Linear and Otherways

essay

What's your line of work? Do you have a line of credit? How much are you a subject of the mental king, linear thinking?

If you need to get somewhere on time, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line — unless there’s a traffic jam.

Are you trying to get from point A to point B then to C and D... high school girl/boy/them-friend to college degree to job to wedding to house to... But somewhere in there… life throws a curve ball?

What if the journey is A to dream/vision to P to intuition to X to spontaneity to B to...?

The shapes of the realm of the rulers are enforced lines and boxes, whereas the natural ever-moving shapes of the rhythms of Earth-Sky are circles, spirals, elliptical orbits . . .

A to Z and linear thinking with its built-in pecking order so the Zs are last in line is ruled by Reichs, the German word for “empire” meaning “kingdom, realm, state,” also, “riches” and known more colloquially as “the ruling class.” The root of “rule” is “reg-, move or direct in a straight line, rule.” This is the very aim of empires, to keep you in line, while they hoard the loot.

John Trudell added “industrial” so as to further explain the modern mechanisms attempting to override the age-old and innate rhythms and ways:

“We have power... Our power isn’t in a political system, or a religious system, or in an economic system, or in a military system; these are authoritarian systems... they have power... but it’s not reality. The power of our intelligence, individually or collectively IS the power; this is the power that any industrial ruling class truly fears: clear coherent human beings.”

Which brings us to “online” which includes both computers and cell-phones. Everyone has their positive and/or enjoyable experiences of working and/or doing stuff online, I certainly have mine. Yet what's being looked at here is what I see as the overriding programming of the rule of empire with “online” as yet another variation of a tired, manipulative theme. The difference now, though, is that the devices and the connectivity factor are global, thus the speed and ability to affect masses of people is unprecedented.

Also worth remembering is that approximately 33% of the world is not online. Or put another way:

“Approximately 67 per cent of the world’s population, or 5.4 billion people, is now online. … Internet use remains tightly linked to the level of a country’s development. … [reflecting] the width of the digital divide between high-income and low-income countries and regions.”
- from “Global offline population steadily declines to 2.6 billion people in 2023”

The recent crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests, along with other forms of censorship and squelching of criticisms reflect what the “industrial ruling class truly fears: clear coherent human beings.”

This week: “The acclaimed Israeli historian Ilan Pappé has revealed he was interrogated for two hours by federal agents [Department of Homeland Security] at an airport in Detroit after flying into the United States. The agents questioned him about his Arab and Muslim friends in the U.S., as well as his views on Hamas and if he thought Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Pappé said he was allowed to enter the U.S., but only after agents copied the contents of his phone.” - from Democracy Now!, May 16.

According to Pappé, “…actions like this by the USA or European countries taken under pressure from the pro-Israeli lobby or Israel itself smell of sheer panic and desperation in reaction to Israel's becoming very soon a pariah state, with all the implications of such a status," he added.

His book The Ethic Cleansing of Palestine (Oneworld Publications, 2007) is an essential read for a deeper understanding of the formation of Israel.

The perspective of so-called progress is linear. Corporate profit charts with the arrows going ever upward are linear. Historical evolution from cave men to 'enlightened' consumers is linear.

Instead of keeping one's head down and humbly doing 'the work’… masses of people are keeping their heads down as they walk while looking at the handheld gadget.

Instead of looking up to smile, make eye-contact or say “hi”… masses of people are keeping their heads down as they walk while looking at the handheld gadget.

To assume that online is THE consciousness of the world is to ignore one-third of fellow human beings, not to mention the non-human-beings, of whom, to my knowledge, not a single one is online . . .