apologies & call for advice

[polytrip]

OK, first of all, i have been shocking some nexus-members with rather mean and harsh language.
I think it would be in order to apologize for this. We don´t need foul language at the nexus (good thing that i´m not a mod anymore, i´d say).

I don´t like my own anger. It confuses me. I struggle with it.

I don´t know what to do.
The rise of fascism in europe, and especially in the place where i live, the netherlands, has a huge effect on me, emotionally. It even gives me pounding headaches when i think about it for too long.

I don´t want to be mad and outraged all the time....but please, someone tell me: How could i NOT care? I cannot withdraw myself from this world and say:'the hell with it'.

I see fascism eating itself into the fabric of society like a cancer. In the netherlands the majority of the people even believes we are being threatened by mass-immigration, that anti-semitism does only apply to jews...so hating muslims and wanting them erased from the planet isn´t anti-semitism according to most dutch people. The majority seems to believe that muslims are inferiour beings in every way. they are being refered to as 'islamic cattle'. Cultural institutions like orchestra´s and museums are being shut-down or threatened with being shut-down because of the hate against art and culture...how can people hate art? If you don´t like music, don´t listen to it, i would say. The open drug-policy, the famous dutch coffeeshops...it´s all gradually vanishing. Refugee´s are being send back to the warzone´s they came from, people who´ve lived here for most of their lives are being send back...childeren who´ve basically grown-up here are being send back....it goes on and on and on.

I don´t want to spend my life hating...But how could i NOT hate these people? I know it´s not my country anymore...i feel a deep loathing for it. For all the people who´ve supported this government, for all the journalists who don´t do their job properly, who don´t question all of this.

At this moment i don´t think i will ever be able to forgive those people. I only feel a burning hate. I wish them dead....i passionately wish them dead.
And i struggle with those feelings. How can i wish someone dead? But how can i not wish them dead?

So i want to apologize, but i also want your advice after giving this peak into the darkest corners of my soul. There are plenty of wise people here. And i know that my temper is a weak spot.

 

[actualfactual]

I completely understand where you are coming from. I agree, it is difficult to follow politics anywhere in this day and age without getting extremely frustrated.

What helps me is focusing on the things I can change. Even if you only see despicable people on the news, the world is also full of compassionate, loving, and caring people. Try surrounding yourself with these type of people. I hope the current upheaval in the world is only temporary. In the end though, life is what we make it. If you spend all your time focusing on the negative it will certainly begin to show itself in your personality.

I am reminded of the serenity prayer..

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

There will always be evil people in this world. The best thing you can do is make yourself a shining light for the rest of humanity. Change happens one person at a time, and hate only brings more hate.

If you hate others, even the bad ones, how can you expect anyone else to be loving when you cannot even be loving yourself?

Just my $.02

 

[jamie]

The reality of the situation is that if certain people were dead this world would be better off. Only fools and tacky new agers would actaully believe that this is not true in at least some small sense. However, There is greed and ignorance in this world that reaches far beyond politicians. It is certain ideologies and ways of explaining and interacting with the world that need to die. These ideas are what foster these sort of people from the start. The problem with that is that these people then in turn foster more of these ideas. So in that sense perhaps what the world needs at this time is for many of these people to die alongside those sort ideas.

 

[polytrip]

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

This is beautiful.

 

[teotenakeltje]

If possible try to be around beautiful people. Yes there is hate and violence but why take all that shit in if it makes you feel miserable?
I think you need to focus on positive things. Watch children play, go out in nature,...

 

[fractalic]

wow, i had no idea that the Netherlands is becoming such a fascist place, i always thought of it as one of the better countries on this planet. that is very sad news.

but jamie,when you say some people must die, in order for the world to be a better place, its sounds kind of fascist to me.who exactly can be the one to decide who should die and who should live?

im coming from a terrible country myself, i cant start to describe the terrible shame i get from the stuff going on here,i get so angry and frustrated from just reading the news everyday.
but my anger is normally transforming to sadness very quickly,sadness for us poor ignorant human beings. we are controlled by fear and greed and lust for power,those extremists and fanciest, they are not monsters, they are just too human, brainwashed and controlled by fears which are easily transformed into anger. and that is the saddest thing about it.
soo much trouble in the world....
what can we do? we certainly cannot putt out the fire with more fire,we cannot address this problem with anger, which can create only more conflict, the only way would be to try and stay compassionate,and try to help people to change their automatic human mind set.

 

[obliguhl]

Old ideas have clearly failed. This backflip into facism is not something new, but rather a somehow desperate attempt to do something against the failure of old ideas. The question is: Do you have an answer on how to make things work? How would you solve the economic crisis? The growing overpopulation? Scarcity? If you do not know, don't complain about people turning towards fascism. They also do not know. But they want to feel secure - just like you?

It's best to develop ideas, put them into action. No need to waste any energy on fascists as they are just reacting to bigger things at work. As long as there are no real, attractiver alternatives, people will just do what feels best in any situation. And this might not correspond well with how you are envisioning your life.

 

[MelCat]

The solution : The Venus Project

It's just gonna take awhile to get everyone on board.

 

[MelCat]

We love you Poly! It's hard to stay positive all the time, especially with so much negativity running rampant these days.

Just remember, there are lots of dedicated people working night and day in order to try to bring about the change this world so desperately needs. I highly suggest going to the closest Occupy Movement and having some conversations with some of these people.

Many of us aren't going to take no for an answer and won't stop until the World is back on track.

My ultimate goal for all of this is The Venus Project so I know I've got a looooooong hard road ahead of me but I'm not going to stop until I'm pushing daisies.

 

[jamie]

"but jamie,when you say some people must die, in order for the world to be a better place, its sounds kind of fascist to me.who exactly can be the one to decide who should die and who should live?"

I never said anything about anyone making any sort of choice like that at all. This is what I am talking about-people feeling sort of uncomfortable or emotional about the topic so acting as if it is not true that certain grouops of people f*&$ it up in a huge way for everyone else. If one guy in a group of 20 is stealing from and raping the other 19 people, do you really think it is fascist for the other 19 to turn against that one person?

If people cant stand up against this sort of thing than I dunno we are all screwed.

I am talking about people who carry the same sort of mentality as Hitler..people who carry the same mentality as the ones who would burn and harng women and children due to christian views on "witchcraft"..people who would rather destroy the planet for the rest of us, ruining it for our children so they can make a buck today. If you think pointing a finger at these people is fascist than thats fine. I dont.

I think alot of these people should be given a chance to change and agree to live in harmony with the rest of us..and if they cant play nice on our planet then we should put the in a spaceship with supplies, and send them to the moon. See how they like it there.

 

[Aegle]

Polytrip

The most valuable advice that i can give you my friend is personally i have found the best counter acting force to anger is compassion... The world that we live in is an extremely harsh place but the only way that we can change that is through dissolving our fear and anger through compassion. Maybe do some traveling as i have found that visiting fascinating and different cultures really opens your eyes to the world in a way that is incredibly refreshing. I've been working intensely on cultivating compassion over the past few years and i have found through my own experience that its an amazing healer and transformer of the heart and mind. Also try spending more of your time nurturing your plants and entheogens, as this too is an incredibly healing remedy for anger.

I truly wish you the best of luck along your journey...


Much Peace and Sunshine

 

[fractalic]

I am talking about people who carry the same sort of mentality as Hitler..people who carry the same mentality as the ones who would burn and harng women and children due to christian views on "witchcraft"..people who would rather destroy the planet for the rest of us, ruining it for our children so they can make a buck today. If you think pointing a finger at these people is fascist than thats fine. I dont.

well, i didn't say you shouldn't point fingers when you see injustice happening in front of you, sure, its important to protest against it. but i do believe it is dangerous to point fingers over a whole group of people, as it can create a whole new path of injustice. (this is what fascist normally do)
who exactly are these demonic people you talk about? how many are they? probably they have families and some people who love them?

i guess you meant the people in power,but the saddest thing is, that if you take one of them out, there will immediately come another one to take over just to abuse his power once again. the problem is,we humans tend to do that, we get very easily corrupted by power, some of the most intelligent left wing extremely humanistic in their ideology people that i know are constantly abusing their power when it is given to them by a small group of people. its a hard thing not to do, when you are given the power and you believe you are undoubtedly right...you can also see it happening sometimes here in the nexus, its a human thing to do,it is one of our survival instincts, unfortunately we got it in heritage from the monkeys.

 

[polytrip]

So i´ve been thinking about all of this.
And it has become clear to me that all the people i perceive as evil are probably not realy evil but very, very, very disturbed souls.
People like stalin, hitler and gadaffi, but also some western leaders such as berlusconi, cheney and wilders or their henchmen like karl rove or lee atwater..they all seem to have certain personality traits.

Some of them clearly have a narcissistic personality disorder. Berlusconi for instance, has said of himself
'of all the people i´ve ever met, i´m with no doubt the greatest and most brilliant person'.
Others definately have the characteristic´s of a psychopath.

In social psychology the term 'dark triad' is used to describe three personality types: the narcissistic, the psychopatic and the machiavelistic that have overlapping characteristics of wich the absance of a moral conscience and empathy seem to be the dominant ones.
These types of behaviour are also very often (but not always) paired.

Realising that these people are realy sick, instead of pure evil, realy helps to reduce my anger towards them. I see them more as 'dangerous patients' now. They´re as much victims of their personality disorder themselves, as others.

What still worries me deeply however is: Why do people fall for these 'leaders'? How can people not see that there is something wrong with these persons? Men like berlusconi make these kind of remarks all the time, and still he was elected PM three times! Isn´t it totally clear that if someone says that he´s the most brilliant person in the world by far, that he´s not....well, at least not a very modest man?
Isn´t it clear that when newt gingrich turns out to have had TWO extramarital affairs at the time he was trying to get bill clinton impeached for having ONE, that this is at least a man who holds different moral standards towards himself than towards others?

 

[d*l*b]

After a recent experience getting involved in the work of an antifascist movement here in the UK, some thought and some realisation the issue we have over here is far harder to deal with than I ever could have thought.

My small look into the scene left me rather disenchanted. I see problems on both sides now. Not really what I aimed to find. I see extreme paranoia and dismissive views on the left side and impossible to deal with ignorance on the other.

The only things that I see making any difference (in the short term, and on a small scale only) would be totally unacceptable to air on this forum, and to be honest I am not currently in a position to act on at any time I can see in the foreseeable future.

Long term I see no real possibility of change unless we see massive disaster or revolution (I don’t want to see either of these for the record). Things are just too far gone.

To all those that think any solution to the growing far right movement can be found within Occupy or any other visible movement about at the moment I say you are very confused (sorry!).

I must say sorry again to conclude this, my views are somewhat depressing and nihilistic. I come with no ideas or solutions, just views coming from my recent experiences.

 

[polytrip]

After a recent experience getting involved in the work of an antifascist movement here in the UK, some thought and some realisation the issue we have over here is far harder to deal with than I ever could have thought.

My small look into the scene left me rather disenchanted. I see problems on both sides now. Not really what I aimed to find. I see extreme paranoia and dismissive views on the left side and impossible to deal with ignorance on the other.

The only things that I see making any difference (in the short term, and on a small scale only) would be totally unacceptable to air on this forum, and to be honest I am not currently in a position to act on at any time I can see in the foreseeable future.

Long term I see no real possibility of change unless we see massive disaster or revolution (I don’t want to see either of these for the record). Things are just too far gone.

To all those that think any solution to the growing far right movement can be found within Occupy or any other visible movement about at the moment I say you are very confused (sorry!).

I must say sorry again to conclude this, my views are somewhat depressing and nihilistic. I come with no ideas or solutions, just views coming from my recent experiences.

I also think that on the left you can see the same psychological phenomena. Psychopaths, sociopaths and narcissists are probably drawn like moths to extreme political movements. Partly because they can 'blend-in' there and have their mental disorder relatively unnoticed and also because lack of empathy is often seen as a strenghth rather than a weakness within those movements so they´ll be given the full oportunity to act in a machiavelistic, sadistic or otherwise deeply immoral way.

There is definately a relationship between political extremism and psychiatric disorders.

The disturbing thing is that environmental factors play a role in the devellopment of many of these disorders, so by creating a certain political climate...it is likely that eventually more of these people will pop-up.

 

[Bill Cipher]

I don't think there's anything inappropriate about your anger, polytrip, and I think you've articulated it just fine. You are seeing a trend towards tyranny and oppression within the country you call home. It's pissing you off, and I would say that this is the appropriate response.

 

[easyrider]

Polytrip, I suggest channeling your anger through productive means. A mind subdued by radical anger eliminates human reason. If your ideas conflict with the status quo of your native land, then perhaps there are movements or organizations with like-minded people that could require your assistance. If you find that none are compatible with your socio-political beliefs, then perhaps you could individually make a difference with small acts in daily life, which are in tune to your goal of change. On a side note, I'm seeing the word "fascist" thrown around carelessly by many people, but I don't see how the ideologies of the governments in charge are aligned with traditional fascism.

 

[kmartin80]

my thought on all this is a little bit different. here recently I've been thinking that the world will always be full of chaos and will always seem like we're on the verge of destruction because humans love drama and chaos seems to create a better environment for us to grow. I don't ever think we're going to get to a point of world peace, but that's not to say I won't do things to try and improve the area around me. I feel like the best thing I can do is to learn to find peace in the middle of the chaos and continue to grow, and that will be the best way to cause change in the people around me

 

[BananaForeskin]

In the netherlands the majority of the people even believes we are being threatened by mass-immigration, that anti-semitism does only apply to jews...so hating muslims and wanting them erased from the planet isn´t anti-semitism according to most dutch people.

First off, I hear what you're saying, I hear what jamie's saying.

BUT for the sake of you better arguing your point to fellow countrypeople, not for the sake of being a vocab Nazi, do note that in modern vernacular anti-semitism does only apply to Jews, it's a very specific term. So I can see why people you talk to wouldn't put anti-Muslim feelings under the heading of anti-semitism. Being anti-Muslim is ignorant and racist, but not anti-semitic.


(although, REALLY TECHNICALLY, many middle-eastern languages including Arabic ARE Semitic languages, and therefore many Muslims could also technically be considered Semites; but that's all terminology from an outdated Biblically-based system of classification anyway, the average person doesn't care and anti-semitic just means anti-Jewish)

 

[Vodsel]

polytrip, mostly everywhere in Europe we're coming a long way from a nice dream to a harsh awakening. But that's not the dreamer's fault. The situation is serious. I remember reading over a decade ago:

Financial globalization has created its own State. A power without a society, run by markets. The real existing societies are powerless, and this will keep getting worse.

Now this is pretty obvious to anyone who is able to look. People have been lied to and robbed, future has been pawned. There will be soon a time where further sacrifice will return nothing, we can smell that in the air, and we are frustrated and afraid. And just like many times in the past, frustration and fear trigger a series of social responses. Among them, creation of scapegoats. A sick organism wants to purge, but sadly our societies do not have the intelligence of an organism, since they are ruled from the outside, by people who point at the wrong subjects to be burned inside of the wicker man. The fact this happened so many times in the past doesn't make coping easier. Doesn't even mean necessarily that we have to cope, but reminds us that we have been there before.

People are scared and look around, but many of them cannot really see shit in what's going on. So they build their simple coherent map, or they borrow one. And most easily available maps are crap.

You are able to look at your anger, and you have seen where does it come from. Once that is done, no one is going to fool you easily wiggling it in front of your nose. Like others have said, anger can be a strong force. The tricky part is making it your ally, instead of becoming its slave. First, locate the real enemy. Know where it is. Don't let your anger point anyone else but them. Then, use it in productive ways. Obviously, you cannot just conform and pretend... that is not going to work for you. But beware of quixotic outbursts, work towards something that is right for you, and stay true to your convictions. Use your anger to overcome fear. At least, this is my plan... so far, I'm good with it.

Who resists, wins.