An Interesting Assessment

  After the totalitarian viewpoint was established, at least in their minds, they focused then on how to implement it. For when the focus is such there can be no compromise. The ultimate takeover of Everything is ego's desire to assuage fear by attaining control.

     In the ego's vision control over Everything is desired but Everything (that which is to be ruled) doesn't desire to be fed and led by the unwise so the only way the ego can achieve utter dominance is either by force or guile, the former unimaginable 'reality' being some sort of fiery iron-forging slave camp populated by Orks and the second unreality being the current day 'news'cycle double-speak that is glazing over millions of eyes daily on various platforms.

     The Orks toiling away in their sweatshop never look happy or even know what happiness is and the people watching and being taken in by the news on certain stations might as well have their brains shut off for they aren't thinking critically anymore, they're only taking in more content provided by 'experts' (and if you question that, we'll raise our voices!). 

No this is not Elon Musk but whoever he is he is an independent entity reasoning, something all of us have to do.

Quin Stevenson- Unsplash.com

     Imagine a world filled with the mindless and the subdued and the moon looks like it's a sister planet in comparison for, like there, nothing really happy happens here and if you think that that is not the case, that we have SportsCenter and baseball and 'What's new to see on Netflix' every week we're living large. To that I simply say "Bah humbug".

All of this is made up and if it's made up it can be changed and it does change, all the time, yet The World is kept within certain parameters for there is a lot of fear present on the planet still. The fear is not so much in the minds of the many but it exists strongly in the minds of the few, who want to see the old ways continue. 

  Good luck with that. 

  "Won't be the future for us" say the manifestors of reality (which we all in truth are). Some of us know that our thoughts create, and the rest are gettin' it. There's a huge steamroller of momentum building that says "No thanks!" to outdated belief systems and the shoddy structures that those create on always perilous presumptions. 

"Mind is the builder" Edgar Cayce repeatedly admonished to the seekers of understanding, not so very long ago.

Fear not what is outside of you, then, but that which is housed within your own mind.

Contentment

If I move away from the fast-paced world and prevent myself from exposure to the daily news cycle, push back from the offerings on Netflix and Amazon, try not to get pulled into the drama of the basketball and hockey playoffs on SportsCenter, refrain from touching upon any number of ultra-compelling exposes, reality shows, science-based explorations and the like playing on TV, set down the Kindle with it's many book offerings, turn away from the latest podcast, and not compulsively watch any cooking and baking shows, I find I'm pretty darn content. 

Which is puzzling because shouldn't it be the other way? I should be restless and agonizing, positively jones’n for a fix. Well, I'm not. Now how can that be, and more importantly, how did that come about?

Those are answers I cannot give for I do not myself know how I achieved, reached, or have been blessed by this state, which has been with me all of my life. "Born into it", I guess I could say. 

  But methinks I was so born because of all the experiences I had in my past where I was highly self-absorbed and very focused upon any number of outside things and through such involvement solved the riddle of contentment, which is a complex equation, or at least it was for me, one that held numerous variables and the weighing of values that resulted in 'those many things equal this' to me, for contentment is a highly personal thing. 

Putting out this content then is not something I feel I have to do, it's something I want to do, and I can drop this writing at any time simply because it doesn't add a great deal to the measure of fullness I already experience. There is some satisfaction in writing a juicy post, in somehow putting the words together that match the vision I hold within, but it doesn't change the sense of contentment I always feel much. Writing to me is sort of like a skills test, self-administered.

(So yes, putting out content changes me a little. I'll admit that) 

Is contentment a state of 'inner peace' that I'm feeling? I don't exactly know what 'inner peace' refers to. That seems to mean something spiritual and/or mystical, which is what contentment is not. Contentment is more like neutrality towards that which is, neither being for nor against, and not being very interested whichever way things go because contentment will inevitably follow, up to a point. 

A far away point that is fortunately never reached. It may be conjectured, surmised, prophesized, or forecast, but the human race hasn't gone the armageddon route so it'll always been unknown whether I could remain content in the face of that, thank God, so everything else is small potatoes and of little concern.

What things are like in the hobbit village.

Rob Mulally- Unsplash.com

Which is what contentment to me is, a generally good feeling that everything is going to work itself out and I'm doing my little part and that is all that is required because if I was to be on stage in some capacity I would be there and I'm not. I am not one so compelled. 

Blogging is my stage and I'm content with that, until I'm not, and then I'll find out, is another way of putting it. 

"Whatever floats your boat" is my philosophy. The Universe- that grand bringer of life and supporter of same- will see to it that I get adeptly placed. There's really nothing to worry about. 

Contentment is an opportunity to really enjoy things being just the way they are. In this state of mind you are able to step back, relax, and gaze upon the big picture. 

Tell Me It's Insignificant

My time with a small group of people is wrapping up. We've been working together for years but soon won't be. One has already flown the coop and the rest will be scattering to the four winds in a fortnight. 

Now when it comes to working together it's not like we've been all lovey-dovey with each other. There have been strong emotions and difficult times aplenty but at this point all of that is water under the bridge. Now we're left kind of staring at each other at times with these sort of blank looks, like when you look past or through something, your attention focused on that which you cannot physically see.

Strange, it is, how Life threw us together for a time for a reason that we thought we knew. It was all about the money, right? Just a bunch of random people filling slots that needed to be filled and we were the ones that showed up and said that, for one reason or another, we were willing to do it, something that the logical mind declares reasonable and understandable. 

But- is that the case? Was our gathering together a random event? All of my coworkers think so and even I, attuned to things non-physical and searching for any energetic clues, can't sense anything other than the vaguest possibility that there was any purpose in our gathering and working together. For years! You'd think that The Universe would let the cat out of the bag at this point, at least a little bit, and provide me with some metaphysical satisfaction but no, not yet, and maybe not ever.

  Couch it in whatever terminology fits your belief system, that is what those 'blank stares' are all about. Not really knowing, but sensing the possibility that something else might have been going on.

According to the business world, the business model, employees are simply commodities (the very definition of employ is 'to use') and nothing whatsover has occured other than we filled functions and soon won't. 

In a business sense, this is oh so true. Time and business forever march on, towards the future and the profits to be gained there, and you're either marching along with the company or not and if you disappear "So what?" for there are little emotions displayed towards castaways as a rule. 

But something did transpire and I can see that something- perhaps many somethings- in the eyes of my coworkers, that is, when we catch each other like that, which we are trying not to do at this time, because it's telling and uncomfortable. 

We have a sense of (Jeez can I say it?) camaraderie because we laughed together, and fought each other- a lot. Many, many times we were angry at each other, but just as many times we forgave. Or tried to. We worked together as a team and got the job done, despite the directives of management, who we knew didn't have a clue as to what was actually going on in our department. 

Many times, individually, we played the role of heroes for our customers, we went the extra mile because we felt it was the right thing to do (and maybe those customers thanked us for it). We dealt with lousy equipment and crowds and bad weather and all manner of things upsetting and complained about it but did it anyway. We did this so often we got used to it and called it 'reality' though we knew that there were realities far different that other people were experiencing but we blocked that out. 

Had to.

Through it all we watched each other and learned from each other because we were, like it or not, a team, a band of misfits doing a job that few others would have volunteered to do and those others thought not a lot of us as we were ferrying them around. They took us for granted and we griped about that and talked story and traded stories and I was amazed at what my coworkers went through as much as they were amazed at what had happened to me, before break, during the shift, or on the days that they were off.

Then at the end of every working day we went home to our respective houses and turned on our TVs and watched others living lives far more spectacular than the ones we were saddled with and ooh..... .....that was painful but as long as our bread was buttered we knew we were at least surviving. We had established perches for ourselves in a highly competitive, fast moving world and were loathe to go for better. However, when you make that decision it comes at a price because time keeps on moving and over the passage of years you go through stages of anger about your situation, then deny it's an issue before finally dropping into rueful acceptance, only wondering by then how those few at the top managed to do it because you certainly, at the time, gave it a go.

And now here we few are, near The End of our job, and in the eyes of The World we have failed at life and have to pick up the pieces and start over somewhere and the 'insignificance' of our existence is staring us right in the face- but wait!

The moment of recognition is undeniable.

Anton Shakirov- Unsplash.com

There is something there, it's showing in the eyes of my coworkers, in those of some of the managers, and undoubtedly in the minds of some the people we touched while just doing our job and that something is highly significant. We did make a difference in their lives (but we're probably never going to know what it was). It could have been just one thing that we did, or it could have been many things. The essence of who we individually are is etched into their minds, that essence being how we handled ourselves in combat situations, in bored situations, in charged situations (and in many other situations, those being too numerous to list). That 'something' we did is what is turning the gears in their heads behind that blank look these ones are displaying, it exists in that space where the processing of data is occurring but there are as of yet no words.

    I know what that blank look is, I've seen it before. We've touched each other, made indelible impressions on each other. We may have been accidentally thrown together in this life (which is my feeling, save possibly for a few individuals) but we'll never, ever forget each other. Through time and space we'll have the memory of each other and though faces will disappear and eventually bodies too it just might transpire that we will find ourselves together again, in another place and another when, and if that happens (and we're sensitive enough by then) we’ll remember each other by our peculiar energetic signatures. We might all join together for awhile in a different and probably higher in vibration setting to play out another drama or we may simply individually spend a few hours together but all the while I'll certainly (and hopefully they'll too) be inwardly nodding, like I have done many times in this life, thinking this:

"I KNOW you from somewhere!”

      I know you because we have spent time together before and this has separated you out from the mass of humanity. Other people will continue to be background characters but you will always appear different to me. This might just be in a general sense, as in I might feel a degree of familiarity with you, or it might be a recognition so strong that I will be able to pick you out of a crowd.

         In either case, I will know what kind of person you are- without you having to say a thing.

Comfort Zone

'Getting into the comfort zone' with situations used to be the motivation that I had until I realized many of the dreams I had been pursuing, saw the views they offered, and felt the feelings that achieving those goals gave me.

Every time I thought I had feathered my nest completely the satisfaction I felt was only temporary. Instead of permanence, I found I experienced a contentment period of varying length and varying strength before I again was called to move on. Called to move outside of my established comfort zone and into something else. 

This being called to abandon what I had created I did not anticipate, and it was kind of annoying to experience walking away from what I had gained over and over, for I assumed that once I achieved a certain level of satisfaction with my life I would choose to stay there and build on that- which is something that most people do. They do it because it's very hard to leave an established comfort zone, even after it begins to get quite un-comfortable. 

You probably think you know what I mean, about how 'comfort zones' can start to chafe on you. The sofa gets to be a little too cushy. The bed that felt soooo good to crash, plop, or sink into last night now causes you to yearn to be vertical again instead of remaining horizontal. It's that kind of feeling. What was good then ain't so now.

  But let's not confuse a comfort zone with a 'plopped on the couch eating ice cream' feeling or a 'falling into a bed containing freshly washed sheets' feeling. Those are not true comfort zones. True comfort zones are prolonged events and creeping dissatisfaction with them takes extended lengths of time to develop but once that sets in rearranging the furniture in the living room just won't help. Spring cleaning won't alleviate the underlying agitation. Repainting and remodeling might provide a longer term 'cure' but it won't stave off discontent forever. All these patching up efforts, of course, depend on the proclivities of the individual occupying the space, the workplace, and/or life upon which the comfort zone has been established. 

Comfort zones are hard to totally abandon and usually there are many attempts made to salvage them, get them to fit again, but sometimes they just have to be dismantled completely. Storms can do that for you, fires, and floods, and you can easily attribute those events to acts of God, but what if you instigate a change of situation upon yourself because you just can't stand to be in it anymore?

  It takes courage to do a complete makeover because comfort zones for most are deeply intertwined with personal survival. Few will venture outside of the survival situation they have established and deem absolutely necessary for their peace of mind. I know of many who will probably live out the remainder of their lives in endurance situations. Their lives may not be the stellar ones they initially imagined but they'll be safe ones. Nothing wrong with that. There's angst there, oh yeah, but it's manageable. 

Three months of breakfast in bed! How delightful!

Alex Block- Unsplash.com

It just seems ridiculous to me that we choose to place ourselves into these comfortable-yet-not boxes because the amount of stagnation and suffering that is found there outweighs the imagined benefits to the degree that it boggles the mind. But comfort zones also extend beyond the personal and can surround and ensnare us in social webs as well. Neighborhoods, towns, and even major cities can turn into comfort zones. Not a lot happens in them and the people living there simply shrug and say to each other "That's Life!" but it's not, really. So much more can be experienced. 

Creating comfort zones is the goal of nearly all human beings. Scoring the dream job. Manifesting the stellar relationship. Inhabiting the perfect house. Having an enviable circle of friends. Living in the happening city.

We want those things, strive for them, and yearn for them. Then when we actually get them, or get close enough to them to say that where we are is good enough, we got most of what we wanted, we exult "Yay! I'm in my Comfort Zone!". Cause for celebration!

Enjoy each one while they last, friends, 'cuz they'll only provide satisfaction for a while. Eventually they will pale, but perhaps not all at the same time. When each one does, or if they all fade at once, don't cry about losing them! Your soul will task you with creating again. And then again after that. On and on you'll go. It's hard the first time you feel you have to let go of something good for something that might be better, you can never be absolutely sure, but over time and through the gaining of experience you'll look forward to changing things up and just might actually anticipate doing it.

Reformulating

     I have long seen myself as if I'm passing through layers and layers of awareness to greater levels of understanding. It's amazing.

This process has been accelerating for me. I can't say for sure if it's just the internet and the plethora of information it makes available on every subject imaginable that has been behind it as I have also steadily employed many personal growth methodologies, but I can say it's true that due to the internet, awareness 'upgrading' seems to be happening to the majority of the human race. 

We're getting smarter every day, as a whole. Ignorance about commonly shared things in our respective cultures is harder and harder to have as an excuse. It's as if we're almost expected to know about whatever is going on and the more we know, the more there is to know about! 

To make matters worse, or better, according to your perspective, there doesn't seem to be any 'Off' switch to this. In my case, my worldview continues to change even though I haven't been reading the news much, reading any self help books, or doing any specifically enlightening practices, save some new meditations (which entail the absence of thought, coupled with visualization). It's as if I'm absorbing understanding from simply doing ordinary day to day things (some of which entails 'keeping up') so even though I'm X number of years old and should be 'done' or close to done I find I'll probably never be done with learning. There is no Shangri-la valley where everything remains the same to duck into and even though I've had a gamut of experiences, and find that I know a lot, I hardly know it all and now wonder if 'knowing it all' is even possible. The World isn't the way it was years ago, let me tell you that. It's as if that world disappeared and something new rose in its place.

Everything nowadays is so connected, so interrelated. I see that clearly. Being older has brought it home to me that the know-it-all cockiness I had as a twenty something was ludicrous because The World has continued to surprise me. I'm a specialist in some areas, places where I've held intense focus, but I know I have to defer the majority of the running of the human race to other specialists who do what they do and like I, do what they do very well. 

New and improved!

Louis Reed- Unsplash.com

I, like they, have discovered that if you do something over and over you only get better at it and even though you have done it a hundred or a thousand times you're never done. Take driving, for example, the ordinary commute to work or shopping expedition around town. You might be making the usual drive that you've made hundreds of times but it's never the same drive, is it? And you're never the same person that has made that drive before. Life is like that. You just get better at it, even if you might have, in the eyes of The World, 'failed' somewhere along the way. 

Failing is a hot new concept now. The word is that failure is good because the more you fail the better you get overall in your approach to business and relationships and whatever else. Failure serves you because you inevitably have to reformulate your approach to something the next time you attempt it so that you can 'succeed', but ask any guy that has starred in a hit movie or made a number one record who has achieved 'success' and he'll tell you that it was only momentary success. That was then and whatever he's doing is now. 

We're all reformulating, always, and will be for all time. Just the way of it.

Skeleton Coast

       Had on one of my favorite garage sales finds, a pirate shirt, the last couple of days. Garage sales are places where you can find the coolest and funkiest clothes. Some people have trouble wearing stuff that other people have found somewhere, purchased, and worn for awhile, their energy being in it and all, but I don't have a problem with that unless the energy is way way off in which case my guidance would have been to not be at that garage sale in the first place. I would have passed it by.

So back to my pirate shirt which looks really cool and fits me perfectly, which is another thing that happens every once in a while, you find a piece of clothing that seems tailor made and wear it over and over until it's threadbare because you don't think you'll ever find any piece of clothing like it again, but you do.

Anyway, this post is about being a pirate and what was that like. I was a pirate at one time, in one life, I feel it in my bones and I will tell you it wasn't a glamorous life. It was a lot of time spent out at sea looking for ships to raid and running like hell if they looked at all threatening because the Royal Navy was on the hunt for people like us and would take us out if they could. If we were ever spotted we would head for the coast and inlets there that we and only we knew about because our vessels had shallower drafts than their ships did plus we had compadres in the local area. The navy wouldn't follow us onto land and we knew it. Our safety was in sticking close to shore and never venturing out too far. 

About all that is left of us.

Markus Spiske- Unsplash.com

The trading ships also stuck close to the shore in case supplies ran low and because venturing too far out used up valuable resources like manpower and time. They were on the clock, same as us, trying to eke out profits before the hazards of their occupation took too big a toll.

Pirating was a desperate life and once you got into it you were no good after that. Marked for death, you were, for being a pirate or associating with pirates in any way was almost automatically answered by trips to the gallows. Governments hated us, citizens too, and so we lived on the very fringes which weren't very popular places to be, let me assure you of that. I don't recall any lusty port where we could sail into the harbor and be welcomed by kegs of grog and women fluttering their handkerchiefs at us from brothel windows like you see in the movies. That would have been a dream come true but our dreams were mainly to plunder a gold bearing ship and get the hell off the water and make our way to the frontier where we couldn't get found or spotted by anyone and live out the rest of our lives but disease took us, storms, fighting (or the wounds we suffered from doing that), malnutrition, and drink. The navies of various governments vying for control of the seas constantly sunk our vessels and even the best and most cunning of our breed were eventually outclassed and outmaneuvered by the ever changing outside world which developed countermeasures against us that made The Life less than worthwhile. Just wasn't any chance for us to score anymore. 

Yeah, we were drunks, plunderers, and looters, scourges upon society, debauched lechers and freaks of nature, but at least we were honest about who and what we were. We didn't pretend to be anything else- and that was our downfall. We should have taken our cues from the Slick Willies of the time who were far better at the game of amassing booty than us.

The trick back then, which is the same one used today, was to hide behind respectability to do thieving. In that way you could be gathering up all the gold in the world and still able to walk down the street unmolested, the population unaware of your crimes, and maybe even cheering you.

Time Marches On

Or does it? Yes... ….it does….  ...and no, it doesn’t. From a human perspective, time definitely marches on. Every moment counts. One must maximize, super-size, and prioritize one's life. The gaining of experience is what ultimately matters in life and when it comes to experience accruing, let’s gobble up as much of the good stuff as possible while avoiding at all costs the bad because can’t you just hear that damn clock ticking? It’s there, we’re very aware of it, and that’s why we all hit the ground running.

Looking around the airport in which I spend soooo much time the passage of time has almost a desperate quality around it. Wasting not a second, the passengers, most of them, are on the move. No military operation moves faster or more efficiently than a family hup-hupping it to wherever it is they are going, no just-retired couple is filled with more goal-achieving satisfaction that the duo deftly wending their way through baggage claim, traveling light and traveling a lot, this stop only one of many that are planned, while the singles threading their way through have their own destinies to fulfill, those being meeting the family (again), the lover waiting for them in a curbside car, or a friend or friends with which they will have some sort of adventure. 

You can almost hear choirs of angels singing "Precious moments are at hand!" when meet-ups happen. It is so poignant, amazing, and yet at the same time sobering to witness this, over and over. The wide-armed greetings, squeals of joy, wraparound hugs, big smiles, firm handshakes, and the lover's embrace that lingers and puts off heat oh my God get a room already.

On the flip side of all this are the various scenarios where the passage of time weighs like an anchor on hearts and minds. Take a look at any employee who is putting on a brave face but would rather be anywhere else. Gaze at the wheelchair passengers who somebody is going to pick up but that somebody is not in any hurry to get there. Glance at the ones who aren't that good looking and don't have lovers waiting for them and are just making their way through the mob to their home or hotel. Observe the surly traveling worker bees with their little carry-ons, toolboxes on wheels, or demo gear who only want to get home and are emitting the vibe “Don't bother me and don't delay my progress un momento!”

Stop reminding me what time it is! What’s new on Netflix?

Jack Sharp- Unsplash.com

  To keep the throng appraised of where they stand, every half hour a time announcement comes over the airport's intercom while little kids play and some of the passengers squirm, tap toes, and people watch inside the terminal. The others sit staring at their phones, packing more data in. This data is to some degree knowledge, to the other useless trivia, which accumulates and is stored ‘somewhere’. The data absorbers are trying to fill up a gargantuan and seemingly insatiable computer hard drive called Mind, which they individually call my mind, which can't be located anywhere inside or outside of their bodies. Maybe it exists in 'The Cloud'.

Meanwhile, outside of the airport windows, there are other clouds and movement is occurring. The tide is rising, the sun is slowly arcing across the sky, and the brooding mountains nearby are experiencing rain. This scene seems to be taking place within the same context of human time but if you really think about what is happening out there, it’s timeless.
Ten thousand years could pass, geologically, the present-day humans long gone, the airport a crumbling relic, and the natural surroundings would most likely have only imperceptibly changed. 

For outside of the human experience there are no clocks or calendars. There is no such thing as 'day', 'night', 'weekend', 'decade', or 'history'. There are no labels for anything because there is no one measuring, calculating, or comparing anything. There is no ‘evolving’ and no ‘purpose for being’.

Which may be something to think about the next time you're sitting in an airport lounge, patiently (or impatiently) waiting for your flight. Look out those big windows, past the busy runway and the planes taxing into position, at the distant horizon where you can see some nature. There, outside of the human drama, the grand and passionate 'telenovela’ we’re all soooo wrapped up in, everything just is.

A War Of Words

 Is taking place within this country and around the world. Various 'camps' are firing salvos at each other and the bombardment is heavy at times but words can only do so much damage. Thus, Citadels remain. 

Reputations and credibility are under attack everywhere you look, many times unfairly so, for in war it is hardly the case where battles are fought fairly. Battles are fought by whatever means are necessary. 

Position is hoped to be gained or maintained in the eyes of the public to keep the voters voting favorably and donors offering their support so that policies can be enacted and laws passed which will be supported by duly appointed, ideologically compatible judges who will act to maintain control of regions so that things remain the same, revert back to the way they used to be, or turn into what they 'ought to be' (but not into what they ideally could be). 

Lies and disinformation thus abound. Doublespeak is rampant. Misdirection is employed to divert attention from possible collusion. This faction, or that one, supports a cause which seems to be at odds with the very premise of its existence. Boundaries are blurred and lines are crossed, again and again. 

Social media is the new banner that the troops rally behind. There are likes and dislikes, retweets, reposts, Twitterstorms, and furious platform-enabled fusillades against opponents. Thoughts flow back and forth along digital paths at the speed of light, inspiring, inciting, involving, and annoying readers/viewers, compelling and repelling followers. 

The context from which something that was said is placed within, the particular vernacular that was used, and even the tone of voice that something was uttered in in these hypersensitive times could be cause for vehement response. Flurries of positive/negative reactions issue forth hot on the heels of any newsworthy event. 

Shameless and blameless many have become, who have seen previously closed doors become open to them due to the brash behavior of the ones who have forged ahead, damn any 'rules' of propriety.

“Oh.. ..o.. ..say can you see…”

Julia Kouzenkov- Unsplash.com

Anything goes at this point. Backlashes are weathered like sudden storms then up pops the weasel again. 

Incredulity gives way to resignation. Boys will be boys, and formerly closed Good Old Boys clubs now embrace many women 'on message' with the cause.

Crude and rude gets the job done and if it's ugly, avert your eyes. Remove yourself from the arena if you can't cowboy up.

Bullies rule the playground but bullies were never known to be smart so how long can this last in the age of the smart phone? You did not win that many ones' undying support. Builders of society you are not, though throne sitters you may be, and despite the disease extant at certain levels of the organization the greater body of citizenry quietly follows the tried and true path of survival- cooperation, harmony, and balance. 

It's too bad that reason seems to have had its season and that deviousness is now trying to get its day in the sun but it is what it is. Madness only exists inside The Citadels for outside of nonsense exists order, which must be so for a thing such as The Citadel, wherever it may be, to even exist. 

In olden times pieces of metal would be flying through the air, trying to wear The Citadel down, while those within The Citadel would be launching projectiles intending to harm the attackers. Be thankful now in these times that the only armaments employed are words. In this way we can be said to have 'evolved'. 

This present day war of words will only end when each participant goes within to measure what is being said against what they themselves reason to be true, for truth is desperately being attempted to be obscured by smirking Know It Alls who ask you to accept their version of reality as Said and Done while another version of reality is being presented by a courageous contingent for you to consider. To make matters even more vexing, all of this is being quickly clouded over on a daily basis by the acrid smoke and enveloping mists of an ongoing battle.

But the end is certain. Reason must prevail. The only question is, when? How long can those within the halls of untruth hope to hold out? Fervently they maintain their positions, never giving an inch, for to them doing so means 'death'. Giving in means compromising and not wanting to compromise is what the battle is really all about. Those within The Citadels fear giving up what they have gained for they imagine the enemy to be just as vicious as they. They will be subjugated, reduced in number, and steadily lessened in power for in their minds compassion does not exist, thus they believe this is also true in the minds of 'the enemy'. 

  Holdouts, they are, in a changing humanity, trying to support their cause by hopeless means. Baseless lies and distorted facts only undermine their credibility and over time their base will erode after they see non-results from failed policies. Defections will increase and the media supporting the cause will speak into an ever more hollowed-out and echoey void.

Come eventual ‘victory’ then, vengeance the 'victors' will not seek, for there is room for all in a sane and progressive world.

(The real truth, of course, being that most of us have already moved on).