Losing Our Country Losing Our Minds

 https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/11/19/opinion/saving-cbc-saving-canada-poilievre?utm_source=National+Observer&utm_campaign=f25cc29e16-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024

Read this. Listen to CBC. Read National Observer. This is a critical time that demands our thinking, feeling and imagining a future based solely on greed for power.

The only thing that can save us from losing our selves is holding on to our relationship to other humans.

George Monbiot www.monbiot.com

The eye concludes that this is a species, beset by a lethal combination of conformity, distraction and a fear of offending powerful interests, actively collaborating in its own extinction. It sees a species dominated by Lords of the Desert: people prepared to destroy everything as long as they can command the ruins. It wonders whether the species has a survival instinct at all, or whether, instead, it has only an instinct to obey.

 

Humanity's War Against Nature

We might think we are heading into a dangerous age but we have been making this journey since the beginning of patriarchal capitalism.

It was the beginning of empire. Training young men to be soldiers. I'm not saying it should never have happened but there was a new power of the mind. It was strategic.  It was organizing levels of consciousness. Divide and conquer. It turned out to be really useful. 

What imperialism wanted was the warrior, willing to put his body into the battle to save his homeland from invasion. None of this was new it just became more obvious. Strong men had to be trained to kill strangers and kin regardless of how they felt.

Feelings had to become part of the weaponry and man had to give up his connection to his own mind. Distance himself from family, from mother and father, from belonging to the human race. Obedience was very valuable. War was very painful. Death final.

The timing of this I don't know. I am not a sociologist. I am a poet that's all. And I think this led to  misogyny, racism, classism and trauma between wars. Eventually humans became self-hating, wondering all their life if they were good enough, also trying to find the permanent in the future. But each century brought new groups. University graduates, scientists, artists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Unitarian Universalists, Rationalists, Heathens. Along with this came the non-believers, isolated egos competing for the most of what each wants, workers, millionaires, feminists, misogynists, semites, whites, teens, infants, left-handed, and on it goes. Each generation invents new groups which makes many people angry or at least intolerant.

Now we see the end of our species in nightmares and artificial intelligence. The most powerful nation squandering its power on officials who are narcissistic, seemingly bent on destroying the nation they belong to because they have told themselves they are better than the group they have been slotted into.

We are self-hating animals, tired of all the labels, losing our identity to fashion.

Who Has The Authority To Speak?

 

I remember when I lived in the Bible Belt I got a few calls from unnamed men.

I emailed a few people to see who wanted to meet in a discussion group. The subject was multi-culturalism.

A male voice who I don't recall identifying himself said "You don't have the authority to do this". I wasn't sure what it was that caused him to call. He was polite and I can't remember what I said. I suspect I was equally polite and said thank you for calling. I wasn't sure what he was talking about. 

Most of the people I met were polite and helpful and some were even advanced in their dedication to humanity and worked bravely but new movements such as multiculturalism and feminism were often shut down.

Even the radical new movements were polite but it wasn't long before women who had started groups left them.

A couple of groups managed to leave their mark and created books before leaving or moving on.

Now the most powerful nation in the world has a president who openly ridicules women. White Supremacy uses women and those with brown skin to serve as second class.

How does it benefit us all? It plunders us towards war and violence. Furthermore it is the ignition to violence, fear and discontent. Respecting life is good for us. Encouraging freedom of different ideas to the point where a group is encouraged to believe they are superior to another group. It taints every mind with fear and doubt, it is cruel to those who are dependent on others for their care.

 

Consequences of Power Without Nurture

“The consequences of this election are clear for those on the frontlines of the climate crisis,” said Jennifer Krill, executive director of the environmental justice group Earthworks, in a statement. “Low-income communities and communities of color will bear the brunt of impact, from poisoned air and water to extreme weather events and rising sea levels, all within our lifetimes.” Winona Hauter.

https://truthout.org/articles/biden-made-slow-but-steady-progress-on-climate-trump-is-poised-to-dismantle-it/?utm_source=feedotter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=FO-11-11-2024&utm

Man As Saviour Woman As Nuisance.

 This might seem outrageous but I see our planet becoming antilife and pro power unless we wake up to what is happening.

The recent election coverage broadcast in Canada, revealed how controllers of the world have become more famous and adored. Love for the arts, music, literature, education and social engagement have become irritants to politicians.

Reporters want more sports, more winners and leaders, more wars, more death, more toys, more power.

We have reached the stage where reality is replaced with ego. This means that the feminine has become redundant, not in reality, but in choice.

Man has become more aggressive, more angry, more judgemental and more violent. As in the time of Hitler who wanted to be in control. Of everything.

We might call this narcissism which has been the major focus for leaders and although we might dismiss this as extreme, I remember thinking that the candidate for president must have more conscience than the one recently.

Grab her by the pussy, bitches, cat ladies, idiots -- have returned as misogynist anger, but I can't help but think as we take away the privilege of white men, they are incensed to be seen as privileged rather than great leaders.

Rulers do not care about how others see them. They feel they have proven they are miles above everyone else, and they have earned that position by their own gifts. Rulers are demigods not humans.

The people of colour, women, gays and others simply don't belong here. It's a feeling deeply rooted in the ego who has been praised for winning the war, whatever and whenever it is.

To be a firefighter, doctor, nurse, pastor, teacher, politician, police officer - takes courage and strength when they work with others for the greater good. Society doesn't exist in war or political battles. There are winners and losers. That's all.

Requiem for Humanity

 

Sometimes we were given opportunities to improve our lot, but because it was offered to all, not just to you and me, we didn't see the value in it. We became social crocodiles. We voted against it because we believed that true power was only given to a special minority. We were still children in a moral sense, behaving badly.

We looked for politics that would make us special. We didn't understand that uplifting all of life would also uplift us.  And because we wanted special status we never blamed ourselves for the outcomes, we would jeer and laugh at the ridicule shown to others in a short moment of smugness.

This is how we lost the world, allowed those who did the work to be burned as witches, murdered as queers, hung as Africans. We are in the minority but we decide the fate of the future of all.

When people go hungry and homeless while a special few fly jets to different planets, we are saying life is common, not special. Then we treat each other as trash.

Weaving a Future From Dreams and Wisdom

 

"Harris is the rule of law; Trump, lawlessness. Harris, inclusion; Trump, exclusion. Harris, decency; Trump, loathsomeness. Harris, the American Dream; Trump, the American nightmare. Harris wants the best for the country; Trump wants the best only for himself. I don’t need to go on. You know all this. The question is why doesn’t everyone else? " Robert Reich.

 “By fascism I just have in mind (1) the cult of personality of a Leader; (2) the party that becomes a single party; (3) the threat and use of violence; and (4) the big lie that must be accepted and used to reshape reality: in this case, that Trump can never lose an election.” Robert Paxton (The Tyee, Nov. 5)

I have only heard a couple of people explain why they are voting for Trump, and I sense, which is not proof or rational judgement, and it seems like they don't really know or cannot articulate.

So I have a theory, based on feelings not logic, not provable, that its somewhat like a nice cup of tea, known, warm and comforting.

I also believe that our most common theories work like a blanket on an infant's cot. We are not ready to give it up, so when we do our worst, when we are left without any way to tackle it, trying to overcome grief and shame, we'll find something to blame.