The Present of Presence
Daniel Pinchbeck
Most people have not yet fully processed the magnitude of the economic crisis that will continue to deepen in the next years. Our lives may depend upon working through the causes and logical consequences of this disaster, which can be blamed on the greed and ineptitude of our ruling elite. The short-term prognosis is devastating. The hundreds of billions -- potentially trillions -- of dollars created by the U.S. government and Federal Reserve for bailouts should lead to hyperinflation and a sharp rise in the price of basic goods. At the same time, some analysts are predicting the U.S. government will be insolvent by next summer and forced to declare bankruptcy.
One consequence of the credit freeze has been that many farmers around the world, who often live on narrow margins and depend upon loans to see them through the annual harvest, have not been able to get credit. This could lead to diminished production of food at a time when climate change is reducing the amount of arable land. Last year, there were already hunger riots in a number of countries, and by next summer we may see famine on a larger scale.
Hunger may also become a problem in the U.S. While layoffs and mass foreclosures continue and our economy contracts, a large segment of our populace (who have no savings and much debt) could become a new pauper class. We have already seen over a million homes turned over to banks. One can only wonder where those people -- and the millions more soon to join them -- are going to end up.
Meanwhile, the turmoil in the markets will continue, potentially getting much worse. Apparently, hundreds of trillions of virtual dollars spin in the roulette machine of the derivatives market, which is beginning to disintegrate. The collapse of the housing market may be followed by mass waves of credit card defaults. Our economy was a house of cards, based on the extraordinary premise that ever-expanding debt was a desirable product, and it is now falling down upon us.
We are facing a time of great change and spiritual challenge. Those of us who have undergone a process of awakening and initiation during the last decades will be called upon to act as truth-tellers, leaders and compassionate caretakers for the multitudes that have been duped and deluded by the system. We may have to abandon our comfort zones and personal ambitions to be of service to the situation as it unfolds.
In the time available to us before the situation becomes critical, priorities include strengthening local communities and disseminating techniques of self-sufficiency, such as getting many more people to grow their own food. It is tragic that our mass media continues to act as a mechanism of distraction. The media could be used to explain to people how our world is changing, to teach them the basic life skills that we forfeited a few generations ago, and to imprint new behavior patterns based on sustainable life-ways. Perhaps public broadcasting, at least, can be repurposed for this necessary effort.
The partial nationalization of financial institutions around the world reveals the failure of capitalism -- the end of capitalism in its old form. In the future, it should be obvious that capitalism was a transitional system for our global community. Capitalism meshed the world together through networks of trade and communication, while maintaining monstrous inequities and irrational misuse of resources.
The question that faces us now is: what comes after capitalism, and how do we get there? In the short term, we may see dangerous efforts at authoritarian control. The longer-term answer may be a collapse of centralized structures of authority and the blossoming of a new form of global direct democracy -- what the anthropologist Pierre Clastres called "society without a state." By necessity, our future system will be collaborative rather than competitive.
If the crisis now confronting the human community is mishandled, vast populations will experience untold suffering and starvation in the next few years. If "we the people" can rise to the occasion, we may be able to radically change the direction of human society, along with the basic paradigms and underlying operating systems of our culture, in a rapid timeframe. This appears to be the message of many prophetic traditions -- as the Hopi say, "We are the ones we have been waiting for" -- which have anticipated this climactic passage in human affairs.
As we approach the holiday season and the Gregorian New Year, we can give thanks for having been born into this extraordinary, precious time. Our actions over the next few years could have tremendous consequences for humanity's future on this planet. At such a juncture, the best present we can give to the people around us is our authentic presence -- our willingness to listen, learn and remain open to transformation, as the pace of change quickens around us.
This article originally appeared in Conscious Choice.
Image by Tjflex2, courtesy of Creative Commons license.
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i don't expect an answer to this
as i doubt there is a real question, but is it capitalism that failed? Or was it the fact that capitalism never had a chance.As did Marxism never get off the ground.Setting all the titanic struggle between the different isms.We seem to have arrived at the ultimate crossroads of the human condition.It seems to me that as theoreticians struggled with ideas of capitalist and socialist.Some really nefarious element in the mask of history has contorted into a permanent grimace.This grimace takes the form of a perpetual smirk that pretends to cover the word "terror".So between smirk and terror and the mad fiddle and the "Twilight of the Idols" the language that we use to describe the tumult of the world around us seems to be faltering on thee abyss of symbolic language.
Yes there was some kind of mesh of trade and invention.And to understand history one merely needs to study the invention of more and more powerful weapons.As we ponder the meaning of the biggest weapon of all thanks to the great knowledge of scientific thinking, we nevertheless have not used that same scientific thinking to solve the problem of poverty and also the poverty of those in high places of their lack of imagination. How to keep the most powerful people from making up arbitrary fortresses of playing cards in which to launch rockets at the moon.Or yet another crusade at the holy land on quicksand.
Is there some yet to be seen meaning in all this human equation? Is there some presence beyond good and evil? Will the dying God finally give up the ghost of post modern new age secret of secrets? Is there some as yet undiscovered elixer of immortality, or medicine of metals that will cure mass mentality?
Do we hope for the arrival of motherships from the core of the galaxy? Or are we in the den of iniquity playing Star Trek reruns? Or even Happy Days? Do we hope that the next 007 movie will be the last? And James Bond finally finds the center of the maze of the masterminds of all that is foul and Johnny rotten? Is some breakthrough just around the corner? Will human all too human finally see the light? Before it is too late?
Take a deep breath.The haunted by history house of unmarked playing cards is all an illusion.Out of the confusion of politic hat tricks and perpetual smirks, there is cheshire cat smile. <(^^)>
i was thinking about this character of some English secret agent in his magesty's secret service that is suppose to protect the intrests of merry old England, or what is left of the British Empire.And looking at the various incarnations of this 007 personality, in the movies, the first James Bond was played by Sean Connery, who was from Scotland, not England.Sean Connery also played a character in a movie called Zardoz, that was a kind of trippy variation on the Bond character.I'm now seeing this charcter as a kind of amalgam of the western archetype of the individual rogue or rogue warrior with a sword or a big hand gun, that has all the excellent training that the empire can install and yet in order to be able to think like a true warrior/ninja/evolving super man still has to be more on the side of the jedi and the force or life force(elan vital, ki, chi, plasma, orgone, universe, quantum leap, leap of fire, thief of fire, pi , fe fi fo fum)but is caught up in events and has to follow the code that perhaps still is working through him.So we have an secret secret secret agent that is the king's first knight of agents or the mystery of the holy grail.When we look at the name James it could be connected to a king James, or Jesus brother.On the other hand i see the last name as a possible connection to eastern philosophy going back to its roots, the first three letters of the last name being Bon.Thus the true secret of secrets, the man behind the myth, the sha man warrior, that travels to the underworld, the world of pluto, or the plutocrats, and down the ladder through the inferno, down down all the way through the tunnels of time, secret passages of shambhala(extradimensional)or transdimensional, all the way to Argatha the underground city, this place of master initiates, that has many entrances.
If we are to understand, secret cabals, and or the way in or out of this maze of what is behind world events,( will to power=eternal return of the same) we may find a secret entrance through the circle of circles, or we may find answers from thinkers that even though they are still encoded through history, art, science, are about taking the gold contraption apart to see what makes it work.Tick?
Nietzschean rhetoric paves the path of our...
Rather than time of change; is time not the construct that is just manifested from the perpetual change? Not the change of isms, nor the change of leadership, but the change that is brought about by the movement of object in space?
Humanity has little power to carry out change; it is subject to its existence - not as a concept like so many philosophers would have you think - but as the paradigm of Being.
This being the case; when we are faced with a new 'vision' of global catastrophe then placing a responsibility on society to continue governing the individual would seem to be a continuation of the problems that plague our existence cloaked as anthropocentric humanism.
Using the mass media as an education tool is supremely important for empowering the individual to take responsibility for their own lives; which ultimately is likely to destroy the need for 'mass media'.
The farmer who produces more than he needs to feed himself, his family, his immediate community is playing the system that produces the 'vision' of catastrophe. It's right to say it has nothing to do with capitalISM or socialISM - it has to do with the basic facets of survival to be feed oneself, clothe oneself and protect oneself from the wild nature of Mother Earth.
When each individual can claim to be able to do these things on their own merits then they are left not to fill their time with society's objective but to explore their own 'subjective' understanding of themselves and their environment.
The human game of life needs to be seperated from the necessity of existence that we all bound in our united 'Being' (in the Heideggerian sense.)
Yes, please keep the blogs with substance coming
Yes, a lot of good points here, thank you>
I believe we do have a moral obligation to spread the word about what we see happening. From vital information about growing food for ourselves and others to survive, to the other countless atrocities and crimes against humanity.
The 'Chaos Theory' that's been used to manipulate us also has another name, positively the"Butterfly Effect". A butterfly flapping it's wings can cause a tidal wave across the world. -Telling your neighbors and co-workers about genetically modified foods, and the unseen dangers in their consumption. -The radiation they do on seeds to create genetic mutations -Or less disturbing facts like the demand for food growing with population while the supply dwindles, which equal not enough food, and disturbing demand scenarios (if my calculations are correct). -And no one can deny the fact that food prices are slowly rising, so whatever approach you take there is a way to reach people. Even if we only plant a seed, it could grow and spread roots to people that are beyond our comprehension. The 'tidal wave', that they can not put a price tag on to keep selling lies of control.
All the seeds of chaos, strategically planted long ago, are bursting forth right in front of everyone now. The corporate mass media can only cloak the agenda for so long until all these disturbingly vague puzzle pieces begin to fit together into a big picture. People can only deny the overwhelming evidence for so long until finally they wake up, and people are waking up. And for those of us that woke up years ago and have gotten tired and closed our eyes a bit, it may be time to nudge yourself and have a re-awakening.
'"This appears to be the message of many prophetic traditions -- as the Hopi say, "We are the ones we have been waiting for"' *
*Yes- The American Indian prophecy of a 'Revealing Time' would come when the Earth itself was in torment and when greed and selfishness were rampant. The Sacred Fires that were symbolically taught by the tribal Elders, before their people faced the holocaust, would be rekindled in other lands by peoples of different races and tongues, and by the descendants of their oppressors. (hmmm?)
History tells us many empires have fallen, but humans have lived on. So with all things being relative, we shouldn't fear what's going to happen if we are aware and alert. The American Empire was the American Dream, and as we wake up in it's systematic collapse we may see the long forgotten Caesar emerging out of the dust to sit on his new global throne. hmm?
The only way we will suffer or prey victim to the control of today's society built on economics, and not common sense, is if we rely on the dollar. I realize that it's easier said than done, but taking small steps (I recommend leaps), will protect yourself from the physical aspects. Water=Energy, the signs are right there and they all point to yes. I'm no expert but I've uncovered many ways to do it. If anyone would like me to point to a direction feel free to email me, and i'd be glad to share what I know. And share what you know, please- Change can't happen without action.
Blessings- WiLL
"I'll be damned if somebody puts a microchip in me, literally" :)
The boomerang strikes back
It is tragic that our mass media continues to act as a mechanism of distraction. The media could be used to explain to people how our world is changing, to teach them the basic life skills that we forfeited a few generations ago, and to imprint new behavior patterns based on sustainable life-ways. Perhaps public broadcasting, at least, can be repurposed for this necessary effort.
So true. Bush senior once said the American way of life will not be compromised. How wrong he was, but I think that kind of denial has been an important vein in American discourse, because to acknowledge any kind of limit is to say that consumerism is a flawed system. Now that we know the facade ("we" meaning the general public) is crumbling, perhaps those with the technical ability and communication skills will step forward. Certainly many of us (including this site) are doing what ever we can to change the conversation.
One unintended blessing from the current financial environment is the meltdown of the advertising industry. It is imploding at the moment because of the loss of traditional media venues (newspapers, economic downturn, Internet, etc.). Maybe there will be some hungry, unemployed ad people who can put their skills to good use.
I also want to say that as devastating and horrible as this will be for many people who have no right to be victimized by corporate maleficence, the collapse of the economic system is the best thing to come along for earth. Though in the short run it looks like in some cases investments and funds intended for green energy and conversion will be pillaged for short-term cash, it will not stave off the inevitable. The fact is, unless the US stops "growing," the planet is toast. Yes, China and India are on the rise, but we are still the biggest consumers and polluters in the world. Despite the lack of luster and cache lost because of Bush and Co., people still look to the US for leadership. If we violate laws and treaties, or fail to sign important agreements, others use that as justification for the same kind of negligence. The US has exported shock and awe; inevitably the boomerang would strike back. Now the game has changed.
Mass media...
This is just a general reply to the mass media topic, and seemed like a good place to respond.
I spent five years studying news and info journalism, and I will say with absolute certainty that current mass media's foundation is crumbling. The financial collapse will make it happen, if not the internet.
Mass media is funded by advertising, and without any funding, how will they perpetuate misinformation at their current rate?
And the internet is devastating to mass media, especially newspapers. Blogging is the future of journalism, and bloggers need to take to journalism, and learn how to do it well instead of taking short cuts, or else info will be misleading. They need to remember to get the entire story, and look at things from multiple points of view. Great journalists are great at understanding what they see and what others see.
I absolutely think it's faulty to say that a need for mass media will disappear. It will certainly change, but only disappear with our own extinction. Look at the root of the words for Pete's sake. Media is a median for communication. Story telling is media. Books are media. This website is media (and in my opinion a beta for future forms of journalism, seriously this site is great). Media is not going away as long as we are communicating. And the adjective "mass" is subjective. It's media on a large scale, which will always be needed because everyone needs to stay informed and we need to be efficient at informing people. The most efficient way is to do it in mass, of course.
The problem with mass media is "objectivity" and "fairness", which are idealistic terms thrown into the mindset of any basic journalism college course, and deep in the mind set of western journalists, especially in America. They are simultaneously the slogans for many stations, *caugh*, that give people an impression of these terms when really there is nothing fair about the way mass media presently works.
"Fairness", in modern journalistic terms, is to give everyone a voice. If so-and-so has an opinion, and what's-her-face disagrees, both are presented as equal in a story, when really there isn't enough investigation to who is right and who is wrong. The right way should be given precedence in the eye of the journalist when presenting a story. Such as on this website, where the viewpoint of an oil company CEO is automatically less valid than a proven dedicated voice to the environmental community. It's so obvious to us that these people only have their own self interests of profit in mind and nothing they say should be trusted.
Just as no one in mass media gives the neo-Nazi skinhead, or raving southern racist, quotes in the newspaper every single day shoving his/her point of view down our throats, the most serious of media needs to learn how to stop giving a platform for people that don't deserve it. This is a gigantic step in the transition.
But then "objectivity" comes into play where our scribes, those bearing witness, must keep their perspective a secret. You can send a million people to the same scene, and get a million different stories. It's all about who you talk to, what kind of questions you ask, and which quotes, facts, and opinions are given precedence in the story's linear structure. This will be different person to person without fail.
In an "objective" world, the journalist and the public is hindered. If we have no idea where the source is coming from, how can we tell which information is valid?
So please, don't blame the journalists, it's not their fault. Just like every other institution, mass media has been infiltrated by corporate interests. Hell, they could pull the plug on current mass media immediately if they wished, if the need ever arrived, just by merely stopping providing ads. I would revel in it, if it happened, because that means that A.) media has become a threat to the status quo, and made the transition into truth! WOO HOO, and B.) the internet and blogging would take the stage as the new paradigm's mass media, if they too are allowed to stay free.
What obviously needs to be done is a reform of mass media. Al Jazeera English is a great example of mass media taking steps into the right direction. But the worst part is, USA cable outlets are afraid to pick up the channel because of the status quo. At the time of my International Journalism class last spring, the number of cities where Al Jazeera English could be seen was two. Honestly I can't remember the first, but the larger was Toledo, Ohio.
As I'm sure most of you know, the government launched a propaganda campaign against Al Jazeera for it's anti-war stance and gruesome footage depicting the reality of the war in Iraq. This makes your average media pawn believe that it's "Muslim" media, and therefore not credible. If a cable provider picked up Al Jazeera English, the perception is that subscriptions would drop, ergo less profit would be had. Isn't that what it usually comes down to these days?
Anyway, here's an example of how Al Jazeera is a progressive mass media outlet. I watched an interview with the web editor of Al Jazeera English and an American reporter during my class. This was a scene in a documentary on Al Jazeera called "Control Room," which I highly recommend.
The American asked, "how can you be objective when you're covering a war in your own country?" And she responded with, "Let me ask you the same question. How can you stay objective when your country is involved in the war? Objectivity, I'm saying it's a myth. We all have different perspectives."
YouTube or Google "Al Jazeera English" and watch their reports if you're looking for a more progressive mass media. They are world wide, and hire local reporters with local perspectives who don't have to hide their perspective! I'm sure you'll find it refreshing, at least in comparison to the garbage the rest of the outlets feed us.
Also, look at a show like the Colbert Report. That is mass media, for sure, but awesome in its satire of traditional mass media, and more popular than actual news outlets. And The Onion, also mass media, delivers delicious satire across the world thanks to theonion.com. These not only point out flaws through humor, they make millions of people laugh out loud every day. How awesome is that?
The media, like the government, is supposed to be for the people. So let's take it back by leading by example. Point others to quality blogging websites like this one. Tell people about Al Jazeera English to slowly erase its negative stigma. Always seek out new credible outlets of information. Write letters to the editor displaying your dissatisfactions with mass media, or about anything else you want people to read. And seriously, get out and BLOG!!!
Change starts with small steps, and then we'll see that butterfly effect.
"Life without music would be a mistake" - Friedrich Nietzsche
This sub-topic reminds me
This sub-topic reminds me of a documentary I watched recently, called 'Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land: The US Media and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict' which analysed the poor and biased mainstream media coverage in the states of this ongoing conflict to keep hold of an occupied territory. What emerged from it for me, amongst other things, was that the UK mainstream media seems to give much better media coverage in general. However, I don't believe that it gives a representation of both sides approach to journalistic integrity or even show the effects in their entirity of audience reception. I think because of this the matter becomes an issue of blogging and non-mainstream media, like Al Jazeera or The Onion or Indymedia. These are the places one will find some sort of journalistic integrity.
As for the collapse of mass media itself, i agree, this will not disappear. It will evolve its format almost entirely. In essence, this will mean the mass media as we know it disappearing. For every progressive journalist that works within the mainstream in the UK, i'm sure there is one in US . These people will take to internet and dissemination of key information, driven by their integrity. The issues of objectivity versus subjectivety, myth and storytelling and the conflation of all of these will occur as a natural and residual process of this shift. Or so I think anyway!
daniel ~ could you post
US Gov bankruptcy
There were a few article sources for that which I don't have at my fingertips right now, and also a friend of mine who is a financial analyst at HSBC proposed it. He predicted much of what has happened more than a year ago, so I give his perspective some credence.
At the moment, the response of the US Gov is to keep printing money, billions upon billions of it, to artificially create "liquidity." The question is, what happens in the next year or so as a result of this profligacy? One would assume that the US currency will be devalued, and whether through hyperinflation or deflation, real goods and tangible products will become far more expensive in relationship to people's actual buying power.
The interesting economist Nouriel Rubini now thinks we will see "the horrors of stagflation." James Howard Kunstler predicts "the super-inflation snapback" will occur within 6 - 18 months, and at that point importing cheap foriegn oil will no longer be an option. We will experience a permanent, massive shift in the US lifestyle, back toward producing food locally and basic goods domestically, in order to sustain ourselves. The less we do to prepare ourselves for this inevitability now, the more dangerous and destructive the transition will be. We will likely see civic unrest, population dislocation, etc. I also suspect that a tremendous amount of anger will be directed (rightfully) toward the financial elites who cheated the multitudes, converting their retirement funds into fancy estates and private jets, etc. To quote from another Kunstler piece, written when the TARP bailout was approved by Congress:
"What we're seeing in this fiasco, among other things, is a lesson in the diminishing returns of technology. This is a train wreck of investment vehicles so complex that they could only be created with the aid of computers. The result is that hardly anyone -- perhaps even nobody in or out of Wall Street -- really understands what they represent. In fact, this alphabet soup of engineered securities -- CDOs, CDSs, MBSs, SIVs, etc -- was cooked up from a recipe of Ponzi algorithms. They were designed to be mathematically indecipherable, except by computers, in an alternative universe of model-making that bore only a superficial relation to the real world. That was their dirty secret. And the dirty secret of the Great Bail-out is that, in the real world, we will never be able to discover the actual trading value of these things at any number above zero. This is why they are called "toxic."
The big effort of Mr. Paulson and his working group has been to ram through legislation that at all costs avoids any attempt to place a reality-based value on this bad debt. He managed it by holding a gun to Congress's collective head, telling them in plain English that a genuine "work-out" of these "toxic" investments would set in motion a fatal cascade of credit default swaps which would leave the entire banking landscape a smoldering wasteland -- with the result that virtually every retirement account and pension fund would go up in a vapor, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC would melt away to twin piles of goo, scores of millions of lives would be ruined, and the USA would be left a basket case among nations, making us envy even the fate of Haiti and Zimbabwe. Talk like that might prompt a congress-person to do any fool thing.
...
What the mainstream is truly missing here en masse is that another tsunami is building right behind the finance fiasco, and that it will render moot the whole reeking cargo of schemes and wishes that comprises the Great Bail-out. I am speaking of the global oil problem. In fact, the problems in banking and money currently roaring in the center ring of the world circus, can be described categorically as a product of the oil problem -- since oil is the primary resource of industrial economies and therefore the motive force behind our ability to generate "wealth." Without reliable and ever-growing supplies of oil, there is no industrial growth, and without industrial growth things like capital investment instruments lose their legitimacy. That is why the Frankenstein family of Ponzi securities was invented in the first place -- to compensate for the demise of industrial growth by creating wealth out of... nothing! "
It is interesting to note, as Kunstler does elsewhere, that when Paulson, the $500 million man, was running Goldman Sachs, one divion was selling "toxic" derivatives full of subprime mortgages to pension funds, while another division, at the very same time, was short-selling those same derivatives.
One really interesting question is what China will do, when it becomes obvious that its enormous holdings of US debt is never going to be repaid, unless we hyperinflate to Weimer Republic levels in a "pump and dump" scheme? I found this article to be fascinating - China apparently wants to buy the "Big Three" US Automakers out right, but the US Gov won't agree to that, because if China was to gain access to their technology, they would be able to jump ahead several economic cycles and create their own internal market, abandoning us entirely.
However the deeper reality is the Biosphere won't support China and India approaching the unsustainable US consumer lifestyle in any case. We are going to hit a massive environmental wall within the next few years (for instance, large fish are 90% fished out - so Iceland's Prime Minister telling his people to go back to fishing is unfortunately not going to work). Therefore, I believe that right now, in the US, we have to come up with comprehensive solutions to the crises we have created (using Buckminster Fuller design science approach), and then utilize our media power to transmit and disseminate this new super-sustainable model across the world as quickly as possible.
"Will the transformation."-Rilke
more on bankruptcy
Except for Peak Oil theorists such as Kunstler, few mainstream writers and economists have linked the current collapse of the financial system to the larger issue of declining oil production. This piece, from over a year ago, presents the scenarios we are currently entering with relative accuracy:
With peak oil, there are likely to be many debt defaults, ultimately caused by the squeeze of higher oil prices. (This squeeze of higher oil prices may actually cause problems before the peak arrives. See Part 2, Question 12.) If the response of the government is to guarantee payment of debt, so as to prevent business failures, the money supply may expand greatly and hyperinflation may occur. If there are many defaults and the government does not intervene, or its intervention is unsuccessful, the money supply may contract, and deflation may occur.
Hyperinflation. If there is hyperinflation, people and businesses will find that money in their bank accounts and fixed income retirement funds will purchase very little. Incomes of people with jobs are not likely to rise as fast as the price of goods, so they will find it necessary to reduce their purchases. Demand for many optional goods and services will drop.
After a short time, the government will find that its revenue is very low compared to the huge amount of debt that it has guaranteed. Buyers for government bonds are likely to disappear, and the monetary system will collapse.
Whether or not the monetary system fails, foreign governments holding US debt will be very unhappy. Even if there is not a default, the bonds will be redeemed with dollars that are worth much less than when the bonds were purchased. Either way, foreign governments will feel cheated.
Massive Deflation With massive deflation, there will be many business failures --banks, money market funds, hedge funds, insurance companies, and ultimately businesses of many kinds. FDIC insurance will cover some of the bank losses, but this would soon be depleted. Many people will find their life savings wiped out.
Governmental revenue will decline in such a scenario, making it difficult for the US government to repay its debt. Exceedingly high interest rates might be needed to attract buyers for US debt--higher than could be afforded with the decline in revenue. If the problems were to become severe enough, the whole monetary system could collapse.
4. If the monetary system fails, what are the options for replacing it?
In a scenario where the monetary system fails, there will be big problems. In such a scenario, it seems like there is a significant chance that the government may also be replaced, because the existing government will have no money and there will be a huge number of people who are very angry about the situation. Waiting up to four years for a new president, and up to six years for new senators, may seem unacceptable. Open revolt seems possible.
Once we are talking about replacing the government, we are really speculating. One question is whether the new government would cover the same 50 states as it does today, or a smaller area. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the governments of its constituent states remained, and these took over.
If the analogous situation happened here, we would fall back on the 50 individual state governments. This would be the easiest new government to implement. It is theoretically possible that the 50 state governments could each set up its own fiat monetary system. It seems to me that this may be the most likely outcome.
Obama may turn out to be our Gorbachev, presiding over the fragmenting of the US into separate regions, with separate governments and financial systems. The South and West may resemble a theocratic autocracy, while the North East and North West could be isolated or link together into a new federation.
"Will the transformation."-Rilke
Good ol' CDS derivatives
I've been looking into this Credit Default Swap (CDS) derivatives thing ever since going through the links in your Put a Fork In It article
Scary stuff.
The total amount of debt wrapped up in these 'vehicles' is about 12 times the total Gross World Product.
Really stop and think about what that means.
If even a relatively small fraction of them are actually called in to be paid (and, as banks find their other revenue sources drying up when more and more debtors default, it gets more and more likely), the chain reaction it sets in motion (What!? They can't pay what they owe?! But we have to pay X bank $Y billions!! We'd better call in the rest of our debts! If anyone is going down, it won't be me!)...well, its so bad it can barely be imagined.
It will make the default on subprime mortgages look like a drop in the ocean.
And that's just the derivatives. Everything you say about hyperinflation, the U.S. likely having to default on its own debts (especially if the Bail-Oustravaganza keeps going like this), etc, is just as right on, according to my research.
It is a crazy, crazy confluence of crises -- to go along with the other crises (global warming, evidence of pole-shifts, possible gamma-ray bursts from the galactic center, etc...as if we didn't have enough) -- that boggles the mind, and gives amazing credence to an astounding number of prophecies of old.
Which brings me to the point I try to bring up whenever this topic comes up. Sorry if it is annoying...but I really, strongly feel it needs to be kept in mind.
The elite must have a plan for this.
I hope you guys are right, that they are merely blinded by their own greed and arrogance. If so, our job gets much easier. But I just don't see how they can not know this is coming....and have plans set up accordingly.
I'm not saying they will 'win' (its ironic, really: to me, I win if they finally just live as everyone else in the world lives...which seems like a win for them, too, when you consider the options given by these crises. Certainly, it is better than what they offer me).
In point of fact, I think we have an extremely good chance. And the more people I see on the site, and the more the articles -- and their accompanying comments ^_^ -- really hit home, the more I think so.
But they certainly will 'win' if we don't take the elite seriously as a threat. Sun Tzu's Art of War...very first rule of engagement, "Never underestimate the abilities of your opponent."
Work hard to bring unity to your community by really getting to know the people who live around you; do your best to put into practice sustainable lifestyles (growing your own food without synthetic fertilizer, learning a more simple way of living, learning a bit of primitive foraging/production technique, etc); prepare as much as you are able; bring as many people along as will listen...but keep your ear to the ground for troop movement.
I know the argument is that it is expensive to have a totalitarian state. I agree with the math, and hold it out to myself as a ray of hope every day.
But, if they successfully hijack ideology to keep their warriors believing in the cause, and keep/reap enough surplus to keep soldiers fed and housed...well, I think we will all be most unpleasantly surprised by how effective that strategy can be.
We (as a species, especially) have every chance in the world...if we proceed forward with a purpose, with a realistic plan -- and united as a community.
Without these, we will simply be picked off, one by one, until the remainder is too frightened to do anything but fall in line.
"You must *be* the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi
"they live"
Hi ChibiOne,
Yes it is an important question, one that needs to be pondered: Is there a "secret cabal" that has anticipated the financial meltdown and is orchestrating events toward a particular outcome? Perhaps with a Malthusian agenda to radically reduce the world population? Perhaps in league with occult or extraterrestrial or infradimensional entities, as proposed by Michael Tsarion? Or perhaps trapped in a type of "Cargo Cult" with vestiges of remembrance of a previous contact with a galactic-level civilization, as Richard Hoagland proposes in Dark Mission? Or shapeshifting reptiles as in David Icke?
My exploration of this area has led to a hypothesis that is definitely subject to development and change. With all the writers on the subject, it always feels they are reifying or concretizing something that is a bit more ineffable than any conceptual schema we can place upon it. Maybe part of the 2012 shift is from the dualistic "either this or that" is true logic that has dominated the modern consciousness, toward a "both and" understanding that encompasses a mythopoetic, almost musical or harmonic model of what truth is and how it operates.
Perhaps each of us is spinning a world out of our particular interpretive and perceptual matrix - these worlds overlap, but are not identical, and cannot be precisely collapsed into each other.
Perhaps there is a higher order intelligence that is orchestrating our space-time reality, our Maya, in order to give us the necessary teaching that leads us from this reality into a higher order state of being? Therefore everything we encounter as "evil", negative, controlling, is somehow necessary for the completion of a certain act or movement of consciousness?
It feels to me like the pressure of dualism is being increased so that the dualism ultimately snaps and you are left with the sound of one hand clapping - that is where I landed with my study of the crop circles, and it seemed to me that the crop circles were a teaching on the nature of "reality," the nature of consciousness.
"Will the transformation."-Rilke
neither/nor
i have given this idea much thought and in the end i decry it as hooey. think about it - are dick cheney and ben bernanke and the rest of the plutocrats really space aliens bent on altering the atmosphere to suit their reptilian proclivities? idiotic. impossible. they are, in point of fact, human morons (like david icke). they think they are winning. they win nothing but a scarred and wasted landscape. they are acting out of rampant greed, egotism and yes, dualism, which is to say, delusion. some of them, ChibiOne, may in fact be technical geniuses in their chosen professions. they are still idiots yoked to a doomed juggernaut.
as derrick jensen says in his book 'endgame', the material world, the Earth, is prime. this does not debase spirit. it simply states that the material world is where we are, where the spirit lives. the mess we are in is entirely our own. no deus ex machina, good or evil, can expiate our responsibility to ourselves, each other and this planet. so i don't see the benefit of conjecturing about the existence of reptile-alien oligarchs or higher-order maya-weavers. what matters is the reality of the situation, in human, plant and animal terms, in chemical and mineral terms. we need a flesh and blood revolution, not crop circle analysis.
we need to face the reality of the situation and fight for what is right. there IS a secret-not-so-secret cabal, and yes, i'm sure some of them foresee where all this is going to lead (everybody else does) and have made plans to capitalize off of humanity's further immiseration. obviously. this has been the M.O. of the rich since the dawn of civilization. the rich have also been scared shitless of revolution since the dawn of civilization. and every so often we give them one. there's nothing very mysterious about it. we are in a pre-revolutionary period that needs to get revolutionary fast.
the great thing, the thing that could really lift us out of the boring horror of dualistic civilization would be if the revolution were, as you said, consciously aimed towards a society without a state (which is to say, a post-civilizational society). without the state's (and capitalism's - both are mere forms assumed by the basic mechanisms of civilization, ie. violence/authority, privation/accumulation) interventions, we would be able to reacquaint ourselves with our own agency, not to mention make new connections with each other & the natural world.
peace - D
hooey?
Crop circles and crop circle analysis are not "hooey." Neither is the large body of anecdotal evidence on UFOs and extraterrestrials and "alien abductions." Neither are the multidimensional realms of the psychocosmos accessed through psychedelic and visionary states. To negate all of this material is to create another reductive filter to support a particular ideology, which is what mainstream culture has been doing for the last centuries.
We need a model of reality that is capacious enough to take these manifestations, and many others, into account. Being dismissive of other people's perspectives is not going to help the situation.
"Will the transformation."-Rilke
There is a middle way
Amen, brother.
Yes and No
"i'm sure some of them foresee where all this is going to lead (everybody else does) and have made plans to capitalize off of humanity's further immiseration."
That is all I am saying.
I'm pretty pragmatic about how I think this is all going to play out. If there is a dues ex machina in the future...well, I can't do anything about that. It either will or won't happen, regardless of whatever else I am doing.
The bits about reptile aliens, cabal sorcerers trying to tap into Gaia's chakratic system to gain control of hte mind of the Mother, etc...well, I am open to the idea that they might be true. I don't discount them, and there is a good bit of data that could support such conclusions. Although I agree entirely with your statement, Daniel, that what we think we know is likely to be inaccurate, at best.
Assuming for a moment this all-powerful conspiratorial collective exists, any information they have allowed to be diseminated is unlikely to be very on-target.
Speaking of non-dual logic, I will once again pimp Ternary Logic. It proposes a new logic, with 3 possiblities instead of 2: True, False, or Mystery.
At this point, these ideas are Mystery to me: A superposition of being simultaneously true and false. I do not feel that they should be dismissed...so much as I don't see any way to prepare for them, or avoid them, if they are true.
If reptile aliens are controlling the minds of the leaders of the world, then they probably have the technology to just wipe us all out with a push of a button if we get too out of hand.
Even with our own humble technology, we can already do this ourselves.
At least in me, focusing on these ideas builds a sense of fatalism. A fear and panic of unavoidable, inescapable destruction and enslavement.
I mean, really: what are we going to do if spaceships appear in the sky and start to fire away with lazer beams of doom? At that point, the only thing we can do is hope that there are other aliens, who are on our side. So, in that sense, I am greatly heartened by crop-circles and whatnot, as they could be pointing to this...although they could just as easily be made by entities (or persons) attempting to control, mislead, or just confuse us.
So, I'm skeptical, but not decided. I try to move and make my plans in the world I know to be...but I do keep my eyes, ears, and mind open for other truths to be revealed.
"If history is any guide, much of what we believe about the world today...simply isn't true." John Hagelin
"You must *be* the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi
Let's get outside of our egos for a moment.
Gentlemen, let's sit back for a moment.
Let's ask ourselves what psychological benefit we could gain from such forays into aliens, cabals and the like. Could such forays actually be reinforcing the dualism? Could such forays perpetuate such negative feelings that it actually prevents a sense of oneness? Could such forays actually prevent forward progress and keep our stories of seperation in tact, thereby satisfying that ego function?
What fun stories! It is the stories that blind us, and perhaps keep seeing Reality for what it is. And how many layers and layers of stories there are! It seems infinite!
This discussion to me perpetuates binary thinking. Likes/Dislikes, Me/Mine, Them/Us, Rich/Poor, Powerful/Disenfranchised. To perpetuate this dualism automatically prevents acknowledgement of which is the ultimate Truth, that we are interconnected and nonseperate.
I feel that We are in a Tapas moment. Tapas is the yogic term of staying in the tension of opposites. We are at a moment when our conditioned habits of attachment and aversion (attachment and aversion to our stories in particular) can be transcended. It is a practice of patience to sit with the opposites, to see that there is a relationship between these opposing energies. When we can do that, then these concepts they lose their opposition and we can focus on the relatedness and thus, find solutions.
We are as connected to the Dali Lama as we are to Dick Cheney. They are us, we are them. Trying to get around the cabals and the like is trying to get around ourselves.
Remember, "It is to know that I am that, that you are that, that all this is that, and that is all there is."
"You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul." - Swami Vivekananda
I doubt there is a person here that doesn't realize our unity.
It, itself, is a frequent topic of conversation 'round here.
However, we each have our perspectives on this thing, and the second most important thing we can be doing at this point in time (other than remembering that we are One, and it is always good to be reminded) is to really try to combine our viewpoints and begin to hash out what exactly we think is going on here, and what exactly we are going to do about it.
The third most important is actually acting upon it once we figure out what we need to do.
We are all just as One in conflict as in peace. Conflict is a part of this process -- the process of the Infinite discovering Itself through finite existence, however illusory. Even if it isn't real in an absolute sense, still it has a purpose -- or it would not be manifesting.
"You must *be* the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi
How about...
How about we sit with this cacophony of experience and rejoice that we have the capacity to begin anew?
"You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul." - Swami Vivekananda
Thank you all
Thanks to everyone above for deepening this part of the thread. I agree with you all, and with all of your suggestions reflecting a need for a deepening unitive consciousness.
I imagine how this sub thread could continue until each paragraph is only one word wide. "Enlightenment is only an inch wide, but many miles deep".
Again, thank you for joining me in agreement of many of my own impressions of our current situation. It's much better being alone within a group such as you.
On the subject of aliens and related phenomena: Unitive consciousness may have side affects; openings, and leakages from, and into, realms of existance beyond our collective consensus exprience and beyond our accepted senses. I suspect that the closer we get to conscious unity, as a species, the more intense these phemomena will become. Phenomena, which today is mysterious, will be commonplace tomorrow. Lets remember that these openings, and this leakage is not only effecting our world, but our evolving consciousness is also being broadcast into the cosmos. (Though I suspect that they are not as surprised, nor as mystified, as we)
"The Devil is in the details"
Threading the needle
Help me!
I am consumerism, and my chances of survival are the size of this comment! I am shrinking! Melting!
Shrinking...Melting...oh, whataworldwhataworld........
"You must *be* the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi
endgame
Daniel - it wasn't crop circles per se that i dismiss as hooey, but the whole tendency to attribute both the positive and negatives of human civilization to ETs (ie. Icke or even Graham Hancock). Like someone said, it only reinforces the dualistic mystifications that keep us locked down. My opinion is that ufos crop circles and the pyramids are the result of human ingenuity (i may be wrong, but it is the simplest explanation)... My point was that we need to focus on the need for revolutionary social change, that the time for losing ourselves in Borgesian mazes of conjecture is over. I'm sorry if i offended you.
btw - i recommend derrick jensen's 'endgame' to all and sundry.
peace, D
Borgesian mazes
are a literary link to philosophical insight that directs the mind through the maze of hallucination, civilization is just that, as we pass by structures that were built by a knowledge that is still just beyond our scientific reach, the metaphor, if you will, of the UFO, is that it is always just beyond our reach, this is in itself telling us something about our human condition.Endgames are played on all sides, on one side they are playing 4th dimensional chess, on the other they are playing Galactic Go.We are no longer playing on a monopoly board where the fortunes of the players depend on the roll of the dice.The dice were loaded with radioactive thought.As we flounder in the middle of the maze somewhere, and keep turning to the left, we fumble with our cheap chinese led light to read the manual that were handed out to the ancients, the native people remember, but we have forgotten , we reflexively reach for what copy of sayings that we keep in our hip pocket.
What is your copy? Does it show a facsimily of the original operating manual that tells us thousands of years ago, that people in the future will find that their world is not sustainable? Or is it a copy of Revolution for Dummies?
We are in a mall maze of mysifications, i grope forward, with my pushbutton stiletto pen, and just around the corner i see a gaucho dancing the tango with Blake's Tyger, and another couple seemed to be locked in a death match apache dance one is ET and the other is Che.
meltdown
Great article and very
Pinocchios
I don't think they're necessarily ETs, but they definitely aren't all human. Cheney looks like a reptilian jaba the hut with fake skin. And Bernanke is like a cat entranced by fools gold on a stick, with some dark entity's hand up his butt. (But I could be completely wrong, they might have his family at gunpoint.. Who knows?)
I also think revolutions are necessary, but in these bizarre times the conventional civil uprising won't stand a chance. Becoming a spiritual weapon is the only way to stand a chance against fighting these kinds of forces. Speaking truth against their lies is more powerful than any science fiction weaponry they have.
They're waiting for Joe six pack to come out shooting. The way of the Peaceful Warrior seems far more effective right now, at least in my mind... Peace-
"they live"
It seems to me the existence of a or more likely several secret cabals orchestrating events to a conclusion to be quite likely, however, what i see, hear and feel changing in and of the world around me leads m to believe that the individual actions of the all, willing or not, (i gotta admit to no absolute understanding of "the all". hey, it's a hypothesis) is that which is actually going to be the catalyst to effect change. Secret cabals or any other force working in the background or not, the further we travel on this trip the more confident I am that the energy I bring to the table is that we move forward, that we be the change we want to see.
they know
something they haven't told us yet, but many of us already believe. I have long suspected that the behavior of the western world since the end of WWII, the fear, greed and "get what you can from life while you can" way of living can be seen as a result of the top secret elite's ongoing relationship with intelligent beings from other planets/starsystems/dimensions that are here on earth, and have been for as long or longer than we have. Imagine if you were one of "them" and you had this knowledge and you couldn't talk about it, how that would alter your world view and your abrahamic cosmology. But now as some of "them" approach the end of their lives, more are speaking out publicly. One that came to me today, an interview with Robert Orel Dean, a retired Command Sergeant Major in the US Army, who became notable in Ufology circles after he claimed to have viewed "Cosmic Top Secret" documents detailing alien activity on Earth. See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke86DTvjTX4&feature=related
Interviews, photos and video clips providing documentation of lights in the sky, non-terrestrial flying craft, crop circles etc., are all mounting evidence made possible by recent innovations in technology, accessible to most of us. The flood gates are opening and there is no turning back. Disclosure is already happening, one camera phone image at a time.
hmm
Maybe their agenda is to separate everyone, who thinks outside of the box, and flood their minds with radical thoughts until they meltdown or explode. Then most of the resistance will end up in asylums and won't stand a chance against the zombie herds of microchipped cattle. (I'm not making fun of anyone, I actually believe most of this stuff so I have to laugh at myself)
I hadn't watched a movie in months until last night. I highly recommend '12 Monkeys'. :)
far out
I came across this last night and found it very interesting. I don't know if it's true, but I thought it was relevant to the sub-topics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtwjZQlrw2Y&feature=related
Warning- if anyone gets disturbed easily please proceed with caution. I'm not intending to scare anyone, so be aware of the placebo effect. Blessings- WiLL
Southern cross...
Necessity the mother of invention?...
Mass - of the people for the people?!?
I think it is wrong to say "mass" is a subject rather than an objectified, or rather codified, description of a system of news reporting. It may have originally been indicative of the size of the infiltration by a small amount of people reaching the "masses" but nowadays it is a reference to the system itself; which is an objectified product used as a tool by the minority.
Theonion, for example, is academically known as 'new media' for the very reason it opposes the construct of 'mass media'. Failing to dilineate these is fatalistic. The internet is the antithesis from which we may produce a new synthesis.
I agree journalists themselves are not to blame; they are tools within the super-structure (Curran - 'Power without responibility) they have no power to really decide on the newsworthyness of events. Partly because of external influence (ownership and advertising) and partly internal because the education system has drummed the objectified systems into them. Indeed Foucault might regard this as the central problem - the self-perpetuating power centre.
Mass media will 'disappear' as a corporation structure if the present system were to go into meltdown; of course communication itself won't disappear. It is the need to peddle information that is irrelevant to our individual existence that creates the object of "Mass Media".
As regard its evidence for meltdown I would have to return to Foucault and rather than expecting it to vanish along with 'everything else corporate' one should actually examine how the current 'power' construct will attempt to re-invent itself.
Understanding this is more important than assuming it will vanish. Things don't vanish, they change and, to loop the thread back, it would be the best way to make sure the evolution, or synthesis, was done for the benefit of everybody. Disregarding it puts us all on the back foot once again.
"A multitude of bad writers live exclusively on the stupid desire of the public to read nothing but what has just been printed: the journalists. Well named! In English the word means 'day-labourers."
- Schopenhauer 'Essays and aphorisms'
Mass media will 'disappear'
Mass media will 'disappear' as a corporation structure if the present system were to go into meltdown; of course communication itself won't disappear. It is the need to peddle information that is irrelevant to our individual existence that creates the object of "Mass Media".
Then we agree! I definitely see things better from your perspective now.
It seems to me that you are looking at "mass media" as a term defined by what state it's currently in (with a corporate mainstream basis), while I see it in it's purest sense and purpose. I guess it's like Communism, where the definition is beautiful but putting it in action in a fascist world has yielded awful failure to live up to its inherent principles.
I wholeheartedly agree that the current state mass media is in will soon be a way of the past, and an entirely new wave of mass media will appear, not necessarily in the hands of a few, and be a watchdog for the people rather than corporate interests.
And sorry to get a bit defensive here, but Schopenhauer's quote is bull! I consider myself a good writer ;-)
"Life without music would be a mistake" - Friedrich Nietzsche
quote
Haha yes I know
It was all in good fun, of course.
"Life without music would be a mistake" - Friedrich Nietzsche
Definitely in good jest!
Definitely in good jest - if you take academia to seriously one tends to become a victim of it - I keep falling prey to it! :-)
Lije Baillie -
Flowing through the arts of psy
Pay heed
It was an article I read here at RS last January that helped me prepare financially and emotionally for what is occurring now. Although The Arlington Institute report used in the article suggested a compressed version of what has actually happened, everything it said already has, or is still in the process of happening. So, I'm keeping a close eye on RS for info such as this, as should all of you.
Yesterday, in a conversation with a biker buddy, I decided that an important signal of the coming worthlessness of the dollar might be a decision by the UK to trade its Pound in for the Euro. I'm wondering if this would be a signal that the US will soon do the same thing with the Amero, before which point I will dump all my dollars into food, clothing, and other commodities. No, I'm talking about ACTUAL food, etc.
Having said all that, I agree TOTALLY with Daniel that what is essential is the presence we show to our neighbor, the attachment we develop with our community, the protection we provide for our loved ones, and the respect we demonstrate to Gaia.
Be prepared, my brothers and sisters!
"The Devil is in the details"
Play the flute
don't miss this video
This is what the "American Dream" has come to - the final frontier of societal psychosis.
"Will the transformation."-Rilke
This is
This is ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!
OLD PATTERNS is now available for free!
alanscheurman.com
aha!
i knew i knew you from somewhere! your music is really good. i was listening to it on myspace and my wife came in to check it out & she liked it too (&she doesn't like much!)
peace - D
www.myspace.com/thedeclineofthewest
Gerald Celente--check out this video!
how bad is it?
On December First Federal agents in Swat gear raided an Amish coop in Ohio w/out any suspicion of food there being unwholsome in any, mainly just that the coop was members only and the wholsomeness of the food was based on the reputation of supliers rather than submisssion to government regulation. My guess is that some of the unlicensed meat had shown up at Oberlin University somehow and when bossy inspectors blew a nut out over it NOT being USDA inspected they struck a deal to narc out the Coop that had made fools of inspectors before when they try to pin a wrap on them for selling raw milk which turns out was a gift to the agent. After having women and children held at gunpoint till way past bedtime, the agents seized all this potential sorce of good yet seditious nutrition along w/ 2 computers used for processing orders (yes Amish use computers when it makes sense to do such). They don't plan to give up so easy though.
-here's a recent update
eye-opening
An eye-opening Saturday to read this article and its comments, and then listen to KMO's latest with Albert K. Bates. Thanks Daniel and all. Appreciating the reminder of the importance of original thinkers/designers like B. Fuller.
yeah
Yeah that B. Fuller was quite a guy. Back in the good old days when clean water was free. No electrolytes and a brand name label slapped on to say that you need the label to create energy for yourself.
That Tesla seems to be a forgotten name as well. It's a shame considering the output of his ideas requires little to no input of thought.
There was a mention up there of an article from January that helped prepare for the times we're now in. I agree with commodities trading being the solution to no paper currency, but not in the wall street sense. I recommend books circa 1940's relating to various sciences, Willie Nelson's water from air, & electrolysis to gas. -Healthy thermodynamic fuel for the mind-
~illuuminuus You inspired
~illuuminuus
You inspired me greatly in your radio debate with Whitley Streiber, Daniel. I have championed the potential for a compassionate paradigm change ever since. A sudden dynamic shift in human consciousness that needn't involve massive physical death to accomplish. A possibility so wonderful that it seems nothing short of criminal not to embrace it. But lately my vision is wavering. My newborn son was injected within an hour of his birth last month with toxins that were intended to destroy him. Such vaccines, together with a myriad of poisons in modern food and drink, tip the scales unfairly against this generation. A generation that should by rights be the greatest in history, as necessity dictates that it must be if it will rise to face the greatest challenges in history. The current dynamic of human civilization needs to be changed on almost EVERY front if it is to be viable! At present we are courting distruction in nearly every way that is measurable. And that's taking any and all religious and mystic viewpoints off the table, looking at things purely materially. When we add in the various prophets and their prophecies, the latest breakthroughs in quantum physics, the concept of communal creation (or at the very least affectation) of Reality, together with the preponderant mindset of archetypal doom that runs rampant through most of our psyches, the hope that we might avoid a massive and horrific die-off of our species is harder and harder to hold on to.i was raised in a tract
nice essay
i think that the vast majority of folk still would like to believe that the powers that be will sort out all these probs. The naivity of the general public is the main concern. It's like alot of cats out there are sleepwalking and an ''ignorance is bliss'' mentality prevails...the problem isnt what's happening ''out there'' the problem is ''in here'' I tried talking to my parents about the possibility of infastructure collapse and it was like a weird daydreamlike trance came over them...''well, it's a bit depressing...i try not to think about it'' But there are those who are trying TO think about it but it's like we're talking a foreign language. Perhaps the only way of waking folk up is for them to be in the usual state of reaction to circumstance and they would be then provoked into a state of action at crisis point!
"If the minds of the people are impure, their land is also impure, but if their minds are pure, so is their land. There are not two lands, pure and impure in themselves. The difference lies solely in the good or evil of our minds."