What Katniss and I Share in Common (Part 1)
Dystopia may be a genre in fiction, but the stories they tell are always based on reality & would perhaps be better classified as predictive historical fiction?
I’m not going to try to bring humor or levity to my writing today. I’m just not feeling it. You’ll see why soon enough, but please stick with me, because Part 2 (published in a few days) will deliver exactly what we need to survive this next century. For now, I invite you to sit with me a moment and survey the terrain of our lives on this Pale Blue Dot.
I wish Suzanne Collins was a personal friend. If anyone knows her, and wants to set us up for a coffee date, have at it! Or tea. I do love Boba Tea. Did you know Suzanne wrote a children’s epic fantasy novel, titled Gregor the Overlander? It’s the first in a 5-book series, published between 2003 and 2007, focused on Gregor’s adventures in “Underland.” An urban take on Alice’s Wonderland-esque rabbit hole, Suzanne pulls Gregor, his baby sister and her readers down a dark, dank hole in the foundation of an old apartment building, into a fantastical, subterranean world located under New York City. Although written for children, Suzanne pulls no punches and I cried plenty of tears, when an island of insects devoured a beloved flying bat, when a giant cockroach died (sorry - tardy spoiler alert!) and when the mice…well, let’s just say the rats have much in common with Germany’s WWII Nazi Party.
From children’s literature to the brutality of her Young Adult Hunger Games Trilogy, Suzanne demands that we face our demons and keep the potential for human cruelty close at hand. Never take your eyes off the poisonous snake, the fast-moving black widow or the deadly scorpion. Not if you want to survive, that is. Suzanne’s work is encrusted with the gems of the human condition gone terribly wrong, and in her eyes, I know what I would find. A reflection of my own pained acceptance that the evil in the world today is of the utmost potency.
In March 2020 — I was Katniss, on the morning of her sister’s first Reaping. Just as Katniss had no illusions about the brutality of The Capitol, I was also jaded by years of endless attacks on myself, as an outspoken advocate for our Human Right to Informed Consent. Our freedom in the doctor’s office. Our bodies, our choice. I looked out upon the world and knew without knowing, that things were about to get much worse. And no, it wasn’t the virus I feared.
Fast forward to February 2022, and I feel like Katniss did when she told Gale, “I should have just eaten those poisonous berries, then everyone would be safe.”
In a way, this is an egotistical illusion. Which is fine! Katniss is seventeen years old, the most powerful man in her world has laid responsibility for the rebellion at her feet, and her inner-tension makes for good fiction. Obviously, Katniss’ death would not have prevented the inevitable collapse of Panem. Still, at this moment in the story, she has “failed” to protect her loved ones.
And so have I.
I wake up every morning with a thin sense of dread that, at first, I can’t quite place. It’s unsettling, that deep gut sense that something is wrong, and I immediately try to identify the cause. The threat. Then I remember that my loved ones (not all, but some) are already injected. Whether they will recover or fall is no longer a preventable situation. It’s an inevitable question of reality, and all I can do is wait for the other shoe to drop (or not).
Like Katniss, I can’t help but feel tremendous guilt. During my 25 years of engagement, the Informed Consent Movement in America (and around the world) has been consistently losing ground. Growing, organizing, collaborating and demonstrating the clear data & evidence pointing to a severe problem, yes! But, in the public eye and legislatively, we’ve suffered loss after loss, as Pharma $$$ has co-opted agency officials, politicians, our courts, almost all news agencies, doctors-for-hire, blogger assassins, WHO, CDC, FDA, school districts, local/county/state/national Public Health Systems and even launched campaigns designed to weaponize everyday citizens (especially mothers) in a full frontal assault on any parent who asks a single question about the safety, efficacy or necessity of a rapidly increasing “recommended vaccine schedule.” Despite 25 years of (mostly) calm, rational, respectful and detail-dedicated effort, I cannot dodge some burden of guilt for every newly vaccine-injured person. On a very personal level - and with the same gravitas and faulty logic experienced by Katniss during this dark moment of her journey - I feel responsible for our movement’s failure. To the injured, I am so very sorry. We tried (and are still trying).
Katniss and I are similar in another way. We are used to standing alone. Katniss barely managed to survive when her father died and her mother fell into a depression. Because of one act of kindness, she discovered her self-sufficiency. Likewise, one wise woman gave me the best advice, when an organized group of individuals combined their positions of privilege with monied bully tactics in an attempt to shut down a documentary film I was bringing to our local, island movie theater. Disrespecting our community, this local island cabal believed their fellow islanders were inferior to themselves and in need of “being protected” from information they apparently couldn’t adequately evaluate on their own. When these elites threatened me with legal action if I didn’t back down (even though I had done absolutely nothing wrong and everything required), I was distraught by the violence of their attack. But, a wise friend and much-admired woman within our community helped me discover the power of “not giving a fuck” and just doing what needed to be done. I moved to a less vulnerable venue and the movie got shown, but like Katniss (at the start of Book One), I stood at the trailhead of a dark, winding path with an ending neither of us yet dreamed possible.
Katniss Everdeen grew up watching children kill children. She also lost her father to a mining accident and existed as a member of an underclass for whom starvation and death from poverty and oppression were part and parcel of life, but it’s the Hunger Games themselves that place her story firmly in the genre of dystopia. What, by comparison, is my complaint?
I’ll get to that in more detail later (that article is already written and scheduled to hit your inboxes in 48 hours). Right now, I want us to slow roll our way down a tangential thought about humanity in general:
Going up is hard and uncertain, but the goal is exhilarating.
Falling is fast and easy, but the inevitable crash is terrifying.
Where are we today? Frighteningly (and most definitely understood by the wealthy and powerful), if history is any indicator, we passed the zenith of our current society’s arc about 20 years ago and are rolling down the rapid, steep decline that precedes whatever is to come next. If this idea comes as a surprise, you’re not alone, but you are playing catch up.
Books, research, corporate strategists, economic advisors, universities, think tanks, Hollywood and all national governments on the planet have anticipated this moment for decades.
Me? I figured it out when I was fifteen years old. Yup, back in the late 1980’s, I was putting together what I was learning about our impact on our environment (my Mom was getting her environmental studies degree) and everything I’d ever learned about the arcs of human civilizations (my Dad had a masters in history). It was pretty clear to me that The Great Change would happen right around the middle of my life.
I turn 50 this October. Trust me, there’s no satisfaction in being right. I’ve similarly hoped the Covid Injections would end up being safe. Also to no avail. Sigh.
Humans are interesting animals with consistent patterns of behavior. We gravitate toward challenges that promise grand rewards. The glory of achievement, societal awe and admiration, and status or monetary gains are all strong motivators of the human animal. When so inspired, we are happy to disregard the likelihood of failure, because the greater the challenge, the sweeter the taste of success. The downward slide of society (on the other hand), from a previous position of prominence into the dark maw of collapse, enjoys none of these benefits. It is a desperate experience, as we grasp for one another and helplessly seek purchase on ground that has begun to shake, split and fall out from under us. However, being in Free Fall does not preclude having a landing plan.
There is a sense of inevitability to both the climb and the fall.
In the 1960’s, we knew in our hearts, that we would reach space, experience orbit, land on the moon and, most likely, we will see men and women step upon Mars in this century.
In the same way, the vast majority of humans on Earth know “something wicked this way comes.” Those who have power will do anything and everything to ensure they keep it. Including step on us, sacrifice us, abuse us, toy with us, manipulate us, lie to us, kill us, cannibalize us as resources, enslave us and stand upon us…and our children.
By contrast, as a common human, my contingency plans for the uncertain future included moving to the Pacific Northwest in 1998, knowing the environment was typically mild and there was plenty of water. We purchased land and set about learning the skills of self-sufficiency. With zero use of chemicals, we’ve grown a food forest, learned how to raise extremely healthy and happy chickens for meat and eggs, exchanged our import oil stove for a locally-sourced wood burning cookstove, put down roots and connected with our community. My dream, should the world become untenable? To be able to provide housing, work and food for my sons and their closest friends. I believe we can cooperatively keep upwards of 10 people alive on our land.
Who believes, for one nanosecond, that the elite do not have a plan for this century?
Without going into detail (there are plenty of people who have dedicated decades of their lives to the study of geopolitics), let’s agree on one truism. The wealthy and powerful elites of the world have far more in common with one another than they do with the common citizens of their own native lands. Putin, Trudeau, Clinton, Macron, Trump and Xi Jinping are of the same society, the same class and have the same worldview & goals: to ensure total global control by an international cabal of elite “stakeholders,” a la “The Great Reset.”
Am I conspiracy theorist? No. I’m simply capable of typing on a keyboard and using (the evil G word) or DuckDuckGo. Is it more or less scary that the World Economic Forum is being blatant about their activities and goals? I’m not sure. Okay, I’ve decided. It’s both!
On the one hand, it’s less scary when bad people are upfront about their goals. Arrogant and enamored of their supposed inevitable success, increasingly powerful humans seem unable to resist the urge to blatantly display their awful behavior, as in this way: “The purpose of the World Economic Forum is to bring the world’s most powerful decision-makers together on a regular basis to discuss the pressing problems of the day and consider how best to address them.” Before browsing their “public facing” website, grab a cup of hot tea or throw on a sweater, to fight off the chills and goosebumps.
“A plan for corporate control of Planet Earth, this is,” says Yoda. Exhibit #5,429: “Our Partners: World Economic Forum Partners are world-class companies with a strong interest in developing systemic solutions to key challenges…creating, shaping and delivering collaborative solutions for the future through its: Status as the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.”
All that gobbly-gook should have scared the pants off you. It reads like a Declaration of Independence from the Opinions of the Common People and a Global Corporate Constitution already being undertaken without the input of 99% of the humans expected to exist under a new Global Totalitarian System. If you believe our “Elected Representatives” enjoy a mandate by the people to sell our sovereign rights to the highest bidder on our behalf, you’re wrong. They don’t. Regardless, many (most?) of the “stakeholders” invited to Davos every year are not elected to anything. They are the dragons of our time, guarding and seeking to add to their hoard with no regard for harm caused along the way. Or, another analogy: they are self-made “princes” of whom Niccoló Machiavelli would be proud.
This is exciting! I was about to order Sun Tzu’s The Art of War when I landed on this awesome website, which appears to give anyone and everyone full access to one of the better translations available, with both text and commentary. Click the link above to explore and ask yourself, “What would Sun Tzu do?”
If you’re eyeing me quizzically and wondering how I can define all of this as “less scary,” I’ll simply reply by pointing out that “at least we know what they’re doing.” To a degree.
Through their own admission, the World Economic Forum constitutes a direct attack on every democratic country on the planet. If you’re used to living under tyranny (China, Saudi Arabia, North Korea being only a few examples) then you already live without voice or power over your own destiny. You obey orders and live according to another person’s whim. But, if you like the “idea” of you and your fellow citizens, unique to your country and your culture, making insular decisions about how your shared country wants to (1) exist within its borders and (2) engage beyond its borders? You are being sidestepped. Ignored. Dismissed. Made irrelevant.
Knowledge is power, right? So, again. Ask yourself, “What would Sun Tzu do?”
Ironically, the more scary part of this is also that they’re saying it out loud, to our faces, without concern. This suggests they have so many Global Leaders in their pocket that they literally believe we, the people of Planet Earth, are without representation.
Are we? Quite possibly. The last two Presidents of the United States of America were elected with barely 20% of the population’s agreement. Trudeau also won his most recent election with barely 20% of Canada’s votes, and a rash of African Leaders (who were not cooperative with the Covid Injection roll out after decades of Pharma-Abuse of poor Africans as human test subjects) died over the past year.
Coincidence? When you consider CIA and DARPA investments into stealth weapons that mimic natural death by heart attack (this is not new - see video) and make assassinations invisible? Probably not. Yet, such in the world we live in.
Do you still feel safe?
Still believe what you’re being told?
Still trust the authorities?
Yeah. I didn’t think so. But, don’t lose hope! Humanity has been down this dark, tragic path before and we always rise up again. Our true nature is that of a mother protecting her child, a father protecting his mate, and siblings protecting one another. We may be misguided, from time to time, by the Great Manipulators of History, but our nature is fundamentally kind, generous and caring.
Many of us have seen the sign “Make Orwell fiction again”.
Now I will add “Keep the Hunger Games fiction”
WE, as citizens, have a right to ask our leaders, loudly and persistently, "Where is the Plan For a Sustainable Future"?
The military has a 30 yr plan to upgrade the nuclear arsenal for $2T, just in case we want to end life as we know it quickly.
So "Where is the Plan For a Sustainable Future"? It means we have to stop doing most of what we are currently doing, a complete restructuring of society, bottom to top (as flat as possible).
And now we learn the world population will start declining as soon as 2025. So long capitalism. It has no capacity to deal with a contracting economy as we saw during the pandemic.
It falls to us, each and every, to take responsibility for ourselves, each other and the planet. Stop buying crap, stop watching mass media, feed your soul, be kind. Life is short- dont make it harder for other life forms.
Here's my ten (11) point plan:
1. Nationalize the fossil fuel industry and plan an orderly phase out. This must happen because the industry will not do it on their own. They could have transitioned into solar by now! Humble Oil scientist concluded in 1957 that burning fossil fuels would cause CO2 buildup in the atmosphere. Humble Oil is now part of ExMo!
2. Nationalize our energy infrastructure in order to maximize the implementation of renewable energy. Some things are just too important to leave to private industry.
3. Everyone has a job and a paycheck. With great disruptions in society and our economy, we have to make sure people are supported while transitioning. Pay people to seek additional training in whatever field they want with emphasis on jobs that are open. Pay single parents to be parents! The best investment a country can make is in helping its people be productive.
4. Confiscate all wealth above a certain level. This may sound radical now but it will be mainstream when the shit hits the fan. Extreme wealth is corrosive to good decision making. If that level were $100 million for instance, that would generate at least $10 trillion, and that would impact 36,000 people. What is survival worth? It’s their future on the line too! The fact that we have over 2000 billionaires is staggering in its implications. They aren’t any smarter than the rest of us and without us, would not be that rich. Worse, they use their wealth to undermine the rest of us. A poor person with a bad idea can be tolerated but a wealthy person with a bad idea can endanger all of us and we must protect ourselves.
5. Restructure key industries to manufacture solar panels, wind turbines, carbon capture equipment, large scale batteries, etc. to quickly transition toward CO2 reductions.
6. Remove all fossil fuel vehicles from the highway ASAP. Subsidize electric vehicles as needed.
7. Convert large scale military computer systems ( NSA) toward global climate modeling and prediction.
8. Re-structure military toward responding to natural disasters, providing food, housing, medical aid and resources as needed. Disasters will be increasing in number, duration, and intensity.
9. Re-structure political decision making to ensure a diversity of opinions, and means of making decisions based on best available science. Move toward artificial intelligence systems to propose/make objective decisions.
10. Move cities away from rising oceans levels. This should start now. No level of walls will work long term.
11. Close all large scale meat and dairy operations ASAP, a high source of greenhouse gases but also a waste of resources. Beef has a 4% return on investment.
While we're at it, limit corp profits to 2% or less. If they dont contribute to your survival long term, they need to go out of business or restructure to something that does. Looking at you Coke and Pepsi and other carbonated sugar drinks.