Newsletter – Issue 47
Surviving Civilization
Everyone should be keenly aware of how difficult it is to live these days. The demands that society places upon us all are onerous and burdensome, increasingly expensive and difficult to overcome — all of it occurring in varying degrees to you in a direct relationship to your financial ability (to pay).
The young and the elderly have a particularly hard time of surviving today. Young people are faced with the daunting task of high rents, low-paying menial jobs (or no jobs at all), and even higher education costs in the hopes of a “career” or future.
A higher education doesn’t mean much of anything anymore, as competition from all ages in increasing, with the most desperate willing to take the lowest pay. Qualified nurses, lawyers, architects, machinists, steel workers and trained persons from all walks of life are being forced to work at menial positions in order to survive.
Many people are getting very angry at this, with this guy going to some extensive lengths to get even. The great sadness here is not what the man did (in 2004), as he destroyed the town with his bulldozer, but how he had been treated and the absolute ignorance to this injustice.
“I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable”, Heemeyer wrote. “Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things.”[7]
Nothing has changed since this time, and nothing will either. Instead of rebuilding the town, they should have left it as it was, as a memorial of injustice.
The rage we all feel from time to time (or all the time, as the case may be) is justified. But we must be careful to discard any sense of ‘entitlement’ as this is misplaced. We are not actually entitled to anything, the world that our parents had is NOT the same world we have today. And it will be radically different for our kids, their world in particular as the next generation to inherit what we have done (or failed to do), they are going to experience things that no human has ever experienced before.
I write these articles in this newsletter with the general idea that we need to “see clearly”, or as clearly as we possibly can. The volume of disinformation and misinformation, much of it deliberate makes seeing clearly a challenging task. At issue is our belief systems and what we think we know and how these things relate to our experiences. Connecting the dots between today’s news and tomorrows events is helpful towards our understanding of trends, themes and outcomes and what we can expect.
Civilization, as we know it today, has become (imo) very burdensome. It’s like a giant weight pressing down upon us, we’re expected to carry this load upon our shoulders day in and day out, handing this onerous burdened down when we are too exhausted to continue to our progeny, who are then expected to carry the same load.
I find this entire notion basically “bull” because I disagree with much of what civilization demands of us, and what little it actually really offers us. I see no point in perpetuating this fraudulent existence any longer then necessary. The answer to this begins with our refusal – refuse to go along with the parts that do not make any sense, that do not support you and yours, that do not offer you relief from your daily burden and that only support the mythical notions of “progress” in a society that is clearly insane.
Not all aspects of civilization or our society are all bad of course, but frankly, enough of it is actually quite bad and misguided enough that rejecting the whole instead of the parts can be more successful then trying to make accommodations.
It is very hard to navigate the two realities of what this means. On one hand, we are part of society, dependent upon what society produces and even offers us in order to exist, but on the other, we find ourselves making contributions, usually unwillingly to things we know that are actually destroying us. We are in fact exhibiting a duality of existence, a dichotomy of opposing tensions which in turn is creating cognitive dissonance in all of us.
Some people simply give up, finding this just too hard to hold in tension (balance) and not go insane. But I’ve never yet found anyone that can simply forget what they now know, unless it’s being drowned out with alcohol or drugs. Most of us just choose to forget as best we can, or withdraw, leaving little room left in our lives to be forced to interact too much and deal with the opposing forces.
This is probably unavoidable for the majority of us I suspect, but I’m no psychologist and can only write about what I observe. I do know that many people are having quite a bit of trouble with this issue, usually exhibited in more obvious ways such as job dissatisfaction, spousal problems, even drug or drinking problems. The “futility of civilization” seems to drag us down into the depths of despair if we are not careful.
I do not think any of these things are healthy of course, and can only suggest a few things to help you “survive civilization” and what this has come to mean today. These are the things that have helped me:
1) Stay focused. It is important to not lose sight of your goals, whatever they might be. There is a reason you came to be the way you are — and why you are persuaded to these viewpoints that you hold. If they remain true, then so should you, so stay focused.
2) Weed out the disinformation and misinformation. This is a pet subject of mine, as too much of what passes for news is just unadulterated bullshit today. Shut it out of your life if it causes too much tension. Sometimes I’ll do just that, but most of the time it doesn’t bother me as I recognize it for what it is. The b.s. is never going to go away, it’s how they manipulate people and get them to do what they want against their own best interest (like borrow money, fight in wars, support corrupt government and such like). Remember that it takes an awful lot of propaganda to get people to do stupid things, you’re literally wallowing in it and so is everyone else.
3) Pick your confidents carefully. We’re at the point in human history where trying to persuade the masses to their folly is hardly productive. Sharing your latest revelation, insight, news source, opinion or discovery is often disappointing because it falls on deaf ears. One of the many reasons I closed the blog is I often felt this way. What you know is often not what people want to hear, so don’t waste your time or your breath on trying to convince the world. This fits in with #1 of course.
Talk with those that are open and interested, but don’t beat your head against the wall on those that aren’t. Don’t believe the myth that “people want the truth”, when it’s obvious that they don’t. Never forget, if they wanted the truth, they’d have it already, and this is true for most other things too. There is actually nothing really stopping us all from having the truth except our own disinterest.
The truth is most of humanity is probably already doomed (yes, it is as bad as that) because of their refusal to “get it”. And this is actually what they really want too. They’ve had ample opportunity to get with the program so to speak, especially within the developed world, but their actions reveal their real choices. Recognize that fact and don’t waste your time any further.
4) It is a myth (urban legend kind of thing) that if more people “understood” or “participated” or “joined in” or any such similar thing, that we could stop what is now happening, so don’t fall for this and don’t try to participate in these kinds of activities and efforts either.
The reason it is a myth is because even very large groups (millions of people) now have near-negligible impact on events, and they are almost always failing to apply the proper pressure (and they are very easily and often manipulated themselves). Groups operate on “group think” principles, which are generally useless and very ineffective and are almost always co-opted by external interests (and infiltrated). Their dynamic is to work within very well defined vertical disciplines and response modes that accomplish very little, even if the group is very large.
Therefore, don’t bother with these things. You are much more powerful by not participating in the group and remaining independent and autonomous. It is also a lot safer by the way for you. You also don’t get caught up in a lot of wasted and expended energy, time and money.
5) Think for yourself. Don’t get caught up in the latest hype, fear or scare mongering. It’s pelting us all from all sides these days, a never ending constant barrage coming from even the most “trusted” sources. Most of it, if not all of it, is pure crap. Blow it off. Believe it when you see it. Pessimism is not negative here. Don’t fall for the hype and propaganda, I don’t care who it’s coming from. You will breath much easier, having far less stress and will be able to stay focused on your original goals.
Moreover, you don’t have any control over these things anyway — even if they came true. Realize this very important point and don’t get caught up, think for yourself and just move ahead, each day, bit by bit, step by step. Learn to live your life and no other, especially not one that is being “programmed” for you.
6) Turn off the media inputs. Start with television, Internet, magazines, shortwave (especially shortwave) and any other “broadcast” that is seeking to persuade you to anything (including this newsletter). Going back to #5, think for yourself. How much of what you are hearing affects you? How much is true? How much is false? How much is just hype and b.s. to get you to believe something? Always watch your pocket here too, because that is usually what they’re really after.
7) Read. If you don’t read books, start. They’re wonderful for enlightening your mind and you can absorb the information as fast as you can read, or as slowly as you may desire. If needed, read word by word and let it be absorbed in your mind one word at a time. Good authors can explain their points, or tell their stories or convey the information that they are seeking to share with you without having to subject you to a ten-second media sound byte that you are supposed to swallow hook, line and sinker.
Reading is an incredibly valuable skill and will help you immensely throughout your entire life.
What you read is just as important. I do not allow trash magazines in my house unless my wife sneaks one in, which she does do sometimes! I let it lay around for a week or two then throw it out, because it’s just crap and she and I both know it. Instead, we both read a lot of books and almost everyday, we have spent an hour or two at a minimum reading, even if it’s late at night.
Develop a good library of titles that you like. I don’t much care what they are, what matters here is if they are important to you. I loved Robert Heinlein’s The Moon Is A Hash Mistress, a fictional story nonetheless, but informative and educational. I’ve got a copy of this and many other fiction books around here somewhere.
My main library contains quite a few non-fiction titles that I pull down from time to time. Jared Diamond’s How Societies Choose To Fail or Succeed was fascinating (to me), as is the latest title I’m still reading, Omni-Science and the Human Destiny.
Books are immensely valuable sources of intelligent thinking, pools of resources and will help sharpen your mind to new concepts and new ideas, even discarding old ones and developing new ones. Read whatever you can get your hands on, it’s one of the reasons Americans are so dumbed-down today, they don’t read.
8) Unplug. Take time to just sit and let your mind and your body to relax. I have the most trouble with this one as I work 7 days a week. But sometimes I just can’t take it anymore and I unplug. Get away from all noise, all sounds even if you can (turn off the radio and the idiot box) and go sit quietly and observe all things. I mean observe nature and your surroundings, examine the grass and look at the sky, and observe within your own mind and body what you are experiencing, feeling, sensing. Call this meditation if you like, but take the time to unplug, unwind and disconnect from this artificial existence of glass and steel, asphalt and concrete and constant noise and reconnect to yourself, to nature and to your surroundings. This is immensely helpful and satisfying and can create peace and tranquility where there was none.
9) Finally, go do something fun. Take a walk, ride a bike, drive a car, go eat, run, play, swim, hike, see a movie even. Whatever your idea of “fun” is, go do it. You need to do this to relax, to also help you unwind and to realize that life is not all about work, money, toil, sweat and tears. Life “happens” with you plugged in or not, whether you’re constantly attentive or not, and you need to learn to let go from time to time. It’s very important to not be so wound up tight that you can’t learn to exist and simply “be”.
Learn to have fun, and learn to “be”. You are who you are and there really isn’t much that is going to change this. Be yourself, be honest, be true, practice your life with integrity and honor and have some fun from time to time. Life was not intended for us to be miserable, laughter is fantastic medicine and so is good company, good food and good times.
Civilization will do whatever it is going to do without our help, involvement, protest, dissent or participation. That is reality. That is what you can all expect. In the meanwhile, we have our own lives to live and there is no point in squandering this precious gift upon the anvils of anxiety and worry.
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The Terrorist That Wouldn’t Die – Yet another bogus recording from Bin Laden. These things are laughable and far, far past the point where there is even a shred of credibility from the “intelligence community”. Talk about an oxymoron.
Cops Beat the Hell Out of The Wrong Man (again). Must be the umpteenth thousandth time this has now happened. Of course, there is no clear pattern to this, these things are just “accidental”.
Israel Claims Ownership of West Bank Forever – Eternity is a long time, especially for a man who is going to die soon.
Zoey sent me this video link, which fits in exactly with my arguments against Empire in the last issue and the total domination efforts by the US military. There is also this video which also fits in exactly with what I’ve been trying to convey in these newsletters.
Non-compliance, refusal to go along, think for yourself, act responsibly, disconnect. Do these things to empower yourself, your life and stop contributing to the gears of Empire.
Empire Stupidly Marches Ahead
Despite our failing economy, millions homeless, ongoing home foreclosures and even more bank closures, the expansion of Empire via military domination continues as usual. Promising even more military growth, this is clear evidence that essential change within Empire is impossible.
This is a strong reason why I do not believe that contraction will defeat the practice of domination, even here at home.
Venezuela Has The World’s Largest Oil Fields – A new report with sobering news: A new USGS report reveals that Venezuela has the world’s largest reserves, over twice the size of Saudi Arabia. This has staggeringly huge implications (and why I believe war in the South America will happen).
Thank God Osama Is Dead! – His recent video from the grave reveals however, that the CIA, NSA and AAA are busy resurrecting the dude to provide more scare-mongering from the shadows.
Lobbyist For Foreign Corporations Seek to Use Foreign Money To Influence American Elections – The only thing “new” here is that they are now coming out in the open on this issue. They’ve been doing this illegally for decades, but the Supreme Court has now ruled on the issue.
Corporations do not (should not) have the same rights as natural persons (especially foreign corporations). I’ve written on this topic before. It is exceedingly dangerous to give artificial entities that same status as natural persons, who in turn are never held personally accountable for their actions (and inactions, which have also caused a lot of death and destruction).
The Island of Doubt has a Minority Report on this topic too.
I have a major bone to pick with corporations in general, but that’s not news or any secret either. Corporations are the driving engines behind government mandates and legislation, they’re also the world’s worst polluters and destroyers of the planetary environment. They receive special protected status and privileged position from nations all over the world due to their influence and control. They manipulate markets, control economies and essentially are “the force” behind most of what is wrong on this planet. The other part of this equation is that many of us actually work for them, making this all possible.
And now they want to come out of the closet and directly rule over our (s)election process. Why don’t we just pick the corporation we like best and let them rule the planet? How about Monsanto? Or Archer-Daniels? Or who is your favorite? Halliburton? General Dynamics? Pick one! We could have a McHappening Day where everybody is a corporate employee, guaranteed a job and meat-flavored veggie burger!
Thought for the Day (or week) – There has to be altruism in the universe: Physicist
What we don’t know is far more then what we think we know. Alien life is but one thing we probably don’t know how to recognize yet. I thought we would have figured this out with the reptilian nature of our government, but guess we haven’t.
