I know nothing about this fight, but this sort of fracturing is incredibly common in modern activism. I tend to see it more on the leftward end vs. the rightward end in the USA at least, which I would attribute to the right having more of a shared set of spiritual beliefs and values (mostly based on forms of Christianity) while the left disavows religion and so tends to imbue a religious level of importance in the rightness or wrongness of particular ideas or positions which inevitably come into conflict. While I am not a fan of any of the major religions, I think that leftward-leaning ecological/environmental/populist activism will struggle until we can acknowledge that belief and spirituality are fundamental needs for human beings, and we can begin to find common ground in these areas.
I wonder if there might be more than one way to practice the love about which you write, Tessa. Sometimes, if only temporarily, formality and distance can help a situation, especially in the public world.
I am an old academic, new to activism, and probably not suited to it personality-wise, but I've been watching. My intuition is that doing very serious work, work which is much larger than the self, is overwhelming, and perhaps even like divine madness at times. I personally don't think essentially private people in relatively new roles should be pressured to have to trust, connect or dialogue with anyone. If someone doing serious work decides they needs space, I think it is perhaps my job, out of the love about which you write, to find a way to support them.
For me, and this is just because of my background perhaps, one approach is to create a dialogue about the ideas, strategies, theories of change, that are at issue, that may differentiate folks, without talking about the folks themselves so personally.
I hope at least it is possible to heal the wounds a little perhaps, just by focusing on the ideas, at some remove from the personalities.
I appreciate what you wrote about Blockchain, I too value principled positions and understand that it might not be wise to assume everyone is capable or willing to live by them. And/or they may have different principles.
I have been listening to folks say that they understand the critique of Blockchain, but have yet to hear anything satisfactory from the fence sitters, stakeholder journalists. If it is a matter of personal interest, a means of protecting oneself from hyperinflation, a business plan, etc. one can simply say this. This would be honest. If there have been miracles of technology that prevent data from being harvested, that would be great to know.
These are some of my thoughts, probably whack, but perhaps a conversation starter:
While some focus on the control system and profit motive driving social impact investing, I keep thinking about Blockchain as a means of recording biomedical information for it's own sake, not just for profit of speculators. I think the model of the world we must prevent is an unregulated biomedical experiment, sans informed consent. Blockchain will work splendidly for this, as it could also facilitate efficient and anonymous mass killing.
I see Blockchain institutionally, as a substitute for our present institutions, which are still staffed by humans. No matter what the libertarians say, no one has really thought through the implications of replacing human institutions all together: smart contracts replacing thousands of years of jurisprudence, ethics, etc. I know our systems are corrupt, serve the rich, etc., but I am not looking forward to the Hunger Games regulated by smart contracts in the smart cities run by psychopath billionaires who "do not believe in democracy."
I do not want governance according to the game theory. Unlike the folks who are salivating at the possibility of living without trust or democracy, I worry that these experiments, in a time of climate breakdown and scarcity, are going to be more like Jonestown than Mayberry.
I see the biomedical experiment in the camps as the model. I am reminded that I recently learned that the Nazis set up monetary systems in some ghettos and many camps. The camp currencies were meager, unstable, would expire, were deflationary to the point of genocide, and at the same time served to deceive people unaware of the coming Final Solution. The Holocaust money encouraged them not to flee.
So for me, personally, when I run into folk who are themselves, or are closely allied with those who are setting up intentional communities with bitcoin or whatever, or are on record celebrating the possibility of such experiments in explicitly undemocratic terms, I feel nervous, uneasy. I personally would need to know more about their thoughts, their understanding of their actions, commitments, the degree to which they are aware of real, concrete dangers.
I don't think I could trust them right away, you know?
But if folks can respond to me, or better, just to the thoughts I've put forth here, not to me personally so much, and put my paranoid bs in order, perhaps that would be a kind of healing, Some of the love about which you write.
In rural areas, it is pretty easy to live in a cash economy, and to do business in person, arranging meetings by cellphone. The electronic infrastucture is less pervasive, because it is less profitable, and there are just a few people out there baling hay and processing carcasses, anyway.
I don't think this "B3W" will fly, so I am non-confrontationally doing something basically low tech in a rural setting, as well as working during the week in Austin, now a big city.
Yes it is above all else a spiritual battle.Only by embracing spiritual values will it be won.
One can look to the Bhagavad Gita -Dharma v Adharma.An embodiment of those values as best as each individual can will be the only real path to victory.Thank you for a beautiful article.Sorry I cannot afford to donate but send love and blessings.
I think it all boils down to "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". I attend a fairly fundamentalist Christian Church and voted for Trump. Do you know how many on the " far right" see what's going on and are resisting it? My church refused to wear masks and met all thru the lock downs. We see the Great Reset as Satanic. You gonna throw the millions of us out because you think we are narrow minded bigots? As far as block chain, and other technologies, all can be used for good or evil. As Tessa says, the motivation all boils down to Love and caring for others. God is Love.
By highlighting conflict as of late, Tessa has put her hand on a hidden axe that can enable us to hack at the roots of a poisonous vine.
Allow me then, to pull the axe out of the darkness and take a mighty swing with it.
Arguments, conflict, war, disagreements of any kind, violent or not, are rooted in individual identity. Identity is nothing real. It is a conglomeration of sorts, a hodgepodge mental creation thrown together as we saunter through life imagining this, that or the other instead of finding out who we are. Identity is not who we really are so much as who we have come to believe we are. It is an empty bucket the world drops over our head and blinds us while making us all look more or less the same.
Through the imposition of childhood trauma, intentional or not, we are forced to abandon our natural, exuberant process of discovering and experiencing our true nature within. To make sure we are loved and cared for within our family/social environment we engage the process of aligning our behavior with what our parents and peers (ie societal norms as dictated by modern civilization designed to service the interests of our so-called “Keepers & Masters”) expect of us.
The effect of this is that we experience something that has been called (and rightfully so) “Soul Murder” by some child psychologists. Tragically, any given childs’ unique being as nature intended never fully develops and in it's place an alternate "self" consisting entirely of mental notions and concepts (unreal, imaginary, existing only in the mind) conforming to externally imposed behavioral mandates is constructed by the intellect portion of our brain as an adaptive survival mechanism.
If this did not happen— if the heart/emotional center of the child were forced to comprehend the truth of its' situation (being murdered by ones’ own parents), the shock of this would overwhelm the delicate child and result in its’ death. Instead, the survival mechanism kicks in and the heart/emotional center is removed from consciousness and stored somewhere deep in the brain “out of harms’ way”.
The intellect, the logical thinking brain then steps in and takes over telling the traumatized body “Never mind. This is not happening. Everything is actually okay.” In place of a childs’ true nature then, a persona, an imposter, a ghost, a heart-less, human-being-as-idea is born.
Consciousness transfer complete, I now have the beginnings of my “Identity". I adopt the beliefs and values of those around me. I act like them. I say the things they want to hear. I wear the clothes they want me to wear. I get a job and leave the family home. As an adult, my identity now morphs and changes, more along the lines of the beliefs and values held by my chosen peer group.
Over time, I come to believe that this mental creation/persona/ghost is actually who I am and accordingly All My Feelings Are Caught Within It. These feelings do not come from the True Heart Center (now long buried) but rather consist of reactionary impulses emanating from the lower "Lizard Brain" concerned only with baser things such as hot/cold, night/day, life/death, hungry/full, fight/flight etc.
"I am my mind. I am what I believe in. I am the way I see things. I am my values. I am my world-view. These constitute my very being and my very life” so sayeth The identity-based human/Lizard.
Therefore, any ideas, concepts, values, beliefs— any and all mental notions or opinions put forth by others in my presence and presented as truth that run counter to my own are felt by my Lizard Brain as nothing short of an existential threat.
Is it any wonder that I take offense and respond with everything I got? After all, my life is on the line!
Sounds silly doesn’t it? Indeed, it may be, but that is absolutely true isn’t it? Ones’ life IS on the line because a belief can only exist in the mind as long as I continue to regard it as the real and true. I have identified with my beliefs. The ersatz "me" has no choice but to counterattack as if my life depended on it.
And so we all delicately, precariously hang like prickly, rotting fruit on the poison vine of modern society values arguing with each other as if it means anything. All the while dystopia looms ever closer. Nothing is resolved, things go from bad to worse, in-fighting among well-intentioned groups defuses them and renders them useless.
The depth of the issues discussed is simply beyond me, so I will pose a basic question or two and make some comments. It sounds like blockchain is a source of great tension, even hysteria, in the anti Great Reset crowd. Am I getting that correctly? But you point out, and I quickly agree, it's just a database, a tool. So what's the big deal? Dismantling the tanks and the fighter jets (or the blockchain) obviously doesn't by itself stop war. As counterpoint I add that insofar as blockchain uniquely advances the distension of society, the upper strata from the lower strata, then it might due to its nature abet the dystopian efforts. But at the core of it, it's about the perceived value of reconciliation or not, war or harmony. As to this world today, I feel skin in the game with respect to public knowledge and perceptions. The propaganda and censorship continue to win. It's daunting. But it's also vulnerable, as all citadels of lies must be. So that's where I strike. (Ever heard of Ivermectin? No, well then, might you consider what I have to say?) I am compelled to do what I can; this monster is real.
Hi Tessa, I think I understand what you are saying in that you feel like AHM is coming from an un-healed place in how she's going about things. I can understand how it may appear that way but I don't think this is necessarily the case. I could be wrong of course. Everything isn't always as it seems... I know we both want truth and love to prevail so the disagreement will sort itself out. That said, the discussion of blockchain was spot on. Thank you! _Nathan
Isn't it everyone's right to raise questions regarding questionable interests and associations of prominent figures (provided the questions have merit) and also to manage their social media account however they see fit?
I must confess I don't understand your position on this issue-what you deem to be "ghost-feeding".
I agree we need love, but to me love isn't supposed to be blind/naive or without discernment.
I know nothing about this fight, but this sort of fracturing is incredibly common in modern activism. I tend to see it more on the leftward end vs. the rightward end in the USA at least, which I would attribute to the right having more of a shared set of spiritual beliefs and values (mostly based on forms of Christianity) while the left disavows religion and so tends to imbue a religious level of importance in the rightness or wrongness of particular ideas or positions which inevitably come into conflict. While I am not a fan of any of the major religions, I think that leftward-leaning ecological/environmental/populist activism will struggle until we can acknowledge that belief and spirituality are fundamental needs for human beings, and we can begin to find common ground in these areas.
I wonder if there might be more than one way to practice the love about which you write, Tessa. Sometimes, if only temporarily, formality and distance can help a situation, especially in the public world.
I am an old academic, new to activism, and probably not suited to it personality-wise, but I've been watching. My intuition is that doing very serious work, work which is much larger than the self, is overwhelming, and perhaps even like divine madness at times. I personally don't think essentially private people in relatively new roles should be pressured to have to trust, connect or dialogue with anyone. If someone doing serious work decides they needs space, I think it is perhaps my job, out of the love about which you write, to find a way to support them.
For me, and this is just because of my background perhaps, one approach is to create a dialogue about the ideas, strategies, theories of change, that are at issue, that may differentiate folks, without talking about the folks themselves so personally.
I hope at least it is possible to heal the wounds a little perhaps, just by focusing on the ideas, at some remove from the personalities.
I appreciate what you wrote about Blockchain, I too value principled positions and understand that it might not be wise to assume everyone is capable or willing to live by them. And/or they may have different principles.
I have been listening to folks say that they understand the critique of Blockchain, but have yet to hear anything satisfactory from the fence sitters, stakeholder journalists. If it is a matter of personal interest, a means of protecting oneself from hyperinflation, a business plan, etc. one can simply say this. This would be honest. If there have been miracles of technology that prevent data from being harvested, that would be great to know.
These are some of my thoughts, probably whack, but perhaps a conversation starter:
While some focus on the control system and profit motive driving social impact investing, I keep thinking about Blockchain as a means of recording biomedical information for it's own sake, not just for profit of speculators. I think the model of the world we must prevent is an unregulated biomedical experiment, sans informed consent. Blockchain will work splendidly for this, as it could also facilitate efficient and anonymous mass killing.
I see Blockchain institutionally, as a substitute for our present institutions, which are still staffed by humans. No matter what the libertarians say, no one has really thought through the implications of replacing human institutions all together: smart contracts replacing thousands of years of jurisprudence, ethics, etc. I know our systems are corrupt, serve the rich, etc., but I am not looking forward to the Hunger Games regulated by smart contracts in the smart cities run by psychopath billionaires who "do not believe in democracy."
I do not want governance according to the game theory. Unlike the folks who are salivating at the possibility of living without trust or democracy, I worry that these experiments, in a time of climate breakdown and scarcity, are going to be more like Jonestown than Mayberry.
I see the biomedical experiment in the camps as the model. I am reminded that I recently learned that the Nazis set up monetary systems in some ghettos and many camps. The camp currencies were meager, unstable, would expire, were deflationary to the point of genocide, and at the same time served to deceive people unaware of the coming Final Solution. The Holocaust money encouraged them not to flee.
So for me, personally, when I run into folk who are themselves, or are closely allied with those who are setting up intentional communities with bitcoin or whatever, or are on record celebrating the possibility of such experiments in explicitly undemocratic terms, I feel nervous, uneasy. I personally would need to know more about their thoughts, their understanding of their actions, commitments, the degree to which they are aware of real, concrete dangers.
I don't think I could trust them right away, you know?
But if folks can respond to me, or better, just to the thoughts I've put forth here, not to me personally so much, and put my paranoid bs in order, perhaps that would be a kind of healing, Some of the love about which you write.
“How far will we get without adding love, patience, respect, humility, and faith in the wisdom of the universe to the mix?”
Thank you for helping add to to what we all need.
This is a very "city" view, not a "country" view.
In rural areas, it is pretty easy to live in a cash economy, and to do business in person, arranging meetings by cellphone. The electronic infrastucture is less pervasive, because it is less profitable, and there are just a few people out there baling hay and processing carcasses, anyway.
I don't think this "B3W" will fly, so I am non-confrontationally doing something basically low tech in a rural setting, as well as working during the week in Austin, now a big city.
Build Back Never: https://www.johndayblog.com/2021/06/build-back-never.html
Distributed Solutions: https://www.johndayblog.com/2021/06/distributed-solutions.html
Love is not an abstract. Work lovingly, Y'all. :-)
Yes it is above all else a spiritual battle.Only by embracing spiritual values will it be won.
One can look to the Bhagavad Gita -Dharma v Adharma.An embodiment of those values as best as each individual can will be the only real path to victory.Thank you for a beautiful article.Sorry I cannot afford to donate but send love and blessings.
I think it all boils down to "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". I attend a fairly fundamentalist Christian Church and voted for Trump. Do you know how many on the " far right" see what's going on and are resisting it? My church refused to wear masks and met all thru the lock downs. We see the Great Reset as Satanic. You gonna throw the millions of us out because you think we are narrow minded bigots? As far as block chain, and other technologies, all can be used for good or evil. As Tessa says, the motivation all boils down to Love and caring for others. God is Love.
I guess I'm boiling today.
By highlighting conflict as of late, Tessa has put her hand on a hidden axe that can enable us to hack at the roots of a poisonous vine.
Allow me then, to pull the axe out of the darkness and take a mighty swing with it.
Arguments, conflict, war, disagreements of any kind, violent or not, are rooted in individual identity. Identity is nothing real. It is a conglomeration of sorts, a hodgepodge mental creation thrown together as we saunter through life imagining this, that or the other instead of finding out who we are. Identity is not who we really are so much as who we have come to believe we are. It is an empty bucket the world drops over our head and blinds us while making us all look more or less the same.
Through the imposition of childhood trauma, intentional or not, we are forced to abandon our natural, exuberant process of discovering and experiencing our true nature within. To make sure we are loved and cared for within our family/social environment we engage the process of aligning our behavior with what our parents and peers (ie societal norms as dictated by modern civilization designed to service the interests of our so-called “Keepers & Masters”) expect of us.
The effect of this is that we experience something that has been called (and rightfully so) “Soul Murder” by some child psychologists. Tragically, any given childs’ unique being as nature intended never fully develops and in it's place an alternate "self" consisting entirely of mental notions and concepts (unreal, imaginary, existing only in the mind) conforming to externally imposed behavioral mandates is constructed by the intellect portion of our brain as an adaptive survival mechanism.
If this did not happen— if the heart/emotional center of the child were forced to comprehend the truth of its' situation (being murdered by ones’ own parents), the shock of this would overwhelm the delicate child and result in its’ death. Instead, the survival mechanism kicks in and the heart/emotional center is removed from consciousness and stored somewhere deep in the brain “out of harms’ way”.
The intellect, the logical thinking brain then steps in and takes over telling the traumatized body “Never mind. This is not happening. Everything is actually okay.” In place of a childs’ true nature then, a persona, an imposter, a ghost, a heart-less, human-being-as-idea is born.
Consciousness transfer complete, I now have the beginnings of my “Identity". I adopt the beliefs and values of those around me. I act like them. I say the things they want to hear. I wear the clothes they want me to wear. I get a job and leave the family home. As an adult, my identity now morphs and changes, more along the lines of the beliefs and values held by my chosen peer group.
Over time, I come to believe that this mental creation/persona/ghost is actually who I am and accordingly All My Feelings Are Caught Within It. These feelings do not come from the True Heart Center (now long buried) but rather consist of reactionary impulses emanating from the lower "Lizard Brain" concerned only with baser things such as hot/cold, night/day, life/death, hungry/full, fight/flight etc.
"I am my mind. I am what I believe in. I am the way I see things. I am my values. I am my world-view. These constitute my very being and my very life” so sayeth The identity-based human/Lizard.
Therefore, any ideas, concepts, values, beliefs— any and all mental notions or opinions put forth by others in my presence and presented as truth that run counter to my own are felt by my Lizard Brain as nothing short of an existential threat.
Is it any wonder that I take offense and respond with everything I got? After all, my life is on the line!
Sounds silly doesn’t it? Indeed, it may be, but that is absolutely true isn’t it? Ones’ life IS on the line because a belief can only exist in the mind as long as I continue to regard it as the real and true. I have identified with my beliefs. The ersatz "me" has no choice but to counterattack as if my life depended on it.
And so we all delicately, precariously hang like prickly, rotting fruit on the poison vine of modern society values arguing with each other as if it means anything. All the while dystopia looms ever closer. Nothing is resolved, things go from bad to worse, in-fighting among well-intentioned groups defuses them and renders them useless.
**picks up axe, holds it out**
Now you know where to strike.
Side note: Julian Huxley, brother of Aldous, was a leading figure in the eugenics movement of the 1930/40s. Weird world.
The depth of the issues discussed is simply beyond me, so I will pose a basic question or two and make some comments. It sounds like blockchain is a source of great tension, even hysteria, in the anti Great Reset crowd. Am I getting that correctly? But you point out, and I quickly agree, it's just a database, a tool. So what's the big deal? Dismantling the tanks and the fighter jets (or the blockchain) obviously doesn't by itself stop war. As counterpoint I add that insofar as blockchain uniquely advances the distension of society, the upper strata from the lower strata, then it might due to its nature abet the dystopian efforts. But at the core of it, it's about the perceived value of reconciliation or not, war or harmony. As to this world today, I feel skin in the game with respect to public knowledge and perceptions. The propaganda and censorship continue to win. It's daunting. But it's also vulnerable, as all citadels of lies must be. So that's where I strike. (Ever heard of Ivermectin? No, well then, might you consider what I have to say?) I am compelled to do what I can; this monster is real.
Hi Tessa, I think I understand what you are saying in that you feel like AHM is coming from an un-healed place in how she's going about things. I can understand how it may appear that way but I don't think this is necessarily the case. I could be wrong of course. Everything isn't always as it seems... I know we both want truth and love to prevail so the disagreement will sort itself out. That said, the discussion of blockchain was spot on. Thank you! _Nathan
“A child that is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth”:
— I did; twice. Though, I'm pretty certain the 1st time was someone else's 'Insurance-job'.
Isn't it everyone's right to raise questions regarding questionable interests and associations of prominent figures (provided the questions have merit) and also to manage their social media account however they see fit?
I must confess I don't understand your position on this issue-what you deem to be "ghost-feeding".
I agree we need love, but to me love isn't supposed to be blind/naive or without discernment.