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Mon Nov 22 10:20:06 PM EST 2021
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There are dystopian works of art and literature suggesting
how we all have been duped, enslaved, or are being boiled
like the proverbial frog. There is speculation that
television, movies, and other media, suggest different
futures, either to test our acceptance or to normalize the
ideas.  We have notions of an afterlife, or our next lives.

But there are also theories of awakening from the delusions
of this existence, the realization that we are more than the
narrow view of who we are and how we fit into our various
societies. And there are suggestions that upon your own
awakening, there may be merit in helping others to awaken
too.

What would such an awakened or enlightened society look
like? How would it ripple through the various societies, and
how would it affect anything from power structures at the
macro level all of the way down to our simple day-to-day
lives? Do we envision something of a French Revolution
revisited, complete with the guillotine? Will we gather in
togas around the fountain to discuss philosophy? Will we
find the peace of Shangri-La?

I have a different vision. It's not a "vision" in the sense
of "this is how I would like it to be," but rather one of
waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night upon being
shown hell itself.

This vision, this awakening, it is a final acceptance of the
thought, "We are already dead." It is when no individual can
be emotionally swept away by a cause, by a news story, by promises
of a better tomorrow, by platitudes, or by anything else. It
is when no cleric weilds any power to convince any one of
the faithful that this is the way that things should be, or
that there is value in the suffering. It is the day when no
belief in a rule of law prevents any righteous or just
action with clear conscience. It is the awakening to zanshin
-- what remains when every notion of anything disolves, when
there is no belief, no faith, no patriotisim, no morality
--- nothing -- to suggest the next step. It is when we
accept that there is nothing that we truly own, so nothing
that we struggle to keep; that there is nothing that should
be done, so nothing to sacrifice to make it occur.

It is the day that society determines that it has had
enough -- that there is nothing left that can be squeezed
from it, and there is no spectacle that can distract it.
On that day, there will be no riot. There will be no fear.
There will be no "fight or flight" or any other predictable
flow of the people. Instead, there will be a profound
stillness, an inexplicable quiet as more and more no longer
respond to the sensational feeds, the spectacle, or any
other "bait" to keep the populace divided and off-balance.

On that day, and in that quiet, an individual will not worry
about how he will find food to survive that day. Instead, he
will recgonize the moment that will make the best use of his
death.

And there will be no narrative that will explain it away,
nothing that can be offered that will taken, nothing to put
the people back to sleep. There will be no shortage of
people who will lay down this life to act decisively against
any lingering fool who would attempt to take advantage of
them.

How many people today are becoming diamonds rather than
being crushed? How many are needed in each family,
neighborhood, community, or office, to inspire the others to
awaken as well?

Good people will suffer. Good people will lose their lives.
And so will the others. How else could it be when the people
develop immunity to deceipt?

Just a thought...