September 10th 2025

Red lines

Red lines

Are supposed to be symbols of thresholds crossed that go beyond what is right, true and decent.

When we cross a red line, we have stepped into the territory of wrong, bad, criminal, hurtful.

As young children, we work the red lines to gauge how far we can push them.

When we are raised in a home where boundaries are porous and flexible, we lose our sense of right and wrong. Red lines become toys to play with, always pushing, with little consequence.

From this position, we assume a stance of ‘I can do anything I like, with little to no consequence.’

And here we are. Adult children ruling the world, crossing red lines several times a day. Nations crossing red lines again and again.

The world gets all stompy feet angry for thirty seconds, and then rolls over to the Red Line crossers.

And the Red line becomes bigger, more egregious. Thousands of people die. Our world becomes uninhabitable. We all suffer from forever plastics.

In Syntropic World we teach the principle of Precession. To every action there is a reaction at 90 degrees to the action. Drop a stone into a pond, and the ripples go out at 90 degrees. (https://syntropic.world/imagine-if-our-goals-are-not-the-point-the-principle-of-precession/)

No matter what action, there is a precessional effect.

We also teach about the dangers of stepping over Little Atrocities, the micro violations that enable evil to grow. (https://syntropic.world/little-atrocities-the-path-from-integrity-to-self-deception-and-bad-business/)

Those rogue states – including the USA and Israel – who believe they can do whatever the hell they like and the world will roll over – are going to discover the precessional effect of their actions. Israel might believe it is winning the war it is fighting, but it has lost the battle for public support. The people of the world are turning against them.

Every human, every enterprise, every home – needs red lines. Clear, identifiable boundaries that indicate right from wrong.

And we need to design in the consequences of what happens when we cross those red lines, because many of us, for good or ill, like to play with the thresholds to see how far we can push.

This is the purpose of the Trust Manifesto in Syntropic World. A boundary setting agreement. To enter our home, our enterprise, our community – we agree to behave like this. If we do not – these are the consequences.

Play a game of golf, basketball or tennis, and we know the rules of the game. Within those boundaries, there are infinite possibilities of play.

The global game is on – emboldened by decades of red line crossing with little to no consequence.

The precessional effect is beginning to form. The consequences will be paid, as often is the case, by the innocent.

If there is a lesson, it is to never step over Little Atrocities. Hannah Ardent talked endlessly about this after WW11. We did not learn the lesson.

Photo Taken September 10th 2025, Article published September 10th, 2025

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