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| www.douglasmckee.com September 24, 2008 |
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The Armageddon Process |
| Armageddon is seen as the archetypical battle between good and evil, and the end of the world as we know it. It should be fairly obvious by now to almost everyone who reads the news, that the destruction of modern civilization has become a real possibility. The current leaders around the globe are obviously no more intelligent than those of ancient Egypt, Greece, or Rome. No civilizations have ever made it past this point in development; the point at which their governments have started wars they cannot win, with money they did not have and, in doing so, have bankrupted future generations by obligating them to pay for it. Why is this? What drives successful governments to commit cultural suicide over and over again on behalf of the people they have sworn to protect? Who would ever consider a civilization's very success as the seed of its failure? Every successful venture begins with one person who has a vision and a goal. This person is a "doer" and gets things done. If the venture is large enough, other people, capabilities and supplies are enlisted, an agenda is laid out and everyone moves forward, doing their part, to the accomplishment of the goal. This is not rocket science. It's simply the process involved in getting something done, and it doesn't matter if the goal is individual, familial, corporate, cultural, or even governmental. The important point here, from a higher perspective, isn't even the "doer," it's the process going on behind the scenes. If the venture is sufficiently large and ongoing, people and skills need to be enlisted to support and maintain the efforts of the doers. The personality of the supporters and maintainers is usually very different from the doers. Their vision and drive is not necessarily greater than the task they are asked to perform to facilitate the doers, and the doers are not often called upon to share their vision or explain it to the supporters because that vision and drive is not required for a supporter to do their part. If the venture grows, eventually the drive and vision that started the process is forgotten and the agenda of supporting and maintaining becomes the reason for the ventures continued existence. The personality of the subsequent generations of supporters evolves into that of maintainers, making sure nothing upsets the part of the process in which they are involved so the venture can continue. This is the seed of destruction. A maintainer is focused on problems, not solutions, because the solution is already rigidly defined in his task. The status quo has become the goal. It is quite evident in looking at governments, corporations, religions, and quasi-governmental entities around the world, such as healthcare and education, that all are focused on "the problem." There is no vision, drive or support for any real solution, for a real solution would require a significant change in their process, and there is simply no support for that kind of change either from the maintainers above them or below them. The only way to keep such a system going is to disempower anyone who has anything to do with the system, thereby eliminating any threat. At the most critical time in mankind's development, supposed leaders, the majority of whom are nothing more than maintainers themselves who have floated to the top by pretending to have a new vision, are only interested in what they see as problems. Assigning blame and justifying their actions remains their main focus and "don’t really change anything" their credo. Their position depends on keeping the organization that maintains their position the same. So what has all this to do with Armageddon? Look at the world. We are on the brink of destroying all the amazing advancements the human race has made and there is truly no voice of reason, no single leader has come forth with any valid solutions. All the voices heard are raised in anger, fear, and greed, pointing out the justification for continuing on the path to our destruction. The media is the tool used to convince us that this insanity is the best course; that war is a solution for anything; and that complacency is what we and our children need most. It appears that most of our leaders today are not much more than children involved in "he said/she said" so they are justified in doing what they did or what they want to do. Megiddo, according to history, was a valley in which many "decisive" battles were fought. Maybe they weren't quite as decisive as the combatants thought, having been repeated so many times without a hint of a lasting solution. The focus on the middle east, the current dependence on oil and the wealth it has created, have once again poised the military might of the world to duke, or nuke, it out to see which tribe gets away with the sp(oils) this time. The rhetoric by politicians and priests has ignited insane actions by many fundamentalist groups, which has only served as justification by the larger fundamentalist groups to demand protection of their interests by the politicians who started it all. Has there ever been a time in history that cries out for solutions louder than now? Who will step up with a solution, any kind of solution that doesn't include bullets and bombs? Who will disempower war by seeking peace? It might be helpful in asking, "Who is actually involved in the fighting? Is it the people in the neighborhoods and small towns? Is it you or I, or my children?" It isn't now, and it never has been. Is there anyone who can interrupt the slide into the abyss? As always, there is a hero in the shadows waiting to come forth at the critical time to turn the tide of battle and rescue the day. Today's hero, however, is each of us who are non-combatants. Our task is to choose to focus our lives on finding solutions, both in our personal lives and then, and only then, looking outside of our own homes to see what else needs to be done. Individuals choose to give power to a system or to hold it for themselves. If they give it away they no longer have it to find solutions for themselves. Without the support of the common man and woman, the maintainers can not build the critical cultural momentum necessary for war. The only possible solution is that we each must awaken to the danger looming over us and, in spite of it, focus on finding solutions for ourselves and for our children. If enough of us do this, the emotional rhetoric for war will simply fall on ears not tuned to war, and we will survive, something no civilization in this position has ever done before. The peoples of the world are so used to being focused on the problems that it has become simply a habit. It might not even occur to them to look for solutions, but the choice to seek solutions instead of focusing on the problems is the only hope the world has. When we focus on problems we are driven apart. When we seek solutions we are brought together. The choice begins in our heart and in our home, nowhere else. |
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