Morning Comrades.
It is my 47th birthday today and as usual the last few days I’ve set aside for contemplation, reflection and the usual alone time I carve out for myself. It’s a luxury in this reality but entirely worth it. Normally, or rather, in previous years my notebooks would have been filled with interior debates about regrets, mistakes and so on and I tend to be extremely critical of myself and for some silly reason I often if not always set personal standards that are nigh on impossible to achieve. Sure, my therapist has a very clear explanation for it - a zero trust childhood with a brutally radical narcissistic mother, poverty and then some- and whilst I listen to her I don’t always, or rarely to be honest agree that I require understanding of what causes behaviour when I know that said resulting behaviour is detrimental to both my physical and mental being. Understanding and being able to offload blame isn’t an excuse for anything.
With that, I tend to put down these feelings and working conclusions form said self-reflection to paper to get them out of my conscious thinking, yet, this is feels different, for a plethora of reasons, a few I wanted to share here.
As we get older, I have understood for desires, needs and abilities to change, as do constructs of morality, ideology as well as our material realities, which, to be clear, define the former. Our relationships with the external, material world - and yes, that includes people, determine how we feel about what we do and more importantly, the reciprocal materialism from our deeds shape our identity. An important part of life, and yet, as the contradictions of capitalism here in the West draw sharper and sharper by the day, the resulting alienation, from everything, equally become more intense. I know too many people suffering from bouts of depression, lack of self-worth, insecurities and then some that all draw from this fact. This goes for me also even though as time moves onwards, this is becoming less so, which is a nice trade off for the new hip I am going to have to get sooner than later.
Rather than turning this brain fart into some holistic 21st century podcast bro bullshit of hey, buy this, you’ll be happy nonsense, a few thoughts that have been becoming louder as I am approaching an age I was never supposed to have reached, but am increasingly grateful for that I am.
Rage as loud as you can, when you can against the injustices you see.
Right, the motherfuckers in charge have already decided that any and all dissent will be labeled as either terrorism or the new bogeyman, anti-semitism and will fuck with you for dissenting. There isn’t shit to lose, and everything to gain. Keeping your head down in the false hope of making enough cash to not be affected by their bullshit is not only never going to happen, but also genuinely puts you on the wrong side of history.
None of us are that important and shit often isn’t all that deep.
De-centring yourself and your ego from genuinely everything is an important step in the service to others and thus the revolution. You get born into shit, the motherfuckers in charge will make shit worse, always, and your purpose is simple: Non-Transactional service to others and leaving this place better than you found it. That’s all there really is to it. We are not that important, it’s not that deep, and this has to be at the forefront of your thoughts and actions.
It is that deep though?!
Yeah, sure, in the grand scale of this fight, taking on the entirety of capitalism is and will lead doomerism. Each according to their ability, for each according to their need, comrade. A billion little cuts have and will always fell the mightiest of empires and unlike the defeatist train of thought behind capitalist realism, a different world is not only possible but also attainable.
Forgo all the romantic bullshit Hollywood has indoctrinated us all with. We’re here for however long we are, and we do what needs to be done. Life isn’t a fucking movie, there is no imaginary hero waiting at the end of whatever this is to save us, to usher in…what exactly? - what did the Hollywood heroes ever do anyway other than upholding the existing power structure - and this especially goes out to al the disney/marvel/dc bullshit- but, and this so utterly important: we have each other. The working class around the world, you, me, your friends down the street, don’t need them and I am convinced of our abilities to make a better world in comparison to whatever sink hole of greed the ruling class considers their birthright have created.
Anyway, I am off. Catch you all next week for the regular program. Thank you for being here.
We serve the Revolution.
Yours, warmly,
Steven
Happy birthday. Many happy returns.