Interdependence - more power irritation

It is hard to write about such a movie as Crossroads that does not recognise the power issue. My continuous reaction is good idea but what about the power reality.

The first X-roads theme was interdependence, and it began with a global risk strategist talking about the connections. The strategist did not say that the 1% allow these problems to happen because they still maintain their income.

A guy, Jairon C Guesta, talks about Nature, how our economy exploits Nature, that is then based on our social values that is connected to our psychological and emotional systems and all our actions. This again is an important error in focus. Who is the we? I have never made decisions that would support the exploitation of Nature as discussed by Jairon. The vast majority of people do not support such exploitation. At worst a significant proportion of people trust government to control corporations to prevent unnecessary exploitation, but such blind faith can only tentatively be called a value of such people, it would be better described as abdication of responsibility. It is the same point, it is not we who decide it is a decision of the 1% that most people cowtow to including tacitly the speakers in this film who make their money from the existing system, compromise with it and don't spend their time fighting the misuses of the 1%.

The next speaker, Michael Laitman, in this clip talks of governments not having the ability to manage the people. The governments are still the same, the economy still provides the 1% with profits in all the countries, and these vast numbers of people are on the streets fighting the 1% whilst academics pontificate. Laitman cites these struggles as being interdependence demonstrating a "law that is characteristic of integrated systems". He claims world leaders cannot realise their decisions and in the movie actors portray headless chicken activity. This is far from reality. The reality is that business continues to accumulate profits, governments are blamed for ineptitude, and politicians get their pay-offs when leaving office after being the required receptionist in government. Such an analysis whilst correctly identifying the importance of interdependence, what used to be called the mass movement, does not sufficiently analyse the power structures and their objectives.

The next speaker, Amit Goswami, talks about Egolution recognising that the problem is ego. He then goes on about this ego in terms of the survival instinct producing competition as if it is the survival instinct that is the dominant idea leading to the egotism that is screwing up the world. Very simply competition has become misplaced, instead of it being a drive to help personally improve ourselves by competing with ourselves. No, the idea of the survival instinct leads to competition leading eventually to exploitation by the 1% - he didn't make all those leaps. Misplaced competitive ego contributes to the problem but the few controlling the reins of power prevent those who want to withdraw from the world of competition from doing so. It is not an idea, an individual choice but power, power that misuses competitive ego.

They then go on to suggest that this power is simply social control ie that it is society trying to control itself. Of course there are cultural impositions in society that control. The Ash experiment is one example of social control - 10.31mins, and it led Jairon C Guesta to ask what way have we been using the influence of society? This question is of course completely misdirected, in what way have the 1% been manipulating society to enable their profit-making? It is not we, society, who are at fault but those who are manipulating society for their own greed and ego. It is not social control but 1% social manipulation, an important non-intellectual difference. There is a term, social contagion, described from 15.00 mins, we identify with group characteristics. Actions, happiness etc depend on those in the group. This type of conclusion is fundamentally describing herd responses but we are not just herd animals. Sadly some humans are herd animals, some choose to behave like herd animals abdicating reponsibility, and others begin to seek out their own individuality not as separate beings but as being on the Path. Would someone on the Path have been weak-willed enough to agree with the actors in the Ash experiment? People cannot tell me there is no chi. One guy, James Fowler, described norms as being transmitted through networks, our friends. Peter Joseph, their integrity is only as good as the integrity around them effectively describing all as herd.

This classification of humans is important in identifying the needs for change. We cannot find change in herd animals nor in those abdicating their responsibililty hiding as herd animals so that leaves the few who are not herd animals who need to effect change, by my description refuse to accept their non-herd responsibility to not compromise with the 1%. But most of these accept being bought off, accept compromise, and can be seen in interviews in films such as Xroads.

In truth though what do they do to get their views across? With this film let me try and answer that. The issue is not getting ideas aired but refusing to compromise with the 1%. Xroads is a movie that supports the 1% because it does not attack them as being responsible. So simply by appearing in this film these people are compromised, no matter that this movie in the end talks about Unity. In a similar vein I should not support Xroads, am I compromised in discussing the movie at length in this blog? Yes. But I want to note what are the contemporary ideas, even so - compromised.