"Control, Control, You Must Learn (Un)Control"

With the latest folly in the tech world and the FCC's blatant failure to realise that having someone as illegitimate as Ajit Pai is a corrupt and dodgy thing, I thought I might reflect upon things. Where do you begin with that?

In essence politics (and that is the forum by which we can best look at the function of our world as a whole) seems to broadly encourage the notion of voting for people on the basis of their ideology. Sometimes those ideas are good, often it's a mixed bag, all too frequently no good whatsoever. Whatever the intent I'd like to suggest that we should stop accepting this given process as a fundamental, unavoidable truth. Of course internet neutrality, at least in the US, is now caught by that notion and like it or not, as with many such matters, contrary to what the official press statements would have you believe all is not rosy. Most people are so busy getting whipped up by the media's current hysterical obsession with global tensions and Trump that they fail to realise we are already in the midst of a war - an information war. All our fundamental freedoms are under attack so plainly that you either you don't wish to see it or you cannot see it simply because it's everywhere - hidden in plain site, often the best place to put the worst matters. So let's cut to the chase, accept that we're in the deep end and consider what can be done to handle this problem. One cannot, or perhaps that ought to be should not, overcome this issue with violence. Of course we have to continue to resist and strive for the better path, but more than that perhaps the most important thing we can do to affect the outcome is resist the urge to violent confrontation and hold commune with that part which no one from the outside can ever truly reach - we have to change ourselves. We have to get used to the idea of attaining our goals whilst simultaneously letting go of our addiction and supplicant attitude to control. That sounds contradictory but it really isn't.. it's just a different approach to everything we've been lead to believe, which in turn is why I would suggest (and have done for a long time) that very central to this is a needed revolution in education, so unworkable and broken as it really presently is. Probably much of that which we have about us in society is fragmented and out of joint because we try to exert a forceful nature over matters which simply will not yield, whether man vs an act of nature or between groups of people, and the harder you push against the grain the worse matters become. One thing you can guarantee, and it has been the source of much harm in our time, is that humanity as a whole is a real force to be reckoned with, but that should not be let off the leash chaotically. This is where we fail, since that is precisely the aspect of ourselves which is most undermined, in exchange for political compliance - control within control.

If you've ever wondered why education feels crap and why you possibly (probably?) didn't enjoy your time at school, then I would suggest that you look to where education came from and why it exists at all. To have systems which would teach our kids to become the better parts of their selves would undermine the power base of those hysterical control freaks suffusing politics, who created education to serve the notion of making useful members of society. Essentially a politicians societal wet dream is one in which you are ideologically helpful but essentially stupid. This is why it was inevitable that they would cotton onto the internet as a threat, hence our information war. I would guess that they succumbed to their worst excesses when they wove business interests with the web, and funnily enough in the mad scramble for a new profitability model they created a double edged sword of commerce vs free expression - otherwise I'm pretty sure they'd have pulled the plug on it a long time ago. So, in order to counteract this perversion of the web's raison d'etre we need to evolve our communities and use the tools at our disposal in a smarter way - I'd perhaps suggest to use that communications tech to become co-habitually smaller but better connected. First and foremost I'd posit the idea that we need to help ourselves keep in touch with our daily humanity by keeping the nest small and recognisable, but accept the power and responsibility of the much greater whole which we represent. Learn to harness the force we are to be reckoned with, and do it with utmost self respect. Still neither that individual responsibility, nor the idea will be claimed overnight - not with the quality and content of education we have. Education needs to be taken from those who would continue to employ it as a tool of the workhouse, and evolve it to a tool of self discovery and communal assistance. For me, I see the very foundation of Buddhism - qualities of empathy, compassion and tolerance as being most welcome in all arenas. Why? Whatever your denomination of spirituality, full believer to atheist, it's undeniable that these matters speak to the heart of us all. The minority 1% of power brokers with their power trips need to be both helped back into their place and welcomed into the new way, otherwise you simply create another tiresome enemy, and the only enemy they really have is their own ego. They won't have the world be any other way than how they see fit to bend it, and all of them are trying to have it all their way - that's why they fail and why we all hurt. Probably through no fault of their own those who reach for power seem to have for the best part chosen to buy unquestioningly into the system. Indeed their ambition probably singled them out for power to those placed to bestow it, and like their mentors, underneath all the pompous justifications they simply ended up hurting themselves with a lack of self respect. If you were to ask most of them I'd say under the facades they'd define self respect as being better than the next person and grabbing what you can, when in actual fact that's precisely the cause of their pain. Like it or not, community is why we are here today, and why we have made it this far. Without a sense of right and wrong, underneath all the tiresome false competition and fury, we would already be extinct. Community will get us out of this hole. Perhaps that's essentially why life does go on, and why we seem to be able to miraculously continue as a whole in spite of (or maybe to some degree because of) ignorance.

To me the philosophy and the art in refining how that life goes on is the tricky part - to keep walking the path whilst removing or minimising the unnecessary acts which bring about painful transitions. It's a dour truth, but that can only happen when we care enough, and that can only happen when we encourage such platitudes. You can see how our collective pain is a self fulfilling prophecy on many levels, whether it's by forceful means or simplistic cycles of revenge. This is where notions of letting go of control come into play. If there is an overall objective I would suggest that either as individuals or as a whole we get as close as we can to it whilst allowing for and embracing failure along the way. So many times we're taught to fear failure, when in actual fact it's a natural part of life, and if we cared enough about one another then we wouldn't fear failure so much because we would trust that someone would be there to cushion us when we trip up, and if we cared we would be there for the person who trips because we ourselves would feel nurtured by the next person enough to care, and so on.. If embracing failure as a part of the overall goal is accepted, it's not so weird to consider the idea of aiming without having too tight a grip on the reins. Let the mission unfold as it will - that is far less painful for the whole. Learn to breathe into whatever it is you're trying to achieve and bend with the flow of the river. That doesn't imply that you don't try, but accept that the points from A to F are probably not going to go through B to E exactly as you might wish or predict, and react calmly in accordance with the next best step. That is true on a personal daily basis of choice, so it should be on an international level. Don't limit people into become something they don't want to be, or are not inclined to be, simply because it doesn't appear to add value to your goal. You have no idea how their natural line of exposition will affect you down the line. That's where education fails - look at the hysteria of measurable outcomes and exam grades. Of course it's good to know how well children are developing in order to to best help them, but their futures should not be dictated by the hysteria of the 1%'ers, fearful of bending to an unexpected or unwanted reality, as they so unreasonably expect us to do in turn for them. Day by day, plan by plan, work with what you have and be grateful at all times. If the cupboard only has a certain set of ingredients, work with what you have to make the best meal you can. If the food isn't to your liking then plan a new path towards something more fruitful, but without expectation, and enjoy the journey. Let go of control and accept that tomorrow will come, and if that doesn't happen then don't worry about that either, for you most certainly won't.