I have to rethink the title of my weblog. I chose the moniker "subliminal tyranny" in July 2006 shortly after discovering the esoteric power schematic that governs our lives. At that time - actually, I feel the same to this day - I became weary of the notion that we live in a society based on democratic principles, that we are indeed "free", so I sought to expose the means by which we are tyrannized. I don't know how successful I have been to this point - often times, I cannot help but feel I am preaching to the converted - so I will use this opportunity to revisit what I have covered over the last thirty-two months.
By now, it's no secret to you that we are governed by a heavy hand, an "unseen" force, since the moment we are conceived within the uterine walls. We are ordered by our parents to conform to their will - or, conversely, we receive nothing at all from them. From childhood through adolescence into post-secondary study, the only lesson we receive is how to do as we are told - how to perform for treats, if you will - so that we may parlay this lesson into the "real" world in which we must ascertain tokens for survival. Our media tell us what to buy, how to look, how to think and whom to hate. Our "elected" officials are always the ones with the most money to spend on advertising, who succumb to the whim of those private interests who finance their respective campaigns. Our peers reject us if seen wearing the wrong kind of clothing, listening to the wrong kind of music, cheering for the wrong team, or having the wrong skin colour. Our police officers, the ones whose sworn duty is to protect us from harm, are quick to pass judgment and eager to keep us in line (just two days ago, two friends of mine were stopped and searched for the crime of driving through a certain neighbourhood on a Sunday morning while appearing tired). Our leaders convince us we must kill overseas to protect ourselves, yet throw us in jail when we apply the same logic in our own backyard. We are shackled by insurmountable debt, dependency, toxicity, stress and sheer apathy. We cannot bear the pain of it all, thus prompting us to dive head-first into vice as a means of escape. We are on a psychological battlefield and we are losing, pinned under the awesome strength of this heavy hand.
Yet, somehow, we are supposed to be "free".
For a while, I felt myself venturing in circles, rehashing the same shit over and over and over, wondering if we would ever see an end to this wretchedness. I grew incredibly weary of political discourse of all flavours, even from my beloved "Left", until something shifted in me: I finally discovered the meaning of "freedom". The first time I let go of my senses and surroundings, I understood what it means to be "free". Until that time, "freedom" was merely a word I read in the dictionary or heard on the news, nothing more. I had heard the phrase before, but at that time, I discovered inside me what cannot be touched by outside forces. I discovered the power structure I had been decrying was an illusion created by its proprietors to trick us into surrendering our power to them.
That's right, friends:
our power! You see, try as they might, these people at the top of the Ivory Tower cannot break us, for we are beyond the reaches of their machinations: they may grab at our bodies and our minds, but they can never have us. Today, we are witnessing the collapse of their system of bondage; soon, their Kingdom will lie in ruin. Sure, they may be scrambling to appease us and keep us feeding their machine while blasting the F-word into our ears, but are they themselves "free"? In their attempt to bind us, they have bounded themselves; if they want this to continue,
they have to continue, no matter what the cost, and are they happy in the end? Are they "free"?
Freedom is not going to come by bombing foreign nations to Hell or throwing people into prisons or buying property or switching on the television or ascribing to the "sex, drugs and rock & roll" dogma. Freedom is not going to come by sitting and waiting for Barack Obama to "change" things. No, friends, freedom comes from within us, it comes when we start to understand ourselves, when we see the chains we have imposed on ourselves and do away with them. This wretchedness is not going to end by electing certain individuals to office or taking up arms against the government.
In 1964, Minister Malcolm X said we need "extreme" behaviour to sweep away the miserable conditions in which we find ourselves, that "moderate" behaviour isn't going to cut it. I had to think about what is meant by "moderate" and "extreme"; I think I have an understanding, which I will share with you. Taking up arms may be considered "extreme" behaviour, but is it going to change the status quo? Should it be considered "moderate" along with sitting on our hands waiting for someone else to do something? To me, "extreme" means taking action to change our wretched ways, and we can only do that by recognizing the wretchedness of our ways, and we can only do this by understanding ourselves, by clearing our minds of the pollution bestowed upon us by our so-called "authority". We will only be free of this wretchedness when we
act, not a moment sooner: we are the curators of "change" in our society.
On this note, I take my leave, but not before telling you how wonderful and beautiful and strong and intelligent you are, all of you. "Be the change you want to see in the world," said Mahatma Gandhi: the power lies within you; collectively, you are unstoppable.
The tyranny is within us; so, too, is the freedom.
Mahalo.
