Beware 9 comments

26 Mar 2003 @ 23:58, by Quidnovi Beware. Beware those who will tell you we must all speak with one voice. Beware the brush of the wings of the Locust. Political language...is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. ----George Orwell Remember Newspeak? ("1984") War is peace Freedom is slavery Ignorance is strength "The news is whatever I say is the news." ----David Brinkley, former NBC Anchorman and media industry icon "What is news? You know what news is? News is what you news directors interpret it as. News is what we at CNN interpret it as. The people of this country see the news that we think they ought to see." ----Ted Turner, Founder of CNN "Politics is the art of dissuading people from getting involved with what should be of concern to them, and force them to take a position on things about which they don't have any understanding." ----Paul Valery Dangerous and powerful forces are being awakened, irresponsibly so on the part of some of our leaders and purposefully and deliberately so on the part of others who know all too well what they are doing. Those forces are both dangerous and powerful because they touch to the raw currents of humanity's collective unconscious in general, and more specifically here at home, to some very disturbing nationalistic undercurrents deep within the psyche of many who are longing for "vindication." "We are righteous," says that luring, deceiving voice. "We've won the cold-war." "We're the last remaining superpower." "We don't have to take this." "Let's shape the World to our image." "Let's crush our enemies," says the voice of anger and wounded pride. I am not just talking about the September 11 trauma here, but about Vietnam, and all those humiliating, botched and/or exposed "covert operations." There are still those among us who believe that "Might makes Right." They believe that we could have and should have won the Vietnam war and would have won it had we not been afraid to use the full shock and awe of our military might. They are the same people who believe that Oliver North is a hero and that there was nothing wrong with the "Iran-Contra" affair. They believe the world wouldn't be the terrible mess it is right now had the people with the guts to do what needed to be done been allowed to do their job and rid the planet of the scum of the world. The allegory of "a new sheriff is coming to town," used, I believe, by Laura Bush during the 2000 presidential campaign, is not coincidental. It's an image that did echo well with the voice of those looking for a reckoning with all the injustice and everything that they feel is wrong with the world. "The time of stepping on eggs is over," says the voice, drunk with power, "Let's have it all out IN THE OPEN, us and the rest of the world." The voice, you see, doesn't perceive itself as the voice of neo-imperialism or the voice of, dare I say the word, creeping "fascism"---it never does. No, it sees itself as the voice of Freedom and Justice, not realizing in the meantime that in the eyes of those we "free" (this is newspeak for subjugate) we are more and more beginning to look like the "Evil Empire." What I am getting at is that any force that will just try to come up against that psychological and political climate with no more than the cautious approach of "politics as usual," is just simply going to be SWEPT AWAY by the dark current of the new zeitgeist of the times. Fortunately, a powerful grass-roots current has risen up to meet the dark tide of pain and anger that would swallow the world. The name of that current is HOPE and the people who are riding it are the CITIZENS OF THE FUTURE. Now more than ever it is important that the dark currents of the past be relegated to the dark ages of humanity to which they belong. The Neanderthal man must make way for the Homo Sapiens. What is asked of us all is most demanding, exacting, and emotionally draining. To some it has become a CALLING, a voice that they hear which keep them up at night, and which says NEVER AGAIN. There is another way. THERE IS A BETTER WAY. "Citizen of the future" is the most urgently pressing answer one must bring to the voice of the dark anonymous multitude and to those who think they have no future. It is THE RIGHT MESSAGE. It is OUR message and the inspiration to which we have pledged our allegiance. Politicians find it a risky and difficult message to carry in this age of increased cynicism. But do not underestimate either the NEED of the people to believe. To believe in Life, to believe in themselves, to believe that a better way is possible. Hope is a much more powerful force than the dark currents some of our politicians have chosen to ride. What it requires in order to be carried successfully is HONESTY, utmost HONESTY. One cannot fake honesty; honesty must come from the heart. In order to "open" others one needs first to have an open heart oneself. That voice of which I speak once spoke to us all. Be still and listen, and if you hear that voice of which I speak and find it within yourself to become a VESSEL for that voice, then that voice will speak through you. And through you to others! This, somewhat unexpectedly, brings me to the concept of "the brushing of the wings", a metaphor that I borrowed from "The Heretic" (The Exorcist II) movie. I saw the movie when it first came out. It was not a great movie, but it did impress me with the vividness and the eeriness of many of its images (Director John Boorman, you know.) Some of those images still haunt me today as they touch to something that belongs to the dark depths of the human psyche, the submerged part of the iceberg, the blind side of that self that we think we know so well. A reminder that what we "know" of ourselves is not ALL that we are. As we review Psychology and reflect on History, or just plain simply look around us, we realize the power of those forces as we see them manifest in crowds, and Nations, and Humanity at large. At some point toward the second half of the movie Lamont (a priest and main character of the movie) runs briefly into a scientist who happens to be studying the behavior of locust swarms and trying to lessen the damage they do to crops in Africa. The scientist tells him that it's the "brushing of the wings" which turns harmless little grasshoppers into destructive swarms of locusts. Taking Lamont over a nearby cage, the scientist shows him a new breed, they refer to as "the good locust", bred to "resist the brushing of the wings" and be a calming influence on the madness of the swarm. "...What kind of power would a Warlord without soldiers hold? The Brits just know it: a king stripped of all powers is blissfully harmless. But ONE "Average Joe" is a bustling force. One hundred "Average Joes" can pose a threat to the individual. One hundred thousand "Average Joes" are enough for a war. One hundred million "Average Joes" will spell humanity's doom. Hitler all by himself! What a laughable spectacle! But eighty-five millions of "Average Joes" will take the fun out of it. Hitler is dead; the "Average Joes" remain and try to pass themselves for harmless---just like all the "Average Joes" of the world. Among themselves more often than not the "Average Joes" are distrustful of each other. but gather them all under the flag and they'll become Lemming-like. And as mindless as a swarm of Locusts. The Individualization of the People is the only defense against the "Average Joes." ----Boris Vian (1953), "The Average Joe is the guilty one" The individualization of the People is the only defense! Think Education vs. Indoctrination. Think Plurality. Think Free Speech. Think. And above all, think for yourself.

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