For instance, never before have we had such immediate access to everything that is happening. The Internet, television, 24-news, magazines, etc., all provide instantaneous information. Not all meaningful, and not all of value, true. But we can have instant access to almost anything.
Which brings me to the Mighty Force.
I think there is an energy that is going against all of those that have practiced to deceive. From Wall Street to Main Street, from corporations to politicians, the world is changing for those that have hidden behind a mask of decency and legitimacy only to have their real intentions revealed before the entire world.
Will anyone ever feel the same about Tiger Woods? How about Goldman Sachs and the henchmen of Wall Street? As for politicians, Nevada has it's very own hypocrite in John Ensign. Running on a holier than thou platform of Christian ideals he has been revealed to have been having an affair with his best friend's wife the entire time. Now he's being investigated for trying to pay off the husband with a job that promised his senatorial influence. The latest mask to be ripped was Senator Joe Barton of Texas. His bias for the oil companies came through loud and clear when at the hearings last week he pontificated about how the White House did a "shake down" on BP for requiring a 20 billion dollar account for clean up of the Gulf. Even his own party wants him off the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. And then there is BP. Avarice was the name of that company's game.
These are just a few examples of what makes up our news these days. I think if your intention is to put on a mask that is meant to hide your true intentions, and those intentions are self motivated in a bad way - you better be careful. There is a Mighty Force that is seeking you out.
30 comments:
Amen! My friends and I have been talking about this for some time now and it seems I am hearing others talk about it more and more. You said this so well!
As we all remember from high school English class,
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
English novelist (1812 - 1870)
I have to agree with the French proverb: "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
Lori - It is so good to see you back! Hope you are feeling much, much better.
RJ - Great quote, and you are so right.
i hear exactly what you are saying and i have seen it at work as well...
I just think that our potential for making really horrific mistakes has expanded with technology and we haven't matured enough to think ahead to the consequences of our actions, like a teenager with a car and beer.
Astrologically, it's Pluto in Capricorn - Pluto transforms everything from the bottom up and does so permanently. Capricorn represents power structures. This transit doesn't end until early 2024, so we're in for a long haul of transformation.
Great post, Nancy.
I pray that you are right, Nancy because we are at a very dangerous tipping point. Good post.
Did you see Joe Biden's response to Barton? Classic Biden. I so love that man.
Afraid I agree with R.J. - 'the more things change, the more they are the same' ... Because of our instantaneous communications we become privy to dastardly deeds we might never have heard of before. But there have always been deceptions, betrayals, masks, people taking advantage, taking sides ... Today, however with communication 24/7, cell phone cameras etc. there is no where to hide ... The biggest threat to our generation is the abuse and rape of our planet - which with our bigger toys we can do on a much bigger scale, as Butternut Squash says.
And even if a mighty force doesn't seek us out, aren't we bound by our own conscience and responsibility to ourselves and others? I mean we are accountable after all!
I feel all of this too. Deep inside me - I also have this incredible URGENCY to move up to our land, to grow, to be more isolated from major cities.. I hate this feeling of impending doom. But I also see major changes in how people are thinking and changing and living - just look at the grass roots food movement, how people are getting back to the land, how more and more folks are rejecting consumerism.. where there is strife there is ALWAYS hope!
I think that's all very true, Nancy. I think that it is much more difficult to perpetrate deception. But there is a harsh price to be paid for our ability to find out so much. I think we've become desensitized to outrage because there are so many things happening around us at all time that are worthy of it.
I think that the insensitivity that was once a factor of ignorance due to lack of access, is now an active choice. That people have adopted cynicism rather than risk trusting in anything good.
Someone was on Jon Stewart the other day, talking about the threat of Nuclear devastation and how it's actually even higher than it used to be, but we no longer seem to fear it, hear about it, or even talk about it. The guest posed the possibility that it has to do with association with the Cold War. That when the Cold War ended, people assumed (incorrectly) that the threat was passed.
But Stewart replied that he couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't just a factor of being tired. That between things like 9/11 and Climate Change and this/that/the other that people just stopped caring because there was simply too much to worry about.
I think there's some truth to that, too. It may be much more difficult to perpetrate large scale fraud, but the amount people care is much lower.
Watergate. Huge scandal! The names involved are still bandied about. An entire nation simply aghast. Disillusioned, and up-in-arms.
I don't think that would happen today. I think people would shrug and say, "It figures." as if deception and corruption were simply to be accepted, and expected. We may know more, but we seem to care less.
After all, Tiger Woods has already returned to his golfing career, with several of his original sponsors still in tow. We may never look at Woods the same, but he won't care, as we're still lining his pockets.
We know more, but we don't do much with what we know about.
Seen Goldman Sachs profit reports lately? Knowing hasn't changed too much.
Brian - Glad I'm not the only one.
Butternut - True, but now everyone knows your driving with a beer in your hand. Maybe we will get to the "tipping point" of making good choices.
Trish - 2024? We are in for a long haul!
Jayne - No - I need to catch it.. thanks for the tip.
Bonnie - But don't you think the 24-7 might have an influence? People used to operate quite nicely behind the mask. Now the masks are not quite so dependable.
Grandmother - That's the eventual hope - that at some point people will be responsible characters, if for no other reason life as they know it can get a bit nasty.
Good Cook - I feel that same sense of urgency. I'm still working on my commune.
Shimp - No doubt we are desensitized. Humans can only deal with so much at one time. But I don't think we are more accepting - on the contrary - I think we are realizing that we have been deceived for a long time - by a great many people, religions, corporations. Not to mention our own government. But change cannot occur unless we know what we're dealing with. Thus the Mighty Force which seems to be ripping off masks right and left. As for Tiger and Goldman - their golden days are over. Money is not everything, after all. You can only buy so much. Most of these guys need their regular shot of adoration and feelings of being special. They're "special" all right, but not in the ways they want to be.
That is a great Dickens quote from R.J. I also wonder if things are different only because we are aware of it, or is it that my perception is different. I remember hearing once that you can never read a book twice, because the person who reads it the second time isn't the same person who read it the first time. We are all constantly in flux, so the landscape is constantly changing.
You may have a point there, Nancy. There is such hypocrisy and dishonesty out there and it seems to be knocking people down because of their motives of selfishness, greed, and power.
All the astrologers I trust say that this is a summer of sudden, unexpected changes and truth telling. I believe you're on the wavelength.
May it be so!
Yes, we are learning about dastardly deeds much sooner now, then we used to; the web makes all possible.
Will it really mean that we will leave a cleaner, more thoughtful, more decent life? A less greedy life?
I am so terribly afraid that as soon as one hypocrite is unmasked, another goes into hiding, I might choose not to fly, or not use plastic bags, not drive everywhere, but somebody somewhere will take it up.
The world has to change, we all have to change.
Btw. I think politicians are a breed apart, all that power corrupts easily and quickly.
Yay! You tell it sister! xx
DJan - So true.
Linda - That's what I'm thinking. For some reason they are being revealed at a level that I don't remember ever noticing before. Shimp mentioned Watergate and what a HUGE deal it was because masks ripped away revealed a president who felt he was a above the law. Today people are being revealed for what they are in huge numbers. I have to wonder - why now?
Reya - Maybe that's what is happening. Yes, let it be so
Friko - What is the saying? Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Natalie - I have to admit - I'm sort of enjoying it. I know I should be depressed, but instead I am always happy when their true colors are revealed.
I believe one thing that's happening is that more and more people are becoming conscious at a global level. Remember the story of the .hundredth monkey? It may turn out to be something like that.
Yes, and still...and still Tony Hayward goes to the seashore to watch his yacht complete in a race.
Tonight on tv, as my husband was changing channels, I caught a glimpse of Tiger Woods sending a ball soaring further than could be imagined...and I thought BFD. The grace is gone.
Totally and utterly agree... seems that some people should be thinking more about smartening their act up!
Do hope you're right and that it gets to work on the adoption industry soon!
Susan - I do think it is something like the "hundredth monkey!"
Lydia - Exactly! Money can't buy you love.
Eternally - Or be prepared to be unmasked at some point.
Von - Not sure what's going on there. Problems with adoption? (I know about Haiti and some of the children coming out of the Eastern Block countries - but other problems?) I'll stop by soon.
Here, here; hope they all get the type of exposure they didn't want!
Excellent, Nancy!
I think there is really nothing new under the sun. All of these things have always been going on, and Shakespeare wrote about them over 400 years ago. There is just more transparency now, thank goodness. I believe the good in the world outweighs the evil, but we just don't hear about the good as much. It doesn't make as sensational news.
alaine - Let's hope so.
Jo - I agree. The good people far outweigh the bad. And this stuff has been going on since the beginning. But never before in history were the bad guys so throughly revealed. Now they are on a very big stage!
From your lips to God's ear...
Yes, I think you're onto something, Nancy. Have thought for years that Nature is--through the series of weather disasters and changes that have occurred lately (Katrina, Mt. Pitaubo, Haiti, Iceland, tsunamis, etc.)-- trying to get us to take better care of our planet. BP has proved that we are not listening.
Sadly, I don't think Wall Street has changed since the days of Gordon Gecko. The greed just grew exponentially.
Can we change? Yes. Will we? Another question entirely.
The internet has worked in good and bad ways when it comes to spreading information, but on the whole the rapid-fire access to up-to-date information is very positive.
The potential for libel and mis-information is huge, though, and makes critical thinking skills even more important - something many people don't really develop. But I do agree with you about te routing of political liars and opportunists who previously flew under the radar. Not much can be hidden anymore.
California - :-)
ds - The greed grew to such an extent that they literally broke the system they were gaming. Maybe the pendulum has to swing wildly to the bad before anything can change. As for the planet - we are close to either changing or perishing.
Deborah - Critical thinking skills, when it comes to the media, is crucial. But you're right - not everyone develops them.
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