I talk about metaphors as a way to understand how they can trap us into accepting a way of thinking. Metaphors themselves are not negative, but not analyzing them keeps us trapped in to the base aspect of the metaphor and how the metaphor breaks down when seen from the full perspective of what it is trying to explain.
In Star Trek-TNG S5:E2 (Darmok), the alien race the Enterprise crew encounter communicates completely through metaphorical language. The famous line that starts this all off is “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.” Maybe it’s just the way my mind works, but when I first saw this episode I thought, oh, two names and a place. Of course, in the TNG episode it takes the brilliant Captain Picard quite a while to figure this out (how else are you going to drag out a simple concept for a 40-minute episode). But as simple as the concept might seem it is still interesting how we all live metaphors every day and they are so pervasive in how we think. It is so indicative of how our conditioning has made it so central to our worldview that we don’t see how it drives our thinking.
One of the most powerful metaphors we live by is ‘The War metaphor.’ We accept it so unconsciously that through our political, economic, and cultural lives (especially sports) we have infected the whole global human culture in thinking the same way. Think about it and the language we use every day to describe how we do things in ‘war’ language. Rather than go on about all the worlds we use, see the interesting links 1 and 2 of war words and think about we apply them to everyday life. If you think about war as a natural part of everyday life, how much do you question the war metaphor itself, especially when it is not an actual military conflict? In essence, every action becomes a ‘war situation.’ If you accept this metaphor, then you also will accept the consequences of what war brings, such as that wonderful euphemism ‘Collateral Damage (injury inflicted on something other than an intended target).’
Collateral damage is really insidious because it excuses all manner of harm in the name of some preferred ‘good’ outcome. For example, ‘the evil bad guy was finally located and taken out by the missile; collateral damage was all the innocent guests and families attending the same wedding that intelligence experts hadn’t known about.’ In justifying our hyper-consumer lifestyle, we stomp all over the planet earth in a ‘war-like’ manner wreaking havoc on whole ecosystems and just call it collateral damage in pursuit of economic profit. Violence as a personal tool or war as a political tool is absurd. It brings more harm and trauma from the collateral damage than the initial action warranted.
In trying to control and conquer the natural world with our technologies, we have in essence declared war on it. So, all the environmental and ecological issues we have in the world are just collateral damage. But in the ecological war, it isn’t just odd pieces of collateral damage, it is a continual onslaught of billions of people unintendedly waging the same war all the time with non-stop collateral damage. And we humans are reaping the same traumas and harms that we are inflicting on the natural world – humanity is not inseparable from the planet.
Unquestioningly accepting collateral damage is denying the natural compassion that is inherent in all humanity. It is an odd commentary that the most generous people I know tend to be the least advantaged. Whenever they give any aid, it is a large proportion of their income compared to rich people giving similar amounts. When you have little, you tend to be more appreciative of what you have. It is interesting that ‘rich’ people tend to be the stingiest. I know many people who have waited tables at fancy restaurants and any time they were stiffed on the bill or with the least tip, it was inevitable a privileged person involved. Not to say all rich people are stingy – many are quite generous – but those with privilege seem to have the most problem with compassion. It is interesting that psychologically that despite their monetary wealth, it is the wealth they live in fear of losing.
Recently at a prestigious awards ceremony with many billionaires attending, singer-songwriter Billie Eilish gave an unusual acceptance speech. She asked the audience, “If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?” The room filled with tech moguls, fashion tycoons, and billionaires had enough combined monetary wealth to “erase world hunger before dessert was served” as one reporter commented. Eilish continued, “Love you all, but there’s a few people in here who have a lot more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.” People dislike having their shortcomings pointed out to them and this crowd was no different. In a world addicted to material-consumerism and where money equals power and control, Eilish captured what tens of millions of people around the world are feeling. The global economic system is broken and unwilling to transform. And from their perspective, why should they? After all, the system rewards their lack of compassion and the question,” why are you a billionaire? — cuts to the moral core of modern capitalism” with its mindlessness and subconscious acceptance of a dystopian systems. After all, if your wealth can resolve many of the world’s problems but you choose to ignore it, what does that say about who you really are?
It isn’t just about the rich being stingy or even fearful of losing their wealth, but as we see from the many private meetings like Bilderberg, or the WEF, it is about their need to control and manipulate the rest of with their addiction for power. And that power extends to all the political and technocratic echelons that serve the hierarchical desires, and by its very nature lacks any compassion. So, as I have often said, stop expecting them to lead the way to a new world. We and the world are merely collateral damage to their corruption. And again, it is not about overthrowing them. It is about ignoring them and doing what we need at the local level to transform the world to our needs instead of theirs. They need us, we don’t need them. Yes, it will be a radically different way of living, but it will foster all the new ways of thinking that will bring about a true sustainable world. “If you do what you’re always done, you’ll get what you always got.”
Much as so many would like to believe that somehow our political systems could get better if only the ‘right’ people were elected or the ‘right’ technologies were implemented. If only, if only…… Has anything really got that much better in the last 25 years. We are a lot more aware of our problems, but mainstream reporting serves to instill fear in us not hope. The way the hierarchy likes it. Fearful people are easy to control and manipulate. In the last 66 posts (and throughout this blog) I have offered the five key items I see that can be implemented at the local level that give us the sovereignty to control our own lives and build a better sustainable and peaceful future. A future without war – that will take a set of different metaphors. Imagine that future as a reality. John Lennon asked us that back in 1971. He wasn’t just a musician; he was a pathfinder.
To be Continued ………………….
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