Problem Solving Skills -- Note 6 -- Coming Home to Roost

     Who knows what Honest Abe expected when he announced the Coronation of Corpirations in 1865?  His last photos don't show a happy camper.  He'd lost his son; his wife had gone crazier than ever; he'd lost the Union...the largest standing military and the baddest navy in history were gone into the hands of the newly ordained Life Form, Corpirations; gone were all the gains of the 'Civil' War, the American Revolution, the Constitution and all; gone were 620,000 Americans, two thirds to disease and infection; gone were the senators, congresspeople, officers of the Courts, administration officials, all deep into the pockets of the Military Industrial Cult.  Did Lincoln think anyone would take notice of his proclamation, or care enough to do anything whatever?
     In 1896, Wm. Jennings Bryan ran for President against McKinley, the Sugar Trust's candidate.  The intervening 30 years (since the War Between the States) were about the same length of time between our Vietnam 'war' and now, long enough for the new King Corpiration to rear up on its back feet, look around at the planet and say, 'Don't bother wrapping it up...I'll just start devouring it right now!'  The pillaging, genocide, and enslavement already near accomplished in North America was unleashed across the globe.  When Republican 'fundraiser' Mark Hanna was asked what he thought of Bryan's candidacy, he said, 'You don't think we'd let that fool in the White House, do you?  You know you can hire half the people in this country to kill the other half, and we've got the money to hire them.'  Hanna may well have seen his world through homicidal glasses, but this was no empty assertion.  The Military Industrial Cult immediately set about showing the world just how it worked.  McKinley would soon say, 'I should probably have gone to the penitentiary than the White House.'  I would say, 'certainly.'
     Eight years later, April 13, 1904, the Anti-Imperialist League (Mark Twain and others) released the confession of Major C. M. Weller, U.S.A., on trial for genocide in Samar, Philippines:
     Q:  Had you any orders from General [Jacob H.] Smith to kill and burn?  If so, state all that he said.
     A:  "I wish you to kill and burn.  The more you kill and burn, the better you will please me."  Not once only but several times...
     Q:  Did you ever ask General Smith whom he wished you to kill?
     A:  Yes.  He said he wanted all persons killed who were capable of bearing arms, and I asked if he would define the age limit.
     Q:  What did General Smith say?
     A:  "Ten years."
     So, what's all this 'ancient' history have to do with now, with Japan's reminder today of the Nuclear Fix we're still in? 
     EVERYTHING.
     What does it have to do with the emergence of Militant Islam, and the growing Problem of Terrorism?
     EVERYTHING.

Problem Solving Skills -- Note 5 -- Stepping Off the Juggernaut

     The prevailing Quest for Power acquires a momentum and direction of its own, gaining ever more mass, taking up more of the Stage, all in its own interest.  We are conditioned and encouraged to identify our own interests as Humans with that of this Quest for Power.  This is false.  Is this OUR economy?  No.  Is this OUR government?  No.  Is this OUR military?  No.  Are these OUR media and information networks?  No, and again, no.  The economy, government, military, energy policy and media have been swept up, along with us, in the Quest for Power.  These have become nothing more than elements in a behemoth machine whose only purpose is the further acquisition and consolidation of Power.  This machine acts to centralize Power, to corner all markets, to capture and monopolize all resources and populations solely for the gain of the very few Most Powerful, and damn the consequences.  One does not need a crystal ball or a 1-900-psychic number to see that this is going Nowhere, Fast...and faster still. 
     Q:  Who can possibly do anything about this supersonic tailspin?
     A:  WHO IS PAYING FOR ALL OF IT...and paying and paying?!
     Wealth does not 'trickle down.'  Every grain of gold, every crumb of coal is first dug up by Human hands before it's turned over to any Market.  What 'flows downhill' in the famous sewage saying is not wealth, I assure you.
     We often hear those yearning to 'get our economy back on track.'  Imagine it back 'on track,' the way things were going that led us to these Times of Multiple Crises...look out your window as you hurtle along...notice the big signs in Stop Sign Red, saying, 'GO BACK!  YOU ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY!'

Problem Solving Skills -- Note 4 -- "Civilization As A Hole"

     The Quest for Power has always been a pain in the posterior for us Humans, if you'll pardon the expression, or even if you don't.  Since the first surplus basket of grain, there's occasionally been a criminal element who wanted more than they needed.  Before Adam and Eve, there was Gilgamesh, and before him, there was undoubtedly some other sticky-fingered weasel short on Principles.  The expression 'pain in the posterior' as used here is not just a figure of speech.  All of what we call our histories are laced with this problem gnawing at our nether extremities.  Earlier cultures had notable success defining property rights and dealing with thievery, otherwise we Humans would never even have arrived at the celebrated point we fondly call the Dawn of Civilization.  After this famous point, the Big Puzzles have been:  How have we defined Civilization, and How does Civilization define us?
     Successful cultures, unlike this one, have usually arrived at these definitions by the free involvement of their members in common agreement.  Styles of action could then be pursued along courses which proved viable in the original sense:  capable of sustaining life in balanced populations.
     Lately, what makes our version so starkly unsuccessful is that we have allowed and subscribed to spurious definitions blindly, not of our own devices, but as imposed upon us by the aberrant forces of the Quest for Power.
     Consider our word, civilization.  We inherited this little jewel from the tongues of Rome.  They considered it their great defining gift to Humankind.  In practice, as demonstrated on the ground, civilization was imposed by force; it's what happened after the dust settled and the blood soaked into the earth.  What had been prehistory's sneak-thievery had become the Rule, the Defining Feature of Human 'advancement.'  Ancient scriptures were transcribed and interpreted to reinforce the notion that these criminal processes are an essential part of Humans' very nature.  It's been whipped into us by priestly repetition that these deviant features are so much a part of us, we've accepted them almost as though they were originally tatooed into our DNA.  Until now.
     The growing problems caused by the Quest for Power were already ancient, becoming ever more prevalent over time, (largely because they've been such a damned hard act to follow) even before the arrival on the scene of Machiavelli.  This infamous little mole-rat simply put the old curses of betrayal, murder, and theft into concise form in his book, 'The Prince,' as a blueprint for 'success' in the Quest for Power.  As required reading in institutions of 'higher' learning and for practitioners of the 'arts' of war, it's played an ever more prominent role in defining success, civilization, and Human advancement.  Consider the recent Yankee dictum, 'No problem is so great it can't be solved with high explosives.'  This heartwarming little homily should be a clear indication that the ultimate goals of our present 'advances' as well as our most salient means toward those goals, are violent chaos, waste, and destruction.  Benefits along the way, crumbs of the Pie, are dribbled out as bait to keep us in the trap of the Quest for Power.  Far from recognizing it as a Problem, we are encouraged to regard it as the solution, and discouraged from seeing otherwise.  Why do you suppose Ghandi, when asked what he thought of Western Civilization, answered, 'I think it would be a good idea.'??
     The Eternally Errant Quest for Power tends to take on a life of its own, achieving its own direction and momentum, gaining mass exponentially, much like a Black Hole.  It's extremely attractive, hard to resist, and harder yet on everything in its path, up to and including the Biosphere.  Never in history has this been expressed more clearly and loudly than in present day North America...so far.  Did 'America' emerge on top of the heap after the bloodiest 200 years in history just because it's 'God's Will?'  No.  God did not do this.  And it's of no comfort whatever to see emerging powers like China take so enthusiastically to the example set by the criminal Miliatry Industrial Cult of the West.
     At no time in the long, sordid history of the Quest for Power had its minions been so entrenched as when corporations were enthroned in North America in the early 1860's.  Then, they were granted legal recognition as an Official Life Form, living citizens with all the Rights won by Humans, but with none of Humans' responsibilities or sensibilities.  This transition of corporations from temporary paper agreements to Life Forms with Full Rights marked a turning point the importance of which has largely escaped the notice of Humans.  What has been the significance of this transition, and why has it gone almost totally ignored?
     On the Corpirations' Coronation Day, the goals and accomplishments of the hard-won American Revolution were reversed.  America, as the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, simply ceased to exist.  Abraham Lincoln's simple announcement that this had in fact happened was drowned out in the clamor that arose when he was promptly shot by a 'lone gunman.'  Most of what's followed has been nothing but smoke and mirrors.  The entire Federal government, senators, congresspeople, presidents, and courts ever since have been firmly in the outlaw grip of the corpirations, along with the largest standing military forces in history.  These armed forces, then carried by the Opium Clippers which had already seized primacy on the seas, immediately set about the predations of Empire, at home and abroad.
     Where do you think.....
     Hitler got the idea that, 'If you tell a big enough lie long enough, everyone will believe it.'??
     Stalin got the idea that, 'If you kill one person, it's murder; if you kill a million, it's a statistic.'??
     Mao got the idea that, 'Political power comes out of the barrel of a gun.'??
     Answer all three of these questions with one guess.
     Where do you think our modern world got the idea that we could somehow use nuclear power safely??
     Same answer.
     Glimmer of Hope:  Humans here and there still rise up and insist on deciding for themselves what's good for themselves...and act accordingly.
    

Problem Solving Skills -- Note 3

     Public perceptions have a lot to do with Problem Solving skills.  They bear on how, and even whether civilization makes any advance whatever.  For instance, it was widely seen in the West for some time that the world was flat.  This public perception was equated with Common Sense;  any fool could confirm it by simple observation.  This example demonstrates that public sense can be breathtakingly wide of the mark of Reality, that Common Sense frequently is in fact insensible.  This shows clearly, in turn, the urgent need for different points of view.  The importance of different points of view is further clearly demonstrated, famously proven, by the ancient military concept of 'fields of fire.'  The smallest, simplest military position may only be secured by being certain that attention is focused in each and every sector of one's 'perimeter.'  Thus, vigilant observation is required in all directions for any hope of complete coverage.  Conversely, ignoring any sector would obviously then leave one's position vulnerable from that direction.  It follows, then, that the more different perspectives there are available, the better.  So, it's a really good thing there are more than one of us, and that we're all different.
     Any narrowing of Public Perceptions can and does have tragic consequences for the public at large and on more private, individual levels.  The late, infamous racist apartheid system of South Africa was held by its proponents as an expression of the Natural Order of Things; it amounted even to a Belief System for those who subscribed to it.  The Crying Shame of it was shown not only by the way blacks were treated under apartheid, but by some whites' reactions when that system began to collapse.  The incidence of white mothers killing their children, then themselves in a panic over the dissolving of their perceived 'natural order' jumped by 400%.  I see this as significant.
     As catastrophic as this narrowing of Public Perceptions can be, there are several ways in which this tunneling of our vision can occur.  One of these ways could be called a natural, 'gravity' kind of process, whereby one's views are influenced by the vision of the group.  It is famously troublesome to entertain notions which don't match those of the crowd.  This can also be reinforced by conflicting Belief Systems, leading to differing views being actively discouraged, even prohibited, criminalized.  The mere possibility that this funneling of public sense could be dangerous to society and/or the individual is then rigorously ignored.  Another way in which public perception may be narrowed is by outright manipulation, the engineering of public opinion for specific ends not necessarily in the interests of the public in general.  This fabrication of public perception can be accomplished by the subversion of public servants.  Their sworn loyalties to the public interest are then secretly put at the service of said private ends.  This suborning of public offices can be reinfforced by the seizure of public means of communication, rendering these media also in the illegal service of covert forces.  My point here is that this false manipulation of public perceptions, this engineering of our vision of the world has indeed occured not just once, as an anomaly, but has become the Rule.  We've grown accustomed to it.  We say, 'This is the Way Things Work,' in spite of the obvious facts showing that this is The Way Things Don't Work Worth a Damn, And Never Did!

Problem Solving Skills -- Note 2

     (Responses to Note 1 have been encouraging; thank you all)
     If someone important (like my children or theirs) should ask, "Why didn't someone do something?", I want to be able to tell them, "We did."  To take effective action, we must first find an accurate definition of the problem.
     Accurately defining a problem won't guarantee an effective solution, just make it possible.  Likewise, a simple definition of a problem will not mean whatever solutions then available will also be simple.  The Nuclear Problem continues to redouble, largely because (1) we have not clearly defined it, its true nature and root causes, and (2) in the absence of this accurate description, efforts toward solution are misdirected, complicating the problem and causing others additionally.
     As we approach what I think is a clear, accurate definition of the Nuclear Mistake, I believe answers to other Big Questions will become more evident, i.e., How did this happen?  How does this clear definition of one Big Problem relate to other Big Problems?  And not least, Why has this clear definition not been made before?
     When our dependence on Nuke and Fossilized Fuels is compared to an addiction, this is starkly true, an addiction imposed by commercial interests for gain, monopolized and enforced through 'regulations' written by those same commercial interests.  These vast markets then take on a snowballing life of their own, acquiring direction and momentum that carries us along in their train.  Yet this is still merely a description of our SYMPTOMS;  what, simply, is the underlying CAUSE?
     In answer to this question, I suggest Clue #1:
     "Because of the war, corporations have now been enthroned.  This will mean corruption in high places, the aggregation of all wealth in a few hands, and...the end of the Republic."

--  Abraham Lincoln

     I suggest further that this clue has almost everything to do with, not only our dependence on the most dangerous energy sources around, but bears directly upon the undeclared (illegal) wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and a whole lot more.  

     Please let me know what you think.  If this effort toward 'accurate definition' is anywhere close, it will take a LOT of input on prospective solutions.  Thanks, again.  rw

Problem Solving Skills - Note 1

[Some of these 'notes' previously posted on major social site]

     I'm puzzled;  maybe one, or some, of y'all can help me here.  It's about the unpleasantness now in Japan, and about how we define Problems.  Generally, it seems that how a problem is defined determines the solution.  That is, if one defines a problem accurately, one then may arrive at some positive solution for that problem.  Conversely, if one does not define the problem correctly, no real solution would be possible, and further, action then taken in ignorance might well aggravate the original problem, and create further ones.  Have I got this right so far?  If so, I'd like to make some further observations, and get what feedback is available here, if you please...and thank you. 

     Japan's current dire circumstance has been described as a triple disaster (earthquake, tsunami, multiple nuclear reactor 'events').  The quake and wave damages have popularly been termed 'natural' disasters.  Yet these natural events occur whether there are people present or not.  They're only disastrous when there ARE folks in the vicinity.  It might be more accurate, then, to say that these 'natural' disasters are actually the results of people mistakenly getting in the way of natural processes, assuming the famously obvious risks.  This is not to fault the judgement of anyone (no pun whatever), or to trivialize their hardships, but to try to DEFINE the problems more clearly.

     The Nuclear Problems, though, are a whole 'nother kettle of fission (this pun entirely intentional).  The Public Perception seems to be that these nuclear events do fit the description of a Problem.  A good deal of air time is being devoted to what exactly is going on and how to fix it [this, early in the sequence of events].  Many other kinds of attention are being paid from many other places to address the situation there.  Largely, these reactor events have come as a great, unpleasant surprise, prompting people to ask repeatedly, 'How did this happen?  How do they, and of course, WE contain the terrific damage?'  These questions are, I believe, of the utmost importance to be answered very clearly if there is to be any hope of (1) knowing what the Problem really is, and (2) how to go about solving it.  It must not go without saying that there are now some 180 people on the ground, in and around those damaged nukes, giving it their ALL to solve their immediate emergencies in Ultimate Peril.  I'm hoping their names will be made known and remembered.  I'm also hoping it will be more widely recognized that all our world is in the same boat with those 180, but a little more remote.  Nor must it go without saying here that the Largest, most Expert Forces in the Nuclear Arena, those most responsible for selling all of us on the Very Bright Idea of nukes, are conspicuously absent in any of these Damage Control efforts...they're totally silent.  Their concept of Damage Control is limited to sending some lobby weasels into closed-door meetings with 'our' Senators and Congresspeople to sway their continued support, and to shore up the false public perception that nukes are somehow acceptable, even necessary...that Unnatural Disasters are unavoidable.

     First, about the present public perception that this nuke disaster comes as a big surprise:  No, it's not.  There have been warnings loud and clear for decades in print, video and radio; your friends, neighbors, workmates, acquaintances, and strangers on the street have consistently sounded alarms for years about this very thing, so stop acting so surprised.  Second, the notion that nuke power was a great idea, clean and safe and cheap, was SOLD to us (Japan and all of us) by SOMEONE, for cash and prizes...and we (most of us) BOUGHT it.  When the public signed on to this Big Mistake, we put ourselves on the line as well as future generations, and then some.  It's too late to bet your ass that this will all be o.k....that's already in the pot.

     So what then is the simplest, most distilled way to state the underlying Problem?  To truthfully answer this question, I believe a lot of our preconcieved notions and fondly held beliefs must be set aside.  And it might be a good idea to take your vitamins...you're gonna need all the personal fortification you can get.

Distinction Exercise -- 1

     Many of our mythologies, folk legends, and fairy tales contain archetypes of horror which have fascinated and terrified us for centuries.  I suggest that these usually are metaphors which reference the monstrosities of tyranny in its many forms.  Until the industrial revolution, tyrants could be caricatured in this way without putting the storytellers in direct danger of retribution.  Having discarded enough of their own Human sensibilities to victimize others, ancient despots and their networks of spies and traitors could be pictured as man-eating giants, werewolves, vampires hidden from the light of day, and so on.  Until 'modern' times, the predations wrought by these ghouls were more or less localized, limited by the reach of their transport and the range of their weapons.  With luck and some effort, people might stand a chance of surviving if they could put some distance between themselves and the organized criminal troublemakers of their day.  This chance of survival of course shrank as the several Imperial Robbers' global reach expanded.  The Horrors have since been depicted as 'interplanetary' in works of science fiction.

     The one brief glimmer of hope for Human self-determination and freedom from such tyranny, the American Revolution and its foundation documents, lasted not quite 100 years.  The tragic Coronation of the Corpiration in the United States in 1865 came at a most unfortunate time, for us Humans, and for other living things in general.  These synthetic commercial organisms then came into possession of the largest standing military in history, the largest, fastest navy, vast natural resources, and a large traumatized population almost totally unaware their government had been unlawfully seized by a new, artificial species.  This new species lost no time in having our Supreme Law interpreted to recognize Corpirations as an official life form, giving them all the Rights so dearly won by us Humans for ourselves.  This official recognition ominously omitted requiring any personal responsibility whatever of these new unhuman beings.  Most ironically, this interpretation was rooted in the very Amendment which was supposed to have freed African Americans from bondage.  These artificial beings then immediately set about imposing slavery, genocide, and thievery here (here) and there around the world.  They have been almost totally successful in obscuring their takeover of the United States then, and in hiding the true nature of their criminal rule since.  Our age is saddled with a 'truth' far stranger than science fiction.  The success of Corpirate rule depends upon our not recognizing it as such. 

     I anticipate that making a real, workable distinction between Corpirations and us Humans might be difficult, even dangerous, to put it mildly.  Could it possibly be more difficult or dangerous than the  past 150 years in which we have not made this distinction?  Are we even capable of breaking the spell of the Military/Industrial Cult in sufficient numbers to call it a 'reawakening' among us Humans?  I believe we are so capable.  Is it likely?  We shall see.

     Today, we're up to here in the archetypes of horror.  Compare the constant gobbling up of 'collateral damage,' and of our own young fighters, with the crimes of a Jefferey Dahmer;  see what I mean?  These grisly, unhuman crimes are made all the worse since they are traditionally covered with ribbons, decorations, buntings, brass bands, and 'justified' with fake patriotic talk about 'liberty, freedom, democracy...,' and other such treacherous drivel.

     I'm just getting started...