Category: Psychology

Can humanity achieve global systemic change?

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Economics, Mental Health, Personal Development, Politics, Psychology, Science, Spirituality, Sustainability
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

We as individuals, and humanity as a whole, whether we know it or not, are facing a crossroads of two increasingly distinct paths. This crossroads has always been before us. Some individuals have already faced this crossroads, made their choice, and are journeying toward the inevitable destination of the path they have chosen. Although, sometimes, along our way we find we are offered an opportunity to reevaluate our choice and alter our path. At this time the two distinct paths are these: one is the path of love, truth, cooperation, kinship and it’s correlated regard for the interconnectedness of all things. The other is the path of competition, greed, materialism, and it’s correlated manifestations of ego, pride, envy, illusions, deceit and disregard, if not contempt, for all that does not serve the competitive process.

While these choices have faced individuals, small groups and localized cultures for all of recorded history, at this time due to the increase in population and the advances in communication, transportation, and destructive technologies, this has become an inescapable choice facing the mass of humanity around the world. For any individual to not make a conscious choice is to, by default, accept the dominant value system in one’s surrounding culture. It is a choice which stands to profoundly determine the quantity and quality of life for every individual and thereby humanity as a whole.

There may be, and reportedly are, some groups of spiritually advanced beings who have established their own isolated cultures which exist relatively insulated from the painful cultural/spiritual contortions taking place in the world. However, that is not the condition in which the vast majority of humans live. Billions of people around the world are painfully exposed to the whims and fantasies conjured within the egos of those who, at the moment, occupy the seats of worldly power within various national governments and the world’s increasingly monopolized industries. Whims and fantasies which increasingly manifest as predominantly serving a relatively small percentage of the population.

The phrase “the world community” has never been more acutely descriptive than it is at this time. We are in our daily activites one world, one community. In reality we always have been, however, in the past, up until possibly 1900, it was easier to ignore that fact than it is today.

There is no question that in many ways simply allowing the world to continue on it’s present course of pervasive materialism and competition would be easier, at least in the near future. However, the price in the long run will undoubtedly be high and I can’t imagine that it will be anything but horrendous involving widespread death and suffering. Death and suffering not only within the human race but among all the various species of life on Earth. This is due to the callous disregard for our environment displayed by governments and industries around the globe. This callous disregard for humanity and the Earth itself is a direct consequence of the highly competitive grasping for wealth taking place among the captains of industry and tolerated, if not subsidized, by governments. This governmental tolerance and subsidizing is usually, if not always, due to those in power within the respective governments being paid off, in one way or another, to insure their non-interference. The competition to be the “first”, the richest, the most powerful has been in active among various individuals and groups for centuries. However, the aforementioned changes in technology and population have produced a world with decreased tolerance for imbalance and non-cooperative methods. The ultimate form of competition is war and to think a highly competitive culture can lead to anything else is to ignore fundamental logic along with what reality has been showing us for centuries. Continuing along the competitive path allows us to avoid facing the undeniably difficult and painful process of revelations around the lies and manipulations which have been taking place within our human cultures for centuries.

This is the choice which humanity faces at this time: do we face and accept the process of cleaning up our cultural myths, lies, and intentional misconceptions? Do we accept the challenge of reorganization along more reality oriented, more cooperative, more survival-oriented lines? The changes which are necessary to realign our world culture with a more truthful and survival-oriented direction will impact some, if not all, of humankind’s deeply programmed religious and cultural precepts. To be successful such an undertaking will require empathy, caring and cooperative behavior on the part of people around the globe.

Are we, as a species, mature enough to choose the path of work and difficulty now in order to manifest needed corrective change as opposed to simply riding out the current materialistic, competitive trends? Those for whom the greatest material sacrifices would be required are predominantly those who have been benefiting the most from the competitive, materialistic paradigm. The “1% ers” as they are commonly called. Or maybe it’s the 1/10th of 1% ers. However, we should not underestimate the degree of mental/psychological challenge which would accompany cleaning up the factual errors and lies which have become embodied in various cultures. Factual errors and lies which may often serve to kindle the fires of competition with, if not contempt for, others. Is it in the realm of possibility to effectively redirect the ego-driven, destructive behaviors currently manifesting so pervasively around the world? Is enough of humanity capable of recognizing our innate interconnectedness/interdependence for global systemic change to take place?

Something it is good and wise for us all to keep in mind is the basic principle of personal, or societal change: that every change that a human being undertakes is first preceded by the desire for change. When that is present there is usually an accompanyng conception of the change desired. There is no doubt in my mind that at this time very many people around the world are desirous of change: major systemic change. The motivation to change exists. We feel it, we talk about it, we dream of it. This being the case, what we most need in order to move away from a competitive paradigm toward a cooperative one is a fundamentally common conception of the changes we want to see become manifest. Governments, political candidates, industries, religions, use advertising, news shows, and other forms of media in their efforts to influence the citizenry to adopt the conception of change, or resistance to change, that they want to see. It’s happening right now. The thing is, we are currently going down the path, the competitive, wealth centered path, that most governments and industries are unmistakably enamored of and working to keep in place. For positive systemic change to happen in the world we first need to free our minds and desires from this agenda.

Then we need to embrace a conception of a different social paradigm: one of genuine, common good. A world in which people who work and contribute to society can expect to see their lives, and their childrens’ lives, rightfully and justly improved as a result. A world in which it is recognized that nobody should be subjected to conditions approximating slave labor and that no one’s, absolutely no one’s, contribution to the public good is exponentially more valuable than anyone else’s. Yes, we need to reward exceptional achievement, however, if we want a stable and healthy society, we need to keep in mind that the contributions of the nurses, teachers, garbage collectors, cooks, and every other contribution which serves to maintain, improve and enhance our lives and society is important. It is a reality that the greater the nature of the contribution of any one individual: the broader the base of contributing achievements of others that it is built upon. This is always true whether the individual claiming great achievement is willing to recognize that reality or not. No one ever has, or ever will, singlehandedly contribute to such a great degree that their contribution is worth 25, or 50 times more than the contribution of the average, positively contributing worker.

Today we see myriad CEO’s, sports figures, entertainers, politicians and others who believe they should receive rewards many hundreds and thousand times greater, if not millions of times greater, than the average positively contributing worker. And due to the effect of media propaganda, we see average, positively contributing workers who seem to support, possibly even worship, that situation no matter the consequences within their lives or communities. As stated, this is in large part the result of the media campaign of those who are in possession of inordinate wealth to keep the reality of inordinate imbalance appearing right, unavoidable. Abraham Maslow, with his Hierarchy of Needs, gave us a wonderful tool for use in helping determine appropriate parameters for material reward within a viable society. As a global community we desperately need greater balance in the distribution of reward for contribution than we currently have. Not a flat line, but a much greater balance.

In closing, let us all strive to create and hold the conception of a world in which we all have a good life. Where basic needs are met and everyone has the opportunity to improve their lot in life through their own personal initiative. A world in which we recognize and honor our spiritual and worldly interconnectedness. This desire and conception, based in love and reason actually already exists, and always has, at a deep, spiritual level within all of us. So, it may be said that the challenge we face is to get in touch with our own personal, yet interconnected, spiritual reality.

Healing the world, saving the world, call it what you will Jeremy Griffith presents a summation of the work of scientists, religions, poets, and others that rings true.

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Psychology, Science
Image (c) AlexMax http://www.fotosearch.com

This post is dedicated to facilitating people viewing the one hour six minute video of Jeremy Griffith’s abstract of this summation. It is filled with research, reason, love and optimism. Coming from the primary perspective of biology, it explains much about our present and historical human condition. Further, this explanation serves to free humankind from deeply embedded, internalized conflicts and self-condemnation.

I truly hope you will take the time to view this video and tell others about it. This is genuinely information the world needs to have.

Jeremy Griffith, the interview.

World conquest 2.0 and how to resist it.

by kendunning, posted in Community, Personal Development, Politics, Psychology, Spirituality
Photo: Ken Dunning

The problem with the proposed U.N. gun ban is that it leaves the most ruthless criminals; the governments who routinely use armies and police as enforcers for special interest agendas, fully armed. Such special interest agendas which are being enacted and enforced which strip people, families and communities of their individual rights, freedoms and economic stability. Within this worldwide dynamic there are, in many and various places, “sub-elements” of individuals and groups who can and will use weapons to engage in their own more localized criminal activities: robbery, intimidation, assault, murder. These elements are what most people want to see disarmed. Yet these elements are those which would be the last to, if ever, turn over any weapons they possess. As the saying goes: “When guns are criminalized, only criminals will have guns.” The Second Amendment was intended to enable a well-armed citizenry to defend itself against armed assaults from either criminally authoritarian governments or smaller criminal groups. Regrettably, the threats which it is designed to address are no less present today than they were in the late 1700’s.

Yet there has been a movement within people around the world to embrace greater understanding of, and empathy toward, others. Via international tourism, this movement was rapidly picking up momentum in the past few decades. Perhaps this momentum threatened those who see authoritarian control as the system they want to see in place: with themselves as the authorities. The appearance of COVID was used to almost totally quash the increasing amount of international tourism. Tourism which was having the effect of bringing people together; which was allowing people to see first-hand the similarities and kinship innate within all people on Earth. The past few months international tourism has been opening up considerably, however, simultaneously plans are being laid among the international governmental powers-that-be to bring international tourism under an increased level of authoritarian control. A concerted attempt to bring a “vaccine passport” into being is underway among the G20 nations.

Which brings us back to the proposed U.N. gun ban. There can be no question that there exists an international elite who see themselves as the leaders of the world. Further, they want to impose their vision of the future upon the global citizenry. A vision which lacks the merit which would allow it to be globally embraced by an enlightened populace. If their vision had such merit, it would be spontaneously embraced. It would become a globally internalized behavioral guidance system which would lead to a harmonious society. But it does not, so lies, manipulation, and force are being employed in an attempt to establish the desired authoritarian system. Ultimately, as it is highly oppositional to a healthy human nature, it will fall apart. Yet we are left with the question of how much pain and suffering this attempt will cause while it is underway? It depends on several things. One of which, possibly the most significant, is how susceptible people around the world are to being convinced that participating in military, and/or police, violence against other nations and people is a good thing to do. This will largely depend upon the amount of fear the powers-that-be are able to cultivate among one person or population toward another.

What will go the farthest toward keeping us safe against this insidious attempt at bringing the general population of the world under the control of a self-serving minority, is simply not buying into the persistent rhetoric, the fear mongering. The more we stay centered in love, loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, and then acting upon that love, the better chance we have of keeping the most positive aspects of our humanity alive and well.

The technocratic takeover of the U.S.A. and other countries.

by kendunning, posted in Community, Covid-19, Law, Oppression, Politics, Psychology

Apparently driven by questionable motives including the profit motives of big pharma, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with the cooperation and involvement of various Governors and other governmental office holders, have turned the United States into an authoritarian nightmare that people who lived during the first 60 years of the twentieth century would not recognize. The dream of a “Beacon on the Hill” has devolved into an anything goes scramble for wealth and power. The COVID debacle has been working to play upon fear and bring out the worst in many government officials. Not just in the U.S., also in other countries. After firing people from their jobs because they would not concede to an invasive medical procedure (COVID vaccines), they now bemoan the lack of workers. And after instituting sweeping quarantines which resulted in the permanent closure of many small businesses and much loss of income, poverty and homelessness is a true pandemic. Perhaps one reason people are having difficulty recognizing the money/power grab that is taking place is the fact that it is playing out on a global scale. The means to implement such a scheme have not been available until now. The developments which enable such a scheme include; large international corporations, big media controlled by a few corporations, a large percentage of the world’s wealth captured by a small group of people, politicians dependent upon corporate donations to maintain viability in the arena of big money election campaigns, the list goes on.

Following the example set by historical authoritarian dictators, those behind the curtain of the COVID/”vaccine” campaign fear common people engaging in critical thinking and especially fear information contradictory to their agendas being widely disseminated. They are engaging in grievous violations of the First Amendment guarantee of free speech (among other constitutional protections) and are engaging in defamation and witch hunts of medical and scientific professionals who dare spread information which contradicts the “mainstream” narrative around COVID and the vaccines. Their actions demonstrate the dystopian, authoritarian practices we who grew up during the 1950’s and 60’s were told are some of the methods which communist, totalitarian governments use to brainwash and control their populations.

Now, on the international scene, the G20 has agreed to institute “vaccine passports” purportedly to boost travel and tourism. It seems to me to be placing an artificial constraint on the free flow of people in the world. I grew up watching black and white movies and television shows in which fascist soldiers would come onto trains demanding to see people’s “papers”. I recently experienced something similar on a train trip from Denmark to Germany. At the German border officers walked the aisles of the train to make sure passengers were putting on masks. Even though the passengers had been traveling for some time without masks. When returning to Denmark the authoritarian absurdity of it all was demonstrated again when, at the Danish border, almost all, if not all, passengers removed the masks we were forced to wear in Germany.

We aren’t being protected from COVID, we are being trained to comply. To comply mindlessly and without critical thought. I used to wonder how 6 million Jewish people could allow themselves to be rounded up and marched into ovens. I wondered how the good people, the average citizens, of Germany, Austria and some other countries could have sat by while such an atrocity took place. The answer is to be found simply by taking a hard look at what is happening in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Germany and other countries in which the dictatorial, authoritarian medical technocracy is exerting itself. In the process it is pretty effectively transforming the U.S. constitution from the law of the land into a mere list of suggestions.

As a species we face the need for a major transition. Will it happen by design or default? And if by design, whose?

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Economics, Personal Development, Politics, Psychology, Spirituality, Sustainability

An article carried on the AP recently has the statement: “…the United States and Japan are expected to agree to changes in the joint defense posture this week as the two nations confront rising threats from North Korea and increasing aggressiveness from China.” These kinds of statements in the news are nothing new. It is common for news reports these days to be about the threats and violence one country, or faction within a country, are inflicting upon another. It is so common that I imagine many adults who were born in the 1990s just take it for granted that this is the inescapable way of the world. It isn’t.

I also know that gratefully there are many people in the world, people of all ages, who have a different vision for the world. One in which headlines can read something like: “A cooperative international effort has eradicated hunger in 99.5% of the world’s population and is expected to have completely eradicated it within another year.” Or “International efforts in education and health care have resulted in greatly improved educational and medical treatment options throughout the world.” Wouldn’t that be nice?

I can remember the world during the Presidency of John F. Kennedy. The optimism, the dreams, the good will being expressed on the international stage. Of course, as we know, people enamored of threats and violence killed President Kennedy and effectively turned that optimistic trend around to express what they knew. Toward what they envisioned as the future of the world. And now we’re experiencing their dreams of threats and violence playing out in the world. The world which is our home. Is this any way to run a household? No, it isn’t. Not if a healthy, thriving, worldwide population is the goal. However, a healthy, thriving worldwide population evidently isn’t the goal. At least not among the money/power “elite” that are pulling the economic, political strings in the world. It is apparently their desire to establish a worldwide political/economic system which is essentially a return to something more closely resembling the medieval feudal system.

The above pyramid roughly illustrate the composition of the 21st century feudal system that is being engineered into existence. It is not absolute in it’s designations. For instance, many Presidents, Prime Ministers, and other national heads of state fall in the category of “Lords” rather than being part of the actual international ruling/governing body. And some with a high level of a particular skill which is needed by the ruling body may find themselves at least honorary members of the “Lords”.

The following illustration roughly provides a reference point for how the wealth, which is largely manufactured, mined or otherwise produced by the Peasants and Serfs, is ultimately currently being distributed. The ongoing increase in automated systems which perform labor previously performed by human workers calls to question the need for as large a general population as historically been needed.

Largely by manipulations within the educational, media and entertainment systems, the King and Lords have managed to convince the general public that such an inequitable distribution of wealth is right and proper. This is no small feat considering all the wealth has either been provided by either the natural composition of the Earth itself or the labor of the Peasants/Serfs. Often it is a combination of these things combined.

One inescapable problem with this system (among many) is that people tend to look enviously, lustfully upon the wealth of others. Possibly the money/power elite behind current events believe that by consolidating world rule under one ruling body, as opposed to many fiefdoms which existed during the medieval times that they will have effectively prevented any serious challenges to their position. However, when there is such a disproportionate distribution of wealth taking place we may be certain that there are persons with resources whose egos, whose greed, will not allow them to accept such conditions. This ensures that there will be wars, uprisings, revolutions and the like. Which simultaneously ensures that the conditions which prevent human beings from more fully discovering their innate gifts and abilities will continue to plague humanity. Too much stress and repeated trauma are not conducive to positive, holistic, human development.

So, do we have any options? Yes we do if we work together. We desperately need to largely replace competition with cooperation. Cooperation between individuals, groups, professions, businesses, nations, and with the Earth itself. Humankind has ample stress/challenge placed upon us simply by existing upon this Earth at all (yes, a certain amount of stress is healthy/needed.) We do not need to be continually creating lethal amounts by our own actions.

I love the following illustration. I’ve used it a lot in my blog articled because it sums it up so graphically. It beautifully illustrates for us all we need to do to maximize our potential both as individuals and as a species. To work together so beautifully will, of course, take work. It will require that we sincerely and diligently work to overcome our prejudices, misunderstandings, relatively trivial and not so trivial differences. Impossible? Not at all. If we want it, really want it, and are willing to work for it, we can have it. Might it be hard? Yes, at times it might be. However, it couldn’t possibly take any more work and resources than we currently devote to violence, killing, war. Ultimately it very well may be our only long term option as a species. We are currently in possessions of the weaponry and delivery means to wipe ourselves from our Earthly existence. To think such a potential exists but that some crazed authoritarian head of state or rogue military officer would never actually employ it is, I think, naive. We very much need to curb our intolerance, judgementalism, and other ego driven constructs which separate us and pit us against one another. We very much need to realize our interdependence, our interconnectedness and begin enjoying all blessings which lie in wait for us when we do.

(c) AlexMax http://www.fotosearch.com

Principles or Personalities?

by kendunning, posted in Community, Personal Development, Politics, Psychology, Spirituality

Books, magazines, radio, television, computers, they all have, to a greater or lesser extent, contributed to the phenomena of masses of people becoming enamored with a personality which they have been exposed to via that medium. In the past, in the days in which books, magazines and then radio were the primary media, authors and radio personalities might become famous, even loved, for their contributions. However, the advent of movies, television, and now computers and cell phones has exponentially increased the phenomenon of “consumers” not only liking, or loving, but idolizing the personalities whose faces and words fill these media.

In doing a computer search on the definition of “idolize”, the following definition, attributed to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition. came up on “Wordnik”: “To regard with great or uncritical admiration or devotion.” The descriptor “uncritical” is the key word to why such idolization (of anyone or anything) is not something conducive to genuinely healthy individuals nor a healthy culture. I think all of us, with a few seconds of thought, can come up with the name of a personality that has been the recipient of such idolization in the past and/or the present. I would venture that very often those who are not caught up in the idolization of a particular person can plainly see the downside of such idolization. However, interestingly, even those who can plainly see the downside, the “error” if you will, of idolizing one personality may be actively involved in the idolization of another. In such cases it is a recognition of the imperfections of the object of the idolization, rather than a recognition of the pitfalls inherent in the act of idolization itself. The American practice of idolization is so pervasive, so entrenched, that within certain (many?) Christian churches the idolization of Jesus has become more important than adherence to the vital principles he taught.

Why does it matter? One very important reason is that if a person can be led to believe that it is the idolization, the worship, of a personality that is important, rather than the study and consideration of the vital principles which they proclaim, then a person can be led to violate genuinely vital principles necessary to a healthy person or culture when told to do so by the object of idolization. Or by another person or an agency which they believe represent the object of idolization.

Beware of any person or organization which holds up a personality as someone to be idolized. Both as individuals and as a culture we are much better served by having concern with the principles which enlightened and loving teachers, saints and prophets, through the ages, have brought forward. Principles such persons have endeavored to direct and encourage people to the study and understanding of.

If you have to ignore world events to maintain a positive attitude…

by kendunning, posted in Community, Economics, Environment, Health, Mental Health, Politics, Psychology, Spirituality, Unified Field

If you have to ignore world events in order to maintain a positive attitude, you’re in trouble on two fronts.

1. As technology has given unprecedented access, for good and for evil, to nations, communities and people worldwide, isolationism has become obsolete. There has never been a time when personal involvement in political and economic affairs has been more important. Right now it may look hopeless because things have gotten out of hand, but that is an illusion. The Divine Creative Spirit flows through us all and through the entirety of our world. We are affected by it and we affect it. Our thoughts, our words our deeds, all these things create ripples thoughout our world. We are either acting consciously or unconsciously. It’s time we take back the creative processes of our world to thoughtfully form the world we want for ourselves and our loved ones. Even the thoughts we hold make a difference.

2. If internally you are overly vulnerable to the spiritual content of the individuals and groups who are engaging in hurtful, destructive, and maliciously manipulative actions, you are out of touch with your own, personal, source of strength and renewal. It’s time to get back in touch with the spiritual reality you are a valuable part of. The Divine Creative Spirit, God, is ever present, the strength and resilience of this Great Spirit, is available to all who seek it. There are many books, articles and videos made by others who are seeking and have found various valuable spiritual realities which they are sharing for the benefit of all. I have found “The Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East”, by Baird Spalding to be a source of strength. I’ve been told “A Course in Miracles” is also a valuable source. There are many, many more. And, there are men and women, ministers, priests, rabbis, imams, shamans, not all, but many, who also are personally in touch with the Divine Creative Spirit and can be valuable in offering information, suggestions and support to us on our path to a greater understanding and more enlightened participation in our own lives and in the world at large. Beware of any who claim to be a necessary intermediary between yourself and the Divine Creative Spirit! Embrace those who encourage and aid you in the development of your own personal awareness and connection.

Vital, thinking human beings are not meant to be turned into mindless automatons.

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Manifesting our Future, Mental Health, Personal Development, Politics, Psychology, Spirituality, Sustainability
A path in the beautiful North Cascades.

We are consigning children’s education to school systems which teach them to blindly trust and obey the people who occupy the governmental offices within our society.

For the survival of the human race, that needs to stop. Governments and the people who work within them are only beneficial to a society to the extent that their primary goals are the genuine health and well-being of the society which they serve. This necessarily means working within certain parameters. An essential quality which must be present within the parameters any and all governmental bodies operate within is truthfulness. Hand in hand with truthfulness is openness. Merely saying that the government is not going to allow it’s citizens to know what the criteria are that governmental officials are considering in their decision making does not meet those criteria. Not even close. Somewhere along the line, since the second world war, Americans allowed the Government to take the stance that America is on a permanent war footing and that the type of secrecy which was put in place during the war needed to exist on an ongoing basis. This culture of secrecy creates a fertile ground for corruption, lies, misdirection and unexplained actions. If we treat the whole world as a real or potential enemy, we create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I believe John F. Kennedy either intuitively or intellectually knew this. One of his primary goals was to take America out of the war-mindedness which had continued after WWII ended, and put America and the world on a course for true, sustainable, friendships and harmonious coexistence between all nations. This flew in the face of the aspirations of wealth and power hungry, militant, individuals who believed they saw a path to their desired version of the future. A path which President Kennedy firmly rejected. Having any nation, or group, especially any with predatory economic goals, act as an ongoing dominant overlord of the people of the world is not a viable, sustainable condition. It is clearly something most people in the world will loathe and reject if an attempt is made to force it upon them.

For sound mental, physical and spiritual health, people desire, need, to feel a vital, reciprocal, interaction with their environment, their world. That desire/need is an innate quality of being born into the human race. However, the connection to, the awareness of, this quality can be dulled. Through repetitive instruction from trusted adults and authority figures, a child’s attention can be redirected from this innate desire designed to support and sustain human beings throughout life, to a dependency upon the declarations of those aspiring to godlike power within the lives of others. However, this innate desire of humanity cannot be dulled indefinitely.

The first allegiance a person should learn is the allegiance to the positive human values we know work toward creating and sustaining healthy people and healthy communities: honesty, fairness, intelligence, analytical thinking, reason, compassion, ingenuity, resilience, strength, love and kindness.

Memorial Day

by kendunning, posted in Personal Development, Politics, Psychology, Spirituality, Trust and betrayal., War

Memorial Day. An event whose meaning is coming way too close to simply being the glorification of war and of those who agree to kill in the service of those giving the orders to do so. Often blindly, with little or no idea of the reality around the manipulations, the crimes, which may have been committed by those giving the orders in their efforts to justify their war in the minds of the citizenry.
Is it honorable to fight, to be willing to die, to protect one’s home and loved ones? Beyond a shadow of doubt. Most who agree to take up arms upon the orders from those giving them likely believe that is what they’re doing. Yet, what if people with the most honorable intentions are following the orders of commanders with less than honorable intentions? Commanders acting in the service of profiteers who are seeking to obtain foreign resources or to destroy foreign competition in the marketplace?


In the final analysis what determines the true nature of the killing: the honorable intentions of those doing the killing or the less than honorable intentions of those ordering the killing to be done, the intentions/motives to be found at the foundation of the conflict? At what point do we demand to know all the information around any event or situation before we pick up arms? At what point do we teach our young people to utilize the utmost in critical thinking, to be absolutely certain it really is necessary for the protection of home and loved ones before taking the life of another human being? When do we begin teaching our children that killing another human being simply because of “orders”, because someone else told you to, is a betrayal of one’s most intimate, authentic self? We, as a culture, are failing in teaching our children to be intelligent, autonomous persons rather than merely the tools of those who have managed to gain the reins of political and economic power.


At what point do we realize that corporate profiteering via military adventures and the attempt to “Americanize” the world at gunpoint is not going to lead to any desirable future? When do we, as a nation, realize that fairness, respect, friendship, will go a lot further than threats in creating a world we will genuinely want to live in. We would be acting more in genuine service to ourselves, our children and our future by maintaining a strong national defense while simultaneously engaging in sincere actions of friendship and cooperation with others. Stop the misguided, murderous, military adventures taking place in service of corporate profiteering.


At what point will we realize that simply “following orders” and the invoking of the cliché of “national security” should never be enough to persuade us to take the lives of men, women and children in foreign lands?

The Noble Failure

by kendunning, posted in Community, Economics, Integrity, Manifesting our Future, Oppression, Politics, Psychology, Spirituality
(c) mrdoggs http://www.fotosearch.com

The Noble Failure is a character in American politics which has been showing up with increasing frequency. The Noble Failure knows what people want. When campaigning for office, the Noble Failure speaks to the needs and wants of the people, and does so convincingly. The Noble Failure will emote, inspire, speak of noble aspirations and a better, fairer, more equitable world. People will be led to believe if only they can get the Noble Failure elected, things will improve. The thing is, that is all just part of the show, the main attraction. It is intended to draw voters, and the reality of Presidential elections last few decades show it works. Why wouldn’t it? People aren’t going to vote for what they don’t want to hear.

However, the promises are never, not from day one, meant to actually be fulfilled once the Noble Failure is elected. Once in office the excuses are pulled out of the closet. “The Legislature won’t get on board.” “The projects can’t be funded.” “We need to first increase the military budget.” “It’s not a good idea to increase the national debt.” “We need to infuse cash into our big corporations to compete internationally.” “It’s the damn ________________ (Democrats/Republicans, liberals/conservatives).” “We need focus our energies on attacking _______________ (fill in the blank).” Or, maybe, the new standard: “It would be a socialist program.”

So, the Noble Failure puts forward the face of grief, of sorrow, maybe even of having been betrayed. They bemoan the inability of others in power to appreciate the vision they sold to the American public. They may villainize those identified as obstacles to their stated campaign goals. This is the 21st century American Presidential/political reality. It didn’t begin in the 21st century, but it’s the only one we’ve had since the turn of the century. It’s the contemporary script: align your stated goals with what the people want and need. Make a few gestures toward fulfillment, then blame someone else for the failure to produce. Repeat in the next election cycle. The only people who don’t get excuses after the election are the 1/10th of 1%’ers who always come out ahead. Sometimes more than others, but the national wealth, the wealth resulting from the work of millions of people, just keeps flowing into their bank accounts. Policies keep coming which support their goals.


At the end of the day, the key players attend their private clubs, extravagant parties, concerts, events, have a few drinks and pat each other on the back. Maybe arrange to give each other official accolades and medals. Or, quite possibly engage in some dark rituals or forms of entertainment. A troupe of Machiavellian actors showing up for the after show reception.


It was the script from the beginning of the campaign, as it has been for several decades. It’s one reason why, from the perspective of the Noble Failures and their cronies, control of the White House, and the Legislature, cannot be allowed to slip from the control of a small circle of “their” people. They have been exercising an increasingly pervasive control that has been jealously guarded since 1963.

What does the general population get from all this? Frustration, disenfranchisement, increasing debt and poverty. One thing we can see from all this is that when the majority are not able to see the issues that are negatively affecting their lives addressed at the source, people will turn on each other. Like an animal caught in a trap. The animal can’t open the trap, so in order to escape, it chews it’s own leg off. “We the People” turn on each other, divide and be conquered. And those who occupy the seats of power and control the monopolized media are all too ready to throw some fuel onto those fires.

The difference between us and an animal caught in a steel trap is we that have minds capable of finding better solutions. We need to stop inadvertently, or as “wannabes”, cooperating with corruption, the disease, that is destroying the dream of a society that can work for all. Quit turning on each other. Quit buying into the incessant fear mongering dispensed to keep us distracted and paralyzed. Treat each other right; personally, economically, and in every way. Not just within the United States, also internationally. Create a culture that doesn’t have to kill and conquer in a misguided attempt at creating international “cooperation”. Create a culture that others want to emulate because it works and works well. Create a culture with the organizing principle of human wellbeing, reflecting our mutuality rather than fear and greed. Stop blindly following, believing in, the proclamations of those whose goal it is to keep us distracted, disorganized, fearful, and subservient.