Alienation Is Our Chief Social Problem

We live in a deeply alienated culture and we all kind of realize this on some level but like nearly all important aspects of life, particularly if they are "big picture" issues, we ignore it. The idea of alienation come from Karl Marx who rightly analyzed capitalism and inherently alienating because it ends up, as it has, commodifying every aspect of life. The problem is that it is so locked in our morality and value systems that we don't notice it. We think alienation is normal and a part of human nature because we are conditioned by it. So this notion is very hard to convey to people since our education and information system are all based on the assumption of alienation.

Let's start with what alienation really means in practice. Being alienated means feeling we are alone in the world. It means feeling that we exist and the world "out there" exists but we are separate. Thus we can only depend on ourselves and whatever we accomplish is entirely our own doing. Of course this is complete bullshit but that's how our culture and political economy is structured. This is why today we are facing almost endless amusements carefully marketed to us. Shortly we may not even need relationships because we will have dolls to service our needs and admire us in just the unique ways we need to make sure we are happy in our alienated state. Meanwhile, the natural world is being slowly (but quickly by historical standards) strangled with plastics and overheated with greenhouse gases as we play Russian roulette with the future.

At the same time, this country, that once sat on top of the world creating a sensible international structure has gone into a steep decline and rejected the very rational pragmatism that allowed it to rise and is now replaced with a nation of lotus eaters living in dreams while the worst most anti-social and profoundly evil people take control of the ship of state. How did we come to this? We have become so radically alienated we cannot even act in ways that benefit our children. In fact, we are so alienated that we just don't want to talk about it. Instead we float along following phony or trivial matters that are focused mainly on tribal differences when all these issue can be quickly and reasonably solved by agreeing to some common ground and negotiating a mutually beneficial solution based on real data and reason. But our information systems are so corrupt, so craven in their greed and dysfunction that they profit from dysfunction, war, corruption and have no interest in promoting accord or pragmatic solutions to ANY problem we face collectively. They only seek to divide us and to deliberately confuse and misinform so their owners or funders in the corporate elite can continue the movement of wealth from us to them. And, because of alienation, we are unable to come together in organizations that can have a real effect on our lives. We can come together to jeer or to insult our fellow Americans in other tribal groupings but we can't organize our communities to do much of anything to benefit ourselves as a collective enterprise. In this way no matter who comes up with sensible and rational solution to any of our problems will be ignored except in some small corner of the blogosphere.

Is there any hope for change? Yes, when we at least begin with understanding that we are alienated not only from each other but from nature and worse still from ourselves, that is, from our most natural and authentic sensibilities. The method to solve this most essential problem: begin to understand who you are by accepting yourself and facing up to your problems without blame. If you are well-adjusted and ok in this world then there is something drastically wrong with you because you've completely adapted to radical alienation. Finally we have to see that we are deeply connected to each other. Learn how nature works and is carefully integrated into ecosystems where each organism fits the pattern just as we are constructed to fit in a pattern of culture even if our own culture is a culture of alienation that seeks to break up patterns and break up connections. We belong in this world and to each other and when we feel the forces of love in our heart then things begin to make sense and we can begin taking steps even steps that seem unreasonable. Love must rule reason because the power of love is the power of life and connection. Reason can only grease the wheels. 

Rule of Law?

At the end of WWII the USA attempted to make "rule of law" and essential component of international relations to stave off yet more war. Rather than fight another war against the USSR the USA wanted international peace. This was eroded so that now, more than any other country, the USA violates international law with impunity and violates its own laws and treaties. Similarly, the idea of rule of law in the "homeland" is in a similar state of debauchery. If you commit a crime and are poor and believe you are innocent the prosecutor will offer you ten years in jail if you plead not guilty or six months in jail with a short probation if you plead guilty so what are you going to do if you know the police, prosecutors, and judges are all on one side and not yours? Jury trials are thus very rare 90-95% never go to trial (depending on jurisdiction--more in federal cases than local ones).

Now take illegal immigration as an example. Both Republicans and Democrats have winked at this and allowed massive amounts of this sort of immigration in order to lower wages and working conditions for low-level workers. There is just enough enforcement of these laws to make immigrants afraid of collecting their wages if employers don't want to pay them and not calling in the law when they are raped or sexually harassed. This is just perfect for capitalists and the rich. The Republicans, of course, channel the anger of ordinary working class voters to getting them to vote for them but never have any intention of actually enforcing the law beyond the balance I described.

Wall Street and the Real Estate industry never had to suffer criminal penalties for the greatest crime wave in our history during the 00s because the Obama Administration refused to prosecute ANYONE for these crimes because Obama depended on these folks for campaign contributions and political support. Fully half of all home loans made the year before the financial collapse were "liars" loans. If there was any justice in the USA then there would have been tens of thousands of people put in jail for real crimes--but because these criminals were well-off and well-connected nothing happened. We are neither a democracy, a Constitutional Republic, or a system of rule-of-law. I know this from what I have observed in life and from what I've read and studied over the years. That's not to say there are not individual lawyers and judges and a few prosecutors who are honest--there are particularly at the local level and these people must be acknowledged.

Most Americans have a hard time with reality. We are schooled in myth and fantasy. Reason and science as a justification for policy remedies is almost unknown. Almost every problem we have from war/peace, health-care, education, housing, transportation, income distribution, the environment, justice system, finance, drug addiction, and so on, have a number of clear solutions based on science and, often, common sense. Few if any of these solutions are ever mentioned in the press or suggested by politicians. Instead we engage in fantasies--in "no child left behind" that actually leaves all children behind--in describing our foreign policy as wanting to help other countries have democratic and popular societies when we do exactly the opposite; or that we seek peace and order when our chief foreign policy efforts are enforced by destruction and mass killing. The reality and the rhetorical are as far away as it was in the age of Stalin. We imagine that we are leaders of the "free" world when we are merely a corrupt Empire. We live by the super-hero fantasies of our movies describing life and the world as a struggle between "good guys" and "bad guy" when this is not only false but that such a struggle has ever existed--no society, country, party, or person is all bad or all good. We still, despite overwhelming evidence, accept the lies the mainstream media put out which is not only demonstrably false but the Narrative contradicts itself year in and year out. So utter canards like "Putin made Trump President" can continue to be put out there day in and day out by an obviously corrupt Democratic Party and the intelligence community that supports it without any compelling evidence despite the fact the NSA monitors communications of all kinds of almost everyone in the world if they so choose. They can see from satellites a picture accurate to the square inch (this from a CIA officer who put these satellites in space) as well as pick up conversations in most homes, apartments and offices all without warrants.

I can only hope and pray that my fellow Americans begin to wake up that there is a reality out there that if they could only remove themselves for a while from the chatter of TV and the ridiculous entertainments out there they might be able to think clearly. Part of this is that without a clear spiritual practice of some kind (and each of us has their own natural approach) where we learn to live in a way that sees beyond the shallows we tend to live in we are doomed to be food for the predators that have become increasingly powerful. The choice is yours. 

Spiritual Practice and Trump

Some years ago when Bush II was President a spiritual friend and healer told me to stop hating Bush and put a picture of him on my altar. This was a tough assignment. I understood what he meant bu.t didn't like doing it. Jesus said to love our enemies and here I was put to the test. Over time I this idea has matured and sprouted as a spiritual practice a kind of spiritual puzzle like a Zen Koan. I found it very hard to develop positive feelings towards Bush. I thought not only was he doing highly toxic things but he was a phony--he was a rich a-hole who pretended to be a redneck and a born-again Christian when he was neither. He might have wanted to be but he just wasn't.

Eventually I came to understand that there is something magical about the Presidency of the United States. In person the President is both the Head of State (like a King or Queen) and the Prime Minister. Thus not only does he have an executive function but he is the National Symbol of our country. He or she is us--and no matter how ugly our real face in the mirror is the only way to make that face beautiful (makeup won't work in the mirror of truth) is to love that face. Thus when it comes to someone like the President no matter how ugly he or she may appear loving that person is the answer--any real Christian would tell you this (those that follow Jesus' teachings). George Bush represented everything I despised so hating him would only add to the negative energy of fear, lying, killing, and destroying countries. Bush was my enemy but hating him means he wins or the force of evil within me wins--loving Bush, wanting the best for him was the surest way of actually opposing his policies as a citizen. I could still tell the truth, I could still witness and demonstrate for peace and compassion but hate has no place in that.

Trump is hated even more vehemently by people on the cultural left (most of them are not leftists in the political sense) because they seem him as crude, rude, and a person unable to tell the truth. I think it's funny that people continue to post on Facebook Trump's inaccurate statements--haven't we learned that Trump has a very different understanding of "truth" that most of us have? Don't we understand that we live in a post-rational society? Just look at our cultural artifacts! Look at the consistent dumbing down of our people over several decades. Only by loving our Great White Father in Washington can we surely understand him and oppose his policies effectively. Love and compassion allows us to expand our consciousness about him and why he is in the position he is in. Only by looking into the mirror and seeing our own simple-minded attitudes, our own narcissism which may not be as graphic as Trump's but I can assure you it's there because we live inside what Christopher Lasch dubbed many decades ago "the culture of narcissism." Compassion also allows us to see deeper--maybe Trump isn't all bad--maybe he has some interest in our well-being but doesn't see it or sees it dimly just as we often see the paths to our own well-being dimly.

The essential element of real spirituality is to understand that we are all connected and that we are all responsible for all the ills of the world as well as the beauty. We can't, as spiritual aspirants, point the finger at others for their faults particularly because we cannot alleviate those faults unless and until we face and work on those very same faults in ourselves--I don't mean we have to do one or the other--we do them at the same time. When I see the selfishness of the President I have to, at the same, see my own selfishness, and not see myself as better than the President or anyone else. Jesus said that we should love our enemies--but implicit in that is the fact we will have enemies, i.e., those we oppose and must oppose. I must oppose Trump's environmental policies, for example, and I can be more effective if I don't hate him and others who seem unable to develop enough compassion for their progeny who will have to live in a planet seriously degraded environmentally and perhaps a planet that may be very hard to live in (there are very specific disaster scenarios that could occur).

The same goes for hating the oligarchy who actually controls most government policies.  Yes, they are greedy, yes they are nasty and cruel by nature, yes they see us mainly as food--but when you look deeper into the human beings that make up this informal network they aren't all bad--it's the system that has evolved over time or you might say the culture that made them collectively act as they do and that system and culture has our face on it. We are selfish, we act selfishly, we are alienated, we do see the world made up of good guys (us) and bad guys (them). We live lives of emotional and physical isolation. We spend our time in cars and houses in front of screens--the rich just spend time in better cars and houses and with more toys and amusements--but their interests are the same as ours. This is why Americans unconsciously defer to the rich and powerful. They know that if they had the means they would act in the same way. Buy a big house and a 200k car, and have the most desirable sexual partners, a boat, an airplane, the best clothes and waste energy, dump plastic in the ocean and "live large" to show the world how much more worthy they are. As long as we admire that kind of lifestyle, as long as we yearn for money to burn, we will continue to ignore and hate the poor, defile the environment, so that our company can make a few percentage points more of money. Let's face it "we have met the enemy and he is us" as Walt Kelly through his character "Pogo" quipped.

And what is it with "us" that is the enemy? Well, here's a clue--unless you face that enemy and love it you cannot master him/her.

We Are OK and the World is Ok -- But We Have To Meet Our Challenges

All of us are ok--we are inheritors of a civilization that has given us, today, all the tools (with some modification) to create whatever sort of world we want. Certainly we can have a world free of poverty, war, and ignorance if that is what we want. We're in a perfect place to do that. Unfortunately, we don't want a peaceful an convivial world. We want a world where the environment is continually degraded by plastic in the stomach of sea creatures, herbicides, insecticides, depleted forests and choral reefs, massive species die-offs, rapid increase in greenhouse gases. We want a world continually at war and believe the government when they claim there are "threats" around the world. Here's news for you--there are no real threats. Nobody other than the corporate elite want to conquer your country and your community and, to be blunt, your family.

No one wants to send troops to the our country and conquer it. There is only one country that seeks to conquer, invade, murder leaders, start "revolutions" and civil wars--only one country with a national "security" budget of over a trillion dollars a year. Which, by the way, has 20 trillion in unaccounted expenditures much of which is sitting in secret bank accounts around the world. Who stole that money? And how much of that could have educated our children? Created marvelous infrastructure projects like the Chinese are doing all over the world (you don't know that because your media won't report it).

Now for most of you these problems I listed seem removed--but what about really serious family issues we all face? What about the outbreak of depression and anxiety? What about drug addiction and the lower life-expectancy? What about our gradual drift into being the first truly poor rich country where nearly half the population can't come up with $500 for an emergency? What about so many of us being just a couple of crises away from not paying our mortgage or other bills? What about the fact we can't rely on a steady job--we might still be working in a year or maybe not as automation sets in, as jobs are farmed out to other countries, as we have to accept lower-paying jobs with our steadily decreasing minimum-wage.

Few Americans know that Western civilization has moved on from punishing it's poor and now try to better them--most European countries don't believe poverty = immorality because that is simply illogical unless your values are ONLY based on materialism and the cult of "winning" and "losing"; a cult based on degrading compassion and community despite the findings of science that show human beings as being deeply hard-wired for sociability. Other countries make education, health-care, housing, food, and other necessities available to citizens because they understand that if more people are healthy and less stressed then that makes each of us less stressed even rich assholes.

But we consistently choose misery, fear, and loathing over conviviality, joy, and compassion. In a word this is deeply, deeply perverse and has no basis in our collective knowledge and our science.

Each of us is ok, each of us has feelings of love (unless we are seriously abused) and other virtues right here at our fingertips. We can respect ourselves, our humanity and our link to the divine through accepting our lives and, also, accepting the broad possibilities available. Even if society blocks us from realizing our potential we can begin to heal our society by healing ourselves. We have all the information, the methods, the styles of therapy (stay away from psychiatrists and other pill pushers), the insights of scores of people who have accepted themselves, their abusive childhoods, their addictions, and moved on to live full lives through a variety of techniques and insights. We also have the knowledge from social- and neuro-science that shows us what sort of lives we can live to be happy. There's no reason to be confused--just study the field of happiness studies--they provide some clear roads--why not use these findings?

Instead our information media obscures and/or ignores important findings that could help each of us to navigate our lives. If we start to pursue more knowledge we will be rewarded as individuals. But it is by re-invigorating society itself which, in turn, will begin to heal the corruption in our political-economy dominated by a ruling class that seeks all benefits for themselves and nothing for the rest of us. Only by changing social mores and broadcasting possibilities that we can easily solve all problems we think are unsolvable--but only because it is to the advantage of the rich and powerful to keep their power by taking from the system and giving little back (there are rich people who are somewhat interested in society but only if it doesn't interfere with their profits).

We are ok, just as we are warts and problems. Our society is ok the way it is--we have to fully understand ourselves and our world and the only way to do that is to accept who we are. Accept that we are selfish and that we live in a culture that encourages selfishness. We have to accept that this is all part of processes that are hard to see. Morality has broken down because it needed to break down so that appropriate values to our real situation in life emerge. There is no rational reason, for example, to say that homosexual sex is immoral because there is no need to expand the human population. We no longer live in an agrarian culture or a herding culture like the ancient Hebrews thus their moral codes, while interesting and something to build on, make no sense in a world that is as far away as we could imagine from the world of two to three thousand years ago. So the process of family disintegration, social isolation and alienation are necessary for us to reorganize our social lives along different lines than the old habits that are obsolete.

So I suggest we stop feeling guilty, understand that "there's beauty in the breakdown" and start to think more holistically and along the lines of Systems Theory which depends on understanding whole systems. We have to move away from what we imagine to be certain and be open to new experience, new states of consciousness, new perspectives. And yes, that's all dangerous and yes, it can lead to all kinds of pain and disaster but that was also the case when our civilization faced the Age of Exploration to find new sea-routes to India when the Ottomans blocked off trade. We now face a different kind of exploration that will, if we continue to engage in it transform the world by transforming ourselves so we can begin to use the technique and technology to create a more pleasant and healthy life for all of us. The amazing explorations in science and technology was accomplished at great effort and creativity by past generations. We hold all this inheritance in our hands--are we going to squander it on pointless waste. Or are we going to take up the challenge and run with it. 

Why We Hate Foreign Affairs and Other Important Matters

The answer to my question for most Americans is that the vast, vast, vast majority of both "educated" and uneducated Americans know next to nothing about the outside world--nor do they know much about our own country. The mental space in most people's minds are occupied by family, work, social circles, and cultural tribe as one would expect. But just as much as these are important it is occupied with mass entertainments usually carefully engineered to particular demographics. "News" which I define as enforcement of the grand Narrative that provides some kind of framework for people to hang their lives on makes up much of this "entertainment" because its value as an information source is almost comically poor.

We don't have room in our lives to look at other countries and our cultural tendencies have always been towards isolationism. That's why it's easy for people to not know that problems think are unsolvable whether it's creating an efficient and high-quality health-are system, or having family-friendly policies like five weeks paid vacations, maternity leave and so on are normal in nearly all developed countries yet I don't think more than 1% of American people know about any of this nor, sadly, want to know. Look at it this way. If you know that people in the next neighborhood get free health-care and you don't and, furthermore, you know that no matter what you or anyone thinks that there is no way that will change, which is btw true, you will stop thinking about it to avoid beings stressed when it comes to writing that check for $1200 to cover your family with a policy that doesn't cover everything and has a relatively high deductible. And for those of you conservatives that talk about higher taxes in these countries know that their systems are cheaper (on average OECD countries pay about half of what we pay and cover everyone), more efficient and higher quality and no other developed country has a falling life expectancy like we do.

We also lack a conceptual framework to think about things that are painful. We don't want to think about the growth of suicide, depression, anxiety, poverty, drug addiction, autism and so on. We are actually becoming a culture not only of narcissists (that has been emerging for many decades) but we are becoming autistic in our life-styles as we entertain ourselves to death. Anyone like me who presents ideas and perspectives that provide facts and figures that go against the contemporary cultural myths is almost always met with a cold silence or a shrug of the shoulders (metaphocially speaking) almost no one, even those agreeing with me, wish to dwell on any of this because it is "negative." But within that negativity there is always a positive side and that's where we could go if we actually faced reality. We simply don't have conversations about any issues let alone foreign affairs other that throw out tribal propaganda at each other. If I post the fact, for example, the facts on health-care I cited above I get, in response from those in the "conservative" tribe, a rant on free-enterprise which doesn't address the data I cited. Maybe universal health-care is not a good idea but those who oppose it don't make a rational argument in favor of their position other than chant slogans and wave flags. I can understand why the politicians oppose any reform of the health-care system because they are bribed to do so (and I have some personal insight into how this works) and the mass-media won't report the facts about health-care or anything else that will upset parts of the coalition of oligarchs that control the media.

This willful ignorance and denial extends to climate-change. Few Americans know that Germany gets most of its energy from renewable sources and many other countries are leading the way including China in renewables while the USA is going backwards. Not only are we in denial about the problem but also about the solutions. We would rather take a chance with climate-change and endanger our children's and our grandchildren's lives than begin to explore the science and the risks. I've had numerous conversations about it with people who simply call it a "fraud" without evidence--opponents of climate science simply call it a name and that's the end of the discussions--they believe there is simply not even a remote possibility that there may be any truth to the possibility that large amounts of greenhouse gases could have ANY effect or that the effect will be good. None of them seem to have a clue about how systems in nature work and I mean NO CLUE.

Our permanent wars go on with no opposition by anyone. People simply support the military as a heroic institution that guarantee our "liberty" (almost gone as a practical matter unless we are rich) and security. Bombing peasants in Afghanistan somehow makes us safer--this notion is accepted without argument by most Americans and never questioned in any mainstream media account. Killing for peace and other Orwellian notions are routine in today's culture. At one time this idea met with a lot of resistance during the 60s but is nowhere present today. No one knows the history of the Middle East, for example, but most people imagine that the region has "always" experienced constant warfare for thousands of years which is utter fantasy but these statements can be made by people who have no idea what they are talking about but say this to justify the slaughter and displacements of tens of millions of people and the destruction of civil society as if we had nothing to do with any of it.

I have lived on this Earth for 69 years and I have seen great progress in many areas of life. People are less prejudiced against other races, even though this is beginning to be reversed, people are more tolerant of alternative lifestyles, women are far less repressed but still caught in the cultural assumptions of being female which seem to linger but that may be that we have reached a balance. But in the area of knowledge and critical thinking we are in steep collective nosedive. Most Americans know nothing about the outside world, want to know nothing and are primarily focused on very narrow personal concerns. I'm not blaming anyone--it is what it is and this is who we are. I do what I am called to do by alerting people to the sorts of things I write about--I don't have a particular interest on whether my thoughts have much of an effect--of course I'd like it but I still must do what I am called to do.

The Emerging Reality is All Up Closes and Personal

One of the great problems of our time is that, collectively, we seem to lack the ability to do precisely what we must do at this time--look deeper! We live in a world of surfaces where going deep, understanding causes of events and states of being seems to be too time-confusing until there is a crisis and we have to go to therapy or AA, NA, or, Church or whatever gets us through the night.

In this time our collective survival depends not on some political agenda, not some new business. not on a humming economy. It depends on our ability to go to the heart of things--to dig deeply and to take the time to do so. And it's not like you have to make much of an effort. There is some kind of force that will plunge you into whatever it is you're into and demand that you look. On the other hand, you can avoid that force and simply make up a story where you are the star, once again maybe tragic, maybe comic, maybe just the way it is.

The new emerging reality is up close and personal. It is in the up close and personal that you must act. How do we act? The answer is simple. Through close observation of who you are and what you are doing. Looking deeply inside your inner life and also your outer life with the understanding that there really is no difference between inner and outer. We often imagine they are different and discrete but that is only because we like to put things in categories as per our cultural tendencies. The actual reality is that it's all connected and part of one continuum--but that's hard to grasp until you begin to observe it. This doesn't have to be about belief. We can "believe" something like "we are all one" but that's just a platitude--it's useful to keep in mind but not really a belief. A belief is an idea with power.

There is no way that we can grasp the "big picture" of what is generally going on because there are clearly dimensions we can't fully see or see at all. I don't "feel" the cell-phone transmissions at least not consciously yet there's all kinds of activity in that spectrum. Science has further explored how much we don't know. Science seems ready soon to move towards the idea that all matter is actually some form of consciousness and is alive. A living universe changes the way we look at things. We, in the West, were trained to think of ourselves as both alive and conscious and that the rest of nature is not. There may be life on earth but it is limited to animals, plants and so on. But all this has been put into doubt with the discovery of ideas surrounding complexity and the emergent intelligence of complex systems. Plus the "data" or information we have about the world around us is filled with contradictions, anomalies and just generally ridiculous--this is generally driving us crazy. We all share a need to have some workable framework to keep things simple and coherent. The problem is that Western civilization is very much focused on certainty, logic, simplicity and clarity. We love all-around simple ideas that make us feel good about ourselves and others around us.

For me, paradox and mystery are essential to understanding this life. We don't have to know exactly what is going on around us or in the world outside to understand "truth." Truth is not about accurate depictions of nature, ourselves, our society, or objects and systems in general. Truth originally meant faithfulness and something like being honorable, trustworthy and so on. Under this model a virtuous person is truthful because he or she is sincere and isn't running some hustle. I remember when I was trying to find some metaphysical foundation for morality I read Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics where he defined a virtuous person as someone with a good reputation. In a world of public relations and easy hypocrisy, a deep menu of platitudes, and a culture that equates wealth with virtue this shocked me. Reputation in our world can be managed and bought--that's what we see in our world. But after thinking about it I knew that in the world of 4th century Athens people all kind of knew each other, had grown up together, known parents and relatives so hustlers and punks could be outed pretty quickly and genuine people, over time, achieved a reputation for honor and virtue. I never spent enough time in one place or any country or small town to have experienced a world where everyone know who I am and who my parents and ancestors were so I could not hide by moving to another neighborhood--and if I moved to another city--then I would always be on probation unless I was taken up by prominent and honorable people in that city who would vouch for me. I had not initially understood that a capitalist culture that featured alienation could not foster virtue and morality without some other addition. In the USA that was usually religion or, in some urban areas, it was culture as in literature, art, theater, music, the humanities, science and so on. But those things have seldom been able to compete with the cash-money society of capitalism.

We must find a new basis for virtue and morality which can only come from a new metaphysical foundation that rejects alienation and capitalism as a dominant ethic--capitalism has a positive role to play but can only play a negative role if we reduce all values to commodity fetishism, i.e., making people, things, nature itself into commodities whose value is determined by markets (which are usually rigged or weighted by those that run the markets).