Jolly how discussion brings awareness to core beliefs I didn't even know I held.
Did you know I'm all slow flow? Gentle transition, a downright centrist perhaps.
A recent conversation turned to agriculture, recent government legislature to its annoyance, and the format for moving forward.
"I really think," he said, "that everyone should buy a big supply of rice and beans, and lots of vitamin C, and not go to work for twenty days. That would shut the whole system down."
I shuddered. "I don't. Then you would have a turmoil and chaos, and a bunch of people trying to make gigantic, collaborative decisions, running on rice and beans."
Think about what would happen: hospitals shut down, everyone home with their kids (and their fears) all day, funeral homes closed, medical needs ignored, the elderly abandoned, anyone who defies this proposal wouldn't be able to get gas for their cars, prisoners forgotten,
And a whole lot of nothing dramatic. A whole lot of not too much may happen (for example, fewer car crashes and construction accidents). It may be a rad trip, too, an artistic dedication akin to a 20-day renaissance. But the gamble towards chaos runs high.
So it may be both fun and tragic, but here's the thing:
What happens after 20 days? There's no alternative structure to move into, at least not one that can support a whole population. After 20 days, you'll have a scramble for power as rice and bean people* try to figure out a way to move forward.
And in almost.every.single.time where chaos has come across a civilization, there is a predictable pattern of outcome: a tighter grab on power. Usually a military- or militia based governance. A violent shift to order. A cruel farce against the principles that started a movement.
I respect pattern. Only by observing a pattern can you begin to change the course, shift the next phase. And when playing with powerful patterns: act with care.
When I see such a clear and distinct pattern of events throughout human history; I choose not to go there. I choose to forge a different route.
Particularly because revolution is a reactive action. It is an opposition to, and often principles for, yes, but mostly an "against" move. It is destruction. It is not growth.
Philosophically they are two sides to the same coin; in action they are not.
I value growth, moves made in courageous faith of creation. I value small farmers that nourish their land, even in the threat of eviction. I value b-corps and sustainable energy companies, alternative healthcare practitioners that trade their services outside of insurance, every inventor and engineer out there, every psychologist and yogi discovering the pathways that make us brighter beings.
True revolutions in human history are not traced in blood. Transformation thrives off mastery, melioration and prosperity. Cultures that tempt with opulence, the simplicity of enough, the creation of opportunity and open society.
When our 'alternative' lifestyles start to look a lush green in comparison to fossil-fuel-consuming poverty, then you will see the shift.
But these paths are by glamorous world leaders and synchronized collective and mechanical action. There won't be the victory of warfare or the eulogy to the general.
These paths will be forged by small business and tillers of land, by every individual that pushes for their organization to take a different trek, by every individual dedicated to sustainability.
We do not need orchestrated action: we have the power of synchronicity. We have trust and faith in each other, and imperfection of the divine.
It is no longer a question of would I die for the cause, but rather a soft understanding I will die in the cause. I will die, someday, hopefully not soon, without infamy, while the world will still shift and change and hopefully into a more integrated format. I may not live to see solution, ecotopia or revolution. Maybe I will, or everyone won't, but this outcome matters not. I'll live each day in the creation of the sustainability and consciousness. By choice.
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*Actually, rice and beans and vitamin C is much more nutritious than many, many, many peoples current diets. If during these twenty days everyone went through a holistic program of juice cleanses, yoga and meditation, psychotherapy and counseling, and if they could just get gonged, too....
Just kidding.
Did you know I'm all slow flow? Gentle transition, a downright centrist perhaps.
A recent conversation turned to agriculture, recent government legislature to its annoyance, and the format for moving forward.
"I really think," he said, "that everyone should buy a big supply of rice and beans, and lots of vitamin C, and not go to work for twenty days. That would shut the whole system down."
I shuddered. "I don't. Then you would have a turmoil and chaos, and a bunch of people trying to make gigantic, collaborative decisions, running on rice and beans."
Think about what would happen: hospitals shut down, everyone home with their kids (and their fears) all day, funeral homes closed, medical needs ignored, the elderly abandoned, anyone who defies this proposal wouldn't be able to get gas for their cars, prisoners forgotten,
And a whole lot of nothing dramatic. A whole lot of not too much may happen (for example, fewer car crashes and construction accidents). It may be a rad trip, too, an artistic dedication akin to a 20-day renaissance. But the gamble towards chaos runs high.
So it may be both fun and tragic, but here's the thing:
What happens after 20 days? There's no alternative structure to move into, at least not one that can support a whole population. After 20 days, you'll have a scramble for power as rice and bean people* try to figure out a way to move forward.
And in almost.every.single.time where chaos has come across a civilization, there is a predictable pattern of outcome: a tighter grab on power. Usually a military- or militia based governance. A violent shift to order. A cruel farce against the principles that started a movement.
I respect pattern. Only by observing a pattern can you begin to change the course, shift the next phase. And when playing with powerful patterns: act with care.
When I see such a clear and distinct pattern of events throughout human history; I choose not to go there. I choose to forge a different route.
Particularly because revolution is a reactive action. It is an opposition to, and often principles for, yes, but mostly an "against" move. It is destruction. It is not growth.
Philosophically they are two sides to the same coin; in action they are not.
I value growth, moves made in courageous faith of creation. I value small farmers that nourish their land, even in the threat of eviction. I value b-corps and sustainable energy companies, alternative healthcare practitioners that trade their services outside of insurance, every inventor and engineer out there, every psychologist and yogi discovering the pathways that make us brighter beings.
True revolutions in human history are not traced in blood. Transformation thrives off mastery, melioration and prosperity. Cultures that tempt with opulence, the simplicity of enough, the creation of opportunity and open society.
When our 'alternative' lifestyles start to look a lush green in comparison to fossil-fuel-consuming poverty, then you will see the shift.
But these paths are by glamorous world leaders and synchronized collective and mechanical action. There won't be the victory of warfare or the eulogy to the general.
These paths will be forged by small business and tillers of land, by every individual that pushes for their organization to take a different trek, by every individual dedicated to sustainability.
We do not need orchestrated action: we have the power of synchronicity. We have trust and faith in each other, and imperfection of the divine.
It is no longer a question of would I die for the cause, but rather a soft understanding I will die in the cause. I will die, someday, hopefully not soon, without infamy, while the world will still shift and change and hopefully into a more integrated format. I may not live to see solution, ecotopia or revolution. Maybe I will, or everyone won't, but this outcome matters not. I'll live each day in the creation of the sustainability and consciousness. By choice.
-------
*Actually, rice and beans and vitamin C is much more nutritious than many, many, many peoples current diets. If during these twenty days everyone went through a holistic program of juice cleanses, yoga and meditation, psychotherapy and counseling, and if they could just get gonged, too....
Just kidding.
