Misogyny, Misandry & Misanthropy

 

"The Epstein case is important because, however much is being covered up, it is a window into the scourge of male violence that explodes in decayed cultures, fueled by widening income disparities, the collapse of the social contract and the grotesque entitlement that comes with celebrity, political power, and wealth. When a ruling elite perverts all institutions, including the courts, into instruments that serve the exclusive interests of the entitled, when it willfully neglects and abandons larger and larger segments of the population, girls and women always suffer disproportionally.

The struggle for equal pay, equal distribution of wealth and resources, access to welfare, legal aid that offers adequate protection under the law, social services, job training, healthcare, and education services, have been so degraded they barely exist for the poor, especially poor girls and women." Chris Hedges

What is a decayed culture? What is a culture that is alive, healthy and vital? What do you bring to your culture?

Do you write letters to the editor to support the vulnerable? Do you argue with narratives that diminish life, do you protest exploitation, do you support small business, do you speak to strangers with respect? 

If you are spending all your time and energy taking care of humans, young or old, you are fighting against corruption. When you listen to someone who is heartbroken you are helping to heal them. When you are engaged in any activity that cares for life in all its forms, you possess integrity.

If you are a predator you have moved away from your humanity into the world of constructed hate which abuses and alienates your own self.

The Universe Weeps

The Universe Weeps

over farms, towns and cities

where people have re-arranged

landscape, built stores with bricks

roads with molten gravel that once

were mountains and beaches

where one species has turned

all of nature into a singular financial plan

where the meaning of life is to win

what matters is six figures

separated by commas

and the gift arising from earth

the trees, the roots, the green stems

held in offshore banks 

while refugees wander in the dark night

carrying their babies on their back

and anti-abortionists scream at women 

who have no food for their embryos

and politicians devise plots to disrupt 

reports of need to make justice a game

a soccer match on fields where poppies grew

once housed families  before warriors 

found new enemies underground

and the goal is to manage threats 

delete imagination 

kill the metaphor before it learns to sing 

— ‘we are here’

before humanity realizes its nature

while economists argue over narratives

to entertain consumers

trying hard not to worry

not to be concerned or negative

and so the universe grieves

and weeps

lakes and rivers

over our conspiracy to survive. 

from National Observer - a father not allowed to find his daughter on his land

He knew she was out there when the RCMP moved in, arresting 15 people, including elders and a journalist. Images, videos and reports emerged throughout the day showing officers in tactical gear with assault weapons and police dogs, as helicopters and drones circled overhead.   National Observer.

What Drives Your Life?

Is it the love for your family? The love of food? Is it the questions that command your mind to attention?

Is it to find a challenge to reveal your nature and talents?

If you could remember why you were born into the body you have what would it say?

Why are you here? Are you an answer to an ancient quest?

Does it matter what your answer is? It does matter that you dare to ask the question. And it matters that you are not imprisoned for asking the question.

Satellites

 

"A satellite is an object that moves around a larger object. Earth is a satellite because it moves around the sun. The moon is a satellite because it moves around Earth. Earth and the moon are called "natural" satellites." NASA

Living things like trees, animals and clouds, are satellites on earth, because we all transmit information.

A person's face can tell us how they are feeling, whether they have enough to eat and whether they have been loved and cared for.

There are so many ways we can tell others that we care. When I meet someone who cares about living things I can see it in their face, hear it in their voice. It has an affect on my mind and heart.

I see people as satellites transmitting information regardless of whether they want to or not.

I want to transmit belonging to all living things. I want to love all the satellites that brighten my world in ways that can only be transmitted from sentient beings.

Angels coming out of the wood work

Coming out of dreams

coming out of the telephone receiver

coming out of friendly visits

their smiles and clear eyes

while the news changes every day

the fire place is dark and cold

but someone (an angel?)

will come and light it soon

coffee will be bubbling

through the brewer soon

tea will be darkening

in the pot

bread in the toaster

and butter in the dish

will meet and melt

together somewhere

then an announcer

on CBC radio

will broadcast

today's weather.

Things will go right

and things will go wrong

and your beloved

will put their arms around you

and the light will get lighter

until evening

when it gets darker

I pray that if you don't have these things

the angels will agitate for you.

 

My Advent Calendar

 

I hope I can find words that live inside you

that remind us

amid the tragedies of the day

... we are not awful, greedy or violent.

We know this of course

but it isn't broadcast

in game shows and business reports.

Write down the things

you bring to this earth

even though goodness

doesn't receive public

acknowledgement.