This may sound crazy to you, but I believe we are ripe for a paradigm shift the likes of which the human race has scarcely ever seen. A paradigm shift the likes of which, after it has taken hold, will completely alter our priorities, rendering worthless most of what we now hold dear.
I say this because the Earth can no longer sustain a warlike species capable of creating planet-destroying weapons. I say it because our planet cannot much longer continue to supply a species that is unceasingly ravenous, gluttonous, and wasteful. I say we are about to make what seems like a once in a millennium paradigm shift because that is what appears to be necessary, and I am optimistic enough to say it is going to happen. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the odds are stacked against us, but I am an optimistic person. Why be optimistic when being realistic is much more, well, realistic? It is because I think we need a little optimism to get us started. When you’re facing great odds in a struggle for survival, being realistic is merely weighing the odds in order to be right, rather than victorious. Truth be told, when it comes down to it, I don’t think there is such a thing as being realistic. Deep down you’re either an optimist or a pessimist, and you approach life from one position or the other.
I say that we are about to undergo a radical paradigm shift because Leo Tolstoy already envisioned it and explained how it would take place well over a century ago (see excerpt in comments).
I say it because the way has been pointed out by visionaries and prophets for over three thousand years. The fingers of Jesus Christ, Lao Tzu, Plato, and many others have been pointing the way. Though they may have been considered radical in their day, it is pointless to believe them radical today.
I say it because the 1960’s were an early tremor indicating what is to come, a warning tremor so intense in itself that it nearly toppled existing paradigms. As it was, the ‘60’s created unseen cracks in the foundations of the existing structures and showed just how vulnerable they are.
I say it because it is so obvious that change is coming that only those capable of living a life of delusion are able to deny it. People want it, which is understandable. People fear it, which is also understandable. It is frightening, just as the prospect of walking is frightening to a toddler and riding a bike is frightening to a kindergartner. But change that cannot be avoided must be embraced, and change in this instance cannot be avoided.
I say a radical paradigm shift is happening because I feel the switch has already been flipped on in me. I really don’t feel it is my obligation to support endless war and exploitation against other nations or endless war and exploitation against the earth itself. I say it because I’ve seen it switch on in so many others, and because I see so many others awakening. We are quite willing to stand alone if need be, but we are not alone.
I see the change. They say “buy this” and we say “no”. They say “believe this” and it induces laughter in us. Not a cruel laughter, but a pure and rejuvenating laughter. They say “obey us”, and we use the entirety of our humanity to resist or sidestep their alleged authority. They have the law on their side, but there is a greater weapon we can draw upon, the sympathy of the masses who yet recognize timeless values such as justice and fairness, despite all of their indoctrination. We know they fear us as we once feared them.
“Madness”, you might say. “The mutterings of conspiracy theorists who live within their deranged fantasies. Who or what is this cabal, this star chamber, this alleged but secret group of lizard people or illuminati that controls the world behind an impenetrable curtain?” It is no deep mystery, they are not hidden, nor do they even bother to hide their plans or their motivations. They are simply those who believe the world should be run through domination and subjugation of others, all those who cling to primitive beliefs and attitudes and practices that even 3,000 years ago were seen through by the wise. They belong to no one race, or culture, or gender, or nation, or religion. They are those who use race, culture, gender, nationality, and religion to divide us and thus subjugate us.
We are a dangerous group to those who wish to continue to rule through power and propaganda, because we realize the importance of our cause. There is nothing more worth living for. We cannot live for our progeny, for they are bound up in this. We cannot help but know what we are damning them too should we forsake this transition for the sake of giving them a better position aboard a sinking ship. Nor can we live for our own creature comforts, knowing that the truth will eat into our subconscious minds, allowing us to derive no pleasure from our attempts of escape through denial. Our generation will not pass without witnessing a world of robot dogs and climate breakdown. Our delusions, we feel if not admit, will not endure.
Is it too late? Perhaps. No individual can know his own future, let alone can he predict humanity’s. It is merely our job to awaken, to cease to support that which is killing our planet, our species, and everything we hold dear, and to begin to act according to a higher law, a law of conscience rather than obedience, of faith instead of fear, of mutual assistance rather than competition.
