One of the Vedanta Societies concepts is that what we are seeing is truly illusion. That we must look underneath what we see for the true substance. And we have a few examples of this staring us in the face.
The best is a Rachel Maddow segment after the squiggle. The least of these is a story from TPMMuckraker wherein
Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), whose ex-wife says he owes $117,437 in back child support, was honored by the Family Research Council Action on Thursday for his “unwavering support of the family,” the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
“We thank Cong. Walsh who has voted consistently to defend faith, family and freedom,” FRCA President Tony Perkins said. “Cong. Walsh and other ‘True Blue Members’ have voted to repeal Obamacare, de-fund Planned Parenthood, end government funding for abortion within the health care law, uphold the Defense of Marriage Act, and continue support for school choice. I applaud their commitment to uphold the institutions of marriage and family.”
Of course TPM has a great deal of examples of this sort - Bell officials are now suing because they got fired and are no longer pulling in exorbitant amounts of taxpayer dollars. This in Bell California where the officials went ape voting themselves exorbitant salaries.
And a hat tip to Simplify for this diary:
H is for Hoover wherein Obama CONTINUES his effort to "make the big deal". Unfortunately for us the big deal will probably kill us 99%ers. NOT get us jobs, not get us infrastructure, not get us the country we need and want, but a country of poverty and want.
When we look to the Greeks, we can see that they mirror our own enthrallment to the big banker, high flying financiers.
May 21, 2011: Papandreou says Greece must avoid debt restructuring and instead continue with budget cuts to resolve the debt crisis.
June 4, 2011: Papandreou says Greece will make “significant” public-sector employment cuts. Protests continue in central Athens.
Oct 26, 2011: Private investors agree to accept losses of 50 per cent on their Greek bonds, removing the last apparent roadblock to a broad European plan to solve the continent's debt crisis.
Oct 27, 2011: Shares on Greece's stock market rise sharply following a debt deal reached by European leaders.
Nov 1, 2011: Papandreou announces a referendum on the European debt deal. Markets plunge on fears that the plan to save the euro will unravel.
Nov 3, 2011: Papandreou reversed course after a rebellion within his own Socialist party over the referendum, but ignored repeated calls to resign and call elections.
Read it on Global News: Global News | A Greek tragedy: timeline of the debt crisis
Global News
So we see that in Greece they have shrugged off riots and continued into an austerity plan. And now Obama is shrugging off the polls and OWS to continue his grand vision of an austerity plan.
But this is on the surface. What is happening underneath. Papandreou is losing support and will have to face a confidence vote, although he may squeak through.
President Obama had been gaining traction talking about jobs and now he goes back to the austerity program. WTF?
But I thought the piece de resistance was Rachel's assessment of the performance art that is Herman Cain.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
So what is real, what can we say with certainty about where we are and who is important in our world?
We can say that the people who are awash with money are spreading that money around, not on us but on ads. Especially again repeal of Ohio's law to kill unions.
We can say leaders are responding to the monied people.
But we can also say this is the best of times. Why? Because we can see thousands of examples of courage and tenacity and ingenuity and creativity. True, these are scary times what with OPD being totally stupid and insane. And we see a huge push-back against demonstrators. But some of that push-back is failing. Tennessee for example. OWS is managing despite the illegal confiscation of generators (illegal because their stated reason did not apply to the generators they took.)
We have no guarantee that the OWS movement will change things. It will only change things when enough people get involved in some way.
As have some writers I wasn't aware of this until the Lemony Snicker segment of Rachel Maddow. Some of our folks like MOT ought to look into this.
s we cross the threshold into a cycle of
our journey of awakening.
"You have been telling the people that
this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people
that this is the Hour.
And there are things to be considered:
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the
leader.
This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are
those who will be afraid. They will try to hold
on to the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart,
and they will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the
shore, push off into the middle of
the river, keep our eyes open, and our
heads above the water.
See who is in there with you and celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take
nothing personally. Least of all, ourselves.
For the moment that we do, our spiritual
growth and journey comes to a halt. The time
of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your
attitude and your vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a
sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we've been waiting for."
--The Elders, Oraibi, Arizona Hopi Nation
IMO, what is underneath is the most imiportant thing in our lives. We are now called to join in some fashion a battle, a struggle for survival, like no other in history. Because we see several crises and our system isn't capable of handling ANY crisis. The system is broken and we have to steel ourselves to leap into the void of what comes after. But before all of that we have to find each other and offer each other kindness, friendship and even sanctuary when needed.
10:30 AM PT: Update - found this article on teach ins at the various occupy encampments.
Teach ins
Among those who gave lectures were UNM Architecture professor Mark Childs who spoke about "Places of Protest," and American Studies professor Alyosha Goldstein, who lectured on the "1968 Poor People's Campaign." Professors and activists also gave students training in non-violent civil disobedience — tactics some protesters later used when state police raided the site after university officials ordered the campsite closed over safety concerns.