Mid-Term Elections on the Planet of the Apes

“The only intelligent way to discuss politics is on all fours”

– Timothy Leary

Welcome to the politics of the Apes
As the corporate fueled and media driven mid-term elections come to a well orchestrated (and highly produced) climax, critical thinking citizens are left… scratching their heads. This is because critical thinking does not appear to be considered relevant to the political media machine. Critical thinking is the process whereby an individual identifies problems, gathers and interprets available data; evaluates outcomes; raises questions and communicates effectively with others in order to achieve successful results. It is a process of reflective judgment.

Quite the contrary, the pop-political mechanisms of Republicans, Democrats, Tea Partiers, etc. have gone in the opposite direction toward ignorance and folly. Our political process, such as it is, has reached a fevered pitch as November 2nd arrives. To site one example… recently an activist with MoveOn (.org) had her head stomped on by a Tea Party-esque supporter of Rand Paul. It is clear we are witnessing new levels of violence and intimidation in our political campaigns.

As we know, violence is usually fueled by ignorance and fear. It is in the political media machine’s best interest to promote knee-jerk reactions in the populace, for these institutions consider the public to be consumers, not citizens. They want a population that is just smart enough to perform all of the menial tasks needed to keep our service economy limping along, but not smart enough to see through the fear-mongering that keeps the military-industrial complex in business. If we’re ignorant enough and frightened enough, we’ll continue to vote for saber rattling politicians who are in the defense industry’s pocket.

Is it not critical thinking… the process of reflective judgment… that separates humans from the rest of earths great apes?

Politics of the soul
There are other, more esoteric attributes that we humans cherish as essential in our uniqueness among earth’s (domesticated) primates. It is the ability to reflect upon the divine spark within each of us… our spirit or soul… and to understand this spark to be our personal connection to universe. Our socio-economic-political reality is but a surface reflection of this deeper, more developmentally consequential aspect of our psyche, both individually and as a species. Within this context, our political turmoil could be seen as a symptom of a deeper ailment.

The symptomatic and troubling trend toward violence and confusion may be a manifestation of an "ignorance" or "poverty of the soul." The term "Ignorance" is here used in the sense of ignoring our spiritual nature… and "poverty" as a lack of spiritual substance in our daily lives. This sorry state of affairs is a result, in part, of the concerted effort of the political media machine, as well as other entities, to keep us in a continual fight/flight psychological state. In other words… our ignorance of the soul is part of the master plan of the socio-political powers that be. Recent changes enacted by our own judiciary have made it possible for corporations to buy and sell our political process.

It needs to be clear at this juncture that primary responsibility of our spiritual impoverishment rests with each of us. The relationship between self and universe is an intimate one that requires no outside interference, except in an advisory capacity and by invitation. We understand that our spiritual growth necessitates the desire to evolve and the expenditure of effort on our part. The original intent of the founders of this nation was to insure that each of us had the liberty to pursue spiritual evolution, as we see fit. Collectively, this was identified as a “more perfect union”.

Civic Responsibility
Back to the political media machine, as well as the other entities referred to earlier. They will pursue their agenda in this election cycle. Assuming the premise that political reality is but a symptom of a collective troubled soul, this does not suggest that we ignore the surface issues. We must attend to the symptom in order to deal with the cause. Additionally, it is our responsibility to safeguard our personal liberty.

Therefore, the US mid-term election is shaping up to be a referendum on civil liberty, not some trumped up economic imperative. The mechanism, the overt power to insure civil liberty is, of course… the vote. Cast your ballet for soul liberty. Don’t let cynicism and apathy deter you from this most important affirmation of personal freedom. The reality is that one vote can change the world… even if it is a change within your soul and hence your version of the world. That is where change… evolution… spirit… is most effective.