Commentary - 2012-04-03

A while back, I hypothesized this: any civilization with a population sufficiently educated to even be able to survive an event such as this will inevitably produce in 'the masses' someone who will see the truth and bring it forth.

And if no one ever brought forward the truth, would that be better? The calamities themselves would (and will) eventually induce panic from fear of the unknown, which is the most powerful fear of all.

'The beast will out', as Anthony Hopkins said in the remake of The Wolfman.

So what matters isn't whether the truth comes out, but who brings it, and when, and with what motivation? To bring down government? That'd be a terrible mistake, since they know what we're facing, they're the ones trying the desperate mitigation efforts that are however imperfectly protecting us, they're the ones who have the 'Plan B' information. We need them. They need us too. Everyone needs everyone in a time like this.

The problem is the backlog of lies that undoubtedly stretches back decades. Nobody in government has yet had the courage to tell the truth, because that would mean owning decades of lies, and 'they' (the ones in office now) didn't make that problem, they inherited it. Notice all the retirements this year, even from people secure in their districts who could easily continue receiving those Congessional and Senatorial monthly checks. They don't want to be around to accept blame for lies they themselves probably didn't know about until recently, lies that may have begun even before they were born. I don't blame them.

Clearly we have a systemic flaw in government, that even allowed this to happen, for the lies to build up into this seemingly unconquerable mountain of deception. We should fix that flaw - and any others - as we move forward.

My goal, I see now, isn't merely to expose this truth, but to try to make it less painful for 'them' to tell the truth and heal this rift, because if we don't, then far fewer will survive. This isn't the time for rugged individualism, but for concerted cooperation and shared sacrifice on the grandest of scales.

Take a step back and consider this from Obama's position. He knew squat about this until he won the election. Bush knew this problem was about to explode, so he basically handed Obama a timebomb and then booked off to 200,000 acres in Paraguay or whatever (far from the potentially soon-to-be-angry mobs of Americans). That's why Obama looked so furious at the 9-11 ceremony, and that's why Bush looked so scared. It was like the ultimate sabotage.

And could Obama himself just come out and tell people this? No, he couldn't! He had to keep that inherited mountain of deception going, to buy our civilization time to institute new technologies, infrastructure changes, laws, R&D, preps for as many as can be saved, that kind of thing.

That must be hurting him, seeing all the death and destruction, and still, he must feel that he can't yet tell us the truth. Fear of the reaction of the masses must be overwhelming. And if 'we' go to war with 'them', I assure you 'they' will win, though it would be the most Pyrrhic victory of all time.

But as I mentioned, we're approaching the time when events themselves will be so catastrophic, so horrifyingly bad, that the masses - us - will panic simply from fear of the unknown. That would be, I think, worse than anything.

If I can explain this properly, if 'they' can find the courage to tell the truth, and if we can forgive the lies, then we can all turn our focus to survival, to building the best future we can from our bleak circumstances. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. This extinction event is the enemy of everyone. So everyone should be friends. Every erg of energy we spend attacking each other is an erg of energy less that we have to save each other.

Instead of hardening our hearts, it is time to soften them. If we can do that - and it will take many to make a difference - then the truth will flow, and our chances of survival and the number who do survive can only increase.

Another thing: we must never be forced to make this kind of sacrifice again. Whoever survives, they must never ever forget all the lives lost that allowed them to live, and which allowed humanity to have a future at all. The monumental grief-saturated sacrifice made by our generation must be so deeply burned into our racial memory that the lessons we learn cannot ever be forgotten and the mistakes we have made cannot ever be repeated.

I wish everyone well, in every country, of every color, of whatever religion or none at all. Let's tear down the artificial barriers that divide us and become one people, working toward one goal, with hope and compassion and - difficult though it may be to summon - forgiveness. Whoever you are, I stand ready to embrace you as a friend and work with you for our common good.