THE FLOW

I am resting, on the beach, out of the river’s flow

It still flows, but without me

On the beach, Mondays and Sundays are the same

In the flow, I was painfully tossed about

There I cried out in a voice almost moaning

Who am I and where am I going

On the beach, there is stillness and peace

 

I have been here once or twice before

But only for a while, then tossed back in the flow

Where I become immobilized, without control

Battered and disabled by ambition, now I see

Into the flow and over a cliff in a waterfall

In painful agony I cried out, yes I can

Yes I can do what, control the flow?

 

You only control the flow in your dreams

The flow controls you, not the other way around

On the beach, I can just watch the flow

Danger! I can feel the flow pulling me back in

Stay calm, take a deep breath

The flows movement is temporal, stillness is reality

I have come a long way to achieve this beach

 

Out of the frozen tundra I have come

How long can I stay in a state of grace on the beach?

This is what it is like to live without stress

Maybe I can just dip a toe in the flow

Oops! I am being swept up by the current

Ambition and desire are sucking me back in

No, rise above, Rise above, Rise above!

 

Here, I am above the flow, even above the beach

Here, the veil of Maya and Neith are finally lifted

Here, I am connected to a collective spiritual experience

Here, I have arrived at fulfillment

Here, time ceases to flow with the flow

Here, movement and stillness have no meaning

Here above the flow, we are One

 

Wow! Look at that river flow

The flow is turning wheels and the wheels are churning lives

It is just a game, but people think it’s real

In the flow there is no rest, there is no winning

There is only the flow, ever onward

But from here above, it looks so silly

Being above, is even better than on the beach

 

So many are in the flow, some as tears

If I were to return, it would be different for me now

The new me, would be eager to teach what I have learned

Should I take another trip down the rapids?

Maybe I should try and reach higher instead?

Actually, Here there is no higher

Here, salvation is  self evident

 

The sirens of the flow beckon me back

Why? To make the world a better place?

Maybe I can ease the burden of others?

There are no easy answers, but I can help, I can try

This time I am better prepared to enter the flow

This time I have seen it from above, I understand

Look out. Here I come again!

CARL M BIRKELBACH

THREE DYSTOPIAN MOVIES

My last post was about three dystopian books, but how about three dystopian movies? Rollerball introduces us to what it will be like when corporations are allowed to operate without regulations and without boarders.  The Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court, says corporations are ‘people.’ If that is true they are sociopaths  that only look out for their own interests. The Handmaid’s Tale, gives us an idea what the US would look like under a Christian fundamentalist dominated government. The Alfa white males dominate. In Elysium. the earth and its multitudes are destined to perish in pollution, drought and rising seas while the oligarchy live above in orbit.

Rollerball. 1975 movie called Rollerball. It stars James Caan as the sports hero Jonathan, Maude Adams as his ex-wife and John Houseman as Mr. Bartholomew, a high-level executive of the Energy Corporation. The film takes place in 2018, where the word is run as a global corporate state. The Energy Corporation is a global energy monopoly based in Houston, which controls access to all transportation, housing, communication and food on a global basis. Energy Corporation sponsors Jonathan’s team. Jonathan’s wife, Maud Adams was taken away from Jonathan by a corporate executive, which simply exerted his power and took her. The game Rollerball is a substitute for all team sports and for warfare. It is designed to bring euphoria to the masses. While the purpose of the sport is entertainment, Mr. Bartholomew, describes it as having a “distinct social purpose”: to show the futility of individual effort. In order to defeat the individual star Jonathan, The Energy Corporation simply changes the rules, so that Rollerball soon degrades into senseless violence, which nullifies any individual effort with humiliation. In the movie Jonathan emerges victorious against the Big Corporation.  This seems unlikely!”

Handmaid’s Tale, a 1985 book and now a TV Special, The Handmaid’s Tale, a work of  fiction by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. The novel is set in a near-future in New England, in a totalitarian theocracy, which has overthrown the United States government. The Handmaid’s Tale is set in the Republic of Gilead, a theocratic military dictatorship formed within the borders of what was formerly the United States of America. It begins with a staged attack that kills the President and most of Congress with a Christian fundamentalist revolutionary uprising, called the “Sons of Jacob”.   The revolution suspends the United States Constitution, under the pretext of restoring order. The new regime, the Republic of Gilead, forms a new militarized hierarchical regime, based on Old Testament-inspired social and religious fanaticism, which creates newly created social classes, with only the elite ruling. In this society, human rights are severely limited and women’s rights are even more curtailed, as women are forbidden to read. The story is told in the first person by a woman called Offred. The character is one of a class of women kept by the ruling class for reproductive purposes and known as ‘handmaids’.”

Elysium. The 2013 film offers deliberate social commentary, which explores political and sociological themes such as immigration, overpopulation, health care, worker exploitation, the justice system, and social class issues. In 2154, Earth  most of the earth’s citizens live in poverty, on the edge of starvation, and with little technology and medical care. The rich and powerful live on Elysium — a gigantic space habitat located in Earth’s orbit. Elysium is technologically advanced with some of its technology including Med-Bays: medical machines that can cure all diseases, reverse the aging process, and regenerate new body parts. A long-running feud exists between the wealthy residents of Elysium and the citizens of Earth. The earth and its multitudes are destined to perish in pollution, drought and rising seas.”

Following are 3 classic dystopian books that under current conditions are worth reading again. 1984 has class hierarchy  of 2% upper class, 13% Middle class and 85% poor  becoming a reality and asks the question can 2+2=5  Brave New World The common good has fallen away to ‘winners take all’ attitude. Governments are protecting the privileged and the rest are considered outsiders. Fahrenheit 451 has the masses being distracted by entertainment of virtual reality technology and drugged out on opiates. A fanciest dictatorship orders all books banned and to be burnt because he says, they cause unhappiness and mental illness because of conflicting opinions.

1984 by George Orwell

In 1984, London is a grim city in the totalitarian state of Oceania where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston Smith is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be.

The class hierarchy of Oceania has three levels:

• (I) the upper-class Inner Party, the elite ruling minority, who make up 2% of the population.
• (II) the middle-class Outer Party, who make up 13% of the population.
• (III) the lower-class Proletariat, who make up 85% of the population and represent the uneducated working class.

As the government, the Party controls the population with four ministries:

• The Ministry of Peacedeals with war and defense.
• The Ministry of Plentydeals with economic affairs (rationing and starvation).
• The Ministry of Lovedeals with law and order (torture and brainwashing).
• The Ministry of Truthdeals with news, entertainment, education and art (propaganda).
• The Thought Police  stamps out anyone who does not fully conform to their regime and constant surveillance, through devices such as (Telescreens two-way televisions. (Watch out for Google ‘alexa’)

Nineteen Eighty-Four popularized the adjective Orwellian, which describes official deception, secret surveillance, brazenly misleading terminology, and manipulation of recorded history by a totalitarian or authoritarian state.

There are some similarities between now and 1984:  1) The US has been in constant war since 1776 (except for 36 years). 2) After 3000 lies documented by the New York Times ‘alternative truth’ has entered our vocabulary. 2+2 does not equal 5 as Winston Smith finally believed! 3) China, Russia, North Korea and the Saudi Arabia (remember the oil embargo) are now our friends and Canada, France and the rest of G6 are now our enemies. 4) With Presidential authoritarianism and worldwide fascism, George Orwell’s 1984 is taking on a new life with extraordinary relevance and renewed popularity. 5) The class hierarchy of 1984 of 2% upper class, 13% Middle class and 85% poor is becoming a reality. Though the year 1984 now exists in the past, Orwell’s novel remains an urgent call for the individual willing to speak truth to power.

“Orwell saw, to his credit, that the act of falsifying reality is only secondarily a way of changing perceptions. It is, above all, a way of asserting power.”—The New Yorker

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
― George Orwell, 1984

Brave New World  by  Aldous Huxley

Published in 1932, it propounds that economic chaos and unemployment will cause a radical reaction in the form of an international scientific empire that manufactures its citizens in the laboratory on a eugenic basis, without the need for human intercourse.

The World State is built upon the principles of Henry Ford‘s assembly line: mass production, homogeneity, predictability, and consumption of disposable consumer goods. While the World State lacks any supernatural-based religions, Ford himself is revered as the creator of their society but not as a deity, and characters celebrate Ford Day and swear oaths by his name (e.g., “By Ford!”). The novel’s Gregorian calendar year is AD 2540, but it is referred to in the book as AF 632 (After Ford)

From birth, members of every class are indoctrinated by recorded voices repeating slogans while they sleep (called “hypnopædia” in the book) to believe their own class is superior, but that the other classes perform needed functions. Any residual unhappiness is resolved by his society’s methods of keeping its citizens peaceful, which includes their constant consumption of a soothing drug called soma.

This books relevance to today is the drinking of the common ‘kool-aide’ of Corporate indoctrination “If it good for the corporation it must be good for the nation’ Formerly ‘What’s good for General Motors is good for the country. The common good has fallen away to a ‘winners take all’ attitude. Governments are protecting the privileged and the rest are considered outsiders.

Hitler’s ‘master race’ is definitely implied. The biological techniques used to control the populace in Brave New World did not include genetic engineering because Huxley wrote the book before the structure of DNA was known. Now the upper class has access for it’s children through superior education and personal contacts. However, if you can afford it ,why not enhance the embryo?

–-“If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.”George Orwell

 

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradury

A new movie based on the 1953 on the book of the same name by Ray Bradbury is now on HBO. It is a good reminder of what can happens when a fanciest dictatorship orders all books banned and to be burnt because he says, they cause unhappiness and mental illness because of conflicting opinions. All is fake-news except that which comes from the dictator. There was no objection by the populous as their entertainment requirements required only a short visual attention span and have no interest in in-depth media investigative reporting or in reading of literature. The masses were being distracted by entertainment of virtual reality technology and drugged out on opiates.

The term ‘Bonfire of the vanities,’ refers to the bonfire on February, 7 1497, when supporters of the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola collected and publicly burned thousands of objects such as cosmetics, art, and books in Florence, Italy, More recently we have had Nazi book burning, Joseph Stalin’s ‘Great Purge, Mao’s ‘Red Guard’ and many attempts in the US to censorship, including in 1987, when the Florida Panama City School Board banned Fahrenheit 451 from their library. Hopefully, the message of this book and movie is a preventer of a dystopian future and not a predictor.

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
― George Orwell, 1984

Carl M Birkelbach 6/9/2018

 

500 days

Only Modest Growth: After 500 days of the Trump administration, they are bragging about a booming economy and a record low employment rate. However, looking a little closer at these statistics, first quarter growth was only at about 2% (about the same as before Trump) and the unemployment rate had already fallen to about 4% (now 3.8%). This modest growth is in spite of a massive simulative $1.5 trillion tax cut to the very rich and corporations. However, statistics so far indicate that 80% of the tax saving are being used for non-productive use, such as stock buybacks.

Trump Popularity has Grown: After 500 days on the job President Trump popularity has grown to above 40%. However, we see a polarized country if we look at recent statistics more closely.  In a recent Gallup poll reported in the New York Times today; when asked  the question “Overall, what kind of moral leadership do you think President Trump provides?”  72% of Republicans said “Strong,’ compared to 37% of Independents and at only 8% of Democrats. The polarization is even more evident of those who consider Trump’s moral leadership as ‘Weak’; 13% of Republicans, 69% of the Independents and 91% of the Democrats.

Trump’s distractions ignore the Big Picture: It seems the more the Democratic criticize Trump, the more his base dig in their feet.  Are we are being ‘distracted’ by President Trump’s  daily celebrity theatrics, while the harmful side effects of oligarchy capitalism and globalization have created distress on Middle Class, who find themselves increasingly replaced with automation and lower priced labor? We have taken our eye off the ball, as 80 people own 40% of the world’s wealth and the Walton’s are wealthier than the bottom 40% of Americans and all income growth goes to the top 1% The Middle Class is in trouble with 50% of the population unable to meet a $400 emergency. I continue to believe that this economic inequality will reach a tipping point, where all boats will sink. This means the stock market. 

We will probably soon face a Constitutional Crisis as The President will resist the outcome of the Muller Investigation. It won’t be pretty!

Let’s stop concentrating on Trump’s distracting antics and look at the Big Picture!  (The Democrats would be smart to never mention Trumps name again and just mention what needs to be fixed.)

The Big Picture: (Things we need to fix)

• A new study predicts that up to a third of all American jobs will be lost to automation within the next 13 years. A new era of globalization, multiculturalism, multiracialism, automation and a carbon free economy is descending on us. We must address these challenges, as an opportunity!
• Between 1980 and 2017, most of the income growth has gone to the top 1%. This process has transferred approximately $1 trillion a year from the bottom 90% of income earners, to the top 1%. This is unsustainable and all boats will sink.
• The US has the highest ‘poverty rate’ among developed nations at 16% and 21% for children. That’s 1 out of five children living in poverty!
• The US ranks 44^th in Health Care and has the highest infant mortality rate among developed nations.  All the industrialized nations have universal healthcare for their citizens, so can we!
• The US ranks 35^th in meeting basic human needs
• The US ranks 19^th in basic education and 40^th in math skills, 25^th in science and 24^th in reading skills. We need to level the playing field by offering our children a first-rate education.
• In the US there are 6,000 families being evicted every day.
• Over 50,000 people die of overdose every year.
• The Pentagon has said that they are defenseless against ‘climate change’ and it “presents a clear and present danger” to the country. Rising seas and drought will change the world. The Departments of the Environment has been gutted. We have withdrawn for The Paris environmental agreement.
• Our infrastructure is dangerously deteriorating!
• Putin will stop at nothing to maintain his totalitarian system, including cyber attacks on us. He has plans to hack our bank accounts, to undermine our media and influence our elections.
• With student debt above $1.3 trillion dollars, our young graduates have become indentured servants to their debt. In addition, Middle-Class consumers have taken on almost $1 trillion in credit card debt, while ‘Big Banks’ charge exorbitant interest rates of 15% to 25%. The Department of Consumer protection has been gutted.
• The public is saddened by the treatment of DOCA and the treatment of those seeking asylum, as children are separated and 1,500 children are missing. This divides America. We need to pass a reasonable immigration bill!
• Expect a Trade War.  The Smoot–Hawley Tariff signed into law on June 17, 1930 raised US tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods and reduced our export by 80% by 1932.
• The top 1% and large corporations, through Citizens United and their lobbyists have exploited of the political system and have formed an oligarchy that has built up powerful defenses against competition and income equality. Thus, we are quickly becoming ‘The Land of Only the Privileged’. Repeal Citizens United!

• We need to correct the Gerrymandering of voting districts.  Gerrymandering is the manipulation of voting boundaries favoring one party over the other. With a database, politicians can create a district where they can predict the voting behavior of each potential district. This must be corrected.
• We need to set term limits for our Senators, Congressmen and for the Supreme Court, for the same reason we have a two term limit for the Presidency; power tends to corrupt.
• We need to bring back the Glass Stiegel Act. Without it, banks can act unethically between their banking and Investment Banking functions.
• We need to expand the Voting Rights Act, to make it easier for citizens to register and to vote.
• We now have many people working at a minimum wage of $7.50 an hour, making them virtually slave labor. We need to set the minimum wage at $15.
• We need to pass legislation to regulate automatic weapons, recognize global warming and regulate our banks so as to prevent them from getting the world into another financial crisis.

Don’t give up hope: as Churchill said, “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.”

One more thing: The President has outrageously called some immigrants ‘animals.’ This is a similar attitude of what Hitler thought about the Jews and what some Southerners thought about their slaves. The inappropriate casual sexual and racial remarks made by the President have given permission to similar remarks made by his core followers. America is better than this! This hurts our nation’s soul and is an attack on the ‘core values’ of who we are, or at the very least, who we should be.

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Carl M Birkelkbach