You say you want a better world. You may even have some ideas of what that might represent, but you have no certainty that what you envision isn’t fantasy.
For millennia, orators, authors, philosophers, and the endless river of imagineers have been ‘fighting for justice’ and other high ideals. What is true is that today, as it was nearly two thousand years ago, we as a society, across cultures and barriers and boundaries, have hardly changed at all.
The same issues rule the day. The same politics, racism, inequality, ideologies, sexism, ignorance, and violence pollute our public spheres. The same money system enslaves nearly an entire species. The same methods of control and manipulation of the individual and the masses (fear, misdirection, distraction) are still quite effective, perhaps even more so today with our addiction to and dependence upon devices and arguably ridiculous, rudimentary technology; smartphones are anything but smart, and every screen size is a variation of the same thing.
It is curious how this all guides us toward suppressing, substituting, denigrating, or otherwise negating and disparaging the humanity we embody and manifest. No matter his you spin it, someone or something prefers we are never, ever happy nor accepting nor appreciative of simply being a natural, healthy human. Homo sapiens sapiens is about 200,000 years old. Are we still a mistake?
Our present historical moment is one of transition in our mythology, in the basic narratives by which we know self and world. Having corroded the other cultures of the world, it now dissolves itself. The ingredients of the innumerable feasts of world cultures are strewn about the kitchen. To assemble them into something more sumptuous than ever before, we must first give up the idea that our dishes were the best. A new mythology is beckoning. For it to become real, we must develop the courage to release the old one, even though it once seemed like absolute reality itself. Fortunately, courage has an ally – reality has been falling apart for a while now. There is no doubt that economic reality and political reality have shifted. But the process of dissolution won’t stop there.
Be aware of and careful as to the fiction (or narrative) you choose to believe. Be aware of and careful as to the liberties you give away because you’re afraid or confused. Without us, there is nothing to this place; without our sovereignty, presence, spirit, imagination, creativity, passion, languages, our hands, our hearts, our love… the Earth would certainly be alright, but I would argue that existence and reality would be incomplete and directionless.
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
Arthur Schopenhauer
It is true to me that we have always been, and will always be, the real power here. If you need a god, do that, for a time, as required. But again, observe the state of the world. Many of us have deferred and demurred our inbuilt sensemaking and worldly responsibilities for countless generations. Nothing has ever saved us from ourselves, and justice has always been fought for, defended, and needs to be regularly reclaimed, redefined and protected. Are you willing to see this yet? Will you choose to continue to play that fear-based game? Will you hand it down, again, to your children?
Or, will you wake up?
Solvitur ambulando