My father was a prince among the Joker Folk.
He was a source of amusement, surprise and wonder. His strength and energy were unmatched. His antics legendary.
Not infrequently someone in the tribe, provoked and amused by one of his deeds, would say, ”You’re crazy!”
Most of the time he would regard the ”you’re crazy” as a form of applause. On a handful of occasions he jumped up on a a table, bench, rock or log and declare with crazed majestically,
”Me crazy! You think that I’m crazy? I am the only sane one among you. You normal proper people are the crazy ones.”
Everyone found this amusing. And crazy. He would then hop down and assume a normal proper behavior… with a hint of sadness.
The years have covered me with the moss of experience, but his words still visit my memory. Each time I hear them they seem to ring truer. I’m inclined to believe that there’s nothing more insane than normality in times of crisis. I’m not alone.
Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, who believed that ”sublime madness” can defy the forces of evil, has said,
“Nothing but madness will do battle with malignant power and ‘spiritual wickedness’ in high places.”
Reinhold Niebuhr is the author of the Serenity Prayer:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.”
“Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible;
but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.”
Reinhold Niebuhr
(Tomorrow: The Hounds of Frozen Destiny)
The best way to keep people in line is to give them a snow job about how free they are. They’ll accept their servitude with eyes wide open, proud to stand tall in the defense of their unseen masters.
“We’re free to praise the democratic costume on naked power.”
Dartwill Aquila
(Tomorrow: The Mossed Totem of Spiritual Madness)
We don’t see them, but they are the fibers of support within the foundations of many buildings and structures. They were rocks originally, heated till they melted and then formed into a desired shape.
The heat of circumstances can transform solid social structures as well. The question is whose desires determine the shape?
“Global warming is a warning.”
Dartwill Aquila
(Tomorrow: Cool Heads and Frozen Minds)
Well-shaped. Shiny. On a pedestal. In the light.
Empty. Chipped. Neglected. Alone
“Form without content is a form of junk.”
Dartwill Aquila
(Tomorrow: Fibers of Iron)
The picture shows a marked rock carving in Norrkoping, Sweden. What did the artist, sitting alongside Motala River, want to illustrate? Numerous interpretations accompany this mystery lady, none of which have achieved general acceptance.
Could it be a testimony about a rape? Were women raped 3000 years ago? Surely they were. The Bible tells us so. Were women as likely to be raped then as they are today? Surely they were not.
Rape occurs rampantly today throughout the world. Rebecca Solnit exposed the extent of the rape ”epidemic” in a TomDispatch article the other day.
She has not however put the numbers in perspective. How do they compare, for instance, with the 1970s, 80s or 90s? Perhaps the figures aren’t available.
In one respect we can be certain that the rape rate is growing. Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett have shown conclusively in their book The Spirit Level that an increased gap between the rich and the poor increases social problems; the greater the inequality, the greater all forms of social disintegration. In other words, the more the economy gets raped, the more women get raped. It’s not high science.
Among the causes we need look no further than our Homo sapiens minds. Our frontal lobe has evolved to measure our worth by our contribution to the well-being of our tribe, our community. People who have no say in the course of events, who have no influence on the workings of society, become alienated and socially deformed. They lose their own social worth and therefore see no value in anything else, not even in personal integrity. Speaking of a woman’s honor, the biological need to protect the sanctity of our women, sounds like the rantings of a mad man to the decayed mind of the marginalized and alienated rapist.
The rampage of rape will continue as long as the rampage of injustice and extreme inequality grows.
“Recognizing symptoms is a first step in curing a disease.”
Dartwill Aquila
(Tomorrow: Trophy Lady)
She sheds the shroud of conventional wisdom to receive the light.
She meets the day unburdened by the dictates of the current norms.
She gets down on her knee to pray thanks for the gift of life.
She’s the sister of justice, the wife of struggle, the daughter of truth
and the mother of peace and freedom.
She’s an unarmed warrior in the war for humanity’s health and happiness.
“If wars can be started with lies…
they can be stopped with truth.”
Julian Assange
(Tomorrow: The Many Shapes of Rape)
Grab your fear by the throat.
Squeeze it!
Demand to know its source.
Fear bubbles from a well of doubt.
You should doubt.
Drink from the well!
Let the doubt quench your thirst for knowledge.
Now look beyond your fear.
It’s a diversion to keep you from the truth within you.
The truth you know.
The truth you’ve always known.
The truth we’ve all always known.
There is only One. One for everyone.
One beyond our nation, our race, our sex, our group…
One beyond the realm of the flesh,
beyond the control of mortals.
We are part of the One and the One includes everyone.
I can only tell you, but you must hear beyond me.
Embrace the One’s embrace.
Join together beyond your nation,
your race, your sex, your group…
and strengthen the body of the One.
Feel its power.
Fear no more.
“Many names try to capture the force with no name,
the force that unites us in love of life
and pride in the human family.”
Dartwill Aquila
(Tomorrow: She, the Unarmed Warrior)
The contamination of the earth’s atmosphere by carbon (and other) emissions is heating the planet, generating extreme weather and causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.
OBVIOUSLY, we should reduce carbon emissions. The rulers of the world gather at conferences and discuss the problem. Year after year. The emissions, the heat, the extreme weather and the deaths keep increasing.
OBVIOUSLY, we could start by stopping unnecessary emissions. During WWII private car production was stopped. So were international sport events. Millions of lives were at stake. Millions of lives are at stake today. Humanity itself is endangered. Does the eliminating of unnecessary carbon emissions seem unreasonable? Obviously not.
Recently the government of the USA decided to give $43 million in tax breaks to promote motor sports entertainment, $43 000 000 to promote unnecessary carbon emissions.
Bottled liquids (water and sodas), are one of the major sources of carbon emissions. We would do a great service to the environment by drinking tap water instead. Can you envision any government today encouraging the people to stop buying unnecessary liquids and drinking water instead?
OBVIOUSLY not.
OBVIOUSLY, the rulers are not going to make any significant changes to improve the environment.
Business as usual. Pollution as usual. Profits as usual. Contamination as usual.
The prevailing order shall prevail.
The prevailing rape of the environment and deaths of millions shall prevail.
OBVIOUSLY! (If we leave it up to the rulers.)
“And on the eighth day he said,
‘Let that which I created belong to those with the most money.'”
Dartwill Aquila
(Tomorrow: Lasloy, the Spirit of Trees, Speaks)
Some languages don’t allow the word love to be used for things. Love is reserved for people. Inanimate objects can be liked, but nothing more.
Such primitive ideas. We advanced people can love anything; beer, bowling balls or nail polish.
Not all love keys open the door of love. The love of things is too small. The love of ideas is too big. The love of people is just right, unless it is only for the ”right” people. Then it’s too weak and the wrong shape.
“Love gives the lamb the heart of a lion.”
Dartwill Aquila
(Tomorrow: Jaw Dropping Obvious)
They say that devil dog searches the water
looking for souls
drowning in possessions
drowning in apathy,
in uncertainty.
That’s not true. He’s not looking for them,
he’s watching them.
He’s amusing himself.
“Laughter can function as a valve
to release the pressure of unhappiness.”
Dartwill Aquila
(Tomorrow: The Right Love Key)
System Humanity 