THE NATURE OF ACTION
1. Argument
2. Self
3. Others
4. Organize
5. Liberation
6. Conclusion
1. Argument
We must give up expectations
but not the confidence that we can deal with any contingency. Humans
only act if they believe their best interests are being served. Look
for the best, not in the future but in this moment as it transpires.
Educate others, fight injustice, but never lose sight of the beauty in
this moment. Every plan right down to the most finely conceived incorporates
within it a probability that the future shall deviate, which probability
increases in direct proportion to the timespan of the plan and also to
the number of people it will affect. This is the dualism of purpose:
we must be subjective of the present while objective of the future.
Live in the moment. If your formulations help you to get more out
of this present moment, then that is fine, but don’t be disappointed if
the world doesn’t live up to your expectations. Next time try to
place a little less importance on expectations and a little more importance
on this world as it is being experienced.
Small scale action is much
more likely to succeed. The smaller scale an action, the greater
its
chances of success. This is part of the appeal of both anarchism
and Buddhism: both promote the
proliferation of small scale action to affect major change. The
best of anarchist thought contains an almost spiritual element in its view
of individual responsibility and the common welfare. Perhaps we do
have a chance, if we can pull our heads out of the clouds and stop arguing
about the best way to proceed. If we could simply act from the heart,
then we could do no wrong.
Action can either be directed
internally into the self, or externally into the environment and the community.
There are four courses of effective action: self-education,
education of others, fighting
injustice and organizing.
2. Self
Put your own house in order,
first of all. Strive for enlightenment and education. Open
yourself to the world, choose to feel. Cultivate compassion.
Study science (hard and soft), history, literature. Remember, however,
that the definition is secondary to that which is defined; a name is but
the smallest part of anything. Look for the divine in all matter
and events. Judge not least ye be judged.
Furthermore, never accept
anything told to you by the mass media; even where self-interest is not
evident, information is distorted by misinformation, misunderstanding and
delusion. Be critical and selective, seek out alternative sources
of information. The mass media can paint a view of the world which
will have strong and subtle effects on individual perception. There
is no such thing as truth--or, rather, truth comes in many versions.
Avoid obsession, unless
it is obsession with the miracle of existence. Dwell in contentment
with
consideration for cohabitants and environment. Awaken.
3. Others
Fight ignorance. Strive
to help others see clearly even as you strive to focus your own awareness.
Know that, next to self-enlightenment, bringing awareness to others is
the most important thing you can do to benefit the entire world.
Acquire knowledge and teach. Try not to contribute to disinformation.
Try never to overlook suffering
or injustice but seek their resolution. Determine never to be
complacent. Understand that a good deal of suffering and injustice
is a product of our socio-economic condition and comprehend what this admission
implies. Do not convert and subvert, rather communicate and illuminate.
Where social injustice is an issue, civil disobedience tactics are appropriate,
and revolution (with all that entails) would even be justified should it
provide a reduction in suffering and injustice. Fight not with might,
but with illumination.
4. Organize
Do not struggle on by yourself.
Despite individualist presentations of history, a single human being holds
little immediate influence over the tides of time and events. One
person alone must fight for her or his own existence while two people can
work together for their mutual benefit. The history of mankind is
an epic of movements and star-crossed individuals who pop up to lend focus
at key confluences.
Network and organize.
Seek out people who think as you do, people who can offer you help and
support. Together you can form a common basis on which to found your
actions. A dream alone is but a dream, while a dream shared has greater
reality.
Organize to fight injustice.
Find others who share your concern and organize with them to produce a
solution to the issue of contention. Work as a humanitarian, with
no intention of harming anyone. Work for solutions, not persecutions.
Always be aware that you are fighting for the recognition and respect due
to everything, from each and every human, tree and stone down to every
atom.
5. Liberation
Everything physical
is made of matter.
The fundamental constituents
of matter are the atoms,
which are themselves composed
of subatomic particles which
are, in fact, energy.
Energy
is made of momental elements
of existence. Each moment
of energy is an unbiased
perception of existence,
pure consciousness.
So once again we find
the mystical, animistic
view of the universe;
anything of atoms made
is all ablaze with life.
Marx sought to liberate
the working class from capitalist exploitation; we seek to liberate
commodities as well. All so-called commodities have a right to
exist untampered; they take meaning of their existence and should be respected
on that account. The artful manipulation of matter treats material
with respect and therefore is justifiable so long as the resource is not
threatened by exploitation. The right of existence must be granted
to every resource, humans being no more favored than any other arrangement
of atoms and other arrangements being no less divine. We seek to
liberate the chicken and the cow, the corn and the cotton, the timber and
the ore.
All resources must be respected
and conserved; the natural state should be our ideal. All livestock
is owed a basic quality of existence; all environments and ecosystems are
to be kept healthy and viable, as our vitality is linked to theirs.
We must take responsibility for every bite of food that we eat (meat and
vegetable--yes, every single oat) and for every commodity that we consume.
We should apologize to the grass as we tread upon it, and we should ride
upon the gestalt of the physical universe. Please don’t walk on the
grass--dance upon it.
Mankind needs humility and
compassion, both of which are amply supplied by poverty and
hardship. Oh, that there were some other way. Only wounded
heroes could possess the humanity to bring enlightenment to our homes.
Sound the rally of the wounded heroes.
6. Conclusion
Capitalism is merely our best
explanation of the current socio-economic environment. As such, this
theory is marred by all the weaknesses of human thought and perception.
It was a description of one phase in the unending and dynamic evolution
of socio-economic ecology. We can speculate about the next trend
in this evolution, but the only thing we can say for certain is that change
will come. All we can do is work in our own small way to insure that
the next phase is as equable and humane as possible. We must identify
the motive force behind this change and learn how to manipulate it with
wisdom and mercy.
Market, work place, media,
home and church; these are the environments of socio-economic
existence. Changes in the socio-economic situation are affected
through changes in the market, work place, media, home and/or church.
The market is the stomping grounds of capitalists and corporations, and
must be carefully infiltrated by capable sympathizers who should seek to
expropriate capitalist profits for the workers, and who will lend their
talents to the process of socio-economic evolution. Workers should
seek the one big worldwide union, based on the anarcho-syndicalist pattern.
Once the size of this union has attained a critical mass, workers should
seek to liberate the tools of their profession. The workers need
skills in mass civil-disobedience and sabotage, and they must be prepared
to fight if necessary. The media must be opened so that everyone
can better appreciate what is actually transpiring about each of us.
Perhaps the Internet has the freedom and the reach to communicate effectively.
You are still in charge of your own
home, make it a harmonious place. Except for a minority of fundamentalists,
most people have drifted from institutional religion, liberalizing the
tenants of the church. Through church or through intellect, everyone
needs to become aware of the sacred bond tying each of us to the rest of
existence. Subversion and subterfuge are the watchwords of the day
and pureness of heart is the attitude to be attained by all true agents
of evolution. The agent of evolution, in whatever sector of the socio-economic
environment, above all must strive to make herself or himself a better
person and the world a better home. Evolution is about getting on
with life, not the sacrifice of life.
All the progressive economics
and radical sociology, all of the theory and science, will get you
nowhere with the masses. This is a job for the poet, the artist
and the musician. The coming evolution must be foretold in myth and
folklore, that is: in the very consciousness of humankind. We must
live the evolution, and by doing so blow life into even the most empty
of existences.
We must remember to supplicate the spirits and atone for our ignorance.
Praise the existence of
God in everything of atoms made.
If we could give to
everything the right of existence, there would be no need to worry
about human rights. We can never achieve utopia so long as our
motives harbor any element of greed. We will walk into the future
pure or we will be dragged in, bloody and beaten.
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