I wasn't able to vote in the poll (window said "something went wrong)--maybe you've closed it down since Thursday--but my answer is social engineering/brainwashing as the main reason, though not all by itself. For years, decades, I bought the Club of Rome and Pogo notion that "the enemy is us," but the past four years have taught me that this idea is part of a massive campaign of programming we have been subjected to for those decades and much longer. That being said, it is now our responsibility to stop the ecological and human carnage and envision/create/build the world we want to live in, which is, for most humans, a world of beauty, caring, kindness, interdependence and yes, love.
In some ways, I think that is a great encapsulation that describes one of the core central causes of much of degenerative behavior on Earth now. The only potential problem I see in using that to extrapolate what a solution would be, is that dogmatic religious institutions all throughout human history have claimed that if you listened to them and followed their orders that you are "turning towards god" or "carrying out god's will" etc, and yet the result of their orders and suggestions, were (and often continue to be) mass murder and the destruction of the natural world. For reference, I provide some historical examples of that in the context of Christian colonialism in this essay: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-anthropocentrism-bright
So while I absolutely do think that making the choice as an individual to become capable of directly perceiving the true nature of and then developing a direct two way relationship with God would be a huge step in the right direction for humanity in reversing the trend I described in my poll here, I am hoping you can provide a little clarification regarding what exactly you mean when you say "We have turned away from God." in your usage of the term.
What does "turning away from God" look like? Is it a multistage process, or is it something that occurs instantaneously after one makes a single choice?
and conversely, what would "turning back towards God" look like? Can that process be initiated by a person who has never heard of any religions, bibles or churches and they live alone in the woods? Or does it require a regimented, structured dogmatic approach approved by some clergy?
For one, I think there is largely an enormous disconnect between humans and nature. We seem to think nature is “the wild” which we are not connected to. We think we are separate from nature. We constructed cities and isolated ourselves from it for a very long time. We think we are outside of it, but we are in fact connected to it, a part of it, interwoven with it. When people were stewards of their land and lived in it every day, everything was far more beautiful and well tended. But when the Industrial Revolution arrived an enormous separation of humanity and nature began. Terms like “the great outdoors,” “into the wild”, “going camping”, etc. just illustrate how there was that separation ingrained into the mind, collectively. By now it’s certainly either ignorance from this constant generational disconnect, or social engineering whether that effort is conscious or unconscious. But it is real. And humans are of course lazy if they can be. Having a “safe” and ugly place to live might seem better if it’s easier to do, for some.
Tragically, I have observed how the part about "Having a “safe” and ugly place to live might seem better if it’s easier to do, for some." is true. Also, many of them have such hardened hearts and underdeveloped capabilities to appreciate and perceive the real depth of beauty that exists in intact ecosystems that even if you plopped them into one of the few remaining intact climax ecosystems on Earth all of the sudden, they would not necessarily have the mental, emotional and pattern recognition capacity to instantaneously connect with and be nourished by that place on a soul level (having build so much armor and walls over their hearts and inner child) they might focus on some random superficial thing like "oh there are lots of bugs here, are any of them carrying diseases!?" or some other paranoid thought indicative of the germophobic monoculture mind of "civilization". They could learn to tap into that wild part that exists deep in their own soul and remember how to appreciate real beauty but it may take time for some.
Have you read a book called "Tending the Wild" by Kat Anderson?
I hope to work on dissolving this illusory segregatory barrier that people have built up in their minds which they (mistakenly and detrimentally) perceive as separating them from nature and the "wild" through encouraging people to re-wild their gardens and communities. Becoming familiar with the wilderness through recognizing species that are our non-human neighbors in each of our communities and then helping them to propagate, feeding ourselves and wildlife in the process. I feel as though this can be a powerful medicine for the hearts, bodies, minds and souls of those willing to engage in the process. That will be the focus on my next book.
Thanks for the thoughtful and insightful response.
Many of the reasons listed contribute proximally to the current situation. But when I think like the indigenous-to-somewhere human being I am and we all ultimately are, I need to go back at least 500 years to begin to get to the massive degradation underway even then. As a European, ancestrally, I need to go back 1200+ years to see one major start of intergenerational trauma, Charlemagne's slaughter at Verden around 800 A.D. in the name of the new religion. Why do I settle for the ongoing slaughter and starvation of innocents in Gaza? Why did any of us allow the murderous residential schools in North America?
If I had to paint the big picture, I would say there has been a current of civilization for at least a couple millenia that can be described as "materialism" perhaps. A teacher of mine called it the "way of sacrifice" because it involves social progress toward a material civilization of massive effort that inherently involves great suffering and destruction. It is a left-brain dominant, reductionist, culture of domination. Violence is a big part of it. Extraction and mining are a big part of it.
And those of us who survived its genocidal onslaught are all one way or another COLLABORATORS in this. In the face of the overwhelming violence, people had to choose fight or flight or freeze (submit). We put blinders on every day to go to work at some job like our parents did, to feed our families and pay exorbitant rent to those who stole the land first and taxes to increasingly corrupt governments (protection rackets). So we are well-trained in surrendering personal sovereignty. I mean look at the covid global cave-in alone! If we are willing to surrender our own bodily autonomy to blatantly crazy narratives, do you think we have the werewithal to consider the sovereignty - and beauty - of the trees, the ecosystem, and the gift of every moment's breath?
Having said all that, life IS a miracle. Our very nature is miraculous, our very existence as humans, each one of us. This amazing Earth home is miraculous beyond words. I am told that the energy within just one of the trillions of cells we each have has electrical power beyond our imagination. There are solutions available to us through the work of Tesla and Schauberger and Stan Meyer and so many others - I am currently interested in Ronald Bernard's work. There are numerous allies whose wisdom we can call on - the fungi kingdom, the trees, our ancestors, native ceremonies, traditional ecological knowledge, and so much more. As decent as it is, I don't even have time for the abstractions of permaculture which was an extraction itself.
And so many people are waking up to the essential moral aspect of this existential issue. It all basically comes down to turning toward the light, the good, the true, the beautiful - upon which so much of the details of the regeneration come into view. We must take the blinders imposed by the three-dimensional reductionist reality off, and begin to reclaim our awareness - which is a great part of the fourth dimension. The acute awareness of our own mortality is a massive gift and calling, for it teaches us about the nature of time and the essential importance of Love. And then according to many traditions, there are higher dimensions. I call the 5th dimension "Source dimension", but to use any of our symbolic words diminishes it.
Iain McGilchrist's work on the right brain alludes to what I would consider the fourth dimension of human capacity. The fifth is more what the great sages like Iesu referred to, the direct transmission, some associate with the pineal gland (which not coincidentally magnetically orients all the bird species in the world to their very survival). I like to go very gently in this powerful area with practices such as Qigong, meditation, and humble prayer. I have rarely talked about it.
Thank you for the question and the space to elaborate. One last note is that I am pondering trading in my smartphone to further reclaim personal energetic sovereinty, and because I am very suspicious of the system. It will be an inconvenience, but I think it refers back to your original question. It is another important choice I can make to NOT settle for the obliteration, but rather to further commit to actively protecting not only the birds, and the insects undergirding ecological systems, but all that is good and beautiful.
Love to you Gavin with gratitude for all you are doing!
especially considering that "government" in the US now consists of corporate entities masquerading as federal/state/city government (all incorporated under Uniform Commercial Code...)
honestly though, I think every choice on the list is valid except for "the world is not being degraded" and "we can live without whales etc"
we have been told that we don't need to bother to do anything, others will do it for us. consequently no one has bothered to learn about what can be done so ignorance results. if we look at things historically the human body is designed to take as much time to rest as possible. we were designed this way because in the early years life was extremely hard, finding food and building somewhere to live and all of the other things. its about beliefs, that have come down to us from generation to generation, automatic information that we inherit and have not taken the time to do anything about. Beliefs are what has many people stuck and they are being taken advantage of by the greed machine and so on. when we look at it from a perspective of it being deliberate to control us, that further removes our incentive to do anything about it, and i certainly feel that. Life to me is learning about myself and what i am here for, and fortunately it was something that was encouraged from childhood. the best way i have found to deal with it is to identify what i am thinking and once i know that i can change my thinking. we need to know on an individual basis what we are doing or what is happening around us or there is nothing we can do about it. Jason Christoff tells us about how we are being Mind Controlled and it is scary. however, when you know what is happening you can do something about it and what he is doing is well worthwhile. more information on this can be found at jchristoff.com. at this point in time i believe it is up to every one of us to do what we can.
Tribal politics means that anything which looks to preserve the ecology is considered to be 'woke', whilst many of the 'woke' themselves have blindspots when it suits them, George Monbiot and those who align with him in supporting the pharmaceutical industry for example.
There is also the issue of being in an predominantly urbanised society, which has already been so environmentally degraded that many people have become long-since accustomed to it.
Yes the people who invest themselves in superficial black and white dualistic labels and self-identification ideas will certainly be easily manipulated by those that seek to continue to pillage the body of our Great Mother.
"There is also the issue of being in an predominantly urbanised society, which has already been so environmentally degraded that many people have become long-since accustomed to it."
I think you hit the nail on the head there. I`ll re-share something I was expressing along these lines on the Corbett Report today that speaks to this.
The most tragic thing about the current state of affairs to me, is we have entire generations and millions of people born into cities or highly “developed” (ecologically decimated, exploited and now GMO farmed) landscapes like where I currently live in southern Ontario that have no idea what real nourishment for their soul is, as all they have known is a concrete landscape or one that is denuded of trees, with small “parks” etc only existing as a shallow echo of what being in nature used to be like in that area. Of course such people will fall for the trap of materialism, ego based nationalism and be enticed into digital escapism, they have never known what real nourishment and fulfillment feels like, and so they desperately latch onto anything that can distract them and fill the gaping hole in their heart and soul (which they do not consciously understand the source of).
I grew up amongst the ancient Douglas Fir and Western Cedars of BC, spending countless hours communing with those wise, loving and watchful beings. Seeing what is happening to the last little bits of primary ancient forest on Vancouver Island that nourished my spirit when I was young has not been easy to bear witness to, but I feel an obligation to honor those beings with my conscious awareness and attention.
Many choose the easier path of looking away, or perhaps even more tragically, they have never known the multi-faceted soul/mind/body enriching experience of communing with ancient trees in a climax ecosystem at all in their lives, and so they can look right at the clearcut devastation and feel nothing (some even cheering on the clearcutting saying it is “good for the economy”).
I however refuse to ignore the ancient beings that are slaughtered in the name of “progress” and "economic growth", I will honor them with my love, I will plant their seeds and carry their memory in my heart.
Hopefully those who are providing images, stories and awareness embodied in their love for forests can provide those who were born into the concrete world matrix a rope ladder to climb out. Perhaps these windows into a world beyond the confines of their digital, concrete and plastic feeding lots and slave pens can help slap some of these zombies in the face and wake up that part deep within them that longs for something more. Many will choose to stay as hyper-stimulated slaves in the transhumanist feeding pen, but I have hope that some will yet escape the coop to re-wild their hearts and heal their souls.
Have you read a book called "Beauty in Abundance: Designs and Projects for Beautiful, Resilient Food Gardens, Farms, Home Landscapes, and Permaculture" By Michael Hoag ?
If not, I think you would really resonate with it's message. :)
Thank you for sharing that positive and empowering perspective Jen.
This makes me think of Charles' post about a place called Source Temple ( https://charleseisenstein.org/essays/source-temple-and-the-great-reset/ ) and how the residents there create their dwellings in a devotional manner, imbuing them with the impulse “I will make use of whatever is available to create the most beautiful, functional environment that I can.”
Have you heard of an artist named Andy Goldsworthy?
I feel like his form of art gives new and profound meaning to the truth in your words when you said "It doesn’t have to cost anything more than imagination and effort."
Ah yes Andy Goldsworthy. I resonated with his work when I first saw an exhibition back in 1990. I bought his book “hand to earth” in 1991 and still have it today.
I think you are very intuitive Gavin.
From a few lines of my text you have seen what I have already experienced.
I hadn’t heard of Temple Source before. But I was fortunate enough to move to a place very similar where I lived for three years. All the buildings, created by 1 artist, were built creatively from recycled, scavenged and found materials. It was an incredibly inspirational environment to live in and work from.
And finally the book you recommended by Michael Hoag, sounds like it could be along the lines of what I’ve been doing for the last four years. After studying Permaculture in 2020 I have been gradually creating a beautiful artistic abundant garden.
Whilst caring for the soil and wildlife, my garden now sings and hums with life, lifts my spirit and feeds my body and soul.
“Having outlined what living ‘poetically’ would entail, Heidegger points to what would constitute the universal human vocation. We are to live lives of ‘care.’ ...to live poetically, listening to the world around us and cooperating with it. The aim of this life is to manifest care which allows the world around us to grow and be fruitful.”
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, a book called "The Unlikely Peace at Cuchumaquic” by Martín Prechtel
What a wonderful synchronicity! Sometimes my higher Self and Creator whisper things in my ear to share and I am grateful when I am open and receptive enough to hear and the sharing serves to connect the dots and bring joy into other's lives :)
Thank you for sharing your experience regarding the devotionally created buildings, it warms my heart to know such things are occurring multiple places.
I sent the good people at Source Temple a variety of heirloom seeds and it has been very nourishing to my spirit to hear how their gardens have progressed and how their community members are cherishing and appreciating the herbs and veggies that resulted from the seeds.
I am glad you are excited to read the book. I am currently reading another that may interest you. It is a bit specialized in an esoteric Gaelic rooted spiritual sense, but also contains some universally applicable permaculture and art based ideas that I think you would appreciate.
I think I shall use an adapted version of this in combination with another one of her ideas presented in the book (which is wonderfully mischievous and hopefully inspired). I want to combine her "seed balls" idea to design nature mandalas that are ephemeral but have the potential to also serve as tools for physical land healing. I am imagining customized seed balls that are especially enriched with compost, powderized biochar and organic nutrients that may have crystals embedded in them along side the seeds arranged along side leaves, flowers and stones to create a pattern that invites healing energy as well as provides the seeds of trees that have the potential to become climate forest members a chance to set down roots.
That way the ephemeral beauty is also invited to create a permanent fractal pattern of life giving habitat which can radiate outwardly.
“Other: Please explain”. The ‘Bubble Effect’ -- this social engineering technique has become more refined and effective. I think I got this quote from a JC post, but I read Toffler in the 80s, long before I could really understand it. “Alvin Toffler predicted ‘demassification’: a process ‘in which a relatively homogeneous social collectivity (or one conceptualized as such) is broken down into (or reconceptualized in terms of) smaller, more diverse elements’. This is the prize for big social networks: compartmentalize people into echo chambers and bombard them with confusing distractions and dead ends.”
When we talk of ‘predicting’ -- just as with the works of HG Wells or Orwell--even then it was easy for any thoughtful person to see the trajectory. They weren’t predicting, or even warning, they were just projecting what they saw in their current and past environments onto the future. They could see it b/c they were already living it. These ‘echo chambers’ and ‘dead ends’ were already part of the social reality through religion and began to be used against the public with the printing press and Morse code--information to isolate, fragment, influence--basically weaponized information.
The most helpful thing to me in understand how we got here is to recognize we have never NOT been in a military industrial complex--all of history has pointed us into this trajectory of abuse, plunder, pillage then move on to the next territory to claim. Now the territory is the mind, and space, but the tactics haven’t changed that much.
Thanks very much for the in depth comment my friend.
Very interesting insights regarding echo chambers and predictions/extrapolations.
This compels me to contemplate what the inverse opposite of "echo chambers and ‘dead ends’" which "were already part of the social reality through religion and began to be used against the public with the printing press and Morse code--information to isolate, fragment, influence--basically weaponized information" would be.
In other words what types of information can be uncover, cultivate, encourage others to see within themselves and/or proliferate which would serve to do the opposite of isolating, fragmenting and negatively influencing humanity through weaponized information?
That is an intriguing and poignant thought regarding the perpetual military industrial complex dynamic.
What about people that lived for millennia in a region that provided all they needed to thrive due to their regenerative agroforestry activities? I suppose they have all been impacted by the reach of imperialistic military industrial complexes from one statist regime or another at this late date, but some of them existed with relative equilibrium with the ecosystems that supported them for centuries or even millennia before that way of life was obliterated or severely crippled by imperialistic invasions.
"Now the territory is the mind, and space, but the tactics haven’t changed that much."
“What about people that lived for millennia in a region that provided all they needed to thrive due to their regenerative agroforestry activities?” I would LOVE to know more about these peoples! And, in the real way, not the romanticized version. Did they live among giant beasts? These ‘mound tribes’ which are all over this continent, is that them? Because I follow a lot of history and more recently ancient history, and I’ve got a lot of misgivings about the official history we’ve been taught.
If you can put me on a direction of study for such people, I’d be so pleased. I think it most important that we look to those who practice what they preach. What we get mostly these days is not that!
Thanks Gavin, that gives me more than a good start! I have been researching the Mound Builders a bit, there are mounds right by us. They are the Caddo Mounds and a few years ago there was a ‘surprise tornado’ during one of the their ceremonies in the middle of the day--destroyed a few miles worth--terrible devastation. And I would bet my last dollar it was manufactured, just like the one over our property that year.
The ‘giant beasts’ question is a big one, I don’t mean just bison. There’s some really compelling evidence of a Great Wall of the Mississippi, just like the Great Wall of China. Not to get off-track here, but I LOVE this kind of research!
I came across something in a book I am currently reading titled "1491" that made me think of you and your comment about Mound Builders, thought you might find it interesting:
Thank you, so thoughtful! That looks like an interesting book, right up my alley. I see in that segment he does not come as far west as we are, though the mounds do continue further into Texas where we are.
It is a solid book, and it is interesting to read about the observations of people coming across ancient food forests and not knowing what they were looking at (but they describe the species present and how the indigenous people nearby were seen hauling many baskets of nuts from the forest back to their dwellings).
If I come across any data pertaining to the more western mound building cultures/communities i`ll share that too.
On the other side of spectrum of ecological literacy and horticultural foresight, from the evidence presented in the book, it also seems that a few ancient indigenous communities near the Mississippi which built big mounds had to learn the hard way about how deforesting an area upstream in order to grow a monoculture of corn is not a good idea (they got flooded out).
So the ancient societies of Turtle Island offer lessons in multiple ways, some cautionary tales, some advanced horticultural wisdom worth building on and revitalizing.
Me too! Since as I mentioned, that way of life was obliterated or severely crippled by imperialistic invasions (and the subsequent brainwashing/"assimilation" of the survivors over multiple generations) the only "real" (tangible, physically observable and measurable) certainties we can observe about those peoples which objectively speak to how they lived (and how their way of life either aligned with increased or stable biodiversity or decreased/crippled it) is found in the soil.
The soils in the dominant European epicenters of imperialistic "civilizations" tell us the story of ecologically illiterate and/or greedy short sighted ways of living and interacting with the ecosystems they depended on to survive.
The anthropogenic Terra Preta of the Amazon and the deep dark soils of the Great Plains of Turtle Island (aka "north america") however tell a different story about how humans interacted with the ecosystems they depended on to survive.
Anthropologist William Balée argues that at least 12% of the Amazon was directly or indirectly created by humans using “Dark Earth.” Terra Preta (literally “black earth”) is a manmade soil of prehistoric origin that is higher in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium than adjacent soils. It controls water and reduces leaching of nutrients from the rhizosphere. Rich in humus, pieces of pre-Columbian unfired clay pottery, and black carbon, it’s like a “microbial reef” that promotes and sustains the growth of mycorrhizae and other beneficial microbes, and it has been shown to retain its fertility for thousands of years. In university trials, terra preta has increased crop yields by as much as 800 percent. It regrows itself when excavated.
William Devan, a geologist from the University of Wisconsin who is prominent in terra preta research, offers these comments: “The black terra preta is associated with long-enduring Indian village sites, and is filled with ceramics, animal and fish bones, and other cultural debris. The brown terra mulata, on the other hand, is much more extensive, generally surrounds the black midden soils, contains few artifacts, and apparently is the result of semi-intensive cultivation over long periods. Both forms are much more fertile than the surrounding highly weathered reddish soil, mostly oxisol, and they have generally sustained this fertility to the present despite the tropical climate and despite frequent or periodic cultivation. This is probably because of high carbon content and an associated high microbial activity which is self perpetuating.”
William I. Woods, a soil geographer at Southern Illinois University says terra preta covers a surface area in the Amazon equivalent to the size of France.
As Charles C. Mann wrote, in a piece that drastically changed the perception about native populations in the New World before contact, contrary to the popular isolated hunter-gatherer notions of natives, the New World was a highly advanced civilization that manipulated their environment on a large scale. He believed that humans were a keystone species—that is an animal that plays a crucial role in the functioning of an eco-system.
Charles C. Mann writes about terra preta, “Faced with an ecological problem, the Indians fixed it. The indians were in the process of terraforming the Amazon when Columbus showed up and ruined everything.”
Lyla June did some additional research regarding studying soil samples to get metrics on how the ancients of Turtle Island lived and interacted with their environment in her dissertation which you can read here:
Well buffalo are pretty big animals, and the evidence indicates that they actively managed the migrational trajectory of their herds via controlled burning/soil building techniques, so if Bison count then yes for sure.
Mound tribes is not something I am well versed in, as i am more interested in practically applicable techniques for cultivating food and medicine which also enhance biodiversity, clean water, create microclimates, stabilize rain patterns and enhance the beauty and productivity of the land (for both humans and non-humans to harvest from).
RE: "those who practice what they preach" I am all for that though at the same time, if the ancient peoples who built the soil and created food forests (some of which still persist today) are not around to "practice what they preach" anymore and/or their descendants are choosing to walk the path of materialism, consumerism and profit before reciprocity I still think the clearly observable and applicable methods of their ancestors are worth learning from, building upon and applying in our designs.
On the not practicing what they preach side of things. Sometimes when I reach out to Indigenous community leaders here in Canada I unfortunately discover that the forced assimilation process inflicted on their culture by the Government (RCMP and Church) has been extremely effective in severing their knowledge line and connection to the land where they live.
Sometimes the people get bulldozed psychologically and begin to “worship the Gods of their conquerors” (as Rapper Immortal Technique might say). In that case, the god of their conquerors, is money.
Thanks for the great questions and thought provoking comments.
We're all responsible for the role we play, the decisions we make and the extent to which we are aware or unaware of how we are being influenced / controlled / played.
With regards to subsidized and militarized police enforced industrial industries that are engaging in ecocide (old growth forest clearcutting logging operations, fracking oil pipelines and hard rock mines etc) I think it is important to keep in mind that it is our tax dollars that are funding these operations. Thus, it goes beyond just "influenced / controlled / played" and also includes that which we actively participate in funding through our passivity in continuing to offer our resources to the age old racket of involuntary governance structures.
Yes. A piece of the puzzle with which I struggle given that I live / participate in a society organized by / around these principles. It is important (to me) to not feel / act the victim. The level of challenge seems to vary daily. ; )
I struggle with that one as well. If I do not pay the income taxes (which is a form of tax that was introduced under the guise of being "a temporary war-time measure" during WW1, and then after the war was over the racketeers in government decided it was way too juicy to stop and we have been paying it ever since under threat of violence if we refuse) that means I have to become a legal specialist, guerilla warfare and self defense specialist instead of a regenerative gardener, seed saver and permaculture educator to defend my property and my wife against the armies of thugs in suits and with badges and guns that will be unleashed on us by that multi-generational racketeering organization (called "government"). Still with all that being said, I acknowledge that it is a choice and I take responsibility for my choice (because through paying those taxes, you and I are actively funding mass murder and war profiteering. For more info: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/lest-we-forget-war-is-still-a-racket )
I think that for those of us who are courageous enough and in an ideal position to do so, we should take a page out of the suffragettes strategy book and begin taking actions to boycott the organized crime cartel (government) that we have been funding for our entire lives (a cartel which is spending our money on nefarious operations that do not align with our shared vision for the future).
Whilst we may be ultimately responsible until we truly understand just how ‘good’ the social engineering, brain washing and precision propaganda is you may think you are making a decision but the whole thing could’ve been planted in your mind and not yours at all. The technology around mind control reads like Science Fiction and we are constantly being played as to what we ‘agree’ with or not, but it’s very much a would you prefer Pepsi or Coke choice situation.
Great point regarding mind control and social engineering.
I would suggest that in order to excavate an Archimedean point from which one can see through implanted and artificially imposed decisions and perspectives we must each learn to recognize the eternal spark within and learn to see from the perspective of the spirit.
Using the heart as an organ of perception we can begin to remove the layers of conditioning and brainwashing to see from the same vivid awareness we did when we first arrived on this world.
I wasn't able to vote in the poll (window said "something went wrong)--maybe you've closed it down since Thursday--but my answer is social engineering/brainwashing as the main reason, though not all by itself. For years, decades, I bought the Club of Rome and Pogo notion that "the enemy is us," but the past four years have taught me that this idea is part of a massive campaign of programming we have been subjected to for those decades and much longer. That being said, it is now our responsibility to stop the ecological and human carnage and envision/create/build the world we want to live in, which is, for most humans, a world of beauty, caring, kindness, interdependence and yes, love.
Hey Betsy, I checked from a different account and it seems the poll is still working on my end, maybe it was a bandwidth glitch?
Can you try refreshing and see if it goes through next time and let me know?
Thanks very much for taking the time to comment and elaborate on your answer.
I tried it again and this time was able to vote. Thanks!
We have turned away from God.
Thank you for that very succinct response.
In some ways, I think that is a great encapsulation that describes one of the core central causes of much of degenerative behavior on Earth now. The only potential problem I see in using that to extrapolate what a solution would be, is that dogmatic religious institutions all throughout human history have claimed that if you listened to them and followed their orders that you are "turning towards god" or "carrying out god's will" etc, and yet the result of their orders and suggestions, were (and often continue to be) mass murder and the destruction of the natural world. For reference, I provide some historical examples of that in the context of Christian colonialism in this essay: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-anthropocentrism-bright
So while I absolutely do think that making the choice as an individual to become capable of directly perceiving the true nature of and then developing a direct two way relationship with God would be a huge step in the right direction for humanity in reversing the trend I described in my poll here, I am hoping you can provide a little clarification regarding what exactly you mean when you say "We have turned away from God." in your usage of the term.
What does "turning away from God" look like? Is it a multistage process, or is it something that occurs instantaneously after one makes a single choice?
and conversely, what would "turning back towards God" look like? Can that process be initiated by a person who has never heard of any religions, bibles or churches and they live alone in the woods? Or does it require a regimented, structured dogmatic approach approved by some clergy?
Thanks in advance for your time.
For one, I think there is largely an enormous disconnect between humans and nature. We seem to think nature is “the wild” which we are not connected to. We think we are separate from nature. We constructed cities and isolated ourselves from it for a very long time. We think we are outside of it, but we are in fact connected to it, a part of it, interwoven with it. When people were stewards of their land and lived in it every day, everything was far more beautiful and well tended. But when the Industrial Revolution arrived an enormous separation of humanity and nature began. Terms like “the great outdoors,” “into the wild”, “going camping”, etc. just illustrate how there was that separation ingrained into the mind, collectively. By now it’s certainly either ignorance from this constant generational disconnect, or social engineering whether that effort is conscious or unconscious. But it is real. And humans are of course lazy if they can be. Having a “safe” and ugly place to live might seem better if it’s easier to do, for some.
Well said.
Tragically, I have observed how the part about "Having a “safe” and ugly place to live might seem better if it’s easier to do, for some." is true. Also, many of them have such hardened hearts and underdeveloped capabilities to appreciate and perceive the real depth of beauty that exists in intact ecosystems that even if you plopped them into one of the few remaining intact climax ecosystems on Earth all of the sudden, they would not necessarily have the mental, emotional and pattern recognition capacity to instantaneously connect with and be nourished by that place on a soul level (having build so much armor and walls over their hearts and inner child) they might focus on some random superficial thing like "oh there are lots of bugs here, are any of them carrying diseases!?" or some other paranoid thought indicative of the germophobic monoculture mind of "civilization". They could learn to tap into that wild part that exists deep in their own soul and remember how to appreciate real beauty but it may take time for some.
Have you read a book called "Tending the Wild" by Kat Anderson?
I hope to work on dissolving this illusory segregatory barrier that people have built up in their minds which they (mistakenly and detrimentally) perceive as separating them from nature and the "wild" through encouraging people to re-wild their gardens and communities. Becoming familiar with the wilderness through recognizing species that are our non-human neighbors in each of our communities and then helping them to propagate, feeding ourselves and wildlife in the process. I feel as though this can be a powerful medicine for the hearts, bodies, minds and souls of those willing to engage in the process. That will be the focus on my next book.
Thanks for the thoughtful and insightful response.
Many of the reasons listed contribute proximally to the current situation. But when I think like the indigenous-to-somewhere human being I am and we all ultimately are, I need to go back at least 500 years to begin to get to the massive degradation underway even then. As a European, ancestrally, I need to go back 1200+ years to see one major start of intergenerational trauma, Charlemagne's slaughter at Verden around 800 A.D. in the name of the new religion. Why do I settle for the ongoing slaughter and starvation of innocents in Gaza? Why did any of us allow the murderous residential schools in North America?
If I had to paint the big picture, I would say there has been a current of civilization for at least a couple millenia that can be described as "materialism" perhaps. A teacher of mine called it the "way of sacrifice" because it involves social progress toward a material civilization of massive effort that inherently involves great suffering and destruction. It is a left-brain dominant, reductionist, culture of domination. Violence is a big part of it. Extraction and mining are a big part of it.
And those of us who survived its genocidal onslaught are all one way or another COLLABORATORS in this. In the face of the overwhelming violence, people had to choose fight or flight or freeze (submit). We put blinders on every day to go to work at some job like our parents did, to feed our families and pay exorbitant rent to those who stole the land first and taxes to increasingly corrupt governments (protection rackets). So we are well-trained in surrendering personal sovereignty. I mean look at the covid global cave-in alone! If we are willing to surrender our own bodily autonomy to blatantly crazy narratives, do you think we have the werewithal to consider the sovereignty - and beauty - of the trees, the ecosystem, and the gift of every moment's breath?
Having said all that, life IS a miracle. Our very nature is miraculous, our very existence as humans, each one of us. This amazing Earth home is miraculous beyond words. I am told that the energy within just one of the trillions of cells we each have has electrical power beyond our imagination. There are solutions available to us through the work of Tesla and Schauberger and Stan Meyer and so many others - I am currently interested in Ronald Bernard's work. There are numerous allies whose wisdom we can call on - the fungi kingdom, the trees, our ancestors, native ceremonies, traditional ecological knowledge, and so much more. As decent as it is, I don't even have time for the abstractions of permaculture which was an extraction itself.
And so many people are waking up to the essential moral aspect of this existential issue. It all basically comes down to turning toward the light, the good, the true, the beautiful - upon which so much of the details of the regeneration come into view. We must take the blinders imposed by the three-dimensional reductionist reality off, and begin to reclaim our awareness - which is a great part of the fourth dimension. The acute awareness of our own mortality is a massive gift and calling, for it teaches us about the nature of time and the essential importance of Love. And then according to many traditions, there are higher dimensions. I call the 5th dimension "Source dimension", but to use any of our symbolic words diminishes it.
Iain McGilchrist's work on the right brain alludes to what I would consider the fourth dimension of human capacity. The fifth is more what the great sages like Iesu referred to, the direct transmission, some associate with the pineal gland (which not coincidentally magnetically orients all the bird species in the world to their very survival). I like to go very gently in this powerful area with practices such as Qigong, meditation, and humble prayer. I have rarely talked about it.
Thank you for the question and the space to elaborate. One last note is that I am pondering trading in my smartphone to further reclaim personal energetic sovereinty, and because I am very suspicious of the system. It will be an inconvenience, but I think it refers back to your original question. It is another important choice I can make to NOT settle for the obliteration, but rather to further commit to actively protecting not only the birds, and the insects undergirding ecological systems, but all that is good and beautiful.
Love to you Gavin with gratitude for all you are doing!
I went with corporate evil for the poll.
especially considering that "government" in the US now consists of corporate entities masquerading as federal/state/city government (all incorporated under Uniform Commercial Code...)
honestly though, I think every choice on the list is valid except for "the world is not being degraded" and "we can live without whales etc"
we have been told that we don't need to bother to do anything, others will do it for us. consequently no one has bothered to learn about what can be done so ignorance results. if we look at things historically the human body is designed to take as much time to rest as possible. we were designed this way because in the early years life was extremely hard, finding food and building somewhere to live and all of the other things. its about beliefs, that have come down to us from generation to generation, automatic information that we inherit and have not taken the time to do anything about. Beliefs are what has many people stuck and they are being taken advantage of by the greed machine and so on. when we look at it from a perspective of it being deliberate to control us, that further removes our incentive to do anything about it, and i certainly feel that. Life to me is learning about myself and what i am here for, and fortunately it was something that was encouraged from childhood. the best way i have found to deal with it is to identify what i am thinking and once i know that i can change my thinking. we need to know on an individual basis what we are doing or what is happening around us or there is nothing we can do about it. Jason Christoff tells us about how we are being Mind Controlled and it is scary. however, when you know what is happening you can do something about it and what he is doing is well worthwhile. more information on this can be found at jchristoff.com. at this point in time i believe it is up to every one of us to do what we can.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Jenny.
Totally agree, I cannot believe how much I have learned in last 4 yrs
You are absolutely right about what there has been to learn in the last four years.. its time to learn as much as we can. i am enjoying it.
The degradation is deliberate , to weaken and control us . Being carried out by those in power and have been for eon’s.
Tribal politics means that anything which looks to preserve the ecology is considered to be 'woke', whilst many of the 'woke' themselves have blindspots when it suits them, George Monbiot and those who align with him in supporting the pharmaceutical industry for example.
There is also the issue of being in an predominantly urbanised society, which has already been so environmentally degraded that many people have become long-since accustomed to it.
Yes the people who invest themselves in superficial black and white dualistic labels and self-identification ideas will certainly be easily manipulated by those that seek to continue to pillage the body of our Great Mother.
"There is also the issue of being in an predominantly urbanised society, which has already been so environmentally degraded that many people have become long-since accustomed to it."
I think you hit the nail on the head there. I`ll re-share something I was expressing along these lines on the Corbett Report today that speaks to this.
The most tragic thing about the current state of affairs to me, is we have entire generations and millions of people born into cities or highly “developed” (ecologically decimated, exploited and now GMO farmed) landscapes like where I currently live in southern Ontario that have no idea what real nourishment for their soul is, as all they have known is a concrete landscape or one that is denuded of trees, with small “parks” etc only existing as a shallow echo of what being in nature used to be like in that area. Of course such people will fall for the trap of materialism, ego based nationalism and be enticed into digital escapism, they have never known what real nourishment and fulfillment feels like, and so they desperately latch onto anything that can distract them and fill the gaping hole in their heart and soul (which they do not consciously understand the source of).
I grew up amongst the ancient Douglas Fir and Western Cedars of BC, spending countless hours communing with those wise, loving and watchful beings. Seeing what is happening to the last little bits of primary ancient forest on Vancouver Island that nourished my spirit when I was young has not been easy to bear witness to, but I feel an obligation to honor those beings with my conscious awareness and attention.
Many choose the easier path of looking away, or perhaps even more tragically, they have never known the multi-faceted soul/mind/body enriching experience of communing with ancient trees in a climax ecosystem at all in their lives, and so they can look right at the clearcut devastation and feel nothing (some even cheering on the clearcutting saying it is “good for the economy”).
I however refuse to ignore the ancient beings that are slaughtered in the name of “progress” and "economic growth", I will honor them with my love, I will plant their seeds and carry their memory in my heart.
Hopefully those who are providing images, stories and awareness embodied in their love for forests can provide those who were born into the concrete world matrix a rope ladder to climb out. Perhaps these windows into a world beyond the confines of their digital, concrete and plastic feeding lots and slave pens can help slap some of these zombies in the face and wake up that part deep within them that longs for something more. Many will choose to stay as hyper-stimulated slaves in the transhumanist feeding pen, but I have hope that some will yet escape the coop to re-wild their hearts and heal their souls.
( the comment above is an adapted version of something I was discussion on this post: https://corbettreport.com/welcome-to-mixed-reality-a-fake-place-where-fake-people-are-trapped-forever/ )
Other please explain:
We are not taught to appreciate and create beauty enough.
As an artist, maker and doer, my mission in life is to create as much beauty in every way I possible can.
If you can do it yourself, It doesn’t have to cost anything more than imagination and effort.
Have you read a book called "Beauty in Abundance: Designs and Projects for Beautiful, Resilient Food Gardens, Farms, Home Landscapes, and Permaculture" By Michael Hoag ?
If not, I think you would really resonate with it's message. :)
Thank you for sharing that positive and empowering perspective Jen.
This makes me think of Charles' post about a place called Source Temple ( https://charleseisenstein.org/essays/source-temple-and-the-great-reset/ ) and how the residents there create their dwellings in a devotional manner, imbuing them with the impulse “I will make use of whatever is available to create the most beautiful, functional environment that I can.”
Have you heard of an artist named Andy Goldsworthy?
Here is a video that explores some his art: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x15e83f
and here are some images of his art: https://www.liveenhanced.com/andy-goldsworthy-art-and-images/
I feel like his form of art gives new and profound meaning to the truth in your words when you said "It doesn’t have to cost anything more than imagination and effort."
Ah yes Andy Goldsworthy. I resonated with his work when I first saw an exhibition back in 1990. I bought his book “hand to earth” in 1991 and still have it today.
I think you are very intuitive Gavin.
From a few lines of my text you have seen what I have already experienced.
I hadn’t heard of Temple Source before. But I was fortunate enough to move to a place very similar where I lived for three years. All the buildings, created by 1 artist, were built creatively from recycled, scavenged and found materials. It was an incredibly inspirational environment to live in and work from.
And finally the book you recommended by Michael Hoag, sounds like it could be along the lines of what I’ve been doing for the last four years. After studying Permaculture in 2020 I have been gradually creating a beautiful artistic abundant garden.
Whilst caring for the soil and wildlife, my garden now sings and hums with life, lifts my spirit and feeds my body and soul.
I will definitely read this book.
Thank you Gavin.
I came across another couple writers that reminded me of your comment about beauty and wanted to share them with you.
First up, Paul Cudenec's "POETICALLY DWELLS MAN: HEIDEGGER AND SPIRITUAL REBIRTH"
https://winteroak.org.uk/2024/02/28/poetically-dwells-man-heidegger-and-spiritual-rebirth/
“Having outlined what living ‘poetically’ would entail, Heidegger points to what would constitute the universal human vocation. We are to live lives of ‘care.’ ...to live poetically, listening to the world around us and cooperating with it. The aim of this life is to manifest care which allows the world around us to grow and be fruitful.”
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, a book called "The Unlikely Peace at Cuchumaquic” by Martín Prechtel
Here are pics of a few select pages from his book: https://archive.org/details/seedsofcuchumaquic/Scregenshot%20%2863%29.png
(click on the left side arrow to go through the pages in the correct order)
What a wonderful synchronicity! Sometimes my higher Self and Creator whisper things in my ear to share and I am grateful when I am open and receptive enough to hear and the sharing serves to connect the dots and bring joy into other's lives :)
Thank you for sharing your experience regarding the devotionally created buildings, it warms my heart to know such things are occurring multiple places.
I sent the good people at Source Temple a variety of heirloom seeds and it has been very nourishing to my spirit to hear how their gardens have progressed and how their community members are cherishing and appreciating the herbs and veggies that resulted from the seeds.
I am glad you are excited to read the book. I am currently reading another that may interest you. It is a bit specialized in an esoteric Gaelic rooted spiritual sense, but also contains some universally applicable permaculture and art based ideas that I think you would appreciate.
Here is the book: https://thedruidsgarden.com/land-healing-book/
One particular idea shared in the book that connects with our discussion above is what the author describes as "nature mandalas".
For more info:
https://thedruidsgarden.com/2020/10/25/nature-mandalas-for-inner-work-rituals-and-blessings/
I think I shall use an adapted version of this in combination with another one of her ideas presented in the book (which is wonderfully mischievous and hopefully inspired). I want to combine her "seed balls" idea to design nature mandalas that are ephemeral but have the potential to also serve as tools for physical land healing. I am imagining customized seed balls that are especially enriched with compost, powderized biochar and organic nutrients that may have crystals embedded in them along side the seeds arranged along side leaves, flowers and stones to create a pattern that invites healing energy as well as provides the seeds of trees that have the potential to become climate forest members a chance to set down roots.
That way the ephemeral beauty is also invited to create a permanent fractal pattern of life giving habitat which can radiate outwardly.
“Other: Please explain”. The ‘Bubble Effect’ -- this social engineering technique has become more refined and effective. I think I got this quote from a JC post, but I read Toffler in the 80s, long before I could really understand it. “Alvin Toffler predicted ‘demassification’: a process ‘in which a relatively homogeneous social collectivity (or one conceptualized as such) is broken down into (or reconceptualized in terms of) smaller, more diverse elements’. This is the prize for big social networks: compartmentalize people into echo chambers and bombard them with confusing distractions and dead ends.”
When we talk of ‘predicting’ -- just as with the works of HG Wells or Orwell--even then it was easy for any thoughtful person to see the trajectory. They weren’t predicting, or even warning, they were just projecting what they saw in their current and past environments onto the future. They could see it b/c they were already living it. These ‘echo chambers’ and ‘dead ends’ were already part of the social reality through religion and began to be used against the public with the printing press and Morse code--information to isolate, fragment, influence--basically weaponized information.
The most helpful thing to me in understand how we got here is to recognize we have never NOT been in a military industrial complex--all of history has pointed us into this trajectory of abuse, plunder, pillage then move on to the next territory to claim. Now the territory is the mind, and space, but the tactics haven’t changed that much.
Thanks very much for the in depth comment my friend.
Very interesting insights regarding echo chambers and predictions/extrapolations.
This compels me to contemplate what the inverse opposite of "echo chambers and ‘dead ends’" which "were already part of the social reality through religion and began to be used against the public with the printing press and Morse code--information to isolate, fragment, influence--basically weaponized information" would be.
In other words what types of information can be uncover, cultivate, encourage others to see within themselves and/or proliferate which would serve to do the opposite of isolating, fragmenting and negatively influencing humanity through weaponized information?
That is an intriguing and poignant thought regarding the perpetual military industrial complex dynamic.
What about people that lived for millennia in a region that provided all they needed to thrive due to their regenerative agroforestry activities? I suppose they have all been impacted by the reach of imperialistic military industrial complexes from one statist regime or another at this late date, but some of them existed with relative equilibrium with the ecosystems that supported them for centuries or even millennia before that way of life was obliterated or severely crippled by imperialistic invasions.
"Now the territory is the mind, and space, but the tactics haven’t changed that much."
Agreed, and the genome as well.
Thanks for the thought provoking comment.
“What about people that lived for millennia in a region that provided all they needed to thrive due to their regenerative agroforestry activities?” I would LOVE to know more about these peoples! And, in the real way, not the romanticized version. Did they live among giant beasts? These ‘mound tribes’ which are all over this continent, is that them? Because I follow a lot of history and more recently ancient history, and I’ve got a lot of misgivings about the official history we’ve been taught.
If you can put me on a direction of study for such people, I’d be so pleased. I think it most important that we look to those who practice what they preach. What we get mostly these days is not that!
Thanks Gavin, that gives me more than a good start! I have been researching the Mound Builders a bit, there are mounds right by us. They are the Caddo Mounds and a few years ago there was a ‘surprise tornado’ during one of the their ceremonies in the middle of the day--destroyed a few miles worth--terrible devastation. And I would bet my last dollar it was manufactured, just like the one over our property that year.
The ‘giant beasts’ question is a big one, I don’t mean just bison. There’s some really compelling evidence of a Great Wall of the Mississippi, just like the Great Wall of China. Not to get off-track here, but I LOVE this kind of research!
So much to learn, and re-learn!! 🤗
I came across something in a book I am currently reading titled "1491" that made me think of you and your comment about Mound Builders, thought you might find it interesting:
https://archive.org/details/moundbuilders_202403
Thank you, so thoughtful! That looks like an interesting book, right up my alley. I see in that segment he does not come as far west as we are, though the mounds do continue further into Texas where we are.
It is a solid book, and it is interesting to read about the observations of people coming across ancient food forests and not knowing what they were looking at (but they describe the species present and how the indigenous people nearby were seen hauling many baskets of nuts from the forest back to their dwellings).
If I come across any data pertaining to the more western mound building cultures/communities i`ll share that too.
On the other side of spectrum of ecological literacy and horticultural foresight, from the evidence presented in the book, it also seems that a few ancient indigenous communities near the Mississippi which built big mounds had to learn the hard way about how deforesting an area upstream in order to grow a monoculture of corn is not a good idea (they got flooded out).
So the ancient societies of Turtle Island offer lessons in multiple ways, some cautionary tales, some advanced horticultural wisdom worth building on and revitalizing.
Me too! Since as I mentioned, that way of life was obliterated or severely crippled by imperialistic invasions (and the subsequent brainwashing/"assimilation" of the survivors over multiple generations) the only "real" (tangible, physically observable and measurable) certainties we can observe about those peoples which objectively speak to how they lived (and how their way of life either aligned with increased or stable biodiversity or decreased/crippled it) is found in the soil.
The soils in the dominant European epicenters of imperialistic "civilizations" tell us the story of ecologically illiterate and/or greedy short sighted ways of living and interacting with the ecosystems they depended on to survive.
The anthropogenic Terra Preta of the Amazon and the deep dark soils of the Great Plains of Turtle Island (aka "north america") however tell a different story about how humans interacted with the ecosystems they depended on to survive.
Anthropologist William Balée argues that at least 12% of the Amazon was directly or indirectly created by humans using “Dark Earth.” Terra Preta (literally “black earth”) is a manmade soil of prehistoric origin that is higher in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium than adjacent soils. It controls water and reduces leaching of nutrients from the rhizosphere. Rich in humus, pieces of pre-Columbian unfired clay pottery, and black carbon, it’s like a “microbial reef” that promotes and sustains the growth of mycorrhizae and other beneficial microbes, and it has been shown to retain its fertility for thousands of years. In university trials, terra preta has increased crop yields by as much as 800 percent. It regrows itself when excavated.
William Devan, a geologist from the University of Wisconsin who is prominent in terra preta research, offers these comments: “The black terra preta is associated with long-enduring Indian village sites, and is filled with ceramics, animal and fish bones, and other cultural debris. The brown terra mulata, on the other hand, is much more extensive, generally surrounds the black midden soils, contains few artifacts, and apparently is the result of semi-intensive cultivation over long periods. Both forms are much more fertile than the surrounding highly weathered reddish soil, mostly oxisol, and they have generally sustained this fertility to the present despite the tropical climate and despite frequent or periodic cultivation. This is probably because of high carbon content and an associated high microbial activity which is self perpetuating.”
William I. Woods, a soil geographer at Southern Illinois University says terra preta covers a surface area in the Amazon equivalent to the size of France.
As Charles C. Mann wrote, in a piece that drastically changed the perception about native populations in the New World before contact, contrary to the popular isolated hunter-gatherer notions of natives, the New World was a highly advanced civilization that manipulated their environment on a large scale. He believed that humans were a keystone species—that is an animal that plays a crucial role in the functioning of an eco-system.
Charles C. Mann writes about terra preta, “Faced with an ecological problem, the Indians fixed it. The indians were in the process of terraforming the Amazon when Columbus showed up and ruined everything.”
For more info:
- https://web.archive.org/web/20210622043615/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-018-0205-y?WT.feed_name=subjects_evolution
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2311424/
-https://web.archive.org/web/20210615170106/https://returntonow.net/2018/08/01/the-amazon-is-a-man-made-food-forest-researchers-discover/
- https://underwoodgardens.com/terra-preta-magic-soil-of-the-lost-amazon/
- https://underwoodgardens.com/terra-preta-magic-soil-of-the-lost-amazon-part-ii/
- https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1805259115
Lyla June did some additional research regarding studying soil samples to get metrics on how the ancients of Turtle Island lived and interacted with their environment in her dissertation which you can read here:
- https://www.proquest.com/openview/17597a179528716e1a9e8515ca76ec77/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Re: "Did they live among giant beasts?"
Well buffalo are pretty big animals, and the evidence indicates that they actively managed the migrational trajectory of their herds via controlled burning/soil building techniques, so if Bison count then yes for sure.
Mound tribes is not something I am well versed in, as i am more interested in practically applicable techniques for cultivating food and medicine which also enhance biodiversity, clean water, create microclimates, stabilize rain patterns and enhance the beauty and productivity of the land (for both humans and non-humans to harvest from).
RE: "those who practice what they preach" I am all for that though at the same time, if the ancient peoples who built the soil and created food forests (some of which still persist today) are not around to "practice what they preach" anymore and/or their descendants are choosing to walk the path of materialism, consumerism and profit before reciprocity I still think the clearly observable and applicable methods of their ancestors are worth learning from, building upon and applying in our designs.
On the not practicing what they preach side of things. Sometimes when I reach out to Indigenous community leaders here in Canada I unfortunately discover that the forced assimilation process inflicted on their culture by the Government (RCMP and Church) has been extremely effective in severing their knowledge line and connection to the land where they live.
Sometimes the people get bulldozed psychologically and begin to “worship the Gods of their conquerors” (as Rapper Immortal Technique might say). In that case, the god of their conquerors, is money.
Thanks for the great questions and thought provoking comments.
We're all responsible for the role we play, the decisions we make and the extent to which we are aware or unaware of how we are being influenced / controlled / played.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Sasha.
With regards to subsidized and militarized police enforced industrial industries that are engaging in ecocide (old growth forest clearcutting logging operations, fracking oil pipelines and hard rock mines etc) I think it is important to keep in mind that it is our tax dollars that are funding these operations. Thus, it goes beyond just "influenced / controlled / played" and also includes that which we actively participate in funding through our passivity in continuing to offer our resources to the age old racket of involuntary governance structures.
Yes. A piece of the puzzle with which I struggle given that I live / participate in a society organized by / around these principles. It is important (to me) to not feel / act the victim. The level of challenge seems to vary daily. ; )
I struggle with that one as well. If I do not pay the income taxes (which is a form of tax that was introduced under the guise of being "a temporary war-time measure" during WW1, and then after the war was over the racketeers in government decided it was way too juicy to stop and we have been paying it ever since under threat of violence if we refuse) that means I have to become a legal specialist, guerilla warfare and self defense specialist instead of a regenerative gardener, seed saver and permaculture educator to defend my property and my wife against the armies of thugs in suits and with badges and guns that will be unleashed on us by that multi-generational racketeering organization (called "government"). Still with all that being said, I acknowledge that it is a choice and I take responsibility for my choice (because through paying those taxes, you and I are actively funding mass murder and war profiteering. For more info: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/lest-we-forget-war-is-still-a-racket )
I think that for those of us who are courageous enough and in an ideal position to do so, we should take a page out of the suffragettes strategy book and begin taking actions to boycott the organized crime cartel (government) that we have been funding for our entire lives (a cartel which is spending our money on nefarious operations that do not align with our shared vision for the future).
For more info:
- https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/511c0eb1-8182-306a-9f03-dbb7459ffc7e#:~:text=The%20Tax%20Resistance%20League%20(1909,refused%20to%20pay%20income%20tax.
- https://sniggle.net/TPL/index5.php?entry=10Sep12
Thanks for the comment.
Whilst we may be ultimately responsible until we truly understand just how ‘good’ the social engineering, brain washing and precision propaganda is you may think you are making a decision but the whole thing could’ve been planted in your mind and not yours at all. The technology around mind control reads like Science Fiction and we are constantly being played as to what we ‘agree’ with or not, but it’s very much a would you prefer Pepsi or Coke choice situation.
Great point regarding mind control and social engineering.
I would suggest that in order to excavate an Archimedean point from which one can see through implanted and artificially imposed decisions and perspectives we must each learn to recognize the eternal spark within and learn to see from the perspective of the spirit.
Using the heart as an organ of perception we can begin to remove the layers of conditioning and brainwashing to see from the same vivid awareness we did when we first arrived on this world.
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/dispelling-the-most-detrimental-myth?
I love this, thanks for your reply and yes, yes yes!