from freeacre
“We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness….”
From the Declaration of
Independence
Happiness. Our founding
fathers considered it very important - important enough to start a
revolution. The declaration goes on to state, “ that whenever any
form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right
of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government
laying its foundations upon such principles, and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect
their Safety and Happiness.” If he had not been the author of the
Constitution, he might have become the father of the run on sentence.
Anyway, happiness has long been held to be crucial to our well-being
both individually and collectively.
Murph and I recently
watched a documentary film entitled, “Happy.” I recommended it
in one of my comments to the previous post. In it, several people all
over the world were interviewed regarding how happy they were and
what it was that made them happy. They found that once the basic
needs of a roof over one’s head, food, access to medical care, and
physical safety are met, say, $50,000 to an American, more money
does not correlate to more happiness. So, making $250,000 is not
going to insure that you will be five times happier. Nuts. There goes
my fantasy of making a lot of people happy with my winnings from the
Publishers Clearing House.
On the other hand, if I
did win the Publishers Clearing House prize pf $5,000 each week for
life, and if I DID give much of it to my friends, my happiness is
almost guaranteed to increase, as giving seems to be one
characteristic that does improve one’s happiness. I guess, that is,
unless you are a sociopath, and don’t care about anyone but
yourself, but I digress.
On a happiness index, a
rickshaw driver In an Asian country, who pulled a rickshaw loaded
with people through clogged streets in the hot summer sun and the
rainy season as well, came home to a shack from work to his wife and
children, and felt happy and blessed to live as he does. His
happiness derived from the same elements that most of us need to be
happy: family, friends, place/nature, and a sense of community.
I think we know that
our values have become distorted. Every moment, it seems, we are
bombarded with messages that tell us that more and more things will
make us happy – more and more money, products, growth, investments,
power, prestige, whatever. Just more. There seems to be never enough.
Planned obsolescence insures that we will never have to stop buying
stuff.
I know I have written
about this before. Cultivating a sense of “enough” is a
revolutionary act, along with cooking from scratch, and growing one’s
own food.
But, being happy
despite the horrors of the times, is also a revolutionary act. I’m
not talking about the clueless ones who are untroubled because they
are unaware and mostly numb. I don’t think they are really very
happy. Heck, maybe they are. Are stupid people happier than smart
people? I don’t know. The documentary did not address that
question. At any rate, I am not talking about them.
I am talking about
people who feel alive and loved and secure within their family and
neighbors. People who spend a lot of time together face to face,
helping each other with projects, co-operating, sharing, eating
together, playing, and enjoying things together. It seems we are
social beings, and we don’t do well when these natural needs are
displaced with chasing the All Mighty Dollar. Money has become the
cultural God. The mall is our tabernacle. On the television set - the
idols we turn to for direction. It is a sad state of affairs. We are
stalked at every turn by advertisements to purchase things to make us
attractive, potent, cool, hip, in control, yada, yada.
But it’s more than
that now. Now the problems go beyond shallowness, neuroticism, and
bad taste. We have become so disconnected from each other that the
police have become an occupying army of thugs. They have been armed
as a paramilitary force by our own government with implements used
for torture and death. The government has become corrupt and
tyrannical. I could put in links, but you know what I am talking
about. The collapse of the world as we have known it to be, is
happening all around us. Fukushima could blow at any moment. And, we
could also be on the brink of natural disasters as our planet enters
the galactic plane and we encounter energy “fluff” and many more
space rocks that react energetically within the vast pool of plasma
that makes up the Universe. Everything is more intense. It could lead
to the take down of the electrical grid, and that would lead to our
demise. Or, the methane could melt in our oceans and perma-frost, and
that would also lead to our demise. Oh, yeah, and we are also on the
brink of nuclear war if the Israelis and their minions in our
congress have anything to say about it. One of the few things that
Obama has done right so far is he’s kept us out of war with Iran.
But, who knows if that will last.
It is the Kali Yuga.
Hindus and Buddhist have differing takes on it, but they both define
it as the Dark Age of strife, contention, and materialism. It is the
collapse that eventually leads into the next Golden Age. From
Wikepedia:
Prophesied events during a Kali Yuga
A
discourse by Markandeya
in the Mahabharata
identifies some of the attributes of Kali Yuga. In relation to
rulers, it lists:
- Rulers will become unreasonable: they will levy taxes unfairly.
- Rulers will no longer see it as their duty to promote spirituality, or to protect their subjects: they will become a danger to the world.
- "At the end of Kali-yuga, when there exist no topics on the subject of God, even at the residences of so-called saints and respectable gentlemen of the three higher varnas [guna or temperament] and when nothing is known of the techniques of sacrifice, even by word, at that time the Lord will appear as the supreme chastiser." (Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.7)
With
regard to human relationships, Markandeya's discourse says:
- People will have thoughts of murder with no justification and will see nothing wrong in that.
- Lust will be viewed as socially acceptable and sexual intercourse will be seen as the central requirement of life.
- Sin will increase exponentially, whilst virtue will fade and cease to flourish.
- People will take vows and break them soon after.
- People will become addicted to intoxicating drinks and drugs.
- Brahmans will not be learned or honored, Kshatriyas will not be brave, Vaishyas will not be just in their dealings.
So, in the oft-quoted
lament of our dear Montana Freeman, “What is a motherfucker to do?”
After taking care of
the basics of keeping a roof over our heads, preparing as well as we
can with food and survival tactics, and being aware of what is going
on enough to maybe not be blind-sided with damage and/or atrocities,
I think the next step is to cultivate happiness. I know that many of
us have come to the same conclusion. In fact, I may be among the
last. Self-expression is one of the elements that were found to add
to happiness. Many of you play musical instruments. That makes you
happy. I don’t. But, I write and have started to paint things. When
I first moved here and retired, I thought I would work with clay.
But, I got involved in politics and gardening and things, so that
didn’t happen. Much of my time has seemed to be determined by more
and more duties and projects. The fire hasn’t helped. I need to get
outside more. I need to go fishing. I spend too much time at the
computer and not enough time socializing with people. I need to
remember how important they are to me. I already know how important
you are to me. I go to bed every night grateful for my life and those
with whom I share it.
It’s going to take
ethical people to resist the dark dynamics of the Kali Yuga and plant
the seeds for a better world. It’s going to take courage and
co-operation, imagination, energy, love, beauty, humor, song, dance,
laughter, celebrations, and festivals. All those qualities that
sustained tribal and aboriginal cultures for so long. It’s going to
take happiness.
Does that mean we
should be happy all the time? Of course not. Horrible things are
occurring. People are suffering and dying and it will probably get
worse. It may be as simple as losing a job, getting an illness, or it
may be widespread devastation like what is happening now in the
Philippines. Anger and horror will be felt. Compassion will be
needed. Pain will be shared. But, when it’s all said and done,
extending empathy and compassion and helping a situation are the
things that lead to feeling happy. If not happy, then at least whole.
I also think that
Liberty is a fundamental element of being happy. But, that’s
another post.
http://www.thehappymovie.com/
This site is almost nauseatingly cheerful, but it has a lot of good
information on what makes human beings happy, if you can get beyond
the happy face and hopium.
On the other end of the
spectrum, Carolyn Bakers, Speaking Truth to Power. She has several
articles and books on how to deal with the emotions of despair and
loss brought on by collapse.
