We are trying to build a new conscious economy. The old suicide economy isn’t working.

But in making something new – we must always be careful to not just recreate the old one.

And I think J.R.R. Tolkien has some important words about this.

“We are going to inherit the earth. There is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourgeoisie may blast and burn its own world before it finally leaves the stage of history. We are not afraid of ruins. We who ploughed the prairies and built the cities can build again, only better next time. We carry a new world, here in our hearts. That world is growing this minute.”
Durruti

The core thesis of Tolkien’s Lord of the Ring series was that the centralization of power was the problem. That the question was not ‘could we find someone nicer to rule Mordor?’ but that the ring and Mordor had to be destroyed.

We are faced with a Circle of Destruction that is destroying the Web of Life.

Here are 34 thoughts I have about the Circle of Destruction . . .

1. The concentration of power is the problem.

2. The more you help the Circle to expand the greater are your rewards. The more you thwart the Circle’s expansion the greater is your punishment.

3. The goal of the Circle is to be in the absolute center – to be on top.

4. The power of those in the center comes by creating the illusion of legitimacy in their authority and their right to rule.

5. While you’re inside the Circle you have two basic choices of how to live: you can submit or you can rebel.

6. The closer you get to the center the more you are convinced that the circle you are spreading is not, in fact, a circle of destruction but a circle of virtue

7. For the Circle to continue to spread those inside it must see the Circle as not only normal but natural:

8. You must never question how the goal of expanding the circle – or the process of it.

9. Violence is allowed to flow from the center out but not from the margins back inside.

10. Those on the margins experience incredible violence.

11. Because of this structure, the power will never be equally distributed.

12. Because of this structure, the Circle will never achieve its stated goals of just, thriving and sustainable communities full of healthy and happy people.

13. The closer you go inwards – the less diversity there is.

14. The closer you are to the center the more “important” you are seen as.

15. The closer you are to the center, the more valuable your property becomes. The reverse of this is also true: the closer you are to the periphery the less valuable your life becomes

16. The most efficient way for those at the center to expand their power is to grow the circle

17. The closer you are to the center – the less of any real idea you have about what is going on at the margins.

18. The larger the Circle becomes the harder it is to see.

19. The closer you are to the center of the circle the more spoiled you become.

20. The longer you are in the Circle the less human you become.

21. The longer you live in the Circle – the more you lose.

22. The closer you are to the center the safer you feel.

23. On a finite world – there’s a point where those in the center will have exhausted all of the frontiers – then they turn their eyes back on the Circle.

24. The center is a bottomless pit.

25. In order to slow the growth of the circle you may use the avenues provided to those within the circle (e.g. letter writing, voting, demonstrating, writing books, signing petitions, building groovy eco villages etc.).

26. In order to stop the growth of the circle you must use avenues that are not provided (or permitted) to those within the circle

27. The Circle can’t be redeemed.

28. The Circle cannot be used for good.

29. The Circle of Destruction and the Web of Life cannot peacefully co-exist. Those in the center will stop only when they must.

30. It is okay to defend ourselves.

31. Violence is not the problem. Violence is used as a synonym for: abuse, exploitation, theft, rape etc. There are forms of violence that are none of these things.

32. The goal isn’t the end of violence (impossible) but the establishing of right relationships with each other.

33. The Institutions of the Circle of Destruction (as well as the actions of those who act on its behalf) are inseparable from the mindset.

34. The goal is not the destruction of the Circle of Destruction but the resurrection of the Web of Life, the rebirth of community.

What do you think about all this?

 

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