Sunday Sermon [The Global Trance]

Hola Everybody,
Yes, I am lending whatever skills I have and my body to the protests that arisen as a result of the election of trump. But I hope we’re smart this time and that we find a way to sustain the uprisings. No, appointing a semi-progressive to a key spot in the corporate-run Democratic Party machine will not effect the kind of change we desperately need. 

We the people need a people’s party. We need to wake up.

Awakening from the Trance

The planetary crisis we’re facing is an awakening signal. If we don’t shift our consciousness... we can destroy ourselves.
-- Barbara Marx Hubbard

I am a radical, but I understand that the only revolution that’s going to make a real difference is one that transforms us into human beings more capable of intelligent responses to the many crises we face.

Though we have confronted major problems throughout our shared history, the challenges we face today are unique in one important aspect -- they now affect the entire globe as a whole system. Never before has humanity been on the cusp of wiping out the earth’s biosphere and crippling its ecological foundations for countless generations to come. Never before have we been faced with the very real prospect of being the first species to cause its own extinction. Never before has the entire human family been called to work together to build a sustainable and meaningful future. Never before have so many been called to make sweeping changes in so little time.

Monarchs, dictators, oligarchs, or even elected governments no longer control the world today. We live in a world controlled by multinational corporations. Most of us work for them, we eat and drink their products, we are exposed to their pervasive assault on our senses via their advertising campaigns, and we live in an abusive relationship with a living entity -- this planet -- that provides the raw materials for endless corporate “production” and the storage for their endless garbage. Corporations have become more powerful than the governments that are supposed to regulate them, and in fact, they pay for the process by which a government can afford to be elected.

Throughout the world, McDonalds, Coca Cola, Nike, and corporate marketing are invading local cultures. The danger of this encroaching corporate presence lies in its basic motivation. Corporations are legal fictions primarily responsible to their shareholders. Profitability has more value than the health or well-being of our children, for example. Creating and satisfying short-term goals and profits are more important than environmental sustainability or social justice.

In this way, the gifts of the earth are all being patented and made into commercial by-products.

In the past oppressive regimes such as the British in India or Nazi Germany exploited a population that were eventually rejected by revolution or the intervention of external forces. The power of commercial interests, however, is more insidious. It is a power similar to the relationship between a drug pusher and an addict, a power that runs on the addictions of a population, without necessarily serving its well-being. This is the collective trance of a consumer society and the global economy it creates. It works only because our collective feeling of lack. It thrives on the inner sense that something is missing, that there is something wrong with us and our lives. 

It is quite simple: you are compelled to believe that you need to buy their product. Drink this soda, this machine or pill will make you less fat, this car, this house, this grill; fly to this great place for a vacation and you will feel better. Look at all the happy people smiling in this photo here. They feel better. See?

The global economy as we know it would not work with a contented or actualized population. You would have a hard time selling endless plastic gizmos to people who feel connected to themselves, to their environment, and who feel whole, who feel generous and grateful, and who know they have enough. This trance of lack recreates itself endlessly; it never reaches a level of contentment. You want more, and more, and more... and it does not bode well for our future. We live in this trance from birth to death.

The fact is it will only take a very small percentage of the world’s population to wake up for there to be a global awakening. This isn’t some pie-in-the-sky optimism. There is evidence that one man’s stand against gang violence, for example, was directly responsible for the decrease of overall violent crime in New York City. The more people raise their consciousness and wake up, the more those people will be affected by a collective awakening. And the more they are open to that, the more it will facilitate their own awakening, and that of others. So it becomes a positive feedback loop. It is like a snowball gaining momentum as it rolls down a hill.

If you awaken from the trance, then someone you know will resonate with your awakening. They in turn will affect others, and that’s how real change happens. It’s always been like that and it is the only thing that will save us.

So if you awaken to the reality that society has become a runaway train rumbling on at breakneck speed. The passengers sleeping or drunkenly unaware of the impending disaster, be sure to wake the person next to you. Together we will avert disaster. 

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization…

Sunday Sermon [Disobedience]

Hola mi gente,
Disaffected whites and their black and brown co-dependents who constantly mewl about respect for the flag (a symbol of oppression for many) and those that died for it, ironically fail to recognize and respect the lives of those who fought for freedom here in this country. 

Those were/ are freedom fighters, sparky.

Yay 'Murca.

Disobedience

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
 -- West Indian Grandmother to me

Every election cycle I am reminded of the political naiveté and apathy of Americans. Nowhere else is cynicism so deeply ingrained. I am a skeptic, I question everything, but I am no cynic. Cynicism is the disease of defeatism. And much of the United States electorate suffers from it.

We all like to point fingers. We love to talk about the stupidity of the American electorate, how we are like so much sheep. The finger pointers are the worst cynics because they’re the first to advocate voting for the “lesser of two evils,” a political strategy with catastrophic consequences. 

For me this is indicative child-like thinking. Welcome to the real world where things don’t exactly fall in place as you would like to, and where unsavory forces co-opt power! Duh! It’s also thinking that contradicts itself. Why? Because it’s the very same thinking that creates the apathy and cynicism contributing to the current political mess.

I think it’s more important to talk about how people experience the times we live in -- times of unchecked free market ideology as the fundamental principle guiding our values. The problem with free-market idolatry is that we forget that it dehumanizes people. Because increasingly radical models of efficiency propel free-market ideology in order to maximize profit, it becomes easier to consider human beings as commodities rather than individuals striving for dignity. All other human attributes, certainly the spiritual and the creative, become unimportant.

This is the underlying moral principle that parents and school boards apply when they decide that music, art, and teaching critical thinking are inessential to public education. Capitalism rationalizes the thinking that it’s a luxury to consider your own children as living, thinking beings and more efficient to see their education solely in terms of future “workforce development.”

This is a brutal cannibalization of what is most precious and most fragile about our humanity -- our children. In case you didn’t get it the first time: through education, we the protectors of children, subject our young to the brutal conditioning that makes them commodities for the market.

Then we complain that our children don’t think (in actuality, our youth are better behaved than the adults).

I knew of a barely literate woman who fought and won against her own school board so that this wouldn’t happen. She knew that teaching to a pen and paper test wasn’t education. This is where you come in. You don’t have to wait for the perfect candidate promising “hope and change,” or to “make America great again” and changing the current rigged system in one fell swoop. I have news for you: this will most likely not happen. In addition, even if such a candidate would appear, most of you would not vote for him or her. Yeah, and there’s no Santa Claus, or tooth Fairy, and your soulmate was hijacked on his/ her way to meet you. I know that’s messed up breaking this news like this to you, but somebody needs to tell you what you need to hear.

However, you can make a difference in your life. Don’t just vote, get involved. See something you don’t like? Work to change it. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. It could be something as simple as making sure the traffic light on the corner works, that the books in your library are up to date, or that the computers work. Or, it could be as big as something like causing your community to shift their thinking about education.

And when you do vote, get involved, talk to people, argue, disagree, agree, whatever, just stop bullshitting yourself and pointing fingers because all I want to know is: what the fuck are you doing to make difference in your life and community?

Some of you put more value and care in your car than you do in the protection and cultivation of your freedom and that’s the real tragedy because, while you were washing your car, they’ve co-opted your world.

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization…

Why I Write

Hola mi Gente,
Having attempted to facilitate groups at Rikers Island, I am of the firm conviction that Rikers cannot be reformed. It needs to come down. Period. Not that I ever thought it could be fixed, but this experience just nails it for me.

Oh yeah, my thoughts and opinions do not reflect on my the positions of my employer… 

Lineages

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.
-- Thomas E. Lawrence

I am a radical progressive descended from a long line of radical progressives. I stand proud on this heritage because my lineage has a long and legendary history. Its narrative is driven by the progressive principles of freedom, equality, dignidad (human dignity), and the celebration of diversity, and by the immovable conviction that our common wealth should be used for the common good. Our species’ greatest moments occurred when these values prevailed. I write so that these principles may endure.

I write because voting isn’t enough.

Whoa! You might say. Whadaya mean voting isn’t enough, Eddie?!

I mean exactly that. Voting is may seem important, but my ancestors and mentors taught me long ago that freedom isn’t guaranteed. Nothing can guarantee your freedoms. The Constitution isn’t worth the paper it’s written on if you’re not actively engaged in the liberation process. Voting every four years for the lesser of two evils will not ensure your freedom. It will only ensure evil. The principles I adhere to can only be attained through action -- participation.

My lineage has shown this to be true throughout the ages. My ancestors are those that have stood to speak truth to power throughout the ages. 

These principles do not belong to particular nation or political party. They belong to no race, class, or gender. They certainly do not mirror some bullshit red state/ blue state dichotomy. I write today to remind myself that it has been the progressive principles that have always elevated us to a higher moral position. And today I look back in the hope that we can leave our children with a better future.

My lineage has included of some of the greatest men and women, people who were able to articulate and act upon these principles. They were the ones who gave relevance to a Constitution that was founded on slavery and inequality through the courage of their convictions. The legacy of my lineage is my proudest heritage. It humbles me. I write so that I, too, may act on my deepest convictions.

The greats of my lineage have been common people. First, there were revolutionaries. Revolutionaries who dared dream with their eyes open who inspired later revolutionaries in Europe and later in the colonies of the so-called New World. My lineage includes proud First Nation peoples, who were here before any of us, whose methods of governance inspired the so-called founders of the United States.

My lineage includes the abolitionists, like Frederick Douglass, John Brown, and Harriet Tubman, who insisted that no democracy could respectfully call itself one so long as slavery endured. My lineage includes the suffragists, like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who fought to expand our understanding of equality and won for women the right to vote.

There are many others. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks who marched for tolerance and inspired a nation and a world to celebrate diversity. My fathers include people such as Malcolm X and Albizu Campos, both of whom who spoke eloquently of action and of “taking our freedom,” and both of whom paid with their lives for articulating such a vision. Mother Jones, Cesar Chavez, the Yong Lords and the Black Panthers, and Sojourner Truth -- all living at different times -- all championing the inalienable dignity of all human beings.

I write because the beliefs, the convictions, the values that inspired my lineage can inspire us today. While it is true the issues we face today are different, the guiding principles remain.

Our most significant challenge today is the dark cloud of global authoritarianism that hangs over us, making it almost impossible to address issues without major political change. The neoliberal project has taken over the reins of government for too long and has been controlling the terms of debate for far too many years. For real change to happen, the progressive ideals of my lineage must be brought back to the center of our revolutionary actions. This will be neither quick nor easy and I despair that it will ever happen because too many of us are content with the crumbs of the 1%.

However, if you believe in the progressive principles of freedom, equality, human dignity, tolerance, and the celebration of diversity, then this is also your lineage -- your heritage. It leaves us with the clear realization that it is up to us to create a greater future for our children and to save this world. As one of the Fathers of my lineage, Frantz Fanon, said, “Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.”

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization… 

The Politics of Fear

Hola mi Gente,

Yesterday was a very challenging day…

Ever simply feel that someone or some thing, or some situation is just right? Have you ever followed that inner feeling? How was that? Then again, I know many people who had children on account of a “feeling.”

* * *

Responding to Fear

Nothing in life is to be feared; it only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.

 -- Marie Curie

Today, here in the United States and in many other regions throughout the global village, we live under the shadow of an oligarchy. To be clear, a shadow is created by blocking, deflecting, or otherwise obstructing light. Whenever fear appears, it lives, grows, and remains a part of us by embedding itself between the light of creative vision and our intuition. It is the shadow, not a lack of ability, that is the biggest obstacle we face today as a global community. The shadow, as I see it, is the space between what we want and what we get. It’s the distance between who we are and who we are meant to be, with the biggest, deepest, and widest gap occurring between the present crisis and our vision.

Look around at what has so many of us mesmerized: paranoia, worry, doubt, disease. They cast a spell on almost every aspect of our lives. Fear prevents us from seeing or feeling clearly. Fear compels us to vote for a “lesser of two evils” as if that were really a choice. Fear blocks the natural flow of our creative energy and hampers our ability to be radically innovative. As a society, we seem to be caught in a state of generalized anxiety that makes solutions impossible or paralyzes their implementation. When we do manage to get started, it is fear that often calls us back at the first sign of disappointment or problem. Fear, keeps us “stuck on stupid” as in the example of the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. It stunts our growth and suffocates our awakening, causing us to repeat painful and habitual patterns of behavior and making us lose sight of our vision (or uncommon sense). In order for us to envision and create a better society we must get past this fearful landscape.

Historically, creative people have often felt separated from their communities. It’s as if their ability to see clearly between what is and what could be serves to stigmatize them. Innovators are often ridiculed, their ideas and insights too far ahead of the curve of the “conventional wisdom” (whatever that means). This isolation strikes fear within us: we fear that if we express our ideas, or rock the boat a little, or act on them, others will ridicule us. The truth is that our visionary thinking is the only thing that will save us. But people are afraid to follow their own ideas. They’re sure they will be perceived as crazy, or radical, or -- gasp! -- outside of the political norm.

We are defeated not by our uniqueness, but by our fear of the unusual, the new, the strange. We live in a society obsessed by numbers and norms, with its averages, means, and medians spurring us to believe in a modern myth called “normal” which has little to do with being real. The idea of “average” or “typical behavior” is nothing more than a mathematical conceit.

Similarly, we fear information that challenges our ingrained worldview. Most of the resistance we see today is really about killing the messenger than a defense of reason. Those yelling about fictitious unicorns, or decrying single-payer healthcare, or those who have made it their business to discredit all forms of science are protecting hidden agendas composed of fear and loathing.

We fear losing an illusory safe existence as self-doubt zeroes in on the space between our potential and insecurity. We’re not thin enough, smart enough, or committed. As a nation too many of us focus on what we can’t do, rather than what we’re capable of. We’re too late with too little. Such doubts and fears make us hesitate at a moment in time in which we can ill afford to hesitate. Others fear an innovative idea actually succeeding and taking hold because it means their worldview was wrong -- fear of success. Many fear death, or loss of control. Whatever the case, it’s fear-based living at a time of crisis.

A sure recipe for catastrophe.

Those who insist that nothing needs to be done, or that we must maintain at any cost a status quo that is eating us alive, demonstrate a complacency that’s ignorant, dis-empowering. And dangerous. Awakening to our full potential is not a spectator sport. If we’re going to respond the challenges we face, we must act and act thoughtfully with foresight. Whenever a group tries something different, there’s an initial period of turbulence. Many people, fearful of new ways, mistake turbulence for change itself and decide they would rather go back to the “good old days.” And let me be clear, there’s little difference between Trump wanting to “make America great again,” and Hillary Clinton demanding we stay the course -- a course that has seen 95% of the wealth generated in recent years going to the richest 1%. Indeed, we dismiss the world of potential and vision for a past that never existed and a recent past that’s killing us. 

If we allow ourselves to be led by a creative vision, we will never lose. We can let go of right and wrong, winning and losing, approval and disapproval. Right now, we are on the cusp of a new world emerging and behind us an old world imploding upon itself. The only rational response to fear is to fully embrace this new world. Our potential can only be realized by collective innovation. This new world has been hovering over us for a long time and it has nothing to do with some bullshit calendar and everything to do with being awake, and we have heard it speaking all our lives:

Seize the day. Go for broke. Walk the walk. Try your wings. Do unto others... 

Stop the fear.

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization…