I am reading a science fiction novel (a genre which I believe has a lot to tell us about the time we are living in, more so than most would admit) about a young girl who is made queen of her country after the death of her cruel father, a tyrant that forfeited many lives and caused untold misery. As a way of bolstering his own power at their expense.
It talks about the world of Gracelings, or people with eyes of differing colors that denotes their special gifts or powers. The powers are then put into the service of the king. (Kristin Cashore is the author).
In one of the opening lines of this book I was struck by the sentence, "It's a lie of happiness that her father convinces her to be true." On this occasion, her father was torturing both her mother and his senior adviser, but his power was to convince others that, in fact, the opposite was taking place. That happiness was taking place, and in the misuse of this power over the years of his reign, he convinces others of this too, as he lays waste to their souls.
It dawned on me that we are also under the influence of powers that try to convince us of happiness in the face of egregious short comings in our society. That these shortcomings, in their "spin" are really a form of happiness even though deep down, we know this is a lie.
So, for instance, it's OK to be in debt, it's OK to take pharmaceuticals for every ailment thus dulling our senses and spirit and ultimately killing our bodies, it's OK in some societies to brutalize women, and we know which societies I am referring to, it's OK to give your power away to governments, churches and corporations because they know best and will take care of you. So will their military. It's OK to decimate the Earth to keep our largely wasteful lifestyle in existence, and so on.
It is like something out of an Orwellian world, , it is "doublespeak."
What unbelievable crap! We need to wake up from the dream world of this lie, this thrall that we have been under for many generations and reclaim our power once again.
Time to start building anew. Ship these vested interests who are proclaiming this lie to a barren planet so that they can continue their destructive behavior in a way that only hurts themselves.
Leave us alone.
It talks about the world of Gracelings, or people with eyes of differing colors that denotes their special gifts or powers. The powers are then put into the service of the king. (Kristin Cashore is the author).
In one of the opening lines of this book I was struck by the sentence, "It's a lie of happiness that her father convinces her to be true." On this occasion, her father was torturing both her mother and his senior adviser, but his power was to convince others that, in fact, the opposite was taking place. That happiness was taking place, and in the misuse of this power over the years of his reign, he convinces others of this too, as he lays waste to their souls.
It dawned on me that we are also under the influence of powers that try to convince us of happiness in the face of egregious short comings in our society. That these shortcomings, in their "spin" are really a form of happiness even though deep down, we know this is a lie.
So, for instance, it's OK to be in debt, it's OK to take pharmaceuticals for every ailment thus dulling our senses and spirit and ultimately killing our bodies, it's OK in some societies to brutalize women, and we know which societies I am referring to, it's OK to give your power away to governments, churches and corporations because they know best and will take care of you. So will their military. It's OK to decimate the Earth to keep our largely wasteful lifestyle in existence, and so on.
It is like something out of an Orwellian world, , it is "doublespeak."
What unbelievable crap! We need to wake up from the dream world of this lie, this thrall that we have been under for many generations and reclaim our power once again.
Time to start building anew. Ship these vested interests who are proclaiming this lie to a barren planet so that they can continue their destructive behavior in a way that only hurts themselves.
Leave us alone.