What do We Do Now? A few Propositions
By Grant Lawrence
The economic collapse shouldn't have come as a surprise. The signs that something was terribly wrong had been evident with the collapse of each of the economic bubbles going all the way back to George H. Bush in the early 90s. But through the Savings and Loans bank collapse, the dot com collapse, the commodities bubble, the war bubble, and the housing bubble, people came to see illusions as economic growth.
Interestingly, few in leadership positions or in the lap dog press ever looked at the economic illusions and gave any clear warning to the American people.
Instead they sold the people on the bubbles while they also sold them on the glories of "disaster capitalism." Our leadership and media marched the people off the economic cliff in the same way they marched the public into war in Iraq. All of it was based on lies.
So what do we do now?
I have a great idea. Americans, as well as people around the world (it is a global problem) should begin to act like adults and accept some basic propositions.
#1. All governments lie and so do the societal institutions that support them.
A sucker doesn't have to be born every minute. It is a sacred duty, that we not only have to ourselves but to our children, to begin to question the state, the media, the church, the educators, and all of those societal institutions that support each other. Don't just believe something because your bible (as interpreted by a preacher) tells you it is so. Don't just believe a politician because he looks like a game show host and is on television all of the time. Start reading and listening to alternative media. After all, it was the alternative media that has been right nearly all of the time while the managed media has lied just as they were paid to do.
#2. Don't expect the politicians to make any real change.
If there is to be some meaningful change then it is going to have to come from the people. When people lose the illusion that a vote every couple of years is going to change the system, then they are moving toward real change.
Instead people are going to have to do some organizing and demand real change. When the paid off politicos get the message that the people are really "mad as hell and not going to take it anymore" then there can be some meaningful change.
#3. Don't allow yourselves to be manipulated by hate and fear.
The power structure uses an old tactic, that works, of finding ways to dilute the power of the people by pitting groups against each other. When the people are constantly being divided over various wedge issues then they lose their power. It is time to move past the hate and fear mongering and to recognize that people are people with the same basic desires and interests.
#4. Start thinking of others, as well as yourself.
The only way for the human race to move past the lies, the war economies, and the bubble economies is for humanity to develop a good heart to go with a strong mind.
It is really that simple.
It is true that it is hard to cheat an honest man but it is also true that it is hard to blow up the world when the people are aware and caring. Ultimately we don't have an economic problem or a political problem, but we have a relationship problem. The way we relate to others is either helpful or hurtful to the whole humanity. If we disregard others, see them as not human, or abuse them and use then we are contributing to a hellish world.
Sure, there is going to be "blow back" from our past actions and we have to deal with that. But a basic psychological and spiritual understanding that we are a community of people and that what we want and allow for others not only determines the type of people we are but the type of world we have.
I believe that when people begin to take responsibility for their world by expanding their awareness, using their heads (reasoning), and by using their hearts then the world will be profoundly transformed.
The economic collapse shouldn't have come as a surprise. The signs that something was terribly wrong had been evident with the collapse of each of the economic bubbles going all the way back to George H. Bush in the early 90s. But through the Savings and Loans bank collapse, the dot com collapse, the commodities bubble, the war bubble, and the housing bubble, people came to see illusions as economic growth.
Interestingly, few in leadership positions or in the lap dog press ever looked at the economic illusions and gave any clear warning to the American people.
Instead they sold the people on the bubbles while they also sold them on the glories of "disaster capitalism." Our leadership and media marched the people off the economic cliff in the same way they marched the public into war in Iraq. All of it was based on lies.
So what do we do now?
I have a great idea. Americans, as well as people around the world (it is a global problem) should begin to act like adults and accept some basic propositions.
#1. All governments lie and so do the societal institutions that support them.
A sucker doesn't have to be born every minute. It is a sacred duty, that we not only have to ourselves but to our children, to begin to question the state, the media, the church, the educators, and all of those societal institutions that support each other. Don't just believe something because your bible (as interpreted by a preacher) tells you it is so. Don't just believe a politician because he looks like a game show host and is on television all of the time. Start reading and listening to alternative media. After all, it was the alternative media that has been right nearly all of the time while the managed media has lied just as they were paid to do.
#2. Don't expect the politicians to make any real change.
If there is to be some meaningful change then it is going to have to come from the people. When people lose the illusion that a vote every couple of years is going to change the system, then they are moving toward real change.
Instead people are going to have to do some organizing and demand real change. When the paid off politicos get the message that the people are really "mad as hell and not going to take it anymore" then there can be some meaningful change.
#3. Don't allow yourselves to be manipulated by hate and fear.
The power structure uses an old tactic, that works, of finding ways to dilute the power of the people by pitting groups against each other. When the people are constantly being divided over various wedge issues then they lose their power. It is time to move past the hate and fear mongering and to recognize that people are people with the same basic desires and interests.
#4. Start thinking of others, as well as yourself.
The only way for the human race to move past the lies, the war economies, and the bubble economies is for humanity to develop a good heart to go with a strong mind.
It is really that simple.
It is true that it is hard to cheat an honest man but it is also true that it is hard to blow up the world when the people are aware and caring. Ultimately we don't have an economic problem or a political problem, but we have a relationship problem. The way we relate to others is either helpful or hurtful to the whole humanity. If we disregard others, see them as not human, or abuse them and use then we are contributing to a hellish world.
Sure, there is going to be "blow back" from our past actions and we have to deal with that. But a basic psychological and spiritual understanding that we are a community of people and that what we want and allow for others not only determines the type of people we are but the type of world we have.
I believe that when people begin to take responsibility for their world by expanding their awareness, using their heads (reasoning), and by using their hearts then the world will be profoundly transformed.
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