Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley): Humanity doesn’t just need to escape from the mental prison of imperial indoctrination. It needs to escape from the heart prison as well. I’m always talking here about the need to fight empire propaganda to help the public awaken to the fact that everything we’ve been trained to believe about the world is a lie, because that insight taking root in sufficient numbers would be the first step toward the revolutionary changes our world so desperately needs.
I think that the nihilism of Western society is the root of the problem. For all its faults and hypocrisy the West used to be grounded in the humanistic ethos of Christianity. Everyone created in the image of God, love your neighbor as yourself, turn the other cheek, etc.
Now we are all atomized, self-gratifying consumers, trying to have as much fun as we can before it all ends in the eternal dirt nap, the next guy be damned. Makes for a hellish society, as we are all in the process of discovering.
At the end of his 1940 movie "The Great Dictator" Charlie Chaplin gave his final speech. It is as true now as it was then, except that now the situation is even more perilous.
“Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…”— excerpt from his final speech in The Great Dictator.
The entire speech and film is available on You Tube
I think that more and more people are starting to really care about what is happening in Gaza which then inspires some of us to look again at some of the other ongoing and recent atrocities. Ukraine, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the list goes on. After a while it can be overwhelming unless a person takes a rest for a day or two. In order to bring about change we need to try to stay mentally and physically healthy.
There must be a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in order to comply with the ICJ ruling. Not with Palestinians suffering under oppressive conditions, but as a place where all live with peace and equality. It is time for Pope Francis to do more than talk. He must go to Gaza and make a stand for peace and freedom.
Let us also support UNRWA. If our governments won’t act in accordance with humanity, then we will. https://www.unrwausa.org/donate Let us do it to honor Aaron Bushnell, or in memory of Hind Rajab.
Let us call for a No Fly-Zone over Gaza!
These are a few small things we can do. If we can do more, let us do more.
As a collective species on this planet, I don’t think we are redeemable. I recall a part in Terminator 2 where the machine observed 2 little children playfully shooting each other and commented that it was in our nature to destroy each other. My problem is that it doesn’t have to be that way. This comment has nothing to do with the article, it’s just how I feel at the moment.
The ultimate and highest level of human development and state of being is unity consciousness, the ability to know and experience the interconnectedness and unity in all things and all beings.
That state of awareness is more than an intellectual understanding (though it starts with that). It's a functioning of consciousness. It's a multidimensional understanding combined with multidimensional experiencing.
It starts with knowledge, specific and holistic knowledge, and ends with expansion of the heart. Compassion and expansion of the heart is a function of intelligence. We tend to relegate it to emotion. It's beyond emotion, it's a component of overall and overview intelligence. It brings seeing and living unity to the forefront of awareness.
There's a state of development where compassion and love are a state of consciousness, the highest state of consciousness, unity consciousness.
"They’re afraid of the changes and upheaval that would come with an overturning of the status quo."
I think this is the biggest reason people don't open their hearts and work to change the world for the better. Fear. I call it the "Stick with the devil you know rather than the devil you don't" syndrome. They'd rather be miserable and watch others be miserable and desperate than risk upturning the apple cart. Change is scary. Their hearts are closed.
We do have free will. We do have the ability to make the choice to open our hearts and our heads and work for a safe and healthy world for all human beings. What will it take for the majority of us to exercise that free will for the benefit of all?
In explaining why people don't care or know, Caitlin wrote:
"or because they are intellectually and morally lazy, or some other selfish reason."
I again will strongly disagree with this kind of "blame the victim" approach. (I got into that issue yesterday).
I think a little more compassion is in order for those "unknowing" and/or "unfeeling" ones out there. The world is a difficult place to navigate and there are smoke screens and barriers everywhere (not just in propaganda and indoctrination) that block access to liberation and enlightenment. Many people are mired in the material world in a struggle for survival - they don't have the resources or time for lecture sessions in compassion, non-violent communication, critical theory, "doing your own research", or yoga.
Caitlin, your Newsletter warmed my heart today. Like the great sage said wisdom has to go hand in hand with compassion. There is no compassion without wisdom; no wisdom without compassion. We have to open the door of our heart to our suffering and the suffering of others.
You make me optimistic that there will be a time when people armed with knowledge and awareness will wake up to caring.
Thank you so much. No other writer I know does as well as you do at expressing the full scale of our challenges, which indeed goes beyond politics.
I think that the nihilism of Western society is the root of the problem. For all its faults and hypocrisy the West used to be grounded in the humanistic ethos of Christianity. Everyone created in the image of God, love your neighbor as yourself, turn the other cheek, etc.
Now we are all atomized, self-gratifying consumers, trying to have as much fun as we can before it all ends in the eternal dirt nap, the next guy be damned. Makes for a hellish society, as we are all in the process of discovering.
At the end of his 1940 movie "The Great Dictator" Charlie Chaplin gave his final speech. It is as true now as it was then, except that now the situation is even more perilous.
“Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…”— excerpt from his final speech in The Great Dictator.
The entire speech and film is available on You Tube
I think that more and more people are starting to really care about what is happening in Gaza which then inspires some of us to look again at some of the other ongoing and recent atrocities. Ukraine, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the list goes on. After a while it can be overwhelming unless a person takes a rest for a day or two. In order to bring about change we need to try to stay mentally and physically healthy.
Opening our hearts is one thing - for those in the West who appear heartless require a transplant.
Newscorp via Douglas Murray and others, to my mind are going hard on the propaganda in Australia. No Douglas, it didn’t start on October 7.
There must be a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in order to comply with the ICJ ruling. Not with Palestinians suffering under oppressive conditions, but as a place where all live with peace and equality. It is time for Pope Francis to do more than talk. He must go to Gaza and make a stand for peace and freedom.
Please sign the petition and share widely.
https://chng.it/CRQ7qw4Gzn
Code pink
https://www.codepink.org/cnngaza?utm_campaign=12_15_pali_update_alert_3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=codepink
Let us also support UNRWA. If our governments won’t act in accordance with humanity, then we will. https://www.unrwausa.org/donate Let us do it to honor Aaron Bushnell, or in memory of Hind Rajab.
Let us call for a No Fly-Zone over Gaza!
These are a few small things we can do. If we can do more, let us do more.
As a collective species on this planet, I don’t think we are redeemable. I recall a part in Terminator 2 where the machine observed 2 little children playfully shooting each other and commented that it was in our nature to destroy each other. My problem is that it doesn’t have to be that way. This comment has nothing to do with the article, it’s just how I feel at the moment.
The ultimate and highest level of human development and state of being is unity consciousness, the ability to know and experience the interconnectedness and unity in all things and all beings.
That state of awareness is more than an intellectual understanding (though it starts with that). It's a functioning of consciousness. It's a multidimensional understanding combined with multidimensional experiencing.
It starts with knowledge, specific and holistic knowledge, and ends with expansion of the heart. Compassion and expansion of the heart is a function of intelligence. We tend to relegate it to emotion. It's beyond emotion, it's a component of overall and overview intelligence. It brings seeing and living unity to the forefront of awareness.
There's a state of development where compassion and love are a state of consciousness, the highest state of consciousness, unity consciousness.
"They’re afraid of the changes and upheaval that would come with an overturning of the status quo."
I think this is the biggest reason people don't open their hearts and work to change the world for the better. Fear. I call it the "Stick with the devil you know rather than the devil you don't" syndrome. They'd rather be miserable and watch others be miserable and desperate than risk upturning the apple cart. Change is scary. Their hearts are closed.
We do have free will. We do have the ability to make the choice to open our hearts and our heads and work for a safe and healthy world for all human beings. What will it take for the majority of us to exercise that free will for the benefit of all?
Truth, thank you. My heart is cracked open from the suffering, the torn fabric of our Humanity that needs to be stitched back together.
In explaining why people don't care or know, Caitlin wrote:
"or because they are intellectually and morally lazy, or some other selfish reason."
I again will strongly disagree with this kind of "blame the victim" approach. (I got into that issue yesterday).
I think a little more compassion is in order for those "unknowing" and/or "unfeeling" ones out there. The world is a difficult place to navigate and there are smoke screens and barriers everywhere (not just in propaganda and indoctrination) that block access to liberation and enlightenment. Many people are mired in the material world in a struggle for survival - they don't have the resources or time for lecture sessions in compassion, non-violent communication, critical theory, "doing your own research", or yoga.
Truth is included with the gift of life, as is the power of love,
to light the truth.
Truth champions love. Love powers truth.
True love is the love of truth.
Caitlin, your Newsletter warmed my heart today. Like the great sage said wisdom has to go hand in hand with compassion. There is no compassion without wisdom; no wisdom without compassion. We have to open the door of our heart to our suffering and the suffering of others.
You make me optimistic that there will be a time when people armed with knowledge and awareness will wake up to caring.
You are relentless in challenging us. Thanks for that 🙏🏽
Well, as Uncle Albert said, "Formerly, man could not do as he desired. Now, he can do as he desires; and he must change his desires, or perish."