Are you pissed off? Reader responses...

Paris, Feb. 18, 2006

Hello,

Here are the first of the reader responses to my question in lasts night's blog - are you pissed off about what had happened during Mars retrograde?

-- Eric Francis

greetings from san francisco, eric!

how do i feel (in light of all the crap that's going on)?
- most of the time pissed off. royally
- sometimes overwhelmed by it all
- sometimes cynical
- sometimes detached
- sometimes fearful
- sometimes laser-focused and ready to SPRING into action
- sometimes hopeful
- like I'm healing myself (making positive health & dietary & work & relationship choices) and becoming more effective and ready to serve
- like a critical mass of some kind is forming...maybe a mass of awareness, of chaos, of evil backlash...but then again maybe all of it
- like I'm finally really aware of just how the almighty buck (as in $) rules our national psyche and government. Of course, money's really just a convenient place to put our fears but it sure does affect the situations of lots of people.

what have i learned?
- that the evils personified by our political system, and many of the individuals serving in it, are unintegrated dark aspects of us and must be *dealt with*, not run away from. How? Shine the light of truth, baby; sunshine is the best disinfectant.
- that I can make a difference by living an authentic life
- that I am more than my body, my mind, my financial position, my professional title
- that dancing with and feeding my own negativity destroys me and diminishes those around me
- that there are layers of "reality" and illusion and I can't know it all
- that I must keep moving ahead according to my values and developing my compassion and openness...there's no other way for me
- that the time is NOW to "get off the pot" and put my values into concrete action for all of us
- that I don't have to do anything spectacular to be of service

Most of these things I've known on some levels for a long time; they're now coming from deeper parts of me. The work you -- and your cohorts -- do is a part of my healing. Grazie.

Cynthia

Dear Eric:

What have I learned between July and now?

That time is or has been speeding up. Gone are the days when time drags on.

Am I pissed off? If you're not pissed off, you're not paying attention. That is a great bumper sticker, too.

I keep thinking, I'll be glad when winter is over. But then I realize that when winter is over, my son will turn 11, I'll turn 38 and then I'll graduate from law school. And I'm not ready.

But back to present. Just had our 4th annual dress rehearsal for our Vagina Monologes performance, which is tomorrow evening. I love being able to stand on stage and talk about my vagina. I love watching and listening to other women talk about their vaginas. All vaginas are beautiful!

On with the show!

Vagina Friendly,

Melissa

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all human beings, irrespective of race, color, or sex, are born with the equal right to share at the table of life."

-- Emma Goldman, "A New Declaration of Independence," July 1909

Eric,

  For the past year or so, I've been keeping up with your blog, Political Waves, the Huffington Post as well as listening to the "progressive" radio station that carries Al Franken, Ed Shultz, & Randy Roades. I have never been more immersed in the political "theatre" in my entire 56 years & never more pissed off on a daily basis. Just listening to the newest daily outrage gets my blood a-boilin' way better than caffine. I can't watch any of the network news as they all seem insultingly naive, irresponsible, indifferent & sophomoric. I'm sure Elizabeth Vargas is a nice person, but her nightly reassuring smile make me want to puke.

  The issues of waste (lives & money), dishonesty, criminality, & obvious dismanteling of the democratic process are more than alarming. My husband has only a sort of "passing interest" in what's going on & even he, after this week's Cheney fiasco, said it is difficult for him to see this administration fail at every single level.

  I believe of course that involvemet at a grass roots level is imperative, but I also pray for that leader that can rally the cause & bring this regime to its knees. But perhaps I am being too idealistic still. Perhaps there are no more hero's.

  Thanks for being a life line out there.

  Marie

Dear Eric,

The question that occupies me most days is this: What is my responsibility to the whole situation, when I know that my nation, which is positioned in some quarters as a representative of the best in human evolution, is in fact being run by thugs and gangsters? Who are rapidly looting the entire planet for their own gain and few are standing against them? What is my responsibility here? What is my power?

I've been doing a quiet survey of my friends and acquaintances about this issue. But before I go there, here's a little background. I and my local friends were instrumental in organizing Carteret County's first ever anti-war demonstration, back when we were all trying to avert the invasion of Iraq. That was a heady moment. But we learned that the local Unitarian minister who was very up front about his stance had received death threats, and that, in fact, the local police would subsequently not issue us and further permits to do even silent vigils, because the town budget was already so strapped keeping us safe at the first demo. (This is Eastern NC, Bible belt, lots of military, big Bush country. )

So. So far, we have not any of us felt it worth it to do something anyway. I mean, who gets touched by this stuff anyway? And what is it that is really effective? Do you know? I surely do not. How many demonstrations get mounted and never reported anywhere but locally? Who knows? What's the point? I want to be effective. I do not want to pour my life energy into a black hole of indifference and antagonism.

I asked Charlie, the husband of the local Unity minister, a retired history teacher and someone who truly believes in peace and in standing for it, "So, Charlie, are you still following all this or have you decided that the only thing we can do is pray?" He laughed and said, yeah, he is still interested in how it plays out, and, that everything changes eventually.

Charlie is recovering from surgery on a benign brain tumor, and his wife, the Unity minister, is getting ready to undergo some serious back surgery. What is their responsibility, in the face of the rampant fascistic cancer of our government? Are we just the latest version of "good Germans"?

Last night I even got into an argument with my oldest, dearest friend. She is a spiritual teacher and I have watched her as she turned that aspiration into a reality in her life. I said I was feeling deeply depressed because our country is run by thugs and gangsters and it seems there is nothing I can do about that but still, I feel a sense of responsibility. She asked me, what is it that makes me feel the need to keep taking in that painful information? I sort of hit the roof, then. I said to her, "You need to know this stuff. I need to know this stuff. I cannot turn it off. This is our world. We need to know what is being done in our names."

Well, it was okay, because we have been friends for many years and weathered lots of stuff together. But I ended up saying, please, at least be aware of what is going on. She basically feels this is a drama that the World Soul has to play out, and she has her role teaching people to access states of love. Fine. I cannot accept that the problem is only on that individual level, that, for instance, the reason Bush, Cheney, et al. are plundering and raping the world is because they did not get enough love in their childhoods. I am sure they did not, but I am also sure that reducing everything to personal formulas is to miss something essential.

But what is it, that that misses? I can talk for hours about power differentials and economic injustices and the 1.6 plus billion Bush has spent on PR, but I still do not know: What does that mean for me, and for my friends, who do deeply care about the world, who do have compassion and a sense of responsibility, and who do not know how to act, now, in this circumstance?

I ended up saying to my friend, please, just keep aware of this stuff and do not tune it out, because if we all keep aware of it and refuse to be in denial, maybe out of our attention will arise a solution, maybe out of our awareness will arise inspiration. If we close the door, those developments cannot be born.

And she reminded me then how she is at the limit of her personal emotional strength due to personal situations in her life.

Yeah. Most times, it is just too fucking much.

I begin to have lots of sympathy for those good Germans who did nothing in what, in retrospect, appear to us as the critical moments.

I read in Steve's blog today at http://psychsound.com about the rapid melting of the glaciers and some remark about how our children will wonder why we did not do something.

May they never know this dilemma. May they never know why we "didn't do something."

If anybody knows what there is to do, at this point, I wish that person would speak up.

Yours most sincerely,
-- Kyla

[Kyla, the one thing we need to do now is RAISE AWARENESS. That is the first step to any solution, action or response. efc]

Dear Eric,

You wanted to know if anyone is pissed off about what is happening.

Yes, I still say the "f" word from time to time, but now I tend to be more scared than pissed off. I have learned that it's just not possible to live in a perpetual state of being pissed off, when you can't do much about it. I could give myself a heart attack or go insane.

When Fallujah was destroyed, and the genocide perpetrated, I became extremely upset, but no one would believe me or listen to me. They thought I was nuts. I realize that people are just so brainwashed that it is difficult to get through. I realized that I would still try, but had to adopt a veneer of some calmness to not scare people away. It was just to threatening to them to think that their country could have perpetrated horrors worthy of the Nazis.

I still participate in email campaigns, and inform my friends of some things that are going on, but I now realize that I do not live in a democracy, and that my power to effect change in a direct, political way is severely limited.

I realize that there is a deep degradation of the morals of society, and that all I can do is try to be an example in a very small way of trying to act with integrity and of holding deeper values, and I'm not talking about the cartoon "family values" that are flaunted in a hypocritical way by many evangelical churches today.

I loved your "shot in the foot" article, and I tend to think that these people will bring about their own come-uppance. At the same time II am grateful for people like Patrick Fitzgerald, who have integrity and are pursuing justice.

I think that God has put us here at this time to hold up a higher way to people who are ready to see it. You are certainly doing a fine job. Some day I would like to be a spiritual teacher as well. I think as society continues to break down further and further, people will be more ready for a change. As to why it is taking people so long to get there, they are drunk on Kool-Aid and Neptune, on their own greed, and on their dependency on being shown the way and on not having to think for themselves. They are awed by the power and riches of the "leaders," who are just exploiters. If people had deeper values, they would see these "leaders" for what they truly were, and would look within for the truth, rather than without.

Please do not use my name (first or last) if quoting on website, for reasons of my employment.

Thanks very much,

C.

Hi Eric,

In reply to your post today on whether anyone's angry about the political situation.

Well, I wrote earlier to say I see a bigger picture of mega-chaos, slowly but surely, melting down, but, to say I am angry would be the understatement of the year. Sure, a lot of people are angry, but they throw an empty beer can at the tele, and then go down the pub, end of story! I have been angry, pissed off, frustrated, that there seems nothing an individual can do, the injustice and hopelessness has brought me to a standstill. But, the worst thing of all is seeing the people I'm closest to have little or no reaction at all. They are so used to the situation, I've been told that life has always been like this, since history began, just live with it! That's what really pisses me off.

This, is in no way normal, any of it. We in the 'west' live in a police state in disguise as a godly (whiter than white), democratic society.

I have just watched a programme tonight on ITV1 about Walter Wolfgang, the pensioner who got thrown out of the Labour Party Conference in Brighton last summer. He simply said 'nonsense', and was man-handled and thrown out, and was treated like a terrorist. He feels we are living in a police state, it is there, the evidence, but nobody does anything. I don't either, which winds me up even more, I can see it is terribly wrong, but I feel powerless.

I have searched for a 'meaning' for all this, as my mind can't add anything up to resemble anything 'normal', I simply can't accept it, I can't just numb myself to it and say it's just how it's always been, because it isn't!

I now have little or no anger. I realise that being angry or anything negative is just buying into the same old story being played out on this Earth, pain, suffering, anger, revenge, bitterness, war, it's a never-ending cycle. What we focus on becomes our reality. The only way to stop is to stop reacting negatively. The news certainly wants us to focus on 'the negative'. I have an intense 'knowing' now, that is leading to the end of all this political chaos, and I wouldn't have reached this stage had I not got mind-blowingly angry first. I have felt so passionate about all this, that I have burnt myself out, and refused to fuel the fire with my anger.

If anybody doesn't feel the intense anger, then that is the real problem. That is worse than the US/UK political machine and their antics.

Take care,
Love Jenny