At this point in my life, it seems that life has a certain continuity. moment by moment, day by day, year by year, there is a smooth consistency of awareness and experience. This was not always the case. During early childhood, there were distinct experiences when it seemed that from a void of nothingness and non-existence, suddenly I was aware of being alive. At those times, I would remember other experiences of being alive, and so, over the course of time, a gradual acceptance of life took hold, and the moments of non-existence, became less and less. Although I did not know all of the particulars of life and what it was, There was a certainty that one day, such knowledge would come into my possession. It was something I took for granted.
In those early years, I had a sneaking suspicion that many if not most humans existed within the blissful non-awareness of complete non-self-consciousness, behind a cloak upon reality so dark ,so thick and so total, that it was much more foolproof and impossible of being discovered, as the Wizard of Oz's ill-conceived master control panel. It was clear from an early age that it wasn't that others "knew" the keys to the mystery of life, rather, they had no clue that what was going on, or that there was a mystery to life. For this vast majority, life was not miraculous in the least. and so bullshit like cars, television and silicone breast, held great fascination to them against the ignorance that rendered nature and life, as boring or less than. It was apparent that the average person was not conscious in any meaningful respect. And so, December 21, 1968, when I found myself once again suddenly conscious, it meant much more to me than just a walk to the store.
I will always remember December 21, 1968. It was the afternoon. My mother, brother and I got on our winter clothes, it was a snowy, slushy day in Seattle, WA. I had rubber/plastic galoshes. We marched the seemingly long 3 blocks to the "Chuck Wagon" supermarket where we bought a newspaper. When we got home, my brother stood behind me and I in front, still in my outer wear, boots and hat, and my brother held the headline in front of me, while my mother took a photo.
That photo still exists. The caption read, "OFF TO THE MOON!" Apollo 8 had just blasted off to the moon, or so they said. Many people didn't believe that there actually was a spaceship. Many, even when they saw the broadcasts from the moon, believed that the scenes were being shot on a Hollywood studio. Certainly the transmissions were such, that no strong argument could be made to prove that an actual moon journey had taken place.
My belief is that the Moon Trips, the entire early age of NASA was a very real, and somber hoax perpetrated on the American People.
Compared to discovering new life forms, alien civilizations, traveling near the speed of light and even leaving our solar system, going to the moon is the equivalent of spitting on the sidewalk from a tall building. Whereas humans escaping the solar system, to a certain death, is as far away from being accomplished as a so-called grand, unified theory.
But the hoax is, the notion that going to the moon, meant anything. It was a high tech pissing contest. the resources, the time, the money, the imagination to build it, and that the American people held in observing it, was nothing more than a sociological hoax, for absolutely nothing was accomplished by it.
It was the world's most high-budget movie, with no plot, no sub-text, and no point. Epic? yes. Metaphorical? yes. mind blowing? yes. Practical? no.
What we should do, is imagine that 200 years ago, 100,000 high tech humans landed on Earth from another planet and mixed with indigenous Earthlings. We should imagine that the reason these high tech humans came to our planet is because they had polluted, poisoned, killed, sterilized, and rendered their own planet, inhospitable for life. We should imagine that now, 200 years after these folks arrived, it is clear to us and to them, that they are well on their way towards doing to our planet, what they did to their own. And when we ask them, "Why?" they will say, "Because that's the way it is." and then we can stand like a bunch of stupid motherfuckers as they load up with evian, oxycontins a few Marvin Gaye albums and a few million IOU's and blast the off into the heavens.
It's certain that at this time, having received the answer, from the super-beings, we will realize, that we've been duped, and there's no one at the wheel... and these super-beings are really clever, and smart, but the one thing they lack, is an exit strategy from their own madness.
Imagine the horror, disbelief and disappointment that we would feel to find out that we had turned over the development of our world to these super beings, only to find out that the economic system they instilled, was not even in their control rather, was controlled by the basest of human desires, the "invisible hand", "laissez-faire", "free markets", which translates into: greed, exploitation & profit motive, with no regard for sustainability, or longevity. Imagine the shock, horror and dismay that we would feel to find out that the chemicals, compounds, technology and products that these super-beings had created for our good, was now polluting our skies, groundwater, and causing the melting of our polar caps and glaciers? and destruction of our ozone layer? and had caused a Texas sized soup of plastic to form in the middle of the Pacific? Imagine, how sad and distraught we would feel, to find out that the natural resources required to feed their various machinery, had deforested, our lands, genetically altered our food supply, lead to the extinction of thousands of life forms, and lead to poverty, disease, disadvantage, war, starvation and strife throughout the globe?
But why need we imagine this to see that the result is the same as what is going on right now? Just because we are fucking up and have no one to blame, does that mean that we are powerless to make sound, rational decisions? Does that mean we have a right to charge full-steam ahead into a brick wall?
Going to the moon, was a hoax, far beyond a Hollywood studio posing as the moon. It was a hoax of epic proportions, that duped the American people, and the world, into the belief and promise of endless resources, sagacious, wise leadership, technological limitless, and safety, security and sustainable, ever-increasing personal and societal wealth, perfection and harmony. This moon shot combined with the image and life of Einstein, as the ever-wise, super-genius, who could solve any problem, figure anything out, and also pontificate upon the moral tides and forces at play with the creation of super weapons, has lead us to believe, that 1. we can do anything 2. we can solve anything 3. if anything were really that bad, some really, really smart person would tell us, and we wouldn't use that thing. to which I say, BULLLLLLLLLLLSHIIIIIIIIIT!. All super-geniuses have a little Beaver Cleaver in them. They are cute, well-meaning, like to experiment, but ultimately, they're in over their head. And, seeing as Ward and June aint around, theirs no one to slap their little cherubic cheeks and send them off to bed.
Imagine if John F. Kennedy had said, "We will not be going to the moon. We have too many issues that we need to deal with on Earth. When the time is right, and if we take care of the issues we have here on Earth, then life will flourish on this planet ad infinitum, and when we are ready, when we have learned, when we understand, and when it makes sense, and meaning and purpose to travel through space, then we will do it. But right now, we must turn our attention towards solving basic, human issues of meaningful life, partnership with other cultures, races, religions and the world, and finding a way to regulate our economic system and what we produce, to ensure that we are making the best possible decisions for the posterity of all possible future generations...."
But JFK didn't say that. He went for the Ad captandum vulgus. He went for the Viet-Nam war, he went for the Bay of Pigs, He went for all the flashy bullshit, and pie in the sky, lets-tear-the-roof-off-this-sucker bullshit befitting the man who loved to fuck Jackie O. more than all his other bitches. The guy had style, panache, wit and a good eye for broads and the ability to turn a good phrase.
He had the advantage and prerogative to make decisions that could destroy life on Earth, because many of these technologies, were technologies that he first opened and played with. he had time, he had land, he had resources. But he also had foresight, and knew that he shouldn't have done it. But he did anyway.
It's not just the Moon. But it was a big part of it. One day, hopefully we'll look at the stars and heavens and figure out that in an existence so vast, the point isn't to try to go anywhere, but to make your house a home. And to see that anywhere, is as good as anywhere else. and so, what is to be done, is to turn inward, and to exist and persist, and to make the real decisions befitting beings of intelligence, foresight and wisdom.
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