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In times of old, The Furies protected Mother Right. If a mother (or any woman) was harmed, The Furies swooped down and took their vengeance. They were one of the last vestiges of a world that existed before the patriarchy. When we feel righteous anger, it is The Furies who are calling out to us to make what is wrong right again.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
We Are Right
I started out to write, "Something's wrong here." Then I realized many things are wrong. Oil companies are making obscene amounts of money while the world burns all around them. The world is more and more reminding me of scenes from my own novel The Gaia Websters where the business men sat in their enclaves, their busidoms, and manipulated the various systems for their own benefit—bringing down governments and starting wars when and where they deemed necessary. And that's not the worst of it. We're letting them destroy the planet, our home. We're even helping.
I thought of an analogy today. Remember that old G.B. Shaw story where he's talking to a beautiful woman and he says, "Will you sleep with me for a million dollars?" She says, "Sure." "Will you sleep with me for five dollars?" "No! What do you think I am?" He says, "We've already determined what you are. Now we're haggling." I was thinking of all the pollution and cancer-causing chemicals communities allow these busidoms to dump into our environment and into our homes. "Will you let us degrade the environment and cause thousands of people to become ill and eventually die if we provide the people in your community with jobs?" "Sure," the civic leaders and people in the community say. "Will you bring me one person that I can murder if I provide the people in your community with jobs?" "No! What kind of people do you think we are?" "We already know what kind of people you are. Now we're haggling."
I mean, what is the difference?
Yet screaming about it doesn't help any more. Maybe it never did. We need to say what we're going to do instead. We need to talk about the world we wish to build. Although having a vision, having a plan, goes far beyond politics, I do like the Green Party ideas. I especially like the details of the California Greens. We've got to decide what kind of world we want. Cowering isn't working. (Believe me, I know how to cower.) Screaming isn't working. (How many of you are hoarse from screaming? Raise your hand.) Depression isn't working. (Been there, done that to death.)
Remember that line from a Tibetan Buddhist practice I've quoted before: Subdue the demons with splendor.
Let's create the splendor. Even if it's only in our minds at first.
Under the California Green Party platform's section on Ecology & Earth Stewardship, they have a section on "biocides." They write, "Ecological wisdom demands an end to methods of pest and weed control that poison the Earth, disrupt ecosystems, and threaten the health of people and other living things." (For one thing, why don't all our political parties have a section on Earth Stewardship?) then they have a section on how they'll get ride of biocides.
Even if we can't get our major political parties to do many of the things mentioned in the Green Party Platforms, we can look at these visionary ideas and put them into practice in our own lives. (The 10 Key Values are: Social Justice, Community-Based Economics, Nonviolence, Decentralization, Future Focus/Sustainability, Feminism, Personal and Global Responsibility, Respect for Diversity, Grassroots Democracy, Ecological Wisdom.)
Just some of my thoughts on my way to bed tonight. I originally titled this post "Many things are wrong." But then I thought, many things are right, too. You are right. I am right. We see beauty. Now we need to coax it into existence where it doesn't exist and help those who don't see it where it does exist.
I am determined to transform into someone who is more fully herself and not shackled to her fears. In this body, as this human being, one way or the other.
One way or another I'm gonna getcha, getcha, getcha. 1 commentsAll photographs and written material copyright © 2003-2007 by Kim Antieau unless otherwise indicated. May not be used without permission.
I thought of an analogy today. Remember that old G.B. Shaw story where he's talking to a beautiful woman and he says, "Will you sleep with me for a million dollars?" She says, "Sure." "Will you sleep with me for five dollars?" "No! What do you think I am?" He says, "We've already determined what you are. Now we're haggling." I was thinking of all the pollution and cancer-causing chemicals communities allow these busidoms to dump into our environment and into our homes. "Will you let us degrade the environment and cause thousands of people to become ill and eventually die if we provide the people in your community with jobs?" "Sure," the civic leaders and people in the community say. "Will you bring me one person that I can murder if I provide the people in your community with jobs?" "No! What kind of people do you think we are?" "We already know what kind of people you are. Now we're haggling."
I mean, what is the difference?
Yet screaming about it doesn't help any more. Maybe it never did. We need to say what we're going to do instead. We need to talk about the world we wish to build. Although having a vision, having a plan, goes far beyond politics, I do like the Green Party ideas. I especially like the details of the California Greens. We've got to decide what kind of world we want. Cowering isn't working. (Believe me, I know how to cower.) Screaming isn't working. (How many of you are hoarse from screaming? Raise your hand.) Depression isn't working. (Been there, done that to death.)
Remember that line from a Tibetan Buddhist practice I've quoted before: Subdue the demons with splendor.
Let's create the splendor. Even if it's only in our minds at first.
Under the California Green Party platform's section on Ecology & Earth Stewardship, they have a section on "biocides." They write, "Ecological wisdom demands an end to methods of pest and weed control that poison the Earth, disrupt ecosystems, and threaten the health of people and other living things." (For one thing, why don't all our political parties have a section on Earth Stewardship?) then they have a section on how they'll get ride of biocides.
Even if we can't get our major political parties to do many of the things mentioned in the Green Party Platforms, we can look at these visionary ideas and put them into practice in our own lives. (The 10 Key Values are: Social Justice, Community-Based Economics, Nonviolence, Decentralization, Future Focus/Sustainability, Feminism, Personal and Global Responsibility, Respect for Diversity, Grassroots Democracy, Ecological Wisdom.)
Just some of my thoughts on my way to bed tonight. I originally titled this post "Many things are wrong." But then I thought, many things are right, too. You are right. I am right. We see beauty. Now we need to coax it into existence where it doesn't exist and help those who don't see it where it does exist.
I am determined to transform into someone who is more fully herself and not shackled to her fears. In this body, as this human being, one way or the other.
One way or another I'm gonna getcha, getcha, getcha. 1 comments
1 Comments:
Great post, Kim. That GB Shaw train of thought is powerful, thanks -
By Theriomorph, at 6:11 AM