Responsibility, Blame and the mediated disempowering of the people

Apportioning responsibility, rather than blame, empowers healing AND effective resistance to oppression.... 

Blame is the tool of the oppressor, for it entangles and disguises the various layers of responsibility and is used to confuse those who are in distress... such is the nature of our society that blame and it's partner guilt is more common in law than responsibility or remorse.

As David Smail points out in his Essay "The Moral Tyranny of Therapy" when a person who is in distress present themselves for help, what is left out of the picture is the ways in which Societal Power Relationships mediate in all our lives. What this means is that ALL the responsibility for the distress causes are heaped upon the person seeking help, instead of allocating it where it belongs.

There are powerful Institutions who directly profit from and impose conditions upon people whose effects they know about and routinely disguise, lie and cheat about, and about which Education and National Health Care Services DO NOT examine or reveal in any great detail and consequently those forces are NEVER mentioned AS PART OF THE PICTURE.

If on the other hand, someone in distress hears the following "Well, given the nature of the society into which you were born, the rampant conditioning and violence which characterises it, AND your personal experiences, all of which are at variance to your natural expectations and healthful needs, it's no surprise that you feel as you do. Let's talk about this, shall we?" then the person in distress will immediately heave a sigh of relief and get to work on the issues they face, disentangling those aspects that they themselves are genuinely responsible for or to and begin handing the others back to where they rightfully belong.

This of course is being studiously avoided by mainstream psychiatry, psychotherapy and their various mouth pieces, as much as by the mass media, the Governments, the churches etc etc..... and by MOST official mainstream Charities......

A potent example of this is the phrase oft used "Look at what YOU made me do!"

I KNOW that program because I too used it AGAINST those I bullied or hit out at in irrational anger to justify my behaviour.

As an example of what I am writing about, I can tell you that I suffered from fear and self-loathing for much of my life. This manifested in self-sabotage, depression, irrational anger and other symptoms of distress.

I blamed myself for all those symptoms and others around me did the same, including many 'therapists' and officials.

Only when I was able to discern that it was the conditioning and abuse to which I was exposed to that inculcated that self loathing, as a survival strategy of a small child, (to accept that the adults brutality was justified is a survival strategy) that I was able to address the way I thought and felt about myself and finally release the suppressed pain of the wounding’s that gave rise to those feelings. That was me taking my responsibility, my ability to respond, as my own.

I was then able to apportion responsibility to those who harmed me for such a long time, and then to those Institutions that crafted such conditioning that those people became part of.

And so I no longer ever use that phrase "Look at what you made me do!" as a get out clause or for any other reason.

 .

Kindest regards 


Corneilius 


Do what you love, it's your gift to universe

Trauma and Abuse Dynamics : A flow chart of sorts.

When a trauma event occurs there are possible flows or directions emerge, one direction is life enhancing, the other is life restrictive.

Resolution of trauma requires safety first. If the culture itself is unsafe, then resolution is more difficult to attain. 

Those who resolve the trauma resultant feelings and experiences have restored their natural vitality, their flow, their ability to express authentically (since they do not shut down their feelings) and consequently are better able to respond if another trauma occurs; those who do not resolve the trauma resultant feelings and experiences may be more likely to repeat the cycle of adverse control indefinitely as they become locked into behaviour patterns, many of which are un-conscious - they ought not be 'blamed' or judged for this. 

They need support, understanding, empathy and obviously safety.

The roots of the perception of nature as a 'survival struggle' emerge from this coping mechanism when it is established as a chronic dynamic, andis then  institutionalised, built into the structures of society as those who do not resolve the trauma resultant feelings and experiences WILL build that controlling psychology into whatever they create... 

Of course, it is obvious that it also serves those Institutions (Rulers) to convince others that nature is indeed a 'struggle for survival' because that is used as a justification for their behaviour..... such as 'extirpating' native societies, fighting wars, competing adversely... 

Breaking the cycle is the result of not so much as 'adopting' different behaviours (which mask the insecurity - and is to be found in the use of behaviour modification, outcome based education, punishment, religion, etc etc ); it is a matter of facing the feelings, experiences and perceptions that the trauma generates and resolving them so that one is able to respond rather than react, and that natural vitality, the 'flow' of feeling, of direct perception into the world is restored.

Thrivival and natural dynamic equilibrium converts solar energy into more abundant life processes, utilising Earth materials, to build more topsoil, more abundant life for all; 

Survival Modality seeks to coerce, to solidify and conform material reality to the self limiting perspective of those who rule (and for whom survival is always in question, in that coercion ALWAYS generates resistance) and do so for their own exclusive perceived needs - which are to to maintain control, to keep the feelings at bay.... yet, by ignoring the symptoms, by suppressing them, they bank more and more dysfunction and that can lead to one outcome alone; collapse. 

It might take some time, yet it is inevitable.

Kindest regards

 Corneilius

 Do what you love, it's your gift to universe

Nurture, Nature and the Joy of Sense.

Nurture, Nature and the Joy of Sensory Acuity.

The core biological function of the adult human being is to nurture the true inherent nature of the natural child so that the natural child lives as a natural expression of life itself, of Earths emergent biology. 

Another way to say this is that the core biological function is to improve and or maintain the natural life sustaining habitat of the natural child, and of all natures children.

Reproduction arises not as a means of passing on, but as the companion of death, the companion of those processes that metabolise materials from one form to another, releasing them so that those materials can be utilised by natural living processes to enhance the fecundity of Earths biology. 

To effectively increase fecundity, earth materials have to be gathered, energy has to be expended, so that metabolic processes can act on those materials. This is what plants do, using the freely available energy of the sun to drive photosynthesis. 

Animals consume some of those materials, as do bacteria, and metabolise those materials as an intrinsic part of their living processes. Animals and bacteria also excrete metabolised materials, as well as providing them on their death and decomposition – a process I refer to as bio-returning.

This process increases the available materials for life for all life.

Trees and squirrels, which we can see, need each other. All need bacteria, who remain invisible to us, to do a huge amount of the work required to metabolise materials from one form to another.

All the senses of the human being are emergent properties, crafted by biology, to enable a high degree of functioning within the paradigm I am describing. 

These senses can be seen to operate at both the cellular level, the organ or organism level and the macro level of the habitat. They are all physical interpretations of electromagnetic frequencies that inhere to the fundamental atomic level.

Photosynthesis is a response to photons, to light and is therefore the primary precursor to the human eye, which also responds to light.

The concept of passing on DNA, of the selfish gene, of inheritance itself, is a concept that emerges from within a society that typically expresses power relationships as opposed to egalitarian relationships. 

It is an expression of Empire. For it is the case that all Emperors wish to pass on what they have ‘achieved’ to others whom they are certain will continue that achievement as a form of narcissistic ‘immortality’….. a form of vanity if you will… 

Empire tends to mould the habitat to meets its own perceived needs above the needs of all others – recognition, the placating of hubris, the placating of an irrational fear of nature, all are processes that leads directly to the desire to dominate nature. And with that to dominate ALL people.

And what is truly insane about this desire to dominate is that it negates the ability to truly sense the Earth and the habitat, and each other, with the awesome sensory abilities that inhere to our biological forms, which are freely and unconditionally given and are indeed of such stunning beauty and exquisite pleasure that they define bliss itself.

Empire has come to the party and missed the point completely and is in the process of ruining the party. 

For ALL concerned. Doh!

Kindest regards 

 Corneilius 

 Do what you love, it's your gift to universe

Natural Expectations : a definition

Natural Expectations : a definition

Natural expectations are sets of inherent, intrinsic design implications that emerge from within living organisms.

Another way to express this would be to say that a three legged stool has obvious immediate design implications, as would a mug, or a palm leaf woven basket. The stool is a seat or a table, the mug, an open container with a handle, is for drinking or scooping, the basket is for carrying, or holding objects within it, and it’s strap arrangement, if it has one, might indicate how it is to be carried. It’s an analogy because the stool, the mug nor the basket, are all non ‘living’ ‘things’ and are used by living beings. The materials that comprise those objects may in time be returned to nature, yet they as objects do not live, nor do they grow.

What I am writing about are the natural expectations’ of living processes.

Plants are an expectation of sunlight within certain frequency ranges, varying from plant to plant. Some utilise more direct sunlight than others. Each one has its place.

In the forest habitat Perma-culturists and Forest Gardeners describe 7 layers of light variation, from the ground to the topmost leaves, and have observed that a myriad of different plants work on all those varying levels of light, collectively and individually. Put any one of those plants in a layer it’s not normally naturally part of and it will struggle, and its natural growth cycles will be disrupted. The plants natural expectations are not being met.

Each plant in the web of life provides materials and more often than not often living space for many, many organisms, all of whom are part of the essential optimum health picture. In a forest with many hundreds and thousands of species those relationships will be incredibly interwoven in a non-linear fashion. The entire web is an expression of many, many specific natural expectations being fulfilled. All inter-related! That inter dependence is also part of the natural expectations, or design implications of living processes.

Eyes are an expectation of sunlight within a certain frequency range. We human beings cannot see ultra-violet or infra-red light with our eyes. Yet there are many animals that do use those frequencies. It is interesting to note that civilisation has developed technology to extend our sensory range, to ‘see’ those UV or IR frequencies, primarily as military/security tools and as such mostly for ill.

Ears are an expectation of sound waves. Again there is a limit, a certain frequency range outside of which nothing is sensed by that particular organ or organism or collective of cells operating as they do. Nature has determined this limit. It is no accident. Irrespective of whatever determines such processes, these naturally determined expectations are absolutely meaningful, and of vital importance to all living processes.

Plants need water. Some more than others. The local availability, source and quality of water determines what plants will thrive, and of course those plants will live there and will thrive. Salt Marshes and Bog Marshes are quite differing habitats. A few plants can handle both, most are specific to the precise habitat and it’s variations.

Another way to sense this would be to say that what we see in natural living processes is that those intrinsic, that is to say, essentially innate and natural expectations determine the parameters for the optimum health of any living process. Meeting those natural expectations ensures optimum health.

There is one other natural expectation that inheres to all living processes; that is that there is no such ‘thing’ or ‘concept’ as ‘thrash’, ‘rubbish’ or waste.

Nature does not create any waste. Ever. In natural living processes ALL materials utilised by living processes are returned to the nutrient cycles in forms that other organisms or living processes can metabolise. That return processes is pee-ing, poo-ing, leaf shedding, skin shedding, and of course dieing.

Decaying. Bio-degrading … though I don’t much like that term.

Bio-returning would be a better description, less judgemental.

This constant return of metabolised materials increases the over-all fecundity of the natural habitat. That too is a natural expectation of the entire biota or habitat.

Another way of saying this is that this very simple no-waste principle ensures the continued optimum health and growth of the habitat.

What it means, for me at least, is that EVERYTHING that lives on Earth, and everything done by those living organisms is inter-related, profoundly connected in a vast food web that feeds all life – all waste is food for life - so that life grows ever more abundant on Earth. And each and every living organism is embodied with a set of natural expectations

It follows that even the slightest input of ‘new’ or ‘alien’ materials will have consequences and those consequences cannot be easily predicted, in that because nature has not determined a bio-logical metabolic living process to handle that material, to utilise it and or return it to the nutrient cycle, the ‘new’ or ‘alien’ material can become toxic if it ‘accidentally’ interferes with natural bio-logical processes; though hind sight does of course reveal the extent and depth of those consequences, even as this is strangely ignored by so many in this modern dominant culture.

To recap, ALL natural living processes have specific and precise natural expectations that are intrinsic and that determine the parameters for the optimum health of each living process; and that the constant meeting those expectations at the individual and community levels increases the overall health of the entire species, and those many species living at optimum health, by metabolising materials created by each other they collectively ensure the optimum health of the entire habitat. There is no ‘waste’ in natural processes, because all materials are left in a state that specifically enables them to be metabolised by other living processes. Life feeds life.

Here's my song on this :

Kindest regards

Corneilius

Do what you love, it's your gift to universe

Open Letter to Media 16-6-10 : BP, The Pope and patterns of behaviour

To whom in may concern,

It has been written that the human brain is exceedingly good at observing and discerning patterns. It’s long been 

assumed that this ability is an evolutionary trait, one that supports our ability to thrive, as part of the natural biota of Earth.

I have been observing a pattern throughout my life, and wonder, am I the only one to have observed this pattern? If so, that would make me quite unique, or possibly insane.

If not, then, given that the pattern exists, the question of the sanity of a great number of people arises. People who should know better. People in whom the public trust is placed. 

The pattern I observe concerns the following generic : an incident, or incidents occur in which serious actual harm is caused as a result of the decisions made and actions perpetrated by highly functioning organisations, such as Governments, Churches, Corporations and their leaderships, followed swiftly by denial, spin, obfuscation, and protracted obstruction of serious investigation and/or application of the Law, both National and International.

This pattern can be observed amongst the following : The Canadian Residential School System, The Irish Residential School System, The Aboriginal Australian Residential School System, The Afghan War, The Iraq Wars, The Cuban Sanctions, The Gaza Blockade, The Tobacco Companies denial of the Harm caused by Tobacco, The Bombing of Cambodia, The Oil Blow-out in The Gulf of Mexico. This list is by no means exclusive. I offer it up to give a flavour of the level of harm, the nature of the Organisations and the near ubiquity of this pattern.

Ever since the Blow-out on Deepwater Horizon this April, Tony Hayward, the CEO of BP has been less than candid with regard to this very serious incident. 

It is clear that from the outset, Tony Hayward, and those who advise him and work with him, were more concerned with protecting some inane concept linked to the image and status of BP, (much in the same manner that the current Pope and his colleagues were and remain primarily concerned with protecting the image and status of The Vatican) than in either resolving the situation and/or limiting the harm, never mind being openly truthful as the issues arose.

A pattern observed can lead to a number of conclusions. Depending upon the observers perspective and honesty. So here goes.

If these patterns are to do with healthy thrivival, or even mere survival, as the evolutionary psychologists would have us believe, then it is clear from the above examples that the survival of the Organisation takes priority over all other considerations, including the costs in lives lost and trauma caused to living organisms, be they human or non-human, and with that priority over the damage to the habitat from which we human beings have emerged. 

This is the hidden demon lurking within Richard Dawkins ‘selfish gene’ concept. 

At some point pattern this will inevitably become a liability for the human species, if not for ALL species for all time, because Organisations and Institutions ARE not biological, living entities nor are they adaptations of evolutionary processes. They are artificial structures, imposed by force, upon living processes. 

Given that this IS the case, the pattern of behaviour of Tony Hayward, The Pope and many, many others who occupy ‘leadership’ positions, and indeed populate Institutions at all levels, must be questioned, minutely observed, and ultimately understood to be a real and present danger. Anti-social is too weak a term. Socio-pathic just covers relations within the human dimension. These behaviours are anti-life. The pattern observed is an anti-life pattern. 

The Gulf of Mexico ‘OIL SPILL’ is NOT an ‘accident’. It is the tragic result of an economics based decision making process. It is part of a pattern of negative, environmentally and socially dysfunctional behaviours. 

It is incumbent on all those who have access to the public discourse to engage in the process of honestly appraising these behaviours and of sharing what is known by way of realisable resolution.

This letter is of course addressed to the worlds ‘respected’ media. You have a responsibility, as human beings, as brothers and sisters, as fathers and mothers, as relatives of all life, and you have the means to meet that responsibility. 

Kindest regards 

Corneilius 

 Do what you love, it's your gift to universe