Saturday, December 22, 2012

Day one of the new epoch

Sabbath morn, December 22, 2012

6:30 AM, first day of the new epoch according to the Maya. Also, the shortest day of the year, meaning the darkest as well, if you live in the Northern hemisphere. Many guffawed and hawhawd at the notion of epochal change and will now continue on with the party as though nothing has changed. I’d warn that history is best judged in hindsight.

For me personally, 2012 proved a rough year. I lost close friends, nearly lost others, struggled to keep bills paid on the farm. I damaged those I love with reckless and selfish ways. My health is not what it once was. Not to say however, that I don’t have a lot to be thankful for; I am acutely aware that events could have been worse, and were for others.

Many fail to recognize that we have already suffered what may prove fatal wounds, most self-inflicted by our behavior over the last thirty years; some will argue a longer time frame, but insanity comes in waves and the last intense bout has lasted precisely thirty years.

In the world of finance, those in power first stole, through fraud, manipulation and war. Dissatisfied with the gains, they devised plans not only to steal what was available today, but also to steal projected income from the future. Then, like most thieves, they burned through the bulk of their ill-gotten gains.

We are left with a world, as Nicole Foss from The Automatic Earth would say, where claims on wealth, in whatever form they may be made, far exceed the value of real underlying assets on which they are based. You may think you have money in the bank. You may think you have a retirement fund. Money in stocks or a mutual fund. A pension plan. Social Security checks for life, socialized health care benefits. A clear title to land or property….

You assume that military might and a constant onslaught of potential enemies, the development of greater, more powerful, more complex systems of death and destruction keep us safe from the rest of the world, that only those that live in the third world must fear death from a drone.

You assume that certain liberties and rights belong to those born into the United States.

That your home is impervious to damages from an increasingly hostile environment.

That a plentiful supply of cheap, healthy food and fuel is a given, that the pumps will always have gas and diesel, the grocery store aisles will be perpetually stocked, lights come on with the flick of a switch and water pours forth with the turn of a valve.

Take none of this for granted.

While we slept some or all of these things were stolen from you.

An honest accounting has not been done to date.

It will be interesting to see what is left once that happens.

4 comments:

  1. Well spoken Mr. Unrepentant cowboy! I have admired your writing and thoughts for some time now. Heard about you through collapsnet.

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  2. I know my freedoms have been infringed upon. I know war seems to have become constant. The Earth suffers more. More are homeless. More are hungry.
    I am more hungry.
    I had to put down my best friend. The threats to my well being now constantly plague my mind.

    Still I am thankful.

    For so long I was sleep walking, a product of my modern American culture. Afraid of the unknown. Afraid of death, but ignoring it. Ignorant, Carefree, Misguided, Lost. Cursing my planet and my unborn with the filth I collected. I was blind.
    I was.

    But then, something else happened...
    My conscious awoke.

    My mundane existence shattered, my beliefs shattered, the wall of cognitive dissidence shattered.
    My purpose has been realized.

    - To Die a Free Man, To Honor the Heroes of Liberty, To Protect the Future, With Love in My Heart, With God as My Witness -

    I have taken the red pill. My mind has been freed.

    Now,
    I have less, but I am happier.
    I am more hungry, but I am more thankful.
    I stand out amongst my peers, but only because I choose to.

    Why?
    Because, Why exactly!
    This has been a year of revelation, and there is much more to come.
    I am so young, or perhaps, Re-Born.

    With my fuse lit, I must now ask How.
    An epoch indeed. My journey has just begun.

    -J.S., 24, MN, America. 12/22/2012

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  3. DURING THE PAST YEAR AND HALF, I LOST MY MOM, LITTLE SISTER, 2 CATS, MY APT., DRIVERS LICENSE, CAR INSURANCE AND NOW ON VERGE OF LOSING CAR. I'VE HAD TO MOVE TO ANOTHER STATE BECAUSE THE RENT IN MY HOMETOWN DOUBLED THIS PAST YEAR. BROTHER, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

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