A couple of notes. Life is hard, for most. The inner work you describe is one path to deal with the dystopian day to day, and I admire those for whom it works, and can, as you have, use that work to cope, without falling prey to having the inner work blunt the awareness of outer horrors. As one who survived an abusive childhood and adolescence by using compartmentalization, my path is best expressed by the Zen Master clip from Charlie Wilson’s war - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cjVhUrmII
Secondly, many thanks for what you do. You, and Tim, are in my daily info queue to heighten awareness of what our focus should be, and your advice to filter incoming information through a lens of propaganda, narrative, and empire, has been indispensable in discerning the credibility of the daily barrage of ‘news/analysis’. Your writing is passionate awareness personified.
Lastly, a request. You mentioned in an earlier piece that you had posted a list of sources/sites/writers you recommended on a twitter thread. As I am am not on any social media platforms, and my ability to access them is intermittent, I was wondering if you might post your list on your main page, perhaps as a part of the section you have explaining why you do what you do. Just a thought.
Tom, my view is that many people subconsciously prioritise breeding and raising children over facing up to the manifest horrors of the world. They worry subconsciously that they might damage their children through anger engendered by trying to engage with the manifest horrors like we see today in Gaza.
It's why I think that there's a huge space in politics for those whose children are already adults, as they have in the main completed their child rearing and their adult children are less likely to be damaged if they had an emotional outburst, something they may be less likely to experience being of more senior years.
Politics, after all, is often for those who have raised a family, worked hard for a generation and engaged in a variety of areas in their local communities. That's what gives them grounding in local politics.
National/international politics is a different matter, since much of it is alien to 'normal' people who are good parents. It tends to attract the more deranged mindsets, to be honest. Narcissists, psychopaths, sociopaths, racists, master-race eugenicists, warmongers etc etc.
Most of the world needs far more 'ordinary' people in politics, ensuring that 'normal' values are not usurped by Zionists, extremist Muslims, belligerent billionaires or the like.
Agree with most of what you write, but would quibble with your statement about who politics is often for. Can’t tell you how many times doing tabling work for various ballot initiatives I was greeted with the ‘I’m not into politics’ line, often by the young, but also others across the age spectrum. My standard response was to throw a thought bomb back at them, saying, ‘Due respect, but everything is political, from the food you eat to the phone in your pocket to the sheets on your bed. We’re all political animals, the awareness of it is what differs among us.’ Was the catalyst for many interesting conversations.
Definitely need more ‘ordinary’ people in politics, but the system has pretty much closed off that avenue of engagement. The streets are pretty much our only avenue to change the bought and paid for paradigm.
agree that having children can make you vulnerable, but also can make you strong if you can see the bigger dynamics and estimate consequences in the longer run. (in job interviews for males being parents was often considered a plus, because one was considered 'tamer').
A couple of notes. Life is hard, for most. The inner work you describe is one path to deal with the dystopian day to day, and I admire those for whom it works, and can, as you have, use that work to cope, without falling prey to having the inner work blunt the awareness of outer horrors. As one who survived an abusive childhood and adolescence by using compartmentalization, my path is best expressed by the Zen Master clip from Charlie Wilson’s war - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cjVhUrmII
Secondly, many thanks for what you do. You, and Tim, are in my daily info queue to heighten awareness of what our focus should be, and your advice to filter incoming information through a lens of propaganda, narrative, and empire, has been indispensable in discerning the credibility of the daily barrage of ‘news/analysis’. Your writing is passionate awareness personified.
Lastly, a request. You mentioned in an earlier piece that you had posted a list of sources/sites/writers you recommended on a twitter thread. As I am am not on any social media platforms, and my ability to access them is intermittent, I was wondering if you might post your list on your main page, perhaps as a part of the section you have explaining why you do what you do. Just a thought.
Edited to add, my favorite latest clip on the Israeli genocide, and voting, courtesy of Katie Halper’s site - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B2fJfbh0i7A
Tom, my view is that many people subconsciously prioritise breeding and raising children over facing up to the manifest horrors of the world. They worry subconsciously that they might damage their children through anger engendered by trying to engage with the manifest horrors like we see today in Gaza.
It's why I think that there's a huge space in politics for those whose children are already adults, as they have in the main completed their child rearing and their adult children are less likely to be damaged if they had an emotional outburst, something they may be less likely to experience being of more senior years.
Politics, after all, is often for those who have raised a family, worked hard for a generation and engaged in a variety of areas in their local communities. That's what gives them grounding in local politics.
National/international politics is a different matter, since much of it is alien to 'normal' people who are good parents. It tends to attract the more deranged mindsets, to be honest. Narcissists, psychopaths, sociopaths, racists, master-race eugenicists, warmongers etc etc.
Most of the world needs far more 'ordinary' people in politics, ensuring that 'normal' values are not usurped by Zionists, extremist Muslims, belligerent billionaires or the like.
Agree with most of what you write, but would quibble with your statement about who politics is often for. Can’t tell you how many times doing tabling work for various ballot initiatives I was greeted with the ‘I’m not into politics’ line, often by the young, but also others across the age spectrum. My standard response was to throw a thought bomb back at them, saying, ‘Due respect, but everything is political, from the food you eat to the phone in your pocket to the sheets on your bed. We’re all political animals, the awareness of it is what differs among us.’ Was the catalyst for many interesting conversations.
Definitely need more ‘ordinary’ people in politics, but the system has pretty much closed off that avenue of engagement. The streets are pretty much our only avenue to change the bought and paid for paradigm.
agree that having children can make you vulnerable, but also can make you strong if you can see the bigger dynamics and estimate consequences in the longer run. (in job interviews for males being parents was often considered a plus, because one was considered 'tamer').