Rejecting Will to Power, and the determination to maintain the quality of The Collective Unconscious

You may think I'm crazy, but...

I have decided to leave my company as soon as I find a suitable alternative to earn money in a non-harmful way. I am doing this out of an ethical consideration which stands as it is, however gives my life no meaning, in fact rather depresses me if I fail to implement this comprehension. Unfortunately, my annual income whilst at university will probably decrease by about 30%, but hey, I'd rather be a janitor than a prostitute. This is actually part of a massive implementation programme which I plan to execute. Other issues include the environment, meaning that I will consciously recycle from now on, not litter the street and turn off the car engine whilst standing in front of a red light. I will also actively choose not to buy certain products, of which I know that their purchase contributes to child slavery or other, blatantly unjustifiable state of affairs. Obviously, I'll never be purchasing an SUV either. etc. etc. etc. etc.

(Let's just hope that I'll be able to buy anything at all, or else I may have to find myself a nice beach in Cost Rica or The Gambia, surf myself to the end of my days on a strict diet of mango, fish and seaweed - I do feel that there are useful things to do here, so I hope I won't make life too hard for myself)

So, I haven't formally deduced how this is going to look exactly, but you're getting the message. I think that it's time for me (and frankly speaking for all mankind) to make choices. Until now, I've largely lived my life with an inherent ignorance, not so much about these issues, but rather concerning my perception of my own position/role as a part of this system. I say inherent because we've evidently been educated and trained to plug into the destruction of our planet and that having a sensible, more informed approach causes you to receive some label, won't mention examples as there are vastly different lyrics in different nations, but am referring to those normally associated with jesus sandals, long hair and a passion for the veganistic lifestyle (or something like that). And who wants to become that, whilst being an ego-constructing teenager, suddenly aware of this categorisation? Obviously it's not as simplistic as that, but you see where I'm getting at.

Some may find this ridiculous. What change is it going to make? More ridiculous I find, is the ignorance and the big language with which people rant about the sodden state of our planet, yet fail to implement anything, in fact fail to see themselves as part of this collective beyond the obvious political framework, thus don't feel indivdually responsible. I suppose the reasons for such a state of affairs might have something to do with the infinitely extending cleavage between individual ethics and collective consensus, or some other form of practical consequence of our philosophical tradition. If you so want, I'm trying to legitimize my finger pointing (or else God will cut it off?). No, seriously, I feel that I need to live in practical accordance with this level of awareness. I think it would be rather stupid not to, as Cho would say, you gotta put your money where your mouth is, or else shut it - hence most people shut it. It's very easy for us citizens to associate 'mouth' with national (or incresingly so, supranational) polity and 'money' with policy, in a sense removing any element of responsibility from us. To me, lack of implementation signifies a total lack of self-respect and self-justice. Evidently, we're not powerful enough (yet) to remove ourselves from all the evils of this world and their direct/indirect causes. By paying taxes we are actively contributing, in most countries anyway. How I am to feel about this I don't know yet, but I know that I will start where I can.

The underlying thought was actually sparked during a chat with the incredible Mr. Cole, who yet again has enriched my life considerably in the past month or two. I was in fact questioning him about his motive of vegetarianism, which lead to the mentioning of an ethos based on harm prevention/reduction, strongly akin to similar thoughts in the Far East and Native American philosophy. In a time where most of our practices and social workings are based around harm protection in the very Hobbesian sense of protecting yourself from the might and power of the Other (yes, my friends, FEAR again), an ethos of harm prevention seems to result in a far more sunnier outlook on life. Hobbesian politics in this sense has a highly negative connotation, whilst the other, I hope, will let me see things in a positive way. It's time to deconstruct fear, recognize and quash our 'fevered egos' and spread love and beauty around. Man IS a 'zoon politikon' - all it needs is a bit of sensible education and harm reductive action. A dog that has been kicked all his life, will evidently bark and bite as a reaction to fear. In the same way, if you stuff the Pentagon with an entire generation of war-psyched christian fundamentalists, they obviously would spend most of this world's resources on 'barking and biting'... "the horror..." Vietnam, after all, was a pretty scary scene.

"As Mike always says: 'The sun will shine again'" - Mike would now like to think that we can make it shine even brighter.