Saturday, August 27, 2016
Monday, August 15, 2016
What should I title the book I've been writing for years? 'Time Will Tell'?
Time has told. But who is listening?
Sunday, August 7, 2016
The Myth of the Invisible Line and the Mystery of Trump's Success.
The 'invisible line' myth is a lot like the myth of Christianity and Islam, and works on the same principle; that the desire to alter reality is made physical by physical symbols in the imagination.
We begin by asking ourselves; what is war? What is it about? What is the thing people form armies to fight each other over? Countries, mostly; land masses that we have divided by invisible lines, borders. These are not arbitrary lines, we tell ourselves. We enjoy thinking that these lines divide us because we are different from those on the other side of the imaginary line.
The desire for significant action is strong in our species. 'Significant' must include danger, possible death, destruction and creation. Risk makes the heart pump faster and reminds us that we are alive. Drama is sought by those who feel life is agitation and stagnation is death. Are they wrong? No, but a higher perspective sees that striking a happy medium is a better, purer and real situation than the extremes. A war is an extreme.
One man with a melodramatic tv 'reality' show made his reputation by being a hard-liner who could easily fire whoever he chose in an almost callous, cold way. To some, this seemed an admirable trait, the sign of a strong man of conviction toward some greater good. To others, he seemed like a megalomaniacal spoiled rich man-child whose goal was more money and more witless nubile women surrounding him.
Yet who he is is not as important as the first major proposition he made when he ran for president. He claimed that if elected he would build a huge wall nearly 2000 miles long to stop people in a neighboring country from coming into his country. The reasons for this are not as important, in this article, as the symbolism of this wall is in the minds of those who feel they have an emotional, even a spiritual investment in the belief of the invisible line.
By making the invisible line an actual, physical thing, Trump tapped into their unconscious desires, that their fears of those outside of their country were justified by proof that there is an actual divide. Just as their actual churches symbolize the gods and saviors they have imagined, so a wall would appease them of their desires and fears, and further solidify their concept of life in this universe.
We begin by asking ourselves; what is war? What is it about? What is the thing people form armies to fight each other over? Countries, mostly; land masses that we have divided by invisible lines, borders. These are not arbitrary lines, we tell ourselves. We enjoy thinking that these lines divide us because we are different from those on the other side of the imaginary line.
The desire for significant action is strong in our species. 'Significant' must include danger, possible death, destruction and creation. Risk makes the heart pump faster and reminds us that we are alive. Drama is sought by those who feel life is agitation and stagnation is death. Are they wrong? No, but a higher perspective sees that striking a happy medium is a better, purer and real situation than the extremes. A war is an extreme.
One man with a melodramatic tv 'reality' show made his reputation by being a hard-liner who could easily fire whoever he chose in an almost callous, cold way. To some, this seemed an admirable trait, the sign of a strong man of conviction toward some greater good. To others, he seemed like a megalomaniacal spoiled rich man-child whose goal was more money and more witless nubile women surrounding him.
Yet who he is is not as important as the first major proposition he made when he ran for president. He claimed that if elected he would build a huge wall nearly 2000 miles long to stop people in a neighboring country from coming into his country. The reasons for this are not as important, in this article, as the symbolism of this wall is in the minds of those who feel they have an emotional, even a spiritual investment in the belief of the invisible line.
By making the invisible line an actual, physical thing, Trump tapped into their unconscious desires, that their fears of those outside of their country were justified by proof that there is an actual divide. Just as their actual churches symbolize the gods and saviors they have imagined, so a wall would appease them of their desires and fears, and further solidify their concept of life in this universe.
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