A voice in the wilderness
MORE OF THE WAYS OF
A SPECIES THAT HAS AWAKENED

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In the newest Conversations with God dialogue we are offered a list of sixteen differences in the behaviors of an awakened species when compared to the behaviors of humans who are living in an unawakened state.

In the days ahead I am going to continue to review that list here, and provide an opportunity for deep discussion of them. Here, then, are Items #9-12:

9. An awakened species creates a balance between technology and cosmology; between machines and nature. Humans in an unawakened state often do not.

10. An awakened species would never under any circumstances terminate the current physical expression of another sentient being unless asked directly by that other being to do so. Humans in an unawakened state often kill other humans without that other human requesting them to.

11. An awakened species would never do anything that could potentially damage or harm the physical environment that supports the members of the species when they are physicalized. Humans in an unawakened state often do so.

12. An awakened species never poisons itself. Humans in an unawakened state often do so.

Looking at these four observations, do you agree? What changes do you think would take place in the daily experience of humanity if we adopted the four behaviors of an awakened species that are listed here?

Conversations with God-Book 4: Awaken the Species has placed before us a road map, providing us a look at how we may get from where we are as a species to where we want to be: a place that is free from violence and strife, from suffering caused by others, from the experience of lack and insufficiency.

I believe it is possible for the human collective to get there, to create these outcomes. What do you think? Is this all a pipe dream? And regarding the four behaviors on the list above, do you see them as applicable and functional in any way in the daily experience and expression of the sentient beings on our planet?

Comments

225 responses to “A voice in the wilderness
MORE OF THE WAYS OF
A SPECIES THAT HAS AWAKENED”

July 11, 2017

Jethro

What can we really say about balance between machines and life forms? That is an imbalance that has run a muck. Are we really headed towards being connected to each other through implanted technology? Can that be a good thing? It might be better for us to know what each other is “really” thinking, being that we lie like crazy to produce a specific image which changes with the people. But, machines that pollute and destroy our earth is the real subject here I believe. It’s still an imbalance run a muck. But what if we could could know the honest thoughts of people? I have had thoughts that would embarrass me to great shame if known by another. How would that effect #10? Would it be easier to accept all humans easier if we were accustomed to hearing others thoughts or stop undesirable actions from occurring if we knew the truth from everyone. I could see some benefits to that… after the fear factor settled and acceptance set in. #11 presents its own problem, some folks are destroying nature believing they are helping humanity. There does seem to be a rise in awareness and education that may help before it’s too late. #12 In the same, harming oneself is a common activity today if for pleasure and/or due to plane ignorance. Many people just don’t know, some can’t help it due to poverty, and governments condone it by allowing pollution and other forms of dangerous environments.

Awareness and education can create an awakened species, should anyone choose to look past the dollar sign… well, dollars are the “bottom line” so I understand it. Maybe we need to notice the bottom line is last. First things first.

Reply
July 12, 2017

Marko

While my personal mood is often Feeling Positively Ridiculously Opti-Mystically Outrageous! That’s my interior world & the attitude I work & play toward being, sustaining, expanding & creating. I’m less optimistic given our current pResident & political climate and North Korea.

As for any solutions or soul-utions given in Book 4 or any of the CwG books, this is my current conclusion, based on my current understanding of the works & dialogues within this cosmology.

The solutions to the world lie in our own personal awakening. That is the most repeated message I get from here & the books. Personal awakening leads eventually to mass awakening.

The CwG books say the problems of the world are not political, economic, or military etc. They are spiritual.

Further, politics is our spirituality announced.

So in any of these solutions to our endless problems be they individual, group or the world, it seems we simply have to offer our best ideas.

I think we have to work with in the political system we are in, to make any solutions come about in larger ways. It’s actually quite easy to work on ourselves in the privacy of our own homes, & safer environments. But much harder to get out in the real world & participate. I’ve had a saying on our refrigerator in the past. “The world is run by those who show up.”

If we work only on ourselves without direct participation in the political process or any other system we currently have, we by default let others who do show up, do what they will. Even if against the majority of peoples desires. That’s happening now.

Book 4 says we are already awake. By that meaning, we have all demonstrated in small ways & degrees, things awaken beings do by default. So too, our political process has demonstrated in small ways things more closely in line with awaken beings.

That’s the issue here. Small ways can certainly turn into BIG ways. Yet we keep waiting for the critical mass to kick in. I remember in the early 90’s talking about this. Almost 20 years later, we are still waiting.

Book 4 also says we will not destroy ourselves, our collective mind set however spiritually asleep does not desire to end our physical existence here on a collective level. Even if we accept that as true & accurate, that is not always as hopeful as it sounds.

We may survive, but if we survive on a mostly dead planet with most of it’s precious resource depleted, and live underground because of global warming extremes or in the mountains because of flooding, how fun is that? So, even if we survive, who wants to live on earth that is mostly destroyed, but still habitable to a small degree?

There is no one size fits all answer to the outrageous, overwhelming, sometimes mind numbing problems the world has.

My personal conclusion is that I like to think that the problems of the world can be seen as a set uP for us to realize our higher & greatest potential. Our godlike empowerment is seen by how we heal & revitalize the world that we are currently destroying. Yet do we need such extremes to express & demonstrate that?

Reply
1. July 15, 2017
  
  Spiritual_Annie
  
  There has been a build-up to the extremes we are currently experiencing. They didn’t just suddenly show up. They are the results of many years of thoughts, words and actions that haven’t been for All, but instead only some. That’s the law of cause and effect at work.
  
  I keep going back to, I think it’s in Happier Than God, that part of the act of creation includes having a contextual field against which we can appreciate the experiences we desire—the whole dark/light, up/down, left/right thing. I guess for some, it does need to be this extreme or it wouldn’t be. They or we have created a hellish place filled with war and destruction and poverty and starvation, and brought us to the brink, maybe because it’s the only way some people will wake up. Maybe this is the only way some can come to realize their own Light and claim their own power.
  
  I agree that the times call for us to reach deeply inward for and then outwardly be the grandest version of the greatest vision ever we hold about who we really are. To move to the next level, whatever that means for each of us. To greatly expand our living version of who we choose to be—not just in our thoughts or in private.
  
  It’s quite the challenge, especially with internet trolls and people unwilling to have a conversation instead of just voicing their own opinion in a comment and moving on. All we can be is our best in any given moment.
  
  Love and Blessings Always,
  ~Annie
  
  Reply
  1. July 15, 2017
    
    Marko
    
    Thanks Annie, I don’t experience many trolls, but they are definitely out there, especially in news articles & political stuff.
    
    Reply
July 12, 2017

Patrick Gannon

“An awakened species creates a balance between technology and cosmology;” Hunh? Say what?

“Cosmology is the science of the origin and development of the universe. Modern cosmology is dominated by the Big Bang theory, which brings together observational astronomy and particle physics.” (Wikipedia). I see no significance in the relationship between technology and cosmology. We learn about cosmology by constantly improving our technology. They go hand in hand and are in perfect balance. As technology improves, our knowledge of cosmology improves.

“between machines and nature. Humans in an unawakened state often do not.”

Humans, let us recall, are part of nature, or is this a suggestion that we are separate from it? What machines are we supposed to eliminate in order to bring ourselves into balance – and yet still satisfy the needs of 7 billion people… Where is this balance? One might ask if an “awakened” species would vote for itself a minimum wage that would prompt businesses to automate, and thereby eliminate the workers who previously earned less than the minimum wage, but who were gainfully employed, learning skills, establishing a resume, and contributing to society. We want to pay people $15/hr to flip burgers, so the burger chains will develop kiosks that cook and sell the product without human intervention, while we pat ourselves on the back for mandating a raise for people who are now out of a job. How awake is that? How would the HEBs handle this? Many will want to think of them in Kumbaya terms, so they will want to believe that these HEBs would favor things like raises in minimum wage, but this might indicate an inability to think clearly and foresee unplanned consequences that create larger problems. If they are really awake, they would probably allow evolution to take its natural path and let the species compete in order to continue to evolve so as to strengthen and improve it.

“An awakened species would never under any circumstances terminate the current physical expression of another sentient being unless asked directly by that other being to do so.”

Well, aren’t they foolish? How did they survive and evolve? How did these imaginary awakened beings get to the point where they could afford to do this? I consider myself pretty awake, and if another sentient being meant me, my loved ones, or even other individuals harm, and if the circumstances called for it and I had the ability, I would take them out, without asking them if they wanted to be removed from the gene pool first, and would have no guilt over doing so. If we had not evolved self-defense mechanisms, we wouldn’t be here. If these awakened beings were attacked by another species, which was less awakened, would they not defend themselves? Would they ask for permission before doing so? This statement can also be interpreted as requiring that we all become vegans, but how do you ask less sentient critters for permission to eat them?

“An awakened species would never do anything that could potentially damage or harm the physical environment that supports the members of the species when they are physicalized.”

I think Jethro touched on this below. We harm or damage the physical environment in order to clear land to feed people who would otherwise starve to death…. and what in the heck is “physicalized” in this context, supposed to mean? (Yeah, I know – reincarnated, more woo without compelling evidence). Physicalized: express or represent by physical means or in physical terms.

“An awakened species never poisons itself.” This implies that the awakened species has options not available to us – an ability to provide for an out-of-control population without creating any waste byproducts which seems doubtful, or advanced technology that takes care of it. We’re cautioned in #9 that our technology is out of balance, yet, if so, how else are we to eliminate these poisons – other than getting rid of all of us?!

Yeah, this is all pipe dream stuff, but I’m not sure it’s harmless daydreaming. We are an evolved species at a certain point in our evolutionary track, and we’re being compared with imaginary superheroes who would have had to go through a similar evolutionary track in order to survive and evolve. But of course there is no evidence for them, so we’re being made to feel inferior to something imaginary, supposedly to motivate us to do better. From my perspective, after being advised that we’re inferior by comparison with these imaginary superheroes, my motivation to improve is lacking. I am not inspired.

Where are the real solutions that will make us an awakened species, if such is possible? Neale holds up an imaginary, utopian species as a goal to ascribe to, but what if they really existed? When these superhero HEBs and awakened species get to this awakened point, where do they go from there? What do you do when you get to the end, and no longer evolve, no longer have room for improvement? Nothing to strive for? For the same reason, I find the heaven concept to be completely lacking in attraction.

Reply
1. July 12, 2017
  
  Kristen
  
  Agree with you on most of that, and think Neale is trying to get us to morph into some non human species, that I dont want to be a part of at all. And loves words…like cosmology, or his God does, they often make no sense at all, I dont see the link there either. Does Neale?
  We have a minimum wage here in NZ and always have. Just over $15 I think. Many small businesses like myself have downsized to owner operator as staff are now a financial liability….if someone is on fulltime, that costs me $600 a week, plus 8 paid stat days off, 4 weeks paid holidays, 10 paid sick days, 5 funeral days, plus I have to pay another 3% to their pension scheme. Basically I could have to pay them to stay home for 9 weeks a year if they take all paid leave entitlements, while I either work double hours to do their work, or employ someone else at another $600 a week to cover them! So in small businesses, whom together are any countries largest employers, are we guaranteed that person will generate enough extra business to just cover their wages? Nope. In retail, after taxes, that individual would need an extra $1500 turnover just to cover their wages! Cake decorating which I do thats $1800 worth of cakes a week just to cover them! Add on around 25% to convert to usd.
  We used to have a student, family or under 18yr old rate of $8hr, that was tax free if people worked less than 10hours a week as under the tax threshold, and worked really well. Then McDonalds staff fought against it using age discrimination laws and got it overturned…the outcome was predictable. No jobs for teens and students anymore…who would pay a 16year old $15 an hour when you can get an experienced adult who values their job for the same $$$$.
  Doesnt work…minimum wage has a huge negative impact on the very people its designed to help, especially since many arent worth anywhere close to that. And the entire economy as businesses dont bother growing, staffing costs are now a liability, and they’re high maintenance! Staff often miss the point, that theyve sold their time to their boss, so should be working the entire time theyre at work…no personal emails or ph calls, no chatting with friends etc. Quite simple concept really, your boss owns the time you sold to them, not you. Im tough!
  Take care,
  K
  
  Reply
  1. July 12, 2017
    
    Patrick Gannon
    
    Great comments. I’m liberal on most social issues, but some of the things they want to do on the fiscal side are counterproductive.
    
    We’re already seeing poor results in liberal cities and states that imposed their own minimum wage. It really screws the millennials over. They don’t get “starter jobs” like my generation got, which makes a transition rather difficult…
    
    It’s all about “feeling good,” rather than actually improving the situation. For the same reason, we’re having trouble dealing with the Islamic problem. If you criticize Islam, you’re automatically a bigot.
    
    Real life examples from small businesses like yours may help at least some people to understand the reality, I hope.
    
    Reply
    1. July 13, 2017
      
      Kristen
      
      I think people forget that all money comes from somewhere! Generally directly from the take home pay of employers.
      
      Reply
    2. July 16, 2017
      
      Raphael
      
      That was daring of you to bring up Islam…touchy subject these days!
      
      I am puzzled by the choice so-called liberals make to defend an archaic religious dogma that condemns their lifestyles and would suppress them if it held the majority, as well as to label critics of Islam “racists”. Since when has a religion become a race, and given the fact that a majority of Christians are white, is criticizing Christianity equally racist?
      
      These so-called liberals would not tolerate intolerance from Christianity, yet welcome it from Islam. It is amusing to watch them twist themselves into a pretzel defending something they know opposes them, a very conservative and oppressive religious dogma.
      
      I am neither liberal nor left but, going in that direction, way out of the visible political spectrum, by the way.
      
      Reply
      1. July 16, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        I agree with your characterization of many liberals who want to “feel good” but don’t really want to solve problems that require difficult choices. However there is a difference between Muslims and Islam. One is people, the other is the garbage that is indoctrinated into those people before they were capable of critical thinking. We have to try and keep the two separate.
      2. July 16, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Of course…the people are not the problem, the dogma is. However many so-called liberals do not differentiate between the two, seemingly accepting the dogma under the guise of “tolerance” toward the people, while rightwing white supremacists hate both the people and the dogma!
        Simple-minded choices…
2. July 13, 2017
  
  Raphael
  
  Here is a simple suggestion for improving any situation. It’s called personal responsibility. It means understanding the real consequences of one’s choices and actions. Without this, we remain powerless.
  
  Our technological civilization teaches people everything but personal responsibility, for the sake of ease and convenience. Of course being irresponsible is extremely convenient. People eat meat but never see the animal being slaughtered. They support wars and wave their stupid flags but never see the “enemy” (including women and children) being blown to pieces. They consume and discard unneeded junk at an ever greater speed but never see the effect their consumerism has on the natural environment and on those who manufacture their poorly made crap in slave like conditions, most likely in China or India. They support technologies that poison the land, the air and the water but remain oblivious. They want financial wealth and success yet do not understand or do not care that this often comes at the cost of exploiting another economic class, of creating more artificial needs or of raping a third world nation.
  
  Responsibility and freedom cannot be separated…and are directly proportional. The less responsible people become, the more they need coercive rules in order not to behave like 4 years old. We are at this point in our development, which also explains the rise in authoritarianism which can be seen within the whole political spectrum in many nations. The infantile populace is seeking a master, a king, an emperor, a strong leader, a messiah or a miraculous event that will relieve it of its last vestiges of adulthood, and take care of all of its problems. Trump is one example. And this is also why so many are waiting for the second coming, for ET’s or for some mysterious “global enlightenment” (as many in the metaphysical community naively did just before 2012) to save them from their own foolishness…people will do anything but face the consequences of their actions and own them.
  
  Irresponsibility will probably kill us all.
  
  Reply
  1. July 13, 2017
    
    Patrick Gannon
    
    Well that was pretty depressing, I often feel the same way. Lately I’ve been looking for ways to be more upbeat and positive about our future, because it doesn’t cost anything to be hopeful – but it isn’t easy. These New Age folks talk about the so-called law of attraction and then fill the air with negativity – like comparing ourselves to imaginary beings, so we can understand how inferior we are, and so we can abrogate our responsibility to some thus far imaginary species who we hope or expect will save us from ourselves.
    
    There’s all this talk of a global awakening. I don’t see that. A new report came out today suggesting we’ve entered a 6th major extinction, a big chunk of ice in Antarctica fell off, opioid addictions are exploding, illustrating your point about personal responsibility, as people run away and hide from their sadness and angst. On the other hand, as a result of this wonderful new technology called the internet, our whole society is being disrupted, and even if we aren’t evolving biologically any longer since we’ve stopped weeding out the weak and infirm, we are still evolving culturally, and the internet is playing a huge role in that. Perhaps that is the “awakening.”
    
    In the past, all information flow was one to many. Parent to children, teacher to students, clergy to parishioners, politician to citizens, but today, thanks to the internet, information flow is many to many and any to any, and information can no longer be controlled as it was in the past. This is one of the reasons religion’s demise is accelerating. This will have profound effects on our culture, and change is really scary, but a lot of times it yields something better, more efficient, more beneficial. It’s hard to see what’s going on in the middle of massive cultural change when you are inside of it, rather than observing it from afar as a student of history.
    
    The times they are a changing, and change is good for evolution. There may well be a thinning of the culls in the century ahead and that could be very good for our genome if it survives, even if it will suck for billions who may die. When we evaluate earth’s history, the black death and dark ages ended up being quite beneficial to our species, in the long run.
    
    Frankly, I like your focus on personal responsibility a lot more than Neale’s laundry list of things we suck at. Going to the source works better than going after symptoms. I would agree that personal responsibility is critical, and that starts with a responsibility to challenge closely held beliefs, particularly those for which there is no compelling, objective evidence. It is irresponsible, in my view, to believe in things that our brains know that they have no evidence for. Personal responsibility means facing the truth and the very high probability that this life is all we get. Until we stop hiding from that truth, how can we truly be responsible?
    
    I have to express a wee bit of optimism about our overpopulation problem. I think it was Stephen who referred me to Hans Rosling’s video about “The Overpopulation Myth.” Might have been Sam, I’m not going to open another window right now to go back and confirm. Anyway, I really like the tone of this presentation. I haven’t finished listening to it all, but it’s much more motivating than reviewing the laundry list of things that imaginary species do better than us. Rosling proposes, and provides evidence that birth rates are indeed falling and that stabilization may come at 11 – 13 billion; still far too many for our earth to support, but the huge growth trend has finally turned around – which is good. Birth rates are falling all over the globe and this means people are telling religious authorities to go pee up a rope; and that’s great! I haven’t finished the video, so I’m not sure how he expects the planet to sustain that many people till we turn it around and reduce the population over the next few centuries, but I hope the video continues to be optimistic. He is probably relying on technology to continue at its current pace in order to address some of the difficult problems – like very cheap energy to desalinate water, and space technology to get the minerals and other items that we’ve stripped from the earth. All is not lost. I think we’re in for a cleansing, but it’s probably overdue.
    
    If we are to have a chance, it will be technology and not woo that saves us.
    
    Reply
    1. July 14, 2017
      
      Patrick Gannon
      
      Follow-up on Rosling’s video. He is rather vague when he talks about making the resources stretch to support the 11 million or so that he says we will top out at. His logic for that limit is compelling and persuasive, though I haven’t followed up on any sources. I find some comfort in it, since the population went from 2.5 to 7 billion in my life, and I’m still here. That’s one more increase of the same size, another 4 – 4.5 billion then stabilization… If technology helps us, we might squeak by. His explanation for how we’re going to support all those people is very thin and he admits that it’s not a pretty picture – particularly for Africa which will continue to see the most expansion in population. He’s a statistician and his way of presenting evidence, while compelling, also seemed a bit too clever and contrived, particularly when he was applying blame. He wants to blame the top tier, but without their money the technology that continues to bring everyone else up, might not have materialized.
      
      I coincidentally watched a video by academic and entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa (The Future is Bright If We’re Cautious), and he offers good news about the promises of technology – as well as the concerns, yet is realistic about the challenges we face when, for example, mundane jobs are all eliminated. There is a day not too far distant where there will be no truck drivers, no sales clerks, no restaurant employees, no mill workers, no assembly line workers. That day is coming faster than we realize. Social unrest appears inevitable. Kumbaya isn’t going to fix that – we need some real solutions. What do you do with masses of unskilled people who have no jobs, many of whom will need to migrate due to climate change. It’s going to be ugly unless someone can come up with some good ideas.
      
      Reply
      1. July 15, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        What you carefully call social unrest, which I call revolution, is inevitable not because we lack ideas, technologies and solutions, but because of special interests that profit from our current systems of economic predation and exploitation and will fight tooth and nail to protect their own interests and block change. The corporate and baking cartels in particular come to mind.
        
        The system is unsustainable not just because it is corrupt and owned and control by wealthy sociopaths, but because endless economic growth is obviously unsustainable.
        
        It is highly moronic to protect economic systems that must generate more and more people that must produce, consume and discard more and more unnecessary junk at an ever greater speed.
      2. July 16, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        OK so I’m moronic, but tell me what you are going to replace the current system with, so that I know what the alternatives are. It’s generally a good idea to see who the new devils will be, before you throw the old devils out.
        
        Please remember that the banks and corporations that you despise are also owned by simple little citizens like me and you, if you have any mutual funds, for example. We have the same ability to deal with those corporate big shots you dislike, that we have to deal with the politicians we all dislike. There’s more of us than there are of them. If we organized, there are enough of us to go to stockholder’s meetings and change the rules. There are enough of us to vote to replace the dead weight in our government, who can also influence the regulations of those corporations. The power to change things is in our hands, we simply lack the courage, willpower, and most of all inspiration, to rise above ourselves. It’s our fault. How can we fix it till we acknowledge that?
        
        At the same time, reminding ourselves of how broken and “less than” and inferior we are to imaginary awakened HEBs, angels, gods and other superheroes, is not the answer either. We need inspirational leaders who remind us of what we’re capable of, and who show us how much we’ve accomplished, and challenge us to overcome our limitations; i.e. genetic traits that don’t benefit us here and now. I think the best people to do this are scientists because they can easily point to a trail of success and inspiration, and plant challenges for us to work towards as we did during the space race in the 60s.
      3. July 16, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        My intent wasn’t to insult you, but to make a strong statement about the general acceptance and praise of an absurd and impossible system of endless growth. In order to cure an illness, we first need to recognize that the illness exists, and to analyze its nature.
        
        Unfortunately, as you pointed out in another comment, these human/animal traits are universal. Extremely few people have the integrity to remain honest when given a position of power, or to take a stand against their corrupt colleagues. Most people who make it to mid management or the top are careerists…they think of their careers first, and damn everything else! This alone leads to corruption, this “looking out for number one” mentality, which originates in extreme, merciless competition and in social Darwinism.
        
        Unfortunately many of the people who complain about government corruption and about corporate power would most likely fall in line and become as venal if holding positions of authority in these institutions…and if not, they would loose these positions rather quickly, as did many honest people in the past, because the system is rigged and demands corruption and compliance.
        
        This is why I believe a natural form of evolution must be allowed to take place. Human nature itself has to evolve…advances in science and technology are great, but as Einstein said, “Our entire much-praised technological progress, and civilization generally, could be compared to an axe in the hand of a pathological criminal”…at least until we start evolving a little further.
        
        So no, I don’t have a quick fix for the world problems…which does not mean that I am forbidden to criticize.
      4. July 17, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        What I agree with, is that until we solve certain technological problems, the earth can’t sustain a growing population that wants everything we have – but how do we tell them that they are not entitled to the same advantages? We have to find a way to provide an opportunity to succeed, and improve one’s lot in life.
        
        We don’t know whether endless growth is impossible. Right now we are in a closed system – except for the energy we get from the sun. Once we have access to the rest of the solar system, we’ll be able to bring in many more resources, and ship pioneers to places where they can produce many more goods and services. We have to think big – and outside the box, and more than just a couple years down the road, and there are people doing that.
        
        Have you ever worked for a large corporation, or even a medium sized one? It is not my experience that everyone in a corporation, or even those at the top, are corrupt – in fact, I am unaware of that ever having been the case in any company I worked for, though I competed with companies willing to use shady tactics to win. One of the best jobs I ever had was with a corporation bringing a new technology to the market. Everyone from top to bottom shared the same goal – and it probably helped that employees were granted stock options and had an incentive to succeed – I’m quite sure there was no corruption, just a shared goal.
        
        Yes, we are all allowed to criticize – but criticism is more useful when accompanied by concrete suggestions. Right now, I think that what we lack is inspiration. We need a shared goal, something important to strive for, that will benefit all of us.
      5. July 15, 2017
        
        Sam
        
        “mundane jobs are all eliminated […] That day is coming faster than we realize. Social unrest appears inevitable. Kumbaya isn ‘t going to fix that – we need some real solutions. What do you do with masses of unskilled people who have no jobs […] It’s going to be ugly unless someone can come up with some good ideas.”
        
        Well, to tax the robots and give everyone Basic Income, as it’s called (getting paid for doing nothing), seems to be the preferred solutions for now. Like the atheist and the next president of the USA Mark Zuckerberg is big on. Oh well, he changed the atheist bit, though, as not a good strategy for getting votes. But yes, the thing is Universal Basic Income. The awesomeness of the coming age will be more alien to our time than for someone from the 1700s looking at us.
      6. July 16, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        So we get paid to sit on the sofa, smoke pot and watch TV all day? There are some European countries looking into this. I’ll withhold judgement till I see their results. I’m not sure I’d have accomplished as much as I have if I got paid for doing nothing. That contributed to bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union.
        
        If we survive, then I do agree with you that the coming age will be more alien to our time than for someone from the 1700s.
      7. July 17, 2017
        
        Sam
        
        “I’m not sure I’d have accomplished as much as I have if I got paid for doing nothing. That contributed to bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union.”
        
        Oh, you seem eager enough. Who pays you for writing endlessly on blogs? Why not find yourself a deep soft chair and stuff your face instead? 🙂 Every person is born with an inner drive to accomplish, as nothing more satisfying. Even when it’s hard, or especially then. But it must come from the heart, and not from the above demand or command, or the natural flow of development for best results get limited, twisted, and damaged. Freedom is the best recipe for success, and why America did great while Soviet failed. But everything is relative and a process. Compared to the coming age, and what they will achieve, the America of today will seem like the Soviet Union do to us; a straightjacket. The key to success is freedom. And, believe it or not, in that regard, we have just and barely started out. Basic Income here we come.
      8. July 17, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        What’s to keep people from just hanging at home and pumping out babies? Our birth rate is down now because millennials are marrying later, because they have a harder time getting their careers started. If they had a regular income, would they start pumping out babies again? That would just exacerbate the problem, wouldn’t it? We know, prior to 1996 when the program ended, that there are welfare babies, where mothers are paid more based on the number of kids they had. Want a raise – have another baby – which just makes everything worse. Interesting that the birth rates began dropping when that program ended.
        
        Perhaps this basic income could come with certain stipulations – like no kids till you can afford them.
        
        I’m not opposed to the idea at this point. It’s a fairly new concept and I’m wondering how it will work in other countries that try it. Not sure we should be the ones to beta test it! I recall back when I was laid off from the company I was working for and started my own company. I was able to do that because I had enough savings to support me for the 18 months to two years that it took to start breaking even. That “basic income” came from my own savings, but if it had come from the govt. it would have provided the same function – giving me the ability to start my new business; so I can certainly see where there’s a value.
  2. July 13, 2017
    
    Jethro
    
    I agree with this almost totally but must add, while there is a need to hear the gloom and doom, we must also share the deeds of those who are being responsible human beings. The world is watching the news, or whatever giver of world truth, and seeing mostly the wrong doings of humanity. If we should set the example to produce the change we wish to see, I can’t see the great benefit of reporting only the worst examples being set. We need to include the good examples being set. People follow others without knowing it, it’s human mentality to be like everyone else, if humanity believes that only the worst things are happing… they tend to follow. It’s why we never talked about certain things in front of the children back in the “good ol’days”.
    
    I was recently visiting family in Southern California. We had found some old newspapers and the headlines were about those who did good things. Social events, who attended, what the event was for, one being just a 25 year wedding anniversary party. I didn’t see, not 1, complaint about the weather. Today’s weather report is telling us it’s too cold, or it’s too hot. It’s rare to hear how wonderful the day is going to be. In turn, people are always complaining about the temperature or the humidity and that’s just the weather! I honestly think some things belong in the news paper and not on the television. Our children are learning a lot about violence, murder and sex crimes, war. It’s my opinion that the information we are allowing our children to have is one of our greatest downfalls. They can’t handle it and in turn use the information improperly due to a severe lack of ability to explain from the parents.
    
    It benefits us to know what’s going on in our world, but some information needs to be regulated. It’s our right to know the facts but it’s our responsibility to make sure the children learn to handle some of that information before they receive it. Bad things are happening in our world, but it’s not all bad. So I keep learning in my search. Except for traffic in LA, and any large city… it’s all bad, Evil! (Humor)
    
    Reply
July 12, 2017

Marko

The Dalai Lama has said:

“In the present circumstances, no one can afford to assume that someone else will solve their problems. Every individual has a responsibility to help guide our global family in the right direction. Good wishes are not sufficient;we must become actively engaged.”

It seems to me regarding my post below, that politics is something we need to engage ourselves in more to help “guide our global family.” It’s not the only way of engagement. Yet, it currently is where the most powerful policies, are made that affect the most people.

Where are and what are the spiritual cultural creatives, new age people doing in that regards? My guess is not much.

Reply
1. July 12, 2017
  
  Jethro
  
  “we must become actively engaged.”… AMEN!! It’s the ONLY way to create change.
  
  Reply
2. July 13, 2017
  
  Stephen mills
  
  As Thom Hartmann says “Democracy begins with you ,tag your it ”
  
  Politics seems to be in upheaval on all sides as I observe here in the U.K. Lines have been drawn ! I believe it’s easier for the public to see what policies are working for the highest good of all or working only for the establishment and status quo .There seems to be something going on now the people have had enough of 10 years of austerity and are beginning to push back .
  
  This upheaval is necessary and will continue to push parties further apart and open up debate about what it is that politics is supposed to achieve and who it actually benefits .
  Politics is our spirituality demonstrated ,this understanding is beginning to show itself in our reality as we question its meaning .We see that we are co-creating with each other the fabric of our society .Its the spiritual nature of who we are in relation to each other and the planet that holds this together .
  
  Awakening the species and the 16 differences is of great help, it’s a road map to get us out of the mire .
  
  Reply
3. July 15, 2017
  
  Spiritual_Annie
  
  I think we’re all doing it on an individual basis, rather than there being an organized or planned effort. Twitter’s big for finding out about petitions and letters to your reps, depending on who you follow. I’m trying to keep a balance in who I follow, like both US and international news, both liberal and conservative people and org’s. It’s a challenge to keep up with everything, so I do get some emails that summarize the news.
  
  Much of what’s going on may seem futile, but I always ask myself if I want to be that one voice that doesn’t speak out but which could have tipped the scales. Kinda like in Horton Hears a Who, where that one final voice broke through the atmosphere. I even picture that sometimes, because with every tweet and post and petition and letter, I’m screaming, “I am here!”
  
  Love and Blessings Always,
  ~Annie
  
  Reply
  1. July 15, 2017
    
    Marko
    
    Sometimes petitions work. I’ve found that often they don’t. In fact, they are clever set ups, to put you on mailing lists! From there your info is sold to other companies as well. A recent Greenpeace petition had in it’s fine print on the side said I’d automatically be put on several lists by signing.
    
    It said you can get off the lists once on. But that’s more unnecessary work for us. I often write to them about thism but I almost never here back.
    
    We all do what we do, & what we are inspired to act on. Good luck with your endeavors.
    
    Reply
July 13, 2017

Awareness

Items #9-12 are all agreeable 🙂 Implementation of these principles would lead to a peaceful and healthy existence for all LIFE 🙂 For example according to the article by Debora MacKenzie titled “Nations of the world agree to ban nuclear weapons – now what?” from the website newscientist(dot)com:

“On 7 July, most of the world’s countries voted to ban nuclear weapons. None of them, however, actually have The Bomb. Countries that do – or rely on a nuclear weapons for defence – boycotted the vote.

Despite this its backers argue that a treaty making nuclear weapons illegal is a long-overdue step towards nuclear disarmament, a process that has withered under existing treaties.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, widely called the nuclear ban treaty, obliges countries “never, under any circumstances, to develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons”, or transfer, use or threaten to use them, or help other countries do so.

It calls eliminating nuclear weapons “a global public good of the highest order”, necessary for “human survival, the environment, socioeconomic development, the global economy, food security and the health of current and future generations”.

The treaty was supported by 3480 prominent scientists when negotiations began in March.

Vote boycott
Last Friday, 122 of the UN’s 193 countries agreed to the treaty, including the likes of Switzerland, Sweden and Brazil. Once 50 countries formally ratify the treaty, it will become international law.

All nine states with nuclear weapons boycotted the vote, as did countries living under the “umbrella” of a nuclear-armed state. The only member of NATO to take part was the Netherlands, which cast the sole vote against it.” – newscientist(dot)com 🙂

122 out 193 countries, that is about 63% of the nations of the world voted to BAN nuclear weapons 🙂 That is very encouraging indeed and indicates a desire by the majority of the collective consciousness of Earth not to SELF DESTRUCT 🙂 As Cosmic Awareness (GREAT SPIRIT! GREAT AWARENESS!) indicates we are capable of destroying the ENTIRE planet with nuclear weapons using ONLY a SINGLE STRIKE:

“For WHEREIN ENTITIES CAN GOVERN THEMSELVES FROM WITHIN, THERE NEEDS BE NO GOVERNMENT FROM WITHOUT.

This Awareness indicates that through understanding and cooperation there needs be no government based on competition. Whereby the arms which are so valuable to entities upon this plane at this time–these great battleships, these great submarines, these great nuclear weapons capable of destroying the planet in a SINGLE STRIKE–this Awareness indicates these pieces of machinery and violence may be places into museums to allow children to wonder about the generation that lived at this time.

This Awareness wishes to address entities upon this plane again whenever an opportunity is made. This Awareness asks that you love one another–for in love and in service you shall grow and be prosperous on all levels.” by Cosmic Awareness (GREAT SPIRIT! GREAT AWARENESS!) 🙂

Well done to those nations who voted to BAN nuclear weapons 🙂 And to those nations that voted against (including one that abstained) the treaty banning nuclear weapons, I invite them to reconsider their decision and reflect with INTEGRITY 🙂 Peace makes sense 🙂

Bless ALL 🙂

Reply
1. July 13, 2017
  
  Kristen
  
  I live in New Zealand, which is nuclear free and always has been, although apparently it was NZer that discovered nuclear energy.
  The US have always disliked this stance, constantly sending representatives, including Hilary Clinton, here to push us. No way, we wont budge, and boy it irks the US government. It means their navy cannot be in our waters or embark on southern pacific training exercises in our waters. Last year there was some ‘thing’ in the US, training I assume, and they played tit for tat….the NZ Navy ship wasnt allowed to dock close to shore! San Deigo I think.
  Dont for one minute believe the US if they state they want to go nuclear free….why arent their ships allowed in our waters? Must have nuclear weapons on board, by any level of logic. And why constantly try to push us if its a non issue? We’re just a little island at the bottom of the world, why would they care?
  Something to do with the US having to use us as a base to get to Antartica, and all the huge spying things are here, the CIA love us, and meet here annually with other spying allies.
  Dont believe a thing you hear, the US hates having to comply with our stance.
  K
  
  Reply
  1. July 14, 2017
    
    Awareness
    
    Thank you and Well done to New Zealand 🙂
    
    “In 1984, Prime Minister David Lange barred nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships from using New Zealand ports or entering New Zealand waters. Under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987,territorial sea, land and airspace of New Zealand became nuclear-free zones. This has since remained a part of New Zealand’s foreign policy.” – Wikipedia 🙂
    
    Well done 🙂
    
    Bless ALL 🙂
    
    Reply
  2. July 14, 2017
    
    Patrick Gannon
    
    Large vessels such as aircraft carriers are often powered by nuclear reactors that release no carbon into the air. Your nation prohibits these craft whether they are carrying nuclear weapons or not. As a result there is no treaty between our countries. If China decides to take over your country, you’re on your own! Good luck!
    
    When a large Russian or Chinese naval vessel comes to visit, belching smoke all over the place from their oil-powered vessels, we must assume that is preferable to the US vessels that have no emissions at all, right?
    
    I think it’s “feel good” legislation – like a minimum wage. It has unexpected consequences that don’t benefit you. But hey, you’re a friend, not an ally. Do whatever floats your boat!
    
    Reply
    1. July 14, 2017
      
      Kristen
      
      Haha..nice pun…dad jokes! Showing your age!
      We’re allys, as I said, we spy for America and they suck up to us. so are Allys even if not on paper in case of war. They love us, we change laws to suit them, they take advantage of tax breaks and some obscure employment laws to film here all the time. Lord of the Rings, Avatar etc, constant filming big budget films here. Did you know the extras on the Lord of the Rings set are the NZ Army? Free labour force, or an investment in tourism is the actual term I believe! James Cameron and wealthy Americans own huge amounts of land here. Money talks! And as I said, spy for the CIA in that 8 nations spying agreement.
      We’ve always been an ally, the US used NZ as a base to get to Japan in war, and as a Commonwealth country we’re always an Ally of England, and we have our SAS, elite army, in Afganastan or wheverever, but try to stick to the clean up, rebuilding damaged schools etc. BUT China will never attack us, we have a complete free trade agreement and half of China lives here I think. We provide them with meat, dairy, sheepskin and…….coal! They love us! We…..not so much but the government loves their $$$$$. We have no enemies at all on this planet. When we’ve had big quakes etc the world is here to help with 24 hours, funnily enough Israel first, then America. Im unsure why Israel are our buddies, but since they have compulsary military service, lots of young Israelis travel for a year first, especially to here, we have a huge number of Israelis and Muslims in my city, the nice muslims with young families! But if we did, big brother Australia is right next door. Who needs America? That just attracts trouble. They suck up to us because as huge producers and exporters, know our percentage of dairy and meat could crash Wall St if we stopped exporting.
      Russia….haha, no chance, have they even heard of us? Will they bring vodka, or just a shipload of buy a brides?
      Thanks for the Americas cup, sailing, by the way, we’ll put it with our Rugby World cup and everything else. Mind you, wouldnt matter if America won, since we built your boat anyway, and do the graphics, design etc for lots of that stuff anyway, and provide you with sailers, Japan as well! Step up America…needing people from little islands to get you up to the rest of the worlds standards with so much! Our main export, creativity. That America desperately uses to stay ahead of the games.
      Take care,
      K
      
      Reply
      1. July 15, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        Competition is great for everyone. I love your spirit.
2. July 14, 2017
  
  Stephen mills
  
  This is wonderful news ,the only solution is to have completely nuclear free world .
  
  Reply
  1. July 14, 2017
    
    Awareness
    
    It is wonderful news indeed 😀
    Bless ALL 😀
    
    Reply
  2. July 14, 2017
    
    Patrick Gannon
    
    Even nuclear energy? Is it preferable to belch smoke and carbon into the air from oil or coal powered plants? Natural gas is cleaner, but requires fracking, which may have more negatives than nuclear…
    
    Bill Gate had a really cool idea, I saw in a video a few years back. I heard the Chinese were interested in it; I’m not sure if it went anywhere. The idea was that you dig a really deep hole in the ground, and you build a nuclear plant at the bottom of it. You operate it for 60 years or so, and then deactivate it, and cover it up, leaving the waste safely buried deep below (and taking into account locations where there is no chance of groundwater contamination of course).
    
    Let’s also keep in mind, that insane though it seemed to be, MAD (mutually assured destruction) has prevented the major powers from going to war with each other for quite some time now. Ukraine would give anything to get its nukes back. Not having them, put them at Russia’s mercy. They serve as a deterrent, which is why Iran and N Korea want them. I guess what we really need is a greater enemy than each other. Extinction might qualify as such…
    
    Reply
July 14, 2017

Raphael

On the topic of harming the natural environment…and of a floating Antartica iceberg the size of Delaware.

I once heard it said that the petro dollar was what kept America and many other allied nations tied to the oil industry. The petro dollar is what keeps out of control inflation (such as was experienced in Germany in the 1930’s) from completely destroying the US economy and from taking other nations down with it.

If this is accurate, all talks of switching to clean energy by politicians are pure lies and hypocrisy, but this should surprise no one. It seems that the US government has built a house of cards that rests on a shaky and unsustainable foundation, particularly when it switched to this petro dollars after reneging on its obligations towards European nations regarding its gold holdings.

Perhaps we need to let this house of card collapse, and start fresh. This American empire is consistently getting in the way of human progress and is very often blocking all other nations from implementing the changes that are needed to survive as a specie (for example regarding global warming, nuclear weapons, weapons in space, Indigenous people’s rights, etc).

Unfortunately, most Americans are terribly uneducated when it comes to the actual, historical actions of their government, and disinformation mixes facts and wild conspiracy theories, particularly on the internet and Youtube, to confuse the public.

Reply
1. July 14, 2017
  
  Jethro
  
  Since we are dreaming…. how about dismantling the stack piece by piece and building a better structure on a firmer foundation without the chaos of collapse. Gold and silver are designed to show personal monetary value, be it a single person or a single government. This show of personal value is unnecessary when the world is sharing, equally, the items only needed for comfortable living. Not one person on earth needs a Bugatti to drive and a 6000 sq. ft. home made of marble and gold. The need for gold and silver is an illusion created by those who wish to control others. Regardless of what is believed today, we need not receive something of monetary value for something given with monetary value. Can you imagine the value of making Greed against the law?
  
  Reply
  1. July 14, 2017
    
    Raphael
    
    Everything in this civilization is an illusion, smoke and mirrors, a slight of hand…except the pain of ordinary people who are made to struggle for survival while the aristocrats drink their fine liquor from gold rimmed glasses, sitting in gold plated chairs. We are back in feudal times…all we need is the plague.
    
    I like this introduction to an article on Alternet titled:
    “Aaahhhhhpocalypse Now!: 10 Dark Visions Headed Your Way”
    By Don Hazen, Kali Holloway, AlterNet Staff / AlterNet July 13, 2017,
    
    “Things are not looking good out there. Manmade climate change has already led to widespread devastation, with more unimaginable horrors on the way. For half a generation, the United States has been immersed in futile wars that have only made the world more unsafe, and recent saber-rattling suggests more conflict is on the horizon. This country has too many guns, too many prisons and too few people holding nearly all the wealth. On top of it all, a hotheaded bully is charged with deciding when to whip out our great big missiles.”
    
    I appreciate people who tell it like it is…
    
    Reply
    1. July 14, 2017
      
      Jethro
      
      I must point out that some of the pain ordinary people feel is only an allusion created by those who know there are aristocrats drinking their fine liquor from gold rimmed glasses, and sitting in gold plated chairs and desire it for themselves. Happiness is satisfaction with what we have, however little it may appear to be. As I was growing up, my father would tell us, no matter how tough you think you are, there’s someone else who is tougher. Pertaining to my post, I have also found that no matter how little I believe I have, there is always someone who has less.
      
      Reply
      1. July 14, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        No no no…When I write about the pain of ordinary people, I do not mean envy towards the wealthy. I mean real pain…people who have to work like slaves at 2 or 3 jobs and struggle desperately and still cannot make ends meet…I mean people who loose everything, including their lives, because of a for profit immoral health care industry, which is actually a sickness industry…I mean the homeless…Native Americans who live in third world conditions on the rez and whose very young children commit suicide because of hopelessness…people who are sent to prison for no good reasons by a corrupt injustice system, children who are hungry (yes hunger exist in America) etc etc
        
        The arrogant owner class is basically saying “if they don’t have any bread, let them eat cake!”…”If they don’t have any health coverage, let them die!” etc
        
        I do not care, personally, whether the wealthy wants to drink liquid gold for breakfast, as long as they are kept out of and away from a government that is supposed to represent all the people, not a minuscule minority of predators.
      2. July 14, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        But you’re blaming the “government” for “we the people.” We elected them. Again and again and again. It’s our fault. We did it.. We could remove them anytime we wanted to, but we’re too dumb, too apathetic, too uninformed, too ignorant; and we’re sure as heck not going to blame ourselves for that, so it must be the “government.” “They did it to us.” Nonsense. We did it to ourselves. We’re demoralized because we’re constantly reminded of how “less than” we are, so we don’t even try any more.
        
        How do we get the constituents of Mitch McConnell, for example, to replace him? How do we convince the constituents of the old war horse Nancy Pelosi, to bring in some fresh blood? We have a system in place to address these problems, but we’re not leveraging it properly. I’m not sure how we go about doing that – but the means to address our issues is right in front of us – it’s our republican form of government. We just have to remember how to use it.
        
        In my biased opinion, we need to start replacing lawyer politicians with scientists, because our problems are all becoming technical and our politicians still think the world was created in six days.
      3. July 14, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        I agree…This nation is a bit bi-polar, going from non-action to overreaction, with no common sense in between.
        Scientists would be great in government, they would certainly be more intelligent than the average corrupt lawyer, but I would add a couple of poets or musicians or painters, and perhaps a philosopher or two, to balance things out!
      4. July 14, 2017
        
        Stephen mills
        
        Sorry to but in guys .Good points Patrick but I’d rather have Historians replace politicians,they tend to tell the truth more often than not.New forms of democracy will have to be put in place to replace the dinosaurs . Where the people get to set the agenda and offer policy’s for discussion . Folks from all walks of life should have a say as me thinks the more people making the final decisions the closer to true democracy we would have . With 2/3 rds needed to pass any form of legislation .
      5. July 14, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        I’m good with historians. If they do their job properly they are scientists. They stick to procedure and authentication, and trail of evidence, etc. They use Bayes theorem to set baseline probabilities and then base conclusions on the cascade of probabilities – all very logical and rational.
        
        I fear a pure democracy though. That turns into mob rule. There is something to be said for a representative form of government, else the masses will vote themselves cake and circuses and vote to marginalize those in the minority. If people thought rationally, that would be one thing, but that’s not how our brains work by default, so a representative government based on rule of law, is the best system, as best I can tell.
      6. July 19, 2017
        
        Spiritual_Annie
        
        Sorry to butt in on your butt-in, Stephen, but historians can’t always be relied on for truths, either. History is always slanted because it’s been written by winners and losers rather than unbiased observers.
        
        Ancient history may be more accurate because archaeological findings are concrete evidence, but the facts around those objects are still interpreted by biased human beings. For example, it’s a fact that what are now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in what were sealed jars in caves. But there’s nothing to tell us how or why they came to be there as whoever put them there didn’t leave us a note of explanation. Historians try to fill in those blanks for us.
        
        Even then, the findings (if they’re writings) have also been written by winners and losers. One ancient example is Josephus, whose “histories” have since been proven to be slanted towards the Romans rather than being actual fact.
        
        Love and Blessings Always,
        ~Annie
      7. July 19, 2017
        
        Stephen mills
        
        Some Historians are neutral and seek only to tell the truth as best they can. We where talking about politics being a place of transparency and telling the truth to the electorate .The point being that historians generally would be more reliable in this regard . Howard Zinn comes to mind , one of my heros !!!!
        
        Your right about your point that history is usually written by the winners though ,it’s one of the illusions of humanity ;Superiority .Our culture is superior to the one we obliterated !
        
        Good luck with your book
      8. July 14, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Another thought: it is not really the public’s fault that the choice it faces in every election is between Satan and Lucifer. It is not its fault that the system is rigged and corrupt from top to bottom, meant to represent and protect the interests of the wealthy and powerful and to grant a few crumbs to the masses to appease them and keep a somewhat functioning consumer economy.
        
        You seem to believe in the system. I don’t, because it is not working, except for the wealthy and powerful. This nation is the new Roman Empire, and is as corrupt, arrogant and doomed as the old. History repeats itself, human nature never changes, and while technology and science make some progress, the average human ape doesn’t catch up.
      9. July 15, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        Sorry, but I disagree. It is our fault. We continue to elect inept people to office – how is that supposed to motivate better candidates to run?
        
        Since you don’t like the system – what do you propose to replace it?
        
        And, as mentioned above – human nature does change. It’s changed significantly over the last 2000 years. My girlfriend is allowed to vote, own property, etc. and if I was foolish enough to refer to her as my property, I might wake up missing an organ one morning!
      10. July 16, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        I agree that people get the government they deserve. Americans have been asleep on the job (of keeping their government honest and humble) for so long that they have now awakened to a hellish situation.
        
        Populations are just too easy to manipulate…they don’t even realize they are being manipulated. Most Americans are notoriously intellectually lazy as well. They choose to “trust” the media and the government simply because it is the easiest option. Then they believe that all will be well and they can go shopping and gobble more junk food, and watch more mind numbing television programs.
        
        I am not sure how to replace or change the system, and I would not propose anything if I knew, because I believe in freedom, not coercion, including the freedom to be stupid or to make mistakes. Anything that is forced upon a people is, in my view, wrong by definition…people need to evolve on their own time…even if it means that they will destroy the earth before they evolve.
      11. July 16, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        ” Most Americans are notoriously intellectually lazy as well.” Oh boy do I agree with that. If it can’t be expressed in a twitter, a lot of people are incapable or unwilling to put forth the intellectual effort to learn something. We know why it happens, but not sure how to fix it. It happens because you get a little dopamine hit every time you interact on social media, and it’s addictive. Intellectual effort requires choosing to put that aside and focus on something for more than 20 seconds. The intellectual stimulation turns out to be a whole lot better and better for our brains, but you don’t get as much dopamine I guess. In any event, it’s much simpler to “believe in” rather than “think that” and many succumb to the easy way out – to ignoring or intentionally disabling half of their thinking system.
        
        Our fast thinking system is what evolved first. You don’t have time to contemplate whether the thing coiled up in the corner is a piece of cord or a snake – your brain acts. It picks out patterns. Better to see a dark shade behind the leaves as a crouching lion and react, rather than take the time to check it out. That system was perfect for living in the wild, but it is terrible for living in our civilized society. We should be using our slow thinking system, the contemplative, deliberative, skeptical, planning, remembering thinking system to make our decisions – but that takes more time and effort, so we take the easy way and let the reptilian brain run our lives.
        
        We’re making progress, as we are beginning to understand these things and to see how they work and where they originate from in the brain, and that will hopefully give us tools to start helping people to overcome their mental laziness and use more of their thinking system. Of course religionists, including Neale, leverage this aspect of us to sell their product. It’s easier, faster and simpler to trust and believe an authoritarian figure (and who could be more authoritarian than God!), so we take the easy path.
        
        “I am not sure how to replace or change the system, although I would know how to improve it, by simply eliminating all sources and means of corruption….” Sorry, but had to chuckle at this. If it was “simple” we’d have done it already! You’re talking about eliminating certain evolved traits – that isn’t so simple. We like to think we’re special, but we’re animals that took a rapid evolutionary jump – probably from learning to cook food and talk – but we’re still just animals at the core of our DNA.
        
        I’ll leave the “free will” discussion for another time… I think we have some free will, but not nearly as much as we think we do.
      12. July 14, 2017
        
        Jethro
        
        Anyone who climbs a mountain while staring at the mountain top is going to fall many times. If we concentrate on our own path, paying attention to where we are going and remembering where we have been, we are able to ascend and descend many mountains in our life time. I am aware that every mountain is dangerous and falls occur even while we think we were paying attention, but we do not have to lay where we fall, less we wish to stay there and die there. either happy or unhappy. Rarely do we get to choose the terrain, we only choose our direction.
        
        Many of the tripping hazards that you mention do not have to be tripped over. and I have yet to find a plateau on which to rest, from where I am, it’s uphill or downhill, but either way I go, its my choices that lead me there, regardless of what rules and injustices are occurring around me. Something that has created success in my life is as I climb my mountain, I’m looking back and extending a hand to bring others with me. In turn, I find a hand extended to help me up now and then. Even an occasional aristocrat staring down their noses at me waiting for me to grab a hand up. life is truly what we make it. As Patrick put it, “we the people.”
      13. July 14, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        I disagree to some degree but I don’t have the time to elaborate at this point…under the gun with deadlines.
      14. July 14, 2017
        
        Jethro
        
        I don’t intend to erase the post… I wish you luck in your endeavors. I’ve had deadline or two and understand.
      15. July 15, 2017
        
        Jethro
        
        Our personal situations are a product of responsible choices. We have educated ourselves to live and be successful for the most part in a world that seems oppressive to others. As the owner of a young business, I’m finding out quickly why people fill oppressed. Most people think when they are hired to work, that they should not have to “work”. My work is mostly outdoors, extreme heat, extreme cold, rain… You know, nature. Nobody wants to be in it! Add all that nature with getting dirty and performing at a project and I guess welfare or a job at McDonald’s sounds better. Oppression is also created by the oppressed, not just our government.
      16. July 15, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        “We the people” no longer exists, if it ever did (actually it originally meant, in real terms, “We the White male slave owners”).
        
        Today it is a government of, by and for the elite. To state that we do not have to be defeated by a corrupt, unjust and cruel system is an individual survival response…as in “the survival of the fittest”. It is definitively a conservative ideology, but it is unrealistic in the long term.
        
        To state that it is your choice that leads you wherever you are implies that you still have choices. This is no longer the case. Many people do not have choices, because the world is not free.
        
        In the natural world, living as a natural human being (the way we were meant to live) you have many choices, because you were born free and live free in nature. You are free to make any decision you want, to be responsible for them and to quickly learn from the consequences of your actions. In civilization, the choices are extremely restricted, not only by thousands of rules, laws and regulations at every level which keep us in a state of immaturity and dependence, but by the fact that you must make money, and that the ways you are obliged to make money have to fit in a pattern that most likely has nothing to do with what you would do if you were actually free and either independently wealthy or living in the woods.
        
        You can always talk yourself into thinking that life isn’t so bad as long as you have food in your stomach and a roof over your head…which is what a prisoner could think as well…but think about what real freedom would actually mean, for a minute. The freedom to live without being under any system, under any man made law, under any institution, under anyone. That is what actual freedom is, which Native Americans still remember, and which everyone else seems to have forgotten, as most think freedom means being granted limited rights by their masters.
      17. July 15, 2017
        
        Jethro
        
        Yes, there are many restrictions placed on us as citizens of any government and our American government is no better or worse than any other. I say that because we have to live by rules regardless of who may be responsible for putting them into place. With that in mind, that we must live by rules, living alone in the woods or whatever form of natural setting we choose or get caught up in, we must live by rules. The food in our packs will not last forever, so we must obey the rules of nature (seasons) to eat. We must respect a limited drinking water source ( there all limited) by not placing our excrement or dipping our dirty bodies into it. We cannot just drink from Any body of water either. Our days will be filled with many ours of work finding food, making clothing, gathering wood or a fuel source to cook, purify, heat, and build shelters.
      18. July 15, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Let’s agree to disagree!
      19. July 15, 2017
        
        Jethro
        
        If we must. Sounds like I hit a nerve but I went from homeless to self employment in two years by doing what I needed to do and anyone can do it. It’s just not easy. People want easy. But we disagree and I agree to that.
      20. July 16, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        You didn’t hit any nerve…I just don’t have to time to go over every point about freedom and the Native way of life, and I am not sure that it would be productive. Sometimes you have to accept that people have different perspectives and perceptions based on the knowledge that is available to them. But whatever works for you is what is good for you.
        
        As far as my own situation. I am doing quite well, and never had to struggle. I have been lucky…but I work very hard (basically longer hours than most people). A Lakota friend of mine once said I had the midas touch…I have helped many people, financially and otherwise. This is not about me…I do not look at my own life and think “everyone else can do what I did”. I can see that many people have actual difficulties, often through no fault of their own.
      21. July 18, 2017
        
        Spiritual_Annie
        
        I have read about the epidemic of young suicides in Native American communities, and it saddens me. To feel such hopelessness so young is heartbreaking. But I understand at least partially. My first suicide attempt was at age 8.
        
        The everyday person has, in my opinion, been blind to things like suicide rates and people starving in America and elsewhere, for-profit prisons and health care systems driven by money rather than rehabilitation for prisoners or the actual health of people (Medicare cut dental benefits knowing there’s evidence that periodontal disease often leads to heart disease), the amount of incest and child abuse in our own country… We’ve become a nation of people who are struggling so hard that to go beyond meeting our own (and our family’s) immediate needs takes monumental effort.
        
        How can one care for one’s starving or homeless neighbor when it takes all of one’s time, energy and focus to keep a roof overhead and food on the table? I see it everywhere—around town, in the news, in my neighborhood.
        
        And yet, what I also see is the convenience store down the street letting some of the homeless help unload trucks and organize stock for coffee and a meal. I see more of the local food businesses (fast food and grocery stores) unlocking their dumpsters and disposing of food in ways it’s still edible. I see a local church where one can get a bicycle at no cost, no questions asked.
        
        What I see, and what gives me hope, is coming from a grassroots level by local businesses and religious communities. And just people. Plain ordinary people who help out others, sharing what little they have.
        
        It seems to me that the solutions to some of the world’s problems will be solved from the bottom up rather than the top down.
        
        Love and Blessings Always,
        ~Annie
      22. July 18, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        “We’ve become a nation of people who are struggling so hard that to go beyond meeting our own (and our family’s) immediate needs takes monumental effort.”
        
        “It seems to me that the solutions to some of the world’s problems will be solved from the bottom up rather than the top down.”
        
        Both statement are totally accurate…the establishment didn’t want a repeat of the 60’s, which came from the affluence of the middle class in the 50’s, so they have done everything they could to make sure we went back to survival mode, with no time left to even think about anything but survival, many people barely making ends meet, having no job security, having no savings and using credit cards for emergencies.
        
        But these sociopaths at the top do not understand that every action causes a reaction. No one can suppress the human spirit forever. People will become more creative to get around the authoritarian state and the slavery of the money system, and hopefully they will become more human, because that’s all we really have and all we really need, each other.
      23. July 19, 2017
        
        Spiritual_Annie
        
        Amen, again, my friend. People are becoming more creative in working around and outside the system. And more people are becoming more humane.
        
        I’d rather eat half a meal and help feed someone who’s hungry than be full and watch them starve. The sociopaths who run the systems are the opposite, insulating themselves from even seeing the starvation.
        
        Love and Blessings Always,
        ~Annie
    2. July 15, 2017
      
      Patrick Gannon
      
      That the average American has only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy, is their own fault. They got what they wanted. They voted for Trump. They deserve what they get. Live and learn. Look at this as a learning experience, sort of a “Democracy for Dummies!” At least it’s been entertaining.
      
      The Dummies are seeking a real leader, and nobody is stepping up to the plate, but I’m hopeful that Trump is a “wake up call.”
      
      Reply
      1. July 16, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        The Princeton university study was done way before Trump got selected.
        
        Of course many Americans are guilty of sleeping on the job (the job of keeping their government in check). They are guilty of extreme naivety, of being overly compliant and deferring everything to the “authorities”, and of being quite selfish when it comes to their government’s foreign policy (they don’t care who their government bombs or assassinates, which other nation’s democratically elected government it seeks to subvert, as long as they have jobs and can consume cheap stuff to their heart’s content). They are a bit like children. And that’s how the powers that be like it.
  2. July 15, 2017
    
    Patrick Gannon
    
    Make greed against the law? Like the 10 commandments? “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.” That would be the end of our economy. Competition is part of our evolutionary heritage; which is probably why socialism has its limits, and why Communism was a dismal failure.
    
    I disagree that a desire for certain goods implies a desire to control others. Do Bill Gates and Elon Musk seek to control others, or to help others? Neale Donald Walsh has admittedly made a very decent living selling new age woo. Does he desire to control others?
    
    Reply
    1. July 15, 2017
      
      Jethro
      
      I don’t know my friend, do those people have any control over anything? Maybe not…
      
      Reply
    2. July 16, 2017
      
      Raphael
      
      This form of economy, an endlessly growing economy, must end and will end.
      
      Reply
2. July 14, 2017
  
  Kristen
  
  Howdy,
  We’ve been watching that iceberg for a while, scary for us in NZ if the weight underwater etc was different, or if it broke off in Summer heading up to our warmer waters. That hunk alone could raise sea levels, what was it, a billion tonnes or something?. Threw scientists completely. CBS had a good news blurb, shockingly. Antartica is kind of our problem, wonder where it will end up? I guess the impossible can happen?
  Antartica has had weather changes the last few years, never in the news. Every winter here gets crappier and crappier, with Antartic storms heading up. This week has been freezing, and we arent equipped for it at all. We rarely get below 5 deg c. Three years ago it started, places that never get snow have been. At the moment roads are closed everywhere, thousands have no power, floods everywhere, ski fields are well covered BUT roads up are blocked and they have no power, Antarctic storms are insanely windy, they down power lines like nothing, and cause landslides etc. Last week within 10 minutes we had so much rain and hail, the hail froze into iceslabs, blocking drains and my block of shops flooded. No hail 10 minutes down the road! We dont have central heating, homeless people are dying for the first time ever, many houses arent even insulated. We get about 3 Antarctic storms a year now, the temp drops by about ten degrees with a couple of hours. But the rain here now is nuts, I flooded 3x in march and april, unbelievable freezing rain…in Autumn. Unheard of as well, climate change is hitting us insanely hard. Even fog…never had it before, in a country of 4 million, but the size of England or Japan, with 3 main cities, fog shuts the entire country down when airports have to close. Its nuts.
  Somethings definately up down there, perhaps a link with all the quakes we now get? Theyve just discovered the deep ground temps down the centre of the South Island here, formed from a faultline, are astoundingly high, completely unexpected and that of a potentially active volcano. US geologists did a lot of the drilling and work, called in when our scientists were completely perplexed, theyve never heard of that before…a long line of rock, hundreds of km long potentially being a volcano not a faultline as such.
  Perhaps Antarticas craziness is something to do with that? The bottom of the Pacific Rim ring of fire is ready to blow….we’ll be dead, you’ll just be shaky up in California! If you get a quake and huge tsumani, well, thats my funeral! Ill even throw in an iceburg. Or is that my Noahs Ark?
  But, whatever it is, something odd is definately going on down here, and we have Global cooling, not warming like everyone else. Colder, wetter and windier each near now. And that we’re really noticing climate change, its obviou Antartica is too. Australia next door definately is too, perhaps we’ve been hit year round first?
  Battery dying.
  Aaaagh,
  Xx
  
  Reply
  1. July 15, 2017
    
    Raphael
    
    Don’t worry, The Republicans in America have the answer to your weather problem…if you don’t mention the words climate change, it does not exist. Simple as that. Stop using the word climate change, and it will all go away!
    
    Kind of like the new age people who believe that if you see, hear and speak no evil it will all go away as well…which might be why such new age nonsense is so actively promoted!
    
    I would like to live on that iceberg for a while…build an igloo and float around. Might be fun. This thing is big enough to have its own weather system! I wonder if someone will bottle some of the water from that iceberg and sell it as an expensive historical novelty for a premium price. Let’s not let the destruction and disintegration of the natural environment stop anyone from seizing an opportunity to make an easy buck until the end, the American way!
    
    Reply
    1. July 15, 2017
      
      Kristen
      
      People have been building igloos here. Well 400km away. No choice, stranded with no accommodation as its the school holidays. But its ok, the army taught people how to make snow caves as well.
      The igloos are hilarious, just for fun, but why not!
      Why would climate scients acknowledge it fully, theyd be out of jobs, theyre paid to come up with research that denys it. Bit like chemtrails…what chemtrails!
      Anything feel good is an easy sell, visualisation the easiest! As is fairy dust!
      As soon as the mini Antartica reaches our waters (yes OUR waters, haha), ill sell you 10sq metres for a few fine bucks. And throw in a few pengiuns for ya. Greenpeace can drop you food, they patrol down there to moniter Japanese whaling ‘for research purposes’.
      Be careful though, close to us is a great white breeding ground, but we’ll deny that too, so you may have some company, lots of seals too!
      My nigerian lawyer will send ya the land sale bill.
      Independance Day is on TV…might learn some survival for when the fairy dust HEBs invade is and show their true colours. Or just watch it anyway, too cold to leave the lounge! Ill be a cat!
      Xx
      
      Reply
      1. July 15, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        Oh dear lord, please, please, please – no chemtrails. My dad was a meteorologist who did cloud seeding experiments, but he would roll over in his grave at his daughter, my sister, who is bonkers over chemtrails, which have been as thoroughly debunked as the idea that vaccines cause autism.
        
        Thank goodness for DNA diversity…
      2. July 15, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        So youve never seen them making chemtrails then? We had a plane do a crazy one a few months ago, stayed in place for about an hour, and a decent size plane as well.
        No need to discuss differing scientific information though. You prefer science that debunks anything, I like science that proves things especially possibilities.
        Discussion over, Im not debating anything with you before it gets to that.
        Take care,
        K
      3. July 16, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        I would love to hear the deniers’ explanation when these “trails” start and stop neatly and at short interval. If these were contrails, it would mean that the jet stopped and started its engine repeatedly…just for thrills? Or if it was a commercial jet, to thrill the passengers?
        A contrail evaporates quickly, while a geoingeneering trail stays and expends into wispy silvery clouds. Must be something the pilots are smoking..that’s it, that’s the explanation!
      4. July 16, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        The only explanation plausable, since none have ever been presented that Im aware of.
        One months ago was the freakest thing, theyre usually .just common old chem trails. This was a bigger plane that we heard before seeing, flying insanely low, and the trail was about 5km long that I can tell, I live on a hill. It stayed there for ages, nuts.
        Good news is that it stopped over the sea so scientists would say that the engine died, pilot and plane downed in the sea. Cool.
        The sad thing is, in denying them, visually and chemically proven everywhere, Patrick has sadly lost any credibility. Science is one thing, denying obvious truths is a different ballgame. Sad and not cool when people turn so extreme in anything that the truth is denied.
        Take care.
        Xx
      5. July 16, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        I dare say neither of you has done anywhere near as much research on these so-called “chemtrails” as I have, and there is no reputable scientific source I’ve found, that supports this nonsense, and a whole lot of debunking of fake evidence and actual education about how the atmosphere actually works. A basic understanding of the atmosphere and how it works is more than sufficient to explain condensation trails that last a long time and that act in unusual ways due to varying atmospheric conditions.
        
        Strange patterns certainly don’t mean a plane started and stopped its engine. The plane simply flew through various layers of atmosphere that contained different amounts of moisture or different temperatures. I’ve never seen anyone post a so-called “chemtrail” that couldn’t be explained by meteorology. Yes, there are probably still some cloud seeding experiments going on – my dad was an early pioneer of those studies. He used to go out over the FL Everglades, seeding thunderstorms with silver iodide and observing and measuring the results to see if weather could be modified (in Vietnam to make it rain on the Ho Chin Minh trail) to prevent weather disasters or get rain to fall where it was needed.
        
        What happened in FL was that as we built up along the shoreline, rain that came in from the ocean that used to fall in the Glades, began to fall closer to the shoreline, where it did not replenish the water supply in the Everglades. They wanted to see if they could overcome that problem – but they couldn’t. That’s why you read about sinkholes in FL. They sucked all the water out of the ground and aren’t replenishing it – it falls in the ocean or on the shoreline instead of in the Everglades.
        
        Contrails can last for very long periods of time if they are in a part of the atmosphere that is not moving and in which the temp and moisture are static and unchanging. This happens all the time, but it was after the conspiracy nonsense that people actually began to notice it. It’s always been that way. I recall contrails as a child that lasted all afternoon, and that was long before any sort of conspiracy theories were started.
        
        The conspiracy theorists are so selective. They believe the scientists when they say the climate is warming, and when this explains various weather phenomena as a result, but then they discard the scientists out of hand, when they dispute the conspiracy nonsense about chemtrails. This is just like cherry picking the bible to get what you want.
        
        Since you are making the outrageous claims, the burden of proof is on you to prove your nonsensical conspiracy theory, not for me to disprove it. It’s likely nothing I could say would change your mind One has to develop the courage to face personal beliefs honestly and critically in order to change them. I’ve discovered that presenting information that refutes another’s views often results in them believing it all the more strongly. We have brains that leave a lot to be desired sometimes! My father was a prominent meteorologist, and a little bit of it rubbed off on me. I understand a wee bit more than most people whose last introduction to atmospheric sciences was in 5th grade. Don’t talk to me about credibility. I’ll put myself up against you on a test of atmospheric science any day of the week.
      6. July 16, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Haha. Nice tantrum.
        You’re slipping…remember we are people speaking to people, not robotic machines.
        I have no view on global warming, but only a blind deaf moron could deny climate change, whether natural or man made.
        Your other post implies that I believe what I want to believe.
        Really? So Im so screwed up and mentally ill that I want to actually believe in chemtrails? And other things I hate existing? Feel free to quote any scientific documents that support that theory of yours, Im curious. What makes people believe in things they dont support?
        Can you explain the psychology behind that concept? Im struggling here, that entire concept defies everything plausible about humans.
        But more interesting than all of that, its not raining today. Yet.
        Take care,
        K
      7. July 17, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        I recommend the same book I recommended to Raphael. Great Courses: “Brain Myths Exploded.” The author explains, among many other things, why we want to believe in things that we have no support for. There is an explanation, and it has to do with our two thinking systems. She refers to them as our fast and slow thinking system, rather than System1 and System2, but the concept is the same.
      8. July 16, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        Condensation trails are a function of the hot exhaust and the water content, temperature, and other characteristics of the atmosphere. My dad was a rather prominent meteorologist and a little bit of knowledge rubbed off on me. I’ve studied this to some extent, since my sister buys into this silly conspiracy theory (which would drive dad crazy if he was still alive). It is true that global climate change may be affecting or changing the color and how long these condensation trails last, but despite quite a bit of effort on my part, I’ve been unable to find anything from a reputable source that suggests that there is any reality to this conspiracy theory.
        
        Science that debunks something is proving something, or providing evidence for something. What I hear is confirmation bias. We agree with things that support what we believe, and discard the rest. It’s an intellectual laziness that avoids using the entire thinking system, and it explains why we have imaginary gods, angels, and awakened HEBs.
      9. July 16, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Don’t use the word “chemtrails”, it provokes immediate denials. “geoengineering” is the proper term.
        Humanity’s ability to denial or ignore reality is astounding!
    2. July 15, 2017
      
      Patrick Gannon
      
      See my note to Kristin above. There is a mid-eastern country that is developing a specific plan to grab an iceberg and use it for fresh water. I will cheer them on every inch of the way, if they go for it.
      
      Reply
      1. July 16, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        It would be a shame to waste about 127 trillion gallons of water from that Antartica iceberg, but a legal question of ownership might arise…who can claim to own the damn thing?
      2. July 16, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        Hmm. Interesting question. I would say that once it drifts into international waters, it’s owned by whoever snags it!
      3. July 16, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Me
      4. July 17, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Ever played tag of war with an iceberg?
      5. July 17, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        BRING IT ON!!!!
      6. July 16, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Ill claim it now. Why not? Isnt that how it works, anyone can just say ‘thats mine’ tell everyone, and it becomes legal. Land included?
        Wonder if once its out of ‘Antartic waters’ its still legally classed as a body of land like Antartica, and retains the Antartica land protection laws of preservation and conservation? Oh, thats right, scientists are exempt from that, they can do what they want in Antartica, including polluting and drilling, in a ‘scientific’ bid to preserve it? As bad as Japanese whaling in the name of ‘research’.
      7. July 17, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        You could use the Vatican doctrine of discovery, from 1493…that’s how they claimed South and North America.
      8. July 17, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Ok, why not, since you want paperwork. Ill use my usual Nigerian lawyer, he’s probably Catholic anyway. Thanks for your legal advice Professor.
        Xx
      9. July 17, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        No sweat.
        Oh yeah, sweat, it’s 104 degrees here, and with more fires caused by dummies.
      10. July 17, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Grrrrr. Im freezing. But no thanks to the fires. Damn White Man and his majical fire stcks…whats the worst invention?
        Hey Ghost of Mewabe, if you bump into him in a corridor, tell him Im moving forward from my grief, and I loved his funeral song.
        What was it again?
      11. July 18, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        He ha he ha he ha ha, something like that (I am not sure, I was not there).
      12. July 18, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Ahhhhh, now that makes sense. Now!. I thought it was Christmas and misheard it as ho ho ho. The deer there must have been locals, not reindeer. Silly me. I bet I looked slightly retarded in my elf outfit. Oh well.
        Well, Im just glad that wig turned up, the orange and green stripe one, cos it was lost with the tutu.
        Well, he can laugh at me because in preparation for my wedding, where Annie and Biscuit are finding me a random husband in the Walmart carpark, then lunch at dunkin donuts, pink icing with sprinkles, the best…I found my wedding dress in a clean out. Circa 1993, the dress from Guns n Roses November Rain. Erm….thats a song about divorce…did I miss that.
        Haha….Mewabe can laugh at me from his grave.
        Anyway I better be sensible, Marko is enjoying this thread back to topic, rather than a circus. Oops!
        Later,
        Xx
      13. July 19, 2017
        
        Spiritual_Annie
        
        Still looking!
      14. July 19, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Oh good.
        Except Im not allowed in America, I inspired the infamous wall! My family got detained at the border after a Tijuana daytrip in around 1979. Dad forgot our passports, left them in the hotel in San Deigo.
        I assume that means I can never return, as someone with a record trying to sneak through the border!
        Maybe Ill have to try to get a work visa to work at Walmart, since Im unwanted. I can be the People Of Walmart photographer in the carpark in my Sombrero.
        Take care,
        K
        Xx
      15. July 20, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        No circus allowed…didn’t you see the sign? Alright you and your Walmart husband are under arrest lady. Turn around and put your 4 hands on your left head.
      16. July 20, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Ooops, dont tell Marko, Ill just hide for a while. Is he the moderator?
        It took me 15 years to find that Walmart husband, he’s a keeper. Ill put my four hands on his left back. Once I wax it…his back, not my hand.
      17. July 20, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        15 years to find? He must be microscopic…don’t let your hungry neighbor’s cat eat him (whether you have a neighbor or a neighbor’s cat or both are hungry or not).
      18. July 20, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Neighbours, cats, you name it…this is the middle class suburbs remember.
        The Walmart husband does disappear a lot, havnt seen him for a while actually. Ill check with the pen and coin collection between couch cushions!
        Your dad jokes get worse every year……! Lameitis, watch that, this isnt a circus you know.
      19. July 21, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Everything is a circus, or wishes it were.
        Lameitis in my case originates from a serious lack of sleep…way too much work. I need a long vacation…at least that’s my excuse and I stand by it.
      20. July 21, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Ahhhh, yip, stand by that. In males its generally age induced.
        Get some sleep Ghost of Mewabe, long hours and too much work is against what you believe in. Probably what killed Mewabe.
        Be a rebel, have a beer, and sleep 12 hours.
        Xx
  2. July 15, 2017
    
    Patrick Gannon
    
    Hi Kristen – first a science check! Think of a glass of water with ice in it. As the ice melts, does the level of water rise? Try it. No, it does not. The chunk of ice that broke off is from an ice shelf. It is floating in the water like an ice cube in a glass of water. As it melts, it will not raise the water level. What raises the water level is melting ice that is on land, like Greenland. So this particular chunk of ice will not raise the water level, but it’s still a significant event! The iceberg will be a navigation hazard – that’s about it, for now.
    
    As for the other weather conditions you mention, keep in mind that an entire planet warming, will result in colder conditions in certain regions – at least for some time. Warmer conditions break off a huge piece of ice that cools the waters as it moves, creating cooling local conditions – for example. Ocean currents change because of the heating, moving colder water to your area, creating different weather conditions.
    
    I haven’t read anything about the volcanic/geological conditions you mention – but will keep my eyes open for such. That’s pretty interesting. Too bad US ships powered by nuclear power can’t assist! (grin) You may want to look up some of the services provided by US naval craft with nuclear power plants for victims of tsunamis or other disasters in both eastern and western hemispheres. A US aircraft carrier with a nuclear power plant can power a small city for a period of time. Or not.
    
    Actually, one of the mid-eastern countries, Dubai, if my aging memory is correct, has been planning to grab a large iceberg and haul it to their country as a source of fresh water. I don’t know if this one is convenient for their purposes, but it sure would be cool to see them try it.
    
    Reply
    1. July 15, 2017
      
      Kristen
      
      Hi. Yip, I know the science. I actually learned that in a Trixie Belden quiz book when I was about 9 I think. It was scientists on CBS on Wed? night that bought that up, saying it wont raise sea levels. Yip warming forms more ice ironically, well harder ice rather than softer snow. Flipping if its imbalanced is more of a problem, tsunami city, that shelf is in shallower waters and is actually anchored to the ground by ice inbedded in rocks in some places, hence my concern to about the possible quake link.
      There was an article on the odd Southern Alps findings in the NZ Herald, maybe a month ago, that will be online. My neighbours a geologist…I just dropped him a baby hedgehog to nurse back to health, I hate them! Hes english, hedgehogs are english..his problem not mine.
      Ill keep my eyes out for Dubai, towing the mama burg!
      Take care,
      K
      
      Reply
July 14, 2017

Spiritual_Annie

#9—For me, what struck me immediately was the word “balance.” There are technologies and machines that may have unseen or unacknowledged effects on our world or, now that our probes move more deeply into space, other planets or systems. (Space junk is spreading beyond our solar system.) For example, I don’t know how true it still is, but it used to be that manufacturing processes for many electronic components involved several cleanings with harsh chemicals, which became toxic waste. Then there are technologies and machines that have a direct impact. Underground testing of nuclear bombs create fissures in the planet’s crust, causing more earthquakes. Then there are times when technology and machines enhance our world, helping us figure out how to rebuild and regrow what we’ve damaged, or keep what we still have. I’d like to see a “First, do no harm” clause at the beginning of every government’s founding documents, every agency’s mission statement, every bill in Congress, every set of incorporation papers for every legal entity, every legal agreement and everyone’s birth certificate—some legally enforceable, some as reminders.

#10—On an individual level, I can’t see myself taking the life of another sentient being directly. I believe that all beings have Souls and that’s hard to reconcile with still eating some meat, but I can’t be picky at the food pantry and I can’t afford to buy all of my food. I would certainly defend myself and those I care for, but would not take it to the level of killing unless it was accidental. I don’t even take my furry roommates to be “put to sleep” when they get old but allow them to pass as comfortably as possible at home. Indirectly, like voting for a hawk who believes force, violence and war is the answer to our problems—that means doing my due diligence as a citizen. I’m responsible for who I vote for, and for letting them know my opinion about priorities and upcoming bills. I’m not responsible for their vote as they can darn near do anything they want, but I’m responsible for my opinion on how they voted and sharing it appropriately.

#11 and #12—If these aren’t obvious already, I can’t make them much moreso. We continue to deforest the plants that provide the oxygen we need to physically live. We continue to both strip of it’s nutrients and then poison the dirt in which the vegetables and fruits we need grow. In psychological terms, we are inactively suicidal. Instead of us each just outright slitting our wrists, we’re willing to kill ourselves with reckless behavior that endangers all living things.

However, I always have hope. I have sufficiently proven to myself that I can change. Learn. Grow. Strengthen. Heal. Evolve Spiritually. I look at my beginnings and can’t help but have hope because I’ve turned what seemed only to be liabilities into an assets. And while I’m unique, I’m not extraordinary, so I have hope in others, too.

Love and Blessings Always,
~Annie

Reply
1. July 14, 2017
  
  Marko
  
  “First, do no harm” clause at the beginning of every government’s
  founding documents, every agency’s mission statement, every bill in
  Congress, every set of incorporation papers for every legal entity,
  every legal agreement and everyone’s birth certificate—some legally
  enforceable, some as reminders.”
  
  I so love that!
  
  Reply
  1. July 14, 2017
    
    Patrick Gannon
    
    “First, do no harm” is such a clever slogan, but something very difficult to put into service. We can start with the classic train problem…. You’re standing near a railway switch and you have a view of the track ahead. On the track that the train is on, there are five people on the track, and they will not hear the train, which will kill them. On the other track there is one person. You can throw the switch and direct the train to kill one person instead of five. Now…. do no harm – what do you do?
    
    Now, you’re on an overpass, and you can see five people on the track ahead, and a train barreling down the track – it’s going to kill them all. Your only way to stop the train is to throw a very fat man in a wheelchair off the overpass on to the tracks below, and this will be enough (for sake of argument) to stop the train. Now… do no harm – what do you do?
    
    I’m not saying that the slogan isn’t something to aspire to, but pointing out that cutesy slogans are not cure-alls. Life is far too complicated and messy for that.
    
    Reply
    1. July 14, 2017
      
      Raphael
      
      The problems of the world do not originate from a lack of great ideas or high ideals…but from a human nature that has not changed in the last couple of thousand years (read the writing of Greek and Roman philosophers and you will realize that they may as well have described our current world, with a few irrelevant differences).
      
      I admire Neale for his faith in humanity, and his confidence in his own ideas, as well as for his sincere wish to help others. Unfortunately, I do not believe ideas alone can change human nature, unless a person is ready and willing to change.
      
      Reply
      1. July 15, 2017
        
        Marko
        
        Well yes of course, you take the ideas & implement them. Sometimes to great success & other times not.
      2. July 15, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        You cannot implement ideas against the will of people, at least not in a spiritual world. And the people do not accept new ideas until they are ready, unfortunately.
      3. July 15, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        But what “ideas” of Neale’s do we refer to that aren’t basically, Kumbaya? Neale seldom offers real, solid, tangible suggestions to solve societal problems – none that I can recall at the moment, anyway. He said he would comment on Syria, but failed to do so, for example. He has solutions for individual problems, and proposes that this will blossom into solving societal problems, but I am not so optimistic. I remember in one of his books, he wanted to tax rich people, taking everything they make over a certain point – but that would eliminate people like Elon Musk and Bill Gates, who change our world for the better. Aside from that, isn’t the basic message, the same one Rodney King gave us: “Can’t we all just get along?”
        
        When do religions, New Age, legacy or otherwise, ever give us concrete solutions, even though they claim direct pipelines to the source of all knowledge?
      4. July 16, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Neale is trying to help, and he has probably helped a lot of individuals get away from dogmatic religion…but there is not a practical problem in the world that doesn’t already have a solution. What gets in the way are elements that profit immensely from keeping things as they are.
        
        Imagine if we actually knew how to use our brains…This alone would be the greatest breakthrough ever (I am not merely being sarcastic…our brains have capabilities that a few individuals-savants, geniuses, people who can partly or completely heal themselves through visualization, etc) that lay dormant in most of humanity.
        
        That’s the next frontier…
      5. July 16, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        Generally people who have extended capabilities in one area, are lacking in others. If you really want to know the current status of our knowledge about how the brain works, I would recommend an excellent series of lectures from “Great Course” by Prof Indre Viskontas, called “Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience.”
      6. July 16, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        I love that series of courses (almost all of them, from astronomy to philosophy etc). I will check out your recommendation, thanks.
      7. July 19, 2017
        
        Spiritual_Annie
        
        “What gets in the way are elements that profit immensely from keeping things as they are.”
        
        Yes! Even when whole groups of individuals are willing to and have been changing, there is always “pushback” from those who have much to lose if the system itself changes. Yet it’s the systems that must ultimately change, and it’s the people at large who must insist on the change. It sounds like a “Catch-22” unless people are awake and standing with our Earth and nature instead of asleep and against them.
        
        I’m also leery of mixing man and machines, especially if artificial intelligence is involved. We risk ultimately being outsmarted by our own creations.
        
        Love and Blessings Always,
        ~Annie
      8. July 21, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        You might enjoy the book Nature, Man and Woman by Alan Watts. It might be out of print but easy to find on the internet. It is a very good book…about our relationship with nature and all life. It explains a lot…
      9. July 21, 2017
        
        Spiritual_Annie
        
        Thanks, I’ll check it out.
      10. July 17, 2017
        
        Sam
        
        “I remember in one of his books, he wanted to tax rich people, taking everything they make over a certain point – but that would eliminate people like Elon Musk and Bill Gates, who change our world for the better.“
        
        People with a drive, good ideas, and great success don’t get eliminated, but are set to run and to develop, having after them a queue of people ready to invest. Even with only the salary, Bill Gates and Elon Musk would still pretty much be at the same place, on top of things.
      11. July 17, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        Maybe. Musk used the earnings from selling PayPal to start his other ventures. If he had been forced to give up most of that money, it is highly doubtful that he’d have received the investment needed to start some of his operations. He used his own money – and almost went broke. There’s a great article about Musk on WaitButWhy.
      12. July 15, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        I disagree that human nature has not changed We no longer believe slavery, sexism, genocide, racism, discrimination against the disabled, etc. are acceptable solutions or attitudes. We’ve come much further than you give us credit for. We no longer automatically accept the explanation “God did it” and this has resulted in the greatest advancements in our history.
        
        I do agree that it helps when people are willing to change, but change is inevitable. It’s going to happen, whether people are ready or not.
      13. July 16, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        By “we” do you mean North America and Europe? The rest of humanity hasn’t quite caught up…
      14. July 16, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        No, but we’re on that path. Even among Muslims, only a small percentage of them (which admittedly is still a large number) engage in these primitive aspects of human nature.
        
        What seems evident is that where such activities still occur, religion reigns supreme.
    2. July 15, 2017
      
      Marko
      
      If we must, we simply take the lesser of 2 evils. Even if you don’t hit an ideal, it’s always a place to shoot for.
      
      Reply
      1. July 15, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        LOL. That’s how we ended up with Trump! We had no ideal to shoot for! (I voted 3rd party). Again, I agree that attempting to avoid harm is desirable, but simply pointing out that it’s oh so difficult to attain. It’s Kumbaya. We need real solutions.
2. July 15, 2017
  
  Kristen
  
  Hi Annie,
  You and Biscuit havnt fallen in a sinkhole I hope? Scary.
  Xx
  
  Reply
  1. July 15, 2017
    
    Spiritual_Annie
    
    Nope, not yet. But I expect there will be more as it seems many of the storms we’ve been having daily here just stall and unload all they’ve got. And they’re not over yet. All that water moving around in the soil makes for some pretty unstable soil (which really isn’t soil, but mostly sand and rock). They’re completely unpredictable, but so are the earthquakes I grew up with in Missouri. Of course, those didn’t eat entire houses. They have in California, but not while I was there. Just had parts of the coastal highway slide into the ocean.
    
    I was the inspector for the second phase of a new storm sewer installation along a river that flooded every summer. The town was trying to become year-round rather than a bunch of summer cottages on stilts. So, the sewers were installed. First flood, sinkholes started appearing everywhere the sewer had been laid. I had to go out and document the failures (mostly caused by using anything and everything for backfill under the sewer pipes, from tree trunks to tires to 55 gallon drums), document our own inspector’s fake paperwork, then inspect the repairs. What a nightmare! Heavy equipment that was being used to pull out vehicles was sinking while trying.
    
    I’ve seen pics of the really big recent one here. Scary is right.
    
    Sounds like you could do with some stilts under your buildings there!
    
    Love and Blessings Always,
    ~Annie
    
    Reply
    1. July 15, 2017
      
      Kristen
      
      Glad to hear!
      Sinkholes scare the bejesus out of me. I read last night that that one was on land explained as a filled/reclaimed sinkhole! Defies any logic. And in Christchurch where we’ve had massive quakes, the worst affected homes were on reclaimed old river beds, hence all the liquifaction. What part of human nature defies all logic just because they want to build a house somewhere?? Crazy! Especially people in the US who live in ‘tornado alley’…did they miss something in that description?
      Its taking gas and unnecessary water out of the ground that irks me…and they wonder why sinkholes happen…no logic the water and gasses are holding the outer layers of earth up? Who plays jenga by taking out the middle layers?
      $$$$$ huh…it overrides logic.
      Take care,
      Xx
      
      Reply
      1. July 20, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Couldn’t agree more! But that’s civilization…they think they can control and master nature. One of the best example was a logging company in Oregon that cut the trees that held the soil on a hillside right above the town…wanna guess what happened when it started to rain heavily, as it does in Oregon? Ha ha…American civilization is very comical, but best looked at from afar.
      2. July 20, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Thank you for your scientific support Professor Ghost of Mewabe.
        Not just America..our country has constant landslips with heavy rains, its constant now, towns and main roads are constantly cut off. Google kaikoura quake slip..thats still like it from a year ago but there are another dozen or so from just rains. I dont think they can ever rebuild those roads, but try telling people that! Houses built on cliffs are the ones that defy all logic. Dont they realise trees serve a purpose??
        Xx
      3. July 20, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Yes, they do…in their minds trees are meant to be turned into junk mail, particle board and toilet paper…
      4. July 20, 2017
        
        Stephen mills
        
        Hemp can supply them with all the paper they could ever want….no need to use trees . 2nd fastest growing plant on the planet .
      5. July 20, 2017
        
        Sam
        
        “2nd fastest growing plant on the planet“
        
        Hmm, sounds like weed.
      6. July 21, 2017
        
        Stephen mills
        
        Its its cousin ,can’t smoke it though !
        
        It’s one those plants that could benefit humans in so many ways ,if they choose too !
      7. July 21, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        You can even make very strong plastic from it…
      8. July 21, 2017
        
        Stephen mills
        
        Yes here’s a secret the oil companies do not want you to know ? Anything that can be made from Hydrocarbons in oil you can easily make from carbohydrates in vegetable crops like Hemp .
        
        It’s a conspiracy mannnnn….
      9. July 21, 2017
        
        Sam
        
        True, true 🙂
      10. July 20, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        The powers that be do not want solutions…they want exploitation and to keep world populations in slavery and misery. They are like spiders that paralyze their preys and slowly suck the fluids out of them.
      11. July 21, 2017
        
        Stephen mills
        
        This unfortunately seems to be the case .They seek only power over people not with.
      12. July 20, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Funny how around here its all the South Africans and Asians that have fires going 24/7 in winter. I thought the world was past ghe concept of cuttong down trees just to burn for heating?
        Immigrants pee me off lke that, Kiwis in general at least try, foreigners dont. All drive suv’s, travel constantly and cut down trees. Whats the game…destroy your own country then move to a different one and do the same? Basic disrespect.
        I do rather like toilet paper though!
      13. July 21, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        I have a fireplace and use wood in the winter, but I collect wood cut by the Forest Service when they clear the undergrowth to avoid out of control forest fires…you just get a permit, pay a small fee and pick up whatever they cut and put in piles.
        
        Otherwise it is illegal to cut wood…except on your own property, although you are, in theory, supposed to pay some sort of tax on it, and that’s where most people exercise their Constitutional right to use their middle finger.
      14. July 21, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Exactly the point, thats what surplus timber or anything is for, and I wish I could have a fireplace inside, but not when it involves trees being grown then cut felled at a faster rate than replanting, just for home fires. Not to mention logging trucks driving four hours to get them to the city, then all the deliveries to homes. Not cool.
        My sons have an old school brick fireplace in the back yard for moronic mates to stare at while drinking beer like the cavemen that they are, but all wood burnt is from our own trees or offcuts they bring home from work (both are builders). We just pruned huge trees so theres enough to fill the smokehouse, a years worth.
        Its logging just to burn I have issues with.
        Get some sleep Raphbobmewski.
July 14, 2017

Marko

I’m enjoying the interesting comments below & welcome the demise of the side show circus that have occurred on some of the other blogs.

As for CwG in the real world the creation of Cwghelpingoutreach site is where theory is being put to use in the helping of peoples lives. It’s based on Neale’s book “When Everything Changes, Change Everything.”

The book came out of a discussion with his wife when she mentioned that there are so many self help books out there (including Neale’s) but nothing to help people going through really big tough challenging changes. That’s how the WECCE book came to be.

For me, this is where CwG has great success in helping individual people. Theory is put to practice.

I wonder if there will be something as impactful on a larger group or world scale reaching the collective? Sure one could say the books themselves are out there for the collective. He has the CwG connect site and several other things going.

Yet, the helping outreach site has made a big positive difference in peoples lives. How might we do this on a larger scale?

Reply
1. July 15, 2017
  
  Sam
  
  “I’m enjoying the interesting comments below & welcome the demise of the side show circus that have occurred on some of the other blogs.”
  
  I am glad you came to your senses 🙂
  
  Reply
  1. July 15, 2017
    
    Marko
    
    I never left my senses……
    
    Reply
  2. July 17, 2017
    
    Kristen
    
    I like the circus!!!!
    
    Reply
2. July 15, 2017
  
  Spiritual_Annie
  
  I like the idea, but would need more info before figuring out how to upscale it.
  
  For example, are the volunteers at cwghelpingoutreach given training or have to have taken a certain workshop? I think it would serve any volunteer organization to set standards for the volunteers.
  
  I can see a cwghelpingoutreach YouTube channel that addresses the most commonly asked questions. I can see a cwghelpingoutreach Facebook page to connect more people to the cwghelpingoutreach site, as well as to share Neale’s posts and quotes or ideas from WECCE. I can see a Google+ page that does the same. I can see a Facebook group for the volunteers to assist and provide support for each other. I can see a cwghelpingoutreach Twitter account that could promote cwghelpingoutreach, retweet Neale’s and other’s appropriate tweets, and maybe even being able to provide one-on-one assistance through Direct Messages. I can see a cwghelpingoutreach Instagram and Snapchat accounts for the same as the FB and G+ page. If it grew, it could even have it’s own website with a blog. There are ways to interconnect some of those accounts.
  
  I can see the cwghelpingoutreach organization reaching out to other like-minded organizations to let them know about cwghelpingoutreach. I do believe a list of such organizations exists. If there were donations specific to cwghelpingoutreach, then there could also be FB ads and promoted tweets.
  
  It all starts with organization by a few who are willing to step up and lead, and find a way to draw in volunteers for the upscale once the plans are in place. And, of course, Neale’s blessings.
  
  Love and Blessings Always,
  ~Annie
  
  Reply
  1. July 15, 2017
    
    Marko
    
    If you go to the site & look it over, see what it offers, most all of your questions will be answered. The site is based on the WECCE book.
    
    It’s very helpful & recommended that people who go there to have read it. Which they can do for free on the site. Because the invitation to the site is in the book as part of the of the changes the book talks about. One is you don’t have to go through difficult change alone and the site is there to help.
    
    My question was not about the site which is a pretty well oiled machine. But how might we offer something for a larger audience beyond helping individuals with their problems to world problems.
    
    One idea I’ve discussed here & else where is how we can use collective visualization, prayer to focus on world or local problems by a larger group of people. James Twyman & others have done this.
    
    Reply
    1. July 18, 2017
      
      Spiritual_Annie
      
      I have joined in collective meditation and visualization before, and it’s felt very powerful. The ones I’ve been involved in have been online on a platform, but I don’t have much info on the setting-it-up side. I have also been involved in ones that have dialing in as an option if someone can’t access the site.
      
      One platform I’m a little familiar with is Zoom, but again, that’s on the receiving end. I can ask how it works and see if I can research a bit, if you’d like.
      
      Love and Blessings Always,
      ~Annie
      
      Reply
      1. July 18, 2017
        
        Marko
        
        Thanks Annie. I too have participated in some global or larger collective prayer visualizations. I’d like to see Neale start one or find a group that does in more consistently. James Redfield did this for years every two weeks but since stopped as far as I know.
      2. July 19, 2017
        
        Spiritual_Annie
        
        Why wait on Neale? I think we need to stop waiting on those who are already busy and do for ourselves. We could ask if he’ll endorse it, which would bring it to more people’s attention, but he can’t do it all. Or, there are some out there already, depending on the focus. Scott Hamilton does a “Meditation 2.0” regularly, though I haven’t been involved for a while. It used to involve thousands meditating at the same time. I’m sure there are others.
        
        What are you specifically looking for? One based in CWG, or one for world Peace, or generally lifting humanity? I’d like to see one based on CWG myself, starting with the ideas in Book 4, which are supported by the previous books. It could focus on awakening, both personally and as a species.
        
        Love and Blessings Always,
        ~Annie
      3. July 19, 2017
        
        Marko
        
        I’m thinking Neale has a larger network of people & he and other spiritual leaders could get together & create a much larger more powerful group of collective visualizers.
      4. July 21, 2017
        
        Spiritual_Annie
        
        I understand, honestly. For a brief period before my challenges hit in St. Louis, I was in leadership in a volunteer organization. Actually, I’ve been in leadership in many volunteer organizations since I was young.
        
        Those who are the founders and cornerstones of such organizations are generally already up to their eyeballs in the works that they do. That’s why I suggested an endorsement from Neale (and other founders of organizations) rather than his setting it up and running it himself. If he were willing, an endorsement could include a note in his newsletter and maybe even emails to the membership of his organizations. I believe his main organization has a list of other like-minded organizations, which could also be helpful in getting the word out.
        
        I guess what I’m saying is that if we don’t do it ourselves, it may not get done.
        
        Love and Blessings Always,
        ~Annie
      5. July 19, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Have you read The Holographic Universe? It mentions the power of visualization, and has some theories on how it works and why.
      6. July 19, 2017
        
        Marko
        
        I’m not sure if I have or not, but it may be worth a look! Thanks.
        Regarding visualization, prayer etc. I often say there is no guarantee, but the probability goes way uP in your favor!
        
        I wrote recently: For me, we cultivate & practice positive self talk, visualization etc. because it works & plays in our favor. It’s of course much easier to live in our default negative thoughts that we don’t question because they are just thoughts. But thoughts repeated over & over for long periods, weeks, months, years even decades can have their very negative toll.
        
        Like wise, the practice of positive self talk can, as time goes on really affect our lives for the better.
        
        I often say visualize what you’d like to see & it will be eventually. Now there is no guarantee it will happen in just the exact manner you perceive, but the probability of moving into that more closely, goes way uP. That’s all good in my book. Me of FB
      7. July 19, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        I used visualization when I was a young kid in school (centuries ago) before an oral or written exam. I don’t know where I picked up the idea, because no one talked or wrote about this at the time. And it worked extremely well.
        
        In school I also used something native Americans used in the past, which was to make your energy neutral or “invisible” when you don’t want to be noticed…in this case when I didn’t want a teacher to choose me to answer a question…they would glance right over me as if they did not see me. And I did the opposite, with my mind, which worked just as well…to be picked to answer a question, and it worked like a magnet.
        
        I have strongly developed extra sensory senses (always knowing where a rattle snake is hiding while hiking, knowing what a driver on the road will do before they do it, etc).
        
        I have also seen, straight from the outset, where a relationship or friendship would go (all the way to the end) when meeting a person I was “destined” to know better.
        
        I also (no one taught this to me) used to review my days in the evening, to understand how I contributed to anything negative that happened and how I could have changed the outcome. I was perhaps 10 or 11 years old when I did this.
        
        I still use the visualization technique, when I think about it, before undertaking something difficult. It always work for me. I don’t have to concentrate that hard at all, perhaps because of practice.
        
        As far as doing visualization for the world, that’s another ball of game, because we cannot go against the will of anyone. When using the mind, we have to ask for permission (mentally) to influence other people’s lives, even in a positive way. Otherwise it’s a violation.
        
        The mind is very powerful, but everything has to be in alignment as much as possible (heart, mind, body, spirit, and the self and the universe), because inner conflicts get in the way. That’s why in my view self knowledge is important.
      8. July 20, 2017
        
        Marko
        
        I don’t see anyone objecting to visualizing a better world. We do it now unfortunately negatively & unconsciously.
      9. July 21, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        We all have a role to play in the global human experience…what I meant was that some elements are essentially predatory, they profit from the misery of others, and would object to changing the world, even for the better. So even positive visualizations create a kind of conflict against these elements…but that’s more of a philosophical question, rather than a spiritual question. In spiritual terms, there are no separations, therefore no real conflicts.
        
        I think that the only real negative influences on the world are fear or hatred…which give any negative thought its potency. But no matter what, I don’t think that we can separate ourselves from the collective experience, whether it is positive or negative, anymore than we can separate the positive from the negative.
        
        My choice is to disregard the positive and negative, and aim for the center between these two polarities…aim for “what is”, which is pure being, beyond all judgments, and which includes all experiences, yet goes beyond all experiences.
      10. July 21, 2017
        
        Sam
        
        And to add to the complexity. Those so-called “others”, being misery-predators, is actually yourself, 100 %, only at another stage in life. Or, if easier to imagine, yourself in a previous life, doing the same thing.
        
        Your aim, between the two, is where everyone ends up. A love-fear-circus non-stop is really too much 🙂
July 15, 2017

Sam

Once again, good and sound goals to reach for, and, of course, the coming standard, where anything less would be unthinkable.
The “old ways” did always serve some purpose, and therefore always has the last cry of, “made us who we are”, before it nevertheless dies, from the birth of a new age of better ways. Nothing stopping this train.

Reply
July 17, 2017

Raphael

“A voice in the wilderness”…
If only this could be the wilderness…free of civilized man’s insensitive interference and imbalance, we may actually have a chance!

Reply
1. July 17, 2017
  
  Kristen
  
  Just grow a beard and be Bigfoot. Lead the crusade.
  
  Reply
  1. July 17, 2017
    
    Raphael
    
    I never lead or follow…against my religion. But I will grow a big foot and be a beard.
    
    Reply
    1. July 17, 2017
      
      Kristen
      
      Cool, Ill grow a beard, and long toenails. Or toe snails, something anyway.
      Who was your message above to? It sounds directed somewhere?
      
      Reply
      1. July 17, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        “You” is basically addressed to all civilized people who happen to also be believers…who admire and worship the original artist yet desecrate and destroy the creation….illogical at best!
        You will grow a beard? Don’t rush, it will come soon enough…like older men who grow breasts. Nature is the ultimate prankster.
      2. July 17, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Oh. Damn, not on the list. Oh well. I like Leonardo, we go way back.
      3. July 17, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Glad to know you are not on the list 🙂
      4. July 17, 2017
        
        Stephen mills
        
        Your right about the mega corporations just 100 of those suckers produce 71% of all global emissions as we are told to have personal responsibility for our home planet and reuse recycle and change a few light bulbs . While the real culprits have us busy blaming ourselves they continue the death spiral of the planet .
        
        They own and controll public policy in all areas ,just one sentence would make them obsolete.
        
        “A Corporation is not a natural person thus has no rights over living breathing entities “.
2. July 17, 2017
  
  Sam
  
  “If only this could be the wilderness…free of civilized man’s insensitive interference and imbalance, we may actually have a chance!”
  
  There is no chance not always being a chance until we grab it. We can even blow up this planet, and it will reform, starting from scratch. Takes some time, though, but then again, time is only an illusion. My girlfriend asked me once who I be if I could choose. Top shelf. I said a native Indian in the golden age, a place not too cold, not too hot, and with a horse. So, I get what you’re aiming at. But the thing is development. It can’t be stopped, as the very point. And because development is the point, one has to start low, for somewhere to go; up. And because we start low, we will make a lot of “wrongs” along the way, even to the brink of self-destruction, before we find out what works. My guess, we go full circle, back to nature, fully restored, when becoming a community of enlightened beings.
  
  Reply
3. July 17, 2017
  
  Jethro
  
  If it’s any consolation, people are waking up to the problem and becoming active the best they can. We had this conversation several months ago when I became angry at the world for the damage to our earth. I received too much information at once. It’s not just those claiming a love for a God who are responsible. All excuses are being used by those who intend to make a buck from the destruction we are witnessing. Stay angry to remain active but don’t harm yourself with self destructive anger. I believe that your head is straight in this matter, but some like myself, taking a really deep look for the first time, may need to hear that.
  
  Reply
4. July 17, 2017
  
  Patrick Gannon
  
  Do you ever watch the show, “Naked and Afraid”? I’d do it as a challenge (particularly in my younger days), but am pleased that my ancestors evolved enough to provide heating, AC and indoor plumbing. I live in the country, and I can just imagine how many ticks I would have to pull off, day after day, if I lived outside. Going back to nature, living in a teepee – it all sounds so romantic, till most of your kids are dying before their 5th birthday. I’ll pass. I love nature, and try to live in concert with it. I do what I can to support wildlife – but I don’t want to be wildlife, though I acknowledge being a part of nature.
  
  Obviously your question is not directed to me since I’m not a believer. We were “intelligently designed” however – by evolution. Though how good the “design” was, is open to debate. It’s hard to get a great design when you’re stuck working with what is already in place and can’t start fresh with a clean plate. We are actually “hacked” rather than designed. What designer would run the optic nerve right in front of the retina? It’s a stupid design. We have a blind spot in our vision, right in the center of our field of vision (the brain fills in the blanks). Everything is hacked, with small improvements and modifications, made over very long periods of time.
  
  I do like your challenge to the believers though. That’s a great way to make your point! It’s like prayer. ‘A long time ago God made a divine plan… gave it a lot of thought. Decided it was a good plan, put it into practice and for billions and billions of years, the divine plan has been doing just fine. Now you come along and pray for something. Well what if the thing you are praying for isn’t in God’s divine plan? What do you want him to do? Change his plan? Just for you? Doesn’t that seem a little arrogant? It’s a divine plan. What’s the use of being God if every run down schmuck with a $2 prayer book can come along and screw up your plan?’ (compliments of George Carlin – with minor edits).
  
  Reply
  1. July 19, 2017
    
    Raphael
    
    I got rid of my television over 20 years ago, along with all of its programming.
    
    I won’t argue with you about the lifestyles of Indigenous people on this continent before the invasion. I have different historical facts, but when a person has formed an opinion based on certain chosen assumptions and cliches about other cultures, they tend to disregard anything that could challenge such opinions, or enter into unproductive and futile debates, which is something I try to avoid whenever possible. The information is out there, available to anyone who is interested.
    
    I knew about the blind spot, as well as that what we “see” is actually not seen at all but about 50% fabricated by the brain…which explains why crimes or accidents witnesses’ testimonies have such discrepancies (beside emotions affecting perceptions).
    
    We are imperfect indeed (who would think of positioning an amusement park right next to a sewage facility…did George Carlin say that?)
    Seriously, much of our prejudices about sexuality have to do with the very position of the sex organs on the body, and their double use for evacuation…they are in a lower and “inferior” position (as opposed to the brain and mind, which are higher and “superior”), which causes us to believe that sexuality is primitive, animal, dirty and inferior.
    
    Can you imagine entire religious dogmas (such as the “fall”) originating in some faulty or strange bodily design?
    
    Reply
    1. July 19, 2017
      
      Patrick Gannon
      
      Please don’t lump me with people who are unwilling to question their opinions and beliefs. Do you have a book (preferably on “Audible” books) that supports your point of view that indigenous people lived (what appears to me from your descriptions) an idyllic life? I spent 30 minutes yesterday going through Audible trying to pick my next book, and nothing has caught my attention yet, so if you have a suggestion, please make it.
      
      Remember, I live in the country. I used to bowhunt a lot. I sprayed my clothing with repellent too strong to put on skin, in order to keep ticks at bay. I know what it’s like to be eaten alive by the little buggers, not to mention mosquitoes and all the other little nasties out there. It ain’t fun. I’ve gone hiking without repellent and come back with chiggers heading for the warm moist areas where I least want them! Misery! I’ve tried the “natural” repellents like catnip, and they are better than nothing, but living, hunting, scrounging in the wild is not all it’s cracked up to be. There’s no time to think of great ideas and ways to advance mankind, when you are focused on your next meal and not letting the fire go out.
      
      I tried to find some info on the population growth prior to the arrival of European settlers, but nobody really knows what it was. I imagine that it was pretty stable, which means the same thing it meant everywhere else until the 1860s when germs were discovered, and that is – most kids died in childbirth or very young; and there was nothing that could be done about it. Again – I’ll opt for indoor plumbing, though I don’t mind spending a little time returning to the primitive roots we all share. That hot shower when I get back is such a pleasure!
      
      Interesting conjecture about “the fall” and the Church’s maniacal obsession with sex. I never thought of that “higher” vs. “lower” orientation of the sex organs. I think it was some really smart theologians recognizing that sex is personal and private, and if you can use it to impose shame, guilt and fear, then you can control people.
      
      As it turns out “the fall” has been debunked. DNA evidence illustrates that we evolved from a pool of early ancestors, not just two individuals, thus debunking original sin, and with it, any need to believe the right things about Jeebus.
      
      Reply
      1. July 19, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        I meant to give you an overview of Naked and Afraid since you don’t watch TV – though you can also google it. They take a couple and drop them off in very remote places on earth, in places where there is no civilization nearby. They are given a couple tools; most couples – who don’t meet each other till the very start, after they are both naked – choose a fire maker of some sort and a cutting tool of some sort. Some of these people have primitive survival skills and will bring or make a bow drill rather than a flint, for example. They strip off everything, no undies, no shoes, nothing; as bare as the day they were born. They get over being naked pretty quickly and from there on out it’s pure survival. (Yes the camera blurs the good stuff). They have to build a shelter, build a fire, find and purify water, find something to eat, and survive for 21 days. It can be brutal, with many of them washing out. It’s an amazing show to observe human interactions under stressful conditions. Some people are clearly not survivors and have no business out there. Others do fairly well, and not necessarily just the men. Often it’s the women who end up being stronger partners; but sometimes either partner can have as much sense as a bag of bricks, which can make it very difficult on the other partner and creates a lot of dynamic and interesting psychological interplay. You can also learn a lot of useful skills by watching what they do to survive.
      2. July 19, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        I will reply in a couple of days, as this requires an extensive reply…and I am swamped with work until Monday (no rest for the wicked).
    2. July 19, 2017
      
      Spiritual_Annie
      
      I forget who originally said it, bit it’s true that history is written by the winners. Americans conveniently forget that North America was an inhabited land when others “discovered” it.
      
      I have run into the same problem with my German ancestry. Reading from an American perspective, Germany didn’t exist until the first world war. Even European history of Germany is skewed as all things are seen through the lense of “how we got to Hitler” rather than simple truths about the towns and villages of Germania. I learned more sitting at my Granny’s knee than I think I’ll ever find written by historians.
      
      Love and Blessings Always,
      ~Annie
      
      Reply
      1. July 19, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        I agree, and this is true of every country,,,history is written by the victorious conquerors, who erase the past of the people they conquered. In the case of Europe, I have heard that their historical books describe the pre-Roman conquest tribes (mostly Celtic) of these lands as primitive barbarians who were “civilized” by the Romans.
5. July 21, 2017
  
  Spiritual_Annie
  
  You asked for an answer from believers. I am a believer in a Divine Energy that underlies all of Creation, rather than the personification of that energy. I believe in a kind of mash-up of the Big Bang of science and a Big Bang of Divine Energy as both the cause of physicality itself and of our Souls.
  
  I am an ecological activist as well as a Spiritual one. I try to have as small as “footprint” as I can by conserving energy and recycling. I stay on top of politics having to do with the environment (especially the minimizing of the EPA). I speak my voice directly with my representatives, as well as signing petitions and spreading the word. I’m not looking to improve on nature, but to save what’s still natural and restore what’s been spoiled.
  
  So, in direct answer, I’m not insisting on either destroying or improving on nature, but rather saving and restoring it.
  
  I would never change the Mona Lisa as it has too many oddities and symbols in it. (It’s a fascinating painting!)
  
  I have no desire to be anyone but me.
  
  Love and Blessings Always,
  ~Annie
  
  Reply
July 17, 2017

Marko

Here’s a good question to discuss.
Should we have a maximum wage or income that people are allowed? How much is enough?

Reply
1. July 17, 2017
  
  Sam
  
  As I’m a sucker for soft starts, let’s start high, and see how it goes, and then cut it down as we go, if everything looks as it should. To get things started is everything.
  I think absolute limits, and the wealth spread out, will make more business for everyone, boosting the community to new heights, enabling many more ideas to be founded and tested out, putting progress in a higher gear, and the future to arrive much sooner.
  
  Reply
  1. July 17, 2017
    
    Marko
    
    Well I think limits in this case is a good thing, if people can even accept it as a possibility. I mean where do you start? Is a billion enough? Too much? Is 125 million enough? %50 million etc… How many chicken dinners & such do we really need?
    
    Reply
    1. July 17, 2017
      
      Sam
      
      I certainly think it’s a good idea, and therefore something to try out. The exact number is not that important, at first, as it can be regulated at any time. How to sell the message, making the thought popular, is many things, and depends on the audience. But one effect is that more people will become rich, now getting this opportunity, as the big sharks are forced to spread it around. For some, a good sales pitch.
      
      Reply
      1. July 17, 2017
        
        Marko
        
        I think this would be a good place here to start the conversation. What cap do you think would be fair?
      2. July 17, 2017
        
        Sam
        
        I am not sure fair is the word, but what we can get away with, to have it made a reality for the first time. Then afterward, when getting used to the rule, we can lower the limit, as people get to see and understand the positive effect.
      3. July 19, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        I am sorry to barge in so rudely, but your conversation with Sam about capping income and spreading the wealth sounds to me like two people discussing a dinner menu on the sinking Titanic. It might have been a very good idea 50 years ago…now we have other emergencies, and at the purely social/political level, one of these emergencies is to wrestle power and control away from the corporate-banking-military-industrial complex and return them to the people in the form of a functioning government.
        
        Right now the people are taxed without representation, and corporations are represented without taxation (yes, that’s an oversimplification, but close to the truth).
        
        A simple way to return power to the people is to implement completely and exclusively publicly funded elections (at all levels…local, state, federal), as well as end all forms of lobbying etc (at this point we have corporations and corporate think tanks actually writing legislations…essentially a government of, by and for corporations…it could not be more blatant!)
        
        The public just has to wake up (what will it take? Permanently turning off your opiate-like television, to start with), grow up and take responsibility for this nation.
        
        Or else people can keep whining and suck their thumbs while waiting for the second coming of democracy.
      4. July 19, 2017
        
        Sam
        
        Well, I was actually a little hungry. Why go down with the ship starving? I have this lifeboat with my name on it, and a submarine to pick me up, so what’s all the fuss about? Do you know the sun will stop working one day? So then, what do you have? Can I suggest something from the menu? Or are you too busy flogging yourself on the lower decks? Different strokes for different folks…
      5. July 19, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        The one difference between the sun becoming a red giant in 5.4 billion years and killing the earth and a corrupt government, is that we cannot do anything about the sun, but we can do plenty about the government. Sounds like you are not very clear about this distinction, so I thought I should help.
        You are welcome, and enjoy your lunch.
      6. July 19, 2017
        
        Sam
        
        Aha, I see. In a parallel reality Titanic actually was saved 🙂
      7. July 19, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Great…when is the movie coming out?
      8. July 19, 2017
        
        Sam
        
        Movie? You made a comparison to Titanic. Which means doomed. But then you changed your mind to, “we can do plenty about the government”. And suddenly Titanic has a chance after all. And very good 🙂
      9. July 19, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Titanic was a figure of speech used to represent not exclusively government corruption but everything that is happening today, specifically environmental degradation, climate change, etc…which are caused by our entire global civilization.
        
        I then went on to talk about the government because this is one issue we can try to control, to try to remedy everything else. After all, the government is the decision maker, and the one that would ultimately implement any idea, even that of capping income.
        
        The point was that capping income is not the most urgent thing to do. There are some much more serious emergencies.
        
        So, your honor, is the court still in session or am I free to go home now?
      10. July 20, 2017
        
        Kristen
        
        Nope, jail for you. No jokes.
      11. July 20, 2017
        
        Sam
        
        Yeah, jail, it’s where all the fun is at, just look at “Orange Is the New Black” 🙂
      12. July 20, 2017
        
        Sam
        
        My previous comment did really say it all, and even letting you go. So, what are you on about now? 🙂
      13. July 19, 2017
        
        Patrick Gannon
        
        I like this. It’s not just a whine, but a concrete suggestion – publicly funded elections. There’s something to be said for that idea. I would also suggest a shortened campaign season, and more debates in which people in the audience (internet), ask questions, and any candidate who can get enough votes to register to run, should be included in the debates. Right now the two parties work as hard as they can to prevent any third party participation. We could fix that if voters insisted on it, and voted accordingly.
        
        “Or else people can keep whining and sucking their thumbs while waiting for the second coming of democracy.”
        
        Indeed!
      14. July 19, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        I agree about extended, real (not phony, limited) debates, with direct interaction with the public (rather than selected questions), and about breaking the 2 parties dictatorship. Candidates should be treated by the media and the public as potential employees, people looking for a job. Their resumes, their records should be thoroughly examined and discussed.
        
        No boss would merely accept promises from a prospective employee, without looking at the complete resume. The media is failing in that respect, and the public is complicit in keeping the status quo.
      15. July 19, 2017
        
        Stephen mills
        
        There’s lots of likes on that one Raphael …lots of us agree .What does that tell you. Nothing can stop an idea who’s time has come !
        
        We have to make this idea go viral !!!
      16. July 19, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Someone has a organize a worldwide grass root movement to overcome the formidable forces that will oppose this, from all sides (republicans and democrats in America, left and right and center everywhere else). This is something worth fighting for, to take our power back without a bloody revolution!
      17. July 19, 2017
        
        Spiritual_Annie
        
        “A simple way to return power to the people is to implement completely and exclusively publicly funded elections (at all levels…local, state, federal), as well as end all forms of lobbying etc (at this point we have corporations and corporate think tanks actually writing legislations…essentially a government of, by and for corporations…it could not be more blatant!)”
        
        Amen!
      18. July 19, 2017
        
        Stephen mills
        
        The publicly funded election has to happen ,only the electorate can fund political parties with a max donation arbiterely agreed upon .No outside finance from rich folks or corporations of any kind absolutely no lobbing to twist the outcomes .This is the game changer to get the government that is closer to the people’s will.
        
        Great post Raphael ….one of your better ideas …haha.
      19. July 19, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Thanks Stephen…you just inspired me to run for president (not)…
      20. July 19, 2017
        
        Marko
        
        Yes, finance reform has been tried & failed & we should obviously bring the issue to the forefront. It’s an important issue. I could not agree more.
      21. July 19, 2017
        
        Spiritual_Annie
        
        I would suggest a sort of lottery to start it off. Pull a number out of a hat that’s somewhere between what’s considered “upper class income” at its lowest and some outrageously high income like $100M. Elsewise, there will be fighting about the amount itself and it will die as an idea, just like health care reform. Start there and adjust accordingly on a regular basis, like every two years, lowering the cap by a certain percentage. Lock it into law.
2. July 17, 2017
  
  Raphael
  
  To start with, and without taking any drastic measures, it would help greatly if corporations paid a little more than 0 taxes, as so many of the big players do (not to mention our bully in chief).
  
  Reply
  1. July 17, 2017
    
    Patrick Gannon
    
    Does it make more sense to tax corporations – which pushes them out of the country – or to tax the income that the owners and employees receive?
    
    We have a big problem right now where our corporations have sold goods in other countries. Those countries tax that revenue. If they bring post tax revenue back into the US, it is again taxed by the US, resulting in double taxation, after which profits have dissolved, so instead of bringing it back into the country, they use it outside the country to build new plants that employ foreigners, which is good for them, and creates people with incomes in other countries who can buy other products we sell, but we created a condition that really leaves them no choice.
    
    I read an article that said a lot of corporations have not paid taxes recently because they made no profits – please do recall that the economy is only now starting to pick up speed again. The tax laws allow companies that had huge losses, as many of them did, move those losses up against future profits.
    
    Those companies managed to stay in business, pay employees, who were taxed on their income, so they still contributed. Going out of business doesn’t help anyone. Pushing them out of the country, doesn’t help us here. It’s just not so simple, as “big corporations are bad guys who rip us all off.”
    
    Reply
  2. July 19, 2017
    
    Spiritual_Annie
    
    Yep, I say income is income, whether through earnings or dividends or the grossly outrageous bonuses CEO’s get or even disability (if it’s enough to tax—mine’s not).
    
    Reply
    1. July 19, 2017
      
      Marko
      
      Thanks Annie, the real question, is why would we put a limit on anyone’s income? And if doing so, would it truly benefit society? This has been discussed in Neale’s book. I think in more than one too. I believe “The Storm Before the Calm”
      
      Putting artificial limits on income certainly would be a controversial concept. But we can at least talk about it.
      
      Reply
      1. July 19, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        I have no objections about placing a cap on higher income…one way to do it without destroying the current form of economy would be to exempt any amount of income above the cap that is actually used to truly finance business creation or expansion on American soil.
        
        It would encourage the very wealthy to truly create jobs, rather than sit on their mountain of cash and using such cash to corrupt our government and get legislations that favors them to the detriment of everyone else.
    2. July 19, 2017
      
      Raphael
      
      Yes I agree…but we should be able to dictate where our taxes go. I personally do not want to finance illegal, imperialistic wars of aggression, the militarization of police, the surveillance state, etc…
      
      In other nations, people get something for their money, such as universal health care, cheap education, etc…here, we get endless war and more and more weapons, and very little else (not even a decent infrastructure).
      
      Reply
      1. July 19, 2017
        
        Sam
        
        “Yes I agree…but we should be able to dictate where our taxes go.”
        
        As I recall, to be found in Neale’s books as well. That each person, in some degree, should direct their own taxes where to go. Another good idea, I would say.
July 18, 2017

Raphael

Another thought or two:

Imagine a world where people, rather than competing like hyenas over the remains of a rotten carcass, which is what most ordinary people must do in the “survival of the most ruthless” systems that have been implemented all over the civilized world and particularly in America, actually had each other’s back, the way tribespeople did in the old days, working together, looking out for each other, helping each other.

People sometimes do this when an environmental disaster strikes. Then they go back to their usual “looking out for number one” selfishness.

The sad thing is, when they get old, they get discarded as “useless eaters” and forgotten in a dark corner, because that’s how the system works: if you can’t be of any use to it or to anyone, your are irrelevant, like a squeezed lemon. Still, they don’t get it.

Do you know one of the reasons why the Cherokee, who had adopted all of the white man’s institutions (religion and church, a similar form of government, even creating an alphabet and publishing a newspaper) where forcibly removed from their lands by the execrable Andrew Jackson, the one US President Trump admires and worships (what a surprise), who disregarded the order of the supreme court to leave the Cherokee alone and consequently acted as a criminal?

He did because he, and many like him at the highest levels of government, realized that the Cherokee, one of the 5 “civilized tribes”, were like white people except for that one most problematic aspect: they were still living communally, as a tribe. One of these officials put it succinctly, and I am paraphrasing: he said that they hadn’t yet learnt the selfishness of civilization. That was a big problem indeed.

Native Americans shared. They also had ceremonial giveaway, whereby the richer families traditionally and voluntarily gave many of their possessions to the poor. The most generous individuals were the most honored and respected, and usually ended up in some leadership position, having practically demonstrated they love for their people.

That was not to be allowed by the civilized authorities on the reservations. The missionaries (yes, Christians) on the Rosebud Sioux reservations in South Dakota posted “memos” at the agency in 1908 meant to reeducate the Indian. Two instructions are particularly interesting, and telling:

-“Learn the value of the hard earned dollar. Do not waste your money in giveaway” (translation: be selfish like your white brother).

-“Believe that property and wealth are signs of Divine approval” (translation: be deluded like your white brother).

Do you know why most Indian owned stores fail on reservations? Because the owners do not have the heart to refuse food or other goods to the other Indian people who can’t pay. Sharing is in their DNA.

How can we educate others to be as human? I am not sure. I am not sure how you open a heart that is so closed it cannot see any form of light. I don’t think anyone knows. Unless it starts in the womb and continues in infancy and childhood, developing a tender and open heart, rather than one made of stone.

Reply
1. July 18, 2017
  
  Jethro
  
  I did not get to where I am because everyone turned their backs on us when we lost our home. I did have to lose some pride and accept some help. Churches and government assistance was there when I was hungry. Odd jobs were found when I quit feeling sorry for myself and looked for them. Friends of friends reached out to give us shelter and a place to keep what little we had. We were grateful for the help and showed our gratitude by getting off of our butts and helping in the daily chores. We are told to this day that we are missed.
  
  We were taken care of by our American tribe and we continue to be in service of that tribe, in turn, that tribe is taking care of us still. We can be angry over the loss of our house/land to a corrupt system but I’m not going to damage my spirit with that kind of anger because my land is under my feet. I will use my experience to understand that people go through hard times and need assistance sometimes, but I’m not shy about telling people that if they wish to move forward, even in a corrupt unforgiving system, they will never get anywhere setting on their butts complaining about it and I have earned the right to say so. The entire world is not corrupt, not all of America is corrupt, not all politicians have lost the ability to care about humanity, And there are millions of people who care for the other millions or billions of people who live on this planet. I have experienced the love and caring of those people.
  
  Reply
  1. July 18, 2017
    
    Raphael
    
    I am glad that you were able to get help from caring people. Were you a Christian or did you belong to a Church prior to your difficulties? If so, you would have to admit that it probably was a key factor, as you were part of the club, and a club takes care of its member.
    
    However, surviving and even prospering in a dog eat dog, corrupt, social Darwinism system is not living, it is essentially struggling in battle-like conditions.
    
    Social Darwinism, you might be interested to know, is also the ideology of the church of satan (check their website). It states that the strong must rule and the weak is destined to be exploited if useful or eliminated if useless.
    
    A person can derive personal pride from having overcome certain challenges, but these challenges would not exist in a more human world, a world that would have actually evolved from jungle-like conditions where extreme competition currently causes living to be akin to constantly being on the warpath (which is why the book The Art Of War has been so popular among the business minded).
    
    Reply
    1. July 18, 2017
      
      Jethro
      
      I have not been a Christian nor belonged to a church for many years.
      
      Reply
      1. July 18, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        Congratulation…that alone is worth celebrating!
      2. July 18, 2017
        
        Jethro
        
        Yes it is! My point is that “everything” isn’t going to hell in a hand basket though it seems like it. There are many good people, like yourself, that cares so much it literally hurts to see the devastation going on around us. We do still have many wonderful people in our world, people who are Christian’s, muslims, dare I say politicians, that are also fighting to help in many areas that need a voice. The words “everything” or “everyone” or “Americans” or “North Koreans” is not proper, there are individuals within each sect creating the problems but not all under those titles.
      3. July 18, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        As far as politicians, the exception (honest politicians) confirms the rule (venal politicians). That’s not a new situation…Romans had the same problem.
      4. July 18, 2017
        
        Jethro
        
        I am not wishing to be convinced of anything. It was the generalization that had me responding. I would not in a million years claim you are not speaking the truth about corrupt people and systems set up to only allow a chosen few, or type, to succeed and rise to positions of power. We have plenty to complain about!
        
        I needed to point out that there are still people, average or otherwise, and groups that do wonderful work for those in dire need of assistance. There are people who show their love for humanity and those who fight to protect our natural world. The hand basket is not on its way to hell, it’s being fought over in a game of tug-o-war. I hope we win and science figures out how to reproduce the hundreds of species of animals and plants and fish that have become extinct since just the 70’s.
        
        Maybe you could I.D. some groups, searchable names that allow people to make a choice to join a fight that is going on, to save that which is being destroyed or in need of attention. I heard about the pipeline from you, quite some time before the news said anything here.
      5. July 19, 2017
        
        Raphael
        
        I have plenty of information about such groups, I will post them in the next couple of days…I am glad you are interested!
      6. July 19, 2017
        
        Spiritual_Annie
        
        I’ll be looking forward to it. ?
      7. July 19, 2017
        
        Jethro
        
        There are many people interested Raphael. There are many people who are preparing for the aftermath of devastation because they don’t know what else to do. I sat down with my family while I was in SoCal and listened to how they were preparing to “head the for hills” and of course they have friends doing the same. My little brother, like you, has been going out to commune with nature for 30 years. He has always taken very little with him so that he is forced to pay attention to what mother nature has to offer. He has started taking a pop-up trailer so his family joins him these days. I have done a little traveling in my area and I would only leave here if totally necessary. While being prepared to isolate ones self/family sounds like a comfortable idea, we discussed the population around us and how many others will be “heading for the hills” and with that, how much food and water will there be to offer that many people in raw nature. It will be a death sentence for many including the natural places they settle.
        
        There are many people who are waking up to the possibilities of extreme damage from misrepresentation in our governments and controlling corporations. People like myself who have no clue what to do if there is actually anything to do. If people like yourself who are very aware and open about the complaints, also offer to others who are just waking up to this devastation, a place to direct their voices and help make the changes that most of us would like to see, we might see those changes come to fruition. I intend to take your information review it and pass it on.
        
        In a world where so many people are preparing to have to kill other human beings (zombies were calling them now) due to the possibility of a falling government or fear of loss, at it’s core. It helps to have people like Neale, and many others, who also talk about listening to your best thoughts, to realize that we should be helping others to survive in our current lives before a major crash, and be the best human beings we can possibly be to each other now. It doesn’t matter if god is the medium or the great spirit, or the ever-glowing rock shining a light on the map of the Sahara underground river entrance. I’ll thank you in advance for your vital contribution.
2. July 19, 2017
  
  Spiritual_Annie
  
  My friend,
  
  I have heard what you are saying. I think there were times when all human tribes lived the way of community and cooperation, each in their native lands. I have experienced that this is returning on a grassroots level. Neighborhoods are making a comeback. Even in a place that’s supposed to represent “white trash”—a trailer park—people are caring about and for each other.
  
  Know why I have hope? I fell through all the cracks in St. Louis. I make over 150% of what’s considered by the government as “poverty level income” (though I don’t know how anyone making less than I can support themselves). As that’s the general rule for governmental assistance like Medicaid and food stamps, the local “helping agencies” used the same scale. I knew plenty of people in St. Louis at one time, but people move on in their lives and those of us who can no longer keep up—like the disabled—are left behind. That’s how I ended up in a studio apartment in the slums with no assistance, slowly falling farther behind each month, and part of why I nearly starved to death.
  
  I moved to Florida because my best friend, who’d never met me in person, offered me a home when I had none and no belongings. When we became homeless, doing the “mom and pop” motels, I met more people who were willing to help us out, from housekeeping who brought us extra food left in rooms, to people who would just give us money while we sat with our belongings while waiting for Christie’s Case Manager to give us a ride to the next place, to strangers at bus stops willing to share a smoke when they had few. That, and the agencies here, while struggling, don’t turn people away based on income.
  
  It’s not a great neighborhood. One neighbor is a redneck alcoholic and admits it, but would do anything for me and Biscuit. Another is a retired drug dealer who served a lot of time, but who checks on me if he doesn’t see me and I do the same for him. A homeless friend who sometimes crashes on my chaise lounge takes time to help me take out the trash and fight off the bug infestation I have. He left me a note on the mirror last week, and I’ve no intention of taking it down: “You are an angel and I am your heavenly reminder.”
  
  Caring for one’s neighbor is making a comeback, at least in my experience. Local people caring for local people. Some of the help comes from religious institutions but more comes from local businesses that have stopped locking their dumpsters and keep expired food separate from the rest of the trash. Others let the homeless do a little work for a meal.
  
  People give me hope. Politics and institutions don’t. I’m placing my bets on people.
  
  Love and Blessings Always,
  ~Annie
  
  Reply
  1. July 19, 2017
    
    Jethro
    
    There is more love to share between those who have nothing else to share and when there is nothing else, sometimes love is enough. The rest just seems to show up… just in time.
    
    Reply
3. July 21, 2017
  
  NealeDonaldWalsch
  
  I am so touched by what you are saying here, my friend. You “get it” completely. Utterly and completely, you get it. I wish you would write a book: WHEN WE GET IT, WE’LL GET IT. In it, you could explain in your crystal clear way how we can finally get what we want out of life when we get that it will not come from what we take out of life, but from what we put into life. Please write your book, Raphael. People can argue with me, but they can’t argue with you. Your expositions are always remarkably on point and inoffensively irrefutable.
  
  Reply
  1. July 24, 2017
    
    Raphael
    
    Thank you Neale, your response really touched me as well…especially because it was totally unexpected. Some individuals who comment here have criticized me for being “dark” and negative, overly critical towards our world and civilization.
    
    I have 800 pages written already, and it keeps growing…now I have to find a way to put some of it out there! Self publishing seems to be the way.
    
    I think unfortunately people can argue with anybody, even with their own shadow if no one is around…but as you know it does not matter, as long as we express our truth and come from a place of caring for humanity and for all life, wanting to see a better world, which I know you do.
    
    Reply
July 18, 2017

Ode Morris

Maybe we start with our health and point 11 above. I think the documentary called “What the Health” that anyone can watch on Netflix, goes along way in addressing environmental and health issues. So taking care of our body is taking care of our mind which is assisting us with the evolution of our soul. And in the evolution of our soul being connected and awakened ourselves we can be of assistance in the the awakening of the species.

I love the part in book 4 page 198 which is about 5 tools to consider in keeping the process of our personal evolution moving forward: 1) Share your process 2) Create a Reason 3) Express Gratitude 4) Choose a state of Being 5) Go with the soul.

Reply

A voice in the wilderness
MORE OF THE WAYS OF
A SPECIES THAT HAS AWAKENED

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225 responses to “A voice in the wilderness
MORE OF THE WAYS OF
A SPECIES THAT HAS AWAKENED”

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More posts

Let Your Voice Be Heard
YOU ARE NOW THE AUTHOR AND
DECIDER OF TOPICS EXPLORED HERE

A change ahead
OUR MISSION AND VISION EVOLVES
INTO GREATER RESOURCES THAN EVER

The options before us
WE CAN DO THIS ONE PERSON AT
A TIME, OR ALL OF US AT ONCE

My favorite question, reprised
AT YEAR’S END, ANOTHER LOOK
AT LIFE’S MOST IMPORTANT CHOICE

A voice in the wildernessMORE OF THE WAYS OFA SPECIES THAT HAS AWAKENED

Comments

225 responses to “A voice in the wildernessMORE OF THE WAYS OFA SPECIES THAT HAS AWAKENED”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

More posts

Let Your Voice Be HeardYOU ARE NOW THE AUTHOR ANDDECIDER OF TOPICS EXPLORED HERE

A change aheadOUR MISSION AND VISION EVOLVESINTO GREATER RESOURCES THAN EVER

The options before usWE CAN DO THIS ONE PERSON ATA TIME, OR ALL OF US AT ONCE

My favorite question, reprisedAT YEAR’S END, ANOTHER LOOKAT LIFE’S MOST IMPORTANT CHOICE

A voice in the wilderness
MORE OF THE WAYS OF
A SPECIES THAT HAS AWAKENED

225 responses to “A voice in the wilderness
MORE OF THE WAYS OF
A SPECIES THAT HAS AWAKENED”

Let Your Voice Be Heard
YOU ARE NOW THE AUTHOR AND
DECIDER OF TOPICS EXPLORED HERE

A change ahead
OUR MISSION AND VISION EVOLVES
INTO GREATER RESOURCES THAN EVER

The options before us
WE CAN DO THIS ONE PERSON AT
A TIME, OR ALL OF US AT ONCE

My favorite question, reprised
AT YEAR’S END, ANOTHER LOOK
AT LIFE’S MOST IMPORTANT CHOICE