A People’s Upwising – An Idea Whose Time Has Come
A Special July 4th Message
“In the past, angry masses would rise up to overthrow the system. But revolutionary uprisings just keep us on the karmic wheel, revolving on the same not-so-merry-go-round. What we need now is an evolutionary UPWISING to OVERGROW the system.” – Swami Beyondananda
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence next year, what Abraham Lincoln termed “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” is – depending on your level of despair – either on life support, or death watch.
A president-elect who promised to “clean the swamp” is going one better – he’s building a detention camp in it.
Meanwhile, the “opposition” has limited itself to that option – opposing what it doesn’t want, having failed to articulate a compelling, unifying vision for the future. And yes, “No Kings” makes sense, particularly when the king portrayed in the current newsreels seems a lot like King Kong – clinging to a phallic symbol, a terrified maiden in his grip, fighting off the slings and arrows of outrageous biplanes.
But that’s just the movie playing.
There’s a deeper story, yet unwritten, and it is up to you and me to write it.
Because if we go back to the Declaration of Independence – amplified by the Bill of Rights and the Constitution – the true “king”, the designated sovereign, is none other than We the People. Both these documents have come under attack in recent decades by certain elements on the left, railing about how they were written by white men, many of them slave-holders. That’s part of the “flattening” of history, where those who lived centuries ago are held to modern standards of understanding.
Say what you will, our Founders DID honor Native Peoples in one important sense. Benjamin Franklin, for one, was impressed with the Iroquois Nations’ enduring alliance and structures of governance. It was a speech and demonstration by Chief Canassatego on a previous July 4th – 1744 – that gave Franklin the inspiration for a “united states.” The idea of “balance of powers” also came from the Iroquois.
The one Iroquois structure our Founding “Fathers” were unable to wrap themselves around was the Council of Grandmothers. In the Iroquois Nation, it was the women elders who made the final decision about going to war or impeaching an unscrupulous or incompetent chief. Again, our Founders were captives of their times. Somehow the guys couldn’t imagine running their plans by Martha, Dolley, Abigail, or Betsy.
That failure to integrate feminine wisdom is likely one of the chief causes of the “shituation” we find ourselves in today, where we seem to have woven ourselves outside the web of life and the web of love, and the two “sides” – an over-masculinized right and over-feminized left – are stuck in intractable conflict, when a wiser culture would have them working together.
And the good news is …?
In these apocalyptic times, the veils are being lifted and the “irony curtain” is coming down, as more and more of us are awakening to the toxic insanity of being locked on to an old lose-lose battlefield, and are seeking the win-win playing field where, in Swami’s words we “bring left and right front and center to face the music and dance together – and turn the funk into function and leave the junk at the junction.”
Weaponized Narratives and Selective Outrage
What makes this “upwising” more challenging is that we are being relentlessly bombarded by partisan narratives demonizing the other and denying our own side’s perpetrations.
Most people almost automatically forward their side’s weaponized barbs, without considering either the point or the purpose. Both sides do this. An example comes to mind from a month or two ago, when I received emails from several thoughtful, “evolutionary” friends about how Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. took his grandkids swimming in the polluted Rock Creek Park.
So, what?
If one of the kids got sick, that would be news.
The main purpose was to smear RFK, Jr. – not criticize any policies or positions – but essentially as “character-wounding” (a kinder, gentler form of character assassination).
Forwarding these messages without thinking seems to be a Pavlovian response, as each side seems to have a “Salivation Army” ready to drool on command when their side’s influencers tell them to. As I said, both sides do this. Almost daily I get a news post from some right-wing source highlighting a crime perpetrated by an “illegal alien” or a story of incompetence by someone in position because of DEI.
I call it “selective outrage,” where your side up-plays some egregious act (did you see what those bastards did??? Send us $3) and downplays a parallel situation they’d rather have us not look at. Consider the ongoing outrage about how DOGE defunded all these programs, displaced workers, and shut of the flow of resources to those who need them most. Fair enough. But how outraged were those same folks when the lockdowns forced an estimated 200,000 small businesses out of business, while conglomerates like Walmart, McDonald’s and Amazon did just fine?
Again … all of these issues are complex and can’t be encompassed by a single sound-bite – or maybe they should be called “sound barks” because they are worse than the sound bites.
Seriously, where do we go to find nuanced, intelligent conversations that seek the whole truth together?
For that, you have to venture outside the mainstream media corral, where you are kept on the battlefield defending your side’s “lesser evil,” and engage on a new playing field where differing viewpoints can discover, explore and create the “greater good” we all desire.
And that brings us to some really good news. I hope you are ready to receive it.
WARNING: Contents of This Podcast May Be Detrimental to the Status Quo
If you’re feeling politically hopeless, homeless, disheartened …I would like to offer you a two-hour, deep-dive, heartfelt conversation between Sen. Bernie Sanders, and podcaster Joe Rogan, who at first glance seem to be representing different sides on the political battlefield.
This conversation, however, takes place on a higher, deeper, wiser playing field. If ever there were evidence that individuals on the MAGA right and on the progressive left want many of the same things, this is it. Instead of sound (or perhaps unsound) bites lobbed at one another over a brick wall, this is a long form conversation, that is both heart-centered and willing to confront differing viewpoints and disagreements.
I suggest watching it with family and friends as part of your July 4th celebration.
Interestingly, when you Google the commentary without watching the conversation, you get the impression – from both left and right sources -- that this was some kind of battle. Some of the adjectives you’ll see are “blunt reply” …“clashes”… “spars” … “roasts.” And while the two disagreed on certain issues – a few times sharply – this was a true conversation for possibilities, where more often than not the two firmly agreed that most Americans want the same things but are being kept from conversations like these by toxic, misleading and divisive narratives.
If Bernie and Joe were “at each other’s throats,” it was more like pussycat nuzzling than bulldog snarling. As I said, see for yourself. Because the future of American politics – if there is to be one – involves a critical mass of the heretofore uncritical masses stepping off the battlefield of autoimmune dysfunction where the body politic devours itself, and onto a playing field where in mutual regard, kindness and curiosity we seek the whole truth together.
So …if we really want something to celebrate together next year for America’s Semiquincentennial (that’s what it’s called, I looked it up), the one thing all of us can declare our independence from, are the weaponized narratives we’ve been using against one another.
As I’ve observed before, in the old days, dominator systems were kept in place by tanks. Now, when the battlefield is in and for our minds, the divide-and-conquer dominators use think tanks.
Try this experiment.
Next time you get a communiqué from “your” side, before you hit send to share it with your friends, ask yourself, “What is the purpose of this message?” Is it to inform, or inflame? Does it create clarity, or does it reinforce conflict?
Then, if you dare, allow yourself to receive messages from the “other side” (and you know I don’t mean deceased relatives). There, you will likewise find inflammatory, distorted messages designed to make you angry or fearful or both.
Take the meta-view, and recognize that our true adversary is not this party or the other party but the entire “two-potty system” that keeps us in political diapers.
It has been said that the United States is at age 249, a “young country.” We are still going through our adolescence (or as Swami calls it, “addled-essence” where our essence has been addled by distorted belief systems, aka B.S.). Only a mature body politic can fulfill the legacy that has been given to us.
We’ve had the Revolution to give us inspiration and aspirations.
The Evolution is up to us.
JOIN THE UPWISING!
Thanks. Is this you?
Thanks, Zoe. This one is a tough one because our "tribes" tend to want to keep us toeing the party line ... so we have to create a new movement where everyone is invited to the party.