We Are Traumatized Animals

We live in a system. That's not a problem. What is though is it's created by and for those who have access to the meetings - in person and in funding. 

Let's forget the hierarchy for a minute. What do they work for? The good of those present and those who have joined the group.

A young man said to me when I asked him what values do his friends have in terms of social and political engagement? He said you don't talk politics, religion or money - everyone knows that!

He is a successful young man. Has a family, friends, a good job, a beautiful successful wife and two enthusiastic children.

They value their friends and family. They value comfort, good food and good health. They are not impressed with greed or selfishness. But I was a little alarmed when he said "you don't talk politics" with your friends. 

I understand why. I have been dropped from dinner parties because I defend social justice and have a tendency to prioritize social duty over power. My friends and family must be tired of hearing my opinion.

Where to draw the line? Take an interest in what other people think, delve further into what and why without being too nosy. Most of all listen and let them know you are interested in what they think. Let them know they are more valuable than experts and media believe.

The problem is we have all been traumatized by capitalism and before that we were traumatized by feudalism and the class we were born into.

Racism and gender are more reasons we stumble over reality which is different for each person. We try so hard to do the right thing, think the right way, yet there is so much we don't know.

If I share knowledge of a documentary I watched last night I might be revealing I know something my friends don't yet. How many of us ask our peers what they have learned, what they think? We become a type to others. So we join clubs where we meet others of like-mind. I hate being uninformed yet my life revolves around abilities and to-do lists.

It's okay to not know everything - we can keep learning, but one thing I keep in mind is everyone carries a burden of some kind. Everyone has suffered. 

Our world is run by common values and tricksters. Lovingkindness is needed first and foremost even for those who are cruel leaders. But we must stop paying lip service to wealth and power. Life is more powerful than money. If you think that's ridiculous ask yourself what you would choose - a million bucks or your family. 

What Exactly is Well Behaved in a world that feeds profit into offshore banks?

 

When people who defend human principles such as kindness and cooperation and the desire to build society for people are ridiculed and dismissed, how about we look at what is happening?

What is feared so much? To whom is hate directed? Is it a principle of survival and cooperation, is it kindness, or is money and power the only thing that counts among those redeemed as the leadership class? The highly educated get annoyed when I ask such a question. There are no solutions! 

Those presented in the media as the ones who survived and are winning, have ideas on how to survive based on their own personal success but they are busy surviving themselves. It's a glossy magazine of a theory, like the Royal Family, the heroes, the ones with perfect bodies and good education.

But most people are left to overcome hunger, depression or homelessness. Questions about why we suffer and why we continue to choose small quick fixes instead of a complete overhaul is mostly, I suspect, we don't have the power to fix everything.

Also I don't prescribe getting really upset, or worse, start out to save the world based on one person or party's observations. But the fact remains that the majority of souls on this planet have been, and continue to be exploited.

I would go further and say those who are expected to fix things are quite happy to keep things as they are because they benefit from the system. They are not evil they simply have been educated to win at all costs. The tragedy is we punish them with threats.

All living creatures are afraid of something, and rather than try and comfort them, there are those who seek to climb onto their shoulders.

Try saying at a business meeting or political gathering, our duty is to care for those who suffer so they don't choose to harm others. Sure, Buddha, Thich Nhat Han, your local priest and your children's teachers would say yes to kindness. But we are a long way off from a society that can guarantee our safety.

The recently deceased beautiful and talented musician, Sinnead O'Connor suffered from mental illness she claims from a mother, and a church who tortured those trusted to their care. We know about this suffering because of what happened to our First Nations children taken from their tribes and homes in order to "beat" the Indian out of them.

What is it that a concerned person should do besides sending money to social/political projects to save the world - a world not just crawling with different species, but human beings and their histories and biases.

Save the world and donate a hundred bucks to this cause, and that project.

These words are too big for little people like me. Sure I can send money, read the news, sign petitions and vote, but there is the meat of reason missing in this.

We live in a capitalist system that is good for many reasons but mostly unconcerned about the effect of competition and judgement towards those who suffer, such as the hungry, homeless, battered or alienated.

The media leads in stories (news) about violence and extreme wealth. Trotting out a list of where the reader may benefit from the suffering of others although it would not be told that way. Blindly we think women who work in the sex trade are happy.

Cruelty is not just a freedom to choose, but a link to all the tensions and fears of a system that creates wealth for a few, survival of a majority, and misery for others.

There is a sneering from the "winners" when they speak of their success and young males are taught to mistrust their feelings in order to become men. Without this influencers would not be able to organize wars and media lies so that weapons industries thrive.

The corporation wants staff who can play the game. Strategize problems so the corporation wins. Problem with strong moral and principled people? Fire them before they influence other staff, and if its against the principles written in their constitution then make their position miserable so they will resign. And don't waste good victims. Once victimized they are good examples of the power wielded over them. They are failures.

Failures, cripples and idiots are manufactured in society so the rulers can feel more powerful. Sports, board games and beauty contests are ways of exploiting humanity. Isolated units competing for the most of what each wants, alienates us from family.

My Favourite Dream For The Future

 

What I hope for, even though I know hope is not enough, is people will come to know the power of love. Then parents will no longer believe performance is everything. To encourage their children to get top marks to prove their worth does not take to account their innate value. 

Yes we want our children to learn but getting top marks or winning the most goals or being the most popular does not translate to success in life. It just makes parents proud until the child makes his or her next mistake.

Some schools reports are no longer using the A to D means of describing how well their students are doing. This pulls us into a two dimensional world of judgment. The expectation that an A+ student shall be a success and a B- student will not.

I believe teachers, principles and school super-intendants, have realized we are not two-dimensional  animals. Understanding life, science, arts and humanity is more complex than school reports or marks.

Sceptical about what's on the outside and more interested on the inside,  I loved figuring out how others become happy? Growing up I was obsessed with whether I was liked, likeable or basically good. This narcissistic obsession was not good for me or anyone who had to deal with me. 

Obsession with perfect beings and being perfect meant I did not help others even though I wanted to.

Marriage and children gave me direction but still I was imperfect. Who cares?

Competing for top marks, top popularity and being a success - came from a general obsession with performance. Anxiety for parents to nurture children to be perfect. Anxiety for teachers, headmasters and superintendents to create perfect experiences for children.

Children become adults who work for top positions, seek gratitude from those in their care and respect from all who know them. Adults who have this need for positive feedback.  I mean how do you know how your efforts are received without  a dialogue, a report, or acknowledgement. 

Friends, acquaintances will ask "how are you?" But how do you feel does not get acknowledged even though it all begins with how you feel.

I tried to point out the feeling part to my children and others. Growing up I felt a lot of anxiety of not being good enough. Should try harder. Should not hurt anyone. Now I listen to the world news and it hurts in my gut to hear of famous ambitious humans who blow up other nations, countries, in order to win.

Hitler did not win in the end. After all the cruelty and destruction he was viewed as mad. I was horrified that even in the country I was born in, there were people who supported Nazis. The people I met were kind and loving. Doctors and teachers, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, who had my best interests at heart.

This is not a Pollyanna thing. Now I am aware of terrible cruelties towards First Nations, people of colour, LGBTQ people, children in abusive homes, warring nations and women. Cruelty and injustice is the main course of media reports besides sport.

What I hope is we stop slapping marks on vulnerable foreheads,  so that all have a chance to grow up with self worth before they seek to rule the world by killing others, blowing up other nations to prove they are somebody. So that personal wealth is not an accumulation of thing but character of compassion and sensitivity. So that sensitive intelligence is not dismissed as naive and we can focus on healing this planet from greed, hate, fear and suspicion.

Meaning of Life

 

What is the meaning of life? Ultimately. What is it that threatens? Is it climate change, the oil industry, capitalism, humanity?

We know we need to change and yet those in positions of power and responsibility are still making rules that mostly benefit them as well as risk their future.

Take war for example. Beliefs change according to how it benefits those who we look to for leadership. Lawyers, politicians, police, medicine, all have duties to perform, yet currently we are in a time that threatens the knowledge of leaders.

What we are trained to believe doesn't cover planetary collapse which appears to make us humans redundant. If all the training and education we have received does not offer a way through, we look for a way out.

What is a way out here? Certainly we won't find support for the majority of our peers. We humans have created a system that we managed to update as we go along. But we have no sure answers. Mainly because we created systems that gave us opportunities to abuse.

When we learned agriculture we looked for leaders to advise. So a hierarchy was established which remains today as a threat. Children are trained to admire and follow the rulers. Adults are trained to keep their opinions to themselves if they believe those in charge are not capable of saving us.

Beliefs became entrenched in law, habits and orthodoxies. Prisons built to put away those we thought were dangerous. (I know this is too easy to be true but most of us are not scientists or trained philosophers and this is not meant to be an academic submission - I write this because I want to think about it).

Various centuries have demanded various beliefs and these beliefs can either save or harm us. Take for example the witch hunts. They were charged with creating spells, power over us. The result was not just thousands of women who were murdered but the habit of making sure women did not have any power. Women became the possessions of men, husbands, sons, kings but rarely queens. It was a tiring campaign but the result was half the population had no voice. And yet there was always fear. The more a group of people are silenced the more they become dangerous in our imaginations. 

Even today the biggest threat to authoritarian societies are those we fear not just those who are not like us. This is huge in the realm of social imagination. 

We suffer no matter what. Mostly because our bodies are vulnerable to bleed and break, and even if we live for 80 years, our brain has a vague memory of what we are afraid of. I am not talking of trauma here because there are others trained in that field who are best at explaining that. Yes we have to deal with trauma but I am not the one to write about it.

Our own well being is not the greatest concern. We can see how those we love are also at risk. Young helpless babies, children, aged parents and all kin. With the daily news we hear of strangers with knives and guns. We learn of sociopaths in positions of great power. We are aware that the things we need most can be taken away, we can be starving, poor and homeless. 

The more power we have the bigger our losses. The greater our sensitivity the greater our fears. The more intelligence we posses the larger the threats dance in our minds, keeping us awake, causing emotional sickness and mental illness. It's exhausting. Where and when will it all end?

There are no solutions. There are many theories and arguments but no pills or insurance policies that offer 100% protection. We stand a better chance when we don't cause suffering which magnifies every fear and threat.

Even those who invest in guns and bombs in the hope it will keep their circle safe from inquiring minds - are investing in chaos. Theories of control are the fantasies we have relied on to keep going. Religion which we look to for wisdom makes all who are not adhering to that particular faith a danger if we cannot see the strength of having different beliefs, the comfort of inquiry and the self discipline to not engage in judgements based on our own ignorance.

Is the meaning of life really a balance where we learn as much as we can, comfort as many as we can, love all we can, feed and shelter all we can, for as long as we can?

Colouring White Supremacy

 

Colouring White Supremacy

Looking back on errors of judgment

I wince and squirm

—no-one else is to blame

for this wormlike visit

yes it was passed down to me

by people in places of authority

some who now make me wince

as I watch scenes of cruelty

and torture to the innocent

natural animals shriveling

back into shadows—they

do not make me feel bad

they make me examine

what I’d rather not look at

yet understand that I must

if I want to be fully human

before I die.

Guilt comes from thinking

after the swaggerbrag.

I don’t want you to feel guilty

I want us all to begin again

to breathe deeply

to say sorry to those I hurt

to point out injustice

when I see it

without fear of being punished

by the haters and honkers

planning a future where they

will win no matter what.

But white on white can’t be seen.

And to win something I didn’t deserve

is to lose dignity.

Sisyphus Are You There?

 "No Republican or Democratic presidential candidate has any intention of halting corporate pillage. They will not curb the fossil fuel industry or combat ecocide. They will not rebuild our decayed infrastructure and failing educational system. They will not reform our predatory for-profit health care system or restore our right to privacy by halting wholesale government surveillance. They will not institute public financing of elections to curb the legalized bribery that defines elective office. They will not raise the minimum wage. They will not end our permanent wars. " Chris Hedges https://open.substack.com/pub/chrishedges/p/cornel-west-and-the-campaign-to-end?

The world’s biggest problem? Powerful psychopaths. | Brian Klaas

Your Horoscope For Today - republished from 2022

 

If you are breathing you are alive today, but in order to survive you must keep breathing.

You were born on this planet sometime between the month of January to December. It will affect you because this planet, this universe has its own habits and ways.

If you are still alive you were born in the last hundred years. You had a mother and a father even if you don't know who they are. Your childhood was not always happy. There were happy times and some traumatic times. You grew up to the degree you were capable of. 

Your skills depend on innate talents in your personality and the nurture you received as you were growing up.

You belong to the family of homo sapiens. You are not a lizard, hyena or elephant. You are more than the colour of your skin. The skin is there just to keep your muscles and organs in place. The colour of your eyes do not matter as much as the eyes help you from bumping into walls. 

The size of your reproductive organs only matter in as much as they enable you to co-create. Other than that, it's no-ones business what they are - they belong to you and will be there for you until you die or decide to have them removed.

You need love and support from other humans no matter how strong or smart you are, or what you have accomplished. If you think you don't there will be no-one to tell you how you are doing if you make mistakes.

You are not self-made. To believe that will isolate you and eventually cause harm to your mental health and those you live among.

Your family and your home need you to pay attention to how they are doing. How they are doing depends on your ability to feel and see truth.

You are not God, you never were and never will be. 

Democracy Is Dead

"When the socialist Jeremy Corbyn became the leader of the Labour Party in Britain in 2015 and mounted a grassroots campaign in 2017 to become the British Prime Minister the ruling corporate elites, along with the war industry, panicked...The media did its part to crucify Corbyn as a bigot while Labour party officials ruthlessly purged the party of Corbyn supporters. Corbyn was eventually driven out of the party in 2020 after the snap election loss against Boris Johnson. The purging of Corbyn and his supporters effectively emasculated the left within the Labour Party."  https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-chris-hedges-report-podcast-with-ac8?utm

According to a survey from Data for Progress released this week, 65 percent of likely voters say that businesses should not be allowed to deny services to people based on their race, religion, disability or sexual orientation. This includes 84 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of independents, as well as a plurality of Republicans, at 48 percent. https://truthout.org/articles/poll-finds-most-voters-disagree-with-most-recent-anti-lgbtq-decision-from-scotus/

It happened just before 12:30 p.m. on Friday in the Leslieville area near Queen Street and Carlaw Avenue.
That's where Toronto police say three individuals were involved in an altercation, in which shots were fired. The woman struck was not part of the altercation, according to Duty Insp. Michelle Olszevski. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/woman-dead-in-daytime-shooting-in-toronto-s-east-end-police-say-1.6900148

This week, average global temperatures are smashing records left and right, which “should fill everyone with anxiety,” says Green Party deputy leader Jonathan Pedneault. 
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/07/06/news/if-youre-not-terrified-youre-not-paying-attention-politicians-activist-urge-action

Olszevski says the shooting investigation is ongoing, but police have learned that three people were involved in a “physical and verbal altercation” leading up to the woman being shot.
She says police don’t believe there is a relationship between the woman and the three individuals, but that hasn’t yet been confirmed.
Earlier in the day, police tweeted that the nearby Morse Street Child Care Centre is in a hold and secure for the children’s safety. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-woman-killed-in-daytime-toronto-shooting-police-seeking-2-suspects-2/ 

A missing 2-year-old Michigan girl who disappeared during an attack on her mother was found dead nearly 100 miles away in Detroit, three days after she vanished.
Wynter Cole Smith’s body was discovered Wednesday evening by FBI agents in an overgrown alley in a neighbourhood on the east side of Detroit, ending a massive search along a major interstate between the city and the state capital.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-missing-two-year-old-girl-is found-dead-in-detroit-after-her/

Humanity is missing. Morality is missing. Social justice is missing. It's not enough to rely on others for making the world livable again. We must be engaged in the art of humanizing the commons. For a start, good reporting is good and necessary but it cannot bring us tomorrow. It's not enough to be well informed. We have to contribute our minds and hearts.

From 350.org

 

Dear Prime Minister and Ministers, Big Oil has no place in the plan for a better future. 

---

We are in a climate emergency. We are living through the worst wildfire "season" in Canada's history. As millions of people breathe in toxic smoke and tens of thousands are evacuated from their homes, we call on your government to take this crisis seriously. 

The most important first step you can take is to strengthen the Sustainable Jobs Act by taking these actions: 

Don’t give Big Oil a seat on the Sustainable Jobs Partnership Council, which will advise Ministers on the plan — instead prioritize the voices of workers, Indigenous peoples, and climate-impacted communities.

Accelerate the timeline and define "sustainable jobs" to ensure they will enable a just transition to 100% renewable energy while urgently decarbonizing our economy in line with science. There are no sustainable jobs in fossil fuels or false solutions.

Ensure justice for all by following Indigenous leadership, resourcing community-based climate solutions, and ensuring "sustainable jobs" offer decent, unionized work.

The Sustainable Jobs Act is just the first step. Moving forward, we’re calling on you to act urgently to deliver a Just Transition to 100% renewable energy that leaves no one behind.

Emergence of a Man Made Copy of Humanity

EMERGENCE OF THE ANTHRO-HYENA

Yes Humanity has re-invented a new species who refuse to see what harm it has done in order to maintain power over the whole world. It has trained itself to look away from the violence and abuse of its own mental health. It has through propaganda, re-created itself by re-organizing religion, without morality, preaching a patriarchy of usefulness that damages the mental health of men and boys, making femininity a sex object, and all the worlds living creatures a global farm for the use of those who have the biggest weapons. Artificial intelligence is created to serve the banks who replaced human intelligence with numbers.

However on a planetary scale we are worth less than the bumble bee. Bees do have power whereas we humans have been crushed by anthro-hyenas who make a lot of noise and have written beautiful fantasies but in the process made ourselves stupid.

So for the few more years we shall be here, let's look at the world outside ourselves.

The Economics of Kindness. Guy Dauncey

Really worth reading.

"After seven years of immersion in anthropology, economics and economic history, I have thrown out all possible answers to the question save one, which is embarrassingly simple. No long words. No complicated multi-factorial explanations. No post-graduate degrees needed. The reason why our world is in such a mess is because we have fashioned our economies around selfishness and domination, rather than cooperation and kindness."

 https://thepracticalutopian.ca/2023/06/14/the-economics-of-kindness-a-guide-for-the-21st-century/#more-3000