10 GROUNDCOVER NEWS THINK ABOUT IT Origins of supremacism Supremacism is in our face often, usually in relation to white supremacism as a major feature of American history that runs into the current culture. Things change but may shapeshift to continue in disguise and survive changes in how we experience our experiment in democracy. Not many will advocate for open racism but those few who do create hate groups and make it difficult to recognize more subtle but perhaps more dangerous forms of supremacism. Those who achieve prosperity can easily become addicted to wealth as a marker of their superior ability to manipulate the material world. The ego formations that arise from success can easily evolve into a middle-class or petit-bourgeois social and cultural expression, as well as in racialized tendencies. Ernest Becker wrote “The Denial of Death” to explore how divisions arise in our social evolution as the fearless ones rise and prosper. They become leaders who make decisions about the production and distribution of vital resources, including the spoils of war. Victors in battle become respected leaders in the community. Fearlessness and confidence are important qualities in any activity. Small differences can grow into a of being sense special. Special KEN PARKS Groundcover vendor No. 490 interest groups arise to exploit the resources of the earth and organize human labor to create wealth. Wealth and power are very addictive. Once experienced, it is hard to go back to what is viewed as lesser status. As Henry Kissinger commented, “Power is the greatest aphrodisiac!” All ego formations build on the assumption of a separate self. The need to prove this separate, even eternal reality, becomes a full time job. It is an assumption that cannot be proven but is an article of faith among the ego-driven. Impermanence and interrelatedness constantly disrupt the illusion of a separate, eternal entity but the true believer becomes the egomaniac bent on proving the impossible. This can become a collective egomania as people grasp for anything that will give them an edge on survival and the right to thrive. The invention of the white race fed this dynamic. It came after Bacon’s rebellion in the 17th century as white indentured servants united with free Africans and slaves to acquire land, unfortunately by driving Native Americans out of Virginia. The unity of freedmen and slaves led to the Virginia slave code of 1705 and special legal rights with the invention of the white race. Divide and conquer is a common strategy to stop expressions of solidarity. My March 10, 2023 Groundcover article, “Does the system work?” pointed to “Salt of the Earth” as a movie that was the most excellent story of solidarity. The book portrayed the subversion of Hollywood to promote the Cold War after World War Two. Social engineering, using taxes in particular, is always at work to divide the commons to promote the middle class over the working class. “Sex, Race and Class” by Selma James is a good primer on how we are divided. We experience reality constantly and have insights which we hope are the clues to success. Our clues often help us achieve levels of success we had hoped for. Appearances arise and we are likely to be elated or disappointed as we sail through the “stormy seas of birth, old age, sickness and death,” an expression that comes from the Tibetan Buddhist dedication which concludes many meditation sessions. It encourages us to seek the Middle Path, which sails between the two extremes of nihilism and eternalism. Practicing a natural breath as our awareness arises promotes progress on this path. Finding a good spiritual friend who can point the way to genuine and complete awareness is a great event. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Seek out the best mentors. We are blessed in this age of ignorance to have access to awareness, as humankind begins to accept that colonized body, speech and mind is the context for the inevitable pain of alienation from nature. The cost of the environmental rift that Marx points out. Dualism — splitting reality into two parts, usually self and other — is the basic error of bourgeois culture. Our pain will grow as this error continues. The turn to peace and freedom continues in the long arc of history that Martin Luther King lived. We can choose the full and complete awakening that MLK, Thich Nhat Hanh and other spiritual heroes share with us. Discover your interrelatedness and move forward. The Earth welcomes you in this mission. MAY 19, 2023 KONA from page 6 the litter up, walk five feet to put it in the trash can or, if necessary, put it in my pocket to throw away later. If as many people picked up a piece of trash as threw a piece of trash, there would practically be no litter. This can be difficult when homeless — camping though — often having to load and store accumulated garbage, then transport it all for proper disposal. This is very difficult for someone of limited means, especially if homeless. When I was camping high in the mountains of Colorado, for example, I would be forced to go through extreme measures to load large amounts of garbage down to the town. I did consider the possibility of leaving garbage, because of the difficulty transporting it off the mountain. But if I left it there, I would never have been able to look Kona in the eye with any level of self respect. Kona (a Quaker Parrot) was my dearest companion and Progressive Service Animal for my disabilities (autism and physical disabilities). Kona had freedom of choice, making her own decisions naturally and free to fly inside or outside. From her free position she was able to support me and my disabilities in many ways, both physically and mentally. She was fiercely dedicated to preserving my well-being, and literally became part of my scientific/emotional way of processing. She flew freely and mostly had free will to make her own decisions naturally. From that position, she was able to support me in many ways, both physically and mentally. Anyway, this is a complicated process to be laid out in our (Markona and Kona’s) upcoming novel. Kona had a clear knowledge of most right/wrong situations. We both became very knowledgeable about health, how to attain it and keep healthy. Nature taught us a lot. Kona would chastise me if I started eating processed food. She had eaten some before and knew by experience how sick those foods can make you. By learning how Kona digested, processed nutrients and her physical responses (every 15 minutes), I became increasingly aware of other living beings' appropriate needs. She was also very aware of what belonged in nature and knew that just about anything human-made does not belong in nature. When garbage is left to nature, horrible injustices happen to the rightful residents of this Earth. I’ve heard responses that some garbage won’t hurt wildlife/nature — nothing unnatural belongs in nature, even plain paper without ink has been processed with chemicals. Fish and birds alike will eat plastic thinking it's food, filling their guts with indigestible plastic and dying horrible deaths from starvation. Those are only a couple of the countless ways perfect living beings are destroyed by humans' ignorance, selfishness and lack of compassion. If animals and plants survive the suffering, they will then pass those poisons or lack of nutrients to humans. Humans tend to believe we are - more special than the natural inhabitants of Earth. For starters; the elements needed for our existence came from Stardust from asteroids … we came much later in the forming of Earth's natural living kingdom. We need the Earth, the Earth does not need us. We have become nothing more than a parasite, an invasive species. It is our ‘stinking thinking’ that got us here and our arrogance that keeps us thinking that as long as we are comfortable, everything else will just take care of itself. No it isn't, it's going to take care of us. We're doing this to ourselves; Earth will come back just fine without us, and become a paradise again … that we do not deserve. Are we ever going to escape this slumber? Set your alarm to ‘Everyday - Earthday’ to WAKE UP! Take a deep breath and do something good for something living outside your comfort zone. I dedicate this article to Kona, who instilled in me the great value of every living entity, and gave her life to share this message with us … the value of all sentient beings. All the Grace to Our Mother Earth. Most Sincerely, Markona Love (with Kona Love)
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