Thursday, July 26, 2012

An Optimist Speaking from a Dark Place



I am not happy tonight. I have just watched a story on Syria and I had to turn away from seeing four and five year old children covered with blood, crying, on stretchers dying from bullets and bombs. And on Facebook I follow a site called Occupy for Animals and it tears my heart: the way bulls are treated so they can be tormented and killed for sport, the Dublin City Council's automatic killing of any dog who is found to be a pit bull or close to it., monkeys who, well, there is no need for you to cringe from  a cruelty I won't describe. 

For the record, if you can bring yourself to follow Occupy for Animals, you will feel pain but I'm sure you will also come to recognize when something is very wrong and you may then in your own way take even one small step to stop it, worldwide. 

I just heard Mitt Romney say that control of guns won't impact senseless killings, that people who want to kill will find a way. Yet I know that in countries with strict gun control, like England and Japan, there is virtually no violence from guns and the murder rates are far less than in my country.

I try not to be political here on my blog. I suppose someone may think I am jumping into that arena, but tonight politics seems to me to be a stupid tiny piece secondary to why human beings have not evolved in all these years and decades and centuries. How could we possibly justify the maiming and killing of children in any circumstance? The abuse and neglect of animals? What is in our DNA that does not allow us to learn at the same rate that we advance in technology, in science; we, who are so resourceful and compassionate on an individual basis, who rend our hearts to protect one beached whale or one lost child?

Sometimes on my blog I am sure I come across as happy lucky. Most of that description is true at least some of the time. But even good fortune, my luck of the draw to be born into a caring family with the ability to feed and nurture me, can't protect me from a reality that I sometimes wish I could ignore. 

These are hard times. Life can be hard. The older I am, the more awareness and the more pain I have knowing that bad things should not happen, should not be allowed to happen. 

I do my part. I know I'm not alone in that. Call me naive, but I will die one day still not understanding why abundance and generosity and compromise and honor for every living person and animal and creature and tree is so damn awful hard to get to. Tell me it's because of greed or survival of the fittest or something else, but I see too many good deeds and good acts and good people to believe that the mess of the world has to be so. 

WTF?

love
kj 

31 comments:

  1. We live in an age when, so often, human and animal lives are "cheap," and daily sacrificed for some ideological "good." That is so very sad!

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    1. rob, daily sacrifice? do you mean through war? because who in their right mind would knowingly 'sacrifice' humans or animals and for what purpose?

      love
      kj

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  2. Kj, the world at times is a sad and dark place. The trick I have found is to do the best you can to make it a better place :-)

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    1. that is my trick too, chris. but i keep looking into innocent eyes and it causes me such sadness and pain. i am a smart aware realistic person: i just don't get it.

      xoxo

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  3. It is all a painful puzzle that's for sure. I agree with wander, we each just have to do what we can to make amends. As you do so well KJ with all the caring, loving you give to your friends, family and people you meet in your work.

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    1. i know so few truly awful people, suki. i think of the physics of it: why wouldn't positive energy overtake or at least deminish negative energy?

      love
      kj

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  4. Has it occurred to you that there really is a world wide cabal that now has the population exactly ordered the way they want it ordered, they have us divided, dazed and confused and instead of over taking their wealth we still willingly give them ours in the foolish hope that it will come back to us ten fold.The reality is they use our spending in their corp[orations against us. We supplied them the amo, and before we realized it they wee gunning us down in the streets of society.

    The question is how deeply do YOU want to get involved in this war. Not whether ut how deeply because like it or not you, me, we, them and us are already waging war and have been since the end of WWII it's only now that the burden is coming to be heavy to carry, that the momentum is rising to fightback.

    Just for your understanding Teddy Roosevelt started the war 108 years ago and it has been nonstop since then but they were patient bastards, sly, slick, rich and they waited and now the plutocracy he broke has reformed again, and the more you spend on their product the more ammo you give them all to enslave you and trap you with debt.

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    1. Mark, I wish I could view the villains so easily but I don't. I am not a fan of dualities and 'us vs them' is one that to me glosses over something more fundamental. Why is anybody 'divided, dazed, confused' to the extent that over time victimization of the weakest continues? Okay, I won't argue about adults acting aggressively or being oppressed: I get that? But to not have boundaries by now in terms of children and animals, even in war, and certainly in daily life? I think babs is right; choose what helps or choose what harms. But choice requires awareness and that is a big part of apathy and inaction

      You know the broken window theory in controlling crime? Where is that approach in ethics ?
      Etc etc etc

      Love
      kj

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    2. kj There are no more ethics. It is war and there is no geneva Convention that governs it. You will either lose your wealth or your sanity trying to figure out who is on what side and that is the division between us and them. It is not top and bottom but the split in the middle that comes from hindering subconscious racist, elitist prejudices. Fix that and you will have army enough to win any war at any time.
      Sadly we are human and as their bible say we ate from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil..ever think about what that statement is, knowledge of Good, knowledge of evil...where are we headed with our knowledge...I see a slide to darkness, you a run to light...I cast a broad net with my one good eye. I wish I could say yours was broader and further afield than mine.

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  5. I don't believe the world or people has changed much over the centuries. I do believe that we have the capacity to do better though and more importantly, I have hope.

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    1. then why haven't we done better, lilith? we have in every other area. i have hope too but the science of ethical evolution has been baffled....

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  6. Kj, I am with you on this. Last Friday a friend lost friends in that shooting in Colorado, Alex Sullivan was having his 27th birthday and died because a man was able to buy an automatic weapon. The only reason anyone would need one of those guns is to kill a lot of people really fast. WTF indeed. Also in September in Japan the senseless killing of thousands of dolphins will begin, again. In taos the level of cruelty to animals is beyond anything I have ever seen, and if you call the one animal policeman he does nothing. I don't understand any of it either. All we can do is our best and hope to be a good example. xoxo

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    1. i feel what you feel, annie. my 29 year old nephew killed himself two hours after he was able to purchase a gun over the counter. i imagine it was an impulsive act on his part, but easy access to a weapon by a documented mentally struggling young man makes no sense. for what purpose? who benefits from laws like like, no background checks? hell, everyone has to take a driver's test before getting on the road.

      i don't get it, i don't get it.

      love
      kj

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  7. Heartfelt and sobering. Thank you. xo

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    1. thank you, andrea. those are two apt words.

      love
      kj

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  8. "What is in our DNA that does not allow us to learn at the same rate that we advance in technology, in science; we, who are so resourceful and compassionate on an individual basis, who rend our hearts to protect one beached whale or one lost child?"


    My humble opinion:
    Until mankind deals with the spiritual war we are in, there are no answers. It's Good vs. Evil raging in the hearts of all mankind.
    Notice I didn't say a religious war, as religion has nothing to do with anything.

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    1. i agree, babs.

      so what affects and nurtures spirit? surely not violent video games and tv shows and "not enough" for basic needs. and why would power deminish spiritual development? why would power (not in all cases) lean toward greed and dominance and not toward abundance and compassion? how does any human being come to believe that mistreated animals do not suffer?

      i think you've nailed something very important, babs. my jessica says to her children, "make the right decision." that's the answer, isn't it?

      love
      kj

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  9. conditioning...environment...modeling from family, peers, 'leaders' and TV/media!!!...
    fears instilled and unexamined
    thinking habits acquiesced to by default and leading to 'other-izing' and blame, rather than ongoing/constant societal encouragement and support to look within/get acquainted with ones festery fear-y shadows and invite them out into the light of sharing (and de-fusing/diluting via understanding.)

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    1. peacegarden, i don't know how you've arrived at my blog but welcome and thank you. you've said this very well.

      i can't disagree with any of it.

      love
      kj

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  10. I firmly believe we have de-evolved into a nation of (for the most part) heartless morons who take deligh in inflicting pain on others. Why? No answer.
    Maybe the constant bombardment of garbage on TV, hate all over the internet, no manners/common sense taught in schools, people not taking responsibility for their own actions....
    And then there's clueless Mitt who would say ANYTHING to keep the Gun-Lobby vote.
    Our potential leaders don't care how stupid we are, as long as it makes them electable. Money my dear.
    At the end of the day, greed is the killer....

    XXOO~~
    Anne

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    1. anne, i don't know alot of people who delight in inflicting pain on others, and i know alot of people.

      you've identified so many valid contributors. but this violent way of dealing with conflict and harming innocents in the process goes back to the beginnings of personkind. not much has changed. why?

      love
      kj

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  11. "I just heard Mitt Romney say that control of guns won't impact senseless killings, that people who want to kill will find a way."

    Mass killers would use steak knives? How can people like Bush and Romney who are so bleeping stupid achieve so much fame and wealth? THAT is depressing. What you wrote about, I think about a lot but, unlike you, I think the situation is as it must be. If it changes, it will only be because we kill ourselves off or we evolve, and I consider the former more likely.

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    1. yup snow, how unbelievable to think that gun control won't lessen killings. we may kill ourselves off, if we don't kill the planet first. i'm still rooting for evolution, but the absence of it confounds me more every day.

      love
      kj

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  12. It is easy to say that we cannot fight despair with despair and there is much truth in that. But unless we feel some level of despair we are unlikely to act at all ... or so it seems to me. I strongly believe that people acting in unison with others can achieve more than can ever be imagined. And therein lies hope.

    Many of the problems we have are rooted in despair. The world is over-crowded and we are damaging it to the extent that even Mother Nature herself might be unable to repair things ... there is evil in some hearts and an inability in others to stand and fight against the evil done ... truly there is much to despair about in our world.

    Shall I then give myself over to despair? I could. It has it's allure after all. But I think instead I shall think about what I can do ... what small thing can I contribute to making things better?

    A couple of days ago I walked through East Hastings in Vancouver. It is a place of deep dark hopelessness. People fall into addiction they do not set out to ruin their lives or those of the people around them. What shall I do about it? I will speak of the hope that comes in recovery. I can do that.

    Some things are political KJ. That's life I guess. Big warm hug to you. xx Jos

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    1. Great response , jos. Yes, we do what we can do. I've found that listening and even just witnessing creates bonds. But the 'power corrupts' part, the greed, the inhumanity: I have no good words, just disgust

      xoxo
      kj

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  13. wow wow wow. So much here that I agree with.
    I don't think any of us have "the answers" to these questions, but I'd like to think that good will win over evil in the long run, or at least be at the front.
    I can't go to that animal link, I see enough on a daily basis that doesn't even come close to what you're talking about here and that's enough for me. Just because people bring their pets to the vet doesn't mean we don't see abuse and neglect in the disguise of a "caring" pet owner.

    I think the entire world is bleeding profusely and I don't know where to begin to apply the tourniquet. There needs to be a mass transfusion of kindness, education and compassion.

    For those of us who do our little parts, I know it has to make a difference somehow. If even for that one person for that one moment.

    If I were more awake at the moment I'm sure I could form my words more eloquently. But I know you know my heart, and therefor, my feelings.

    xo
    lo♥

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    1. The animal link is brutal , lo. I force myself. It is worldwide and it makes me sick. I find I can't eat meat as I used to. I may stop altogether

      And yes my good friend, everything we do makes a difference
      Good that we know at least that


      kj

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  14. We are the cruelest of animals in so many respects. I guess it's important to maintain balance and remember that there are good things around us as well. I struggle with that half empty glass all the time. I'm virtually vegetarian these days due to the way we treat our domestic animals. As for man's inhumanity to man, we are unique in our cruelty.

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    1. I know hells; we don't harm for just survival, but for greed and sport too. Blah!

      I'm just about off meat too. :-)

      And yes, there is alot of good . Alot.

      Love
      kj

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  15. I haven't visited in a while (always something pulling me away, and I am a big procrastinator and time waster, too) but I am away at a conference and woke up early this morning (forgot to reset my alarm for Kansas time, lol) so I have a little extra time to blog and sip coffee...

    I like the quotation, something we should strive for every day. It's kind of like the saying about how you can't help all the animals in need, but if you can help one animal, you have changed the world for that one...same goes for people.

    I cried when watching the Olympics and hearing John Lennon sing Imagine...

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