Here we all are, dying by a thousand cuts – Juxtaposed

Last Updated: August 28, 2014By

I’m looking at the state of my country and the state of the world. I’m enduring political-social-economic breakdown, war and general meltdown; I’m witnessing agendas that require the deliberate construction of societal divisions and the fabrication of conflicts – even mass murder by sovereign nations and marauding fascist hordes, writes Juli in the Juxtaposed blog.

I’m seeing that when action is taken, it’s either simplistically eager and over the top or it’s reluctant and insultingly piecemeal. Nuance and subtlety; the simple and straightforward are in a right old jumbled-up mess. Priorities are twisted; evidence is skewed; manipulation of emotion and mind is rife in the pursuit of dubious outcomes. We are going everywhere at once and nowhere, really fast.

I’m feeling embarrassment, contempt and despondency for the political climate; for the calibre of leadership; for the level of debate among all peers and within all spheres. It is little wonder that we are deaf and blind to alternatives for, all too often, we believe our minds and hearts are open but, in fact, we are merely open to that which confirms what we already think and feel. I’m feeling the crushing despair of seeming and real disempowerment and righteous, horrified rage, not only in the millions of people in my own land but the world’s billions. I feel the confusion and the sense of overwhelm about which battle to fight first and where on earth to start the clearing up and renewal. It’s easy to knee-jerk with such thoughts as ‘wipe ‘em out’ and ‘jail them all’ but serious application of ethical and sustainable change will require a little more than the reactionary generalisations that got us here. We have to understand that everything is connected to everything else; that one thing always leads to another; that very few events and problems can be isolated from others and be successfully resolved. We can say it’s the economy, stupid all we like and, of course, it is but, in our present domestic-global economy, it is neoliberal ideology and obscenely powerful, greedy, selfish, shortsighted fools and their dumb appeasers with which we must battle for it is they, with their bankrupt notions, who have turned finance into a weapon of such mass destruction that its continuance in present form threatens all else. ‘Minimum wage’ and ‘predistribution’ just don’t cut it; chasing the last drop of oil doesn’t cut it; growing by production of disposable crap doesn’t cut it; stealing resources doesn’t cut it; serfdom and subjugation doesn’t cut it. And yet, here we all are: dying by a thousand cuts. Who is Democracy for, if not for us? What is the Economy for, if not to serve us? What is Society, if not us? What is Life for if 90-odd% of us are merely surviving by relative degrees?

For the conclusion, read the rest of the article on Juxtaposed.

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5 Comments

  1. amnesiaclinic August 28, 2014 at 10:54 am - Reply

    I keep banging on about the ant-TTIP day of information/action organised by 38degrees throughout the country on Saturday.
    I shall be at Bromyard Hop Festival from 12-2pm so do come along and sign the petition and ask about this corporate/ secret trade deal that puts corporations above nations!
    Love,
    x

    • Mike Sivier August 28, 2014 at 11:38 am - Reply

      That’s BROMYARD HOP FESTIVAL, to sign the PETITION against the TRANSATLANTIC TRADE and INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP agreement going through as it is at the moment.
      Other events are also taking place, I’m sure.

  2. HomerJS August 28, 2014 at 11:37 am - Reply

    And if you moan, and wish for things to be better, there’s always someone who will say . . “Well, life’s not fair”

  3. John Dowdle August 28, 2014 at 3:42 pm - Reply

    I have left the following response on the Juxtaposed site:-

    We as individuals are not responsible for the mess the world is in.
    That took the greatest efforts of self-syled “experts”, who did not recognise the natural limits of their own stupidity.
    We tried to warn them over and over again about – for example – their ludicrous encouragement of religious extremism – as in Syria – and now the “experts” are confounded by the emergence of a group like the Islamic State.
    What did they really expect – or did they just not know at all?
    Fortunately, while all these foreign policy boneheads have been going our of their way to create their coalitions of the stupid, others – such as leading research scientists – have been coming up with huge scientific advances in knowledge and applications.
    The most recent developments suggest that a vaccine to inoculate people against the ebola virus is on its way. Great news !!
    Ultimately, we have to do what we can.
    If we can look ourselves in the mirror each day and truly say “I did my best” that is all we – or anyone else – can ask of us.
    Don’t beat yourselves up.

  4. visualjaz August 29, 2014 at 4:57 am - Reply

    Weird I wrote this; this morning at 4.45 am as usual I couldn’t sleep… We live in a false world, where Money is a false God, were Religion False, Politic’s in fact everything manmade.. The reason is very simple its about Control, Power & Manipulation..

    Because we Accept this False World with its False Lords & Masters.. We will never be Truly Free, because we live outside the Natural World in which live.. That is why we as a species we are doomed..

    The Planet will survive.. But the majority of the Natural will die along with ourselves.. And Nature will bring on new species.. It wont be manmade, if anything it will consume what we have let..

    So I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the 1% of the World’s Population for destroying all the Beautiful Things Man & Woman have ever built over the last 10,000 years..

    Especially all the Art, along with Family, Music & living in this once Beautiful Planet… Thats why when I leave this Mortal Coil I want to come back as Tree.. Imagine a World were Trees had mind’s of their own(remind you of Book & Series of Films?).. The World would indeed be a different place…

    I wouldn’t say I love any companies(all), I don’t I love family & friends… But I want to see a cleaner renewable Planet for all the species on the Small Blue Iron Rock….. Called Earth.. From one Earthling to another please take a minute.. Breathe in some fresh air(if you can find any).. Daydream, have some quality Family Time, have some quality Time spent with Friends.. But please Stop following these false Gods..

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