The tongues of men
Seems like daily there is the shock and awe of explosives where we had illusions of government, much less society, that works toward our best interests.
I see the camouflage and artillery, and cringe at the numbers standing in plain sight and routed towards the rubble.
Engagement is unavoidable and the battles, and war itself, are traps.
Societal and governmental threats and policy seem to do the same thing that a spray of bullets would do:
Rest in Power All Souls!
They fly with us, they always ride with us.
They love us.
What us to win.
They do.
For whatever reason, I'm over here with a sermon. May I fly with them...
What we practice, we repeat.
Ya'll, what are we practicing by running toward, or away from, external prompts determined by the corrupt few . . . consumed by consumption at the expense of our lives?
Albeit irresistible and valuable, what is the cost of spreading ourselves thinly before an armed and mortally threatening yet obviously fearful other?
How many of us as "freedom fighters" have stood with a crowd engaged in some activity that has amplified our risk?
For me, it is horrifying to lose ground due to my own actions regardless of my best intentions.
What about this question:
What activities protect and heal us while we chart and pursue the course of transformation and liberation?
Not without a struggle, I have realize that I am not made to sustain all forms of resistance indefinitely.
Just as all allies are not equally seasoned and worthy of my trust, I've seen that there are some risks that neutralize any benefit and there are activities which are, for me, fundamental to my existence, well-being, and desired legacy of transformation, healing and freedom.
The first action that comes to mind is understanding how things function in order to avoid unconsciously contributing to the mechanisms of exploitation.
One of the harshest truths I have witnessed and lived is exploitative slaveholder/feudalistic/capitalist economy or non-kin or tribal based values operating in human services, faith institutions, and other so-called humanistic realms, such as environmental and social justice organizations and networks.
I don't know which is most hurtful, how individuals in this group claim ignorance yet attack the whistleblower or how they claim to "get it" and attack the whistleblower.
To be clear, silence, when someone's livelihood and well-being depends on a response, is an attack.
We have and can address the immediate concerns of the exploited and oppressed as part of our work toward political transformation for the ethical stewardship of our planet. We already know how not to do it.
So-called "good" and "progressive" affiliations and organizations are only as humane as their treatment of those who urge them into a self-critique of institutionally sanctioned internalized violence.
Until we reconcile with the truth that we are reared to adore and emulate the nastiness of the Roman Empire, we remain the Roman Empire.
There is something that most of us have in common which is that the US is a work colony and there is much invested in keeping the majority of the populace "busy" with the work of growing profits for the 1%.
The distinction among the between laborers that separate migrant farm workers, fast food workers, early childhood educators, public school teachers, professors with and without tenure, government and municipal employees, miners . . . is not without benefit for those who exploit us for their own gain. The pride that one learns to feel when they say they are "working class" would not be without the societal conditioning sponsored by the 1%.
Labor exploitation did not go into the shadows of dark dens of ill repute after the Emancipation Proclamation. This is feudalism. It came on like a bad cough in medieval times and it has become a raspy voice we think of as natural.
For our sake, the pervasiveness of sociopathy needs to become an scathingly intimate and personal critique. The second action, for me, is practicing release from my own unappeasable ego. I need to be aware of my own violence more than I am adept at tracking the violence happening to me.
It's like energy work, I had to recognize that there was a source and I had to experience my relationship to it. I realized that that I don't care about justice or equality . . .
Believe me or not.
I see the camouflage and artillery, and cringe at the numbers standing in plain sight and routed towards the rubble.
Engagement is unavoidable and the battles, and war itself, are traps.
- Housing
- Labor
- Wages
- Policing
- The very AIR we breath and the WATER we drink.
- Food
- Our Identities and Who We Love
- The Planet
Societal and governmental threats and policy seem to do the same thing that a spray of bullets would do:
- get our attention,
- inspire panic,
- disperse the crowd, and
- make it easier to pick us off one by one.
"Not my baby! Why? NO!"
Executions are real life stuff and the aftermath is chaos.
Rest in Power All Souls!
They fly with us, they always ride with us.
They love us.
What us to win.
They do.
For whatever reason, I'm over here with a sermon. May I fly with them...
What we practice, we repeat.
Ya'll, what are we practicing by running toward, or away from, external prompts determined by the corrupt few . . . consumed by consumption at the expense of our lives?
Albeit irresistible and valuable, what is the cost of spreading ourselves thinly before an armed and mortally threatening yet obviously fearful other?
How many of us as "freedom fighters" have stood with a crowd engaged in some activity that has amplified our risk?
For me, it is horrifying to lose ground due to my own actions regardless of my best intentions.
What about this question:
What activities protect and heal us while we chart and pursue the course of transformation and liberation?
Not without a struggle, I have realize that I am not made to sustain all forms of resistance indefinitely.
Just as all allies are not equally seasoned and worthy of my trust, I've seen that there are some risks that neutralize any benefit and there are activities which are, for me, fundamental to my existence, well-being, and desired legacy of transformation, healing and freedom.
The first action that comes to mind is understanding how things function in order to avoid unconsciously contributing to the mechanisms of exploitation.
One of the harshest truths I have witnessed and lived is exploitative slaveholder/feudalistic/capitalist economy or non-kin or tribal based values operating in human services, faith institutions, and other so-called humanistic realms, such as environmental and social justice organizations and networks.
I don't know which is most hurtful, how individuals in this group claim ignorance yet attack the whistleblower or how they claim to "get it" and attack the whistleblower.
To be clear, silence, when someone's livelihood and well-being depends on a response, is an attack.
We have and can address the immediate concerns of the exploited and oppressed as part of our work toward political transformation for the ethical stewardship of our planet. We already know how not to do it.
Until we reconcile with the truth that we are reared to adore and emulate the nastiness of the Roman Empire, we remain the Roman Empire.
There is something that most of us have in common which is that the US is a work colony and there is much invested in keeping the majority of the populace "busy" with the work of growing profits for the 1%.
The distinction among the between laborers that separate migrant farm workers, fast food workers, early childhood educators, public school teachers, professors with and without tenure, government and municipal employees, miners . . . is not without benefit for those who exploit us for their own gain. The pride that one learns to feel when they say they are "working class" would not be without the societal conditioning sponsored by the 1%.
Labor exploitation did not go into the shadows of dark dens of ill repute after the Emancipation Proclamation. This is feudalism. It came on like a bad cough in medieval times and it has become a raspy voice we think of as natural.
- As long as we are exploited, we will exploit.
- I do see that as individuals, at least in my circle, are overcoming if not wrestling with self care
- exhausted workers yield more access to exploiters to every every
- as long as the vanguard institutions, ngo's etc is unconsciously practicing violence (the isms, care of the institution above self and collective care), there is little indication that this vanguard will lead us into the transformation that we've claimed as a movement.
These days, attending to and transforming myself has become the most accessible means I have to transform this world and it is a full time job too. I stay occupied.
I decided to reorient my attention back on externals when I had a strong habit of checking my own tyranny and harm; it has been a humbling past couple of years.
I also committed to engaging with others in liberation strategies when my own freedom plan was at least in the prototype phase. I'm still working on housing but I increased my income and lowered my expenses so less stress is Progress.
I decided to reorient my attention back on externals when I had a strong habit of checking my own tyranny and harm; it has been a humbling past couple of years.
I also committed to engaging with others in liberation strategies when my own freedom plan was at least in the prototype phase. I'm still working on housing but I increased my income and lowered my expenses so less stress is Progress.
It's like energy work, I had to recognize that there was a source and I had to experience my relationship to it. I realized that that I don't care about justice or equality . . .
If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956
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