Apocalyptic Binary – The Shape of Things to Come?

This is my 100th post on Howl @ The Moon! so I thought I’d do something chunky to celebrate
I’ve been doing some Chaos Thinking lately on a number of topics, and they all just intersected at a single point as the title of this post came to me, and I realised that the trend (for all these thoughts) was leading us (the human species) towards a singular decision, where we are presented with stark choices and apocalyptic consequences. Chaos Thinking is my category for lateral thought and free thinking; sometimes the posts are humourous, other times they may take a more serious bent, but hopefully they are always entertaining and thought provoking. This one might be a little different to previous posts, so be warned
Let me suggest to you now that you will need to get into your comfy chair for this one, so grab a coffee, open your mind and relax… for what I am about to impart to you will seem blindingly obvious when we reach the conclusion, and yet I’m guessing you have never fully thought the implications through until this point. Got the chair just the way you like it? Good. Got the coffee in hand? Good… then let’s begin.

Apocalyptic Binary – A Definition

So what the hell does the term Apocalyptic Binary refer to? Well – it started with a conversation with a collegue at work who was discussing a risk analysis workshop he had attended, and he was basically complaining that the laws of probability couldn’t be applied to the risks under review because the risks were so huge and the outcomes were all binary – in the sense that there were always only two outcomes possible. In normal circumstances there can be many outcomes and therefore probability is applied to the largest of several risks in order to arrive at a contingency which covers all. In this case however, it was a clear case of 1/0, Yes/No, Win/Loose. The fact that each outcome was massively extreme in relation to the other lent itself towards the term Apocalyptic and hence he coined the phrase Apocalyptic Binary, which I now steal for my usage

Predictions

Well I guess we have all heard of Nostradamus and his hundreds of predictions about the world. The reality is this guy was a whackjob, and none of his predictions are any way specific enough to warrant any serious attention. Plenty of opportunistic greedy bastards are making mucho wongo out of interpreting his writings to suit whatever purpose they desire, so I’m not getting on that bandwagon, but I mention him here at this juncture to differentiate between the generic and the specific. Generic predictions are fuck all use to anyone other than for entertainment value, however some authors have written fictional novels of a far future which have in fact come to pass. It happens all the time. Sci-fi authors predict crazy devices which eventually become reality once technology catches up, however there aren’t many authors who have predicted such a defined and bleak future as specific as the one I’m going to reference for the rest of this article. I’m talking about the legendary George Orwell of course.

1984 – Blueprint for the future

For anyone who has been living under a rock here is a quick summary of this incredible novel…

So – let’s review some of the key points and concepts from the novel (written in 1948 don’t forget) which are applicable today…

1. Big Brother – In the novel the ‘state’ is constantly watching its citizens; there is nowhere to avoid being monitored, watched and recorded. Consider current technology, satellite tracking, cell phone tracing and tracking, email monitoring and of course personal bugging. Do you really think there is any privacy left in the world?Technology is now so pervasive that we don’t even think about just how far it can reach into our lives.
2. Freedom is Slavery – In the novel, the state will not tolerate any unconformity. Everyone must think the same, behave the same and be the same. Non compliance is dealt with by brainwashing citizens into compliance via harsh methods including torture. Consider todays reality… The passing of the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act in the USA essentially gives the government the power to do away with due process. In the USA the government has the power to detain people without requiring any evidence, simply the suspicion of terrorism will do. Freedom of speech is essentially a myth now, unless of course you express the views considered ‘safe’ by the Government. Guantanamo Bay anyone? In North Korea generations of families dissappear, overnight, never to be seen again for even looking strangely at the wrong military officer, never mind thinking differently from the established mantra.
3. War is Peace – In the novel, a continuous war is fought between the nation state of Oceania (generally considered to be USA+Britain) and either EurAsia or EastAsia. The wars are false, and simply used as a mechanism for keeping the public in fear of imaginary enemies, distracted from what is really going on. Production is geared towards supporting an endless war effort. In today’s world we have plenty of false wars and police actions, and governments do keep their citizens in a constant state of fear and ignorance. Consumption is driven by both. The real motives of the wars today are hidden from prying eyes. Iraq anyone? Axis of Evil?
4. Ignorance is Strength – Another key theme from the novel concerns the governments ability to keep its citizens in blissful ignorance, controlling all the media and information flows and revising / rewriting history when it suits. This includes telling citizens what they should think, and how they should feel. Now think about where you get your information these days… Do you trust Fox News? CNN? Sky News? Do you belive the intelligence reports that were ‘produced’ supporting the war in Iraq and the search for the imaginary WMDs? It’s not such a stretch to think about departments in government buildings putting out ‘approved’ versions of the what they consider ‘acceptable’ now is it? Think about the amount of money spent on ‘spin doctoring’ by political parties and large corporations.
5. Newspeak – pronounced new-speak, this concerned the ongoing reduction of the english language into ‘acceptable’ words which resulted in the governemnt producing version after version of a dictionary – each version smaller than the previous because it contained less words. The ideal was to reduce the language to a more controlled state, thus depriving citizens of the ability for imaginative or creative expression beyond that which the state dictacted. Any of this sounding familiar yet? Fair enough – I don’t think there is a department as dedicated to the destruction of the English Language now as depicted back in 1948 when he wrote the novel, but look at the way English has been bastardised into English and American-English, or the way kids now use SMS short texting instead of real words, or how internet geeks use words like ‘hax0r’ (leet speak).

It’s all there if you look hard enough, almost everything Orwell predicted has either happened, or is in the process of happening on some small scale initially, with the potential to grow into a full reality. The US on it’s so-called campaign against terror has driven its citizens into a state of constant fear and consumption, and is intent (through it’s deplorable foreign policy) to divide the world into those who support them and those who do not. North Korea feeds complete disinformation to its citizens about the ‘american aggressors’ and has rewritten history to record that America previously attacked unprovoked and were driven back, and thus the country must remain on high alert for the day when the yanks return. Production is almost entirely geared towards the war machine.

There are many other examples of mans inhumanity to his fellow man. China, South America, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, The Baltics, Turkey… the list is endless. Try visiting Amnesty International some time and I promise you, your jaw will drop and hit the floor at the atrocities being committed, and perpetrated by so-called legal systems of governance upon its citizens. Granted the extent to which Orwell describes his fictional world has not yet happened, but all the elements are very much either in place or being put in place as we live and breathe.

In 1984 (the novel) there were only two states of existence, two types of people, two choices… those that agreed with the state (the citizens) and those that didn’t (the resistence). There was no room for anything in between. In effect, we are talking about a binary choice… but more on this later; time now to bring in another thread of thought which intersects with this chaos thinking.

One World, One Species

Another train of thought running around my addled brain lately is the way we (as a species) have responded to the many issues with our world. Perhaps it would be more apt to say the way we have not responded. We all know about the issues, we have all seen the reports on attrocities in Rwanda, Aids crisis in Africa, Famines, Wars, Poverty… the list goes on and on. Indivudually we feel powerless to make any real difference in the face of such massive issues, so most of us do what we can. We donate to charities, we try to be ‘good citizens’ of the world, we recycle and for a very very small percentage of the population, we go that extra mile and do more – saving the whale, Charity working, missionaries etc. But is it enough?

Some chaotic thinking on this subject led me to a simple (if naieve conclusion)… that we see the world they way we have been ‘conditioned’ to see it. This is one world, with one species living on it, yet we see colours, creeds, religious and political boundaries and so on because we have been taught to do so. We have enough challenges just keeping going ourselves in some cases, even though we are ‘privileged’ to live in such conditions compared to others. We contend with stress, taxes, child care, inflation, career issues and such… where others less fortunate contend with simply surviving to see another day. This is not to say that we are uncaring or ambivelent to the plight of others, but we are pretty apathetic and genreally remain focused on our own lives.

So – how can we sort these massive issues, how can we redress the balance and return to seeing people as just that, people – not African, not Chinese, not black or white, poor or rich… just people, of the same species, of the same planet? Well – it’s a simple solution, but it would never work in reality. What if…? What if we simply had every government in the world put aside a percentage of their annual revenue (say 5%) which was then used to solve these issues? Yes – I know you are all going to scream about corruption and implementation issues, but for a second stick those to one side. And yes, I’m aware that this example cites using a government to help change things when I’m referring to how they have fucked things elsewhere in this post. Still – it is just an example… If we had that much money to throw at Africa – proper AIDS drugs would be made available. If we had that much money to throw at famine areas – the famine would vanish overnight with the implementation of rural solutions, food supplies, proper infrastructure etc. You get the drift… money won’t solve everything, but it sure goes a long way. Lots and lots of money – will solve lots and lots of problems. It wont’ fix dictators, corrupt politicians, tribal rivalries or ethnic issues, but it could fix a lot of other items on that long list of woes. So – why won’t it work? Well that brings me on to one of my other parallel thoughts in this lucky dip of chaos thinking…

Religion Has a Lot to Answer For!

I personally consider myself agnostic at this point. I was raised roman catholic, and I actively seek out new experiences and options when I’m given the chance (Buddist, Taoist, Islam etc.) for comparison, but I have to say I’m not particularly taken with the whole God thing. However, it should be stressed that I think it’s ok for people to believe whatever they want, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone and as long as they don’t try to inflict that viewpoint or belief system on others. In my book there is no right or wrong. There is plenty of room for all belief systems on this spinning rock of ours as long as they are not mutually exclusive, but of course that’s where the problems start.

Priests and Zealots down the ages have (for the most part) striven to spread their version of the ‘good word’, and because their version is mutually exclusive, it generally follows that religious purges happened in order to ‘convert’ the infidels or unbelievers. If conversion was not possible, well there were always other means – which is of course where the Crusades, and the early missionary debacles come in to play. This type of thinking leads to fundamentalism. Fundamentalism leads to insane situations like banning the teaching of natural evolution in some American states, like suicide bombers in the middle east, like airplanes crashing into the Trade Buildings and so on. People – doing serious harm to others and the environment, all in the name of a fundamental belief.

There are of course modern priests who are not fundamentalists, who just try to do the best they can without impacting on anyone else; but they are few and far between when you take into account how the world is being driven to a choice of two extremes. The Fundamentalists in this world, be they Christian Right or Muslim, are driving us all to the brink, simply to prove who has the ‘stronger’ faith – which of course is contrary to the teachings of any liberal faith. Battle lines are being drawn along religious trenches and can only deepen an worsen over time as these issues get lost among the land grabbing and resource mongering that is currently the ‘method du jour’ with Governments under the guise of ‘anti-terrorist’ campaigns. But the simple truth is that we are all heading to a point (somewhere distant) where we will have to decide between two distinct religious belief systems; there will be no inbetween, and no quarter given to any unbelievers on either side (which of course means I’m fucked for a start!!!).

The Church & The State

It’s an old argument… but the level of control and conditioning implemented in the past and currently being propagated by the Church and the State is something that has to be taken into account. What stops us from seeing this as one planet, and one people? Well – the Church does for one. Depending on your religious bent, you either believe in one thing or another, but generally your belief is an exclusive one, unless you are lucky enough to be brought up in an environment that is open to many religions and theologies. This principle applies not just in the West, but everywhere. Fundamentalism is an issue for everyone to be wary of, East or West. Similarly, when you take the State’s control into account, your view of the world is then hindered by nationality, by political boundaries and by preconcieved notions of right and wrong. If neither the Church or the State had any control over us we would see things completely differently.

The links between the Church and State go back centuries, and this is where the blurring begins. Ask yourself, do you think the crusades were about religious piety or territorial gains? Where did the early Roman Catholic Church amass it’s vast wealth from? Was the ‘conversion’ of South American tribesmen to Christianity achieved without any thought for commerce? Of course not. Church and State affairs have been linked for so long that it’s got to the point where the dividing line is invisible. There have been arguments for dividing / unlinking the power of the Church and the State for decades – but at this point it will have little impact. However, consider what the difference would be if both of these two titans were no longer in the equation…

If you raised a child in a loving environment without any government or religious influences, he or she would grow up knowing only what was learned or inferred from the environment. I know this goes back to the nature vs nurture argument, but consider that proposition for a second. A child without any political, religious or other baggage… would have a completely different view of the world than we do. One world, one people, one species. Unfortunately the influences of the Church and State are forcing us towards another Apocalyptic Binary decision, herding us into nice little categories and keeping us preoccupied with irrelevancies such as East Vs West, Christian Vs Islam, Black Vs White… none of these things should be issues, but unfortunately they are.

Save the Planet!

And so I started to think about those that were doing something to change things. Those people who try harder than the likes of me, selfishly typing away at my expensive computer from my secure 3 bed semi. Individually – some people do make a difference, but it is a small difference at best compared to the global scale of issues. That is not to say these people are wrong or that the effort is not worth it; far from it, without them the situation would be much worse. I know individuals who have done more for the whales/dolphins, the ecology, poverty or countless other areas than I will ever do in my lifetime. Bob Geldof and Live Aid was a massive step in the right direction. Bono and his crusade is a worthy pursuit – but I’m not sure what he is actually achieving other than raising awareness (which is valuable in itself, but not a solution).

All of these individual or group efforts are worthy causes, and altruistic gestures of the highest order, and yet they are not enough. They are not even close, because they are still trying to work within the system which currently allows such tragic and immoral problems to exist in the world in the first place (if not the cause of some of them). The geo-political nature of the governing bodies of this planet (which takes into account governement, religious and military) is such that anything which threatens their control over either territory, populace or resources is considered a direct threat to their existence, and therefore must be ‘converted’ to their viewpoint or eliminated. All the Live Aids and Peace Marches in the world won’t change that. Only we, the species, the people who are being herded and lied to, the population that keeps the system functioning, the oil that greases the machine… only we can change things, because if we don’t we face an uncertain future.

Apocalyptic Binary – What does the future hold?

And so we are now facing into an uncertain future as a species, because of all the influences mentioned above. The politicans, priests and military of the world want us to play their game, they want us to remain divided and bound by nationalities, geographies, race and creed. It gives them the power to control us, to keep dividing the world up in to smaller chunks of what each side considers ‘right’ or ‘just’. We have the USA on a crusade against the ‘terrorists’; we have Islam defending its’ belief system from the ‘imperial agressors’; we have many more examples of how the world is gradually being divided into East and West, just as Orwell predicted. We are going further and further away from the simple truth – that we are in fact all one people on a single rock, spinning away in space. It shouldn’t matter whether you believe you were created by God, Aliens or the Big Bang – but the Priests have done such a good job of influencing us that for most people, it does matter. It defines how they see the world.

Taking all these thoughts into account, it seems to me that we are heading for an Apocalyptic Binary decision, where the world will ultimately be carved up into defined areas, cultures, creeds and nation states. Depending on which side you choose – you are either ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in the eyes of the other, because there is no in between, there are no shades of gray – we are heading to an extremist view of the world propagated by those who wish to rule it on our behalf. Will this happen in my lifetime? I hope to hell not, because it’s not how I see things, and it’s not who I want to be. Can I do anything to change it? Probably not – because it would take a massive amount of public opinion to change the headlong rush into oblivion we all seem to have signed up to.

So What Can We Do?

So – what can we do about this then? Individually we can continue to be good world citizens, and keep thinking altruistic thoughts. Individually we may make a difference here and there, but we will not be able to influence the real issues. Collectively – now that’s another story. Collectively there are more of us than there are of them. There are more normal, liberal, generous and logical people on this spinning rock than there are facist, neo-conservative, christian or islamic fundamentalists. At least – there are now, but the numbers are shrinking as people fall for the crap being spewed out by the controlling interests, constantly trying to drive us into one extreme view or the other. But what if we just said no? What if…oh what if we took real power into the equation, the power of public opinion and the people, the species of this world. Can you imagine a situation where millions of people simply stopped? …

It’s a nice thought – but I doubt it would ever happen. The bleak future and binary choice I’m theorising about is still a long way off, hopefully. Still – a little anarchy goes a long way, and no one can stop me from thinking about these things. Not yet at least