I think the late George Carlin in one of his ominous stand-up performances said that we live under the illusion we live in a democracy since our representatives have been bought by conservative and liberal corporate interests and we are slaves to them. That’s the largest part of the bad news going on now for many years since the late 1970s.
Part Two: Trump belongs to a cult of personality. His rhetoric is childlike with matching intellect. He is like a commoner with an over-stuffed ego. The people that identify with him see a path to The American Dream Myth* because they believe in the strong individualist akin to “John Wayne”. Trump and the “strong individualist man of the 1950s” are seen as saviors from a fiendishly complex world of the rich controlling the world and the existential climate crisis, etc. So whether they are the MAGA common folk or the aspiring rich and greedy they favor Trump-like characters.
The good news is the progressive wave amongst young people that have not yet been bought by money, greed and power are slowly taking office. The bad news is that this will take a long time to fulfill and we don’t have much time because the effects of the climate crisis are upon us.
Still, I have faith that eventually “we will overcome”.
*The American Dream is a myth except those born into privilege – mainly those who are white, highly educated males who are have inherited money, real estate or assets. Most people fall into believing that anyone from any walk of life who is an American Citizen can achieve the American Dream. We have been taught and the MSM (main stream media) reinforces that there is no class structure in the United States of America. But in fact there are classes as there must be in this patriarchy – a hierarchical means of organizing the world based on the ownership of women, ownership of children and the ownership of people as slaves. It means owning land and by proxy owning mineral rights, oil rights, water rights as things for use and to discard what no longer makes money into garbage dumps, toxic waste dumps such as rivers and streams. You get the idea. Classes are based on skin color, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, gender, level of education, and sexual orientation. Based on over-population and the factors stated above very few achieve the American Dream.
Many are fooled into thinking that they can achieve this myth in a world-side system that is stacked against the majority of the population.
Besides obvious solutions towards sustainability (solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, and geo-thermal) there are a number of other possibilities and permutations to generate electricity: hydroelectric power utilizing tides in the ocean, fuel cell tech, generating solar power on orbital platforms and beaming it to Earth (as Bucky Fuller suggested). It seems to me that all of these manners of tech must be employed concurrently to assist in solving the problems we all face. We cannot rely on tech alone to “save” us. Even the notion of tech saving us is a belief that we are non-responsible children looking to a parent to “fix-it” where we are exempt from sacrifice for the greater good (that includes us).
Conservation is certainly a part of the answer and needs to be integrated into our lifestyle. By changing consumeristic capitalism into a sustainable force – a materialistic capitalism, for example, as it once existed through craftsmen or craftspeople. Products that were meant to last a generation or more without needing replacement or repair are a part of our past abandoned for predatory capitalism. Craft must be part of a sustainable future where the craftsperson(s) are proud of their work and rewarded as role models, master craftspeople and solid members of community in addition to making a good living. If we as humans can embody the sacredness of our lives along with other species and Earth’s bounty, then we can live harmoniously for many generations in community.
A fast-changing economic system of cooperation first and profit second is needed if humanity is to be spared from the worst of the climate crisis; namely extinction. Think of the common good*, “what I give to you I also give to myself” or in other words – cooperation, planning out to the seventh generation for all biological species. Working towards sustainability on all fronts is paramount now lest we suffer more and perish in vast numbers.
I love the idea of free money, hell, no money and everything is free. Obviously, we are not ready for a “no-money” “everything is free” economy. That kind of economy must be a 7 generational goal or 560 years (generations are based on the average lifespan of individuals from the generation – now 79 years in the United States and 81 years in some European nations).
When we recognize greed, money, power and comfort as addictions that can never be sated, then we may be able to face the feelings of aloneness, loneliness and perhaps abandonment. Facing these emotional states while remembering and acting upon the common good is the context we must place ourselves within if we are to avert the sixth extermination event on Planet Earth that may include human beings.∫ Or will a little over one million humans worldwide emerge as a cooperative species or be doomed to repeat future mass extinction events?
Sustainability is something we need to work towards quickly. It’s far from perfect and without our full participation as well as from industry and government it won’t work because it needs all of us working together.
[My friend the Indian Root plant usually predicts weather patterns and the spread of fires – this year as i write this small addendum – they were spot-on about the fires not coming into the lower valley in August through October.]
In January 2020 the Indian Root plant – another bulb variety (see photo above) predicted the beginning of the three waves of the COVID19 pandemic if we (as a nation) followed sensible safety measures, quelled our fears, kept our immune systems functioning at optimal levels. Its been abundantly obvious that safety measures and leadership in quelling the virus has been lacking.
In my latest intimate visit with my good friend and companion the Indian Root Plant I learned that the first wave and the second wave of the virus – pandemic has merged. This means that the entire Continental USA will be under siege from contagion and deaths from the virus from now (July) to late October to mid-November if we’re lucky. Its likely that colder climates across the USA will experience the third wave beginning in December, warmer climates in January or February.
However, given the failed leadership to quell / and flatten the curve of the virus, the politicization of the pandemic, the lack of adequate natural immunity – from healthy immune responses in individuals, masks and social distancing in enclosed spaces and mutation factors the combined first and second waves of the virus will collide with the third wave. According to the Indian Root Plant a failure of this magnitude will at its worst (translated from pictures and emotive extrapolations) will mean a total of 1 million deaths in the continental United States over the course of an 18 to 22 months. If social distancing and other protocols are followed the minimum number of deaths could be around 275,000.
It’s up to the states and us as individuals to adhere to the following paths:
Necessary travel (banks and grocery stores)
Social distancing within enclosed structures with good fitting masks
Social distancing with outdoor gatherings with masks and /or social distancing
lose weight
Maintain optimal immune system health
– reduced acid diets if afflicted with chronic pain especially and/or anti-inflammatory diets,
The function of the patriarchy is to provide a system that will do the most good for the majority of the people, but not all the people especially with the demographics changing from an all-white majority to a non-white majority. This is especially clear in the capitalistic economic system.
The current iteration of capitalism is all about making the most money possible and everything else from manufacturing to services are secondary to profit. Capitalism like its parent – the patriarchy has subsets of the population that are excluded from the engine of profit. These exclusions are called surplus populations. They include:
Children from ages 0 to 16 (this age range varies for agricultural employment and for nations without child-labor laws)
Most mothers from child-bearing to caring for infants (though childcare for those that can afford it can lessen the time mothers care for infants) Stay-at-home fathers and/or parents can also alter this demographic
Those that are incarcerated from juvenile detention to prison terms
Adults in Higher Education including undergraduate to graduate degrees
Economic Classifications that often exclude non-whites from opportunities of owning property, assets, stocks and bonds, in short an exclusion from participation in generational wealth as one way of keeping non-whites; namely blacks in economic slavery
Unemployment
Non-employed (During the Nixon Administration statistics kept on people that exceeded unemployment benefits were no longer counted for as unemployed or longer term unemployed or unemployable – the original measure created by President Johnson’s program “The Great Society”)
Those in military service
And more recent surplus populations:
Those with debilitating auto-immune diseases that prohibit employment
Veterans whose military insurance does not cover diseases contracted while in military service from having been exposed to hazardous chemicals and other agents.
Those with diseases that require prolonged treatment, recovery and prohibit employment
Those who are under-employed with multiple part-time jobs, have no health insurance or other benefits due to automation and out-sourcing (out-sourcing used to be called “layoffs”)
Elderly populations – collecting SSI and Medicare fall deeper into poverty.
Increased Senior / Elderly populations where SSI/Medicare doesn’t cover expenses. Some are retired – and do not work, while others need to work full or part-time.
These surplus populations allow profits to be maximized for the top management, CEOs and CFOs as well as shareholders while reducing wages and salaries for the laborers of the corporations. Since the time of Reagan and his union busting of the Air Traffic Controllers, union members and unions have shrunk dramatically allowing those players at the top to benefit (CEOs and shareholders) at the cost of a diminishing middle class.
It’s clear that the epoch of the patriarchy is in the throes of resisting its inevitable collapse and destruction. By looking at the two 2020 Presidential candidates for president we can clearly see both the structural systemic patriarchy (Biden) and the evils of logical endings of the patriarchy as characterized by greed and racism as an individual representation of the patriarch (Trump). The upcoming election could be characterized as a harm-reduction vote for Biden.
The heartbreaking deaths and subjugation of black people throughout history is an integral part of the patriarchy. The resent death of George Floyd is not just about defunding the police but is about transforming the patriarchy when we remove the isolating constraints of merely defunding the police and strictly limiting discriminatory policies that prevent black people from upward mobility. I’m not saying that defunding the police and limiting discriminating policies aren’t good steps to liberating the long-term constrains of blacks as slaves. But it can’t stop there. Everything is up for review and transformation.
Movements like BlackLivesMatter are a part of this movement not just to end racism but to transform the entire system.
The Structure of the Patriarchy – Excludes
The patriarch is an epoch based on a vertical organization (top-down) that is father / male oriented. Previous to the patriarchal epoch was the matriarchy. The matriarchy was seemingly a horizontal based hierarchy dedicated to the common good as directed by the mother / female. The matriarchy was a horizontal hierarchy based on egalitarian principles where the role of each individual was essentially equal. The only difference was that the goddess and women of the goddess believed that the Divine worked through men to deliver the seed to the womb of the mother. Other than small riding parties and hunters there were no organized armies for defense. Thus, Mediterranean matriarch cultures were easily overcome by the Asian Huns raping and pillaging from the east.
Following a logical thread of male rebellion against the Goddess the patriarchy grew and took women as slaves to be owned by men for the purpose of bearing sons so that male lineage could be passed from generation to generation cementing the male power structure. Women that were married gave up their family names, could not own property, could not be educated nor could they vote as when democracies first appeared. Ownership of slaves began and were at some point transferred to those with black skin. This is all part of the patriarchy hierarchical dominate structure with a Supreme White Male God the Father at the top. Given the subjugation of women – even to this day, the creation of slaves and lower classes with the mercantile ruling class of white males with all power we have the mess of drunk power lording over Earth and those lower in the pecking order. Every person is a consumer plugged into the capitalistic engine of profit at the expense of middle- and lower-class rights. This has created a tradition of keeping people that are non-whites and women enslaved and treating the resources of the planet as unlimited objects for use only to be discarded. This has created a world of garbage and waste on many levels.
Not everyone can be on-top. The patriarchal system is designed to have lower classes and slavery as part of the system of its dominance. The well-organized Republican Party of the United States has perceived the changing demographic of Hispanics, men and women of color and other immigrant groups as a threat to white male power. What the majority of people want in the United States is a country like so many other nations in the industrialized world: a nationalized health care system, an economic system that provides upward mobility for every citizen and a government that represents the people and not corporations.
The Republican Party has seen the changes and have been using all of their white male power to include Corporations while excluding the growing majority in the nation by loopholes in the law and through illegalities of voter suppression and campaigns of misinformation by crying out “double-think” platitudes. The conservative GOP wants to cement their power for as long as possible while masquerading as democracy instead of the oligarchy it has become that is now teetering on the edge of fascism.
A Way Forward
The challenge of the climate crisis has already made itself evident. It requires a massive transformation of the systems of how our culture is structured. In my opinion the people already feel the need for cooperative measures on all fronts to begin to effect the changes. Perhaps climate change cannot be reversed but it can be slowed so that a portion of the human species survives.
The structures emerge out of the progressive movements of Bernie Sanders and these movements must beat-back into submission the Republican Party so that it begins to serve all the people. Otherwise the way forward may be one where we destroy one another in resource-based wars hastening the demise of humans through human-made disasters and the climate crisis.
One Earth / One Home – our home and the eviction process has begun
We don’t have to read another article or post on social media to know the world’s fucked-up right now. Of course, it’s been fucked up for some time especially here in the USA but we’ve been too busy working our asses off and getting nowhere to notice.
The question is how do we fix it? This is a complex issue in big part due to governmental co-called representatives both Republicans and Democrats that have been bought off by special interests. Mostly they represent corporations and don’t respond to the needs of us citizens. There are a few exceptions. You know who most likely. The GOP and the Dems are as divided in polar opposite camps just as most everybody else seems at war with the other guy. Everybody for themselves? Isn’t that what the American Dream has become. More money breeds the need for more money and so on… There is sadness and grief in that both from the greed and lust for money and power – the panting of a thirsty/ravenous dog, and those of us terrorized by the dog.
Part of the problem is that beginning in the 1970s corporations stop making good products and providing excellent service to citizens and started making products for money. Money, CEOs, shareholders – planned obsolescence, dividing products and services into smaller pieces for more money and oh – by the way screwing the workers by – out-sourcing (it used to be called layoffs), cutting benefits, Union busting, wage concessions and so on.
There are the two worlds: The top 1% or the Rich and everyone else – slaves to the rich. Next introduce the Climate Crisis which in-turn produces unpredictable events. Maybe you’ve experienced some or all of them: fires, floods, rising sea levels, prolonged sub-zero weather, droughts, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes all with greater frequency and of course pandemics – the Covid19 being first to cover the world. I say the first because who knows if some ancient virus exposed through the melting permafrost couldn’t make matters worse.
The best bet to work to bring people together in search of new ideas and new solutions for all of us will mean sacrifices for everyone. The Rich don’t see a need to sacrifice in any equitable way to make a way for everyone to thrive and work to save the planet at the same time. The Middle Class, the Working Poor and the Poor already know sacrifice because they have been doing it for years, the sacrifices will come in a different way.
We need a middle way.
I like the heavily regulated system of universal health care system that the Japanese have crafted because it includes health insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, providers and citizens as opposed to government run programs which excludes commerce. This is something most Americans could get behind because it is inclusive on both sides of the aisle and is more closely related to the spirit and ingenuity of American leadership and creativity. Also, part of government’s responsibility is to check Corporations, not to give them free reign to make money while screwing the majority of people. For more on the Japanese Health Care System: Better than Medicare-for-all – Japanese Style Universal Health Care.
The bigger issue, bigger than healthcare is the Climate Crisis. Climate Crisis – includes health care – duh. Here are the options:
Follow the Trump Free-For-All – is not really a plan unless you believe that rolling back environmental protections in favor of profits doesn’t endanger – the planet and vis à vis all biological life including humans.
Don’t believe Climate Change is caused by humans and accept it is real and continue on as if nothing has changed. In the words of a relative (without children): “We’ll be dead by then.”
Believe it is real and it’s too late to do anything about it. Give up.
Believe it is real and science and technology can fix it so we can return to “normalcy”.
Believe it is real and the we must go all out to remedy it including the principles of “The Green New Deal” revolutionize healthcare, see that Corporations pay taxes and penalties as the major contributors of Climate Change, de fund and quickly phase out fossil fuels in favor of increasingly cleaner alternatives. Use and find new sources of green energy
Believe it is real and it’s too late to fix the world and save us. Try with all our might anyway – following the precepts of #5 and working to relieve suffering in hopes that a new kind of humanity will emerge.
We as a species could work to relieve suffering up to the end.
I hope I will be able continue to relieve suffering this until my body or my life gives out.
Two expressions of Anger – and Dalai Lama photo credit – see End Note 17
Anger and Addiction
Everybody feels irritated and angry at times. Lately there have been many events outside our control where we have all felt outrage.
I grew up under the threat of terrorism. My father was a rageoholic. In my 20 and 30s I too followed his example automatically. The “normal” expression of anger produces adverse physiological changes in our bodies. Since 99% of anger is expressed ineffectively or acted-out, stress-levels registered in the body and in the prefrontal cortex are adversely affected.
Neurotransmitters known as catecholamines are released causing a kinetic energy surge, akin to the fight instinctual survival response. Psychologically a kind of excitement is fomented. This is often an addictive process that can induce discharges of dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine also known as adrenaline and noradrenaline. The rush of adrenaline often induces feelings of strength and invulnerability [see End Note 1 for more].
The American Society of Addiction Medicine describes addictive behaviors as:
“Addiction is characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control, craving, diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunctional emotional response.”
Men with an addiction to anger and rage may have additional substance abuse problems. Men, particularly white men whose fathers may have had a drinking problem often have anger, rage and violence issues, with or without substance abuse. Anger and rage are more characteristically predominant in males, particularly white males throughout the food chain of the patriarchy in this post-modern age.
Other physiological symptoms of anger may appear as: teeth grinding and/or clenching, flushing, paling, prickly sensations, numbness, sweating, fists clenching, muscle tensions and bodily temperature changes [see End Note 2 for more].
The Function of Anger
Contrary to popular belief anger is not a negative emotion. The expression of anger either stimulated by fear or in defense of a boundary is usually acted-out. However, two constricting factors are in operation here that help prevent acting-out anger from being eliminated: a new evolutionary biology seems unavailable to all acting-out anger impulses; and the world culture dominated by men supporting acting-out anger.
We have come to expect all anger to be expressed through surges of adrenaline and noradrenaline producing temporary feelings of strength, righteousness and invulnerability. In short acting-out anger is what we have all identified as anger and cannot or have not been able to separate the inappropriate and/or ineffectual expression of anger from the actual stated emotion.
Anger — the emotion without the behavior of acting-out is a legitimate emotion that serves to help establish and maintain boundaries. The surges of energy we experience pushes anger to other emotions such as judgement, righteousness, feelings of power-over, oppositional thinking — “I’m right. You’re wrong.” When rage supplants anger; hostile behaviors invariably ensue and may include divisive thinking, foul language, tantrums, character assignation, and other out-of-control intimidating / threatening behaviors. Rage may spill over into violence, throwing items, pushing, domestic violence and even rape. In extreme situations where rage and fear cycle with one another and feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness also coincide the result may be extreme violent incidences such as gun violence deaths, hate crimes, mass shootings — and domestic terrorism (as well as other forms of terrorism).
When I was a young man in my 30s I felt angry and told my partner:
“You make me so mad,” I barked at her.
“I must have great power over you, then?” she queried calmly.
“No… no,” I said taking a breath and calming down to think.
When we act-out our anger we often blame another for the outrage we feel. It’s what we have been taught as men and women in a toxic power-over culture. We blame others rather than take responsibility for our emotions. We often get lost in raging against the trigger of our anger/rage. The rage then perpetuates itself and we get lost in an addictive pattern which only serves to continue the cycle. This may produce mockery, blame and eventual character assignation of the person we believe to be at fault thus triggering our anger or rage. When we begin to use our acting-out anger to purposely and manipulatively attack another then we may be partially responsible for triggering a reaction. Rarely this is done on purpose except by some power-possessors and malignant sociopaths.
I can testify that it’s very difficult to stop acting-out anger once its begun. I remind myself that I alone am responding to a trigger where anger arises in me. The other person is not at fault for triggering this feeling of anger in me. Sometimes the other person — a relative or partner may want to assist me in processing the feeling and other times not. If I can catch myself during feelings of irritation before acting-out anger ensues then I have a chance of resolving the issue by diffusing emotions around the trigger. Most of the time I don’t even know what specifically has triggered me only that I have been triggered.
When I feel anger rising I state in a calm and even voice — without excessive volume that I feel angry and it’s not the other person’s fault. I take responsibility for my anger. I may know what they did that triggered me. I mention the trigger and invite the other to assist me in working through it if they wish. Obviously, this is not a prescription for all acting-out anger problems it is only an example of what could be done.
Another example: In the 1970s I worked night-shift in a computer back-panel circuit board assembly shop. Most of the time I worked alone on a 20-foot-long machine. I was assigned a partner to help make my work load easier. Because he wasn’t paying attention he slowed the work down. I confronted him about this:
“You’re not picking up your end and you’re throwing off my numbers. This is work. I want you to work and that will make our jobs easier for both of us.”
Later in the break room he demanded that I go out into the parking lot to fight him to which I responded:
“No. I don’t want to waste my time,”
I said as I sat to eat my lunch surrounded by the team.
He left and I didn’t see him for a while. Months later he approached me and told me that I had changed his life. I reminded him that I did nothing but avoid violence and that he decided to change his own life.
Masculinity
Men, particularly white formally educated heterosexual men, who are perceived to be in the top echelon of the ruling class set the tone for our culture. All men are under pressure usually inflicted on themselves through role modelling and the patriarchal meta-rules. They have lived so long under this rubric they don’t recognize the burden of undo stress that they carry. By participating in the feminist movement, they can be liberated from these stresses and become partners in a new humanist movement that has been on-going in fits and starts since the 1970s. Backlash from white conservative men and some women have inhibited the movement and forced it into the background until recent years.
Males from boyhood onwards are not encouraged to identify the nuances of emotion. The response of an untrained man with regard to a wide array of emotions could play out like this in the context of a romantic heterosexual relationship depending on the mindset of the parents, peers and schooling:
“What are you thinking?” the woman partner asks.
“Nothing,” he says.
“How are you feeling?”
“Okay,” he responds. Or
“Sad,” he says. Or
“I’m mad at you,” he says forcefully in an accusatory manner.
It’s not that men don’t have feelings. Men have not named many the feelings they do have and are usually overwhelmed by the amount and depth of emotions they experience. Their most excellent ability to compartmentalize and rationalize emotions keeps them at an emotionally regressed developmental stage of childhood, adolescence or young adulthood. It takes a strong and patient woman to partner with her mate, friend, business associate to assist him — if willing — to grow into a mature human. This same training to identify and manage emotions can also come from Men’s Groups and older wise men who have experienced an emotional education and worked to balance this with their intellect. Women are expert in the nuances of emotion as a matter of survival especially in close relationships with men. In some ways the emotional life of a man beginning his journey in life is akin to a woman who feels overwhelmed and names this whereas the man who feels overwhelmed may not even know he is being bombarded by many emotions that are often contradictory and non-logical. The man is in a chasm because the man acts overwhelmed usually without naming it. Men are trained not to integrate their incisive logic with the chasm of unnamed emotions and therein lies the rub.
The romanticized ideal man of rugged individualism that is “Captain of his Ship” and sole ruler of his domain is a glaring flaw based on compartmentalization and illusion. All men are born into systemic indoctrination of patriarchal meta-rules displayed through role-modeling behaviors by fathers, mothers and social strictures. In the 1950s and before “Men were Men” meaning that there was a codified way of behavior that men, mainly white educated men, displayed and was the definition of masculinity.
The hierarchical power-over system of business and work subjugates less powerful men into subservience; capping and curtailing “rugged individualism” into the frustrations of “playing politics” at work or paying a price — the lack of upward mobility within a company or corporation for example. When they return from work to family their desire to be lord of their domain gains full sway. Any frustrations from work are easily displaced into acting-out anger and rage on family members.
The characteristics of early twentieth century masculinity beyond the protect-procreate and provide model endemic to binary genders to varying degrees were men of strength, courage, independence, leadership and a driven assertiveness sometimes bordering on aggressiveness. Even the idea of an independent man is an illusion especially when considering the rugged individualism of traditional masculine roles. This illusion screens out the interdependency of all people in a culture based on the use of services, protections and cooperation within communities, states, and nationalities.
Independence is a glorified term that harkens back to men as hunter-gatherers and not the more cooperative and complex cultures that began with agriculture, was complicated by the industrial revolution and the interconnectivity fostered by computers and the internet.
The rugged individualists may argue that they can live alone in the wilderness in total independence from anyone — returning to the hunter-gatherer time. This is also an illusion, perhaps the biggest one of all. A man living alone in the wilderness outside of human contact is interdependent on his environment, dependent on animals to hunt, water from streams, and materials for a shelter. The rugged individualist has divorced himself from the sacredness of his home — Earth. He exists in a finite system, the patriarchy, believing or pretending that Earth is a thing and her resources are infinite. Clearly oil is a limited resource and many “cheap” resources are unsustainable. The blindness of the patriarchy’s tool — predatory capitalism helps prevent humans from realizing the illusion of their independence. Only the very rich may appear to live independently but under an illusion that they can use resources of the environment without consequences.
Traditional masculinity grounded into those men born in the 1920s and 30s displayed characteristics we now refer to as a hegemonic and/or toxic masculinity. Traits that once belonged to white, educated middle class heterosexual men — mainly those of a Type A Male Personality exhibited characteristics of dominance, strong leadership, self-reliance, emotional suppression or repression with one major exception. The public expression of acting-out anger came to be expected in men. In addition, male A-type personalities exhibit competition, misogyny, homophobia and may also include intimidation, bullying and in the extreme — domestic violence that includes emotional, mental and physical abuse and violation. This was considered Traditional or Hegemonic Masculinity until the 1980s when it came to be seen as Toxic Masculinity. The chauvinism of machismo men could be defined as a power-over mentality with a disregard of consequences and taking responsibility for one’s actions. It’s easy to see how corporations grasping for increasing power has taken a similar route as the reactionary toxic male role. The machismo definition once belonged to men with high status power stations and a disregard for ethical behaviors. Now machismo acting men have become more reactionary as men who long for traditional values have become radicalized amongst all classes in white male communities.
As straight men and women have begun to become more accepting of the LGBTQ communities (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer — or questioning) and women of the MeToo Movement have sought equality with men, the masculine role from a social context has become fluid. The social roles of changing definitions of masculinity has confused and/or angered men who have no internalized sense of a core masculine energy.
The less educated young jobless white heterosexual men who identify with traditional masculinity have transitioned into extreme versions of its toxic form who are simultaneously both terrified and enraged. Unemployed young white males are more likely to display homophobic and misogynistic tendencies because of economic disparities and social awkwardness with women; as such they are more likely to engage in extreme acts of violence such as: domestic abuse, rape, hate crimes and domestic terrorism in the form of mass shootings. When it comes to rape, hate crimes and mass shootings they come from a victim mentality that reacts with frustration, anger and rage turning their victim status into that of a perpetrator from a place of desperation. This is meant as an explanation of the young white males’ behaviors and does not condone their actions in any way.
Many men feel stuck and /or identified with the societal norms of the role called masculinity and while this may be socially acceptable it can be very confusing for many men who identify with and have a strong, rigid attachment to the hierarchical power-over system of our culture. Groups of men who feel their identification with traditional / hegemonic and/or toxic masculinity are threatened on all sides (LGBTQ, MeToo Movement, the Climate Crisis and the changing roles of men since the 70s and 80s). Conflict and divisiveness are being promoted in all arenas of life ranging from politics, social media and the mainstream mass media and as a result Americans are more divided than they have ever been since the US Civil War. This is reflected in the world as well [See End Notes 3 and 6].
The existential Climate Crisis is a trigger for transformation of the fundamental societal cultural structures mainly the patriarchy, which has been failing since the 1950s. This is not rocket science. It has been increasingly obvious in each decade and yet the will to make changes on a societal and personal scale has been ignored and/or denied to varying degrees. However, the Climate Crisis makes this transformation impossible to ignore because to do so will result in the death of the human species. Men who are strong adherents to the rigid traditional / hegemonic masculine roles once on top of the patriarchal food chain feel that they are under threat of annihilation. The typical response of those that lack a connection to Earth can only respond from a place of fear which manifests as anger and rage as a defense against the radical transformation or death of their identity [see End Notes 6 and 7 for more].
Those men who rely solely on a cultural definition of traditional masculinity as modeled by their fathers, mentors and peer groups without questioning the assumptions fall prey to feeling victimized and getting lost in anger/rage cycles. By acknowledging a universal masculinity originating from within, the power of presence emerges. The inner male /yang presence is a core of unshakable strength and knowing. This inner knowing is connected to all life and has an organic intelligence that balances yang or male energy with yin or female energy in its maleness. This personal inner work to discover a universal masculinity within can act as an anchor in addition to traditional and fluid definitions of the male role. Could this inner work to know the masculine be a safe harbor in the changes happening in the balancing act in the world between binary and fluid genders?
Patriarchal Roots of Rage, Violence and War
The patriarchy is defined as: a social organization marked by the supremacy of the father in the clan or family; the legal dependence of wives and children, and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line. Broadly: control by men of a disproportionately large share of power; one example being US Presidents — all male as of this writing are looked to and even worshiped as a father-figure. Because they are a single figure — the executive branch they have been bequeathed to mythic powers akin an omniscient, omnipotent father, king or even a god.
The roots of the patriarchy, mainly the dominance of men over one another, owning those considered to be objects or ostracized and owning women and children has historically allowed rage, violence and war to flourish. The curtailment of women’s rights has been dubbed to be women’s dependence on men by the system rather than calling it a form of slavery or serfdom. It’s quite possible that the patriarchy or a vertical / hierarchical power structure developed as men’s reaction to the horizontal matriarchal system [see End Note 8 for more].
The structure of the patriarchy is men’s power as in power-over reinforced through acting-out anger, rage, verbal and physical violence. The lowest members of this pecking order often have another to “lord-over” for brief times before the heel of the white male oppressor is reasserted. As the European cultures gained prominence — mainly the Greeks and then the Romans, slaves were taken and owned. While it’s true that much older cultures took slaves previous to the “white” Greeks and Romans. These white cultures were the foundation for logical and critical thought and even the prophesy of the West; the Elysian Fields — the final resting place of the heroic and virtuous in the Greek mythos. This was the beginning of widespread white male dominance and privilege within the vertical hierarchy we call the patriarchy.
Women were considered inferior to men and in earlier times needed protection from other dominant men. Women were considered “cows” for breeding sons so the power could be passed on from father to son.
Women were considered the property of men and could be status symbols advancing the regal name of the man or woman “who bought wives” to advance their station, unless of course the man was a commoner or peasant. The courtly men of name could expect a dowry. Wikipedia describes this term: A dowry is a transfer of parental property, gifts, or money at the marriage of a daughter. Conversely Wikipedia defines: Bride price is money, property or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the family of the womanhe will be married to or is just about to marry [see end notes 4 and 5 for more information]. These practices of exchanging money or property still exist in some nations to this day and while in the case of “Bride Price” the family is supposed to bequeath the money or property to the family for the bride, but this rarely happens in practice. The legacies of these traditions are the dark shadows that often linger in the conscious and unconscious misogynistic practices of men [See End Notes 4 and 5].
Women could not own property nor be educated in previous times. But there were exceptions to this “rule” namely wealthy prostitutes or courtesans. These women were “allowed” to be educated and own property and entertain the wealthy or those of the “court” as their clients thus the name “court-esans”. Men taking mistresses and frequenting prostitutes was excused as part of men’s nature whereas women were publicly shamed and/or stoned to death for relations outside marriage. This is an example of the duplicitous nature and the capricious whims of the patriarchy’s improvisation rule-making as it suits men especially powerful men such as Kings, and later dictators, prime ministers, presidents, CEOs, prominent business leaders and eventually all men in today’s culture that aspire to the power-over model. Amongst the power-possessors’ capricious rules and meta rules are blatant but all groups of men have capricious rules and meta-rules. A meta-rule is an unspoken and invisible rule or normative guideline. Even men who are somewhat aware of patriarchal dynamics still fall prey to the meta rules of ole’ boy thinking in any predominantly male gathering. Men in such gatherings who disagree with ole’ boy language and behaviors usually don’t protest for fear of humiliation or ostracism.
Women in the early days of the patriarchy took a passive-aggressive stance to displaying anger with their men and were entirely discounted. Many women still employ albeit unconsciously a passive-aggressive anger towards men as a dysfunction expression and as a defense against rage, intimidation and possible domestic violence. Discounting women by the entrenched patriarchal man exists and flourishes in the current time and throughout society. Misogyny practiced by men to subjugate women and the systemic misogyny world of business exists implicitly and explicitly, while men hold themselves to be “liberated” and “enlightened”. As a result, they continue to deny the oppression of women through the system wide indoctrination of men’s privilege in the patriarchy, which is unseen and unacknowledged by all men to some extent.
All men regardless of their sexual orientation are imprinted unconsciously with the dogma, meta-rules and the privileged rank of the patriarchy. As a gender, men as a whole may not be ready or able to release their acting-out anger. This could be an evolutionary flaw in the development of men as matured human beings or a biological precondition as stated earlier. Women as they have gained more footing with men may have adopted acting-out anger as a coping behavior with men, but women are not in the majority when it comes to expressing anger in this fashion.
Slavery and Genocide
In Europe kings had absolute rule and relegated “the working class” into economic slavery known as serfs [for more see End Note 9].
When the Europeans came to the Americans thousands of indigenous peoples died from disease carried by the white culture to which the native population had no immunity. The indigenous peoples were corralled into concentration encampments or reservations prohibited from speaking their own language, sent into the wilderness on force marches, enslaved and killed almost to extinction. Blacks from Africa were taken as slaves to work in the Americas. Even in the US after the 13th Amendment freed the slaves, loopholes in the amendment allowed the Jim Crow laws to segregate Blacks from Whites, forced Blacks into prisons and chain gangs for minor violations of the law.
Blacks and Indigenous Peoples of the Americas were subjected to inhuman treatment, torture and murders by the racist whites. The systematic white patriarchal male infected with fear, anger/rage, prejudice, bigotry and hatred treated peoples of non-white skin color through segregation, hate crimes and economic slavery that has been proliferated to this day. The US prison system has a disproportionate number of incarcerated blacks as a part of the racist white slave system.
Asian-Americans were incarcerated in internment (read concentration) camps during WWII for fear they would side with the Imperial Japanese. But they were Americans.
Power-possessing men make people of color into things and people then become slaves. Each culture world-wide has made a group into the non-human whether it be Blacks, people of color (other than white) or the “Untouchables” of India or indigenous peoples that have been enslaved or killed in a genocide [see End Note 10].
Besides the obvious injustices, inhumane and murderous treatment of humans as slaves there is a less obvious precept built in to the patriarchy / men and the use of anger. Besides making humans slaves it makes those “owning” slaves subject to a slavery of mind and heart. Acting-out anger is used to divide and conquer. Ordinarily we think of those that are oppressed as the only slaves. The so-called white racist masters are themselves slaves, casting out what would be view as “weakness”, the yin that is in the yang, compassion towards oneself and others are two examples that rise to the surface.
The exclusion of “the other” is an example of rulers who are slaves to the illusion of independence. They are caught in a different way.
Predatory Capitalism — the Zero-Sum Game
A Zero-Sum game in short is where there are an equal number of winners and losers. This kind of game fits in with the competition models of predatory capitalism. Right now, the biggest loser is Earth — our home threatened by the results of human industry and use that produces the Climate Crisis and the economic collapse for the 99 percent. In practice the zero-sum game or thinking is 1% winners plus 99% losers equals total system collapse and the extinct of the human species [see End Notes 11 and 12].
My memory of capitalism in the 1950s and 60s through High School Classes in History and Social Studies portrayed our economic system as a kind of capitalistic materialism. I particularly remember members of the Union that worked for the Big 3 Automakers — namely Ford, GM and Chrysler considered themselves craftsmen and were proud of their work. Cars seemed very solid. My parents bought a General Electric Toaster in the 50s that still works well to this day. Capitalism built products that displayed the care of engineering and craftsmanship in the work.
In the 1980s I became aware that digital cameras that needed repair were often more expensive than buying a new camera. Planned obsolescence was introduced and proliferated. This is especially evident in PCs, iPhones, iPads, and all tablets being introduced every year with new features to wow the trained animal meaning us consumers.
I am not a consumer,
I am a free citizen.
As restrictions were lifted in the 1980s during the Reagan presidency, mainstream media news began a shift to corporate-speak catering to profits instead of truth or even left, right or centrist biased news. Millionaires and billionaires began to appear across the landscape.
Ralph Nader once said that in the 1960s one could request a meeting with a member of The House of Representatives or a Senator and get a same day meeting with them. By the 1980s that was no longer possible because our representatives were beholden to PACs, Political Action Committees or the arms of Big Corporate Dollars. Restrictions were lifted so increasing profits could be made at the expense of quality products and services.
These were the roots of predatory capitalism which fuels greed, power and ownership of the 99% for the most part. It is here that the limited finite game that serves greed and short-term profits of the zero-sum game could be played out in service to money and power. The mainstream media (MSM) services to narrow thinking for the needs of the corporate state and to foment anger to fuel profits at the expense of the truth [see End Note 13],
Products and services could be divided off into pieces and be sold off to other companies and consumers for the purpose of increasing profits. Automation and robotics replacing humans further accelerated profits at the expense of what it means to be a human being. The speed of science and technology is only matched by greed to make enormous amounts of money at the expense of the 99% and the Earth our home which we are destroying via this form of capitalism.
Humans are causing the Climate Crisis through predatory capitalism at the expense of all the people and Earth.
Unless we decide to change it
I will die,
You will die,
We will die.
Humans will go extinct.
Suicide by Greed and insular / xenophobic behaviors.
Or is it too late to make the changes?
Patriarchy Death Throes
In the modern world as evidence suggests; patriarchal practices are breaking down in the face of the climate crisis, the demands of the “Me-Too” movement and populist movements demanding democracy. The recent backlash of patriarchal power-possessing men in fear and terror of the end are re-asserting the mythic past — of poisoning Earth for immediate short-term gain inherent in the tenets of predatory capitalism, demanding greater control over women’s bodies, and blatantly lying in an end justifies the means drive for money and power.
Hate-mongering groups have become more evident of late as many right-wing leaders have been elected worldwide in response to the existential threat of annihilation of the human species due to the climate crisis. Historically, when a massive change confronts a world population and free-floating fears arise many in the population long for an almost mythical past when times seemed better. The operative word is “seemed”; a memory of the past that screens out “extraneous” negative or contradictory information to create a romantic illusion. It’s easier for a frenzied group whipped into hatred by any right-wing leader to long for a mythical past as a refuge and blame a minority or “the other” rather than take responsibility and face the challenges. It’s much more difficult to make changes and take responsibility for the self and for our responsibilities as citizens for past misdeeds and correct these for the good of all poised for the survival of the human species.
Why? Fear of change or an uncertain future of a population can be easily manipulated by a powerful figure into a frenzy of anger and rage at “the designated others”.
A top-heavy patriarchy is currently evident in the USA and in the world. In broader terms the system of the patriarchy is no longer meeting the needs of the majority and is in a state of collapse which began in the 1960s and has reached a crisis point. The power possessors in petroleum-based businesses and in government are fearful of the impending doom of the system and are seeking a power-grab that will cement its power forever and ensure the end of the human species as a by-product.
A Sea Change, a Needed Spirituality and Subsequent Healing
The heyday of the patriarchy represented a time when the natural world was seen as some “thing” to be conquered and tamed. Despite all the criticism heaped on the evils of the patriarchy and the yang force that drove the conquering and expansion is something both to be acknowledged and to bestow our gratefulness. It is through the luxuries of hindsight that we can acknowledge all its shortcomings, its malevolence, benevolence and blessings. We owe a debt to the achievements of the patriarchy. Let us move on to its peaceful end and a new beginning as a cooperative culture of sacredness, equality, justice and fairness for all — not just all human beings but our home and all her animals, plants, water, soil and sky namely — Earth. There is much healing to be done.
Targeting the “other” through vitriolic name calling etc. is not the answer and serves to accomplish a stop to forward moving actions. The 1% and MSM uses anger and hate to divide people so accomplishments for a survivable future are nullified [see End Note 13].
Everyone on Earth wants to survive the perils of Climate Crisis. I believe the most intelligent of the climate deniers are seeking to use the crisis as a way to leverage nations into a one-world government that while appearing to be a democracy, that is in-fact an oligarchy.
Fundamental changes are happening everywhere though they go unreported by the main-stream media and the DNC (Democrat National Committee) or the RNC (Republican National Committee) beholding to corporate power, the Kochs and others. Nevertheless, there is a widespread progressive political movement underway.
My life as a seer into invisible worlds — some call that being a shaman. Whatever one calls it I experienced something unusual in the mid-90s. There was an exodus of the spirits of trees. Yes, the physical tree was visible but the spirit was gone. To my surprise the spirits of these many trees returned indicating that had gone to the spirit world to establish a link for a bigger exodus later on. While it doesn’t matter if you believe me or not, some of these experiences could be seen as metaphors. My male logic is constantly amazed at the accuracy of many of these visions.
Because I didn’t have television I never saw the planes hit the twin towers in NYC until about 6 years later. I considered myself lucky to have been spared. I left the shock and later the fear of people that lived near me — in my community. I had an experience, a vision of the love that surrounds and permeates us from everywhere. The blockage that prevents us from feeling the continue bath of love is our ego or sense of self and the expectation that love has to take a form that we recognize. I realized then that I am was insignificant and inconsequential, just the same as the entire human species. Should we all die our consciousness would live on.
There are two paths for humans to survival of the Climate Crisis and both are intertwined. The resultant actions of both paths will mean the end of the patriarchy, capitalism, acting-out anger, rage and hatred that arises in men, women and fluid genders. They both involve a cultivating a continuing connection to Earth, a renunciation of all that blocks the connection with Earth and her Spirit and in short, a radical change in lifestyle. The first path is the spiritual connection to Earth, a transformation of lifestyle that may prevent the extinction of humans. And it may not at least on face-value.
If all humans die, then like the trees that exited their bodies to enter the world of spirit and return, we may do the same. Our spirit may join with the spirit of Earth in a richness beyond imagination filled with love. We may to return to the corporeal world when Earth becomes hospitable for water, plants, soil, and animals again. Don’t forget that we are animals. [see End Note 14].
Emotions
The heart with its own neurons produces love and has the capacity to perceive love without form. Other emotions emerge because our cognitive processing center strains love through filters of belief where exclusion is applied or judgement and acting-out anger arises as well as fear, anxiety, rage, hatred, greed and so on.
However, the love that is produced in the heart is a baseline love that has not gone through the filter of ego. This love is not identified with romantic love, love of an object such as — my car etc.
Love in this baseline place cannot be experienced when feeling acting-out anger, fear, hatred and /or greed. As such love can hold fears but fears cannot hold love [see End Note 15].
A simple inner exercise may be done anywhere to affirm your baseline emotional presence [see End Note 16]. It can be an ineffable experience.
A strict patriarchal masculine identity — hegemonic masculinity -seeks to justify male dominance using circular logic. In other words, the logic endemic to the patriarchal rubric is justified without adequate critical thinking: Hegemonic Masculinity
Under the horizontal hierarchy of the matriarchy all members of that community mainly men and women were in service to the Divine Feminine. Children were raised collectively. There was no traditional family. All resources were held in common and there was no thought given to an “outside aggressor” because other communities were the same. There may have seemed to be no hierarchy, but women were considered the representative of the Divine Feminine. In procreation men were thought to be vessels of the Goddess or the Divine Feminine. Men were conduits or a delivery system that made a child in a woman. It took a long time for men to realize that they were not merely vessels for the Goddess. Upon this realization they rebelled with acting out anger / rage and violence. The Huns swept across Asia and into the Mediterranean destroyed matriarchal communities and thus the patriarchy began. Men reacted to women’s power by taking it away through acts of isolation for protection from other men. Women were owned and prized for producing sons so the heritage of the patriarchy could continue in perpetuity. It follows logically. Paraphrased from the writings of Jeffery Wolf Green Pluto_Volume_I
Other references and resources in no particular order:
Dorothy Roberts — American Scholar, Public Intellectual and Social Advocate. Author of Books and articles including: “Racism and the Patriarchy in the Meaning of Motherhood” — Dorothy_Roberts
I had wanted to find out what it would be like to live in a good future because living in America with Climate Deniers in power is terrifying and that’s just a start of a long list of what’s wrong. I’m done with the wrong list. I want to feel okay again. But it’s not so simple as that or is it?
Why does it always have to be the last mass extinction event?
I had read about people that had traveled to a future where things were very different and seemed better. I wanted something like that – a place I could wrap around myself to know that we, as humans, had survived the last mass extinction event.
Why does it always have to be the last mass extinction event? I think there is something violently suicidal and apocalyptic built into our evolutionary genetic structure associated with the ending of the corporeal life of our entire human species:
We don’t know how to change so
“to hell with it. Yeah there’s the cliff. Me and my horse are galloping towards it. I know I will die, let’s ride faster.”
The horse will stop at the last moment hurtling the rider to the death over the cliff.
a car running on the refined remains of dinosaurs
There was a recent poll from The Washington Post about Climate Change. Only 37% said they thought we would have to make major sacrifices to prevent climate change from destroying the human species. And yet major sacrifices may not be enough given the rapidity of the changes so far.
Back to the future
In a previous piece, “Is the future in the past and the past in the future?” this process of what could be next, began. I received a blessing of “stepping” into a future only to experience the future and the past in the present without content or context. After all we made up the concept of past and future so to travel to one of many possible futures is an illusion. In fact we use past memories to extrapolate a future we wish to create. True?
Living in a harmonious future where we are honoring our home on earth rather than defiling her as we do now is a desire. Desire is the tool of attachment. When I began my desire to escape this current reality of power-possessors who are also climate change deniers through consciousness time travel I protected my attachment to what I imagined as a better possible future. The experience of creating an arc / circle to experience future and past merging with me in the present created in me a great blessing. I was not aware of the blessing at first.
The Blessing
Due to a recent heat wave, joint and muscular pains in the night I had been having difficulty getting a good nights sleep. Waking up for a bathroom break for five contiguous nights helped set the stage for difficulty falling back to sleep. Over the weekend my mind was jumping about preventing “drift-off” into sleep. Then came frustrations… My mind was producing too much activity that when coupled with flashes of joint and muscular pain as well as skin itch from psoriasis so that sleep seemed impossible. Left side, right side switching further complicated matters even though I was following my own advice of watching my breath without trying to change it. I went to sleep at 11 pm approximately and woke at 4 am for the bathroom break. Speedy mind and jumping thoughts crashed into my consciousness after I slipped back into bed. Just about to drop off – PAIN, dealt with it. Then muscular pain. This went on for an hour. I was drifting again, about to drop off when itchy skin surfaced. My inner voice let me know not to scratch the itch. I saw myself surfing the waves of thoughts.
In the morning I figured I had 4 hours of straight sleep with 2 hours of restless wakefulness followed by 3 hours of solid sleep.
Letting go attachment was the trick; choosing to let go is an opportunity in every moment.
Same As It Ever Was?
The momentum of post-modern life proceeds without thought, yes I am asleep at the wheel most of the time, as are most folks. We fit in well with having to make money- to eek out a living to drive a car, make payments, buy stuff – make payments, pay bills try to live day to day.
I petition my representatives, sometimes repeatedly, to promote the right thing to do – in my opinion. Fortunately, as a California resident all my representatives are Democrats, nevertheless I petition them to do the right thing. I plan on voting for a progressive Presidential nominee and I hope there will be one elected as president.
Besides working to let go of my attachments in the moment to experience freedom and an expanded present moment I have not yet made fundamental changes to my lifestyle in the face of Climate Change. Oh sure, I don’t drive my car as much – now only 2 to 3 days a week, I recycle, I eat a mostly vegan diet, but I don’t consider these fundamental changes in my lifestyle. I still have a car with an exclusive internal combustion engine running on the refined remains of dinosaurs.
As a result of vague memories filtering through my physical body I have been remembering a higher vibration in a far distant past beyond recorded history and perhaps a remembering of a future time as well.
Sounds crazy right?
Body memories are often associated with a traumatic past, but sensory memories can be wonderfully positive as well. For a period of about a month my body has been remembering a higher vibrational culture. The first clue of this kind of culture or the entire world first appeared in the early 1970s when I began to have emotional and visual experiences of a future vastly different anything. It was deceptively simple:
I saw a woman walking down a dark street in a large metropolitan area around 2 am in the morning in the summer time without fear, totally at peace and feeling fancy free.
This meant and I’m extrapolating:
Women and Men had become equals. Men wouldn’t think of dominating a woman in private or public or committing any acts of violence including rape against women.
White men – formerly the privileged patriarchy, were integrated with all peoples of color and ethnic diversity where power-over was no longer practiced. Only the power of presence was celebrated, love and compassion for others was held high.
Its quite possible that money no longer existed. Trades happened and all trades were accessed at equal value.
Children were honored for their innocence and play. The Elderly were respected for their wisdom, compassion and play. Nature and Earth were honored and revered.
Crime was nearly non-existence. Prisons no longer existed, rehabilitation was embraced and celebrated. Police had no need to carry weapons.
People took responsibility for their behavior and thinking.
Feelings of greed, envy, possessiveness and rage though still present came to be seen as addictive feelings brought about through fear and frenzied states. When we remind ourselves of the love we can access from everywhere and through trees, nature, and personal attributes of loving kindness from others and ourselves those addictive feelings are released.
There are days when the fate of earth seems hopeless – not for earth herself, but for people – human beings on Earth. Part of me wants to go to the future and manifest it in the present. How I do this? With that in my I have been asking Spirit for visions and dreams leading the way. Although this process has just begun I can share with you an exciting beginning:
In the dreamtime I stood and with right arm straightened, palm down, arm stretched left and downwards. I swing it up, colored lights and a rainbow streamer flow out of my right arm as I swing it upward. At midday or 12 o’clock golden yellow light streams out.
A circle of light holds a rarefied space – once common many thousands of years ago. I step forward and the future rushes into the present as the past rushes “forward” to greet it in the present.
I laugh feeling giddy with joy and anticipation.
I wake and realize more work needs to be done on the portal… (more to come)
larger cycles of time
The Yugas in Hindu history are cycles of time of 4 million 320 thousand years of four cycles in a descending and ascending parts. New evidence suggests that there was mathematical error that if corrected show humans on the cusp of the Ascending Dwapara Yuga. The numbered sequence below displays the Descending Yugas:
Satya Yuga – almost 2 million years long sits at the apex of the Yuga cycles and consists of an ascending and descending Yuga back to back. Average human lives span was 100,000 years. This was / will be a paradise on Earth;
Treta Yuga – was / will be nearly 1 million three hundred thousand years long. Average lifespan was: 10,000 years, Wars appear with kings, divisions of labor occur and oceans and deserts form.
Dwapara Yuga – was / is nearly 1 million years, lifespan 1,000 years. Disease, discontent and fighting become widespread.
Kali Yuga – was / will be a little over 400,000 years, lifespan 100 years. People fall prey to ignorance, darkness and depravity. The environment is polluted, water and food are scarce.
More recent research shows humans at the cusp of the Ascending Kali Yuga and the beginning of the Dvapara Yuga:
**
manifesting a good future in the present
In the 90s I was in a relationship with a woman who was always telling me the temperature on very hot days after I had asked her not to tell me. If I didn’t know the temp it wouldn’t seem as hot. In those days of my late 30s early 40s I loved walking across the street during the hottest part of the day – with temps over 100 degrees – feeling the heat in my mouth, nostrils and how it slammed me into my body.
Now as I approach age 70 the heat has a withering effect on me. No longer can I tolerate 100-degree weather. I become stupid – my reasoning ability is diminished.
I was thinking about the weather as I watched the temperature sensor in my car rise up from 85 to 90 degrees in a matter of 30 minutes. However, I was in the bubble of air conditioning and feeling the future through vague body memories about the significance of “the weather”.
Now the weather is an event we talk about. How hot is it? How cold is it? And there may be an air of competition about the temperature.
In the future we are so integrated with one another and the planet weather no longer matters in the way it does now. Sensing local weather for weeks and seasons in advance will seem natural to us. Who could need a forecaster when we all know what is happening weather wise.
Photo by Samir Belhamra @Grafixart_photo on Pexels.com
The short answer is yes
To Start
The short answer is yes and the United States is leading the charge. Capitalism in its current state drives Climate Change and is facilitating the destruction of the human species in what many have called the last great extinction event.
the human species is driving itself to extinction
Capitalism in its most current incarnation creates increased surplus population, treats natural resources as unlimited raw materials / things, divides the world into makers and takers which in-turn destroys communities and glorifies every individual for themselves, deifies greed, money and power, focuses on quarterly profits, drives moneyed economies at the expense of real growth for all and the destruction of the planet for humans and thousands of other species.
I’m not an economist and it doesn’t take an economist to see that the human species is driving itself to extinction. This is common sense. In order for the system to work there must be a variety of extraneous factors that do not contribute to growth GNP.
Short term / quarterly greed-based profits fuels short shortsightedness of the future of humans on planet Earth
Surplus Population
Surplus population does not contribute to capitalism. They are excluded from the statistics of the economy and by design they only matter in two ways: the population excess must be excluded for the capitalistic engine to work and the surplus population can be blamed when capitalism appears to fail.
Surplus Populations:
Students
The incarcerated and prisoners (in the prison system)
Pregnant mothers and stay-at-home mothers
Children
Soldiers
Unemployed
Non-employed
Severely addicted to drugs and / or alcohol
Hospitalized (short term) Mentally Ill
Long term incarcerated mentally ill
Homeless
Disabled
Short and long term medically hospitalized
Illegal Immigrants – both seasonally employed or unemployed and unemployable
There are transient members of the surplus groups: higher education, pregnant mothers, short term unemployed, children that become adults and get jobs, soldiers re-entering the job market and prisoners being released from prison that get jobs (far more prisoners are there for life-sentences sometimes for non-violent crime).
The Drivers of Capitalism
All those who have jobs
Managers
CEOs
Wall Street
Investors that make money from investing in businesses
Investors that make money from investing in money
Capitalism and the reductionism of science does not take into account the sacredness of life
The Hidden Assumptions of Capitalism
Short term / quarterly greed-based profits fuels short shortsightedness of the future of humans on planet Earth. Capitalism does not consider raw materials in its equation for profits because raw materials are things that are considered to be in an unlimited supply. Petroleum is sought after through fracking for instance, which is not a cost-effective extraction method for finding oil as well as the damage to land and the poisoning of water supplies. Because profit margins are short sighted/ based on quarterly profits this mindset is applied to the extraction of raw materials from the planet by whatever means necessary. The reverse is also true products are applied to agriculture to speed the harvest that may cause unforeseen health risks and damage to the soil. Health risks are good for the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Damage to the soil may be augmented by more products to enhance the productivity of the soil but may not address the health of the soil and so on. The short-term growth is considered of primary importance so profit is maximized over a short period of time like an addictive high.
Capitalism and the reductionism of science does not take into account the sacredness of life especially the life of the planet and her minerals, ores, soil, trees, animals, plants, oceans and landmasses. Capitalism uses science to augment profit especially short-term profit fueled by unbridled greed to destroy our future especially in the face of climate change.
psychesweather 