So here is a continuum.
disturbing <——> comforting
Then we have the american dream. You know… own a home, own a car, get married, have children, work until old, retire, weddings, funerals, grandchildren, college funds, careers, new clothes, new tvs, new computers, travel, etc. This is a convenient way of life if this social system of ours is to prevail. Why? Because it turns the wheel of consumption which is cyclical in nature; people buy stuff and stuff breaks and they have to buy it again. Pleasures are chased like rabbits in the sun. Advertising creates more “wants” to buy more stuff and feel apart of the normalcy of society. That is the cycle. There is nothing wrong with being normal if that is what one really wants.
I am as much part of this system as anyone. We have slowly been domesticated into it since we were born. Just as dogs and cats have been domesticated into human pets or cows, sheep and pigs have been domesticated as human food. Our parents, relatives, television programs, media, school friends, books, magazines, advertising and movies have been the domesticators just as they were for our parents. Nowadays we have an additional domesticator for the upcoming generation (and the current one), in the form of social media. And the internet of course.
This “american dream” system of human life serves a purpose and it’s purpose is to feed itself. Life is a system. Nature is a system. Our bodies work as a system. But unlike those three systems, our social system does not really work integrally as a whole (although actually it is just a system within a system so perhaps this is inevitable?). It’s more like a cancer, slowly destroying itself and its own environment which enables it to survive.
An example of this is the cyclical consumption mentioned earlier where the only thing that matters is that the wheel turns no matter what gets destroyed or polluted. If you run a company, what is more important for you; that you make money and outshine your competitors (avoiding going out of business that is) or that you run things so you are taking into account the planet’s finite resources as well as the consquences of your business practices regarding the earth’s inhabitants? According to my understanding, both are not possible simultaneously in the bigger scheme of things. We sort of have to admit our parasitic natures and find a balance.
The problems of the system are inherent in the system itself and nobody can really be blamed especially those in power because the only thing more powerful than getting into power (whether through inheritance or individual hard work and achievement) is to give that power away. To admit our own powerlessness in the eyes of universal law. And to forgive ourselves for our eternal incompetence and ignorance.
The beauties and the problems of the system are essentially the same; we are free yet our freedom is controlled. So we are not really free. We live in a very sophisticated habitat and although we don’t live in a cage, our domesticated minds become a sort of invisible prison. We fall in love with our wants and mistake them for our needs. We have learned to connect with each other around the world through the internet yet we are more disconnected from our source of life than ever before.
Ever since I can remember, I have been disturbed yet fascinated by the very comforts our way of life brings when I learned where they come from, how they prevail and what motivates people. I am disturbed also by the fact that for some reason, I want to live in a world that is better for everyone yet I am pre-occupied with my own ambitions as an artist and a man. I know that if we were to meet the basic needs of all people, this would be a most fertile ground for love, compassion, beauty, wisdom which are the things that define the gods and godesses within us all (the only ones I believe in).
Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be how nature operates. Peace is a temporary state just as every state is so the idea of peace on earth becomes quite idiotic (not that we shouldn’t aim for some kind of stability and education). Everything changes. Storms and floods come and go. Life and death happens every moment. Everything that is doable, is natural. The darker aspects of life and nature and humanity such as violence, hate, anger, despair, sorrow and suffering are metaphors for greater things. Death is an enemy of life but it also feeds new life when our bodies become worm food. The questions of morality are not so much about right/wrong as they are about actions/consequences. Our intelligence levels are a matter of understanding these parameters.
Which is why I have decided to no longer take sides in this great war of ours. I will watch life go by like a soft summer breeze. Let the chips fall where they may. I am a soldier of passion. I fight only for inner glory. Where pen meets paper. Where guitar strings buzz. Where the moans of pleasure roar. Where the childs spirit rises to the surface like an ethereal sunrise.