(This is the first message in years. There is much to describe. The beginning is lost, but attempts shall be made to explain how things got where they are...)
The people here are held in some kind of spell of Deep Sleep. This trance of inertia and ennui seems to be maintained by their food supply, which mainly consists of processed foods, adulterated with artificial flavours and additives, yet packaged and advertised to be good and wholesome, nutritious even. Naturally grown crops are sprayed with agro-chemical fertilisers and toxic pesticides in an attempt to increase yields unnaturally and to combat losses from pests who are mutating faster than the pesticides can evolve. The dead animals whose bodies are consumed by the majority of the populace contain lethal bacteria known to cause diseases.
As a result of this poor diet, the people are very prone to illness and their immune systems are continually running low as they try to battle with these toxins. Multi-national pharmaceutical companies have seized upon this fact to create a massive market for crank cures for the many ailments suffered. These products, although dressed up in the scientific jargon so beloved and trusted by the population, do not alleviate the problem, but rather deaden the senses and move the discomfort to another part of the body, calling for other drugs to try and balance these side effects.
It may even be postulated that the food and drug industries are secretly linked at high levels, and operate in conjunction to perpetrate this situation.
The chief agent in this massive (now almost planet-wide) operation is a drug which is found in almost all mass-produced foodstuffs. A stimulant, highly addictive (more so than even the most frowned-upon of the other narcotic substances), yet now completely accepted into contemporary culture as being a necessary part of the human diet, this drug impedes digestion of food and uses up vitamins to break it down into glucose which the body needs. It provides a quick fix of energy and then a long trough of indigestion, during which cravings and depression will fool one into thinking one is hungry and force one to eat more.
This has the effect of making people manic and then depressive, and never in touch with their real emotions. All they can 'feel' is how much stimulant they are riding on. Most of them are completely oblivious to this fact, and will vehemently challenge any such suggestion. People become false, meaningless, shallow; their actions and pursuits tend towards short-term quick-gain minimal-effort at the expense of their environment. Indeed, they become true expressions of their diet.
As a result, there is much unrest and instability. Arguments form easily as people's moods go up and down, often relating to property or land, causing family feuds on one scale and wars on another. Yet as long as everyone fights each other, they remain slaves to the system, and merely serve it.
Those in charge know all about this; they know that to in order to rule others, one must be respected by them, and to gain this respect, one must first have respect for oneself. The rulers know that energy flows from high to low. They know what keeps people down. Their entire system is based on the principle that indigestion breeds low self-esteem. They only pretend to be like everyone else. Shit.
T H I N K A B O U T I T . . .
("Write it down somewhere; I'll use it in my column next week".)
It appears that the reasons behind this dismal state of affairs are complex, but stem from the class structure found in many so-called developed 'civilisations'. Those who wield the power in these patriarchal hierarchies (as opposed to those who would embody power in a matriarchal system of government) seek to control the masses and make them do the hard work, while they live in luxury and reap the benefits. The high priests of consumerist gluttony preach their false values as Righteous and Good, encouraging their minions to work harder to earn more to buy more to eat more to be happier. Yet all the time, the people are unaware that they are being conned, since this has been continuing now for many generations; there are no longer people alive who remember any different, and anyone trying to voice such opinions publicly are quickly silenced or discredited by being labelled as extremists, communists, and such like.
Indeed, one can only understand all this in a practical way, by giving it up completely - 'coming down' and allowing their bodies to cleanse themselves and operate properly without giving in to temptation to take some again. This is an horrendous spiritual battle (to whom everyone else would ignorantly answer "so why do it then?"), yet those who win it shall know true strength of will.
Obstacles will be many; external pressures, memories of pleasure, social 'concern', as well as internal cravings, mood-swings, depression, and physical troughs of fatigue and of logic where body and mind scream out and do their utmost to persuade you that you were mistaken to ever give up. People will treat you differently, and attack you at your weakest times, so it is best to avoid them for a few days while you acclimatise yourself to reality. Gradually, as your true inner strength builds, you will see that those who would intimidate you are the ones with the problem. Learn to avoid them.
December 1997
© copyright Malcolm Smith 2002-04-10 - last updated 2002-06-12