"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." -- Albert Einstein
There is a simple reason why the political process continues to do more harm than good, and those engaging in it to better society find themselves in an exercise of futility. In order to discover this one must look deeper into our social and historical reality, through the political theater, to what is operating beneath the surface. This is just like with human psychology: if someone had experienced something traumatic as a child and the event was suppressed within their subconscious, it will most likely operate as the originator of destructive & fearful (or at the very least unproductive) behavior, and until that deeper issue is resolved, treating the symptoms of the behavior through medication and so on will never bring about a real cure; the irrational negative concept and belief created alongside the trauma must be rooted out in order for their to be real progress. Back to the social realm, we have all been subjected to a trauma early on in our lives, actually it was already waiting for us before we were born: the trauma of being forced to assimilate to unnatural social-systems. These social-systems drastically shape our lives everyday, and indoctrinate us with the belief that they are beneficial, that we need them for our survival, and so are therefore principled. We are also indoctrinated to accept the the self-concept that we are "citizens", rather than sovereign humans, and that there is no choice in the matter. And just like within the personal realm, these irrational root beliefs and self-concepts create fearful & destructive behavior, except on a much larger scale.
The simple reason the political process is unproductive in producing lasting peace & justice is that it is fundamentally unprincipled; it is based on force and exploitation, which are in turn based on irrational beliefs, and you can't build a principled society on a foundation of violence and lies. And so this unprincipled root negative cause will always create disturbing effects; we will never see a truly just and free society using that process, we will continue to see unproductive actions towards the goal of world peace & justice, with fear and destruction remaining widespread. To ignore the root problem is to continue to face inevitable negative consequences, and constantly fighting against those consequences rather than their origin can never lead to lasting progress; more of the same will karmicly follow, as a natural cycle, like night following day. So when you get upset at a corrupt politician, or some uncaring CEO, you aren't really being an effective revolutionary. These people are just inevitable products of a toxic social factory. It's like yelling at toxic products coming out on a conveyor belt, it's short-sighted and a waste of energy; we need to shut down the factory, we need to eliminate the unprincipled social-system that is the real heart of the darkness.
Some say the fundamental flaw is lack of democracy, that if we could just "take back the power" from the corporations, or the crown, or the federal reserve, or whoever, then we could have a better world. There is truth to that of course, what we see growing around us is fascist globalization, and so it makes sense that it's opposite, democratic localization, would be the solution to that problem. But we must face the fact that real democracy is actually impossible through any centralized system, and could only exist on the most localized of levels. What many activists don't yet see is that this solution of localization must be in its most pure form in order to be an instrument for drastic world-wide positive change; that pure form is sovereign homesteads, making up voluntary communities. Yet there are systemic restraints to achieving that ultimate localization and democracy (namely land costs & taxes), and that's why the system itself needs to be rejected. A democratic and just government, like the idea of a healthy and sustainable city, is an oxymoron; the two are also intrinsically linked with one another, just as governments are with the arising of war:
"Urban reality is primarily about trade and commerce, with a nearly total dependence on support from external areas for continued existence. To guarantee such an artificial subsistence, city fathers turn inevitably to war, that chronic civilizational staple."
-- John Zerzan, from his book "Twilight of the Machines"
Many advocate the tribal model as the solution, but that still contains the seeds of the fascist techno-industrialist super-state we see growing all around us: hierarchy and false authority, originating in unjust control of arable land and water. Nations can be thought of as over-sized tribes; You are still "born into" a tribe, there may be tribal hierarchy and leaders, tribal territory, and then tribal wars... all of that is what we have today, just on a much larger and more destructive scale.
Others say socialism is the answer, but does that not also have the seeds of fascism within it? In the excellent essay "Anarchism: Against Capitalism, Against Socialism" by Chris Wilson, he says: " ...socialists should consider the possibility that the proposed command structure of social-ism might possess certain inherent properties that necessarily lead to such ghastly forms of authoritarianism. Every at-tempt to realize socialism has always resulted in a totalitarian society in which the population is used as an expendable resource for the enrichment of a handful of elites. These failed attempts are a direct consequence of the innate hierarchy of socialist organization combined with a refusal to realize that power always corrupts, even when delegated democratically." There is no way to have personal freedom and sovereignty in a mass-society, it is inherently unjust and depends on force and enslavement to varying degree. (I also highly recommend the essay "Against Mass Society" by Chris Wilson.)
The only way to have true freedom, true sustainable and incorruptible democracy and peace, is through individual sovereignty. That means you are a Woman of the Earth first, not the subject of a crown. That means you are a Man of the Earth first, not the citizen of a country. This does not mean that you wouldn't have community available, you would actually have more of it; techno-industrial mass-society is anti-community, it fragments, divides and isolates us, destroying natural community and replacing it with shallow and superficial "community" like nationalism, sports, etc. In a genuine community your relationships with your neighbors is not corrupted by monetary concerns, and your level of interaction with community is up to you, it's completely voluntary which further removes inter-personal friction that arises from unnatural social-systems. You would live on your sovereign land, alone or with family (in whatever form that takes) that all wishes to be together, and then you would interact in a gift-economy cultural relationship with others as you choose. Your space would be private, your own "kingdom", which means kins domain, or family land. This avoids the common problem of inter-personal friction that comes from lack of personal space/privacy along with forced communal decision-making that arises even in eco-villages, intentional communities or other collectives. Humans instinctively desire Freedom, and one aspect of that is having your own space and privacy, and not being subject to communal dynamics you'd rather not be a part of; this has been and continues to be the biggest problem at most intentional communities and collectives that is not recognized as such, and so people within that dynamic think "this is just the way life is." But this is just another negative belief based on ignorance of the root problem. They deal with the constant inter-personal conflict and unnecessary drama because they think there is no other way, but there is; what they're experiencing can be thought of as karmic feedback for participating in something that is ultimately not natural or principled (even though of course it's a lot more so than the typical corporate dynamic). What I'm pointing to is a way that harmonizes with our inner nature, as well outer nature, minimizing the disturbances we experience on both fronts drastically.
And since animal domestication and farming (not coincidentally) is also based on false beliefs (like that we need animal products for optimum health), and has also been a source of major disturbance (to put it very lightly, actually causing tremendous environmental and health destruction), as well as being the vehicle for the most massive violence humans participate in, it should also be abandoned. Animal domestication was an unprincipled mistake by humanity, and until we end that practice it is unlikely we will escape domestication ourselves. In seeking freedom from domination and exploitation, it makes perfect sense to not do the same to other species, regardless of how "natural" it supposedly is. The sound nutrition science and ethical principles of veganism should trump unprincipled tradition, so these private homesteads that ensure freedom for us should not be places of enslavement for other species, they should employ organic vegan agriculture (aka veganic ag). This avoids the ethical hypocrisy, as well as the environmental damage from synthetic chemicals and corporately-controlled, health and planet damaging Genetically Modified Organisms.
The root of all the social, personal and ecological destruction that has been going on is the same: living out of harmony with Nature, through animal & human domestication. The human domestication and farming arises through the forcible restriction from living as free natural women and men on the Earth, mainly through land control/cost/taxation. This is the fundamental flaw of governance (and technological dependance), which has led to the Orwellian human-animal farm we now find ourselves within. Until we can become self/community-sufficient, we will remain dependent on governments and the corporations they serve. Until we start accepting the responsibility to live as natural humans, growing our own food, producing our own fuel, building our own homes, we will continue to be money-slaves, we will continue to beg for corporate jobs, no matter how unsatisfying and exploitative, rather than be natural humans doing natural work.
If you were born on this planet then your fair share of the resources needed for your survival is your birthright, you are not bound to any contract you never signed, for services you never asked for. The spiraling ripples of discontent and destruction originate at this unprincipled point, it is karmic law in action. By sacrificing our right to live free and natural lives, for supposed greater security, we agree to the age old "Devil's Bargain." And how would you say that's working out for you? How is that working out for most people? How is it working out for the ecosystem and other species? Stress is said to be the #1 reason people go to their doctor, so obviously we have not found personal peace in this exploitative and unnatural society, nor should we expect to.
"You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."
-- Malcolm X, Malcolm X Speaks
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