Listen to a reading of this article: Robert Heinlein said, "Man is not a rational animal; he is a rationalizing animal." And from all the facts in evidence currently available to us, that certainly does seem to be the case. We're destroying our biosphere
Taking your very good post on a more serious note - we have been under a regime of psychopathic abuse. That we failed to recognize these serial abusers in a more timely fashion is on us. An abusive relationship always involves an agreement between the abuser and the abused. We must examine our own tendencies to allow such a situation to develop. Revolutions always take place within and without. This one isn't yet being televised.
Parasitism is common. However humans must be the kings of intraspecies-parasitism. I can think of no other species which hosts so many of it's own as parasites and devotes so much energy to raising them up high. The parasites even lead worshiped in church, temple, or wicca hut; or are watched with bated breath on the boob tube, and people vote to select the best parasites to suck them dry.
Another Brilliant article. my favorite line = It's lesser-evilism every step of the way, with any discussion about not choosing evil at all being shut down as unrealistic.
Wow. This really touches me as a recovering alcoholic. I could never stop drinking until I could become honest with myself. But I see my addiction as a blessing because it opened my eyes, and most of us go through life never having to confront our own lies. I couldn't agree more that our whole species is shot through, individually and collectively, with addictive behavior.
In the early 1980's, I pursued graduate school academic training in planning.
One of the big reasons for our current catastrophic condition is the dismantling of the legitimacy and practice of government planning - which "sees" the future and provides democratic deliberative collective processes and pathways that show "another world is possible".
It is no accident that the late 1970's rise of Neoliberal political economy (privatization, deregulation, liberalization of global trade, financialization, deindustrialization, etc) and "free market utopianism" and individualism culture all corresponded with the rise of "public choice theory" and "law and economics". That ideology advanced a systematic attack on pre-existing New Deal government planning and regulation, as well as conceptions of solidarity, vision, public space, commons, public resources, and public policy.
Edward Abbey: “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.” Since "man" created the endless economic growth ideology we are quite simply Earth's cancer.
Good article, but I can't accept those in power in Washington DC should be allowed to continue with their destructive agenda that they are holding the world hostage to. I have no love for them & ultimately wish them the very worst.
How terrifying it is that we have a pretty clear idea of what rock bottom will look like: devastation and immense suffering (legions of blind people! rotting bodies everywhere! mass starvation) from nuclear war, or a rapidly warming planet with billions of climate refugees and immense political upheaval, or both ... plus plagues.
This is another great piece by Caitlin. She manages to nail it almost every time. I guess we've got to hope our Earth will be that 1 out of 50 methheads who actually kicks the drug, stays clean, and ends up having a good and meaningful life.
Betting aliens just happen to be giving these very odds that human civilization will survive the next 10 years: 50 to 1 against.
We have been "civilized" for about 5000 years, what we call it anyway, but once an idea has been entrenched, we have great difficulty cutting it out of our collective mind. I was just reading about newly discovered evidence of gladiators in Turkey, Western Europe and England, due to Roman conquest. It was a sub-culture, sometimes honoured for bravery and skill, just like our boxers, but excluded from "civilized" society and usually buried ignominiously. And right after that I read an article on the need to "normalize" prostitution for the safety of prostitutes- although they know that safety for prostitutes, just like gladiators, can never be assured : is is the nature of the work. And the work is not respectable, health producing or acceptable. Years ago I worked with a young, religious woman (fundamentalist church) who actually said prostitutes keep "good women" safe". It is the idea that some of us are born to make sacrifices, and our will has nothing to do with it. But are US and Western EU citizens going to make the ultimate sacrifice and starve and freeze in the dark this winter, just to make Russia look bad for the purposes of their respective governments? Just how deep does this sacrifice shit go? Personally, I can't see it hanging in much longer.
The human race is infected, just as individuals are, by viruses that can kill. People are defenseless against cultural contamination. Recognizing the existence and nature of the mental viruses that get a hold on our emotions is the first step to reversing or curing the destructive process. Hurray for early warners like Caitlin to make us think. They can stimulate the antibodies that bring reason instead of rationalization. Rationalization is the protective coating the infesting memes use for their own survival, stupidly not realizing they may be killing their hosts by making their hosts kill each other. War is a disease spread by diseased ideas humans don't know how to cure... yet. We've been told for millennia and haven't learned to apply: "Thou shalt not kill... shalt not steal... shalt not covet... shalt not lie... Treat your neighbor as thyself... " Test any of our political practices against these simple rules. What will it take to eliminate our mental infections?
Yes, the human species is mentally ill. Whether we make it or not is up for grabs. I have come to terms with the fact that we may destroy ourselves. But I will live the rest of my life, however long it is, working for a better world for all.
TL:DR we are led by sociopaths
Taking your very good post on a more serious note - we have been under a regime of psychopathic abuse. That we failed to recognize these serial abusers in a more timely fashion is on us. An abusive relationship always involves an agreement between the abuser and the abused. We must examine our own tendencies to allow such a situation to develop. Revolutions always take place within and without. This one isn't yet being televised.
Parasitism is common. However humans must be the kings of intraspecies-parasitism. I can think of no other species which hosts so many of it's own as parasites and devotes so much energy to raising them up high. The parasites even lead worshiped in church, temple, or wicca hut; or are watched with bated breath on the boob tube, and people vote to select the best parasites to suck them dry.
Another Brilliant article. my favorite line = It's lesser-evilism every step of the way, with any discussion about not choosing evil at all being shut down as unrealistic.
Wow. This really touches me as a recovering alcoholic. I could never stop drinking until I could become honest with myself. But I see my addiction as a blessing because it opened my eyes, and most of us go through life never having to confront our own lies. I couldn't agree more that our whole species is shot through, individually and collectively, with addictive behavior.
In the early 1980's, I pursued graduate school academic training in planning.
One of the big reasons for our current catastrophic condition is the dismantling of the legitimacy and practice of government planning - which "sees" the future and provides democratic deliberative collective processes and pathways that show "another world is possible".
It is no accident that the late 1970's rise of Neoliberal political economy (privatization, deregulation, liberalization of global trade, financialization, deindustrialization, etc) and "free market utopianism" and individualism culture all corresponded with the rise of "public choice theory" and "law and economics". That ideology advanced a systematic attack on pre-existing New Deal government planning and regulation, as well as conceptions of solidarity, vision, public space, commons, public resources, and public policy.
Edward Abbey: “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.” Since "man" created the endless economic growth ideology we are quite simply Earth's cancer.
The “ Needle and The Spoon”? Yes, it is enshrined in our culture:
(1) https://youtu.be/UjVpjmU7wis
(2) https://youtu.be/Tdo_eB_iFFI
Good article, but I can't accept those in power in Washington DC should be allowed to continue with their destructive agenda that they are holding the world hostage to. I have no love for them & ultimately wish them the very worst.
How terrifying it is that we have a pretty clear idea of what rock bottom will look like: devastation and immense suffering (legions of blind people! rotting bodies everywhere! mass starvation) from nuclear war, or a rapidly warming planet with billions of climate refugees and immense political upheaval, or both ... plus plagues.
Hieronymus Bosch glimpsed the future when he painted THIS in 1495: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Bosch#/media/File:The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights_by_Bosch_High_Resolution.jpg
The living will envy the dead.
This is another great piece by Caitlin. She manages to nail it almost every time. I guess we've got to hope our Earth will be that 1 out of 50 methheads who actually kicks the drug, stays clean, and ends up having a good and meaningful life.
Betting aliens just happen to be giving these very odds that human civilization will survive the next 10 years: 50 to 1 against.
We have been "civilized" for about 5000 years, what we call it anyway, but once an idea has been entrenched, we have great difficulty cutting it out of our collective mind. I was just reading about newly discovered evidence of gladiators in Turkey, Western Europe and England, due to Roman conquest. It was a sub-culture, sometimes honoured for bravery and skill, just like our boxers, but excluded from "civilized" society and usually buried ignominiously. And right after that I read an article on the need to "normalize" prostitution for the safety of prostitutes- although they know that safety for prostitutes, just like gladiators, can never be assured : is is the nature of the work. And the work is not respectable, health producing or acceptable. Years ago I worked with a young, religious woman (fundamentalist church) who actually said prostitutes keep "good women" safe". It is the idea that some of us are born to make sacrifices, and our will has nothing to do with it. But are US and Western EU citizens going to make the ultimate sacrifice and starve and freeze in the dark this winter, just to make Russia look bad for the purposes of their respective governments? Just how deep does this sacrifice shit go? Personally, I can't see it hanging in much longer.
The human race is infected, just as individuals are, by viruses that can kill. People are defenseless against cultural contamination. Recognizing the existence and nature of the mental viruses that get a hold on our emotions is the first step to reversing or curing the destructive process. Hurray for early warners like Caitlin to make us think. They can stimulate the antibodies that bring reason instead of rationalization. Rationalization is the protective coating the infesting memes use for their own survival, stupidly not realizing they may be killing their hosts by making their hosts kill each other. War is a disease spread by diseased ideas humans don't know how to cure... yet. We've been told for millennia and haven't learned to apply: "Thou shalt not kill... shalt not steal... shalt not covet... shalt not lie... Treat your neighbor as thyself... " Test any of our political practices against these simple rules. What will it take to eliminate our mental infections?
Yes, the human species is mentally ill. Whether we make it or not is up for grabs. I have come to terms with the fact that we may destroy ourselves. But I will live the rest of my life, however long it is, working for a better world for all.
Excellent conclusion to appreciate what is good while we can.
I would bathe my spirit in the days of men.
I would come naked before sorrow.
I would kneel beside the sorrowing
With my heart - bare
That I might share their sorrow.
.
I would let mine eyes weep with men;
I would drink the salt of sorrow's wine,
That its bitterness might purge my soul.
Oh, I would be a companion
Of all the spirit's joys and ills,
Thereby I might know the souls of men.
.
~PW, #LB #p17
A wonderful philosophy is to live in the now as Ferlinghetti was fond of saying and bemoaning it wasn’t happening any longer just 5 years ago
But now it is with you along with many desirous to hang out with Owl.
One can’t go astray speaking up to the cosmos socially as we have from the dawn.
Observing from the now is pleasing!
It’s called courage.