by Patrick Mazza
December 23, 2021
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/12/23 ... -the-soul/
Introduction:
(Counterpunch) In times like these, it is crucial to gather our thoughts to face the challenges ahead, to clearly map our position and the journeys to come. I will try to do that here.
The darkness of the times is in our face. The Big Lie campaign around the “stolen election” has resulted in democracy-killing measures passed in numerous state legislatures, suppressing voting and effectively giving legislatures the power to nullify election results. Along with radical gerrymandering, these measures seem likely to hand Congress to the Republicans in 2022 and the White House in 2024, with Trump’s return a high probability.
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Yet, in reality, our certainties are grounded in a great deal of delusion. That we could continue a prosperity built on energy sources that twist the climate. That we could maintain a democratic system in an era when wealth and corporate power are increasingly concentrated. That the market could adequately address most needs and solve most problems, with some public policy tinkering around the edges. The collapse of comfortable delusions of security and certainty drives us to face the reality we need fundamental systems change.
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We hear much about the attempted coup of January 6 and the slow-moving coup under way. But if a coup comes to the U.S., we’ll only be reaping what we’ve sown around the world, staging coups in numerous nations, from Guatemala and Iran, to Brazil, Indonesia, and Chile, and, more recently, Honduras and Ukraine, just to name a few. This does not even count the “regime change” wars that have wrecked whole countries and millions of lives, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, etc. …We continue with our comfortable lives in the U.S., blithe to what our national security state has done around the world.
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To bear the dark times we face, and the darker times that may well be coming, we must find the light in our own souls, and recognize this struggle is not only political, but also moral and spiritual. As with many people throughout history facing systems of oppression and seemingly impossible odds, we must bear witness to what we know is right. For the sake of staying true to our own souls, if nothing else.