Tuesday, July 23, 2013

PULLING UP STAKES


Mostly finished up interior of tipi

Last Post?   from Freeacre and Murph

I think it may be time to pull up the tent stakes and move on. I find myself in the curious position that in many ways, my personal dreams have, to a large extent, come true. I have my tipi now. We have prepared for a somewhat sustainable future for ourselves, with the animals and gardening. We have established ourselves in the community and made many good friends here.

We have known that huge surveillance has been going on for a long time. We decided to continue the conversation in spite of it. We’ve had a good run. Seven years. I think we’ve said all we needed to say regarding our political situation, the collapse, the rise of the police state, the deterioration of our liberty, the collusion of the financiers, the drug lords, and our responses and preparations.

But, now that Snowden has brought it out to the general public, it feels qualitatively different. Countries are deciding to rebel. South American countries as well as S. Africa, Germany, Iceland, etc. have registered their dissatisfaction at being monitored and stalked by the NSA and corporate overlords. Snowden is getting at least moral support from many places. ‘Mericka seems ever more belligerent, and looking more and more hypocritical and out of control.

When the deputy Joint Chief of Staff is arrested for espionage, for leaking the information on Stuxnet virus, that’s HUGE. There is some serious shit going on, and it’s only going to get worse. The implications to the stock markets, the reserve currency, the Federal Reserve, the money-laundering central banks, and on and on, could become staggering. It may be the end of the goodwill that the world has had for our country since WWII.

I do not expect the U.S. to take this with any sort of grace or sense of remorse. I believe that we are in for some sort of war, perhaps many wars. It could get real ugly. Disagreement or dissent will be interpreted as sedition, and punished accordingly. It is already being done. Take a look at this video of the internment camps now set up for dissidents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oyauWrG6CM4

More than that, putting ourselves on Front Street is just making it easier for them. I am not comfortable with that. I am not comfortable with creating a forum where my cyber-tribe is endangered.

I keep wondering what effect this unrelenting surveillance will have on the children growing up with no privacy. That is the real horror. God save us all, it would be like creating The Borg. I don’t know how one remains human with no private moments or conversations. How can you have a love life? What if your genetic code is accessible to your potential employers? Will it be like “Gattika,” where you are tracked into menial labor or professional or scientific employment based on your genetics? With all your history, financial information, social status, relationships and everything about you documented for all time in some computer banks somewhere, the plug could be pulled on you at any time you are deemed to be out of compliance.

It’s not just about having “nothing to hide.” It’s about having nothing to live for.

SO…. What is the appropriate response? Charles Hugh Smith says that cooking your own healthy meals and living a happy life is a revolutionary act. I go along with that. Maintaining friendships and loyalty to each other is important as well. But, I question whether continuing to use the internet is justified. It feels like it is like putting the noose around our own necks. Shunning the corporate globalist miscreants seems appropriate to me. Visiting each other in person would be good. Focusing on our own hometown neighbors and friends. Cultivating a lifestyle that is exemplary, in terms of health, compassion, regard for the Earth -those things do not enable them and they are soothing to us.

I admit to being addicted to alternative news. I will not give it up real soon. I don’t want to be unaware. But, I don’t want to be enmeshed either. I don’t believe that there is only one way to be. It depends on your individual circumstances, age, family obligations, and lots of things. Each of us is going to have to access how it is for them, and how best to protect one’s self and loved ones from the shit storm that may be coming.

I’m still hoping that Universe and our Mother, the Earth, will somehow level the playing field. Or maybe these goofball, tattooed, millennials will come up with something totally out of the box that will change it all.

But, in terms of this blogsite, it’s time to pack it in. We still have e-mail, if we want to continue the conversation a bit less publicly. The conversation around our cyber fire has been reduced to more or less the same few anyway over the last several months. I still have a few things on my bucket list that I would like to accomplish, and I feel that my time and energy are dissipating quickly. We need to re-build around here, and that takes a lot of energy that we don’t have. I want to paint some things. I’d like to visit some friends and family – maybe take a ride on a train. I plan to spend a lot less time on the Net. It only encourages ‘em.

I have said all I have to say, except that I love you guys, and the tipi is here for anyone of you who wants to visit.

And, now, thoughts from the Murphinator:

I will admit that I have conflicting emotions concerning dropping the blog. It certainly has been a rather important nitch in our lives. And yet, I agree with Freeacre on the subject.

Personally, I am finding that my energy available for different tasks, including this blog, has diminished quite a bit. Something has to give. I've run out of things to say and it has been that way for some time. I'm not doing near the amount of research and cross checking of data that I used to do. I certainly am not a Charles Smith who writes a column every day 5 days a week or a Carl Denniger who writes 7 days a week.

We proposed some time ago that it was time to close down the blog for several reasons and after some discussion, decided to continue anyway. Since our rather disastrous fire, the question is again raised.

The point raised by Freeacre is whether we should feel threatened to any degree by the state surveillance system. Are we at risk? While it appears that all communications are recorded and monitored, is the public discussion on a blog increasing the risk of retribution by simple association over time? How far will the PTB go in squashing dissent? How far down the ladder of influence will they go? This blog is for all practical importance a non entity and yet....? Our readership is very small and therefore of little consequence, and yet....

What are your thoughts on the subject?


Freeacre artistic side