VISIONARIES UNITE - ALL PROPHESY IS SELF-FULFILLING
Yes, prophesy has been notoriously unreliable in predicting specific dates for the restoration of Eden. Yes, its true, anyone can say it - 'Son, I have a vision'. For the most part I believe most of these people do have a vision of a better world - I am a visionary myself - yet I would have to be terribly arrogant and gullible to give a great deal of credence to even my own inner visions, at least not without providing some evidence that such a thing is at least possible in the outside world.
If all visionaries worked this way there would be very little difference between, say, Karl Marx's analytical approach to his imaginings of a possible better world and those who simply say "I saw it, and I AM always right". This is my vision for visionaries - to have our dreams and make them reality through our actions.
IMAGINE - WHAT IS THE MOST PERFECT WAY THAT WE COULD BE?
Imagine - what is the most perfect way that we, the human race, could be? Whatever you have just imagined it is likely to seem that a miracle is necessary to make anything like this happen - indeed, miracles have long been useful tools in the past for persuading people to believe in something that they might not otherwise have thought is possible. In this credulous age it is asking for ridicule to recall miracles (however real they are) when talking about 'political' reorganisation. Many spiritual teachers seem to get away with it - yet it is still in some ways counter-productive even for the gurus, it certainly deepens the divide between the secular and the spiritual, who often actually appear to share a very similar vision for a better world, yet their dialogue is ruined by the fact that they cannot stop laughing at each other.
Returning to your vision for the most perfect way that we could be - whatever you imagined, it is likely that your vision would include everyone being clothed and fed. Looking at the ideas for how the world could be organised - this is a goal the majority seem to share.
'The greatest miracle is this - when hungry I eat, when tired I sleep' Zen Master
Any system that ensures that everyone has a home and food on the table is at least giving each and every man, woman and child the possibility of achieving this 'miracle' for themselves. Couldn't a form of slavery answer this question? If a slave refuses to do the work allotted to him is he fed and housed? Has he ceased to be somebody?
But, as I was saying - is this possible? Those who share one vision need to be able to say 'hey, this is a really good idea and its really possible - lets make it happen!' - yet they also need to explain their vision and substantiate their views to both the spiritual and the rationalist/positivist audiences. At the end of the day we share one World, and it is not necessary, or even particularly useful, to try and persuade Atheist humanists that we can meditate the planet to a higher state of consciousness, or that there is some greater immanent consciousness that could simply flip a switch and ABRAHADABRA - hey presto, here come the four horseman of the apocalypse!
How can we establish whether real change is possible? In order to establish the actual likelihood of the existing establishment being ripped away in 2012 (or soon, at least) the first thing it is necessary to establish is who is (and who isn't ) on board for extreme change. Surely most people would like 'a better system' - yet they are understandably sceptical that such a thing is possible. Only once people are convinced it is possible will they engage with what kind of system would be best. If we can argue that it is actually inevitable and desirable people WILL begin to engage with the concept of
Why do we need to know is on board?
"The only factors common to both Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry are the central idea of the creation of an ideal society and the use of allegory and symbolism to impart this ideal to initiates."
We also need work out what differences there are in the kind of global system that is favoured by different individuals, organisations and other social subsets and how extreme these differences are. This is crucial - short of a miracle (I anticipate many, but promise none), only if we strive to accelerate the reconciliation of such divisions and further the co-ordination of our efforts towards our common destination can we achieve our common aims, while at the same time minimising the political & military conflicts characteristic of this age at the genesis of the new. People's ideas are clearly converging - values like equality, diversity and tolerance are not the preserve of Humanist Atheists - yet are they converging enough to initiate real global social change without the need for a Third World War? (which would more than likely alleviate ALL human sufffering)
2012? I care about this date, for it appears in my fictional writing from the age of 15 with no knowledge about Mayans or any of that (its a miracle!). But this isn't my reason, miracles and visions are old hat, the reason is that I am getting seriously pissed off. This is my deadline, and after this date I will have to seriously question my absolute commitment to achieving this global revolution by pacifist means, unless I can see some real progress by this date. I am sure there are a lot of other people who feel the same way
A fragment about the drugs...
I feel very strongly that the heavy-handed attempts to control ently 'illicit substances' severely exacerbates the potential problems and causes many more that would not exist if they were integrated and understood within our culture. Timothy Leary speaks at length on the importance of 'set and setting' - he did not experience the catastrophes of Ken Kesey's haphazard experimentation with psychedelics. If people want to take risks like Ken Kesey? Let them - but also let them know the risks, and work out a better of way of doing it with less risks - then see which one they will choose.
If the focus was on the quality of the experience there would be no point in seeking a better quality through taking larger quantities more regularly - this does not provide a better experience, it ruins lives through addiction, organ failure and the fall out from psychedelic freak-outs and stimulant fuelled violence and crime.. A more responsible attitude to their use would clearly produce fewer casualties than an outright ban.
Perhaps most importantly - drugs will clearly be produced and consumed whatever, legalisation would stop the war on drugs, which is a real war, which sees real poor civilian farmers from third world countries having their livelihoods burned to the ground by Americans in helicopters, simply because alcohol is an acceptable means of social control and other drugs are felt to threaten to liberate people from the need to accrue more and more and more material things for their happiness, just to feed the unsustainable growth of the consumerist capitalist economies.
Over the past few centuries the whole world has become a police state - how did this happen? A major reason is the enormous amount of time and resources wasted policing the production and consumption of a commodity that would in all probability be consumed and produced less if people simply had the freedom to choose, and everything was out in the open.
Look what becomes of sex when it is treated as a commodity - the holy of holies becomes cheapened and robbed of its essential meaning. Just as all sex should be treated as a sacred sacrament - this applies to drugs. Two of the most beautiful experiences in all creation are turned to shit by the evil that is money.
This is not to say that drugs are necessary or the best and purest means of spiritual development, but with appropriate guidance they have the potential to democratise something of the deeper mystical communion and spiritual experiences normally reserved for monks. Of course - wider acceptance and tuition in meditative practices without the use of drugs should also brought further into the mainstream -this would certainly further reduce the population's desire to take drugs as a short-cut to happiness or for mystical communion, and those who did still adventure into the psychedelic realms would be less likely to be alarmed at what they found out about their own contents.
