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Elizabeth Schneider's avatar

I wonder WHAT controls the swarm. My family is part of the swarm. I married into a family that is part of the swarm. The last time I saw one of my family members, one in particular looked like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. I wish I was kidding or exaggerating but I am not. The image is burned into my brain and it scared the hell out of me. I am leaning towards a what rather than a who now as that was inhuman and much of the behavior I witnessed when I was part of the swarm by virtue of my birth was not pro-human. I cannot say I know nor can I guess at what it is but I am absolutely certain that I want nothing to do with it. I think Shiva swears a lot because he understands the gravity. I realize it is off-putting, but, honestly, some of the things I have seen make me want to swear, too. There is no polite vocabulary for the level of destruction and depravity the “elite” are capable of.

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Lon Guyland's avatar

I think a salient point never mentioned is that this is as much us “doing it” to ourselves as it is “them doing it” to us. This is where the middle is: “Give me my Facebook, my “celebrities” and a “good deal” on my next trinket that I can photograph and post on Instagram in my incessant pursuit of “likes” and the appearance of status and I’m good”. And if it’s not that, it’s relentless selfish ambition.

These pursuits take focus away from morals and ethics and their spiritual foundations, which are a necessary precursor to ending the madness. Materialism and the shallow worship of self are reaching the crescendo of their inevitable consequences — a cacophony of chaos, war, divorce, poverty, drug use, crime, alienation and societal fracture, and unimaginable inequality in the distribution of wealth.

While not in the least disputing your thesis, it’s maybe a little facile to say “it’s ‘their’ fault” when the reality is not so simple. Our civilization is nothing but the reflection of us — its moral center of gravity matches ours, in aggregate. Most of what “they” take, “we” willingly give them because, in reality, most of “us” would behave the same way (and probably do, in our more limited circumstances) given the chance.

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