"Empire psychosis keeps us in a constant state of distraction and escapism, always scrambling to avoid the here and now like we’re trying to climb out of our own skins."
I can step away from the destraction and escapism to a large extent. What I am finding very difficult to absorb right now is that those stupid idiots, those greedy capitalist pigs, those people who cannot see past their bank accounts are now gloating over all the money they can make from war and more war. In Europe, Ukrainians who have left to avoid being soldiers, are being abducted from the streets of cities such as Berlin and sent back to fight in Ukraine. They are forcing people to fight. Men and women. This is what "distracts" me. This is what scares me. This is what I am afraid is going to be the lives for my grandchildren and their friends. I don't consent to this crap now and I have never consented to it. We are all being bullied and made afraid. This is not mere "distraction".
" Ukrainians who have left to avoid being soldiers, are being abducted from the streets of cities such as Berlin and sent back to fight in Ukraine." A search turns up no sign of this. It would be news.
Thes saddest part, is seeing small children out to play being neglected by their Parent's, who are staring into a phone like Zombies rather than interacting, playing, bonding,and teaching their Children .
That is sad--forgetting who is important in your life, your children. I thought I'd seen it all, but yesterday I saw a young person riding their bike down the street while texting on their cell phone. We can't even enjoy simple pleasures and be safe bikers and walkers anymore.
Not only "parents who are staring into their phones like Zombies"
In a train suburban carriage last week there were 42 passengers. 31 were mesmerised by their phones, 2 were asleep and 4 were talking.
Trudy.
I do admit that the four talking were all on about their current football finals. Normal practice as I could hear them clearly. Normal in this country.
So the 2 that were asleep (and I was one of them) got off the train with some chance of being refreshed, free from the mundane data on a phone and who were not subject to constant advertising brainwashing or political propaganda such as 'Trump said this' and 'Trump said that' and all the other distractions mentioned by Tim and Caitlin today.
I recommend sleep. Other than stimulating conversation, it beats them all.
But my sleep was good because I also dreamt about a better world, one I used to know ....before there were 750 US military bases around the globe, when the USA was a respected country and my country was not filling the role of a bag-carrying puppet to the likes of an ignorant and dangerous Trump (Republican) or an Israeli stooge / assassin like Biden (Democrat), both parties with the same 2026 American values.
Neither conducive to good sleep , .....on a train or in bed.
"We do not have to keep suffering from their man-made madness."
Amen to that! Admitting that we have an addiction to this man-made empire "bread & circuses" and that we can wean ourselves off their pablum and return to reality is the first step. Put down the phone and take a walk in nature. You'll like it.
I don’t have an IPhone, and sometimes I don’t hear the notification tone on my cell phone which I silent at night. I rarely watch TV, but I do have an IPad which lets me know how many hours a day I’m on. There are certain journalist, writers whose word I trust. Anything else is deleted. I do what I can to be a good human being, but I also take care of myself in this dire time. We all should!
Caitlin & Tim, I love this essay so much - it contains more truth and deep realities all in one place than what is usually available spread across dozens of places/spaces (if you're lucky enough to find it in the haystack of our information overloaded societies in the first place).
One thing though, you say -
>>"We don’t need to keep consenting to this abusive relationship any longer."
I don't think most of us are consciously consenting to any such relationship. Humans have always been a status-seeking species throughout history AFAIK. I'm thinking that 'the system of Capitalism' has somehow figured out how to HIJACK this 'social-status seeking' aspect of homo-sapiens and kicked it into high-gear (meaning that a lot of what we humans do - including the relationships that you talk about - seem to be because of this status-seeking aspect).
Sometimes I wonder how different human socities (and civilizations) would/could be even if we did not have a system such as Capitalism but still have all the evolutionary flaws that we currently do. Maybe if we had parallel universes/earths, we could run a hypothesis tested experiment on this... (yes, I know I'm going off script here 🙂)
"Empire psychosis keeps us in a constant state of distraction and escapism, always scrambling to avoid the here and now like we’re trying to climb out of our own skins."
You kill me, Caitlin.
Please keep it up.
I’ll just check in to see what condition my condition is in.
This is just conditional.
I can step away from the destraction and escapism to a large extent. What I am finding very difficult to absorb right now is that those stupid idiots, those greedy capitalist pigs, those people who cannot see past their bank accounts are now gloating over all the money they can make from war and more war. In Europe, Ukrainians who have left to avoid being soldiers, are being abducted from the streets of cities such as Berlin and sent back to fight in Ukraine. They are forcing people to fight. Men and women. This is what "distracts" me. This is what scares me. This is what I am afraid is going to be the lives for my grandchildren and their friends. I don't consent to this crap now and I have never consented to it. We are all being bullied and made afraid. This is not mere "distraction".
" Ukrainians who have left to avoid being soldiers, are being abducted from the streets of cities such as Berlin and sent back to fight in Ukraine." A search turns up no sign of this. It would be news.
https://www.facebook.com/Blackxcellencee/videos/a-ukrainian-man-was-reportedly-taken-against-his-will-by-men-accused-of-carrying/1499878358524611/
Thes saddest part, is seeing small children out to play being neglected by their Parent's, who are staring into a phone like Zombies rather than interacting, playing, bonding,and teaching their Children .
That is sad--forgetting who is important in your life, your children. I thought I'd seen it all, but yesterday I saw a young person riding their bike down the street while texting on their cell phone. We can't even enjoy simple pleasures and be safe bikers and walkers anymore.
I have been noticing the parents that give a phone to their kids to keep them busy on the metro or the bus.
Not only "parents who are staring into their phones like Zombies"
In a train suburban carriage last week there were 42 passengers. 31 were mesmerised by their phones, 2 were asleep and 4 were talking.
Trudy.
I do admit that the four talking were all on about their current football finals. Normal practice as I could hear them clearly. Normal in this country.
So the 2 that were asleep (and I was one of them) got off the train with some chance of being refreshed, free from the mundane data on a phone and who were not subject to constant advertising brainwashing or political propaganda such as 'Trump said this' and 'Trump said that' and all the other distractions mentioned by Tim and Caitlin today.
I recommend sleep. Other than stimulating conversation, it beats them all.
But my sleep was good because I also dreamt about a better world, one I used to know ....before there were 750 US military bases around the globe, when the USA was a respected country and my country was not filling the role of a bag-carrying puppet to the likes of an ignorant and dangerous Trump (Republican) or an Israeli stooge / assassin like Biden (Democrat), both parties with the same 2026 American values.
Neither conducive to good sleep , .....on a train or in bed.
I see families in restaurants each on their phone. Teenagers in parks, same.
The final END of the Very Last EMPIRE, this jewish-satanic Empire! - And with it, of this World, too. https://mile7bar.substack.com/p/the-end-of-the-very-last-empire
"We do not have to keep suffering from their man-made madness."
Amen to that! Admitting that we have an addiction to this man-made empire "bread & circuses" and that we can wean ourselves off their pablum and return to reality is the first step. Put down the phone and take a walk in nature. You'll like it.
Thank you Caitlin and Tim for keeping us alert.
" The old world is dying; the new world struggles to be born;
Now is the time of monsters".
Antonio Gramsci.
I don’t have an IPhone, and sometimes I don’t hear the notification tone on my cell phone which I silent at night. I rarely watch TV, but I do have an IPad which lets me know how many hours a day I’m on. There are certain journalist, writers whose word I trust. Anything else is deleted. I do what I can to be a good human being, but I also take care of myself in this dire time. We all should!
😀Big Thanks😃
Empire psychosis is right.
How do we get back to sanity and our lovely planet? I wish I knew.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
.
~Christina Rossetti
Caitlin & Tim, I love this essay so much - it contains more truth and deep realities all in one place than what is usually available spread across dozens of places/spaces (if you're lucky enough to find it in the haystack of our information overloaded societies in the first place).
One thing though, you say -
>>"We don’t need to keep consenting to this abusive relationship any longer."
I don't think most of us are consciously consenting to any such relationship. Humans have always been a status-seeking species throughout history AFAIK. I'm thinking that 'the system of Capitalism' has somehow figured out how to HIJACK this 'social-status seeking' aspect of homo-sapiens and kicked it into high-gear (meaning that a lot of what we humans do - including the relationships that you talk about - seem to be because of this status-seeking aspect).
Sometimes I wonder how different human socities (and civilizations) would/could be even if we did not have a system such as Capitalism but still have all the evolutionary flaws that we currently do. Maybe if we had parallel universes/earths, we could run a hypothesis tested experiment on this... (yes, I know I'm going off script here 🙂)
Well done. 🙇🏻♂️