Chris Martenson lays out three distinct phases of truth:
1. Ridicule.
2. Violent Opposition.
3. Accepted as being self-evident.
Truth: We are all fucked.
In what phase would you place this truth?
I would claim it to be self-evident, especially after re-visiting the study of economics.
The name of this blog is a pie-lovers take on the English proverb, "You can't have your cake and eat it too". Literally meaning that one cannot both possess a cake AND eat it, for by choosing to eat the cake they will forgo possessing it. The metaphoric sense of the proverb has troubled me since learning more about our economic system. I believe the intention is that there are things in life that simply cannot co-exist when choices are made with respect to those things. Our modern way of life has found some ingenious and deceiving ways around this 'fact'. A good example of this would be our monetary system.
When one puts their money in the bank for saving you could say that they chose to have pie. The banking institution that 'keeps' their money is in the business of having that same pie and offering it to others with their choice of having or eating that same pie. It seems that our modern monetary system has found a way to forgo its opportunity costs by being able to take advantage of some previously separate decisions; saving, spending & loaning. In this sense, we are most certainly having our pie and eating it too.
There may be some additional reasons why this truth is self-evident but I don't care to write much more about it here. What struck me more was my undying devotion to live a different truth. I want to learn everything I can in life, I want to be present and seize each moment. I want to contribute to things that are positive and self-sustaining. No matter how ineffectual my life may be, I cant shake the fact that I care. I care deeply about leading a meaningful life, considering others and challenging the universe to be better. Despite the fact that we are heading in a dark direction, I cannot turn my curiosity off. My heart, body and soul are forever hungry for an elevated sense of self, a deep truth pushing my spirit into each and every moment. My truth demands that I accept the futility of my life and enjoy creating the meaningful moments of it too*.
*that's how I have my pie and eat it too.
I enjoy your writing Tatianna. I can empathize with your frustration and also your mantra towards living your own life of truth. So what phase do I put, "we are all fucked" in? In my view (which is evolving at a great pace during this first quarter at BGI) I would attempt to argue slightly more towards 2 than 3, but it all depends on how much time you think we have left before shit hits the proverbial fan. Maybe I am naively optimistic but I think the potential to avoid a catastrophic crisis is possible, but it will have to be done by the action taken by the growing opposition to the system at a much faster rate than we are seeing.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I get the feeling significant change, especially political reform, won't occur until disaster strikes and we say we had enough, which is why it is hard to disagree with your notion. I'm looking forward to discussing all the various solutions proposed by the authors in our selected readings. Hopefully that will remove some of our dismay. See ya soon.