I'm from NYC so this day is always a sad day for me on a personal level. NYC the first victim in the modern war on terror. Last night Obama made his speech and it looks like we're off to more war in the same war. More concerning to me is the brewing proxy war in Ukraine between NATO and Russia. This really hits home because I grew up fearing nuclear war, Soviets, and Russians. This is a major part of the narrative of my youth, the good and evil, communism v capitalism, US style freedom v state control. I can clearly recall the stories that I was fascinated by as a kid, the Cold War movies like Red Dawn, War Games, and one of the greatest kitch propaganda films - Rocky 4, in which Rocky goes to Russia and knocks out the larger, scarier Russian (actually Dolph Lundgren) with his superior American heart. In mentioning the Dark Mountain project, Craig also reminded me of another of the great apocalypse Cold War films of my youth, The Day After. I decided to watch it last night after almost 30 years. This film pulls few punches. It does not have a happy ending. I watched the first half, then decided to read some more apocalypse, rather post-apocalypse, literature by Terry Brooks - Armageddon's Children. I hit lights out at 9:30. I awoke at 3AM and my mind was racing. I couldn't sleep. I watched the rest of The Day After and then fell back asleep. I awoke this morning at 5:30 out of dream in which I was leading a young boy through the wreckage of nuclear devastation. He was scared. He didn't look like me, but t think he was me.
The zombies of the day are fear, the industrial military complex, the ever-perpetuating cycle of violence, acceptable losses, collateral damage, assumed superiority, Christians v Muslims, war.
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Your post reminds me of a little thing that happened to me 5-6 years ago...
I was taking a training where we were learning some of Arnold Mindell's techniques. The leaders had us all partnered with one another, and I believe we were supposed to look at one another in silence for a certain amount of time, and afterwards talk about what came up for us from the unconscious, if anything.
So I sat and exchanged a gaze with this beautiful woman... During the debrief as I was talking about my thoughts, it suddenly hit me... and I blurted out: "This wasn't supposed to happen!" People looked at me oddly.... and I said, "My partner is Russian. I grew up in Iowa during the fifties-sixties, and we were convinced that Russia was going to murder us all. My participating in a peaceful workshop partnered with a beautiful Russian woman with lovely eyes is nothing short of a miracle, given the cultural indoctrination I grew up with." It really did astonish me how unlikely that encounter was in light of my upbringing.
Thanks for that, Vicky Jo. I can't entirely imagine the indoctrination you experienced. Mine was a very mixed bag, but I got a heavy dose of that Cold War mentality, and that, mixed with post WWII Jewish paranoia, was enough to make me fear annihilation by Russian ICBMs. At the same time, I was fully aware that the behemoth that was the Soviet Union was not everyday people, because I grew up in NYC and we had everybody there. My education was humanist and compassionate and service oriented, so I had other messages and ways of learning too. It sounds though that your experience was really helpful because you were able to detach the person from the titan. That was never an issue for me. Russians and Soviets for me were always an abstraction to some degree, because I couldn't associate them with real people.
I'm sitting here listening to the spokespeople for the industrial-military complex beat the drums of war on TV tonight. This is a tough one. We're talking about not letting the insanely immature free rein to run the world, and who else qualifies if not ISIL? Yet, our solution to everything (not just terrorists on a murderous rampage through an entire region of the globe) seems to be the military. I thought in response to 9/11 we should have waged a love and respect offensive toward the Middle East to try and rectify how this nation's past policies contributed to that attack and to set a new trajectory. (At the same time, taking intelligence, police, and limited military action along with allies to reduce the ability of Al Queda to carry out more attacks). Instead, a few days after moving to upstate NY listening and watching 9/11 unfold, I also witnessed Dick Cheney roll out his carefully planned oil grab. I mean, it happened on 9/11. Their talking point was about going after nation-states that supported terrorists not just the terrorist organizations. And then, the careful play on the public's fear and rage to somehow brainwash everyone that Iraq was the threat. You can hear it coming from a mile away - that is the next election - if only the president were more aggressive we could lock up those resources for ourselves and prevent those middle eastern (terrorists) from using the mother load of profits to kill westerners. Why, it's downright patriotic to kill and steal! It's only self-defense. What I don't understand is why so many adults don't see the endless nature of this warring and don't want to choose a more radical approach - long-term caring and respectful behavior toward people who are different while employing and upholding democracy. Well, maybe we're just talking about the mechanics of Apocalypse here, how exactly the ship is going down, or your analogy of the zombie army marching on. It's "funny" how the Russians are back now too. I'm afraid this kind of madness is only going to get worse. But I have to think people everywhere will eventually lose the resources and will to fight in far away places as they work instead for their immediate survival.