Heartbreak, War and Violence

This is a time of grieving. If you see yourself as part of a larger group called humanity. 

There is little to no sign of heroic accomplishments. I know of many people who are kind, intelligent and creative. They tend to work in small groups, writing, performing, acknowledging inspiring art and performances in the world today.

We might notice the news seems focused on a few bad actors to the extent you might feel that must be all there is. You might even check the horoscope for a sign this is true.

Then there is Israel, and even the new president of USA. The most powerful nation in the world or North America ... 

For some reason our minds appear to be obsessed with power in all it's different forms.

 

There's Another Train - wisdom from Bob Bossin

 

https://bbossin.bandcamp.com/track/another-train?from=fanpub_fb_trk

Bob Bossin manages to educate people on what's happening and how we can win by paying attention to that voice that questions the greed of our capitalist habits.

We Have Proven Reality Doesn't Matter To Those In Power

Leaders, and their followers are not interested in a fair and just future, where vulnerable people are protected from greed and the violence it creates. What we are seeing now are a special kind of animal. One that doesn't suffer reality, justice, or freedom from narcissism. 

Forget the reality of life on this planet. Pretend we are in an action movie with a cast of caricatures. Egos competing for the most of what each of them wants.

 

Robert Reich And The Crisis We Face

"

Understand the nature of power – who possesses it and why, how it is wielded, and for what purposes. Power means not being accountable for actions that hurt others but that increase your own power and wealth.." https://www.eurasiareview.com/02012025-robert-reich-the-20-realities-of-the-american-system-oped/#google_vignette

Power is many things to many people, but when Adolf Hitler took power in the 1930's he changed the world and not for the better. The suffering of Hitler's targets were beyond traumatizing.

In my naïveté I believed humanity was a decent animal who had a conscience and was shocked to hear of the tortures forced on innocent people.

But the point of power is to create a world where the majority of people have very little power over their lives. That's what war is about.

So we who are not invested in weapons of mass or psychological destruction must practice loving kindness as well as good planning.

Today At The Mall

Sitting in the mall, having a drink and chatting with family, I observed something that crystallized the thing of this age. There was a table with four youth around it joking and smiling, having a good time. 

There were two girls and two boys. Could have been fourteen, fifteen, thereabouts. There seemed to be a joke that gathered them. Having a good time,  then it seemed that one of them pushed the table toward the two who were sitting opposite engaged in some kind of contest. One of them pushed the table in the centre out toward the pathway. They giggled.   Who could win? Win what? It doesn't matter as long as you win says the capitalist jingle.

But what can we win? Friends? Money? Status? Fame?

Unless we are all engaged our culture is manufactured by media. Movies, stars, fame? Equals more money. White men and women who know how to be famous, how to get famous, to rise up, win votes, prizes. Win win win win. Just win. And if you don't get the prize keep trying.

The mall is the perfect place to display your whatever. Just win.

Migrant Rights!

 Dear Janet, 

Today, on International Migrants Day, the federal government released a statement claiming to “reaffirm our commitment to protecting migrants’ rights.” But here’s the truth: 2024 has been a year of endless attacks on migrant rights.

This week, they granted themselves new powers to “cancel, change, and suspend immigration documents,” while promising to fast-track—read: discriminate against—certain asylum claimants.

They say they “acknowledge the significant difficulties that many migrants face,” yet their recent sweeping immigration changes will cause 2.3 million permits to expire in the next two years, tearing families apart and leaving temporary permit holders and undocumented individuals more vulnerable than ever.

Cut through the noise. Speak with your friends, co-workers, and family to help separate fact from fiction about immigration.

And here’s one quick action you can take right now: forward this email to three people you know.

What? What! Is it we need to do?

USA could be congratulated for ending the rule of humanity on this planet. That's if you believe humans are ruling it.

Certainly we are destroying it. Greed. Climate change. Nuclear war. All of us arguing to save the world or not.

Certainly there are many theories presented every day. In media. In church. In the science lab. This causes a noise in politics. Contests of voices trying to be the loudest, to get the most votes, to sell the most stuff, to bring in the most money, to be the most popular.

When will we get over ourselves and who is the loudest voice? 

Are we happy? Are we winning?

The story this far beginning in the dark womb of a woman's body, an egg waits to be fertilized. Now we know that it takes male and female to create the embryo, then it needs warmth, nutrition and peace, to grow, to feed from food that finds its way (sorry I don't have the technical language for this process but I suspect you know what I mean).

Every day you wake up you think. Might be -- what's for breakfast? Might be a list of things you (have told yourself) you have to do, or else ... something you don't want to happen will happen.

You will have a list. For me it's what can I do to fix some of our problems. Violence against women, men, children.

Might be -- go to work, go shopping, go to school, place of worship, hospital, factory  -- to do whatever job you have promised to do.

This sounds quite banal yet its very important. Shortly after WWII the USA created drama programs for us to watch. A good guy, a bad guy, a gun and a couple of men. There were dramas in Europe and Asia as well. But it was made easy because the whole story could be finished in an hour. Good guys, bad guys, winners, losers. But we haven't fixed anything because there is still injustice, bad behaviour, wicked actors and people getting hurt. In Europe there had been stories in books and TV, on stage, in schools. All of this was necessary for social cohesion. Then there were many stories competing for the audience, advising different values.

Rather than cohesion we have competition for different beliefs, religions, politics. We spend our lives convincing others we are right or at least surviving. And to add more tension, we don't have equal options. Humanity is a problem. 

We isolated egos don't ask to be born but we dominate this world and the future. In our minds. For as long as we are here we will think about all problems we have or may have in the future.

We have to think about this. How do we want our future to be and how do we get there when we create stories that hold ourselves up as the good guys and the others are bad?