With Us or Against Us

George Bush once repeated a not-so-subtle mantra during the midst of his 8 years of terror, debt, destruction, and the dissolution of America as we know it, in a manner that at the time by many was deemed justified. In order to fight Terror as he put it, we must throw out the old rule book, and we need everyone on our side. The mantra was simply this:

EITHER YOU ARE WITH US, OR YOU ARE WITH THE TERRORISTS.

Aside, from sounding like something the Borg might've said in an episode of Star Trek, it is a fatuous and bellicose statement with no moral intrinsic value. In fact, it is the exact opposite.

When we accept this didactic nightmare we engage in a narcoleptic vision of the world which sees our own understanding of reality slipping further away from any sense of constructive or positive relevance. I began to think about this again as I work on trying to finish a documentary about the life of a poet from British India, Muhammad Iqbal, who understood this concept 100 years ago.

It's nothing new of course. But today, the mantra has a powerful twist. Bigger Weapons, Larger Consequences, More Insidious and Endless Enemies. The War on Terror, if we accept it, is a self-fulfilling prophecy brought forth by the Spectacle itself, trying to usher us into an era of pure thoughtlessness, fear, and ignorance.

What we have actually done by accepting this is far removed from those ideals we hollowly assume we are upholding (freedom, democracy, truth, prosperity, liberty, etc...)

When we accept this, we are actually initiating a war against ourselves. And the longer we pursue violence as a means to an end, the longer we pursue cultural domination as a by-product of global corporate control, the longer we accept even a single innocent casualty as just cause for our larger Religion of Hegemonic lust, the quicker we demonize ourselves, and the easier it becomes to bury ourselves completely: consumed by the narrative of our own fears.

There is no clash of civilizations. There is only a clash within ourselves.

The major problem of the 21st century isn't terrorism, it's pursuing a false-global democracy that is synonymous with Terror as a State of Mind. War as a Way of Life.

The danger of our times is that we have forgotten who we are.

The Secret of the Self is simple: We have to remember.

This realization starts within, and has to find a way to work itself into the world before it's too late. Or one day we might wake up and realize we created our own personal Hell on Earth, where no one trusts anyone, and no one believes anyone, and there is no more diversity, there is no more difference, there is no more unity, there is nothing.

It's not as dramatic here as it is in real life.

Go out and do your part. But don't despair. We have to win this battle by loving life. We have to win this battle by actively being engaged, to defend those things we love most.

We have to be Creative, Non-Violent, 21st Century, Mystic Revolutionary Combatants.

We have to Know who We Are.

Good night or Good morning. Whichever it is. . .