Does Greater Understanding Help?

I started writing this blog to help me in my attempt to understand just what is going on in our world.  Why, I wonder, do I feel a need to understand?  Why do I need to get answers to questions such as:  Why are so many people suffering mental illness?  Why is inequality getting ever worse?  and Why do we seem to be destroying our planet,  fouling our own nest?
Matt Haig's 'Notes on a Nervous Planet' has gone some way to helping my understanding.  He makes a clear link between our mental health and our culture, our striving to live up to expectations and fit in, our difficulty in adapting to the overload of new technologies,  the politicians exploitation of our fear and the rest ...
But, for me, I need to know more.  I need to understand the bigger picture. Where are the vested interests which keep us striving?  How does the 'system' operate which allows 1% of the world's population to own half the world's wealth while millions are dying through lack of food?  How is it that our democracy is being taken over by the power of transnational corporations?
Matt Haig's book goes a long way in encouraging us to be 'aware'. Aware of those things which have crept into our lives and which makes us feel overloaded, anxious, depressed.  Lots of really good tips on how our awareness can help us to bring about the changes in ourselves and in our lives which will free us from mental distress.
Although I'm unsure whether my struggle to understand the 'bigger picture' will help my mental health, one thing of which I'm sure:  I felt a great sense of hope when I became aware of what could possibly be seen as one of the world's biggest 'secrets' (something which never hits the headlines!):

• Worldwide the status quo is being challenged
• Worldwide people are standing firm, protesting and even dying to protect their lands and their way of lives 
• Many people are downsizing to minimal consumption, recycling and upcycling and choosing to make for themselves rather than buy
•  Local communites are alive and kicking:  Volunteering to help the vulnerable is on the rise, random acts of kindness are for many people the order of the day and co-operation is challenging the idea that we all need to compete.

I've found great strength in joining with other people who are celebrating their local community and who are taking to heart Matt Haig's conviction that what you feel is more important than what you have.
We are social animals and it is so much easier to be 'different' if you are in a group of people who are happy to be 'different' with you!