A Gradual Awakening

A Gradual Awakening

It takes a long-term view to see our way out of this gloom.

By Ken Jenkins
4-18-05

In this highly synchronistic counterpoint to the TVnewslies piece below, a great 9/11 videographer shares some patient wisdom that we all should hear and re-hear. - Ed.

It was early 2005. It was a time of malaise, of vague apprehension, of depression, of disbelief, of foreboding and dread. It was the time after Bush&Co stole yet another election and we faced 4 more years of an ongoing, ever-darkening nightmare. It was long enough after the election to have moved beyond the shock and denial, but not far enough to have fully accepted and grokked our predicament, or to have the foggiest idea what the heck to do next.

We wonder, wouldn't that other Iraq war supporter Kerry have been better than this?

No. In the long run, things might have been worse.

Is there any light in this seemingly perpetual tunnel of gloom?

Yes. But a long-term view is required to see far enough down the abyss to see that glimmer of hope.

Let me explain. We would all like a quick turnaround to this ominous and menacing nightmare. But Kerry would have lulled too many folks back to sleep. And that is not a good thing. The spiral of social-political evolution would have slowed to a creep. As apathy increased, we would have been back in the doldrums, directionless, going nowhere at a crawl. Crisis is not a good time to go back to sleep. With Bush&Co, it's too uncomfortable to sleep. The Neocon tyrants are a wake-up call, an evolutionary driver. It's a red alert! But in a good way. I mean, fire alarms are rude and obnoxious, but it's better to hear the piercing sound than to sleep through the flames.

We humans are a crisis-responding lot. It often takes acute crisis to shake us awake. More often than not, we ignore the whispers until they become screams. With our current situation of multiple simultaneous crises, the screams are getting louder. Folks are starting to hear.

Another good metaphor for our times is an addict hitting bottom. It's painful as hell, but it is looked back upon as "the best thing that ever happened" and "a turning point of my life", or more to the point "if that (terrible experience) hadn't happened, I don't know if I would be alive today". Now with this nightmarish crisis our world has become, folks are hearing the alarm, and more and more are waking up.

So that's the good news. But unfortunately it seems that as a country we have not yet hit enough of a bottom to wake enough of the sleeping masses. So, we got the ideal president/ administration to take us further down, hard and fast, to assure a quicker and more complete wake up, albeit a rude awakening. Oh goody, more gloom.

"But", you 9/11 savvy folks object, "We don't need Bush&Co in office, we have the most potent awakening medicine of our time, the truth of 9/11!" Yes, very true, but consider this: Many of us have had the short-term goal that can be characterized as "breaking the story". What is usually implicit is the idea that there could be a quick and major acknowledgement of our claims, most likely through mainstream media, so that suddenly millions of folks would start asking our questions and demanding a real investigation which would leading to trials that would make Watergate look like a playground lark. But consider what would also happen when our story suddenly "broke" - lots of other things would break. For starters a major stock market crash would disappear trillions of dollars overnight. The children (parading as adults) that run this planet would panic and, well, it wouldn't be a pretty picture. Much as we want to change the corrupt system, a panic induced crash and burn is not the best approach.

Besides, we all know that all the US major media have become fully corrupt and CIA controlled, so what makes anyone think they would ever run our story? Heck, they hardly mentioned the mega story of the last stolen election, even with the abundant, ideal media circus ingredients in Ohio. What chance do we have to be taken seriously with our story that is WAY more outrageous?

"But" you say, "Jimmy Walters got on CNN and Fox". Yeah, he paid big bucks to get treated like dirt. "But any publicity is good publicity, right?" Yes. But its impact is more contradictory and so is more gradual. Same with the Popular Mechanics hit piece, because its impact is mixed, it serves to more gradually introduce the concepts, albeit with a negative spin. (PM also listed some good websites and so helped our cause in several ways). The SF Guardian just ran a long and serious cover story. Since they are a local weekly, the impact is more gradual (and getting through to them was more doable. But it took a year). We got the Zogby poll, but major media ignored it. We got the complaint into Spitzer's office, but progress is slow. So the story is breaking in baby steps. That pattern is likely to continue.

There are many interconnecting paths along this journey of cultural awakening we are in the midst of. One trail many have ventured down by now leads to the lies that preceded the Iraq war. The recent stolen election is another treacherous but fruitful road. But indeed, as the freeway of 9/11 truth is the most mighty wake up call of all, it is also heavy medicine. And with its power comes daunting challenges. Proportional to its potency is the resistance to it. And that's actually good - as a counterbalance, a shock absorber.

Heavy medicine must be taken gradually - taken too soon, to quickly, or too much at a time, it can be harmful, even fatal. To be a healer - first do no harm.

There is a principle called "gradualism" that is prescribed as the most gentle, loving way to make major changes. By allowing and accepting that our heavy 9/11 medicine be taken in gradually (as it already is anyway), we will be in a better position to achieve our goals, and enjoy the process! We will succeed in a more elegant, optimum way if we find, accept, and respect the pace that is likely to awaken others without undue and counterproductive shock.

Which is not to say that we back off or slow down our efforts a bit. I am not suggesting complacency at all! But rather, that as a strategy, we see the wisdom of the idea that folks are better awakened with a gentle shake than with a sudden panic-inducing jolt. Which means our heavy 9/11 medicine needs to be taken gradually. (Do no harm.) And besides, with a corporate - CIA controlled media, we don't have much choice.

Many of our approaches and actions to date have been driven by an unacknowledged undercurrent of panic and desperation - to stop Bush&co before they do another 9/11, or start another war, or take us past some tipping point with the environment, or before, well, before it's "too late!" The problem is that panic is not a great life strategy.

So instead, let's develop the more long-term strategies that gradualism suggests, (and that the last 3 1/2 years have shown us is the most probable course anyway). How about a 4-year plan? Almost all 9/11 projects and strategies to date have had timelines of weeks to months.

The long-term view allows more time for reflection, musing, and patience. The big perspective allows strategizing and achieving goals that require years to incubate and coalesce (and fund). More energy can be put into building alliances with related movements and natural allies, such as those dealing with other cynically induced tragedies, hoaxes or stolen elections. We can work to improve relationships within our movement, and so increase our synergy and teamwork. Imagine what we could accomplish if we switched from hostile verbal battles to respectfully discussing what hit the Pentagon, if we could grasp and pacify the terrifying pod monster, and if we each gave up control, and all worked together as a unified force. It would be something quite awesome to contemplate, to fight for, and achieve.