American Perestroika

 A Philosophers Bunker original article.


By Vulcan Tuminello
I dont know if anyone noticed, or for that matter even cares (what with the demands of our virtual lives  occupying so much of our attention these days)-but the Deepwater Horizon well is still leaking......

And the race is on to greater "adventures" elsewhere!

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/oil-exploration-under-arctic-ice-could-cause-uncontrollable-natural-disaster-2349788.html

But hey, who cares the new I-phone is coming out soon! All of the unemployed "non-persons" can go crawl into some corner and ensure that they continuously update their face-book profile as the Titanic sinks.

Meanwhile, are the super elite who peddle such technological and pharmaceutical vices secretly and swiftly abandoning ship? (disclaimer: unlike the existence of ET's whose visitations are thoroughly documented and corroborated, I havent fully investigated this possibility and cant stand behind it, although it is an interesting idea) 

Its impossible to miss the shared similarities between the collapse of the American Empire and that of the Soviet Union. They both squandered the last decade of accumulated wealth and prestige in Afghanistan, then were beset by massive environmental challenges (Deep Water Horizon was our Chernobyl, well not to speak too soon as we have 15 Nuclear Reactors on fault lines), and similarly, now that the cronyism, corruption, waste, fraud and insanity of our political system cannot be concealed any longer we may be treated to an official coming to terms, our Perestroika if you will. 

Dmitry Orlov does a much better job of describing the striking parallels in Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects

It will be "interesting" to see how we navigate something similar (actually much worse, unlike the energy situation in the Soviet Union of the 90's we are globally past peak production of a host of non-renewable resources) with no social safety net (the "Free Market" will take care of us!, err no, actually it wont, unlike Lloyd Blankfein and co. the poor arent "Too Big To Fail"), a national consciousness informed by American Idol, Grand Theft Auto, NASCAR and Ayn Rand, and lets not forget the approximately 300,000,000 firearms from Sea to Shining Sea just waiting to have their say in the matter. 

What do I think?

Stop paying taxes. Demand change, take your sentiment beyond the voting booth. Usher in the "American Spring". 

We are now well into the throes of the collapse of industrial civilization, there is no "recovery", no "return to infinite growth" waiting around the corner, you can either pretend that this is not happening, do nothing and go back to your pharmaceutically enhanced techno-virtual realm or acknowledging reality and motivated to action out of compassion, empathy, fearlessness and a desire to not only survive but to create the world we want in place of the one that is failing. 

"The bad news is that Industrial Civilization is failing, the good news is that Industrial Civilization is failing".

There is an untold truth behind the "Arab Spring" (Israel is the latest to join). When a people collectively intuit that their physical well being and survival hinges on their direct participation in the socio-political structures guiding their lives, and they are informed by a culture of deep-seated spirituality, (unlike that of ephemeral materialism in the West) they respond to those challenges with the understanding that they are truly invincible and eternal, because we are. 

In the Wachowski Brother's The Matrix, when confronted with actual reality our protagonist, Neo, is forced to choose either the red pill or the blue pill. One would keep him in a state of awareness and relationship with reality as dark and unwelcome as it may be, the other would allow him to return to his comfortable techno-slumber. 

This physical existence is Matrix-like in that there is the world that we perceive as real, and is for all intents and purposes is real, but is also unreal in that our true being is limitless and timeless. When you truly know that this physical experience is impermanent and that spirit is eternal you can freely act in accordance with this understanding and motivated from a position of love, begin the task of alleviating suffering and accelerating our collective awakening. 

Which pill will you choose? 

Maybe our space brothers will save us, maybe we are not yet ready for this understanding and relationship with the Universe. 

I believe we are.

I believe we have grown tired of the unconsciousness that pervades Humanity in its myriad manifestations of apathy, greed, hatred and most of all fear. 

Be the 100th Monkey. 

"At the risk of sounding ridiculous, let me say that the revolutionary is guided by deep feelings of love" - Che Guevara