’t happen so fast. The final execution occurred quickly, but the plan was in motion for years. Consider the following events:

 

1. Apple’s launch of the iPhone.

2. France winning the FIFA World Cup.

3. A company’s successful IPO.

4. Your promotion at work.

5. A farmer reaping his harvest.

 

Even an angry mob armed with machetes, ready to pillage and rape and kill, is the result of years of preparation, planning, painstaking execution.

 

The World Is Full Of Plans You Can’t See

 

First, you must be aware that innumerable plans, specifically for you… that already exist.

 

At the head of the list of plans, are those you have for yourself. You have goals and dreams. Whether they are hazy or defined, you see them and work towards them every day.

 

But can you look into the minds of others? Can you see the other plans that exist? The plans that, perhaps, were previously unseen?

 

1. Your government has a plan for you, a way they would like you to act and live. (Thankfully, genocide is unlikely)

2. The Catholic Church also has a plan for you. If you are not Catholic they plan to convert you.

3. Your company has a plan for you to work efficiently, and your personal boss may have a plan for you as well.

4. Every business that offers you a product or service has a plan for you, to buy more and more, indefinitely.

5. UNICEF and St. Jude’s Hospital have a plan for you. They want you to pledge 10% of your annual income to their cause.

6. The local police force has a plan to keep you driving the speed limit, and to keep you from committing crimes.

7. Even your parents, perhaps especially your parents, have a plan they would like you to seriously consider.

8. Your competitors in business, your suppliers, the IRS, your bank, the people you work with, your AirBnB host, the taxi driver, and even your friends have ways they think you should act or ways they would like you to act.

 

The number of people and entities with a plan for you is innumerable. Many people you have never interacted with, and who you do not know exist, have plans for you. Some of these plans are good, some are mediocre, some are bad, and some are downright evil.

 

Sometimes, your plans align (I like giving to charity and UNICEF appreciates the donations), but often, they do not. (I still do not want to become a devout Catholic or Muslim.)

 

I recommend that you create definite plans for yourself, more definite and personal than those created by government, church or family. If you are someone who abhors 10-year plans and more enjoys going with the flow of life, be aware that you are most likely going with someone’s flow, rather than the flow of an undefined ‘life’ or ‘God’.

 

Whether you are aware, whether you care, and whether you like it or not, a sea of plans have been written for you and me, and we are all, generally, working a plan of some sort.

 

Unlike Rwanda in 1994, there are few deadly traps slamming shut. There are however, at all times, a multitude of unseen doors, quietly opening and clicking closed all around you, every day, guiding you gently.

 

Generally, I believe this planning and guiding is done with good intent. But mass plans often fit poorly on the individual and when interests collide benevolence may lose relevance.

 

Consider carrying the following statement in your wallet, or copying it to your desktop.

 

“Do not be satisfied, even if you are guided by a good shepherd.”