At this point, I don't think our BELIEFS matter so much anymore
... but our actions (& words) still do!
This is just a thought, of course.
An opinion.
That came to me last Saturday as I was running around cleaning my apartment.
In the days just past the Trump-Biden debate (which I did not watch, btw. Tried, but couldn't make myself stick with it).
In days 4 1/2 years into the Covid debacle. The psyop.
But here's my contention.
I don't think it matters much anymore (if it ever did) what we believe about such topics as
religion
politics
capitalism / socialism
climate change
"chemtrails" / geoengineering / climate engineering / weather modification (take your pick what you call it)
whether microwave cooking is bad for your health, or organic food good for it
or 20-11 other possible subjects
We're past all that.
That’s what I think.
Psychopaths are in charge of things. (Maybe they always were?) A later thought: well, psychopaths & morons. There are a lot of morons! How about this great quote?
“One of the things I argue in my book [A Journey Through Economic Time] is the extent to which people go to avoid rational decisions – the very large role of mental deficiency in economic history. Generally, people have been very resistant to attributing a causal role in history to stupidity.” – John Kenneth Galbraith, Economist
And this gem!!
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” – H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956) Yikes.
Facts no longer seem to matter worth diddly-squat.
All our systems & man-made institutions are broken - deeply, deeply broken.
The folks in charge lie so much a person needs her hip-waders to slog through all the ugly muck. #SoMuchLying! #SoManyLies!
Wilful ignorance/wilful blindness seem(s) to be at truly pandemic levels. 🙁
Most members of our species appear to have fallen victim to a severe Pied Piper syndrome of deep, deep, deep sleep.
Everything good in us has been weaponized against us - so many instances of this, but just think of this one great example - parents vaccinate their children (without doing any research first, or receiving enough information to be able to provide "informed consent") out of a perceived need to be good, kind citizens and "protect the herd." Or they submit to masks, lockdowns & Covid shots to "protect Grandma." As if.
Truth has become yet another endangered species!
So much of what's going on around us is just pure theatre.
Bad theatre, at that.
Absurdist theatre!
So while I spent decades of my life trying hard - working energetically & creatively (I feel) - to convince my fellow humans that a serious environmental crisis exists - & that we need to change the ways we do things on Planet Earth - such as the ways & rate at which we use (& pollute) resources & damage air, water, food, earth in a multitude of ways...
It's clear the message never really sank in (admittedly, there was too much in it that was very, shall we say, "inconvenient"), & I/we failed to "change/save the world."
Heh heh. 🙂 🙁
& now?
Now.
Things have gone so far sideways in every possible respect - all systems broken, & most of us surely way out beyond incredulous at how far sideways, upside down, inside out & topsy-turvy it's all become
& The Powers That Shouldn’t Be™ (as fellow S-stacker Mickey Z puts it) have worked hard (& mighty successfully, & for a very long time!) to Divide & Conquer us (oh let me count the ways!?) - & divisiveness now is also at hugely epidemic levels.
Just look at all the broken families, broken relationships in the past 4 1/2 years!
The huge loss of trust in “the authorities.” In all of our institutions.
Not to mention of course the suicides, deaths, illnesses (horrendous illnesses!), depression/mental health decline, economic chaos/economic disparities that have gone on steroids.
Ai-yi-yi & sheesh & WTH & OMG!!!
So… I'm thinking maybe we're overdue now to realize it no longer matters what our beliefs are. Only our actions still matter. Well, & our words, of course.
Hmmmmm. I wonder - has this actually always been the case??
So.
What I'm driving at here is that I think it's (past) time to be getting out of what I think of as "the convincing business."
& just work on being decent human beings.
If you see a person in the street who's about to get hit by a car, you don't ask her what her views on God are, or whether she's had a Covid shot - you just push her out of the way of the oncoming vehicle.
Okay.
Okay okay okay okay okay.
I know. I get it.
That's exactly what so many of us were doing with our friends/colleagues/neighbours/family members/loved ones/even strangers! vis-a-vis the whole sick Covid agenda (& all vaccines). Trying to protect them. Save their lives. The lives of their children.
But.
Mostly. It. Did. Not. Work.
Did it?
So now, what the heck - let's just be kind to one another.
As kind as we can manage to be. We can work on it. Get better at it.
“Don’t be yourself. Be someone a little nicer.” – Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author (1913-1983)
"It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one's life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than 'Try to be a little kinder.'" – Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World
Listen, I have a very dear friend who was & is completely impervious to my (quite numerous) warnings about all of it. Wore a disposable mask - mostly down around her neck - for eons. Got 2 shots, 2 boosters, & a flu shot. & yes, she's had some health issues. Severe vertigo that sent her into the Emergency Department & a brief in-patient gig at one point. Some very odd manic behaviour for a while in there, post whichever set of shots it was. (Don't worry, she doesn't "do" Internet at all, so she'll never read this.) We had a conversation recently in which she said - to my utter shock & dismay - that she'd do it all again! I nearly fell off my chair. It really threw me off for a day or two, I can tell you. After having given her so much information about things - over a long period of time - including about all the media crap (Operation Marigold & all that, you know?). I think she’s probably still watching CNN! 🙁
Sigh.
You can lead a horse to water, & all that...
But you know what?
She & I have been friends for 48 years. Isn't that wild?
& we're still friends
& we are not about to allow all this stuff to end our friendship.
There are other things we disagree hugely about, for the record. We've had to learn to "agree to disagree" on some topics.
So.
It can be done!
Out of the Convincing Business?
Clearly I am only about 90% out of the convincing business (who am I kidding?? Maybe 80%?), though I sometimes claim to be out of it. I do still try from time to time to alert loved ones to the dangers of vaccines (of all kinds). Very calmly, carefully & diplomatically. When the right time in a conversation presents itself.
Not the sledgehammer approach.
And not in anger. Never in anger.
“In order for the truth to be heard, it must be spoken with love. No matter how wise and true a spoken word is it will not be conveyed to someone if it’s spoken in anger.” – Leo Tolstoy
Other topics upon which I disagree - maybe even vehemently - with others?
I generally just let it slide.
'cos I think it's too late in the game at this point to quibble over everything we could quibble with one another over. You know??
And hey - after all, we're all entitled to our own opinions!
& facts don't seem to matter worth diddly-squat anymore, as previously mentioned.
Although too,
“Facts don’t cease to exist just because they are ignored.” – Aldous Huxley
I’ve had the thought more than once that this is NOT a time to poke sticks into (what we perceive to be) other people's blind spots.
I daresay we’ve ALL got blind spots - I've definitely had my own fair share of them over the decades! We all do the failing-to-connect-the-dots thing. All of us. Every single darn one of us.
Nasty prodding is just not the best way to get one's message across, let's face it.
Even When There's No Hope, There's Still Action!
So said a wise young man to me at an amazing, memorable John Seed workshop back in 2006 or thereabouts.
It's always made good sense to me.
Of course we've all heard the expression
"Actions speak louder than words."
Two more good ones:
“The great end of life is not knowledge but action.” – Thomas Henry Huxley
“What a big gap there is between advice and help.” – Source unknown
Finally?
As usual I've been much more long-winded here than I intended. 🙂 🙁 Sorry about that.
We can be inspired - all of us, still - by the actions & yes - the words - of others.
Two people who've provided me with some inspiration in recent times?
Particularly this one!!
And Charles Eisenstein, here
So, yes - I personally believe that a number of the human-made messes our species has visited upon the planet cannot now be fixed - that it's too late for that. Bear in mind,
and I think we're
But. And.
I've been mentally composing a posting with a list of quite a few things it is not too late for.
Maybe even never too late for.
Stay tuned....
Janet
Musical Interlude
2 somber-ish (but insightful!) ones:
Good-bye to a River (Don Henley)
Inside Job (Don Henley)
And 2 get up & boogie ones! 🙂 🙂
Jump (For My Love) - Pointer Sisters
I'm So Excited - Pointer Sisters
Okay. Make it 3.
Donna Summer - She Works Hard For The Money
Bless you, Janet! 🙏