A common theme in today’s teens is the feeling of powerlessness. This isn’t a “defect” of the young people but rather a bi-product of the toxic culture we were all born into. From very little we are inundated with images of death. Children’s fairy tales start them off with many orphans and wicked characters - often family members - and so it goes on. From cradle to grave we are never allowed to forget about our own mortality and just enjoy life. Combine that with a frightening global economy where “losers” have nothing - no food, shelter, health care, love… and what do you see? The foundations of our youth (the security of family love) are being undermined with constant reminders of death and the “bigger world” they move towards in adulthood is cold to the point of needless cruelty. On top of this terrible dynamic our teens are told that the very planet they need to live on is dying and with it all the animals they love so much will die and suffer too. They often fixate on finding love (very sensible) and yet are again reminded in movies, magazines and songs about cheating, infidelity and the objectification of both genders. Then we (the adults) wonder why teens are increasingly disillusioned and suffering from mental health issues - really?
So, dear teen reader, let’s see what you can do to help yourself in this situation. You can’t untell yourself all the stories you learned as a kid, you too are part of this culture (as am I) - but you can refuse to tell them to your future kids, maybe write some better stories yourself, kids love stories! Then, as said in chapter one, protect yourself from overload of the “death and fear” industry (the news). This media exists to make you feel vulnerable/unsafe even if your society is very safe - people in this state don’t think about the “big picture” at all. They become fearful for their safety, using their primitive brain more and become increasingly selfish (survival of the fittest mode) and their intelligence drops (gravitating toward group thinking instead of as an individual). This mode goes into overdrive once people have children, it is our strongest natural instinct to protect our own kids; then all the craziness on “the news” keeps us hopping from one irrelevant topic “du jour” to the next. The adults leading the youth are too often tired and insecure in their personal relationships (look which celebrity is having an affair!), they are scared of not having enough money for their family, they feel taken for granted, they barely have enough brain left to absorb what the media tells them to think. But there is an alternative way to be, it’s a bit radical by current standards, but given how tightly controlled our societal norms are, what isn’t?
Let’s pretend you stopped watching the media, sure you miss a few things, but not much changes otherwise. You listen to your favourite music (with no adverts) and experiment with trying out jazz, blues, reggae etc… Instead of living under a cloud of fear and anxiety you notice the little things more - how nice the weather is, how much you really do love your family. Without the constant “input” it is far simpler to realise that all the debates in the global media are pointless. We can take a look at a few of things you are supposed to be most anxious about now and see how hyped up they are.
The biggest ticket item on the planet’s global stage is climate change. Everyone it seems has picked a “camp.” You are either passionately a “yes” or a “no.” If you are in the yes camp and believe climate change is true then what do we need to do? We need to cut pollution, stop being so wasteful, move on with green technology, take care of the ecosystems of the planet. If you are in the no camp, what do we need to do? You aren’t sure? Should we stop polluting the air, sea and land? Should be protect the ecosystems we ultimately depend on? Should we protect the genetic diversity we depend on? Do you want pristine habitats protected? Yes? Well then, both camps are agreed and the “debate” is a pointless distraction from what we should be doing - looking after the ecosystems and genetic diversity. Only people who want a healthy planet for future generations and a healthy current global population should be in charge of anything. If all they want to do is line their pockets they aren’t fit to run a corner store let alone a planet. The entire global warming debate is a pointless waste of time, the biggest distraction we have ever seen in peacetime and the distractions don’t stop there.
Whatever your personal prejudices are there is a “debate” for you. Are you secretly bitter toward the other gender, let’s do men vs women! Are you a closet racist? Let’s talk immigration and national pride! Are you zenophobic? We can hate entire religions based on the actions of a few given the right debating angle. Are you an elitist? Are you a luddite? Are you an entrepreneur or a company worker? Are you a socialist or a conservative? Democrat or republican? Are you for abortion or against? Did you ever form an opinion for yourself or are you recycling hateful garbage instead of listening to what both sides have to say and forming your own independent thought? Have you ever thought in a debate that both sides raised good points and set about finding a new position based on the best of both? Have you ever wondered why our societies and cultures are so consumed with “middle class worries”? Did we ever make it out of the spectator stands of ancient Rome, or are we still there, gawking foolishly at the spectacles paraded in front of us? Are we in a state of merely reacting to disasters, and in between them rolling from one “sparkly” attention grabbing thing to another, instead of proactively seeking how to improve life on earth for everyone?
The climate change debate and all the other pointless debates are there to stop us asking the really important questions - about how come we are all still allowing the same banking families to dictate how billions of people live and die in their world of artificial scarcity and rigged money system. We have enough food for nine billion and there are only seven billion. While we debate every little thing, billions go hungry, starve to death, die of easily treatable diseases. Is it because these precious people have no economic importance? Really? We humans aren’t naturally this brutal as a species - for evidence of that think of all the people you really know, not what you see on television. Look at what is really going on - the more brutal the lives of others around the globe, the more the folks in the west are both highly entertained, kept insecure about their physical appearance, scared of their personal financial positions and terrified by the global news. So instead of feeding people around the world the developed nations make ever more deadly weapons, stockpile food they don't to eat, secure the borders and spy on people at home and abroad. In all this chaos we behave less like a sentient species and more like a virus - but we aren’t one. We are intelligent, we are caring, we are kind and thoughtful. We are capable of great personal sacrifice to bring about the right outcomes, we are noble and brave. We are a brilliant species. So why are we acting so dumb?
Fear makes us dumb, insecurity makes us dumb, artificial scarcity of resources makes us dumb, wrote learning (victorian education system still being used with fear tactics) makes us dumb, stress makes us dumb, vanity makes us dumb, greed makes us dumb… How do we change? Cut out the things that make us that way. What are those things? If you’ve been reading this book in order you already know. Shake off that powerless feeling, awakened minds are powerful, they don’t get kicked about. They say “No,” “I won’t” and “shan’t.” They are the lifeblood of a free and prosperous world, they are humanist and they understand/respect the importance of a loving God to most people (even if they don't believe in one). Now let’s move on to the next chapter - looking at how to build strong personal relationships that last a lifetime in a “disposable” world. When we find that person we were destined to fall in love with, we should all know how to keep that love alive and burning bright.
So, dear teen reader, let’s see what you can do to help yourself in this situation. You can’t untell yourself all the stories you learned as a kid, you too are part of this culture (as am I) - but you can refuse to tell them to your future kids, maybe write some better stories yourself, kids love stories! Then, as said in chapter one, protect yourself from overload of the “death and fear” industry (the news). This media exists to make you feel vulnerable/unsafe even if your society is very safe - people in this state don’t think about the “big picture” at all. They become fearful for their safety, using their primitive brain more and become increasingly selfish (survival of the fittest mode) and their intelligence drops (gravitating toward group thinking instead of as an individual). This mode goes into overdrive once people have children, it is our strongest natural instinct to protect our own kids; then all the craziness on “the news” keeps us hopping from one irrelevant topic “du jour” to the next. The adults leading the youth are too often tired and insecure in their personal relationships (look which celebrity is having an affair!), they are scared of not having enough money for their family, they feel taken for granted, they barely have enough brain left to absorb what the media tells them to think. But there is an alternative way to be, it’s a bit radical by current standards, but given how tightly controlled our societal norms are, what isn’t?
Let’s pretend you stopped watching the media, sure you miss a few things, but not much changes otherwise. You listen to your favourite music (with no adverts) and experiment with trying out jazz, blues, reggae etc… Instead of living under a cloud of fear and anxiety you notice the little things more - how nice the weather is, how much you really do love your family. Without the constant “input” it is far simpler to realise that all the debates in the global media are pointless. We can take a look at a few of things you are supposed to be most anxious about now and see how hyped up they are.
The biggest ticket item on the planet’s global stage is climate change. Everyone it seems has picked a “camp.” You are either passionately a “yes” or a “no.” If you are in the yes camp and believe climate change is true then what do we need to do? We need to cut pollution, stop being so wasteful, move on with green technology, take care of the ecosystems of the planet. If you are in the no camp, what do we need to do? You aren’t sure? Should we stop polluting the air, sea and land? Should be protect the ecosystems we ultimately depend on? Should we protect the genetic diversity we depend on? Do you want pristine habitats protected? Yes? Well then, both camps are agreed and the “debate” is a pointless distraction from what we should be doing - looking after the ecosystems and genetic diversity. Only people who want a healthy planet for future generations and a healthy current global population should be in charge of anything. If all they want to do is line their pockets they aren’t fit to run a corner store let alone a planet. The entire global warming debate is a pointless waste of time, the biggest distraction we have ever seen in peacetime and the distractions don’t stop there.
Whatever your personal prejudices are there is a “debate” for you. Are you secretly bitter toward the other gender, let’s do men vs women! Are you a closet racist? Let’s talk immigration and national pride! Are you zenophobic? We can hate entire religions based on the actions of a few given the right debating angle. Are you an elitist? Are you a luddite? Are you an entrepreneur or a company worker? Are you a socialist or a conservative? Democrat or republican? Are you for abortion or against? Did you ever form an opinion for yourself or are you recycling hateful garbage instead of listening to what both sides have to say and forming your own independent thought? Have you ever thought in a debate that both sides raised good points and set about finding a new position based on the best of both? Have you ever wondered why our societies and cultures are so consumed with “middle class worries”? Did we ever make it out of the spectator stands of ancient Rome, or are we still there, gawking foolishly at the spectacles paraded in front of us? Are we in a state of merely reacting to disasters, and in between them rolling from one “sparkly” attention grabbing thing to another, instead of proactively seeking how to improve life on earth for everyone?
The climate change debate and all the other pointless debates are there to stop us asking the really important questions - about how come we are all still allowing the same banking families to dictate how billions of people live and die in their world of artificial scarcity and rigged money system. We have enough food for nine billion and there are only seven billion. While we debate every little thing, billions go hungry, starve to death, die of easily treatable diseases. Is it because these precious people have no economic importance? Really? We humans aren’t naturally this brutal as a species - for evidence of that think of all the people you really know, not what you see on television. Look at what is really going on - the more brutal the lives of others around the globe, the more the folks in the west are both highly entertained, kept insecure about their physical appearance, scared of their personal financial positions and terrified by the global news. So instead of feeding people around the world the developed nations make ever more deadly weapons, stockpile food they don't to eat, secure the borders and spy on people at home and abroad. In all this chaos we behave less like a sentient species and more like a virus - but we aren’t one. We are intelligent, we are caring, we are kind and thoughtful. We are capable of great personal sacrifice to bring about the right outcomes, we are noble and brave. We are a brilliant species. So why are we acting so dumb?
Fear makes us dumb, insecurity makes us dumb, artificial scarcity of resources makes us dumb, wrote learning (victorian education system still being used with fear tactics) makes us dumb, stress makes us dumb, vanity makes us dumb, greed makes us dumb… How do we change? Cut out the things that make us that way. What are those things? If you’ve been reading this book in order you already know. Shake off that powerless feeling, awakened minds are powerful, they don’t get kicked about. They say “No,” “I won’t” and “shan’t.” They are the lifeblood of a free and prosperous world, they are humanist and they understand/respect the importance of a loving God to most people (even if they don't believe in one). Now let’s move on to the next chapter - looking at how to build strong personal relationships that last a lifetime in a “disposable” world. When we find that person we were destined to fall in love with, we should all know how to keep that love alive and burning bright.