So what's going on in the world from a Taoist's point of view?
COERCION!!!
Well kinda, from another point of view one could also say this is just business as usual.
But to me these are exciting times because i feel the world is ready for change! The first reason is 2012! I would like to supplement this by saying I am NOT an end of times believer, or dooms day theorist, however I do believe in collective unconscious, and shifts in global realization. I feel that the world is waking up to inefficiencies in the manner in which it is being governed and run. I feel that this is resulting in a shift psychic energy that is manifesting in physical changes in the weather, as well as political and social upheaval. The starts of this have already occurred in many senses.
The first major changes obviously occured during 9-11. The post 9-11 world has awakened people to a certain underlying disharmony that exists despite the "best" efforts to develop structures that minimize the possibility of major conflict in the world. The U.N. for instance was theoretically created to engender a global atmosphere of cooperation and team work. However 9-11 demonstrated ever so concretely to the world that their are major underlying issues that exist behind the veils of statehood and diplomacy. These are issues that in my opinion can not be solved politically. Many may disagree with me on this idea but terrorism is a "grassroots" response to issues that are determined by larger political bodies. The whole problem of terrorism is that it comes from no state, but groups of fanatical/highly motivated peoples. This issue throws the whole idea of the U.N. flat on its face because the U.N. is a political organization. Such an organization can in no way have real experience with the people it's decisions effect. The same I feel is true for most nations to their populaces. The point is (in my opinion) that most nations are too large to govern effectively. The result is that a lot of people get pissed off because they live under suppressing systems that they don't feel provide adequate support for them. In the most extreme of these cases you get radical groups or behavior, and I'm not just talking about Islam.
I mention these previous points not to spark a political debate on ideology however to highlight an important aspect of the very way social politics is being carried out modern day. The commentary is in regards to balance and imbalance due to suppression of natural desire, and it is not exclusive to just politics but pervades almost every paradigm of human social practice on the microcosmic and macro cosmic levels. It also is something that relates to many of the theories discussed in Taoism. To give a broad analysis of the trend I am trying to analyze, I will refer to the phenomenon as "Rigid and suppressive thinking or governing" To keep with the political example I will refer once again to political structures. Examples of "rigid and suppressive thinking" in political structures is founded upon the governing bodies inability to understand the livelihoods of the people they govern. That is to say too many decisions that affect the livelihoods of the general populace are made by individuals who have no experience of the livelihoods of the people their laws effect. Additionally these people have a disproportionate say in the determination, legality and acceptableness of the lives/ actions of others. The result is that a lot of people live under these overarching governing bodies that are incapable of understanding and fulfilling their desires. As a result rigid laws are passed to maintain order that ends up suppressing the true feelings of the little people.
In response you see pent up aggression against the governing structures because they can't adequately take care of people's needs. The actual manifestations of such suppression are displayed in things such as terrorist groups, where people become fanatical by a world that is not listening to them, ignoring their needs and invading their natural sense of liberty. I disagree with the analysis of governments and the news that terrorists are just people who hate America for no reason. I do believe they hate America, I do not believe anyone does something without feeling it worth while to them. I feel their fanaticism is often due to haste and desperation, that it is rather ineffective, and problematic to most peoples lives, but I do believe it is rooted in actual responses to the world they live in. For instance I feel a large sense of dissatisfaction and alienation amongst Arabic people leads the more radical amongst them to find sanctity and hope in fanatical Islam. I think this has been exacerbated by what they may feel as invasive and unfair interference by western countries and international politics.
I also think that those who say this is a phenomenon unique to Islam are blind to how it exists in America too. People forget there are radical and hate driven American groups too, like the KKK, for instance. The KKK is often very religiously motivated, and has been violent against minorities in America. Although I'm not particularly well versed in KKK history or ideology I'm sure it would be easy to demonstrate that they are highly motivated people who do not feel their desires are properly represented or fulfilled by their government or society, and therefore take matters into their own hands. One may say "Well they're not terrorists, they don't bomb buildings in other countries." however the dynamic in America is different then it is in Arabic countries. People forget that the Middle East has been cut up and invaded by western countries and that has left some bitter sentiments. How would America respond if another country came here and said that Delaware had to be converted into a state for Native Americans, and all inhabitants must relocate? I bet the KKK would be attempting to bomb the other country after a while if that were the case.
I'm also not suggesting these radical groups are in the right, I think they are extremist and misguided and their own desires are too rigid to be adequately fulfilled. However i do think, particularly in the America-Middle East case, rigid and coercive actions have suppressed the natural sentiments of the people in those countries, and it has resulted in a lot of disharmony and pent up emotional distress.
That's all for now but I hope to demonstrate in the upcoming posts how current mindsets and political systems are tangling the psychic energy of the globe, that will inevitably result in large social upheavals in the upcoming years. I would also like to demonstrate in the next few posts how Taoism offers a powerful philosophical remedy to many of the complicated tribulations of world politics, and how that remedy will be of a social and cultural manner rather than a political one!!
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