Monday, April 03, 2006
Essaouira
I am traveling with some fellow EO members. One American, one German, one Australian, and one Israeli... all living in the USA. We also have a local guide, Rashid, a very nice and personable man.
The airlines lost my luggage. There is some hope it may show up at some point, but my impressions of the local baggage-handling infrastructure are not inspiring a lot of confidence. Fortunately, I did have my shaving kit and one day's change of clothes in my backpack, along with my 2 computers (Windows for business and general stuff, and a Mac for composing and editing music). So I'm OK for now, but it will be a drag if I don't get my bags back. I had planned on doing some music work while I was here, so I packed a MIDI keyboard and some other music gear. And then there were a lot of my best clothes... Oh well.
I arrived a few hours before the others, so I had time to talk with Rashid for a while. I found him to be much better informed about American politics and political figures than most Americans, even many of the smarter and better-educated ones that I know. Rashid assures me this is not unusual among educated Moroccans.
I see my native country as being in the grips of propagandists, liars, and hijackers. Maybe this is true of all nations at one time or another, or even at all times to some degree. The very concept of a nation-state is a relatively recent (and arguably quite toxic) invention here on planet earth, and I suppose all nations are supported by or built upon propaganda of some kind. But not all propaganda is created equal. It can just be the run-of-the-mill, booster-style hype, the national equivalent of "marketing" and "teambuilding," which I see as on the relatively-harmless end of the bullshit spectrum. On the other end, it can be a relentless onslaught of bold-faced, manipulative lies covering up outrageous crimes, and seeking to override the eyes, ears, and intentionally-compromised rational capacities of a dazed and distracted mass population. This kind of propaganda seeks to supplant real reality (which I would argue does still exist out there somewhere) with a virtual, simulated reality that is designed and chosen for covert, selfish, duplicitous, draconian, cynical and evil purposes.
It is reassuring to travel, to speak to conscious beings from other places and cultures, and to be reminded that the noxious buffet of current-day American propaganda, which is designed firstly for the American market and succeeds with great masses of the American populace (ranging from 40 to 90% of us, depending on which lie one chooses to examine), is far less effective in other markets. Perspectives and thinking that are marginalized in the USA are recognized as sane and reasonable here.
Why do I dwell on these pathologies? It interests me. These are interesting times. I want to understand American propaganda, American hypocrisy, the interplay between our professed ideals, our true motives, our socioeconomic realities, and our actual national behavior. It is an interesting case study in human nature. It may be the story of How Things Ended for our species. It may be the story of How Things Usually End for Conscious Life In the Universe. Maybe it will be the story of How Humankind Had A Spiritual Awakening and Pulled a Rabbit Out of the Hat At the Last Minute, Like In Star Wars, When Luke Skywalker Shoots a Proton Torpedo Down A Ventilator Shaft the Size of a Urinal While Flying Through A Narrow Trench In a Small Spacecraft at About the Speed of Sound. The local (i.e. planetary) outlook is grave, y'all -- with or without The Force. On the other hand, my own contemplations show me that, even if we do hit the wall that I see looming in the front windshield (right above the speedometer that reads 113 MPH), life will continue, and consciousness, and love too... if not here, somewhere else. Everywhere else, ultimately. Human consciousness is ours to experience, to appreciate, and perhaps to destroy. But universal consciousness (and universal beauty) will not be greatly disturbed by what we do to ourselves.
American pathology is also interesting because it's so personal. I grew up in the USA. Even having been raised to think for myself, I nevertheless absorbed my share of screwy ideas and pathalogical patterns along with everyone else, and believed at least some of the propaganda, only to find it not standing up to critical analysis and observable facts further down the road. I feel a responsibility to maintain a certain vigilance, if only in the hope of being true to myself. I don't want to be a sheep or a sucker.
Like our president said:
Fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again.We figured we knew what he was trying to say, even if he didn't. It's funny coming from him, a guy who represents a cabal of people who have gotten away with myriad forms of murder so many times that it's becoming like a parlor game to them, to see how far they can push the envelope, on how large a scale. And maybe that explains why he couldn't get the line right. If you study closely when W screws up his lines, it really isn't a random thing. It doesn't happen when he's in his element, talking militarism, domination, political tactics, and marginalization of whoever opposes him. It happens when he pretends to care about people, feelings, or fairness.
I know how hard it is to put food on your family.No, he really doesn't know.
We head back to Marrakech tomorrow, and then the EO University starts. It will be nice to see my EO friends.
It is nice to be here.
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If we weren't a nation of sheep, we wouldn't have our current, very dangerous president.
# posted by 
: 2:05 PM
: 2:05 PM
Thanks for the photos. I hope there'll be more. And, as always, I enjoy the way your mind works. Your mental journeys are as interesting as your physical ones.
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# posted by : 6:05 AM
: 6:05 AM << Home
