July 2008 archive

In Part I, I wrote about the Parable of the Tribes, which explains the historical spiral of human civilization towards increasingly war-like cultures and ever more lethal war technology.  We discussed how the self-destructive behavior of humans in society can look demonic.  In this part I want to discuss a spiritual technology for defusing belligerent behavior–empathy.

I notice that as the Constitution of the United States is increasingly perverted, mangled, and subverted, people are not saying the Constitution is responsible for lawlessness.  Nor do they clamor for dumping the whole thing.  To the contrary, we call for a re-enshrinement of the Constitution in its place of honor.  Many of us don’t have such clear-sightedness with respect to religion.  Seeing the brilliant insights of early sages mangled, manipulated, and co-opted has caused many to reject the basic ideas of religion along with the humans who perverted them.  Herein we refresh our acquaintance with an idea fundamental to every major religion–the Golden Rule–in the hopes that it provides a way out of our spiral toward extinction.

I hesitated on posting this because of Temmoku’s sage advice to avoid the discussion about the New Yorker topic.  But given that literature is my gig, I thought this could lead to some interesting discussions nonetheless.  My apologies.

Greetings, literature-loving DDers!  This long defunct series is soon to be revived full time, but the current kerfuffle over the New Yorker cover is practically begging for a discussion about the nature of satire, its history, form, and intents.  

In the past few days, a lot of text has been spilled over what is and isn’t necessary for satire to work.  I want to make one thing clear from the outset: I’m not here to discuss whether the New Yorker cover was offensive or not.  I am here to clear up some misconceptions about what satire is, what it “should” be, and how it works.  I’ll be addressing specific criticisms at the end of diary – but first let’s have a primer on satire itself:

A people who plans, organizes, and executes the torture of human beings must consider whether they are properly called demonic or evil.  The word demonic implies agency from an autonomous power,  While modern science has thoroughly discredited the existence of mythical demons, recent and current self-destructive behavior of humans give the appearance of springing from some power whose interests are at direct odds with the crucial needs of the human race.  We will take a look at the parable of the tribes, an explanation of how ongoing war-culture pressures civilization to adopt increasingly self-destructive traditions, actions, beliefs, and symbols.  We will then look at the antidote, focusing on an idea reached separately by the wise men of widely varying cultures, all in the throes of war and instability:  the Golden Rule.  I will present the Golden Rule as neither a commandment from god nor as a merely moral imperative; rather, it can be seen as a technology of human psychology and spirituality.  Empathizing with others before acting may be the key to human behavior which can free us from our current accelerating death spiral.

I don’t remember exactly what day it was. It was sometime after Bush got re-elected, sometime before the Democratic take-over of the Senate. To better help you cast the scene in the all-seeing eye of your mind, let’s call it December of ’05. That was when I lost that youthful exuberance, the perpetual flush of happiness that pretty much all Americans have at some point in their lives.

It was then that I finally succumbed to the pressures from someone very close to me, and I joined DailyKos.

She had been trying to get me involved in politics for a long time at that point. I never saw the purpose, never really wanted to know more than what I saw from the TV. I was a self-described Republican, happy Bush got re-elected, questioning Kerry’s Vietnam credentials, and generally clueless as to the state of our country.

It was odd; I supported women’s rights to choose, gay marriage, Affirmative Action, had all the usual liberal positions on all the policies. I think I was afraid of the word “liberal” at the time, buying into all the crap fed to us from the traditional media and blowhards on the radio and on cable “news” shows. But that’s neither here nor there.

A people who plans, organizes, and executes the torture of human beings must consider whether they are properly called demonic or evil.  The word demonic implies agency from an autonomous power,  While modern science has thoroughly discredited the existence of mythical demons, recent and current self-destructive behavior of humans give the appearance of springing from some power whose interests are at direct odds with the crucial needs of the human race.  We will take a look at the parable of the tribes, an explanation of how ongoing war-culture pressures civilization to adopt increasingly self-destructive traditions, actions, beliefs, and symbols.  We will then look at the antidote, focusing on an idea reached separately by the wise men of widely varying cultures, all in the throes of war and instability:  the Golden Rule.  I will present the Golden Rule as neither a commandment from god nor as a merely moral imperative; rather, it can be seen as a technology of human psychology and spirituality.  Empathizing with others before acting may be the key to human behavior which can free us from our current accelerating death spiral.

We, as a nation have gone through one of the most ridiculous and ill-constructed “regimes” in world history when considering the Bush-Cheney Administration.

Their inability to do anything but invoke the Reverse Midas Touch to anything and everything they touch has to be one of the most incredulous stories in written history.  Their ability to come out smelling like roses in the media must also be one of the most incredulous stories in written history.  

Unfortunately, for those soldiers that have fought Bush’s wars, the smell of death permeates this story.  Their inability to have anything more on their side but a bunch of Profits-Above-ANYTHING Neo-Con’s and a group of Citizens that are not listened to by their Governments has been to their serious detriment.  A lack of necessary equipment, food, clean water and a goddamned PLAN has all come together to cause much more death and destruction for not only those soldiers from “our side”, but the civilians and families in the coutries that Bush determined were to be brought under control.  (See Oil, Natural Gas Pipelines and Profit).

It is not just American Soldiers dying in Bush’s wars.  Soldiers from other countries, who joined the with Bush on his quest for profit and retribution are dying as well.

Dead soldier Sean McCarthy’s body returns to Australia

Friday, July 18, is Iraq Moratorium day #11.

It is a day, as is the Third Friday of every month, on which individuals and groups across the country take some action to call for the end to the war and occupation of Iraq.



The number of listed events on the Iraq Moratorium national website, IraqMoratorium.org, is approaching 100, with more still being added.  

Since it began in September, more than 1,000 events in 41 states and 235 communities have taken place under the Iraq Moratorium banner.

Participants either take part in a group action or do something individually — wear an armband or button; write, call or email their Congressional representatives; put up a yard sign, or donate to a group working to stop the war.  Group actions include rallies, marches, vigils, speakers, films and other activities.

There are lots of ideas and organizing tools on the website, as well as reports, photos and videos from around the country.

This month, many peace groups are asking people to contact Congress members on Iraq Moratorium day and ask them to stop a new proposal, House Concurrent Resolution 362, which essentially calls for a blockade of Iran and is steamrolling its way through the House.

HCR 362 is a dangerous bill calling for severe sanctions–far beyond those proposed by the Bush administration–and could be interpreted as an act of war under international law. It would further alienate Iran and could trigger retaliation against our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, blockage of oil shipments through the straits of Hormuz, and potential involvement of other nations in the region. If we want catastrophe in the Middle East, deeper recession and gas at $6 per gallon, this would do it.

United for Peace and Justice, the nation’s largest antiwar coalition (and an endorser of the Iraq Moratorium) has designed July 19-21 as days of action to stop a war with Iran.   Details here.

The whole concept of the Moratorium is to do something to interrupt business as usual — to stop what you’re doing on Friday, interrupt your normal routine, and do one thing, whatever it may be, to end this senseless, bloody war.

Will you do something?