Ask the difficult questions without expecting easy answers

Where did I put the calendars I purchased from Elizabeth? Why can't I stand up and look through the cupboards to find lost things? And why can't I remember things when my balance is poor?

What will it take for the majority of kind, caring and considerate people to influence the isolated lonely souls who seek only to rule the world? It's past time for us to understand that war and violence harms us all even if we gain wealth from it, it's only fleeting small things like trinkets and fame? 

The billionaires who stash wealth away from sight for fear of being taxed too much, who put locks on their doors and keep guns in their night table, send their kids to private schools and only wear clothes no-one else can afford - that is to design a lifestyle where they their positions are undisputed, where they have proved to the world they are number one, must be really stressed out. They must need our sympathy not jealousy. 

Life is given mysteriously beyond the sperm and the egg. We have no control which one will enter the waiting egg. No control over the quality of that union, egg or sperm. The anti-abortion movement fears what? When does my power become someone else's responsibility?

When does life begin? 

When does my responsibility begin?

What can I do to support a world where we have empathy before judgement? How can I be a responsible citizen where the majority of us weigh the burdens of our needs without knowing everything that happens?

Our minds and knowledge and education can liberate us to a degree, but we cannot control everything unless we kill everything we hear or see? Currently we have some souls who dedicate their working lives to kill thousands or millions and some who may be planning to kill everything else but how can we talk to them, listen to their fears?

There are so many who are needy of shelter, food, companionship and self-respect, because we have been raised in worlds that profess to value only the top.

Israel, Palestine, USA and White Supremacy

" The supposed campaign against anti-Semitism, interpreted as any statement that is critical of the State of Israel or denounces the genocide, is in fact the championing of White Power. It is why the German state, which has effectively criminalized support for the Palestinians, and the most retrograde white supremists in the United States, justify the carnage. Germany’s long relationship with Israel, including paying over $90 billion since 1945 in reparations to Holocaust survivors and their heirs, is not aboutatonement, as the Israeli historian Ilan Pappé writes, but blackmail. "

https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/israels-genocide-betrays-the-holocaust?utm

Here I am in my little house with my little words, outraged yet unable to find something I can do with the power I have to combat the hatred and violence in our world.

I am not alone. This system set up from the beginning of our patriarchal, capitalist, has preached the words assigned to a Palestinian Jew for the ones who have the least power while those who have the most continue to believe and behave like well dressed polished monsters. 

Classism, racism, religion, keep us believing we are isolated units competing for the top position, while the rest of us are entertaining ourselves to death.

There have been great philosophers and great thinkers whose names we have never heard, whose writing we have never read, whose songs we have never heard, whose real beauty never photographed. All around our society has dismissed the beauty they didn't create because its not useful for their bank account.

Where is the answer? How will we learn to love and honour life more than things? By doing it even when we don't get any recognition for giving birth, for feeding and providing warmth to what comes out of the womb, what is learned through libraries of text and hours of classes, to allow for the flooding of tears, to acknowledge the pain of millions.

We are not in control. We are the choir. We are the observers. The silent poets. Mothers and fathers, grandparents, aunts and uncles of the wailing never ending opera that is life, and that will, without our help become extinct.

To save the Jews we must save the hearts and voices of all. We must acknowledge our feelings, bless our tears, speak inclusively, listen intently and love with abandon.

On Being White

I began by competing with TV

loving the sitcoms

assuming I should look like them

talk like them

quick answer to everything

with a flick of my long blond hair

or thought

anything that came from me

was observation

and hopefully truth

being honest with myself

... it was the best I could do

until I learned there was so much

to learn and after all I didn't know

everything.

That's alright isn't it?

Until I listened to those

who came from somewhere else

like I came from England

full of confidence

until someone said

I have low self esteem

what does that mean?

Crash?

Depression flipped me upside

down and shut me up

until full of rage

I frightened myself

rushed out the door

leaving my children in bed

to go and find someone

to beat up!

White Supremacy and Misery - George Yancy - Truthout

 "Of course, they think they’ve been betrayed by liberals or leftists and critical race theory (CRT) or feminism or whatever, rather than a capitalist order intended to immiserate the masses for the benefit of the few. But it was whiteness that betrayed them: a racial contract, in Charles Mills’s terms, whose fine print they should have read more carefully. Because the masters of the universe who crafted it never gave a damn about most of them either, and will let them suffer for their own profit, especially so long as they keep scapegoating Black and Brown people for their pain."

https://truthout.org/articles/clinging-to-whiteness-offers-false-safety-true-liberation-requires-upending-it/?utm_source=Truthout&utm_campaign=ee7d644999-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023

Circle of Song - poems for humanity

 

Circle of Song

Circle of Song

a circle of humanity

is now a small booklet

available

on Gabriola.

Special thanks to Tony Turner for his music and lyrics

allowing me to use his title for the theme of this booklet

Thanks to Sonja Arntzen for two poems "Gift" and "He Sings"

to Chris Bowers for her poem "The Sleeping Dragon"

to Paul Gellman for "here We Go Again" and "Open the Gates"

to Deborah Goodman for "Small Matters"

to Leah Hokanson for her song Do I Listen

to Jennie Jones for her submission from Inca Q'era

to Robert Martens for his poem "the red dog barks at night"

and a few of my poems too.

But Love And I Had the Wit to Win

 https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8703-he-drew-a-circle-that-shut-me-out--heretic-rebel

“He drew a circle that shut me out-

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle and took him In!” 

Edwin Markham

Don't give up. Listen to the broken hearted misogynist capitalists. Let them know you are listening. Listening is how we can connect to the wider world which we cannot control.

We can use a gun to kill people, use a bomb to blow up cities, hire an obedient army, cut funding for those who need it most, write articles for news outlets, teach at schools, provide medicine to the sick and give birth to new fresh minds, raise them tenderly, teach them to be witnesses to what is going on, win a seat in government, study history - but we cannot control the future. 

Empathy is Essential

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article-parenting-children-empathy/

This article written by  Thomas Verny  is worth reading. As my children were growing up I realized I was not perfect and neither were they. I agonized all decisions but mostly had absorbed the book Children the Challenge which emphasized the integrity of our children should not be erased by parental needs for perfection.

Decisions I made were not always admirable according to friends and family. I often winced when my first born decided what he would wear to school.  I understood how easy it was to shatter a young persons self esteem by insisting he would change the clothes he wanted to wear or let him deal with the fallout himself. 

I winced when my middle child would get 100% on tests and could not praise her for wanting her to enjoy her schooling without the trap of perfection, so I emphasized her feelings about it. Later she revealed she couldn't understand why the praise she received from teachers was not echoed by her mother. I wanted her to love learning not feel she was obliged to be perfect.

All children are bullied regardless of who they are unless they rule as the biggest bully. The authority of threat and fear creates terrible consequences for society, on the street, in the classroom and the corporation.

Might makes right of violence, injustice, and bombs over lives.  The bomb is not created with a conscience. Authoritarian power is a threat to the intelligence and peace of the human mind. We can't create justice when we are too scared to feel and acknowledge who we are in all our complexities.

Our world  has been hijacked by bullies. They win because most of us realistically understand that power over our emotions discourages soul-searching. Those who enter political positions understand that the world insists that you win. It's not interested in the cost of winning. Power demands winning through fear and intimidation even if its over a democratic society.

Parents have to pay the mortgage or rent, they have to do their job, they can't afford to except might as a force for good. So we watch our city, country, community succumb to the highest bidder and integrity becomes a sentiment we think we can't afford, even as we watch our democracies crumble under convoys, loud bullying criticism. Even as we learn the bodies of young girls can be hijacked by criminal gangs for the highest bidder, even as we listen to all the ways the young are  threatened --  a shopping list of dangers as if we are acclimatized to corruption and our virgin children are naive. 

As if empathy is just another Pollyanna, as if feeling is redundant, as if the Orwellian world is all there is. Money without conscience or love for life is all we have to secure a home so guard it with locks and bulldogs.

There is a man who became the ruler of an ancient civilization and the only power he has is bombs and guns as he attempts to annihilate a group of others who are attempting to annihilate his country, humans who are trained to kill then sleep at night to get up again to kill more women, children and men.

Our nightly entertainments are replays of killers, their victims and men who must catch them. It's not a world for women and children. Some countries make it illegal for women to appear in public. Why are women and children a threat? What feelings do they impart to our minds we should be offended by the sight of them?

If we cannot organize a society that embraces life, if we cannot feel the pain of those who suffer, we shall lose it.

Questions for Discussion

 

These questions are laid out in an article on Antisemitism ................... 

1.  How have Jews been affected by antisemitism? What impact does antisemitism have on others?

For me, I feel terribly sad and angry. I am not Jewish but it seems that no-one can afford to dismiss it. The Nazi's used antisemitism to overrule educated democratic systems and create authoritarian government which dissolved into a focus on despair and death. As much as I am concerned for my Jewish friends I feel strongly that a society where hate is given as reason and the only way to "contribute" is to punish those who are blamed.

2. What is the meaning of “scapegoat”? What do people gain from scapegoating? If all the wrong is created by one animal. It's ridiculous of course, as though a goat has some magical power. However the focus is on blame because it never creates a healing example. Yes some people can be blamed for creating division but the work still has to be done by the people. Differences don't matter as much as effort. We are all in this together said Tommy Douglas even though some have insight and talent to fix problems, the first concern is that everyone is involved whether we love them or not. Love calls us to listen and speak to all. Now I know that isn't easy if they point a gun at you, and when we get to drawing a weapon the resolution is meaningless. The word "together" is broken when the gun is brought out.

Using the Scapegoat is a cop-out.

3. What is the effect of hateful images and speech? Do images and words reflect existing attitudes or create them? 

Hate leaves us powerless. It divides. It doesn't bring us together. We are fleshy emotional animals. Hate and blame positions us as innocent and angry. When what we need is patience and some trust.

4. How has antisemitism changed throughout history? What are some differences among religious, political, and racial antisemitism?

I am not a historian. This would best be answered by those who have studied history, sociology, psychology and economics. I am aware that scapegoating feels comfortable moving into the realm of magical thinking. But also the feeling that some sources have power over us is a rhetorical habit. Upper classes, magicians, money and power. To blame and not engage with people because they are ....... other is a cop out. I do work on "love" as a basis for relationship to others as a way to care and respect.

5, Why would political or religious leaders espouse antisemitic ideas?

It's a quick and easy way to spread hate and fear which gives power to a single group or individual and we can believe the problem will be solved. But the problem just becomes more difficult because of the pain and alienation it creates. 

6.  How is antisemitism similar to or different from other forms of group hatred? 

A woman is a woman no matter what she says, an African is black no matter what he believes, a Jew is a Jew no matter his religion, skills or beliefs. Its such a cheap and easy way to create division but it doesn't solve anything.

These events tell me that humanity is in need of loving kindness, a society that is liberal to the point we can say, read, learn and join groups that interest us and aspire to a powerful movement that enables us to learn more without feeling coerced or afraid of attack. We look for friendship and inspiration. But it is all of us who must engage in the quality of our society. 

Our society represents the effort we make to care for each other, to be moved to engage when we are insulted by injustice done to anyone. This is without using force money or influence to intimidate anyone.

Alanis Obomsawin

 https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/indigenous-filmmaker-alanis-obomsawin-beatty-lecture-1.7019757?cmp=newsletter_The%20IDEAS%20Newsletter_10358_1304110

A beautiful courageous soul who has managed to change the world along with many others who have conscience and courage.

Extreme Prejudice

 

https://www.monbiot.com/2023/11/16/extreme-prejudice/

George Monbiot must have come from a different planet to see the mess we (humans) are in.

News sites, papers and radio, are telling us we have no hope. Government is poisoning  our future with cynicism.

Let's go back to the jungle then. When we had to compete with tigers and germs for the next meal. When the cave walls were too close to see the weather outside.

Then we might not have dwelt on how much power we had in comparison to the rest of the world. Not that I know what we did dwell on. It's all in my imagination where my personal power starts and ends yet others may suffer when my power overrides their safety and comfort.

Let's not go back to the jungle. There was an Adam and Eve but they had different names and histories and evolved from primates which include all the great apes. (Wikipedia) 

The goal of war is to demoralize the human spirit. Make everything about killing and death and torture. Make all news to highlight our arrogance and our mistakes where love is redundant.

Reading the news is simply feedback of all our errors without questioning arrogance or ego. Enter dreams of fascism, guns and bombs. Enter love of money, wealth and celebrity.

But we could celebrate birthdays and the beautiful human face of those we depend on like mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers. Even though this seems wishy-washy. Friends and family are the drugs that will get us through without the withdrawal symptoms. 

Unless the people we depend on are toxic or those in positions of power have abused that trust by directing their energies towards their own vanity. The way we are nurtured and nurture others is the beginning of our survival as a species.

Prayer For The Psychopath

 

Prayer for the Psychopath

Your early years were the training

for your life

and all that you think

except that which

dare not be thought

or given a second

in your day

Your training has come from

billions of years

unnamed teachers

civilized control

trauma crowded out by

pomp and circumstance

In kindergarten the scary parts

turned into animal comics

and little songs

to encourage you to trust

civilization and its experts

universities

veritable awards

rewarding the memory

with beautiful things

like the violin

small hands to guide

the bow across strings

gentle like a swan on the water

then to instruct you to be in control

at all times.

No-one to tell you how sweet

your hungry heart is.

So you stay on the window

looking in

constantly arguing with all the voices

carried since the first time

you were told you will never 

amount to anything.

Vivian Silver Jewish Peace Activist

"For many who have never lived through war, peace may be a word misconstrued for something naive or facile, but for activists fighting for peace on the ground, it is all about the fierce, Sisyphean, constant labor of the body and the mind. It is not popular or easy to keep fighting for peace in a land of constant conflict. Many have died on its altar, and in recent years, as political turmoil roils Israel from within, the word peace often feels like an endangered species. Yet to her final days, it kept falling and falling from Silver’s lips."

https://www.kveller.com/remembering-jewish-peace-activist-vivian-silver/

Mighty Vengeance

Leader of a powerful nation

has designed the image

to the end

with bombs, guns and drones

he completes the mighty warrior

cleaning the earth

of its problems

wiping all the little pieces

off the chess board

— a clean slate

where tomorrow we can

start again

without having learned anything.

I can imagine all the worlds mothers

saying to themselves

I won’t go through that again.

Never again has new meaning now. 

Torture Before The Kill

 

“There is something so uniquely evil about ‘a humanitarian pause.’ It’s an Orwellian demand to continue taking human life indiscriminately with moments of reprieve, so that the kill have some food, water and bandages before they are targeted again,” media critic Sana Saeed said on social media. “It is torture before the kill.”

Media critic Sana Saeed on Social Media. https://truthout.org/articles/over-1000-protesters-shut-down-chicago-train-station-to-demand-ceasefire/?utm

The History of Antisemitism

 https://www.ushmm.org/antisemitism/what-is-antisemitism/why-the-jews-history-of-antisemitism

I visited this site and learned that antisemitism began with the Christian Church, and the violence towards Jews has become worse with each century.

Except this new one - I hope. But hope is not enough.

And even now the battle in Israel between Netanyahu and Hamas can be directed to the British who "gave" Israel to the Jews in 1948. 

I do not have a degree in history so will not endeavour to write much here.  The website www.ushmm.org has questions for us all to discuss.

• How have Jews been affected by antisemitism? What impact does antisemitism have on others?

• What is the meaning of “scapegoat”? What do people gain from scapegoating?

• What is the effect of hateful images and speech? Do images and words reflect existing attitudes or create them? 

• How has antisemitism changed throughout history? What are some differences among religious, political, and racial antisemitism?

• Why would political or religious leaders espouse antisemitic ideas?

• How is antisemitism similar to or different from other forms of group hatred?

  
  

  Yes bring in the children too. It's something we need to talk about.