[P2P-F] Fwd: The State of the World

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: r kanth <involutegandhian at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Mar 19, 2019 at 3:52 PM
Subject: The State of the World
To: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>
































            *Nature of the Real Crisis*

I have argued that humans are, above all, *myth-making* animals.

We are story-tellers, *par excellence.*

Stories about who* we* are, who *Others *are.

Cultural stories, religious stories, racial stories, *et. al.*

No, we don’t *All* get to  make up myths.

That’s for *some,* only.

The few, the proud, the *ruling castes*: *they* do it all - for us.

And we lap it up, faster than they can ladle it.

*

The most outstanding myths pertain to  the dominant tropes in economics,
politics,  and religion: the three *prime * domains of societal governance.

In our  own society, they go, more or less, * thus*.

In the *first*, *laissez-faire*, and free trade have taken, thus  far,
 pride of place; in the *second,* democracy, equality,  *etc.,*  occupy
public attentions in the *last,* it’s a  renewed ,  recharged , latter-day
evangelism that has moved from the fringe to the center,  in recent times.

The most powerful  may well be the *last,* whose longevity will be  a
telling index of our critical intelligence, * or lack thereof.*

*



So,  when such  myths work, society trundles on under the guise of
‘normalcy’.

But when they don’t , there is a rift within the lute.

*That’s where we are today.*

The negation of any *one* of the myths listed would be bad enough, but we
live

In times where *all three* are,  quite obviously ,  tottering.

The *economy*  itself – not just its myths - went down in 2008, and has
never really recovered (despite  much propaganda to the contrary ).

The *polity *has exposed its *oligarchical *nature blatantly, even
defiantly.

>From rigged elections,  to voter- registration fraud,  and  big-time
lobbying  monies in  Congress, the veils have been brutishly  ripped (with
only 6% expressing any faith in it, about the same level as  in official
Media).

Only the intellectually-challenged still sustain the idea that we subsist
in a working *democracy.*

Religion has also taken a tumble: the Church  of Rome  has shown itself to
be a sanctum for  malignant abuse, of various kinds; the Southern Baptists
 appear to  be not far behind.

Religious bigotry has, further  polarized communal discord: far from being
an *opiate,* it is now a powerful *amphetamine,* which only adds to the
rifts.

*

To sum up: we face a generalised crisis of *legitimacy *in Western
societies.

The old bromide  is wearing  thin: the new power-elites seem to lack the
maturity to wish to stabilize public opinion, being  quite content  to
resort to  the more familiar , if hoary,  ploys of *divide et impera.*

As the old adage has it, Caesar’s wife must not only be  chaste, but needs
also be *above suspicion*.

Who, in power today, can wear that latter  crown of laurels?

*No one*.

We live  with *Unscalable* Corruption (is $21 trillion enough to scale it?
That’s what went ‘unaccounted for’ ,  within but a few years in the DOD).

There is – apparently -* nothing* one can pin faith on.

Except, perhaps,  a little noticed quirk in our natures.

We putatively ‘higher’ mammals – good, bad, and ugly -  seem to yet
 nurture a craving for  a higher truth, despite being immersed, daily,  in
a treacherous world of lies.

It’s odd, but true.

That might account for the legions of ‘*truthers*’ that are on  the
internet , night and day, globally, arguing *against the stream.*

In the *long run – *if such a state  exists at all,  given the various
extinctions we face: of war, atomic weapons,  and climate change* - * I
think they are likely to prevail.

*For Critical Insights, once released , may not be , easily, crammed back
into Pandora’s Box.*

And  Power, without *Legitimation*, lacks  lasting potency.

*Whence, the good old days may be  gone – for good.*

***

So,  if you are a toady or a humbug, or a gull  or a shill, of a teetering
 system,  you are simply  out of luck.

For truth, like murder, methinks, *will ‘out’.*

That’s what wannabe Caligulas – of which there is  no dearth -  also  need
to know.

*[©R.Kanth, 2019]*


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