Some non-physical violence is very subtle and harder to be aware of, behavior in personal relationships for example. Other violence, like physical violence, is much easier to determine as being wrong in most cases. Or the fact the Bush Administration is comprised of war criminals: having executed a war of aggression against a nation that posed no threat, is very clear and straight forward. Or the fascist tactics that brought them into office in the first place, the 2000 Supreme Court installation, and the rigging of the electronic voting machines in the 2004 election, illegal torturing, detentions and domestic spying, etc. All of this is not debatable, it is just the facts, and yet because the media presents them to us as a legitimate government, many citizens go along with it and don’t rise up and demand their removal from power. Bush, Inc. people belong behind bars, yet they are given control of our tax dollars and military to use for their own selfish, destructive and misguided agenda.
So as Americans living in the year 2006 we have been presented with some very clear knowledge between good and evil, right and wrong. In all aspects of life, acting upon this knowledge is what brings personal, social and spiritual progress.
Many of those that believe the propaganda ridicule, or do worse, to those that speak the truth. If the typical republican knew that 9/11 was an inside job, would she/he still support Bush? Of course not. Most people don’t support mass murder for profit and power, that’s why they needed to “manufacture consent” through the 9/11 attacks. Its sad to me when I’m confronted by Bush supporters about my writing or even wearing an Impeach Bush pin, or for my bumper-stickers, and their entire viewpoint is based on lies and propaganda. The Corporate/Fascist State has furthered disunity and breaking up of community through disinformation or “counter-intelligence”, as I discuses in Part2 of this essay.
The saying “Its dangerous to be right when the government is wrong” holds true today, when war criminals are spying on peace activists, it’s a twisted 1984 reality we live in. Even worse perhaps is resistance to productive action and independent investigation by fellow activists. For example, some activists say those pointing out the massive evidence that 9/11 was an inside job are actually secret government officials (supposedly to distract us from the “real” problems, which are usually never expanded on), yet by discouraging 9/11 Truth research they are actually the ones serving the status-quo, since 9/11 truth holds the most promise for having the war criminals in out government put on trial. So we have a possible scenario of officials posing as activists calling real activists officials: in the 60’s this was done regularly by the FBI against activists through their Counter Intelligence Program (cointelpro), and is a tactic of the Bush Administration as well, referred to as “snitch jacketing” - the false accusation that a hard working activist is an agent provocateur. Knowing this is going on is enough to discourage even the most energetic and compassionate citizen. We are confronted with a world incomprehensibly insincere, undercover cops pretending to be activists, fascist murderers pretending to be public servants, gossiping slanderous low-level individuals pretending to be friends… All of this generates an environment that discourages unity, love and true friendship through distrust, confusion and desperation.
The main task remains to discover what is the actual truth, what is really good, what is really evil, to eat the apple from the Tree of Life, although the modern myth of Adam and Eve would have us believe this is the undoing of humanity (caused by a woman, of course). So if your unsure whether some idea, theory or piece of information is true or not, investigate and meditate. This was the strategy of Shakyamuni Buddha, which led to his enlightenment.
And as for friends, fellow activists etc., and whether they’re trustworthy or not I think the biblical saying that “you shall know them by their fruits” is very helpful. Do they act on the principles they claim to adhere to? Do they walk the talk? Do they bring negativity or positivity, do they encourage non-violence or violence? Unity or distrust? In making this evaluation we most also take into consideration that we all have faults, and if we were all living ideally we would probably all be enlightened. There is also the more common and probable situation that individuals in your life are simply unhealthy to your personal progress and happiness due to their habits, lifestyle, apathy, etc. They are not working for the CIA, they are just living off-target lives that are going to badly influence your own. This brings up the importance of being part of a positive supportive community of friends and neighbors (not restricted to one location of course), a Sangha, (not necessarily Buddhist in nature), as I discussed in part 2.
In wondering how to best deal with the problem of insincere individuals I often think back on the stories of the lives of Siddhartha Gotama and Jesus of Nazareth. Both were surrounded by many sincere friends and followers, but were also in the company of those insincere. Yet both Siddhartha and Jesus continued on with what they were doing, in their work for the bettering of humanity and promotion of selfless service and compassion for others. And so should we not become overly concerned about impious insincere individuals that may or may not exist. We should return to the root solutions for the tribulations we face: increased freedom and compassion, in all of their forms, and seek out and enjoy the company of others interested in the same.
Getting back to the year 2006, if you do not find the evidence overwhelming that 9/11 was an inside job, as I and millions of others do, that’s fine. But there must be some issue that you can stand up for, election system reform, living wages, universal healthcare, industrial hemp legalization, clean energy, drug law reform, independent media, wildlife habitat preservation, WTO/IMF/World Bank/ Federal Reserve reform, etc. I list many other policies and affiliated organizations in the Progressive Manifesto for this purpose. I still think that we must strike at the root of evil as Thoreau said, and the roots of this current evil empire are the stealing of the elections and the engineering of 9/11, so that’s what I focus on.
So in conclusion, if it increases freedom and compassion in our minds and/or society we should nurture and support it, if it does the opposite we should discourage and work against it. These principles can be the base of our decisions, ranging from diet, work, lifestyle, consumerism, relationships, etc. By always returning to them we can more often avoid the grey area that hinders progress, and instead eat of the apple of knowledge and begin our journey back to truth; living more conscious, mindful, aware, and happy lives in which we can more fully enjoy the fun and beautiful things in life: loving relationships, art, music, dance, nature… a return to the paradise that we have been kept from for far too long.
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