{"id":68576,"date":"2013-07-13T05:56:10","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T09:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=68576"},"modified":"2013-07-13T11:38:10","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T15:38:10","slug":"awaiting-epiphany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/by-judith-gayle-2\/awaiting-epiphany\/","title":{"rendered":"Awaiting Epiphany"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

It’s been an emotional few weeks, and that’s a productive thing in a national climate gone arid with dry intellect and counter-intuitive denial. In fact, there’s enough water-signature in our current astrology to put a bit of slosh in our gates, a flutter in our hearts and an unbidden tear in our eyes. Mars in Cancer will continue to encourage our feeling natures, not just creating steam when we’re thwarted but, in its higher frequency, infusing empathy into our thought processes. We’ve already seen some lower level hysteria — mostly on the radical aisle — but overall, I’m impressed that we’re gaining a bit of ground as an adult population, able to discard the nonsense and get to the heart of matters.<\/p>\n

\"PoliticalOn the other hand, our continuing inability to impact our entrenched political power structure has created a sociopolitical loggerhead reminiscent of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s lament in his classic poem, Rime of the Ancient Mariner<\/em>: \u201cWater, water, everywhere and all the boards did shrink, water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink.\u201d Indeed, the search for compassionate governance and concern for the commonwealth has revealed the weight of the self-serving, corporate-loving and complicit leadership that’s been hung around our necks like Coleridge’s infamous albatross. We’ve yet to find a way to quench that thirst.<\/p>\n

With so much of what Obama promised from his populist playbook passed but under-funded, unconfirmed and unmanned, we’re looking for the touchstone that will unlock obstruction, examining the shaky logic that holds it in place, slowly gathering the activism to push this disturbing mistrust of modernity out of the way. The startling fact that we have not approved a national budget since the last decade should make clear our inability to proceed normally in this nation, dragging the weight of devolution behind us. The notion that there are not enough resources out there to supply our flagging economy needs to be filtered through some of the political realities unearthed recently as “secrets.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Consider the revelation<\/a> by economist James Henry, who determined that the 1% have deposited $21 trillion to $32 trillion in tax havens to evade paying American taxes. We’re not talking about corporate income here, we’re talking about tax avoidance that has crippled the nation. Also, the top seven US banks have hidden over $10 trillion in assets in \u201csubsidiaries\u201d to avoid taxes. It is estimated that a mere $1 to $3 trillion is needed to end global poverty, to stop the deaths of somewhere in the neighborhood of a million children each and every month due to war, disease, famine and neglect. A little empathy might be well placed in THAT conversation, a realization of the personal experience of watching a child starve to death, or even — here in our own country — a little one sent to bed with an empty belly and a bleak future in this land of staggering plenty.<\/p>\n

Still, with Saturn, Neptune and Chiron bathing us in\u00a0watery emotional energy, there’s plenty of moisture to erode the tight stronghold that simply must fall away when the political becomes personal. Emotional alchemy may prove an irresistible force somewhat stronger in rolling back the immovable object of No Nothing obstruction than seems apparent at first glance.<\/p>\n

I’m seeing an encouraging surge of energy from the Dems — mostly from the women, here<\/a> and here<\/a> — not to mention Harry Reid’s recent determination to end misuse of the filibuster. What is not surprising is the failure of the right to reboot. The brief post-election Republican embrace of change to attract diversity was apparently too disturbing to last, so one of their analysts suggested a short-term tactic that went down smoother: going after more of the white vote.<\/p>\n

The right has decided to court “downscale” white citizens as the potential demographic that will put them back in power. Has it not occurred to them that these are the very people they’re victimizing by limiting unemployment benefits or by curtailing food stamps and Meals on Wheels? Downscale doesn’t necessary mean stupid, as the Koch Brothers may find out in their attempt to limit a raise in the minimum wage by airing TV ads in Nebraska telling families with an income of $36,000 per year that they are in the top 1% of world income.<\/p>\n

When a family of four needs more than two minimum wage jobs to provide the basics, the notion that it’s somehow ungrateful to\u00a0spit in the eye\u00a0of such largesse falls flat. The horrors of welfare dependency and Randian virtues of self-sufficiency may skew a bit differently when you get past the color line. Not much life, liberty or pursuit of happiness implied when inadequate wages keep us from smelling\u00a0whatever flowers are still blooming in our declining suburbs. As Krugman concludes<\/a> this week, “… libertarian populism is, as I said, bunk. You could, I suppose, argue that destroying the safety net is a libertarian act \u2014 maybe freedom\u2019s just another word for nothing left to lose. But populist it isn\u2019t.”<\/p>\n

And yes, it’s all too cynically true that we view too much of what is personal to us through an economic filter. This is a human problem, not just an American failing. Yet, much as a broken clock is right twice a day, sometimes it works to our benefit. In Beijing, the air quality is so bad that studies recently downgraded longevity due to toxic exposure, and the Chinese find themselves having trouble hiring foreign experts because of their dangerous environmental problems. Fearful for their economy, they are now requiring manufacturers to limit their emissions by 30% in the next five years. THIRTY PERCENT!<\/p>\n

The Communist Party has total control, they have no competing political parties to obstruct such a plan, no egomaniacal personalities with fat checkbooks to throw themselves in the way of national progress or economic necessity. The Chinese have no version of the Koch brothers that I’m aware of. When I hear someone tell me that freedom isn’t free, I don’t think of soldiers sent into harm’s way — I think of the brothers Koch and their liberty to invade the airways, the boardrooms and the political process with their Midas-like riches. It isn’t patriot’s blood that’s required to protect against them; it’s the lost art of critical thinking.<\/p>\n

I suspect the Kochs are also who economist Robert Reich was\u00a0considering when he put out a blog post<\/a> recently that I’d like to quote in full, since it’s brief and to the point:<\/p>\n

Permit me an impertinent question (or three).<\/p>\n

Suppose a small group of extremely wealthy people sought to systematically destroy the U.S. government by (1) finding and bankrolling new candidates pledged to shrinking and dismembering it; (2) intimidating or bribing many current senators and representatives to block all proposed legislation, prevent the appointment of presidential nominees, eliminate funds to implement and enforce laws, and threaten to default on the nation’s debt; (3) taking over state governments in order to redistrict, gerrymander, require voter IDs, purge voter rolls, and otherwise suppress the votes of the majority in federal elections; (4) running a vast PR campaign designed to convince the American public of certain big lies, such as climate change is a hoax, and (5) buying up the media so the public cannot know the truth.<\/p>\n

Would you call this treason?<\/p>\n

If not, what would you call it?<\/p>\n

And what would you do about it?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Our answer to the three questions asked will tell us where we are in this critical juncture, and the last is the most telling. We have come to a place of either revolution or evolution, and although provoked by the first two questions, options for the third do not proceed in quite the same manner. In Egypt, for instance, the energy of revolution is obvious, although we cannot be absolutely sure how they view the democratic process. Their refusal to tolerate the Muslim Brotherhood has resulted in a military coup, sending the nation into a spin cycle, and proving, as we surely know, that democracy is an inexact science and a messy business. A revolution is a leap from one way of doing business into another that is, hopefully, superior for the benefit of all citizens. Egypt’s fledgling democracy may have jumped from the frying pan into the fire; time will tell.<\/p>\n

In contrast, evolution is a change of signature energy, an essential internal change of who we are and consider ourselves to be. And\u00a0those who have had the experience would\u00a0surely confirm that the path to evolution is paved with empathy. A few years ago, when Obama suggested that he would be selecting judicial candidates with empathy — the ability to stand in another’s shoes — when replacing Supreme Court justices, Karl Rove launched a counter-attack on the word itself, calling it “the latest code word for liberal activism, for treating the Constitution as malleable clay to be kneaded and molded …” Empathy is not a concept well suited to the inflexible conservative model, yet consider, if you will, the dead end implied in such a conscious decision to avoid growth and progress.<\/p>\n

I like Barbara Kingsolver’s definition best: “Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It’s the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else’s pain is as meaningful as your own.” It’s also the ability, the humility, to understand that even if you wish with all your heart to do no harm, you will do some, even unknowingly. It’s the wisdom to accept that no matter how perfectly you design your way of life, your manner of thinking, there is another — equal and opposite — way available that is as perfect in its own right. It is the capacity to respect our brothers and sisters for our similarities, extend them the forgiveness of our differences and offer them the acceptance of our commonality.<\/p>\n

This week I ran across one of the most moving examples I’ve ever seen of genuine empathy. You will want to watch this little bit<\/a> of a Dustin Hoffman interview, perhaps more than once (as did I.)\u00a0THIS is evolution born of genuine empathy. THIS is Light dawning. This is how real, lasting change occurs. This is what we’re working for when we open our hearts and trust our instincts, discover what is true rather than what we think we’re sure of.<\/p>\n

There is so much wrong in our world these days, it’s easy to get lost in the fight to fix it all. Choosing what is familiar, it seems logical to recreate the path to revolution, intent on repairing all that’s been corrupted, replacing all those who ruthlessly corrupt. There is so much needing attention, it’s difficult to know where to turn first, where to invest our activism, involve ourselves in restoration. There is so much going on at once, it’s easy to get sucked into overload, fuses blown and mind locked, thinking the way forward is nothing new, but simply a repeat of the revolutionary model.<\/p>\n

The cosmos is our friend in this quest. Our emotions can serve us well in this challenge and break through the blockages we’ve established to protect ourselves from abuse and confusion, but we must be willing to really feel. We must trust that\u00a0what we feel, what we intuit,\u00a0will lead us where we need to go, bring us the experiences needed to sensitize us, to heighten our awareness. We must summon the courage to take the path forward into wisdom.<\/p>\n

We’re not ready to answer Bob Reich’s third question\u00a0yet: “And what would you do about it?” We’re still deciding what we’re looking at, what we expect to happen. We haven’t made up our minds about revolution and, facing so much devolution, we seem to think evolution is beyond us.<\/p>\n

Still, the Aquarian Age is a period of humanitarian breakthrough. Our Shift brought with it new rules for expanded consciousness, new talents and abilities that will surprise us, many of which we have yet to discover. Perhaps we’re still pouring old wine into new wine skins, unaware of our own power to make positive, healing change and sociopolitical transformation.<\/p>\n

A Course In Miracles<\/em> tells us that a miracle is simply a change of perception. Hoffman wasn’t expecting an epiphany, and perhaps we aren’t expecting one either, but — oh, my dears — one is due.\u00a0That’s exactly what we SHOULD be expecting, sensitive to the energies that are pushing us forward into a new iteration of humanity. If we choose it, we’re on the path to evolution, holding open the door for those who wish to see everything differently.\u00a0 We have everything\u00a0in place\u00a0for a miracle, then, an awaited epiphany for a new Age. Expect it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves It’s been an emotional few weeks, and that’s a productive thing in a national climate gone arid with dry intellect and counter-intuitive denial. In fact, there’s enough water-signature in our current astrology to put a bit of slosh in our gates, a flutter in our hearts and an unbidden … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1744],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68576"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68576\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}