Apparition of Jack

A nation's cultural makeup is influenced by a lot of things, part of which is its archeological treasures. It would be like if, idk, Korea went and dismantled the statue of liberty in New York then put it in a stadium in Seoul instead. It would hurt the American psyche a lot and a lot of people would feel angry / depressed etc. Also, by putting them back in their original place, you re-connect that part of history to the "living world" around it, by letting people experience those statues / carvings / artefacts etc. in the same location that humans from thousands of years ago did. It's all about connecting with the past.

If people don’t believe we live in a gestalt consciousness I don’t know what greater proof to the contrary there is than our collective experiences for the last 8 months or so. So much collective tension and uncertainty has really affected the way people behave and cope. Reality itself has shifted and yet there’ll still be people yelling that what goes on in the world doesn’t affect the individual, lol. Things aren’t as bad as they were at first but there’s still a bit of tension around. I think humanity is going through a rapid growth period and that’s going to involve a rapid shift of many of our behaviours / thoughts.

The thing is I think Vaush would be open to changing his mind, if he was given the right arguments and shown the right rhetorical tools. He seems to have a greater meta-awareness of social issues than many other leftists I've come across. But then again, he does seem pretty heavy into the online leftists "ACAB" etc. world, so who knows.

So many poorly-adjusted Solar Plexus chakras...

Leo, covid denialism is a hallmark of right-wing politics. I'm honestly not defending the BLM protests etc. in times of a pandemic, if I'm being honest I do think they pose a hazard, but at least most left-leaning people agree that covid is a problem and take precautions as a result. MAGA and other right-wing tendencies either just ignore it or even outright embrace their reckless behaviour. It's a problem of Green vs. Blue. Herman Cain even died as a result of getting covid from a Trump rally. We can't ignore the obvious.

That's where Yellow comes in, a.k.a. Green 2.0

@Preety_India I don't want to downplay the severity of the problem, in fact I think about climate change pretty much every day, but I don't think this is going to be the downfall of humanity. Things might get tough, sometimes extremely tough depending on who you are and where you live, but humanity is simply way too adaptable to let it truly destroy us. Plus, there's simply too many positive forces at work to let whatever setbacks climate change brings be apocalyptic. Will society change dramatically? Yes. Will a lot of people lose their homes, their communities, become refugees, get sick, go hungry, and even die? Yes. Will it be the end of the world? No, not by a long shot. If anything it'll teach us a lot of powerful lessons that we can use to make an even better world once it's all said and done.

You're missing the bigger picture here. Americans are awake politically in a way not seen since at least the 60s, if not even earlier. Hell, in some ways they're more awake than they have been ever, especially when it comes to things like race and the environment. Trump galvanized a lot of people into taking things seriously for the first time in their life and that's exactly the situation we have today. That's why 75 million Americans voted for Biden, a completely unparalleled number in history. It would actually be harder for the Biden administration not to pass good legislation this time round than to actually pass it, just because of how much pressure they're going to be dealing with.

Encourage unions Pass a $15 minimum wage Pass a Public Option healthcare to eventually pass a universal healthcare system

So who is going to replace him?

It depends where you're at and what your goals are IMO. If you're just starting out personal development / spiritual growth, it's probably very helpful to read philosophy, history, sociology etc. so that you can get a feel for concepts like epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, etc. Also learning about the dominant cultural ideas and historical trends that influence your society can be very helpful for "seeing through the matrix" so to speak and it'll help you understand just why people in your society think and act the way they do. I know in my own life, I developed a LOT by reading critiques of capitalism, works on sociology, history artciles about major events that have occurred (and some not-so-major ones), and so on. There's so much interesting stuff happening under the surface of people's assumptions that 99% of people will never notice simply because they haven't been made aware of it. With that being said, there's probably a time when you'll need to let go of your reliance on these things and start to come up with ideas on your own, or even better, let go of analytical thinking entirely. Thinking itself can become an addiction, which is something Leo helped point out to me, lol. Eventually if you develop yourself enough you simply begin to appreciate the present moment for what it is without the need to constantly deconstruct everything. So really it's up to you. If you're still getting value from reading big ideas then keep doing that. But if you feel like you'd rather focus on more direct experience at this point, then focus on that. Basically trust the process and the rest will sort itself out.

Well, what do we mean by "cancel culture?" It's a broad term that can mean almost anything. Someone getting publicly denounced because they said one sexist joke back in 2006 could be called "cancel culture", or someone getting denounced, being fired and having their platforms taken away because they called for the expulsion of all minorities in a news article could also be called "cancel culture." The first would be an example of excessive moralism that no one can really live up to, and it tends to be the examples that right-wing groups focus on as cancel culture being "out of control." But the second one is a very legitimate response to real threats to people's lives and the people who complain about it are just bitter their toxic ideas aren't being heard. At this point, I don't think the term "cancel culture" really means anything. People can use it for whatever political ends they're trying to seek. If you hear it used about a specific situation, look into that situation yourself and come to a conclusion on your own IMO.

Don't miss for the forest for the trees, friend. Biden will bring with him the most developed, conscious administration in history.

I think Biden is a good person. He has said and done some questionable things in his life, as any person in positions of power are to do, but on the whole he seems to have lived a life of civility, compromise and dedication to the ideals of humanism and compassion. Check out this video of him defending black South Africans and tell me he doesn't have a heart: Also, you want some cool meta-analysis? I think if Biden wins in November, he will govern and act in a more conscious manner than he did in the 80s, 90s and 00s. You want to know why? Simply because he will govern in a more conscious age. The winds of growth are blowing, and its hard for anyone not to feel them, especially for someone with a lot of influence like Biden. His positions are already more compassionate and conscious than thy were even 20 years ago. As someone with a relative degree of open-mindedness and civility, that kind of energy is hard not to harness.

This song came to many moons ago and it's stayed with me ever since. It reminds me of being a lone explorer unravelling the mysteries of the cosmos. I get the same feeling when I look at Actualized.org's new logo. Thought you guys might appreciate.

Fascinating video about Stage Blue Cops who use Christianity as a tool for moral guidance while on the job. Interesting to note the stage Red murderer who had a vision from God and become a stage Blue cop.

I really really don't understand US elections I mean I understand them but I don't *understand* them You guys need to move towards a simpler, less arcane counting system ASAP lol

What I don’t understand is that it’s not illegal to have sex with someone, even if the age difference makes it kinda gross. From what I can tell, Giuliani had no reason to believe the reporter was underage (Borat’s “she’s 15” comment happens after the fact) and he was just hoping to get lucky with a 20-something woman. This isn’t a crime. What’s the scandal? Old man wants to have sex with a pretty young woman coming onto him? If I had a dollar ever time that happened I’d be a millionaire in a month

The oil industry quote was probably the biggest thing from this debate

Ralph Smart fucking sucks. Sorry for the harsh language but he does. At this point I consider him more a dangerous cult leader than an actual spiritual teacher. And I say this as someone who used to watch a lot of his videos when I was going through a rough patch. Some of his ideas are good but they’re surrounded by too much ego / magical thinking / conspiracy bullshit / psychological manipulation for it to be worth your time watching them. He uses underhanded psychological tricks to mess with his audience and keep them afraid / dependant on him. From what I can tell he’s struggling with a massive toxic stage Orange shadow which he seems to have no intention at solving any time soon. Avoid him if you care about mental health and spiritual development.

The more Biden wins by, the less likely Trumpism is to occur again in the future, and the more power progressives will have after the election. Think about it, in an era of plague, economic depression, massive protests and growing fascism, can you imagine the narrative that would be set if the center-left of all positions won by a landslide? It would prove that the soul of America is not yet broken and that the energy for real fucking progress and reform still exists. Good god it's frustrating, I see your country on the verge of a political awakening but ideas like this tell me most people don't realise how much fucking good can be done if it's just pushed towards. Americans, please, if you're reading this, don't fuck this up by voting for a 3rd party or not voting. The more Biden wins by, the more legitimacy progress, civility and compromise will gain, the more power the people will hold, and the more material good can be achieved in the coming years. Things like the GND, M4A, student loan abolishment are all on the tables within the next decade or so if you're smart about it, but you have to earn power first. Get hungry for power like a cheetah thirsts for blood. Don't pussy out from taking control of your country. You owe it to yourselves to fly as high as you can and grab progress by the balls.

A good summary on what diplomacy is and why it works. I really like the idea of diplomacy, since to me it represents resolving conflicts without resorting to lower emotions. In a sense its the art of the Greater Jihad vs Lesser Jihad, since it requires respect and willingness to be open from all the parties involved. Being good at diplomacy I think is a valuable life skill, because it will help you win alliances and form bonds between competing groups of people who otherwise might not see eye to eye. It can bring peace and progression where there was confusion and conflict before.

@Preety_India Leo talks about it a bit. "Jihad" is the Islamic conception of "struggle", in the sense you're struggling for God. But there's a greater and lesser version of it - the lesser version is the struggle in the external world, your struggle against other people etc., whereas the greater version, the more important version, is the struggle in the internal world, the struggle against your lower impulses, your ego desires, your biases, your fears, etc. Someone who's fighting for animal rights but not working on themselves as a person might be engaged in the lesser jihad but not the greater jihad for instance. Whilst animal rights are important, if you're not bothering to see other's points of view and learn and grow as a person then you'll just be an angry person in the world who might get a little bit done but will probably just annoy a lot more people.

The "Deep State" she talks about is actually just the corporate and military interests that run the country openly. The ones who bribe both the Republicans and Democrats, but are closer tied to the Republicans. The ones whom Trump has been benefiting. As a general rule of thumb, any argument that can be made in "favour" of Trump is actually the complete opposite, that's how collective devilry works. Trump will expand healthcare? He'll actually reduce it. Trump will fight the "deep state?" He'll give them tax cuts and positions of power. You get the drift. Basically, she's lying through her teeth. She might not even be aware of it (or maybe she is), but she's lying nonetheless. Liars generally are bad for any country.