Posted
24th September 2001
Standing On Shakey Ground
by Alan Marston
We don't question the absolute stability of the ground on which
we walk, we never even think about it... til it moves and cracks
and thunders in an earthquake, then we feel terror, then we
know how fragile our houses and all social structures are, and
our very lives, sometimes too late. The same principles apply
to the ground our psyche stands on, belief. The same terror
is produced when our formerly unquestioned framework of belief
shakes and cracks and breaks, the same too-lateness for many
comes the realisation that our minds too are so very fragile.
It
was a psychic earthquake of global proportions that rocked the
world Tuesday 11 September when the twin towers fell. The challenge
facing humanity now is to not fall with the beliefs and not
to try and pretend belief doesn't have to change. The challenge
is to re-build belief on new ground and act out of that rather
than re-act out of the old. Re-action now will give energy to
the earthquake, extend unnecessarily the damage and extend the
time of doubt and fear til new security can be re-built.
Can
those with influence in the media, politics, commerce, armed
forces transcend their personal fears, hold the tension of a
psychic quake until new beliefs are secured? Can they do that
and then have the courage to stand out from the tsunami of millions
of people's collective fears and demands for an instant fix,
much as a child looks to their parents to make the world right
again as it used to be? To be honest, I think the ruling groups
within western societies do not have a lot of self-confidence
nor the courage to stand alone in a crowd demanding revenge,
however that doesn't stop me hoping the true leaders will come
to the fore, those who keep their heads while all around them
are losing theirs. One thing I think is certain, a military
attack on Afhanistan, of any shape or form would make things
worse where a `peace-attack' of help, aid, re-construction would
make things better and help re-build a new set of beliefs that
would take us through this century.
what then are our leaders doing and what are those that hope
to lead saying?
Helen
Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand.. ..
Helen
Clark has promised full support, including military support,
for a "lengthy campaign" to support Bush's war on terrorism.
"American sources have suggested that the SAS could assist with
"lightning strikes" on terrorist cells in the Asia-Pacific region,
and join the bigger strike forces against Afghanistan". " Helen
Clark said the US was not proposing a knee-jerk reaction to
random acts of violence". But surely that is precisely what
it is, a knee-jerk reaction of matching terror with terror which
will not solve anything and which will result in the deaths
of who knows how many more people. Helen Clark and her government
are ignoring the thousands of people in this country who are
saying very clearly that we do not want any part in supporting
revenge attacks, that responding to violence with violence is
a downwards spiral which only fuels hatred and conflict - the
people responsible for the attacks in New York and Washington
must be brought to justice; but the 'war on terrorism' is not
justice - it is vengeance.
George
W Bush, President of the USA
George
W Bush has been place in an invidious position not of his choosing
or expectation, the position of carrying the fears and hopes
of millions of US citizens and millions more people who without
realising it, base their lives on the solidity of belief in
the global economy, the American Way. An invidious position
because no matter what way he turns, he overturns millions perhaps
billions of people's expectation of him. In such a situation
a human has to be exactly that, a human in a machine age, a
human who out-stares the machine and acts out of humanity not
the inhuman demands of the digital machine that has ruled for
too long. At this stage Bush appears to be re-acting, trying
to carry the wests fears and pretend it is business as usual,
which means answering violence with greater violence. The term
infinite justice is infinite only in its stupidity. The only
thing that is infinite is change, it is change we need not conservatism.
Tony
Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...
has not only joined the chorus of conservatism, he is trying
to lead it. The true personal qualities of leaders are what
emerge under intense pressure, and at this stage we have to
be afraid that Tony Blair's personal qualities are not up to
the demands of the day. President
Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan ...
is in the most difficult position of all. It is Pakistan that
will be torn apart if war is started again in Afganistan. It
is Pakistan that would be the first of perhaps many `dominoes'
to fall after the fall of the twin towers. To stop the wave
of the fallen requires no war on Afghanistan and it is Pervez
Musharraf who could stop it, yet that may mean standing up against
the combined political mis-leadership of the global economy.
What an ask! Even those who would back him in standing against
the West are backing him for the wrong reasons, as a way of
hurting and demeaning. Nevertheless, Pervez Musharraf could
show the world the greatest quality of leadership, courage.
The
rest ...
are
unanimous in one thing, urging caution. That I suspect is their
way of disagreeing with `Infinite Justice' at the end of a missile.
What
Can I Do? *
First, re-build ones own belief systems on the basis of peace
and understanding and humanity.
* Second, look after your children, re-build their faith in
their world.
*
Third, email, fax, write to newspapers and politicians, urging
them to look to the future, not the past, to not act out of
the motive of revenge or fear and to show leasership in standing
up for humanity not the demands of an economic machine.
* Forth, attend demonstrations for peace, watch www.pl.net notices
section.
*
Fifth, look inward more than outward, disempower the media machine
and its profit hungry dangerous news, by not relying on it for
your truths. .
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