Civilization as we know it is BS. It’s time to move beyond it.
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I love you, man. That doesn’t mean I’m going to pull my punches. Some of you are going to get pissed.
There is an epic amount of bullshit in our lives. There’s so much that it we can’t even see it, so much that we actually define ourselves and construct pseudo-reality out of it. For all our so-called superiority and shiny inventions, our global culture is so neurotically lost that we are constantly trying to define and justify our short sighted motivations.
I have no illusions. I’m frolicking in it right along with you and it’s a daily exercise to shake it off my boots. Sometimes I flick it right into my eye. I’m just trying to help you see the difference between the shit and the Shinola.
It’s all make-believe, folks. We are a cultural experiment that is nearing its expiration date. Here’s a completely non-exhaustive list of the kinds of bullshit we buy into.
Intelligence: Congratulations, you took a test that gave you a number that TOLD you how smart you are. How does it feel to be defined somewhere between inferior and superior. However, even those of us labeled dumbest are brighter than animals, right? YAY.
The disturbing truth we don’t want to admit is that the smartest of us, the ones we affectionately call scientists, are shitting themselves because bacteria are quickly becoming deadly resistant to our ever-so-clever but dwindling array of antibiotic solutions.
And those microscopic fools resist stubbornly without a brain, or opposable thumbs, or your mom. Every. Day.
Nature always wins. If you are a species that chooses to believe you are clever enough to live outside its bounds, it will erase you.
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Nature always wins. If you are a species that chooses to believe you are clever enough to live outside its bounds, it will erase you. It will also do it in the most ironic way possible, like with no-brained-barely-lifeform-things.
Individualism: We’ve swallowed the lie that humans are inherently greedy and war-waging and thus accepted a sadistic hierarchal tooth and claw competitive ideology as matter-of-fact.
The only reason humans have survived as a species up until now (which in time scale dwarfs us civilized folk) is because we relied upon each other. You are going to get hurt or sick. You will have moments of weakness and inability. It’s cooperation that keeps you alive. The next time you feel successful because you’ve achieved the tip of some life-achievement, look down. Did you build a pyramid of people to get there? If so, you are doing it wrong.
God’s Chosen: I used to think I was an atheist. But then I realized that atheists are just as extreme in their belief as religion’s fundamentalists. Complete belief is a death of the mind. If you aren’t leaving room for doubt or inquiry, how can you continue to discover? THERE’S A WHOLE DAMN UNIVERSE OUT THERE.
Maybe there’s a god, maybe there’s not. It doesn’t matter. Existence is bigger than us, beyond our capability to comprehend. This may come as a shock, but it’s not about us. Not at all. Most of us don’t want to grok that. It’s terrifying. We want to be important. We want to know the one right way to live and think.
Myers-Briggs: For the love of toilet paper, why do we adore to be told who we are? Do you actually know the history of this popular method of putting people in a box?
You aren’t an oversimplified archetype, a corporate astrological sign. Why would you give away your definition of self to something like that?
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You aren’t an oversimplified archetype, a corporate astrological sign. Why would you give away your definition of self to something like that?
Joseph Campbell eloquently said, “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” We are dynamic, not set. We have a side that sabotages as much as we have a side that transcends. Life is continual self-discovery and you contain multitudes. Revel in that shit.
Rights: Our “inalienable” rights are totally imaginary. Uh-oh, things are getting messy. LET’S MAKE UP ALL THE RIGHTS! It’s something we’ve invented to deal with the fact that culturally we’ve become complete war-raging pricks towards one another. In fact, we’ve gotten so bad, we even started to give rights to other life forms.
This is another consequence of worshiping at the altar of power. What’s right? What’s wrong? Who should live? Who should die? Only in our culture of empire are such things contemplated. If you aren’t trying to rule the world, such concepts are needless.
Happiness: It’s a cult. Living in our culture is traumatic and we are constantly trying to soothe ourselves. The ways we self medicate are endless, far beyond the scope of simple substance abuse.
Denial and escapism are mistaken for happiness regularly.
There’s no Nirvana, man, no Heaven. Bliss isn’t a destination or prize. It isn’t a perpetual state. It isn’t a mindset. You certainly can’t buy it. You feel emotions for a reason. “Bad” feelings are a warning that something isn’t right. Avoiding pain because it’s disturbing only makes it worse.
The only way is through.
Saving the Earth: Nothing speaks to our big-ass egos more than SAVING ALL THE CUTE THINGS.
The Earth was here before us, and will be here after us. It has been through calamity and back. Again and again. The Earth doesn’t need us, we need it. The problem is we are living in a story that compels us to consume the planet. Its pages have nurtured us into becoming overachieving assholes to each other and thousands upon thousands of other species we share the planet with. And we seem dedicated to enacting this story until we’ve made our birthplace unlivable for humans.
The answer does not lie within our current global paradigm. No law, no program, no political theory or figure, no Greenpeace hippie, no god will save us from us.
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The answer does not lie within our current global paradigm. No law, no program, no political theory or figure, no Greenpeace hippie, no god will save us from us. We will change, or we will be erased from the community of life. We will embrace a revolution of consciousness or not.
Either way, the results will be spectacular. And those results are coming hot quick. Enjoy the ride.
Photo—Eunike nike/Flickr
Amen kindred mind. There will be another species after us assuming we don’t completely obliterate ourselves which is not out of the realm of distinct possibilities. I call it homo novus. I think they actually may be here but in way too small quantities to impact homo sapiens. If hs gets wind of them they will kill them off too as fast as they did Neanderthals. In the meantime if you can grasp the fact that you’re only the smartest rat ever produced by nature and I am sorry if I offended real rats as they’ve been around at least… Read more »
Cabot,
Are you interested in further discussing these topics?
Sure, Jim.
1. I would not say we are close to an end. I think there are lots of factors that contribute to that feeling, media and age being the largest factors. People have always felt the end is near. I think that as we age we transfer our own feelings of of the short time we have left to society at large. There are many reasons to be optimistic for the future but our continuous media cycle that relies on sensationalism only ever show the negatives going on. Almost every aspect of life is improving. check this book out ” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Improving_State_of_the_World… Read more »
This isn’t a religious or mystic “doomsday” mentality. The signs and science behind them are all around us.
I can’t explain it better than this: http://www.ishmael.org/Education/Writings/bioneers.cfm
I’d also recommend reading the book “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn.
And the Cato Institute is a political organization. Science is not their motivation.
I know who the Cato institute is. The point is that by many metrics society is getting better not worse.
Mr Quinn bases his assumptions on an ever expanding population. I think there is much evidence to say that we will witness peak population within our lifetime. If we(society) can weather the next 30 years or so that dwindling population will change what we see as problems so drastically that we cannot predict what problems our kids will face. Yes things will be different but that is the definition of life(change). Imagine what life will look like when there is no need to extract any resources from the ground because there is enough material already extracted to recycle for everyone’s… Read more »
I agree to a certain degree but the next 30 years are going to be rough. If humans are still here in 100-200 years, they won’t be living like we do. Not even remotely.
Cabot, this is a GREAT article! I really hope people “get it”.
Agreed with (most) of it Cabot – well said! Have thought similar things my entire life. We’re all like a bunch of insignificant lil ants on this globe who eat shit and sleep, wrapped up in our self-importance. Ego is the ruin of humankind… thanks for sharing!
Totally f**king Awsome!