The Power of: Part IV - Community/Individuality

http://blog.backupify.com/2013/06/05/refer-great-talent-contribute-to-your-community/

Every facet, every department of your mind needs to be programmed by you,
And unless you assume the rightful responsibility, and begin to program your own mind,
The world will program it for you.

 - Jack Kornfield

I am the one and only, nobody I'd rather be;
I am the one and only, you can't take that away from me.

- Chesney Hawkes

Ain't nobody knows me like I know me, and that's final!

- Christopher Bruce

The Mighty Sword

From his upcoming book, "Brucisms"

(hey...I don't see this as an impossibility!) 

Hey, whaddya know, I'm back!!

It's a wonder I made it at all, I gotta tell ya...but here we are again, America, with the Mighty Sword back in the driver's seat, in opposition to the district court's opinion of how things are going with me, as well as to their contrary evidence; which isn't hard, considering what they think or imagine that they have is all untruths, twisted truths or fabricated BS.  What they don't realize is that nothing will stop me from my ultimate goal, to first, fix the state I live in; as well as keep my undivided attention on the higher prize of higher office, in order to undergo the arduous task of making it so this country's citizens might be able to boast a much better position; in which to, first, reclaim our nation, then when that's a done deal, get to work on our largest issue; currently unbeknownst to most; where our relationships, with ourselves, with each other, with other nations, and with our long-lost Deity is concerned.  I don't know about you, but I think it's time we take the clock back a few decades; in order to get back the morals and values we had back when America actually WAS a great nation, and we had actual evidence to back up that claim.

...and that, my friends, is what this post concerns.

I'm sure you've had the opportunity to read up on the post from ....called Selfishness - The "Mine" virus.  If you haven't, I suggest it as a good prelude to this post.  It can be found right here:

http://themightyswordamericas26deadlysins.blogspot.com/2014/08/selfishness-mine-virus.html 

So this, then, is the road that leads to, then gives you this power.

You must, of course, fix your relationships with yourselves...meaning, you must open your eyes, ears and minds to what's really going on with you because of the kind of person you've developed into, over the years, and compare it to either the person you were that you used to like, or to the person you've always strived to be.  I've always had a deep respect for "The Matrix" series and its version of things, in that it seems as though this is our lives, as programmed into our brains by a smart evildoer race of machines (that we created, and that used to serve us instead) who we fight against, but have to free, then re-program our programmed buddies in order to get an army big enough to turn things around; as well as stop the extinction of the human race.  In our story, almost identical to that one, the Government (or, rather, the corrupt people we supposedly "elect" to it) has programmed us to be sheep, and if some of us don't wake up and fight what's going on, we Americans and our freedoms and rights might just be what's going for extinction.  We believe we control the government we put in place approximately 235 years ago, but they instead manage us now.  We listen to them lie to us, then we watch as they pass laws that make it worse for us and better for them.  The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the folks in-between, in the middle, are here to make it look sensible as well as to facilitate the existence of both classes, often without realizing that they do so.  When the time comes that they outlive their usefulness to those of the upper class; who thrive off of their efforts to maintain an even keel in their existence; they're systematically thrown out of their moving vehicles on the highway doing 80 miles per hour, and are then forced to either move up or down in socio-economic definition; then either learn new dog eat dog behaviors and throw all of their kind-hearted and generous or giving behaviors away, in order to better mimic the callous behaviors of their richer brethren at the top; and succeed; or to stick by their morals and values, and because they chose to do the right thing, were forced to sink down into the mire we of the lower class trudge through daily.

Next, you have to fix the relationships you have with others.  Now, we all know that there are a hundred ways to go with this one, but I'm going to make it easy for you, and only cover the giant categories, in an attempt to keep this from being a really extensive and boring post; the length of which could be equal or greater in value to my longest post ever.

First our relationship with other strangers, or people we'll never ever know, is actually the more serious of these.  For example, if the word "Mexican" passed a citizen's lips, back in the 50's, they were more than likely only referring to those people somewhere south of our borders.  Every once in a great while, we might actually have even met a true citizen of that country...on very rare occasion.  Now, when the word Mexican leaves a person's lips you know this person is either referring to any one of the hundreds of authentic Mexican restaurants who serve real Mexican food, you might also be referring instead to that elephant in the room, the giant country below us, where we have a real serious immigration issue.  We'd also be referring to a dialect that has all but equalled, and in some places even, surpassed our own, almost like Spanish may someday be a REQUIRED course...wouldn't that be a day we wouldn't soon forget?  Most of all, the word Mexican has come to mean; to some of us here at the bottom of the ladder anyway; "He's one of a million citizens who works for companies for pennies on the dollar, and because they'd rather hire them for less, this costs us jobs; as if there wasn't enough preventing us from getting them already!"

It's this skewed view of our accountability that has brought us to the pickle we're in now, and we don't even realize it.  We very obviously, in most cases anyway, facilitate our own problems and create our own outcomes.  I had this problem for a great many years...and still kind of do.  It's easy for us, the way we were raised  back in most of our days; added to the lack of accountability; in our governmental figureheads, in our work-places, in our schools...we learn early on to point our fingers at others to blame them for our problems.  Back then you were a tattle-tale.  Now you're a hero.  Whistle-blowers are as common as Q-tips.  I can hear a disciplinary father now, as he first explains it to his first born son (who he has high hopes of, where taking over the family business is concerned), then pulls of the ol' leather belt to make sure his point has sunk in, and the information has duly retained itself in the brain of his future vice-president of operations..."Sure, it may be a fact that Johnny ruined your tree house...but you ARE the one who ignored your best friend when he said that he was over at his house last week, and Johnny stomped all over his collector comics.  So even though it might have been Johnny who ruined the house, it was because you yourself chose to ignore a legitimate warning...made even more legitimate by the fact that it was your best friend that said it, someone who's never lied to you...ever."

We have, as free citizens, the right to speak up or to do something about it, something I've had to learn rather quickly over the last 6 months.  The judge who presides over your case might be a lying, cheating bastard; who makes up his own version of the facts, then rules against you with those facts; but if you don't rebut those facts, or, if that doesn't work, don't appeal his rulings, then you're to blame for his finding fault in you; ultimately, as well as on the whole.  Own up to it, and suck it up America.  The problems this country has now?  Are all here because you didn't speak up, didn't write your congressman, and didn't contest that law they passed.  What's more, you took the local news' word for it, even after you claimed they get paid to say what they do, when telling stories about our government; when they said that Al Gore lost and GW Bush won in FL in 2000, without doing an independent investigation of those facts, or checking those numbers out for yourself.  You, who, just last week, said we couldn't trust electronic voting machines if our lives depended on it, took those results as gospel anyway; and GW, the biggest idiot to ever breathe on the President's office, and all that makes it oval, took command.  What's worse is, you accepted it AGAIN, 4 YEARS LATER, when they claimed that America, even after everything we now knew of GW, just said screw it and somehow managed to vote him in again!!!  And if you believe that, cows pigs and doggies have all left the earth and are now circling around Saturn in order to figure out which lane works the best in rush hour.

Where were we?  Oh yeah....community.  Remember another post of mine, called "The Right to Privacy (Sorry...or the Expectation Thereof)"?  I know, I know, who can keep track, right?  And who, in their right minds wants to dig through the archives to find the damn thing?  Nobody...so, because I'm a nice guy, then, here ya go:

http://themightyswordamericas26deadlysins.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-right-to-privacy-sorrythe.html

Here, in the 2nd paragraph or so, I talk about your "communities" and how they've changed DRASTICALLY over the years.  It used to be you'd be a good neighbor right out of the gate, usually as soon as the new people moved in.  First it was the traditional homemade apple pie you sent the wife over with, usually right after they took back the U-Haul, then there was inviting them over for dinner, etc., etc.  Now-a-days, you're lucky if you talk to your new neighbor more than once a given year.  Distrust of strangers is now as common as breathing.  If they're moving right in next to you, it's almost disastrous.  Getting to know the neighbors isn't just something we never seem to get moved up on our list of things we have to do "one of these days", but is also something we're not really sure we wanna do anymore, at all.

Then let's take a minute to consider our very anti-social behavior of late.  Just about everyone, from your administrative banker all the way down to the janitor comes complete with earphones in their ears, or who plays Candy Crush Soda Saga on their lunch breaks.  Communication with others is becoming extinct behavior, and something that almost seems unkosher to do, anymore.  Talking with your kids, something that used to go hand in hand with good parenting skills, is just about impossible to accomplish.  Considering that evolution hasn't provided us with any better ways to read others' minds (beings that we still only use the small percentile of our brain functions, something that hasn't changed hardly at all over the course of our history), we may just lose the best option we've ever been in possession of, where understanding others is concerned.  At this point, we'd have to mandate the use of our phones as entertainment only in the confines of your home's four walls, and then only sparingly, like TV used to be; as a reward for doing all of your homework or getting all of your chores done.

So, community is mui importante.  Developing a bond with people, whether it's with the neighbors, with your friends, with your co-workers, or with your mates is key to our survival, as humans.  Well, oddly enough, so is your individuality.  There has to be a healthy balance of the two, or you're never gonna make it in your life, and you'll never know a damn thing about people.

Remember when you learned about sex?  It was very awkward having to admit you didn't know things you should have, or that others knew already (however they found out, most of us don't really wanna know).  So it is with your interpersonal skills.  Most important about those skills, however, is in being different, being you, being unique; or finally, representing that percentage of humans that think outside the box; whether it's on demand, or done independently.  If you are just another person, whether at work, at the office Christmas Party, or on the dating scene, this works against you in the worst ways.  Considering the examples of places or situation that I've provided you with, I don't have to tell you what those worst ways are; most of us are already well-aware.

So, what's the point here?  The point, my interesting Judeo-Christian friends, is only this:  If you don't start talking to each other and learning about each other, and continue to shut the rest of America out in order to avoid hurt, pain and loss, you also miss out on the value of good friends, good working relationships and love...things we humans can't live without, especially now.  Take the earphones out of your ears and talk with your children.  Talk to your parents.  Most of all, communicate with yourselves, or you may just miss out on life itself.