In the nineteen sixties, the late Timothy Leary coined a mantra in support of the use of LSD which was, "Turn on, tune in, and drop out." While I don't happen to be an advocate for dropping acid, I am in favor of dropping out of "the system". Equally, I enthusiastically support, for, mostly practical reasons, vigorous efforts to render government, at least as we know the present corrupt power nexus, impotent, since I harbor few doubts that any and all attempts to coexist peacefully outside of the long arm of elected and appointed officialdom will not be permitted.
Like The Borg from Star Trek: The Next Generation, one's choices will almost certainly be limited to either assimilation or annihilation. However, unlike the unfortunates who came within the deadly orbit of The Borg, resistance, in our realm, need not be futile. It will, however, likely come with a price, one that will be, if history is any guide, quite high. But then freedom, real freedom, which I do not define as the unbridled ability to do whatever one pleases when one pleases, is rarely, if ever, won without struggle, because, as Frederick Douglass observed, "Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will." Well, where wantonly unjust power is concerned, and presently we are saturated to the point of bursting with that brand of power, we ought to expect that no concessions will be made without measures that might best be described as extralegal.
That's right, I am suggesting that, going forward, we will almost certainly have no other choice but to engage in acts of civil disobedience. Perhaps we will have to commit to even more than that. Perhaps we will have to raze to the ground most or all that we presently have in place in order to build something truly in keeping with the idea of a Democratic Republic. That remains to be seen, but this much I (think I) know, the very idea of reform, let alone the reality of actuating it within the present system, is a fantasy, and a rather ridiculous one at that.
Our elections are a sham. Our Democracy is a fraud, and our very way of life, broadly defined, is an untenable monstrosity. And in order for any of this to change, We The People must begin to believe, to know, that our salvation, or damnation, if it comes to that, lies with our own efforts. We must begin with that premise, and build upon it.
7 comments:
Well, my friend, flesh out the skeleton you've constructed here. I'm reading.
I intend to.
I'm looking forward to that, Edwardo. I know it will be interesting and thought-provoking reading.
Good work again, Edwardo.
I’d like to add a qualifier though to your admirable advocacy (lovely sentence). The current, blindly rapacious system is going down with or without the help of those of us who seek to withdraw from it. I therefore see withdrawal from the system as a long term survival strategy which must, somehow, be a networked process (hopefully the Internet will partly fulfil its potential here) of sharing and improving collective 'new' wisdoms as things proceed. Along these lines permaculture looks to have a lot of promise, as do many of the local currencies explored by Bernard Lietaer. Transitioning from extreme specialization to broad generalization is not easy.
On a somewhat cheeky note, much of what you say here is in quite some agreement with The Venus Project, only minus the shiny blue skies and Thunderbirds architecture. While that aspect of The Venus Project’s efforts is offputting (even for me), it can help to understand the tech stuff as a shop front for drawing in the crowds. In my opinion they have badly misread the aesthetics of the day and scored an own goal by positioning their visual imaginings front and center, and yet the general thrust of what they say remains very valid. In their (somewhat hidden) view, technology is only an ongoing ‘good’ after human society has learned to embrace a sustainable paradigm. Therefore, the most important part is the paradigm. Charles Eisenstein (The Ascent of Humanity) presses this point home in his works, and looks forward to technologies we simply cannot imagine today, technologies born of an acceptance that we are embedded in nature, rather than lordly masters and controllers of nature; technologies of harmony not mastery, so to speak. To paraphrase Jacques Fresco, technology is just so much useless junk unless it arises out of human and environmental concern.
Apologies for shameless promotion of my personal fave thinkers!
Thanks, Toby, and I agree. The system, as it were, is disintegrating from its own sclerotic decrepitude. But, as it is, in my view, something of a living organism, it will thrash about and try to take down anything within its reach on the way to the morgue. No apologies necessary, but your impeccable sense of decorum is, nevertheless, appreciated.
Graceful rejection of apology politely accepted by this Brit. ;-)
Thought you might find this interesting:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/06/10-10-how-you-can-help
Reminds me of the Triple 10 ideas we discussed a ways back...
Thanks for sending that, Toby. It does, indeed, ring a bell.
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