A reflection on the rapid changes in the world today.
2012 hysteria
For a variety of weird reasons, there's this big hoopla around the year 2012. Whether you're some kind of new-ager and you speak in hushed tones of the Mayan Calendar, or you're a bit of a hedonic engineer and you like to discuss the madness of McKenna's Timescape Zero, or you're a conspiracy theorist, or you think a massive meteor is going to wipe out human civilisation next year, or you're a fervent believer in the Rapture, or, or or. You could go on forever. I don't think the world is going to end next year. I do think that this year alone is showing that next year and the years after that are going to be very different to the world as we've known it thus far.
Global Revolution
If you haven't noticed, you mustn't be paying a lot of attention, but the world is changing. Quickly. The 'Arab Spring' has transformed the Middle East. Old alliances between the west and Israel are fraying. Europe is on the verge of imploding. There is more civil unrest on the streets of the United States than has been seen at any time, certainly in my memory anyway. Where there isn't unrest, there are isolated protests, stronger social justice movements, more overt criticism of corruption and injustice. Every day, another snippet of news changes 'the way things are' into a hint of what they could be. The world of 2015 is going to be vastly different to the world of 2005.
People Power
In the past year, I have never seen so much awareness at one time of equal rights, an end to violence against women, the need for accessible education, scrutiny of media bias, environmental awareness, anti-war sentiment, the desire for egalitarian open democracy, anti-business excess, criticism of government corruption, demands for government accountability, freedom from the worst excesses of organised religion, and so much more. These movements have not been led by a single 'heroic figure' nor a political party. They've come from us, people. We have a thousand and one grievances, but millions of voices to express them and many more to act on them. Activist groups have gotten bigger, and have taken on a much broader outlook. Groups like Avaaz have rallied millions in support of causes all over the world. We did this - you, me, the people standing next to you. Groups like Wikileaks and Anonymous have taken our concerns and fought the most powerful organisations in the world to enable transparency, to stop these powerful figures lying to us on a daily basis. We're having a very real effect.
The Pushback
As we have grown stronger and the need for our demands to be heard has intensified, the pushback from the powerful, the wealthy, the liars and frauds, the oligarchs and kakistocrats has grown more intense. As corrupt governments fall, even more corrupt military try to step in their place. International laws meant to protect human rights are flouted in ever more egregious and blatant ways. Elected officials try to justify torture. Governments the world over (try to) pass laws saying it's okay to rape women, to kill gays, to shoot their own people. Rather than a sign we are failing, this is a sign we are winning. The pushback wouldn't be so fierce, if the opposition weren't so strong or so likely to succeed. It's hard, it's terrifying, the fight will inconvenience us, cause us pain and hardship, and even cause some of us to die, but the pushback is a desperate ploy by desperate crooks, who have no other options left.
Fall of the Kakistocrats
People have shown they don't want to pay the debts incurred by greedy corporate thieves. People have shown that actually, no we don't want a government that tortures us and rigs elections. People have shown that, yes, as a matter of fact I do give a fucking damn that you're lying to us. These greedy, corrupt power-pigs need us more than we need them. A dictator is only a dictator as long as the population is pliant. A greedy corporation needs consumers, needs public taxes to pilfer and pillage. The only thing that keeps these diseased organs of a sick state alive is us. Without us, they will wither and die. That's why there's a pushback. Without us, there is no point to their existence. A world without these people is a scary thing. We've gotten pretty used to the taste of the lash. We don't know what we'd do, how would we run things better? We have to find out and soon.
Big decisions, simple decisions
We've been fed a lot of crap in our lives. The countries that pride themselves on their free and open democracies support torture and rig elections, they stifle and silence dissent. Countries derided for their lawlessness and corruption have some of the most engaged citizens - people who have had enough and want the world to change now. We have to decide what is important to us as a global culture. If we want to be lied to, ripped off, exploited, hated, shot at, arrested, tortured, raped, murdered, then let's just leave things the way they are. Let's let the oligarchs of the world continue, unfettered. If we decide, however, that things like the inalienable right to a life of dignity, or a transparent, democratic and accountable government is necessary, then we must ensure that they are allowed to flourish. The old lies MUST, therefore, be left to wither away and die off.
2012 hope
In 2012, the US has a Presidential election. The usual gang of thieves, crooks and liars are lining up for their run at the public purse. Pro-torture, pro-business, anti-human, rapists, crooks and murderers, fools and liars, the daft and the deluded, the bought and definitely the paid for. The 'Hope' and 'Yes we can' of Obama's campaign has been revealed as just meaningless slogans. People who dared look up from their hopelessness, saw a chance and then saw it frittered away. It's not enough anymore. It's not enough for any of us anymore, wherever we are. We are sick of being forced to accept corporate shills, ex-generals, ex-gangsters, mass-rapists, professional nay-sayers, frauds, liars, puppets, bigots and other assorted motley clowns as our so-called 'leaders'. The world belongs to its people now, not to the artificial organisations that have fed on it - and us - like bloated ticks.
It's time. It's our time.
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