Kōan Fragments of a Distorted World #10 (with a nod to Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s book "Pictures of the Gone World")

they say “sex sells” yet . . .

Mind-boggling headlines:

“Big Tech War Profiteers Raked in $44 Billion During 'Global War on Terror'”[1]

“Up to Half of the $14 Trillion Spent by Pentagon Since 9/11 Has Gone to War Profiteers: A new analysis shows that a 'large portion' of Pentagon contracts in recent years have gone to just five companies: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman.”[2]

Another mind-boggling headline: “COVID Vaccines Create 9 New Billionaires With Combined Wealth Greater Than Cost of Vaccinating World's Poorest Countries”[3]

The vaccines didn't create the billionaires, yet the gap speaks loudly.

”Time is an ocean but it ends at the shore / You may not see me tomorrow” – Bob Dylan from “Oh, Sister”
Yet another mind-boggling headline: “1.6 Billion Disposable Masks Entered Our Oceans in 2020”[4]

People like to point the finger at the big corporations and the .0001-or-whatever-%, yet in some cases I gotta wonder, how lazy and/or stupid can swaths of humanity be?! Aside from the oceans, on virtually every suburban neighborhood walk for over a year now, I see a mask on the street, curb, or sidewalk. One time I saw someone pull up to the curb in a car, get out, rip the mask off the face and drop it right there, presumably after a long day at work and before entering the comfy abode. Also tops on the article list are “disposable diapers” and “plastic bottles.”

Wonderbread and the show must go on
The first of the connect-the-dots I noticed:
“The Paramount, Tilles Center among LI venues winning $50 million in COVID aid: … The SVOG was established to help concert halls, playhouses, independent movie theaters and producers of live entertainment that were shut down for months to slow the coronavirus' spread.”[5]

I'm all for such arts venues, some of which actually do live up to Stella Adler's perspective of what the theater is: "... the seeing place. It is the place people come to see the truth about life and the social situation."

However, in the mainstream societal context, typically those who can afford theater, films and entertainment are also dining out, thus I wondered about an entertainment industry bailout.

“New York City and San Francisco already require proof of vaccination for activities such as dining indoors and attending movies and entertainment venues, with New York City requiring proof of at least one dose and San Francisco requiring proof of full vaccination.”[6]

Restriction to events based on vaccination status is already a hot topic; “vaccinated only” is connect-the-dot number two.

The above mentioned bailout and vaccinated only audience, along with connect-the-dot number three, Nicole Kidman walking into a movie theater $25-million commercial, seems to me as a, ahem, scripted push for Entertainment Inc. 2.0. I haven’t seen funding and ads for mom&pop and little guy&gal stores.

One potential catch for cinemas is that a year-and-a-half into the virus times and more people are used to watching films at home, often sponsored by Netflix and chill.

America lacks true myths or origin stories and so relies on fantasy and entertainment which, while temporarily enjoyable, ultimately serve as distractions. Considering ancient Rome, not a lot has changed:

"Bread and circuses" (or bread and games; from Latin: panem et circenses)” refers to “superficial appeasement. It is attributed to Juvenal, a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. … In a political context, the phrase means to generate public approval, not by excellence in public service or public policy, but by diversion, distraction or by satisfying the most immediate or base requirements of a populace — by offering a palliative: for example food (bread) or entertainment (circuses). Juvenal, who originated the phrase, used it to decry the "selfishness" of common people and their neglect of wider concerns. The phrase implies a population's erosion or ignorance of civic duty as a priority.”[7]

America is a Demogracy
It's not all done with mirrors because there are demographics. Whether for politics (see “gerrymandering”) or capitalist corporate franchises, demographics rule the pre-planned formulas that create trendy societal norms and lifestyles.

Around eleven years ago I noticed as a suburban shopping mall hub was built-up, a stripmall next to a stripmall – the choices spoke volumes. Very near the new gated community, a Jared jewelry, Petco, Whole Foods, LA Fitness, and Fidelity Investments. So I thought to myself: There's a clear lifestyle pattern: get a nice house; get married with a ring; get pets; eat well and stay fit; and make some investments. These demographics-based shopping/stripmalls are by design, a commercial form of gentrification, a corporate franchise package deal. But what of the mom&pop, or to keep up with the gender-bender times, mom&mom and pop&pop, and little guy-gal stores?

For entrepreneurial transients, Pop-Up Shops are a new trend and while some towns have re-vitalization projects with affordable housing, from local examples I know of, they favor the upwardly mobile, and the 'developments' often suck the charm and soul out of a main street or downtown.

Will these examples of insulated sectors of populations lead to a furthering of a two-tiered society? If so, will that result in more people in the streets either to protest or because they can't afford housing?

If the gated-communities stripmall-suburbia and cosmopolitan coastal urban societies care at all, they had best pay attention to the energies of water whose recent downpours and floodings defied gates, as do destructive winds, forest fires and earthquakes Those elemental forces are not barbarians at the gate rather the natural karma of humanity's imbalances and lack of change. In 1993 there was a United Nations “Cry of the Earth” Conference. Around four years ago I watched all the presentations and it was like they were speaking today... because the warnings have not been heeded.

“This historic meeting included delegations from seven First Nations: Algonquin, Hopi, Huichol, Iroquois, Lakota, Maya and Mic Mac (Miꞌkmaq). …. The elders say that in the time of the fulfillment of the prophecies, Native peoples are to tell all the nations of the world so that people may change before it is too late. However, the conference, held in the Economic and Social Council Chambers of the UN, was sparsely attended. It is said the representatives of the nations of the world listened politely, and did nothing.”[8]

Of recent, many have heard Greta Thunberg say, that after a few years of hers and many others' pleas and efforts, the “adults,” governments and corporations have done nothing.

The following is from “Cry of the Earth - Part 2 of 12 - Algonquin Delegation” (1993):
“... we have a choice for the future, how the answers are there, but only if we listen and join again with the spiritual worlds. Otherwise the balance of the earth will shift her axis and life will be gravely destroyed and harmed by this process. This is why the healing is essential.”

Lest people think that “spiritual worlds” are all lofty and ethereal, I'll add that, to my understanding and experience, they can be as close as your nose, your heart, the pebble jammed into the groove between tire treads, the other night during a rainstorm the first time I ever saw a cricket poking at an acorn split open, presumably eating . . . and in the morning, no sign of that half-acorn.

Somewhere between the forewarnings along with the clear knowledge of what is transpiring AND the refusal to listen or take action – whether from governments or citizens with so-called better things to do – is where my kōan heart-mind goes to ponder what can be done . . . with the awareness that if nothing is done, I won't be surprised if the waters, winds, fires and earthquakes speak even more loudly and/or frequently.

NOTES:
[1] See here.
[2] See here.
[3] See here.
[4] See here.
[5] See here.
[6] Ibid.
[7] See here.
[8] “Messages from the UN Cry of the Earth Conference”

Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) is an essayist and resident poet at Axis of Logic. Check out his newest book Moving Through The Empty Gate Forest: inside looking out. In addition to his work as a writer and small press publisher, he travels a holistic mystic pathway staying in touch with Turtle Island. His website is here.

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