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Welcome To The Insane Asylum – Our Collective Psychosis - Chapter One
Welcome To The Insane Asylum – Our Collective Psychosis
Chapter One
All Aboard the Crazy Train.
All amusement park rides have one characteristic in common. Regardless of the twists and turns of the experience, the exit is always at the end. This examination of our collective and individual dysfunction, our insanity, follows a similar path. We start with the identification of a few of the bigger picture issues, then move closer for a critical inspection of several of the individual and cultural dynamics and end with some guidance towards the lighted exit sign and one possible way out.
I’ve never been more confident in humanity’s ability to finally throw off the chains that bind. But (and there’s always a “but”) this can only be accomplished using the powerfully disinfecting sunlight of awareness and understanding. This is usually achieved through self reflection, self actualization and eventually enlightenment. A common misperception among many is that the general population is not intelligent enough to become aware and enlightened. The awakening process has nothing to do with our IQ and everything to do with our EQ or Emotional Quotient.
If we can be conditioned by fear and narcissistic naval gazing to be self destructive, we can be encouraged to be emotionally and spiritually healthy as long as we don’t look to our leaders for guidance. In fact, we must not transfer the responsibility for our own well being to others for this is simply an invitation to manipulate and extort us. There’s no single solution, no magic button to be pushed that makes everything better, allowing us to go back to our comfortable insanity. Ultimately our own unique journey is a deeply personal and individual experience and while the direction is clear, the path is customized by each journey.
There is no softer easier way, no short cut through the maze and no one to walk the path for us. I know this because of my long and at times difficult personal experience overcoming self erected obstacles as well as those placed there by my culture and country. I’ve tried every path I could possibly imagine before eventually settling on the only one I could find with an exit. That alone should be encouraging to many because until a few years ago I didn’t think there was a way out.
And I’m not alone because many people I talk to still feel it’s hopeless. The question (in my mind at least) is no longer can we save ourselves but what’s the process that must be followed in order to make the lasting changes needed to not only survive but grow and prosper. Make no mistake about what I’m saying; there will be pain no matter what we do or don’t do. But there is pain during healing as well as pain during destruction and we have a choice.
Swimming in the Shipping Channel of Life
The answers are deceptively simple, which makes it difficult for most people to accept when we’ve been conditioned to believe that complexity requires complex solutions. Nothing could be further from the truth. When one finds they’ve dug themselves into a hole, the first rule to follow is to stop digging. Since we’ve been trained all our lives that digging’s what we do, it’s almost heretical to ponder anything else. Considering how our narrow view benefits certain select “others” we should question everything we believe once we’ve stopped digging and are looking for a way out.
As with all my work, I ask the reader to consume it in it’s entirely, in the order presented and to leave all sections in context. I’ve broken this essay into multiple parts (5 at this point) for easier consumption. But it really doesn’t work unless it’s read as a continuous thought process. So I suggest you read each section in order because this isn’t 5 independent articles, but rather one article broken into 5 separate pieces.
Each section won’t necessarily make sense on its own unless you’ve read the preceding sections. Even then it might not make any sense, but I’m only responsible for my insanity. You’re on your own. This silliness started out as a one or two page blurb but quickly morphed into Godzilla like proportions. Consider it the insane leading the insane and have some fun while expanding your mind.
May I also suggest that you read each section twice, something I usually do when reading anything new? Reading it the first time trips all the objections my ego comes up with, which exposes my deep conditioning and indoctrination. My ego always defends my consciousness from the inevitable cognitive dissonance I experience when I read something that contradicts what I think I believe.
Basically my ego lies to me and then defends those lies using the pain of cognitive dissonance. The first reading clears out all those trip wires and leads the way for the second reading, which talks directly to the reasoning, common sense and empathy centers of my consciousness. If I really enjoyed what I’ve read, it gets a third reading for the pure joy of it. And of course to make sure the new conditioning has been properly assimilated.
Have you ever noticed how upon reading something a second time, you’ll often find words, sentences, even entire paragraphs you somehow missed the first time around? It’s amazing how blind we are when our ego gets in the way. Since this essay discusses subjects that are not exactly consensus opinion, expect to experience a few ego elevator drops.
I also swim pretty far from the pier of the commonly accepted understanding of “reality” in the later sections of this essay so expect some disorientation and wrinkled fingers and toes. The good news is that I’m beginning to find physicists and various other scientists swimming in the “what is reality” discussion philosophers have had to themselves for centuries. So at least we won’t be alone as we tread water near the shipping channel buoys. I do hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. I’m sure you’ll let me know in the comments section.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
In an alternative universe such as Disney’s Magic Kingdom or Baum’s Wonderful Wizard of Oz, it’s always easy to distinguish the good guys from the bad, the truth from the lie. It usually has something to do with horned red devils and fire breathing dragons, with cotton tail bunnies and bizarre flying monkeys. We were weaned from mother’s breast with mythical tales of gallant white knights and long haired princesses, ancient stories originally intended to inform us of life’s wisdoms, pitfalls and hazards.
But our modern myths and fairy tales only serve to obscure, propagandize and pacify. Rarely do we question the content of anything we consume that’s entering through our five (six) senses. If a new offering appears to be reasonably consistent with what was recently consumed, access is granted with little or no critical assessment. Just go with the flow dude because it’s coming straight at you in torrents. After all what harm could a few TV sitcoms and dramas do to us, let alone the news? I certainly know when someone’s pulling my strings don’t you?
Most of us rarely consider the possibility that much of what we “know” isn’t actually based in reality, but is in effect a shared illusion, an unspoken and shared understanding between the natives. Our modern world is readily accepted and acted upon simply because there’s no serious consideration given to alternatives. After all, someone’s watching the store, right? We’re placed on an endless tread mill beginning around age 5 (some would say even earlier) and we’re assured this is normal and natural and everything that can be expected.
I know what I know because my parents and teachers taught me, my government and corporate approved propaganda reinforced it and now my TV and Internet are reinforcing the reinforcement. So it must be true simply because it all adds up to a staggering preponderance of evidence. We’re assured it’s all as real as an eighteen wheeler hard on our ass and trying to pass. Besides, everyone else pretty much believes the same thing we do with only minor variations. They can’t all be wrong! So don’t fight it, just go with the flow.
However, upon closer examination, much of this evidence is validated through circular logic, with Alpha supporting Beta which supports Alpha which supports Beta. On those rare occasions when contrary information enters the system and startles our consciousness, it’s quickly washed out as an outlier or fat finger. Madness and insanity, or dysfunction for those faint of heart who object to strong terms, is always self reinforcing, self perpetuating, self replicating and tolerates no contradictions. It is pure in form and function.
Unfortunately the world we live in isn’t quite as black and white as our story books, moving media and authority figures would have us believe. Instead, like some choking coal smoke that settles into every crack and crevice, we see nothing but endless permutations of gray wherever we gaze. It’s not very satisfying, is it? Where are the clear cut boundaries, where good begins and evil decays? Where are the brightly colored super heroes to contrast the dark evil villains? We can’t always tell them apart when they’re all covered in shades of gray.
I Can See Clearly Now, the Gray is Gone.
But wait, I think I know how to see through the haze. All it takes is an adjustment to my perception, a new set of spectacles for my senses. Like an old black and white TV, our most important sensory control knobs are brightness and contrast located between the ears. Between the two, everything can be brought into sharper focus. I’ll just be the good guy and everyone else can be bad. I can see clearly now, the gray is gone. It’s gonna be a bright bright sun-shiny day.
A consistent theme in various articles and comments are the angry denunciations of those (never ours, always they or them or those) evil bankers and corporations, the complicit mass media, a compliant regulatory authority and droves of corrupt government officials at the highest levels. And don’t forget the dead-to-the-world great unwashed masses. We complain they’re all engaged in an unprecedented (at least for modern times) take no prisoners thieving and feeding frenzy of those very same masses. And somehow we’re different, separated from the masses and the evil doers by our understanding and awareness of the fix that’s in.
Of course (we tell ourselves) this is being orchestrated by the powers that be, which can usually be found cowering behind the heavy curtains of the control system. They’re the ones pushing the levers and pulling the puppet strings, enslaving us with their fiat currency pushed by the black banking cabal without our consent and against our will. Here’s the proof, in black and white. Can’t you see it, there’s Professor Plum in the parlor with the candlestick?
And all of this may very well be entirely true. In fact, I believe much of it is. But it’s also mostly irrelevant to the one thing many of us are searching for in this filthy stinking mess. While it’s not voiced very often in the articles and comments, the great unanswered questions of this epic disaster are basic. Why is this happening? How are “they” able to get away with it? What is it about man that permits this cycle of greed and corruption to build to a climax and then recede, endlessly repeating the same cycle since well before Christ the Son of God or Ra the Sun God?
When will we accept that “they/them/those” won’t fix anything and it’s up to us to lead so that our leaders can follow? In the biggest paradox of them all, the underlying presumption is always that the machine itself works reasonably well if only the madmen were removed from the controls. But who put them there in the first place and won’t they just be replaced with more? We don’t question the basic systems, only the perceived faults of individual parts and mechanisms. We fiddle with the wires, connections and duct tape while the bomb is still ticking, collectively oblivious to the obvious.
I assure you with absolute certainty that I don’t have all the answers. But I can also assure you with equal certainty that we’ll never find the answers unless and until the questions that really matter are not only asked and examined, but that it’s done honestly and openly. In a world gone mad, sanity won’t be embraced or embodied until we examine our own insanity. Otherwise all we’re doing is soothing the savage beast within until this cycle ends and the next cycle of madness begins, bringing with it the next turning of humanity upon itself. While the reader may complain that I ask too much of us, that the problems are too big and the powers too strong; consider that it may only appear that way because we see the issue as one huge problem. This is an illusion.
Icons of Insanity
I’m using the words insane and madness in this essay not only to grab your attention but because I believe those are the proper words to use. But the inherent problem in using them is that the popular perception of insanity has been shaped by novels and TV. When one sees or hears the words insanity or madness, most people instantly visualize a serial killer randomly stalking victims before slashing them to pieces. Or maybe one thinks of a totally dysfunctional asylum inmate zonked out on Thorazine, specks of spittle clinging to his lower lip while drool drips down the side of his mouth. Our popular culture is chock full of these images, from A Clockwork Orange to a Freddy Krueger. For the purposes of this essay, wash those images from your mind because our collective insanity is much more presentable and socially acceptable.
Despite these image problems, I’m still going to use the words repeatedly because the reader needs to understand that I do mean deranged, not fully aware, acting strangely or at cross purposes to one’s own long term survival. Some of the words used in the definition of mad or insane help to explain my meaning further, such as mentally disturbed, extremely foolish or unwise, imprudent, irrational, confused, extreme impulsiveness, unsafe, wildly impractical or foolish, ill-advised, dangerous, senseless, reckless, unsound, maniacal, angry or ill-tempered. You get the picture.
I expect the reader’s ego response to being accused of insanity might be immediate and visceral and quite possibly insulting. I ask that you push past that initial impulse and understand that there are various levels of insanity, including high functioning and socially adapted. If you’ve come this far in the essay, let’s go the rest of the way. It’ll only hurt until the Thorazine kicks in.
Our Cultural Insane Asylum– Welcome to the Machine
The economic, social and political atrocity we’re not only witnessing but living isn’t their insanity, it’s our insanity; individually, collectively and culturally. This insanity, our insanity, is being outwardly manifested in individuals and groups, effectively in all of us to some degree or another. We our engulfed by our insanity in the same manner some wretched character in a Greek or Shakespearian tragedy is consumed by an angry God, the devil or some other ill-tempered spirit. Today’s modern calamity is the compiled manifestation, expression, reflection and symptom of all the ugly lies, half truths, spin and self deceptions our society leaves unsaid, does not discus, hushes up, hides from view and buries in the back yard of our minds.
Our inner dysfunction, while most certainly affecting us personally, is also expressed outwardly through us individually and collectively and in varying degrees and manner. And sometimes it’s focused within certain people and/or groups of people. Or more accurately, our collective insanity is acted out by or within certain people or groups of people. Does this concept sound farfetched or even crazy? Why is it so easy for us to recognize someone else’s insanity or to see that a group of people are acting crazy or insanely and yet not see it within ourselves or in our own culture? Why can’t we recognize that we might very well have the same insane or unstable tendencies as those we’re pointing towards? Are we pointing our fingers away from us so that we may deny the source?
Why do we so easily accept the concept of herd mentality, that people, either physically grouped into crowds or scattered throughout the world, can act as one (think of the markets) yet we reject this concept when it comes to madness, insanity or dysfunction? Why do we readily accept the phrase “The world went mad during WW 2” yet not think it was our own individual madness that we and the world were acting out? Why do we always exclude ourselves in part or whole from those or them?
Maybe we do accept the statement but don’t see how it relates to us. I know a few people who easily accept the idea that the world can/could/did go mad but not him or her. So are we saying it was everyone else that was insane but not us? If so, does this not illustrate our own dysfunction, to think we would be immune and not affected by what’s tormenting the entire world? We seem to have this serious mental and emotional block that prevents us from seeing the obvious. Of course, it’s our ego that’s blocking our vision and awareness, a subject I’ve examined in more depth in a prior article.
Precisely because of our intellectual and emotional inconsistency, helped along by our self deception, we can delude ourselves into thinking we’re OK. Often we’re encouraged in this self deception by outside forces that fan the flames of self delusion for control and manipulation purposes. One of the many ways is through the display of individuals who are obviously and intentionally different from us. They’re usually close enough to us for easy comparison thanks to TV and the Internet. But don’t dwell too long on the comparison because that might ignite self reflection. So the control system relies on quick glimpses that satisfy our need to feel superior, and thus separate, before the next manipulative image is presented.
Cultural Insanity Reinforcement - American Idol Style
Consider that a key component of the American Idol talent “competition” is the initial programs, where fool after fool is paraded before us. The canned laugh track encourages us to laugh and mock their inferiority and non conformity, thus enabling us to feel comfortable with our homogenization and normality. This concept is ripped from the pages of 1984, where the carrot and stick approach is used to corral us into the hamster pens to work another day.
The carrot is acceptance by the welcoming and nurturing hive, where group think is rewarded and uniformity and conformity is applauded. The stick is to publically ridicule anything that the hive considers abnormal and thus subhuman, which of course can’t be a part of the hive. It’s unthinkable to suffer this, a fate worse than death that of banishment from the hive. See how abnormal those dancing and singing fools are? Only a crazy person would allow themselves to sing that poorly or act that stupidly on TV.
Carefully mixed in with the fools are the soon to be “discovered” hidden gems, which look just like you and I. Our mediocrity is validated because those gems look just like everyday people who escaped from the streets. “Oh look honey, another slave has escaped. I could as well if I practiced harder on my clarinet and got that boob job. If I work some overtime for the next few months at the hamster wheel factory ………”
I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the more talented contestants aren’t seeded into the show by the producers. There are many ways to do so. Regardless, the result has the intended effect; wonderfully talented but tragically and unfairly ignored men and women (invisible nobody’s like you and I) are finally discovered, their hidden talents recognized and validated by the world. They’ve hit the big time and they fulfill every person’s fantasy through emotional transference, thanks to perseverance and our 50” HD surround sound LCD TV.
And the fools, after being stripped naked and displayed for the crowd to jeer and stone, are thrown out of the hive as unwanted trash, not even worth the nickel deposit, their part of the charade now complete. Later, as some of the formerly hidden gems rise up the ranks (watch carefully how they’re steadily transformed with coaching, makeup and costumes) we allow ourselves to follow along, nurturing our fantasy that this too could be us. Thus we ascend God like into the glow of the adoring public, enabling us to feel superior while we wallow in our mediocrity.
And don’t forget the text voting, that wonderfully democratic principal that allows us all to participate in the crowning of our next plastic Idol on the dashboard of life. It must be true that I’m a singing fool because my fellow slaves elected me to the throne. The genius of American Idol is not in the music, costumes and coaching, it’s the magic that happens in the editing room and the manipulated voting.
Would Goebbels Like Reality TV?
There’s an extremely good reason why “reality” television shows are so popular. While we’re encouraged to suspend reality while watching regular TV dramas in order to enjoy the program, we consciously know it isn’t real, though unconsciously we make no such distinction. But with “reality” television it’s real, right? It not only could happen but it is happening. Isn’t that the entire concept of “reality” TV, that it’s real?
Leaving aside the understanding that “reality” TV is highly choreographed and elaborately staged; the illusion is that it’s real. This allows the viewer to be swept up along with the contestants as they morph from cocoon to butterfly, taking fictional character empathy and self identification by the viewer to much higher levels than previously thought possible. Goebbels, who until now had been the anointed master of the “Big Lie”, must be screaming in a jealous rage as he rots in his grave. And you thought this was just a talent show or a competition of “survival” on a tropical island.
This method of cultural conditioning is highly effective even when the viewer is aware of the dynamic, just as long as that person is somewhat dissatisfied with their life and is searching for meaning and understanding outside of themselves rather than within. And the higher the IQ and financial earning power of an individual, the higher the likelihood they’ll be searching, particularly among those who are growing weary of our consumer culture.
Some are beginning to recognize that we’ve been conditioned to believe happiness can only be found in an automobile or an iPhone. But where do we look when the hive actively discourages exploring anywhere but on the TV. After all, isn’t that the purpose of American Idol, to inform you of what’s acceptable and what’s not?
Look at the viewer demographics of American Idol for the proof. The average Idol (Idle?) viewer is anything but run of the mill in nearly all the demographics, with higher than average IQ and better than average income. This is you and I folks, not simply the average blue collar beer swilling Joe we like to point to as the problem cattle in the mindless herd. I’ve seen the cattle and the cattle are us.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
We as individuals, as a culture and a society, are only as sick as our deepest darkest secrets and lies. And all those buried and unspoken falsehoods surround us like an endless unmarked and unexplored mine field. On top of that, the lies we tell ourselves and each other in order to ignore this mine field add to the dishonesty that we live with and within. They fester inside our psyche, like swarms of virus bots consuming resources and destroying perceptions and pathways.
Have you ever wondered why confession, the purging of the “soul” of past transgressions, is so therapeutic and cleansing? How could this be unless lies and self deception truly are harmful to the mind/body harmony? I’m not talking religion here, I’m talking inner balance. If one is to believe in personal evolution, isn’t rigorous honesty beneficial to a long and healthy life? When navigating the jungle of life, you won’t last long if you’re in denial of your situation and are intentionally oblivious to that saber toothed tiger or that inner city bus. Though I guess that’s two ways to ineffectively scatter your seed.
So does it really matter whether the dangers are physical or spiritual if the damage is ultimately as severe? I’ve spent some time studying indigenous cultures and very few (if any) developed such a dishonest and deceptive culture as ours is today. These indigenous cultures flourished for hundreds if not thousands of years and many would still thrive today if they hadn’t come into contact with us. We came in peace, my childhood textbook claimed, written by the “winner” if that matters. All we wanted was everything we wanted. What so bad about that?
Ours is a culture that honors the glory and sanctity of God and humanity. And we constantly remind ourselves of this as we hack our way through one culture after another in a desperate attempt to rid the world of the cancer their sanity and harmony with self and nature represent to our own world. Our culture mocked their medicine men and shamans as primitive witch doctors at the same time we were bleeding people of evil spirits and burning witches. Oops, did I say that with my out loud voice? That’s sacrilege after all, with the penalty now my choice, that of being burned at the stake or excommunication from the hive.
The indigenous shaman was by far the most important member of their culture, healing sickness they believed could be traced back to a soul/body/spiritual imbalance. But they also guided the individual and the tribe’s consciousness forward, teaching their fellow man of the dangers and pitfalls inherent in any culture that worshiped self above all else. They warned their members of the hazard of endless accumulation and ego domination rather than harmony with a world in which they must co-exist or perish.
Their spiritual and cultural histories often reached back thousands of years and taped into an ancient wisdom and understanding that withstood the test of time, evident in both their healthy existence as well as the environment they lived within, not on or in spite of. Sounds like deep and valuable wisdom from where I stand and precisely why they were killed as quickly as they were discovered. They were heretics and would act as strong antibiotics if they were introduced into the European and American cultural virus. We couldn’t even take the chance of trying assimilation, instead relying on the tried and true extermination.
Kill Baby Kill
We as individuals and as a culture simply cannot destroy living beings, be they human, animal or plant, in such large quantities and with such speed without imbibing a daily dose of lies and self deception to kill the pain of our own sickness and insanity. To actually comprehend the death and destruction by our own hand with even a minimal level of empathy or compassion would assure its immediate cessation. I wonder if that’s why our soldier’s bodies come home at midnight and the wholesale killing is either sanitized or completely missing from our TV and other mass media.
I certainly don’t have the stomach for this business and I suspect neither do you. While I understand I cannot covet my neighbor’s wife and daughter, I feel no discomfort if I covet his oil and other natural resources. So as a society we ensure the resulting blood doesn’t splatter us and that death remains at a safe distance when we forward position our home grown madmen to oversee our neighbor’s destruction. Kill baby kill.
And so slowly but surely, helped along with generous portions of self serving propaganda, the dehumanization of those “savage and primitive races” (today aka as terrorists) is complete and our population is infected with blood lust and material infatuation. And the rest, as they say, is bloody history; though you won’t find this version in any acceptably sanitized school text book.
Our culture is plagued with school shootings, serial killers (government sponsored or otherwise) conducting mass murder, state sponsored genocide, fast food obesity and pill popping to kill our emotional and spiritual pain. And of course don’t forget the constant mindless consumption to placate an emotional and spiritual emptiness that can never be soothed by material balms. But we can die trying, can’t we? And we call ourselves sane.
The shaman was a healer in the broadest since of the word and the spiritual center and source of wisdom and guidance for the tribe. The indigenous cultures were dependent upon their shaman to remain spiritually centered and physically healthy. Once they were gone, any surviving tribesmen quickly succumbed to the insanity of the Europeans once their spiritual anchors were uprooted and destroyed.
Have you ever wondered why there are hundreds of stories of early European and American settlers in North America that willingly lived among and within these “primitive” cultures? Once the non natives (the white man) had been thoroughly assimilated into these cultures, why did so many of them want to stay and even fought against their old countrymen in order to remain within their adopted cultural families? These cultural adoptees talked about being the happiest and most fulfilled they’d ever been and how for the first time in their lives they felt at peace, both with themselves and with those around them.
How could this occur in a culture that supposedly had nothing to offer the modern world? What could these “backward” cultures possibly offer the so-called “civilized” Europeans and Americans that would be more attractive than what they already possessed? Is it possible that our culture has lied to us about these things and potentially much more? Could it be that our culture isn’t healthy for us, is in fact killing us? Might it be we’re being used and abused by our own culture for the benefit of others, that this isn’t a natural state for humanity and that this disturbance we feel is the source of our insanity?
I find it very revealing that the North American Indian has the highest rate of alcoholism and drug dependency in this country. It makes sense when you consider that once stripped of their cultural support and defensive systems, their shamans and nurturing culture, the original source of their strength and spiritual health, that they would seek a substitute elsewhere. Consider how you would feel if you visited heaven and felt the warm embrace of peace and happiness, only to be ripped from its breast kicking and screaming and deposited into hell. Maybe we should have their descendants consult our technology Gods to find a solution to their spiritual unhappiness and mental illness. You know what; I bet there’s an app for that.
In Chapter Two, we will continue our exploration of our individual and collective insanity, where we spend some time examining that lovable megalomaniac ego inside each of us, why and where it all went wrong, the sliding scale of insanity with lots of finger pointing, how we certify our madness for comfort and support, our mental toxic waste dumps and the first sighting of light at the end of the tunnel. Or is that just the crazy train express to DC? Here’s one car wreck we can all safely examine as we drive by in our economic suicide machines.
Cognitive Dissonance - 06/02/2010
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My Goodness CD...who ARE you?
Excellent.
Kalki
My Goodness CD...who ARE you?
Excellent.
Kalki
I will wait until the late afternoon and take a good long puff on the old Bong before re-reading this well written journey away from the dark abyss of my existential nothingness....was that a White Rabbit?
following a black swan chasing a pink elephant?
CD, thanks for the hard work of translating ideas into simple language, and also using very user-friendly metaphors to drive your thoughts home.
Please note that a well-established branch of psychology, called "PsychoHistory", teaches that war and fascism are caused by the mass "acting out" of abusive childhoods on the national and world stages.
Please also note that scientists have discovered that dirt contains a bacteria which helps to treat mental problems, decreases depression, elevates good moods, and increases concentration:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=soil-bacteria-might-increase-learni-10-05-24
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jul/raw-data-is-dirt-the-new-prozac/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=happiness-is-a-walk-in-the-park-10-05-05
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycobacterium_vaccae
Gdub, you've sure dug up some gems over the past several months to share with us. this soil bacteria find might be the most potent personally. it's all beginning to make sense now...
if you ever need oarsmen for a boat ride across an oil-slicked Potomac in the dead of winter, say the word, count me in. until then, happy trails amigo.
Does that explain the jonesing for my garden when I have to be away on travel?
GW
Thank you for your kind words and your input. There was so much I wanted to include in this series of articles. But in order to keep it down to 5 sections, I had to leave so much out. Which gives me a wonderful excuse for writing another series, doesn't it?
On another note, I was both delighted and deeply saddened to note on your blog page that you're taking an unknown amount of time off from your (public) writing. I was delighted because you're able to see that you've reached a point where you need to recharge. Very few recognize this until the house is already down around their ears.
Of course, I was also deeply saddened because you have contributed so much to spreading not "just" truth but the courage to ask why, not just what. Your articles encouraging introspection were ground breaking in the truth movement. And the fact that you wanted to not only speak truth to power but also to inspire others is (and was) remarkable and displayed inspiration on your part. It showed that you were accepting personal responsibility to do more than "just" ride Paul Revere's horse.
I salute you my friend.
BTW, how dare you have a life, with a wife and kids who are very important to you. You belong to us now, you can never leave. :>)))
Thanks, CD. I salute you right back, and will hoist a beer in your honor (as soon as my kids let go of my pant legs long enough for me to get to the fridge).
I was delighted because you're able to see that you've reached a point where you need to recharge. Very few recognize this until the house is already down around their ears.
This is what happened to me. We must be willing to bring as real a balance to the micro & macro as we are able. My suspicion is that realizing that one may be suffering in this regard is at best akin to our thirst reflex that doesn't kick in until we are already two quarts low on water. I salute you GW for you are another Miles Kendig in motion. All my best to you and yours. Peace
There's only one Miles Kendig, but I can dream big, can't I?
GW - I kinda get the impression from CD's writing that in essence we are all Miles Kendig. Thanks, thanks big time for being a bearer of illumination.
I wouldn't go back now for any amount of money (or anything else) - Miles Kendig
"We are all Miles Kendig"...
Wow, that is so deep that I'll need to meditate on that (maybe make it my mantra) ...
Just remember that Hopscotch is a family game... :) Pass it along.
Thank you CD.
I note the consternation expressed by other commenters as to the use of the word 'insane'.
I have no such misgivings, just as I had none with Barbara Tuchman's use of the word 'folly' in her tome "The March of Folly".
Great stuff sir, thank you for taking the time, looking forward to part II. Regardless what a person believes, we are called to be a good catalyst for others.
Be prepared at any moment to give up what you are for what you could be. We don't get there unless we seek and understand our evolving yet un-evolved self.
In the words of James Allen:"Act is the blossom of thought, joy and suffering are its fruits, thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry"
PV 23:7 - "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he"
When an animal is captured and put in an artificial environment, it exhibits abnormal anxious behaviour (insane?). I have been toying around with the idea that we have captured ourselves. Native cultures were more at peace with themselves because they were in their natural environment. Cities of concrete and glass are our cages. Our modern environment has moved so far from the natural world that we have lost touch with the earth, yet our bodies are designed to feel the dirt beneath our feet. There may be a dissonance at work there as well.
I've spent many years living and working in the far north among the Cree. There was so much cultural upheaval and change in such a short period of time that their ties to the land have become symbolic relics of the past. The culture up there is very dysfunctional. So are we of course, it just seems more concentrated there. Very sad.
As always, I look forward to reading what you have to say. Thank you.
Good points. If not "physical" captives, we are certainly "mental/emotional" captives. Of this there can be no doubt.
Look around you, what do you see:
- People towing the party line at the large corporation they work for, just to put food on the table. Soul destroying, inhuman stuff.
- Worker ridiculing worker for "taking a vacation". Yes, we have all seen it. The person that has the balls to get up and say "I'm outta here for a month" is ridiculed, gossiped about, the sick posse left behind identifies with its "worker bee" mentality and further reinforces the slave mentality via fear of not fitting in, not being able to regain acceptance of "the hive" upon return. Captive.
Just a couple of examples witnessed on a daily basis here in the Big A!
It's all about balance, balance with nature. Today's "non-'primative'" culture is in an all-out war with nature, not realizing that that ultimately leads to its own death.
imbalances within manifest without.
I was thinking the other day that our culture is insanely jealous of nature, what with her seemingly unlimited power and her ability to grow something out of what appears to be nothing, just some minerals and water. To create life, to make simple changes with life in order to adapt to itself and it's surroundings. To create a human baby that can do more with the mind at age one than super computers can do after 50 years of "evolution". We're just making machines that can "walk" when toddlers can do it with their eyes closed, pun intended.
Our culture is constantly trying to steal her secrets rather than ask to share the secrets as more "primitive" cultures have been doing for tens of thousands of years. Our insane desire to dominate in order to somehow imitate or replicate mother nature's innate and natural power is maddening.
So close to the real power we have within and yet so utterly mad.
CD - damn you. can some one give a summary for those of us who dont have time to read modern day Homer?
;)
Pardon my desire to jump in here CD.... but here goes..
Oso, having existed in the past, experiencing the present to some degree & giving consideration to the potential future the source of our pain and the means to begin the healing process is within each one of us. Be very real with yourself. Demand that you do so. Most especially with yourself, then with others and then within human community. As a previous comment alluded, we must be willing to say that whatever we believe may well be completely ass backwards and to be open to having our emotional & intellectual underpinnings stripped away. Debate every position but your own with supreme vigor. Seeking & taking responsibility begins within each of us and when we most desire to point the finger in any other direction than at ourselves chances are we need to look deeply into the person that stares back at us from the mirror in a primary shape, form or fashion. By rigorously enforcing this process upon ourselves and by applying the same expectations in our relationships with others the spark is laid to tinder. See you on the road.
Thoughts?
An excellent essay! I agree, the real solution usually comes from the within. Reminds me of an infomercial I saw the other day, testimonies of overextended homeowners and a phone number for the law office that "solves" all of your mortgage troubles. And the pitch line of cause was, it wasn't us..it was the market. Unfortunately, I am afraid the finger pointing, desire to lynch and rationalize that since everyone else doing it, it must be OK will prevail in the near future. Because the above activities are so much more comforting than a critical analysis of oneself.
somewhat related:
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjun10/effort-shock06-10.html
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The thing I would take issue with is the idealization of primitive societies. Ken Wilbur coined the term Pre-Post-Fallacy, (i.e. not being able to distinguish between pre-rational thought and post-rational thought.) This can take two forms that I'm aware of. 1) The intellectual who defines all forms of thought he doesn't understand as "primitive." 2) The one who remembers & longs for a time when life was simple & we felt connected to the whole. This one makes the mistake of thinking the only way forward is backwards. An intuitive mistake.
Fair enough.
I was not idealizing "primitive" cultures. In fact, I reject your entire supposition that they were "primitive" to begin with. What I was doing was showing they most certainly had, and still have, something to offer us and that we had specific reasons for wiping them out. They were dangerous to our culture.
And I could argue the same mistake is made by those who assume that "forward" is progress or advancement and that primitive was/is backward. It is terribly narcissistic of us to automatically assume that automobiles and iPhones are better. Of course, when the universe revolves around our cultural ascension, there can never be anything as good as what we now have.
don't forget that it is exactly that same create & consume mindset that is allowing us all to share this common conversation, no matter where each of us is in the world (or even if we're wearing any clothes for that matter). pretty cool, huh?
i'm pretty sure that it was ol' terence that said that the technosphere was the bridge between the biosphere (earth) & the noosphere (heaven). so me ponder this: is it possible to use the technobridge to gain what we've indeed lost without losing everything we gained? if not for the collective, but for the individual(s) who choose to try? are scrarcity, sacrifice, austerity also 'reality' or are they also artificial concepts created by man and the earth is perfectly capable of abundance if we give her the opportunity to do so and assist her as needed?
and what would a western society with native american and/or eastern philosophical principles look like?
" ... and what would a western society with native american and/or eastern philosophical principles look like?"
Perhaps we will see.
perhaps indeed
Indeed. The level of sophisticated thinking going on 3000 years ago in China would blow many peoples minds. We think that inventing gadgets and consuming all that can be consumed is the ideal. I think Terence Mckenna was just starting to crack the shell before he died.
It's not easy being a citizen of the premier global super power. We make a lot of sacrifices, the principles this country are founded upon are gradually sold for a measure of security. We are on the water slide path to hell, its just a matter of time, unless we decide being the big dog isn't something we need do any longer. These matters should be part of the national debate, and of course they are not. That gradual abdication of power by the peoples house, in favor of a unitary president, you pick the party, it doesn't matter, is now being met with token resistance. Be certain that if any third party did offer to take over, the sycophants who live in corporate Americas pocket would merely declare themselves to be members of the third party, and you are back to square one. We hold these problems to be self evident:
1 Representation without Taxation: America lives off the dole, Should we join the global economy and sell our products on a level playing field our standard of living would retreat twenty years at least.
2) A failure to protect our vital assets; which for a better term is Culture. American culture is now beamed around the world, (and what isn't put on the airwaves is pirated) TV, movies, music. There is no equal to America's' cultural media juggernaut. If not for American programming and entertainment, the rest of the world would be a gold gray gulag.
3) A heavy handed and misguided use of military force. We are now bankrupt, thanks mostly to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and trillions spent looking for the monster under the bed. 9/11 would have been prevented if the people in charge didn't have their head up their ass at the time. Why the Bush administration wasn't impeached and thrown out of office in the weeks and months after that attack is a puzzle to any right thinking person. That sort of failure usually requires a resignation or two. In this case it merely emboldened a weak and ineffective leader to run the country under pseudo martial law. America took a huge step backwards. We have never been afraid of anything, much less cunning and deceptive liars. Such is the disregard we have for ourselves, and continue to have. We should never be afraid to count the votes.. If we haven't got time to count the votes, we haven't time for a Democracy.
4) The world changes whether we change or not. If we don't have time to revalue the mortgage assets, close a few banks, and balance the books, we haven't time to run a decent economy. The only time it is proper to kick the can down the road, is when your doctor says you are pretty ill, but he can get you five more years. Okay doc, that's more time I have to make this country work the way it should, and man that takes a lot of time.
CD, thanks for the essay. It was a little like an opt-in page trying to get your reader to bite on the offer, but filled with cultural stereotypes that I can't abide.
You'll never convince me that we are in a collective psychosis. It is perfectly normal to suffer from delusion when you've been drugged, gagged, beaten viciously with all kinds of harmful language, images, social disintegration, and constant lying. Not everyone bit the apple in pursuit of unlimited materialism and fame. It takes self-actualization to protect yourself from all this bull. But the greatest insult of all is for the elite to assume that are the only self-actualized on the planet, and they know what is best for the masses.
Most of these elite don't know how to open a can of soup with a can opener or they've never done it. I have no faith in them.
I blame them for creating a debt-based monetary system and refusing to publish the operating manual for the rest of the masses. If the western civilization did produced the most superficial, puerile civilization on this planet, it also produced the Amish. But promoting a hardworking and balanced lifestyle would not have served the elite in the consolidation of power in a NWO.
The masses are simply the reflection in the mirror of our leaders.
I think you meant: Our leaders are simply the reflection in the mirror of the masses.
(If you didn't mean it that way, then I offer - if I may - the counterpoint.)
Most assuredly Reflexivity. Thanks for taking the moment and holding up the mirror of reflexivity. :)
You might have it backwards.
Great work, CD. I presume you've read some works by Eckhart Tolle. I can't wait for the future installments. That said, I am hoping that some discussion includes how to "escape" into the truer, though seemingly non-existent, alternate universe of all that reality can/should be. One of my many problems (to obviously include my ego) is how to accomplish this goal while those around me (close friends and family) are "plugged in" to the "American Idol" culture. Presently, I could best be described as an emotional leper whose views are inconsistent with those of whom I associate. Communication is often difficult as I refuse, in many ways though not all, to engage on the "hampster wheel" that they have determined is "reality". Not claiming to be superior, mind you, yet I will say that is a manner of willful non-conformity. While not in the physical sense, leaving the beehive in the emotional sense can often be a lonely adventure.....
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
"That said, I am hoping that some discussion includes how to "escape" into the truer, though seemingly non-existent, alternate universe of all that reality can/should be."
This subject had, and still has, me somewhat tied up in knots. And I think you will enjoy the direction I take in the future installments. My ultimate goal with this series was to argue for taking those around us with us, not escaping from them. It remains to be seen whether my argument is convincing. But since we are still grounded in the insanity, to try to escape or isolate is, based upon my argument as it develops, a symptom of our insanity.
Stick with me on this. Regardless of the ultimate destination I take, it's all about the journey so sit back and enjoy. I lay out a realistic and logical case for a massive awakening coming. But it needs our help because each mind opened has an exponential effect on the whole.
CD, thanks for your reply. I agree whole heartedly. My personal goal would be an inclusive one, not merely personal "escape". Thus, therein lies the perplexing issue. Is humanity (to obviously include immediate friends, family, neighbors) able, at this stage of evolution, to overcome the obstacles (continuously and negatively reinforced through our "pop" culture) on the path towards a paradigm shift in sustainable conciousness? Based on current world events, I would opine that this would be a resounding "NO". Though your voice here may be viewed as a lone light in the darkness, at what point can it resonate to acheive to a level of saturation (or "tipping point", if you will) whereby we can collectively evolve to have meaningful impact on humanity?
".....at what point can it resonate to achieve to a level of saturation (or "tipping point", if you will) whereby we can collectively evolve to have meaningful impact on humanity?"
This very question initiated this series. And interestingly enough, I did not have the answer clearly articulated in my mind when I started. It required that I go through the process of spelling it out to myself in order for it to crystallize for me. The more work I put into this series, the more came out of it.
Personally the healing I've felt from writing this (which is the only reason I write anything to be honest) was long overdue and welcome. I can only hope others will feel and share in this energy as they read the series.
"".....at what point can it resonate to achieve to a level of saturation (or "tipping point", if you will) whereby we can collectively evolve to have meaningful impact on humanity?""
when we reach the human equilalent of the "100th monkey"...any of us could be the one...:)
Thank you CD, your writing always prods the, now that I am comfortable with them, the "uncomfortable zones"...reality really is much more fun than illusion, after the pain of loss...
All the power and tools we will ever require are already within our grasp. Sensing, seeing, sharing & observing this developing process has been simply stupendous CD. I am so happy you have now sensed et. al. in your own way. See you on the road....
Everyone should know that Miles has worked closely with me on this series, offering valuable input and feedback that has been immeasurably helpful.
Thank you Miles.
Pleasure pal
Well
Bless both of you for the courage and sanity you bring to this.
Much applause!
On the level that matters, we are all interconnected, all one. don't let actions of others discourage you from being what needs to be. Also, as physics is now "discovering", everything is energy and outcomes are determined to a great extent by perception. Mystics have expounded upon this for as long as mystics have existed. Being that all is energy, I contend that "truthful" energy is many times more powerful than "delusional" energy in its ability to shift the collective energy. "Every inch given to Buddha" matters. Alot.
"I contend that "truthful" energy is many times more powerful than "delusional" energy?"
maybe this why "delusional" energy needs to create exotic sounding products masking infinite leverage to counter?
You, sir or madam, will love where this series is headed.
" I don't worry about a thing because I know nothing's goin' be alright". Mose Allison