It is 2018. Is it 2018?
What does that mean, anyway?
The year 2000 once loomed on the horizon like a monolith of the Future, giving us promises of flying cars and automated lifestyles, more time for leisure and a society with no more crime or wars.
Or at least, that was one story told.
The other ‘Mad Max’ style future was also a possibility, where we destroyed ourselves through the use of horrific weapons, and doomed ourselves and the rest of the planet to a nuclear winter for eternity.
Both stories were presented by Hollywood, and both were equally plausible; though neither could ever hope to capture the real essence of what it would mean to be a citizen of the 21st century, especially in a Western society. As our technology grew, we as individuals grew along with it, although a bit slower. We do have some catching up to do with our own capabilities. However, the idea that the ‘Powers that Be’ would be able to harness technology and use it against us, without us using it against them as well, was at best a silly notion. We are observant, capable people.
Those who we might call ‘Big Brother’ had no need to force us into being watched, we willingly stepped into the world of the internet on our own. In Orwell’s 1984, everyone had a camera in their television sets that kept tabs on everything they did, and Big Brother was always watching.
Instead, we merely introduced our own cameras, and decided to give up our own dreams, desires and interests willingly. Instead of slaves of the government, we became slaves of the corporations and advertisers. The creepiest part about it is that by proxy we work for Big Brother, they are just the defenders of the Great Empire of lobbyists and shills who influence public policy through legislature.
I present these points first to illustrate the reason for our extreme public dissent today, and why we stand in defiance against so many of those who claim to represent us as citizens. As the Empire takes more control, the response was to fight back from the Left, and that is what happened in the 1960’s with the Vietnam War. This was the first televised war ever, and it gave a new perspective to what was really going on in the world. People were disgusted by what they saw, and for the first time, Americans began to rethink their place in the world. We had done well economically since the Second World War, and did not want to waste our lives, resources and efforts on fighting against enemies that posed no real threat to our well-being.
This was when trust in government began to corrode, and the Nixon administration did not do much to help the situation. The war on drugs was the next failed step, designed for nothing more than to keep the prisons full, and perpetuate racism, classism and disparity among the citizens. In recent decades, the public trust in those who are our representatives gets lower and lower every decade, with small bursts of patriotism and support here and there, (usually fostered by the claim an external threat). Today, the term for everything that we find threatening to our way of life is ‘terrorism’, and it has been working for quite a while. The people are waking up however, and they do not like what they are seeing.
Recently however, things have begun to take a turn in a new direction. As the Leftist ideals become more and more radicalized, there are groups which are growing in size which consist of young, frustrated people who have had enough of the division and the infighting. A side effect of this frustration is the ongoing battle against hate speech, which in turn can become an issue of free speech, and this is why we are at such odds with one another regarding the ‘Liberal’ versus ‘Conservative’ ideal. Most people are somewhere in the middle, with views from both sides, and can sit and discuss the issues without taking others opinions personal. There is a trend however if complete intolerance from the Left, and the label which has been given to these people are “Social Justice Warriors”. This is a bit difficult because many people would say, what’s wrong with social justice? And I would agree, we all want justice. The problem arises when people are persecuted for their beliefs on either side, merely for the sake of being ‘right’ or ‘winning’. In fact, up until about a year ago, if you asked me, I would identify myself as a liberal person. Today however, I cannot even make that claim because the term is so tainted. I would be more of a “Classical Liberal’. Because yes, even the meanings have changed over time, and what they represent. A conservative today is not the same as a conservative 200 years ago, and that goes as well for democrats. Many of the issues over time have even flipped sides; so it is natural for us to classify ourselves as one or the other, but let’s be realistic, life is more complicated than picking sides, and politics is no exception.
I would like to compare the political center of a nation to be just like the brain of the individual. There are two hemispheres, one which tends to be more creative, and the other which helps us to be rational and organized. Chaos, and order. In politics, we have the exact same thing, and once we see this, it all begins to make sense. It has been shown that there are REAL DIFFERENCES in the brains of those who tend to lean Left, and those who lean Right. Without the creativity of the Liberal minded folks, we would suffer for great art, music and innovation. We would not have as many entrepreneurs of small businesses, because the liberals tend to take more risks, step out of their comfort zone, and try new things. This is known as the ‘Anima’ or female energy, and without it we are walking calculators. We all have varying degrees of these traits. That said, without the conservative minded person, we would always be trying new things, without considering the consequences, and stability would be lost. Without stability and consistency, nothing can endure. So it is the intertwining of these two hemispheres of the brain, and in turn, of politics, which keeps us in balance.
The problem comes when we forget that fact, and try to dominate. This is not just left and Right either, but Male and Female. I believe if we had equal numbers of Democrat and Republican politicians, and as well equal numbers of men and women running the government, well, at least we could know if it was worth the try, because the patriarchal society we have today is eating itself alive. This brings us to the question of authority.
Much of the world defers authority to the few who claim to have the answers. In past centuries, this was referred to as ‘Divine Rule’. Any leader who took office was determined to be placed there by God, and in many instances was a local representative of Divinity. What was good for the leaders were good for the people, and this delusion persisted because the poor were too ignorant and too powerless to do anything about it other than to rise up and protest from time to time, and overthrow a few brutal dictators.
Of course, today in our modern world, many have become so entwined with their own poverty, and so blind to their own society, they can afford to place the blame for anything they choose on one another while at the same time telling their fellow neighbors to shut up, sit down, listen to your leaders and don’t rock the boat. When the boat has a hole in it however, one does not sit and wait around when a crew member to tell them to leave it alone. Doing so will kill everyone on the ship, so often we have to act on our own accord when we feel things are not right.
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So in essence, a modern president in a free nation should be no more than a servant to the will of the people. Decisions must be made that the public cannot understand, and surely that means that not all issues will be agreed upon. Difficult choices are all around us, and nothing is as simple as it may seem on the outside, but we do our best to find a utilitarian system in which the most people can benefit from the choices we make. Hopefully that is decided on by both hemispheres.
The paradox case in point would be the current US president. A position which has always required humility, patience, understanding and an ability to work for the people. Today we have none of that. In fact, the direct opposite is true. A man who is not a servant for the people, but rather has always told everyone what to do, a former ‘boss’ who has taken the role of servant, and it does not suit him well. Men like that dream of being divine rulers, and wish the world could remain ignorant and just do what they say. In the modern world, the absurdity of that is beyond words. This is a case in point as to how we can say one thing, and do another. We would never tolerate behavior from one another that we tolerate from those who we elect into office. It is always a double-standard, and we justify it somehow.
It is my belief that we do not need ‘rulers’ for our world. We do not need to be told how to pray any more than how to be patriotic, how to speak or how to think. We have come a long way from being peasants in the countryside, and mils from being slaves in the cotton fields. We have come out of the dark ages of illiteracy (though still far too common in this country; brought to you by horrible greed and money management, and lobbyists in congress, but also things are slow to change) but we have found ourselves with the same problems we always had. Greed, racism, imperialistic attitudes and xenophobia all about. I will say this- much of what we observe is due to the fact wed have only recently come into much of the technology and insight which allowed us to help people far away from us, and to communicate directly with other cultures. We are still in the birth process here, so it will take a little time.
In the meantime however, we still have to face things like a $100 Million ‘Noah’s Ark’ replica, complete with people riding dinosaurs, a gift shop and a $30 million dollar tax break from the state- or politicians trying to re-segregate schools, bailing out Wall Street, spying on the American people and invading any country that does not play by the rules of the elite. Often I wondered ‘will we ever stand up for what we want?’ Why do we not protest the white house, or stand together for equality and unity? I guess it took me a couple decades to admit to myself that unity and equality are not universal desires. Selling fear has always been popular, and the easiest thing to get people to fear is another race, culture, religion or political view. We are not allowed to be ‘moderate’, or to think outside the box, unless it is to the liking of the other boxes. That said, when the Right claims that we should look to “America First’ they are not completely wrong. After all, we must care for ourselves before we can care for others. But in the current atmosphere in the world, we really need to be closer to each other than ever before if we are to solve our crises.
I don’t think anyone has all the answers, and I sure don’t think we have it all figured out. There are however many people who take advantage of our insecurity and confusion to inflate their own egos. When I look to my own government, I cannot help but see the divisive and egotistical nature of those we have to represent us. We deserve much better. At the very least, we need people who are working for the people, and that means they care. If someone does not care about the working class, this country will never survive. Our grandparents fought for civil rights, fair wages, women’s voting and a 40 hour work week ….and were punished and killed for daring to speak out. This is carefully swept under the rug in our history books.
We have a dark history of suppression of free speech under the guise of ‘national security’, and the elite who have set it up that way know exactly what kind of psychology to use to turn the people against their own neighbors, who are often just trying to live their own lives under the same oppression. Does anyone have the right to divine rule? They would like to think so…but today it is truly our responsibility to make sure tyranny and oppression are confronted anywhere they may surface, no exceptions. The world is only as scary as we allow it to be, and this means we all need to educate ourselves on history, science and the future if we are to ever make it another century with any dignity left. That means we leave behind our arrogant ‘better than you’ nature, and start to respect one another’s views.
We can change, but the sad fact is that we do not want to. It may take a while to get people to see that other humans are just as important, even if they happen to live at a different latitude. I hope people see that if their neighbors are starving, they will suffer as well, and that extends to every corner of the globe. Moreover, we do not need to ‘Change’ as individuals. We only need to see the other side, and be willing to listen to our neighbors concerns, and that goes for ALL of us, on any side of the issues.
I hope that we see that destabilizing countries and having twitter arguments with volatile leaders, or trolling for attention, is something so vulgar, so preposterous, that only in the 21st century would we allow it to happen and not be surprised. I would say shame on us, but it is not our fault that we are wired for propaganda. It will be our fault if we don’t come together and see that we have more in common than we ever have in difference.
Something’s gotta give.
Or maybe, we do.
Time will tell….
-Carpo
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