Looking back at history and the rise and decline of civilisations we can find some valuable insights of the signs the precursors to the final breakdown. One thing we always see is the denial by the population and the elites as it all falls down ending in what seems to be a rapid decline. But the signs were always there, the question is how do we recognise them and how do we not only embrace the change but how do we use it as a positive change to move forward and grow.
One of the biggest problems is how do we accept it and move forward to change, it is such an uncomfortable part of growth until it is embraced. We have all been part of this world of comfort and happiness, ignoring the unpalatable truth that our comfort is often at the cost of someone else’s suffering. We have our house, our computers and television, our cars and smart homes and the more cosy it gets the more difficult it is.
Nobody wants to step away from the convenience of the first world lifestyle and we will hang onto it for as long as possible. It is what we are used to, it makes us feel safe somehow with the sameness of it. Only when these things start falling away from our lives, beyond our control, do we have to take notice and then we realise we have not been paying attention. We all feel there are things going on we need to fight for, distasteful realisations we have ignored for too long. Suddenly it dawns on us that all those people, constitutions and companies we trusted have lulled us into some sort of daze of bright lights and safety we thought we could rely on.
Our outward appearance is of crucial importance in the society we have created, all be it superficially. We want the newest trainers, most up to date phone, great cars, the best in clothes that associate us with the tribe we have chosen. Even our rebellions have been monetised by the media, deflated and rendered meaningless as the act of uprising is usurped and converted into a new form of capitalism.
The financial system is set up and deeply embedded in most of people’s lifestyles, providing the means for a comfortable existence. That lifestyle is then exposed on Instagram and presents an electronic version of what we think their perfect life is all about. Their security in their lifestyles is fuelled by the millions of people jealously wishing they were having that lifestyle they portray electronically, a cleaned up, remoulded existence of perfection that does not exist except in the ether of social media. How many hours do people invest in following these idyllic, fake lives every day, all those hours, all those people, all those likes creating a perfect story. All that beautiful energy they are given, wasted... creating a false feeling of being part of a wifi tribe in the empty electronic two dimensional ether. At the end of the day those trainers are just trainers, those houses are just somewhere to live and those cars just get you from here to there, the monetary value is the hook of capitalism. Those “ likes “ are addictive and owners become comfortably numb in the virtual adoration and vicarious love they get, so they must post something else.... and yet.... and yet the hollowness of it that hits them when they are alone, and we all know it SO well.... better never to be alone.... unless self medicated.... and yet.... is that the answer or just an answer?
And for most of us just running everyday, playing catch up, meeting our monthly debt payments, well more or less, scared of losing our jobs, scared of our company modernising, restructuring, moving to another country, giving us a pay decrease, scared our marriage might crack under the pressure, scared we are not at home with our kids enough, scared our parents will need to go into a home, scared we will get ill.... just scared.... We get home every day, put on the TV and try to block out the noise of fear only to find something bigger than our lives to be scared of, well maybe a drink or two, maybe in the bar with mates laughing and joking to plaster over the cracks in our lives... well it could be worse....
And all of us run alongside with each other just making it, too busy to stop and look, too busy to take stock of ourselves and where we are, who we are, what we are becoming. Part of the end of every civilisation is the spectacle used to make everyone distracted from reality. Wars, fear, and the modern day equivalent of the Roman Circus all brought directly in to our homes via cable or fibre optic... the gladiators, boxing, MMA, UFC no rules, blood and pain, sex and voyeurism on regular TV, the voyeurism of Big Brother, the glamour or horror of the Kardashians, Love Island, beautiful people living beautiful lives, comedy, fantasy, horror. It is all there in one big bundle of visceral pleasure pulling at the darkness and baseness of what it is to be human, pulling on a very deep level to help us ignore the precarious reality of the life we are taking part in, it is the matrix that makes us live outside our true self and separates us from what it means to be us... to be human.... and yet...
We are all human regardless of religion, region, beliefs, colour or wealth. We have all been fed an idea of what the world is and how it works. Those stories we are told, are dependant on where we are geographically, who we are financially, what group we are in regarding belief, but these stories do not actually separate us, rather they programs us and changes us. To return to the original way of being human as in our infancy is difficult, unravelling the bullshit we are encumbered with is a huge task. When you look at ‘primitive people’ there is very little of this type of programming, there is a oneness and a connection to all things accepted as fact. Being human is a universal state that belongs to us all. We have been brought up in a society where it is all about self and personal gain, what can that do but separate us.
This way of breaking us all apart from each other, with no concern of other people’s difficulties, prevents us from being human and distances us from our true humanity. This is shown in a very real way by the media, we all remember the sight of the little boy, drowned, washed up on the beach, a casualty of immigration. That image touched what it is to be human in nearly everybody, the sadness and shock reached our souls and touched us so deeply it reconnected us to being human, even if just briefly.
There were those, of course, who are so indoctrinated or used to being exposed to this sort of horror that did not react to it. They are not cold or heartless, just more distanced from their human emotions. Like soldiers and doctors who deal with death on a regular basis that is their normal and to deal with it they short circuit that rout to their humanity. That is not to say it doesn’t effect them but they have the ability to alter the emotional passage. The thing about being human is you can dehumanise yourself with the path you choose. Rich people are no less human than poor people their paths just create a different indoctrination. We have to recognise ourselves in others, realise that the travelled path creates a different indoctrination. If you are brought up and educated in a system that consistently tells you that you are better than other people you might well end up believing it, it does not make it true of course, but it is real to that individual. It is easy to criticise everyone who is different to you and say this or that about them but that will not bring about change, especially your change. We all have to work on our own biases and beliefs. It is often the things that make us angry about other people that are the things we need to change about ourselves.
To be prepared for what is to come we have to be prepared to change, we have to be prepared to embrace newness, we have to be prepared to see loss as a positive thing, we have to be prepared to see how amazing we are, we have to be prepared to walk into a new way of being, we have to be prepared to find our real tribe, we have to be prepared to live in uncertainty, we have to be prepared to see. To see what is truly important, to see what is going on, to see a new life, to see positivity outside comfort, outside conformity, to see people and accept them, to see how expectation limits us and controls others. We need to be in touch with our beautiful humanity, with our true selves and recognise we are all linked, we have to accept and appreciate the darkest facets of ourselves as truly part of us.
To be prepared is to be prepared to be a Human Being and a Human Doing. To survive is to be prepared. To be prepared is to survive.
... now reflect on this poem..... what does he mean?
Now watch this film about the social dilemma..... and how the creators of social media are regretting their actions....