The Power and Perils of Collective Thinking

Thinking is not just a private act – it shapes the world we live in. Right now, powerful voices are framing our politics with paranoia:

• War paranoia – pundits talk calmly about conflict with China.

• Migration paranoia – a tiny minority problem inflamed into a crisis.

• Fiscal paranoia – false fears about debt used to justify austerity.

These distortions threaten to distract us from the real crises: poverty, underfunded services, the housing shortage, and climate change.

But as Viktor Frankl once reminded us, we always retain the power to choose how we frame the world. The question is: will we give in to paranoia, or think differently?