Peter Joseph And Zeitgeist

i wrote when i began this blog that i would rely heavily on the work of others to articulate and expand upon my own views, as a means of transcending some of my own limitations.

peter joseph is a brilliant independent film maker and author. i thought for sure i'd already posted links to some of his work previously here, but apparently i haven't.

the link below is to a youtube video of him talking about his views, how they developed and how his first documentary film, zeitgeist, came to be. it's 50 minutes long and excellent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIinwXB1IqI

he made a series of 3 zeitgeist films. these are apparently no longer available for download on youtube. however, fragments of them are. this link is the beginning of the first zeitgeist movie segment that dealt with the topic of dogmatic religion, focusing on christianity and it's origins:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzMqlsAGL14&t=349s

Doctor My Eyes

lately, whenever i hear the jackson browne song doctor my eyes a particular lyric strikes me:

doctor, my eyes... was i unwise to keep them open for so long?

keeping one's eyes open here being a metaphor for perceiving surreality and in my case continually seeking knowledge which is ultimately unwieldy, burdensome, and permanent.

i've become very reclusive perhaps largely due to what i've learned about nature, humanity. become very disillusioned. learned there is no free will or benevolent god. that life can be a curse as well as a blessing. it's generally a mixed bag, perhaps leaning towards cursed. that civilization is ecocidal, a cancer upon the web of life. that in the process of domesticating other species we domesticated ourselves, which has been both a blessing and a curse. part of civilization's curse is increasingly dystopian human societies, societies dominated by a small number of elites who view the masses with disdain, as farmers view livestock. a useful commodity to be controlled and exploited, whose lives have little or no intrinsic value and are thus expendable, and who either don't know or somehow don't care about ecocide or nthe.

i've learned that sheeple have become appallingly dumbed down and indoctrinated, to the point that it's now perfectly normal, accepted, respected, even encouraged to be foolishly dogmatic, to believe ridiculous and repugnant things (as per some dogmas), to not think critically or even very rationally, to be easily misled and grossly misinformed and misopinionated, bigoted, and to embrace cruel puritanical 'morality' such as that promoted by many 'conservative' religious sects, including very popular ones like the roman catholic church.

while some of the best things like sex are demonized and criminalized by governments drunk on power and callously abusive with it, horrible things like war and often the lies which are concocted to justify 'preemptive' war, are glorified and culturally enshrined (i think that america's romance with it's military veterans is a cagey way to influence the masses to be patriotic and to blindly swallow it's propaganda).

besides the sheer stupidity/irrationality of our dystopian society/species, or a part of it, is a lack of healthy curiosity and skepticism of 'authority'. in my experience, sheeple shy away from disillusionment and the knowledge that leads to it. they prefer the blue pill (anxiety obliterating ignorance) over the red pill (unwieldy, burdensome, permanent knowledge).

knowledge which arguably is worthless. i suppose it's only value is one can act appropriately to minimize future shock and suffering. knowing that our fool's paradise is nearing it's entirely predictable and tragic end, one can opt out of reproducing, limit one's consumption and do other things to at least make some small improvement in someone's life besides your own. one may prep in hope of surviving longer than those who will be stunned and unprepared for teotwawki. one may even find some meaning and derive some satisfaction in doing so.

i'm reasonably certain that nothing can or will be done to avoid or significantly soften the blow of teotwawki upon the masses. only then will we learn the bitter truth: that homo sapiens are little if any different from 'lower' species regarding ecological (population) overshoot and subsequent collapse. i've rather blithely accepted this, just as we all must accept mortality.

the hard part is accepting and dealing with the knowledge that sheeple generally are hopelessly irrational or stupid, and worse prone to violence and cruelty, to demonizing and persecuting, torture and murder, much like nazis and fascists the world over, behind facades of 'humanity'.

the hardest part is knowing all this and being impotent to change any of it, at least not substantially, and feeling somewhat justly ashamed for not even trying to 'save the planet' and ourselves, like climate activists, young and old are doing, as in extinction rebellion.

maybe the hardest part is social alienation and isolation.

perhaps i can only relate well now with those who roughly share my d n d views. those who well perceive the current and coming nightmare and who like me have more or less accepted fate and our essential impotence, but also like me can't just let it go and forget about it. those who wish to talk about it and to try to spread awareness, get reluctant sheeple to take and swallow the bitter red pill.

it seems the right, the 'moral' thing to do. better than doing nothing.

being disillusioned severely complicates relationships formed prior to becoming disillusioned, as is the case with long standing relatives and friends. it's a way of radically growing apart. it's happened to me, and i'm struggling with it. part of me wants to end these relationships, while another part can't let go.

perhaps the hardest part is being unable to find or connect with anyone who meets this prerequisite, and is otherwise compatible. if i am to more or less sever old relationships, including close relatives, i must first find at least one other sherson who can sympathize, relate, and be able to provide support and guidance. someone who in the process would effectively compensate somewhat for those losses. someone who could effectively become part of a new family with me.

i've been looking for such a one for many years now, with no success. in this case hope still springs, but the more brutally rational side of me knows it's little warranted. it seems to be my peculiar fate to have to face the present and the future essentially alone.

Doctor, my eyes
Tell me what is wrong
Was I unwise to leave them open for so long?

https://www.google.com/search?q=doctor%2C+my+eyes&rlz=1C1CHKW_enUS486US743&oq=doctor%2C+my+eyes&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8