BOOK SEVEN

Global Sorrow, Authority, and the Mind of the Child

though we may see outwardly
- if we bother to look at the whole picture and ourselves in it -
the greatest changes in human history goin on all around us
we seem to act as if we are not part of it
as if it were all happening beyond our control

but buddy i'm here to tell ya
look right down there
at the nose on yo face
- it's as obvious as that -

did ya ever notice there's a connection there
between ya hand and ya head?
yeah?
well
it just so happens
there is a connection
between yourself and the world

you're connected to the whole world, not just your usual, familiar corner of it

i wonder why we do not ceaselessly question our existence
when we look at the stars in the sky
when our children exhibit their pain and confusion
when we witness the atrocities of poverty and war on global scale
or
when the first shades of green
on a warm, sunny, spring day
light up the grass and shrubs
beneath the barren trees
through which the light blue sky and billowing clouds hug the Earth
and the cool breeze carries the sweet, pungent scent of fresh growth
and the Earth throbs with a new found energy
or
when the destruction of the environment
threatens the whole of life on the planet

Is there, simply, no wonder or concern at all? Or is our wonder and concern buried by our selfish pursuits, or vaporized by fear and ignorance? Or have tradition and belief poisoned the seed of inquiry before it could grow? Or are we unaware that our life and health is dependent upon the well being of the whole world? Are we actually unaware of the facts and their implications? Awareness of the facts is a burning passion, an endless drive to revolution.

The United Nations has reported hundreds of millions of children, worldwide, labor as virtual slaves, in untold pain - deformity, disease, death, and unimaginable loneliness - will you allow yourself to be fully conscious of that?
Manifestations of individual suffering are obvious, everyday events in our world - death and dismemberment in battles of civil, tribal, regional, political, and religious wars, terrorism, political oppression, starvation, poverty, homelessness, joblessness, accidents in the home and on the job and on the road, alcoholism, drug addiction, criminal activities, dysfunctional families, mental and physical disease, injustice and inequality, uncontrollable emotion and unrequited love - the list goes on and on of different forms of sorrow which touch every person's life. To the naming of problems there is no end. And this is the world we have created for our children.

The development of our mind occurs not only as evolution, but perhaps more profoundly during the course of childhood. An individual is born with only 25% of the brain's ultimate growth. The most significant period of development is int the first two years after birth.

What should we teach the children?
God? Country? Race?
If so, what is it we will say about these matters?
We must tell the children the whole truth.

LOOK INTO YOUR OWN SOUL

The pollution of our mind begins in childhood by the parents, (no offense mom) with the fears, traditions, anxieties, beliefs, prejudices, and idiosyncrasies, that were taught them in their turn by their parents. Granted, for the majority of people, there has been no evil intent - but the result remains the same.
Children are perfect learning machines - in spite of what some ignorant parents, teachers, and assorted adults would have you believe - children have clean, unconditioned minds - the most magnificient creation of the universe.
A human being's brain succumbs to a degree of conditioning from the moment the senses come into contact with the world. The most powerful conditioning factor is the child's primary care givers - mainly the parents and siblings, then the rest of the family, the baby sitter and the TV. Whatever the parents are - that will be the children. The children reflect perfectly the environment, dominated by the parents and the culture in which they are raised. So when it seems like there may be something wrong with the kids - there most likely is. Just remember who created and raised them.
There is something primal about power over others, but you might not have noticed unless you had power wielded over yourself, like all children have, and if the power is destructive - and most is - because it forces human beings to fit into this mess - then that will be the power that the child will plug into and get off on over others.

The white man determines the system by which we are judged
- socially, morally, financially, and judicially -
he creates and operates the machine of society
- schools, factories, courts, prisons, armies -
he forces our children
at a certain time, on a certain date, at a certain place
to begin a process of education
- an education by which he sets the standard and brands each child with his grade -

were he not able to do this
- with our cooperation -
he would not be able to control world affairs
for his benefit, at our expense

the child is taken out of her home, away from her family
into an environment controlled by big strangers
who instruct behavior and thought
all day long for at least a dozen years

the instruction of behavior and thought
ingrains in the child's brain
the structure of authority

the child learns her program from the powers that be
- big business -
television, advertising, sports, hollywood movies
- government -
from schools to the police to the president
- religious organizations -
from catholic to muslim

the authorities grade and classify each child
and ranks them in the structure
created by authority

school teaches nothing of truth, intelligence,
or how to live righteously
or how to determine
high quality, good morality, and absolute value
- or what is actually happening in the world or our relationship to that -
more than that, school obscures these aspects of life
because confronting them would be to demand their action of responsibility

in school
were you ever told the plight of third world nations,
the true causes,
or our relationship to those countries?
did they ever explain any of our actions there other than
foreign aid for economic and technological development?
did your teachers ever explain
covert operations to overthrow governments
or military aid to dictators to squash revolts
or which corporations operated in the third world
the reasons why they were there
exactly what their activities were
and the implications and consequences of those activities?

i didn't think so

did anyone ever explain the pledge of allegiance
what it means or why we say it
at an age we could hardly understand what's goin on anyway?

did anyone ever let you know
that the declaration of independence demands
we abolish any government that is destructive
to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

human society puts a heavy mark on the child's mind
when we become aware of the quality of this mark
we will erase it and not allow another

with no marks on their mind
like prison bars in their eyes
the child will come to understand
the infinite possibilities of each moment
and that only one will be reality

and they will know
that what they see with their mind
and what they create with their hand
will be their whole life

and that the closest connection we have
with the spirit of god
- intelligence -
is found in the mirror of human relationship

technology of the highest is here now
thus it is not knowledge we seek
but healthy human contact
- love -

the essence of what we're talkin bout
is we live in a divided, deteriorating world
and we are the cause of it

the kids of today are letting us know
they understand what society values
- where do you think so many of them get the idea life has no value? -

the stress of living in poverty
is like a cancer
that consumes people
right on through generations

human beings face
an evolutionary challenge
of the same nature
as the one the dinosaurs faced
before their extinction

how to adapt to rapid radical changes in the whole living environment

the power structures that control our lives
and our whole world
are violent

why do we act surprised
when the violence reaches street level?

the suppressed rage emerges
in human relationship
in public and private
collectively and individually
casually, intensely, ritualistically, and intimately

in america
street gangs are the most graphic example
of the expression of humanity's deepest psyche
they have fully assimilated the culture in which they were born
they're just like miniature worlds between themselves
power structures in competition
over territory and resources

The Need for Human Contact
- Strong as Hunger -

on up to the psychological hunger
the slavery to image
that rules human relationship
brought about by the media/entertainment industry
- that's how we learn to judge each other -

if you can't afford expensive things
then you're treated bad by society
if you can afford them, then you risk robbery

and if ya aint got no bad attitude ya might get dissed to the max

what's so killin bout it is
our willingness to enslave ourselves
- or rather, our keen desire to do so -

the dominant planetary culture
- america -
sets the stage for our alienated youth

it's that part of being human that cries out for dignity and respect
that produces the current hardcore street attitude
- out of conditions that have been intended to wipe out that part of our humanity -
which just makes it come out that much harder and stronger
- self defense is not violence -

if you feel the need
to holler and scream and curse your children on a regular basis
or at the other extreme
let them run wild in the street
then you've gone too far
and ya better look at the whole thing that's happenin
- where it comes from and where it's goin -
before it comes back round at ya