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1. A World of Order ?
Who Deserves to get CFS-ME?
Civilizations teach their members that they can depend on orderliness and freedom. There is a CATCH! The membership must follow the laws and restrictions placed upon them by a leadership. Those imposed, appointed, or volunteered individuals are somehow gifted to discern these principles. Or, they are given the authority to do so based upon their ability to raise confidence from the membership in abilities they often have not yet demonstrated. Largely, this Administration is sanctioned to enable those who make the effort to appreciate the benefits, leaving those who do less, to benefit less.
The Environmental Catch is less understood, by many.
This is the Earth Law that if you go outside the optimal location boundaries for your species, you are responsible for the consequences. When most humans lived by hunting and gathering, they lived in tropical and sub-tropical regions. An abundance and variety of foods were available year round. Shelter and clothing requirements were minimal. Sharing was spontaneous and easy. Reverence for them was not from an appreciation of their individuality nor from the miracle of their life. One was PART of the environment, not a Steward of. Few people starved or were homeless. Relationships survived through caring and love, not the force of law, tradition, or shame. There were no assets to afford armies and no land possession or hoarding or loss to be excuses for war.
Agriculture changed everything!
This is the Law of Human Control, over plants, animals, food supply, housing, assets, security, land, relationship and family kinship, power. This minimized a few areas of human interaction and so sensitized other areas that those had to be institutionalized to prevent the destructive enticement of the materialistic extremes of robbery, theft, and murder. Sharing became limited. The economics of ritual and routine enhanced production. Variety and freshness of foods became minimized. Cleanliness, diet, and physical exercise (freedom) for animals was minimized. Animals that could not be consumed, were annihilated, as threats to profit.
Sexuality became restrained, with property and monogamy.
In compensation, children grew to become a new form of commodity .. workers for the fields ... tools of profit for the new economy. Centuries later, nations would be paying families to bear children .. to provide new resources for the economic machine. They were a precious currency, proving the worth of any wife or husband, family or nation. Reverence was for the SOCIAL respect that gave acceptance to each parent as a valued MEMBER of the society, like bees in a hive, or ants in a colony. To limit the excesses of greed for the material, the spiritual was defined by religions with the intent of imposing self-restraint in the face of exclusion from the community.
Nature has always been a dynamic interaction of influences.
It afforded:
- strength through variety,
- interdependency for balance,
- conversion & storage of resources,
- life, death, regeneration,
- enhanced appearance through color/shape,
- enhanced productivity through recycling,
- no toxicity through production,
- rest and activity cycles & seasons,
- survival through adaptation,
- overpopulation destruction.
Industry confronted Nature.
Humans have lost consistently, though the use of industry.
With our Pride and Denial, we ignore OUR loses and blame them on the participant who has NOT changed the rules, Nature. As it has always done, the weather of the Earth oscillates between periodic storms, monthly lunar cycles, annual seasons, 7-11-22-year flood/rebirth and drought/famine/fire cycles, century defined earthquakes and tsunamis, multi-century volcanic eruptions. Humans lose sight of the significance of cycles in as short as 3 years! History is so often politicized that the majority of "losers" to history, have no interest in hearing repeated what others have projected to be THEIR weaknesses.
We COULD work together in harmony with Nature.
Doing so could benefit both parties. The Responsibility for managing the harmony through the changes rests ONLY upon us humans. It is only us who have changed the rules, perceptions, and interactions within the larger whole. As long as we have dis-order, we will have dis-ease. We have limited the influence of simpler and more common diseases that could decimate population groups over decades. We have now encouraged the mutation of more complex syndromes and packages of illness that once were unheard of, yet now threaten to become global. Their influence is more subtle than their predecessors only because we have learned to deny all until confronted with the critical!
2. Choice, not robot.
"Bad things happen when good men do nothing"
Quote from: (Carlos Gonzales)
This oft-repeated quote suggests that bad things happen, naturally. For Good Things to happen, there must be Good People. This is the simplistic reality of the tribe. As old as murder, war, torture, vigilantism, communism, and government ... this rigid and intrusive "You're either with us or against us" age 2 mentality has garnered abuse, hatred, and evangelist zeal in justification of FORCE imposed upon self and others. They are short, authoritarian, idealistic, catchy slogans which encourage the FOLLOWER to join in and commit to the destruction of all who express calm, reverence, empathy, compassion, love, self-responsibility, and freedom. No, Jesus, nor any other spiritual leader, ever said "Come onto me little children, so that I can make you mindless idol worshippers to my image."
We condemn ourselves to ever repeated and increasingly large and intense losses of species health, freedom, ...
Industry has always been considered a FORCE of order.
It has afforded:
- volume production through sameness (model),
- dependency on roles for inclusion,
- reduction of & search for resources,
- control, utilization, discard, replace,
- enhanced appearance through synthetics,
- enhanced destruction through inadequacy,
- toxicity through simplistic production,
- schedules, shifts, budgets, time clocks,
- survival through insecurity/constant want,
- population expansion & economic dependency.
- increased material availability,
- increased economic dependency,
- increased bureaucratic regulations.
Did YOU CHOOSE this trend?
Is this the cultural and economic environment you want to live in, and, provide for your children and other junior relatives and friends to grow up in and be immersed in? Many of these factors have contributed to your acquisition of CFS-ME. Does this mean that you made yourself sick? Someone had to encourage, allow and participate in such a belief and behavior system for it to receive MAJORITY consent. Did you do anything to stop the trend or slow it down?
Whatcha Gonna Do?
God gave you a life, a mission, and CHOICE.
When are you going to BEGIN using your choices?
YOU accepted to be a robot and a slave, for what BRIBE?
Has it been worth it?
Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do,
whatcha gonna do when they come for you.
(lyrics courtesy of Mr. Bob Marley)
3. Bad things, for WHOM ?
Bad Things" is a term we apply to outcomes and experiences which we interpret to be traumatic, lacking in justice, not in agreement with expectations or assumptions, and, generally, anything we do not understand or cannot cope with. It is particularly easy for the person who is ACTION oriented, either by passive demanding imprinting, active self-direction, or a combination of these ... to DO bad things in the name of Good in order to preserve their narrow perception of reality, and of other people. Why such an impulsive level of Intolerance?
What Happened !?
Everything was SUPPOSED to be getting better!
Materially everything HAS improved for SOME individuals.
The remainder envy those who HAVE and believe the fantasies told to them about how they can someday become the opulent masters over ... as long as they actively partake of the economic slave role now. Masters over WHO? During the 1960's, North Americans were wooed with the promise of a 4-day work week, with benefits, for their homage to technology. Before entering the year 2009, a majority of workers were experiencing, or threatened by:
- working at several jobs,
- retraining to sustain employment,
- using credit to pay for necessities,
- losing workplace benefits through part-timing,
- increasing their work/travel expenses,
- receiving decreases in wage levels,
- total distraction through the media,
- losing 50% of their lifetime savings,
- holidays on hold, or, credit,
- survival through competition,
- real estate inflation/foreclosure.
Meanwhile, the authorities (doctors, lawyers, government, drug companies) we worshipped and the administrators we elected, had, and were ..
- increasing public debt by trillions of dollars,
- increasing military involvement/costs,
- supporting inefficient colonies,
- participating in trade dependencies,
- minimizing health care coverage,
- promoting government initiatives,
- allowing huge $$$s to immoral CEOs,
- rescuing banks for ignoring prudence,
- being told they would have to sacrifice,
ALL of these CHANGES happened because the majority of the membership BELIEVED the ideals they had been taught in their schools (everything is beautiful when we all do the same thing), the promises that politicians made to them (tell you what you want to hear), their ministers (God will forgive you, even if you don't change), their social workers (just stay calm and everything will work out), the salespersons (you can have whatever you want), the financial advisors (keep giving/working and become wealthy), the medical industry (we can fix anything), the actors (we can make your life exciting). That is a lot of Passivity.
Passivity sets no baseline, no guidelines, no limits.
When you accept everything, you accept all the "bad".
That is a lot of gods to bear.
4. Best for ALL ?
Increase the number of people who are to share finite resources and you increase the likelihood of conflict, frustration, violence. This has been confirmed in the fields of sociology, political science, urban planning, and environmental psychology. Anyone who has experienced violence either seeks to limit its reoccurrence in the future, looks for ways to "release" their injustice upon others, make their way apart from the crowd, increase the resource pool, limit the degree of separation between the fortunate and the less fortunate, and, reduce the materialistic need. Much of the existence of human civilization has been justified by variations of all of these intents.
These ATTEMPTS at Justice have primarily followed two extremes.
WHY only two? Are we limited to the infant reasoning of MINE-MINE?
It takes an increased level of discernment, often learned by most humans at about age TWO, that there is a ME-YOU. It is not it's mother and she is not him or her. This is an almost traumatic discovery. The awareness and benefit to the larger whole of humanity is largely lost. WHY?
We are told through nationalized histories, cultural myths, war fables, and personal excuses -- that the world consists of US and THEM. In that moment of inclusion and privilege, we revert to the infant mentality of Mine-Mine. PRIDE. It is WE who are more important than anyone who disagrees with us. It is WE who are more important than God or any Supreme Intelligence/Order. Each of the Us and Them groups now assume an identity that places the membership of each into believing they are Superior in what they BELIEVE, rather than WHAT they are (humans), WHERE they are (Earth), and WHO they are (individuals). The outcomes are as predictable as watching two 2-year-olds quarrel over who gets to play with THE toy!
Our mass media and entertainment has been glutted with US vs THEM scenarios for 6 decades. Many people have grown up with a constant imprinting that there is nothing else as an option. The more recent craze of so-called Reality Shows and serials is nothing different than the afternoon soap operas that began on the radio in the 1930's. If you watch something that continually expresses to you attitudes and behaviors of deceit, manipulation, frustration, greed, lust, and, irreverence ... you are educating yourself to want "bad things" to happen to others. Or, you have accepted this life boat and are ever seeking ways to motor your icebreaker through and past the swimmers in the water. THEY are having fun. YOU are destroying. YOU will bring "bad experiences" onto them. And, "bad things" will be invited into YOUR life by the turmoil you impose on the world.
5. Culture Club.
Why do we base our systems of Order, on Conflict?
Most political ideologies and arty systems are structured into TWO.
Communism vs Capitalism. Socialism vs Nationalism. Conservative vs Liberalism. Democracy vs Autocracy. Dictatorship vs Rebel. Adult vs Child. There ARE variations and intervening stages. Yet, these alternate realities are largely discounted by the unaware public that often composes the 50% of voters who do NOT vote in the elections in "democratic" countries. They just want to live their lives, or, living their lives is all the time and effort they are willing to invest.
The "outcome" is assumed to be one of the TWO major stances, for, historically it almost always has been. Often, the "Rules of Order" assures a conflict between TWO sides. It is bolstered by the assumption that intellect can PROVE the better result through debate. Yet debate is more often about which participant can deceive the listener by manipulation of the facts (details known) and the theories (meanings assumed). With known and suspected MAJOR abuses of power by EVERY political party which has held Power, a large electorate assume deception and manipulation from "THEIR" representatives. While those in power debate back and forth as to WHO is right, and will win the toy, the countryside BURNS!
"Bad things happen when we fail to be responsible."
Being responsible means having respect for ourselves, others, all life and form. That often means putting our needs and wants secondary to how the WHOLE will best survive. We are no longer living 8000 years ago in a land of plenty, threatened by the increasing presence of competitors, who with increasing and shared desperation, must limit OUR existence if they are to have wealth. THEY had few tools, great ignorance about birth control, and a juvenile mentality of "Just let me do what I want to do." We have little justification to continue pounding these ideals into weapons, except, selfish pride.
Order, without violence, will arrive when we, as individuals and nations decide to restrain our FEARS of Loss, and establish new thresholds of Sufficiency. If we were self-responsible and demonstrated our gratitude for the greatly reduced mortality levels, at ALL ages of life, we would MANAGE our family size accordingly. To bear children as if we were cave dwellers without health care, dependable access to water and food supplies, almost non existent predation by other animals, longer-term housing, local justice infrastructures, educational opportunities, and semi-permanent energy resources ... is to say that we have been given and gained all of these without any sense of appreciation. If we do not appreciate what we have, perhaps we should give it back and do without.
There WAS an original ORDERLINESS.
For a million years, there was no known population explosion, food shortage, wars, plagues, poverty, commerce, to complicate personal freedom, inter-dependency, ecological respect, resource balancing. THEN, by the introduction of such opportunities as agriculture, language, writing, technology, and commerce .. we took the benefits to expand and maintain our food supply, permanence of residence, health, size of community, shared services, job and income specialization, and security. We went from SHARING with the rest of the Earth to TAKING from the Earth. WE destroyed order!
We HAD the capability to eliminate all LOSS -- starvation, homelessness, high infant and child mortality, and abandonment. For hundreds of years, we did this, while enjoying the Lack of Loss of our infants and children. Our families and population grew, and our benefits became increasingly difficult to maintain and share. We began to add selfishness, greed, and vengeance to the equation. Wealth could be acquired, individually, through threat, violence and murder far more easily than by sweat, storage, self-discipline, and sharing. Tribes, as groups of individuals, expanded the ruthlessness to plunder, war, and the ever increasing need for ALL of the earlier benefits. Childishness became the requisite for human imposed Order.
6. It keeps happening TO me !
What is Life?
Some difficulties just keep returning.
You may have noticed that and wondered WHY?
Most of believe that the way we think and live should be shared by everyone. Sure, we are not perfect, but no one else is either. We do what we believe is best and other people seem to always muck it up. Why is that? Are we just so good that we have to take the crap because others just never do their part, or, are jealous of us, or, are lazy, or, .... It is a tempting rationalization when our WORLD is spread out before us. Our world is what we see, are in, try to control, do our part in and try to get the most back. OUR world does not extend very far. In OUR perception, there are few other people in our world of notice. IF they think and have feelings, they must think as we do. They must feel what we feel. If it doesn't mean anything to us, it shouldn't mean anything to them. And, what is urgent to us, they know is important. Where have we heard this before?
Do you remember your younger brother or sister?
Remember when they were about 2 years old or younger.
They were Mom's favorite and got attention all the time.
Then, a lot of anger, crying, and yelling began.
Of course, you were never like that.
That is just so babyish.
Carla, or Hammish, needed a lot of care when they were younger.
They couldn't walk so they were carried, driven, and strollered.
They didn't talk very well. Other people paid attention, acutely.
Their co-ordination wasn't good. Other people were always showing them how to do something or other. But then, they could walk, talk and be understood. They knew what others were asking of them or telling them to do. They could tie their shoes and feed themselves, even go to the bathroom by themselves.
They were increasingly exploring and doing things on their own.
Some of those things annoyed Mom as they resulted in more work for her in cleaning up and putting things back. Mom wasn't there all of the time for Junior. Mom didn't always appear as quickly when Junior called. And, Junior was being told more and more "No's". Junior went through a period of outbursts and not being happy. Junior was having to spend more time by him/herself and with other people who were strange and nasty.
Life was often very good, or, very bad, when we were in the baby to toddler age. Much had to do with the culture of the family and how far away close friends and family were. Once, they would have been neighbors. Now, many are city blocks away, or, even in the next town, state, or country. The more social networking and sharing there was, the more attention could be provided to younger children in small groups and day by day. The marital status of one's parent, the family income, the level of education of one's parents, one's religious affiliation, your skin color, your politics ... it could each and all pre-determine if your family, and YOU, were going to be included, or excluded. And, excluded often meant less time for communication and experiences together. Less time often led to more miscommunications, arguments, conflict, yelling, and telling.
Human children must live in a protected and highly sheltered physical and social environment. Unlike a horse foal, or the calf of cattle, they don't get up and start walking within hours after birth. Unlike most wold AND domestic animals, they don't have a huge amount of language and movement skill to learn with difficulty before they can begin to participate in THEIR world.Humans tend to remove as many obstacles and frustrations from the lives of their offspring and to introduce major new skills and life expectations in metered amounts. Born into a world that seems like what adults call a Heaven, or, a Hell, later ... most of us are PROMISED a Future of only Good events with celebrations, gifts, and awards.
In modern civilization, the HUMBLE attempt to communicate with young people largely disappears around age TWO. From this point on, the Words of the principal language are assumed to carry a common meaning which everyone knows the meaning of, by definition. If we really Believe this myth, we continued to be disappointed, dismayed, and depressed ... for the rest of our lives, by the seeming ignorance and incompetence of others when THEY appear not to understand us. THEY seem to think, just as often, that WE are the problem and the ignorant ones. If we have a sensitivity to our identity, we will likely build quite a vocabulary. It can be a side goal to reach a harmony of communication. Yet this is impossible by the very Words we are taught to rely upon.
The WORDS we use are uniquely both from our own experiences, and, from the general and categorized experiences of others, who share many cultural identities. With less than a dozen main colors and thousands of shades of colors possible in reality, how do we communicate to another person the muted combination color of a flower which we saw on our way home, for the first time in our 40 years, and, they have never seen? The color may have raised a special experience of feeling within us. Will anyone else share such a feeling? Will they understand what it MEANS to US by anything we tell them? Life is a continual experience of realities which we will never share with more than a few persons.
When mistakes, accidents, and miscommunications of a specific nature continue to repeat with us, it is a signal to us, and to the others, that we, and they, do not share the same quality of understanding about the terms and concepts we are using with each other. It is also an indication that we are putting ourselves, or finding ourselves, in situations where we do not cope well. The solution is to determine WHAT we are not coping well with or in, and make adjustments. This often takes a shocking realization of self-awareness through humility, motivation, persistence, and self-directedness. Many people never cross this threshold. They continue to REPEAT their conflicts. That does not make it the fault of someone else, nor, are others usually working against them.
When you have suffered enough in your own Pride
You will open the door and invite the Truth to enter.
The Truth can set you free, if you have the strength to
Accept the Reality of Who you are in the WE.
7. THEY have a better life !
Civilization has eventually always been the greatest FALL from shared community and the greatest LEAP into opportunities. How long a civilization has lasted, according to our written accounts, depends upon how rigid the authority structures became, how segregated the working and relationship roles of responsibility became, and, how complex the community interactions became. As small groups grow into larger gatherings, a consensus becomes very time consuming and nearly impossible, on any issue, unless lesser numbers volunteer or are chosen to represent the total membership. Even within the smaller group, anarchy reigns unless some form of leadership is respected.
The relationships all begin with a reciprocity of Trust.
Farmers and tradespersons cannot repeatedly halt their work and close their businesses to meet for town meetings. With the sacrifice of personal income and self-sufficient production, volunteers require payment. In a settlement originally composed of largely self-sufficient sharing groups, a separation into earning and paid roles creates concerns for security of livelihood and providence for one's family and self. In the often constructed myth of Political Authority, the intelligence of the leader above that of the individuals represented, many tyrannies of greed, incompetence, intolerance, and, order, have had their notes in history. Leaders often have skills of rapport (Joining In), self-deception (irrelevant Confidence), verbal manipulation (rationalized image-ination), and, passion (fear transference). NONE of these represent Wisdom.
Passion can be inspired in both constructive and destructive ways relative to the whole of a community or to an individual. Too often what is constructive (beneficial) for the community, is destructive (restrictive) for the individual. The harm done by one immature, selfish, irreverent, and, hateful person (theft, assault, murder, destruction) raises fear in the "civilized" community. The political leader transfer the reality of one instance to the fear of all individuals to want to avoid a similar experience to themselves or within or against their families.
The ACTING OUT behaviors of individuals often originates from the loss of "family" support and mentoring between all members in the older and smaller band organizations. Once, ALL individuals KNEW they were Accepted as a part of a whole and shared equally in the responsibilities, and, the benefits. Often, the culture of ORDER demands sameness of attitude and behavior in individuals. Acceptance and inclusion is earned by abeyance to authority, not by a sharing of authority. Yet, the structure, laws, and mythical sameness of reality of all individuals mandates the exclusion of some from the benefits of the many, often, without Choice.
A hard working person acquires a severe illness, such as CFS-ME.
They have fulfilled all, and more, of the membership requirements of the community. Yet, through no culturally preventable factors, they have become ill. The health leadership of the community are confused by their inability to cast out the demons by their oft applauded methods. The afflicted member must either be feigning illness, to embarass the authorities and defraud the membership, or, they are in some unique way responsible for their own illness. It is THEY who have surrendered their membership ... by being too ill to participate with the membership. Those who have the material resources and the privileges of Power will be able to maintain an IMAGE of membership through their private acquisition of servants and slaves to do in their name, what they can no longer do for themselves.
Large gatherings of people create opportunities for industry.
Industry is an intensification of individual skills for greater production
One person produces 100 times as much as they need for themselves.
Yet, to do so, that person fails to produce 50 other items they want.
Trade enables the skillful person to exchange by negotiation.
Negotiation requires a lot of time, patience, and, is variable.
A common symbol of value, currency, enables trade-at-distance.
Trade-at-a-distance demands pricing, and profit.
Transportation, storage, presentation, packaging .. add to cost.
Mass communication enables mass demand, and, mass rejection.
Quality and fresh products fail their providers and produce loss.
Preserved and fancy articles sell fast and make their providers rich.
Anarchy of Value adds great risk to a large market of many options.
A few persons gain fortune. Many lose sufficiency into indebtedness.
Those with a better life today, may be beggars tomorrow.
A gamble of distant negotiation and expectation.
It makes all who participate fairly, eventually poor.
Can you have a better life, as a material slave?
8. Captain or boiler fireman ?
A captain of a ship takes responsibility for its safe and efficient operation. A boiler fireman follows the orders of all those who have positions of authority and have elected to take responsibility for the whole or part of the operations. Our lives are most often a result of the degree of interest we take in them and of the degree of Choice we exercise. If we are only concerned with what others think and perceive, we have little concern or awareness about ourselves. We are not living OUR life. We are living the lives of other people. And, they are making the choices. Those choices are most often going to be about what THEY want for themselves. Just as often, it will be at our expense and our loss. We have no justification to blame them or hold them responsible for the outcomes, for in our looking to them, we have abandoned ourselves and put them in charge.
Captain or seaman/boiler fireman?
Which do you want to be? Not as simple a question as one might think.
The boiler fireman has a simple enough job and few responsibilities.
He shovels the coal into the boiler and ensures that the fire runs.
The coal supply never runs low. He has his meal breaks.
He works according to how fast the boilers are set to burn.
The choices of the seaman are limited.
The shift begins and ends at specific times, always.
It is expected that he will arrive on duty, on time.
Off duty, there are few restrictions on activities.
Like the person in denial, awareness is minimal.
One has great freedom, within, the strict guidelines set by others.
Bad things WILL happen, for us and others.
We have no choice in that.
We accept.
The Captain has major choice.
There is great freedom and few restrictions.
The Captain decides when he will work and when others will work in his absence. He assigns personnel to different posts and ensures that they have the training to do their jobs. Responsibility falls on the Captain for determining the route taken to reach the destination port. How many stops will be made along the way? Where? When? For how long? What speed will the ship travel at? He will need to remain aware, constantly, of the weather conditions, the traffic in the region, the fuel and resources supplies, news received from other ships and contacts.
The Captain has perhaps begun as a seaman and by continually learning new skills and accepting new responsibilities has become more and more capable of assuming greater command of the choices available. If bad things happen to the ship, the crew, or himself ... he has had a Choice in if, why, and when they have occurred. He can learn from such failures and do better in the future; yet, he IS responsible, in part or whole, for the experiences everyone has because of the "bad thing".
Captains have a confidence in their ability to DO good.
They know that much can be done and they have chosen to join in.
They know that bad things can happen and they seek to minimize them.
They take Joy from the experience of helping others be successful.
They are rewarded for their efforts and their good choices.
It is their risk to take Joy and reward by avoiding the bad.
Part of avoiding the bad, they have learned, is to change.
They choose to be ever open to the relevancy of change.
They provide others with the choices they have earned.
They hold apart from those in fear, choices not wanted.
No one chooses to BE a Captain.
You can choose to LEARN to become a Captain.
The Captain also experiences failures and "bad days".
Do you have CFS-ME and are you content to remain ill?
Perhaps being and remaining a boiler fireman is for you.
If you have CFS-ME and want to Recover, you have a Choice.
YOU can choose to use this and other resources to learn.
You CAN become a Captain of your own ship.
6. Responsibility.
Justice is a human political principle, not a divine one.
Every person with CFS-ME knows this reality. We have made Justice to be a variation of the success of those in power, and those who attract the benevolence of those in power. And often, that benevolence is dependent upon who PAYS the ones in power. To a much lesser degree, it also depends upon who has been severely abused that is in a significant relationship to someone in power. Power often reacts to pain.
Political Pain derives from threats to the calm of Power.
Like human pain, political pain can be responded to or reacted to. There is a mix of response and reaction in many political systems. This makes is difficult for the public, the citizens, to discern if the actions and policies of THEIR government are
- reactions taken to stay in power
- reactions to manipulate the media
- reactions to deceive the public
- reactions to address public fear
- reactions to address terror
- responses to prevent problems
- responses to alleviate problems
- responses to provide opportunity
Political Pain grows as the reverence by the slaves becomes fragile.
This happens when the majority begin to lose confidence in the leaders.
Leaders (political authorities) may react by making laws to guarantee themselves power. They may react by "leaking" stories to the hungry media which picture the government in a state of victimization .. such that they are seeking the emotional support of a rescuing electorate. Or, they may seek, and receive, the "respect" of the public because they express a defiant aggressive stance. Defensive or defiant? Are either less than one could expect from a 2-year-old person?
Political Pain is soothed by the good intentions of those who believe that the public, who are THEIR electors, employers, and respecters .. are too emotionally immature, too ignorant, too distracted, too busy, or, just too unimportant ... and thus could not understand political reality or cope with it. Such politicians release information and make backroom policies in order to Protect THEIR public from the very bad realities they choose to constrain and manipulate. The difficulty with deception is that the deceiver may tell so many half-lies that they eventually, themselves, lose sight of the Truth, and, Reality. The person who manipulates is on ground which is more safe. They KNOW they have told lies and they are certain enough of their expertise at concealment that they are willing to Risk, loss of their Status. They know, from history, that convicted confidence pushers have a good chance of manipulating their way back into power, shortly after leaving jail, or the courthouse.
In the Past, it was easy to use a financially hungry and increasingly monopolistic media in North America, to spread rationalized lies to hide government defense and medical errors. If a test of deadly nerve gas escaped and drifted outside the "test area" and killed animals and made people seriously ill, the stories of such realities were "lost". Other times, when reports were likely to continue to surface, it became a known strategy to "plant" disinformation. That would happen when selected "scientists" and "experts", and authorities, would release stories stating a neutral reality to that likely to startle the public with fear, even panic. This tactic was Very Successful in delaying government action on Global Warnings, for 20 years. CFS-ME has likewise been downplayed by Reports that suggest that this Package of Illnesses is only, or largely, one of "mental" illness.
Participation in Wars in the Past has been justified by a FEAR campaign of the host country upon its own citizens. As Phillip Knightley titled one of his books, "The First Casualty : From the Crimea to Vietnam: The War Correspondent As Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker", the Truth is often twisted by those we place trust in so they can raise hatred in us for THEIR chosen enemies. We are made to appear to be taking a position of betrayal, cowardice, and abandonment if we do not grab onto the commitment to kill that is often also the mandate of the leaders of the enemies.
"SHOULD" can be a very powerful, and destructive belief.
In North America, doctors are trained and imprinted with the belief that they SHOULD be able to fix any cut, broken bone, or illness. If they cannot, no one should be able to: it is untreatable and unrecoverable. If someone recovers from an illness that doctors have been shown to be ineffectual in understanding or treating .. they were never ill. Anyone who does not support this medical tyranny of mind is clearly an enemy of the state and beyond ignorance about health. That is their demonstrated reaction.
The tragedy of the North American political and medical systems is their proud belief in themselves as gods. It is proving them to be the devils they say they are working against. Politics enables society to act in very constructive and responsible ways to sustain and improve the lives of many. As with CFS-ME, it can also participate in the health care of many destructively and irresponsibly, by enabling sanctions against research, information, and practitioners who have been increasingly constructive in their treatment protocols and understanding of CFS-ME.
Political Justice is built upon Awareness and Response.
Response is always promised. Response is often degraded by rationalizations emanating from SELF-interest. Persons acting for others who have a reality (experience) different from their own, are inadequate representatives. They have no legitimate PASSION. They have no PERSONAL authority. They bend to the compulsive DENIALS of others who lobby for no changes in the status quo. They bend to the committed lobbying of those who have SOLD their intellect for privilege. They bend to their perceived Mission of non-committal fence sitting and budget balancing. Such a BENT system verges upon uselessness changing to ABUSE in times of urgency.
A FEAR of doing Wrong comes from irrelevant Authority.
A Confidence of Correctness comes from a position of Empathy, a person with experience, who has Recovered. There are currently, 2009, few people who have and are recovering from CFS-ME. Many of those few who have, want to leave the experience far behind them and never revisit it. And, that is often best, for them. There is no encouraging structure, political state reality, support for Recovered persons, to enter a political arena .. what? to be devoured by the lions of deceit and manipulation which have prowled such hallways, in denial or awareness, for centuries.
The Political War against those with CFS-ME is one of MONEY.
There is a FEAR within the medical community and conveyed to many politicians, that IF CFS-ME were recognized as a legitimate Package of illness, the current turnstile "Hello, get these pills .." approach would be in risk of Reactionary change. It would never again be "Business as Usual." Scientific medical research would be sanctioned to consider multiple factors as influences on hard-to-treat illnesses. Doctors would be sanctioned to run expensive, yet relevant, diagnostic tests on those afflicted. Health care costs would dramatically rise in the initial stages. Patients would begin to recover, and stay recovered. Chronically poverty, premature death, pharmaceutical use, and suicide rates would drop while employment, taxation revenues, and population healthfulness would rise.
A Rebellion against the authority system is seldom a benefit.
It repeats the errors of the Past by enshrining authority patterns.
The takers seek to take more from the givers; to remain slaves.
It threatens the current authorities with loss of job, income, status.
Threats usually raise defensiveness, conflict, self-obsession, aggression.
An accepted, routine abuse is heightened into a focused, intended abuse.
Rebellion extends inequalities with the suggestion that vengeance can set the slate clean and balance the destructiveness of the Past. At its worst, the abuser and abused simply change their positions and styles.
An Action of Reactionism is often a long-term benefit.
It demands that EVERY participant take responsibility.
Takers and givers are rewarded for sharing and leading.
The jobs, incomes, and status of current authority figures CAN be saved, and improved, after a transformation to a partnership of the self-directed patient and the mentor-coach facilitator. Reciprocal abuses of disrespect can be traded for those of open-minded, hopeful, and acknowledging health enhancement partners. Reactive change emphasizes an admission of mistakes, an offering of forgiveness, a search for answers from ALL sources. At its worst, confusion and anarchy is produced. Yet, if time and effort permit, a Joining-In and an optimization of skills and knowledge bring wider spanning and more possible and permanent recovery solutions.
Responsibility is the option to Do, for oneself.
It CAN extend to the participation in services for the benefit of others.
If YOU want to Recover, you will have to Participate.
Those who say they want to help you, may object.
Set the ground rules! It is YOUR Life; YOUR health.
YOU will work with THEM as long as THEY are helpful.
If they cannot help, perhaps they could suggest someone?
YOU can suggest the skills of and products in the Profiles.
If they Choose NOT to Participate, find someone who will.
7. Do your Best; Leave the Rest
If you are going to do YOUR best, you will receive criticism, even ridicule, from others. It is so much easier for many people to do nothing but complain, and, to discourage those who by their own will and courage show that something CAN be done. That is very humbling and shameful to the weak and passive. That is why weak and passive persons resort to Pride. They assume a stance that THEY are too good to make an effort. They are so privileged, by the human authority they worship, that it something needs to be done, their leader, political party, doctor, or expert will do it for them. They are the persons who make leaders into gods so that they can blame such leaders later when actions are taken with the authority handed over by those same voters to enable the harm to be done.
Public servant, or public representative?
Some years ago, I lived near a town where I attended a local church.
I like to participate. I had acquired planning skills in my work.
The regional administration was responsible for 3 congregations and churches. There was bickering between the congregations as to how the offerings should be divided, in what proportions, to cover the operating expenses, salary of the minister, and contribution towards mission-outreach work of the parish. There were significant differences to be considered, yet, without figures presented in charts and relating to congregation size, givings, and costs for upkeep --- everyone spoke by guess, assumption, and intolerance. The treasurer was leaving his volunteer post, partly due to all of the current conflict being expressed.
I wanted to assist.
I volunteered to be the next treasurer.
Everyone was thrilled; no one else wanted the post; I was new.
I believed that if ALL of the significant details were presented in several large row-and-column spreadsheet-like pages, all of the misunderstandings, presumptions, bickering, anger, and even, accusations ... could be set aside. If those from a local yet very differently operated parish could understand each other, they might stop thinking they could make simplistic rationalizations that were more prejudice, paranoia, and spurious than wise. You see, intelligence can have a range of accuracy and relevancy. You can be ignorant, which is poor intelligence. You can be stupid, which is poor and proud intelligence. You can be informed, which is intelligence without relevancy. You can be educated, which is intelligence conformed. You can be wise, which is intelligence that is informed, relevant, and compassionate.
Numbers are not enough.
People are not numbers. We are not all identical in size, history, gender, age, education, location, sensitivity, or, health. Relevancy considers that a 210 pound male who is working at hard labor for 10 hours a day, is aged 26, and is working outside in a winter cold of -10 degrees Celsius, LIKELY requires more calories of food daily than a girl, weighing 87 pounds, that is 12 years old, working 5 hours a day in a hot kitchen, helping her mother, who is patient and encouraging. People are not machines and mathematical calculations. They are ALIVE and they have a Past-Present-Future LIFE. They have CHOICES. The engine in a car does neither have choice, a memory for experiences, nor a biologically active existence.
I learned a lot by seeking to present the Reality.
I could be less partial as I had little history here.
I had learned to listen, stay calm, and negotiate.
I had respect for I was bringing new skills.
I have used colors to name for easy reference back.
Bad things had been happening to EVERYONE here.
Too many bad memories, misunderstandings, pride.
Our focus is to balance the factors and find fairness.
GREEN
One congregation heated their church with firewood.
The firewood was cut and donated by several farmers.
It also had a kitchen which had been stocked by volunteers.
They held regular potluck suppers for socializing, celebration.
Electricity had to be paid for lighting for services and events.
A small, constant, attendance brought a predictable giving.
Givings per self-sufficient low dollar income, were low.
The pastor attended their church every Sunday for early A.M. service.
He also visited every one of the 118 members at least once, yearly.
BROWN
The second congregation had similarities and differences.
They heated their church with invoiced furnace fuel oil.
There were few farmers and most townsfolk here.
It had no kitchen, no socializing celebrations.
This congregation constantly varied in size.
Givings fluctuated as did the attendance and economy.
The givings were somewhat predictable, by season.
Over the duration of a year, givings per member were high.
The pastor attended their church every Sunday for late A.M. service.
He also visited every one of the 65 members at least once, yearly.
BLUE
The third congregation had yet different though shared factors.
They heated their church with electricity; more costly than oil.
The congregation was of mostly active farmers plus retired persons.
The members had irregular social functions according to season.
These gatherings were in the church, at a park, or someone's home.
There was no kitchen in this church. Members met for card games.
Members here had regular routines and often attended their church.
The annual givings were predictable and moderate per member.
The pastor attended their church every Sunday for an afternoon service.
He also visited every one of the 42 members at least once, yearly.
They typically deserved more hospital visits than members elsewhere.
What was/were the QUESTION(s) of contention?
1. What proportion of the minister's salary would each pay?
2. What proportion of the parish givings would pay utilities?
3. What proportion of the budget of each would go to Missions?
An easy rational answer would be that each congregation would pay 1/3rd of the minister's salary. Of the remaining, each would pay 1/3rd of the utilities for the combined parish. Then, each would pay whatever was left to the Mission-Outreach fund. Why not everybody happy?
The Salary of the Minister.
This sum was a set amount set down by the Church executive.
The minister spent time each week preparing his unique sermon.
The same sermon was expressed in the same amount of time in each church.
There were, different numbers of members in each congregation.
There were also different proportions of those members who attended.
Those proportions also varied, more, or less, throughout the year.
The other duties of the minister included sick bed visits, hospital visits, Sunday school oversight, marriage counselling, participation at religious conferences, attendance at social gatherings, membership classes, social activism, labor assistance to the poor, and support to the distressed, abandoned, and rejected populace. How much of his time was being devoted to each congregation? If ALL of these efforts were going to be accounted for in detail, the poor minister was going to be recording his involvements more of the time than he was being involved. Then, everyone would suffer loss of his availability and a loss of his abilities through the record-keeping distractions. This was long before microcomputers, spreadsheets, and blackberries. All had to be on paper!
The Utility expenses of the Parish.
In the vast scheme of rationalizations, a number of influential people believed that an equal payment should be allotted to each congregation for their utilities. First, a percentage of all givings would be allotted for the Minister's salary. A second percentage of the total would be split 3 ways for the Utilities, and so on. Very Very BAD! Did that not mean that the GREEN congregation which used the Most fuel, had the Most members, and received the MOST gifted fuel ... would be receiving monies they did not need. Which is it? Need, or, deserve? Was there no financial benefit for the voluntary fuel? The church was also a larger building than was in the other locations. It was also older and more poorly insulated than either of the other churches. Add to the discussion that the church heated with electricity had to pay MORE for the fuel it used than either of its partners.
The proportion of monies being sent to Missions-Outreach.
One would not expect that different congregations of differing sizes and composed of different sets of people with differing income streams and expense relationships would have to have the same contribution totals for their Special Offerings. Over the decades, collections for the exclusive use of Missions-Outreach have taken quite a few turns. Once, Expenses included the salary of the priest or minister and the operations of the church buildings. That latter expense often was only composed of heating, lighting, and urgent repair bills. At times, the urgency of a repair might even justify a Special collection from the members. At various times, the members were encouraged to make an annual pledge and submit their contributions towards that goal in weekly envelops. The expansion of the religion and the expressions of caring towards others less fortunate, beyond local perceived boundaries, grew from a charity of one's overbudget to one of budget inclusion.
Missions-Outreach efforts, before the time of this experienced history, were funded by the head office of the church. Funds collected at the congregational level were added to the balance for the parish. The parish then forwarded what they had to the central office. From there, monies were assigned to various missionaries and mission field efforts, such as building new churches, schools, clinics, provision of food or clothing. The local congregations were told which groups were going to receive the monies. Descriptive materials were often received back to the congregations about who these groups were, why they were selected, and what was, and had been done ... in the name of the church, and the parishioners. In the NOW of this example, there was an increasing demand of the congregations for a more personal involvement with the recipients. Congregations wanted to choose their own projects to fund. The central office would continue to have final authority and sanction over the recipients.
A division into 3 equal parts of monies collected from 3 congregations was rationally not acceptable. With each of the congregations enabling a different quantity of funds, one could, and did argue, that the least contributing congregation could, be credited for a larger proportion than they ad given, and could, designate a destination for it that the other 2 congregations not only had not chosen, but did not believe was acceptable. Annual amounts from each congregation varied a lot and depended not only upon donation consistencies but also upon expense stability. In this example, the Green provided 30% of the givings for the parish. The Blues provided only 10%. The Browns added up to the final 60%. If the Browns were only given choice as to where 1/3rd of the parish monies would be gifted, others would both be taking credit for and assigning 27% (60-33) of what the Browns had contributed.
I suggested that we petition the Head Office for a change of POLICY!
Petition WHO?! Could we be excommunicated for ASKING? Be petitioned, as a PARISH.
ALL of the members of the 3 congregations requested that each congregation be given the freedom to indicate their preference for the direction of their Mission savings. Also, they wanted each to be able to send their Mission givings directly to the head office rather than it being lumped together into a parish total. It would have been a Rebellion for each congregation to demand control of THEIR part, yet, send it to be combined in the parish total. It would have resulted in greatly increased procedural complications, likely misunderstandings and conflicts, and great wastes of time and energy.
Rebellion allows everyone to play the same instrument.
This is like everyone in a band playing the same kind of guitar. We all get to play, yet, some of us play much better than others. Equality, and, anarchy. Reactionary, was what we did: Equality AND Freedom. We requested a change in the Structure so that the rights, dignity, and choices of all participants could be exercised. Each favored the outcome everyone would receive. There would be greater simplicity and self-direction in the whole process. Everyone would feel more Committed to those whom THEY were sponsoring. The petition was granted. It was applied also to all other parishes. We had become political. We had not just changed OUR corner of the church. We had changed ALL the church, for a better that ALL were ready for and favored. We could each play our special tune, in support of an orchestra.
Take it more personal.
If three families agree to share their combined incomes to pay their group expenses, what is FAIR. One family works on a farm and has a seasonal income from the sale of crops which they attend to all year, yet harvest in one season. They make their own bread form ingredients they largely grow. A second family live in a distant city. They work at jobs from which they receive an hourly wage and benefits. They prefer to buy the bread they eat. The third family, have seen difficulties through sickness, job layoffs, and accident injuries from a car accident resulting from a drunk, penniless driver demolishing their car. No government or private insurances assist them with their living expenses. Their hope is to become income producing again soon. The reality is that they are not NOW. Of the combined incomes of the 3 families (they all began as sisters), one has bread for little cost. Another buys bread for standard retail pricing. The third must look to the other two for assistance. Need, or, Deserve?
You don't have to be Great to Participate.
I was young .. in my early 30's, surrounded by 50's and older.
I listened, summarized, offered suggestions, focused on a solution.
Before ALL the details were brought to my attention, I presented as best as what I had. I did not judge, demand, proclaim, or abdicate. I did not get angry or impatient. I presented a simple answer. It was the elder who represented the GREEN congregation that expressed in quiet shock that they did not NEED that much of an allotment for utilities because they received a lot of fuel by voluntary member non-monetary giving. He did not want the other two partners to be "unfairly" treated. THEIR wood, was a new Fact to me, and to many in the other congregations! It had not been hidden. No one had asked. When it was clearly missing from the considerations, the information was gracefully volunteered. Then, the numbers began to make sense. The biggest (GREEN) congregation with the biggest, oldest, worst insulated church .. had a utility expense 1/10th that of the mid-sized, (BROWN) congregation.
I did not hide my ignorance of THEIR Realities.
I presented what I had been told and had been able to discover.
I did so with a tongue of sincerity; an ear of discernment.
I became the listener THEY could educate about THEM.
I wanted to know about THEM! And, be FAIR to THEM.
They had been listening to themselves, not each other.
They had been in Fear of being unfairly treated by their Partners.
I was not a threat. I took no sides. My focus was a Solution for ALL.
I stressed that to them throughout. They ALL had to agree.
They began to work together, to hear each other, to feel for each other.
They reached what each congregation accepted as a fair resolution.
They became Stronger!
Servant, or Participant?
Had I simply chosen to be THEIR servant, nothing would have been resolved. Servants follow orders, protocol, tradition, rules. The Partners would have continued to be angry and yelling at each other. There would have been a solution IMPOSED upon them by a distant authority unfamiliar with either of them. That would have extended the wounds and misunderstandings and prejudices of the Past into a Future of mutual hostility. They would sabotage the Beliefs they had taken an Oath of Commitment to follow. They would have become so consistently, and unknowingly, servants of Satan. The word "Satan" carries the meaning of "adversary of God" in both the language of Hebrew and Greek. The religious scriptures cherished by these 3 congregations were originally written in these languages. All that was required to ENABLE three small communities to practice what brought spiritual JOY to them, was one ignorant person who was willing to Respect them! Someone who is just as ordinary as you are. If YOU want more Good in the world, you have to Enable others to express THEIR Goodness.
You must choose to Participate.
The POLITICAL way to assist others with CFS-ME is for individuals, like YOU, to use works like this one, to YOUR benefit, and then, do YOUR best to publicize and share the availability of this information for the many others to benefit from. THAT, is true Justice. YOUR Participation takes your legitimate passion and enables others to benefit from your experience. THAT is how to establish positive orderliness in an era of massive population, massive communication, massive need.
Stop complaining. Start DOING!
...
Bad boys,bad boys whatcha gonna do whatcha gonna do?
When they come for you? Bad boys bad boys whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
(When they come for you?)
Why did you have to act so mean?
Don't you know you're a human being?
Born of a mother with the love of a father,
Reflection comes and reflection goes,
I know sometime you wanna let go
hehehe i know sometime you wanna let go
Bad boys, bad boys whatcha gonna do whatcha gonna do?
When they come for you? Bad boys bad boys whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
Your too bad,
your too rude,
your too bad,
your too rude,
Bad boys, bad boys whatcha gonna do whatcha gonna do?
When they come for you? Bad boys bad boys whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
....
(lyrics courtesy of Mr. Bob Marley)
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