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. .