Land of the Gun

'Them people, law enforcement [if you want to call them that] were here and they were shaking in their shoes. They were physically shaking, scared to death. Because certain people, said I'm a radical, I'm a wild man, I got a gun under every arm, if you say anything I'll shoot you. If the people find out how they've been ripped off, and enslaved, they will revolt with the blood running in the streets.' - James Nichols, Bowling for Columbine.

When peoples' riches turn to dust in their hands, they will remember exactly what it is they've always had. Themselves, their family, their roots [perhaps even the source?] Everything that ever mattered. As Nietzsche observed, many acquire wealth and become poorer with it. It is my belief that spiritual and material values are inversely proportional - This is why the great prophets have never sought riches, and the richest men are spiritually bankrupt. Buddha abandoned his palace and manufactured paradise in order to embrace the totality of existence with all its evils. Many a one in this Western culture seek to distance themselves from pain, because they think it evil. Yet suffering is just as much a part of our existence as pleasure is - Pain and pleasure bring each other into sharper definition.

Those who have no concern for their own well-being may well be called self-destructive. Personally apathetic is the correct description. But for those of us who throw our lot in with the rest of existence, all people and animals become almost mirror-like - We see ourselves in everything. Compassion is a necessary [though sometimes slow consequent], and even if the bile of misanthropy should rise in our throat, we know deep down that to find those qualities which make us disgusted with others, sometimes we need look no further than ourselves.

As Lao Tzu says: 'The Master sees his enemy as the shadow that he himself casts'; Carl Jung talks of a repressed shadow-side. They were both talking about the same phenomenon. Stay true to yourself and you will remain true to your people.