The Way of the World

Once upon a time, people and organizations thought it was enough just because they said so -- to make it so, and any who said otherwise, was not "certified" to do so by them -- who should remain the sole authorizing agent from God Himself -- or so they wanted everybody else to believe.  The biggest casualty of such a deception, was the media itself -- who claimed to know everything worth knowing.  My, how the mighty have fallen -- but in their stead, many shoots have arisen -- that provide far more accurate a picture of what is actually going on -- then the one often manipulated to seem so.

That is usually obvious in the many con-artists seeking to propagate their exclusive vision of the world -- with only themselves at the top.  But in this time and age, many more have access to the printing presses and broadcasts than the few who formerly owned them exclusively.  They may have even claimed that those rights were specifically guaranteed to them in the constitution of that civilization -- as a special class of citizens -- above all the rest.

So when the century began with the Internet available to all, it did not occur to them that the world had shifted beneath their feet -- and they were no longer exclusively in control of what the rest thought to be true.  That is a long way to fall.  But from the few that have fallen, many have sprouted and risen -- which is the relentless story of evolution and progress.  Things just don't keep repeating themselves endlessly -- but move on to ever higher levels of realization and revelation.  That's not to say that many will not rise to the defense of the status quo -- no matter how inappropriate and irrelevant they have lately become.

The old ways will not return -- no matter how insistent they are.  That is not the way of the world.  It moves on relentlessly towards the future -- sweeping everything in its way.  To try to simply restore and rebuild is folly -- waiting for the next disaster to hit, and celebrating their luck -- until one day it runs out.  One hopes to have moved on to higher ground -- before they are engulfed by the tides of change.  What can one say to those who live in such denial?

The greatest tides now, are the tides of information -- washing away what is no longer true.  Of course there are always those who pride themselves that everything they know, is knowledge that was believed to be true since the earliest of times -- even before recorded history, and so that makes it even more true.  There is no record, or evidence even, that such a thing was ever true -- though they believe proven a long time ago.  But lately, it explains and predicts nothing -- and as such, is useless information -- and not proof that one is the first to know anything worth knowing.

Information that only explains why everything is not working properly -- with no remedy for how they can go right, is not worth knowing -- and certainly should not be accepted as the gospel truth.  Far better, to know something that makes a difference -- in that knowing.  Unfortunately, much of what people know, and is reported, cannot be proven by independent observers -- but are embraced and propagated as though it was true, and proven -- when they are merely the sales pitch they can get anyone else to buy.  Frequently, they are successful, but more often than not, does not stand the test of independent corroboration.

It is enough just to have their "true believers" -- those who will believe no matter how much evidence and experience to the contrary.  They will just organize and shout it louder to bully everyone else into believing -- as well.  They believe that might makes right -- and that is all the proof they need.  To make anything fit, all one needs to do is apply unlimited more force -- even if it breaks completely.

So then, nothing works -- and they are quite justified in their belief that the world has ended, or is coming to its end -- when it is only so for those who refuse to change and adapt.  Instead, they demand that everything in the world change to accommodate their world view -- because no matter how compelling the evidence otherwise, they're not going to change.  They will also not long endure.  That is the way of the world.

Towards a Quality of Life

Most measurements are about the cost of living and the quantity of life that purchases, while those in the know, are more concerned with that quality of life -- that is beyond what money can buy.  Money is not the sole determiner of what and how much one can buy.  Just as important, is the amount of thought and research that goes into every transaction -- that can leverage it greatly in one's favor.  As often as not, it means being in the right place at the right time -- and not being in the wrong place at any time.

The circumstances of bad things happening, are not equally distributed randomly across all places, and among all people.  That is the whole reason for everything thoughtful and prudent people do -- to decrease the probabilities and incidences of bad things happening, and in their stead, the good manifests -- because it has the time and space to.  That has less to be planned and designed for, because just by eliminating the bad, the unforeseen good has a chance to come into being.

Evolution is not seeing a final perfected outcome, but in merely eliminating the distractions and dead ends -- which is every avoidable, untold disaster -- favoring the desirable outcome.  That is the cause and effect, world of karma.  A thinking person would hope for nothing less -- or more.  It is a world that makes sense -- and not everything turning out equally badly or equally well -- regardless of what they do.  Of course shit happens with such a world view.  Buckets and buckets, and their only resource then, is to go into denial.

They don't want to know about any other reality and possibility -- because they are too used to, and too well prepared -- for the disastrous outcome, that they wouldn't want any other -- even if it was just for the taking.  And that largely, is what good fortune is -- just for the taking, for those who can realize its value -- because not everybody can.  Most will prefer what they are used to -- even if it produces a sad and disastrous outcome.  That is what they are used to, and are conditioned for -- and not that there can be anything beyond that.

And assuredly, the future, and everything good, lies beyond that limited world of predetermined and fated possibilities.  That's why the advantage goes to those who regard the total content as their own being -- and not just the little they claim exclusively as their own.  But that doesn't mean claiming everything one can, as their own.  No, far better to realize that exclusive ownership and control is seldom necessary to achieve satisfaction and fulfillment -- but the knowledge that it is available only as one needs it.  Already, that is more than enough -- and under those operating premises, there is more than enough -- for everyone.

It's when people behave as though there is not sufficient resources, that the struggle is on for each to grab more than their fair share -- and need, with predictably disastrous results.  That is likely to happen, when all those who think that way, congregate, and compete with each other for all the spoils -- even leaving no man standing.  If they can't have it, then nobody else can either.  Such societies and cultures, leave nothing to posterity -- because that would be anybody else, and that is not what they are about.

So any traces they leave behind -- are unfathomable monuments to themselves -- and there is no greater meaning and significance of that culture and all its efforts.  They are not equal to all others.  They rightfully and with good reason, become extinct.  Of course they are dysfuctional long before that final nail in their coffin.  But that is not the only way, and only life they can choose.  That difference is their individual quality of life -- and outcomes.

For that reason, life is not simply a repetition of what has gone on before -- but can be unprecedented -- which means the life never lived before.  And that is true possibility and actualization -- and not just repeating hopelessly what doesn't work -- as though that is some kind of genius -- that they know something that nobody else does -- and believing that despite all the information to the contrary, will make it prevail.

Meanwhile, the rest of humanity has moved on -- to a better life.  That is the truth of our existence.