Power takes as ingratitude the writhing of its victims. ~ Tagore
The primary institutional form of Empire has morphed from the city-state to the nation-state to the global corporation, but the underlying pattern of domination remains. It is axiomatic: for a few to be on top, many must be on the bottom. The powerful control and institutionalize the processes by which it will be decided who enjoys the privilege and who pays the price, a choice that commonly results in arbitrarily excluding from power whole groups of persons based on race and gender.
Troubling truth Herein lies a crucial insight. If we look for the source of the social pathologies increasingly evident in our culture, we find they have a common origin in the dominator relations of Empire that have survived largely intact in spite of the democratic reforms of the past two centuries. The sexism, racism, economic injustice, violence, and environmental destruction that have plagued human societies for 5,000 years, and have now brought us to the brink of a potential terminal crisis, all flow from this common source. Freeing ourselves from these pathologies depends on a common solution—replacing the underlying dominator cultures and institutions of Empire with the partnership cultures and institutions of Earth Community. Unfortunately, we cannot look to imperial power holders to lead the way.
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Break the silence, end the isolation, change the story
We humans live by stories. The key to making a choice for Earth Community is recognizing that the foundation of Empire’s power does not lie in its instruments of physical violence. It lies in Empire’s ability to control the stories by which we define ourselves and our possibilities in order to perpetuate the myths on which the legitimacy of the dominator relations of Empire depend. To change the human future, we must change our defining stories
For 5,000 years, the ruling class has cultivated, rewarded, and amplified the voices of those storytellers whose stories affirm the righteousness of Empire and deny the higher-order potentials of our nature that would allow us to live with one another in peace and cooperation. There have always been those among us who sense the possibilities of Earth Community, but their stories have been marginalized or silenced by Empire’s instruments of intimidation. The stories endlessly repeated by the scribes of Empire become the stories most believed. Stories of more hopeful possibilities go unheard or unheeded and those who discern the truth are unable to identify and support one another in the common cause of truth telling. Fortunately, the new communications technologies are breaking this pattern. As truth-tellers reach a wider audience, the myths of Empire become harder to maintain.
http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1463And the power holders WILL NOT lead the way out of empire, in fact power holders will GET IN THE WAY.
By preventing and punishing public food sharing,
http://www.nlchp.org/content/pubs/Feeding_Intolerance.07.pdf.criminalizing homelessness and poverty,
http://www.nlchp.org/view_release.cfm?PRID=59http://www.peaceworkmagazine.org/pwork/0200/0208.htmhttp://exodusmentality.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-to-criminalize-poverty.htmlA cultural imperative of denial about trauma,domination and other forms of abuses that can and does inflict real harm.
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~alb/misc/mindControlDenial.htmlhttp://artsandminds.typepad.com/artsandminds/2007/11/anger-with-deni.htmlhttp://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/workabus.htmStigmatizing and mistreating the mentally ill who are suffering emotional pain under the domination system
http://www.szasz.com/phlogiston.htmlhttp://writhesafely.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/what-are-we-talking-about/Demands for conformity by dominator's be it by controlling others dress ,speech,ideas,gender or religion.
http://www.helium.com/tm/343561/society-values-conformity-questionhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/15/AR2007111502482_pf.htmlBy teaching and culturally encouraging or tolerating people to hate the weak blame the victims,and turn away and by stand during times of stress.
http://www.ovc.gov/publications/infores/fptp/bti.htmhttp://www.waragainsttheweak.com/http://www.newsreview.com/reno/Content?oid=558700All these tactics and more work to undermine individuals getting to know one another as people or friends,by sharing food,by hanging out by relating to one another..when a community grows stronger than the empire the dominator's profiting off our collective misery poverty insanity and lives not lived, will be forced to change or die. 5,000 years is ENOUGH.