Soil erosion, Southfield. Days of dry warm south westerly winds and bare fields provide the ideal conditions for windblown soil erosion. The fine particles of sandy soil become airborne and get into everything. Here by Southfield a plantation of young trees is being sand blasted. (Wikimedia)
I have been musing about how I can reconnect to the despair and outrage at the state of the world I felt when I was a young boy – environmental destruction, societal oppression, religious indoctrination and so on. At the same time, I am also inspired and encouraged by today’s younger generations that bring fresh energy, enthusiasm and vision to champion for a better future through challenging the inhumane and unjust system that serves only the minority of “elites” at the expense of the majority of humanity.
Russell Brand (Wikipedia)
Incidentally, I came across an article by Collective Evolution after my musing just now, and I dare say people like Russell Brand, who enthused in a recent interview video about the world revolution, is doing a good job in bringing more awareness and passion to more people about the need for a world revolution and how we all can be part of it in our own ways.
I also recalled having come across the phrase “rage against the machine” some time ago, and I decided to google it just now, and I learnt from Wikipedia that it is the name of an American rap metal band that was formed in the 1990s. I learnt that the band has composed and sung a number of songs to address injustice and oppression imposed by the political and capitalistic systems. I guess the word “machine” in the name “Rage against the machine” is probably used to allude to the propagandistic machine used by the elite to “brainwash” the masses. I was reading about one of their songs called “Wake Up”, and I noted from Wikipedia that the band’s frontman has been actively addressing inequality and speaking about the need for everyone to unite as one.
At the Big Day Out in Australia 2008, De La Rocha gave a speech discouraging globalism, saying it makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. He applauded the crowd for voting out former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, then broke into screams of “Wake Up”.
Zack de la Rocha and Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine at Coachella 2007 (Wikipedia)
At the band’s June 8 2010 gig at the O2 in Dublin, Ireland, De La Rocha gave a speech discussing the current economic system and how multinational companies are blaming the middle/working class for the problems that the multinational companies themselves caused. De La Rocha was quoted as saying:
“You know I’ve been getting really frustrated turning on the news recently and listening to all this talk. All this talk about Ireland and all this talk about Portugal and all this talk about Spain and all this talk about Greece. And all they seem to be saying is “Oh the people in Ireland and Spain and Greece and Portugal oh they had it too easy”. And the very companies that run these stations like CNN profited so greatly from the housing bubble and crisis that they created. The very people that created the economic recession are the first to blame to us for the reason that it came about. And I’m sick of them saying this over and over again knowing full well that the reason we have pensions that the reason we have vacations and the reason we have 8 hour work days is precisely because of the kind of actions that our brothers and sisters are taking in Greece right now. People taking to the streets against the wealthy class who have been robbing us all for years. And in the face of all this propaganda I wanna say, we have here to unite here in Europe, we have to unite here in Europe across ethnic lines across religious differences across racial lines and it’s now the lines are clear. It’s us against the wealthy plain and simple. It’s time to wake up. WAKE UP.”
I have come to see that the main problem is the mindset or the system that creates a social divide among people, or as Thich Nhat Hanh put it, “we are here to awake from the illusion of separateness”. As Charles Eisenstein of the Occupy Love movement in the below video also said, “this shift of consciousness that inspires such things is universal, 99% and 1%, and it’s awakening in different people in different ways”.
Here’s sharing an excerpt of my blog in which I was musing about the case of revolution, which I was re-reading in view of the above video about the love revolution.
“Many look at the twentieth century as a time of great economic and technical advance, but history, while recognizing the technical innovation, will condemn this century as the most vile in man’s history. The miracle that began in Greece, expanded in Rome, flourished in the Renaissance & Enlightenment and finally found its modern form in the western liberal democracy has been been gutted by a century of materialism, enslavement, slaughter and greed.”
“I agree with the gist of the message of the above-mentioned article that the best way to counter or overcome the self-serving regime controlled by mega corporations in the long run is “enlightened disengagement”. While protests and occupy movements have their place in creating awareness, the longer term and more permanent solution is within reach of each of us individuals – by consciously and actively making decisions in our daily life to disengage ourselves from the consumerist culture and propaganda and the like as much as we can, and to participate in collaborative and environment-friendly activities, such as reusing, reducing and recycling materials, buying locally produced organic food, spending within our means, seeking our own spiritual paths, and so on.”
Yes, to me, awareness is the first step, and then it involves a conscious decision to disengage ourselves from the system or the mindset of the consumerist culture, and at the same time, to participate in activities that contribute to a more humane world and a more sustainable environment, while spreading awareness through our day-to-day living and sharing of useful resources with others.
This article “Something Every Student, Teacher and Person Should See” by Arjun Walia from Collective Evolution resonates with me about creating our own reality and doing the things our heart desires instead of following the crowd in a consumerist culture. Like what the article says, “When you follow your heart, you can access the magic that’s all around us, the non-physical phenomenon that can help us on our quest”.
As a dear friend said, “once we have dereligionized and deconsumerized ourselves, there is not much left to live for, other than loving people and making this world a better place”. Yes, being free from religious conditioning and consumerist culture enables us to focus on what really matters in life – loving our neighbors as ourselves through sharing the Earth’s resources which belong to everyone, and making the world a better place through using our gifts and talents. We will also enjoy the true treasures of the world with awe and wonder – the beauty of Nature, music, poetry, art, friendship and so on.
I watched the first hour of the video documentary and then read the rest of the video transcript online – there is much information to be absorbed, though mostly it is a recap of what I have been learning the past year, since similar documentaries and movies such as Zeitgeist and Waking Life have covered part of the message, which revolves around the possible world domination by certain elite members in terms of energy, food supply, education, healthcare and finance. I find the first part of the documentary interesting, such as the director’s wondering whether “the sun gods were not advanced civilizations coming from another part of our galaxy… the ones responsible for sharing the knowledge of this (torus) code” to help humanity tap into the freely available universal clean energy that is non-combustible and non-pollutive, unlike oil and coal.
As for the part about world domination, from my understanding so far, there are probably some truths in how the global elite seeks to gain more power and influence to control the masses. My personal take is that each of us can live with that awareness and question everything, especially the propaganda and mass media, and the power is within us to be the change we want to see in the world. In that sense, I can agree with the documentary’s suggested solution, so to speak, about following our own inner guidance and live “a vibrant and lively inner life, that is truly the navigator of the path”. We can also help create awareness in our own ways and invite others to question the status quo alongside with us, such as in our blogs and so on.
I remember Jesus had said we are in the world but not of the world. World domination has been attempted by one empire after another since ancient history, and the Roman empire was an example of such during the time when Jesus ministered in Israel in the first century AD. Interestingly, Jesus also advocated a nonviolent and peaceful approach in dealing with the “illuminati” of that day and age – the principalities and powers who mainly sought to control the masses through greed and competition. I believe Jesus’ message is just as relevant today, in that even as we are living in a world system that is marked by greed and competition, it is possible for us to build and manifest the kingdom of God on earth through peace and nonviolence. While on the surface, it might appear as if we are “slaves” to the corporate system and the corporations and central banks are the “masters”, but in reality or in the kingdom of God, we are the true masters because “blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth” (according to the sermon on the mount) whereas the ones who seek to build their empire with material wealth and power at the expense of others are the true slaves because they are slaves to their own greed and jealousy and to their addiction to illusory materialism. So regardless of how bleak the world may seem and how much inequality there is in the world, I believe that even as we seek to address the problem of injustice and inequality in our own way, those of us who can experience the kingdom of God on earth are the true “illuminati” who live a peaceful and joyful inner life.
I also like what this message says “Our great mother (Nature/Universe/Earth) does not take sides, she protects the balance of life”. Yes, I believe the universe has its way of balancing and correcting itself. So even though it might seem as if the “global elite” and those who discriminate and oppress others to gain power and influence have the so-called upper hand, it is only a matter of time that they will face the consequences, or they will be transformed and won over by the power of love eventually somehow – the oppressors shall be freed from their own slavery and the oppressed shall be delivered from the oppression because Jesus has exposed the shame and greed at the cross – this will be a win-win situation for both sides because ultimately we are all one, and winning is only possible when all the children of Mother Nature benefit together as one.
Nature and Us 