That song referred to two different individuals; but what if we scale up to two different world-views and value systems, existing side by side in the same 3-D space? I feel it here, even in Green Acres Permaculture Village, where podmates must “go to work” in the world for “money” in order to survive, and the conscious values of sharing and cooperation jostle subtly with the programmed values of dominance and competition.

These two different worlds are, you guessed it, those of WAR and PEACE.

With this in mind, please pay close attention to the following:

The only way Donald Trump can truly put America first

This post makes a lot of sense, to wit: Stop the incessant militarism! It’s the “wrong lens” through which to view the world.

I would like add to this analysis by reiterating a Paul Tillich quote from a post two days ago, regarding corruption in the institution of the Catholic Church.

“all institutions, including the church, are inherently demonic  . . . To extend their lives when confronted with collapse, [institutions] will swiftly betray the stances that ostensibly define them. Only individual men and women have the strength to hold fast to virtue when faced with the threat of death. And decaying institutions, including the church, when consumed by fear, swiftly push those endowed with this moral courage and radicalism from their ranks, rendering themselves obsolete.”

The American Military is also an “institution,” indeed, perhaps the most cancerous institution to mushroom up in the 20th century. Even now, way few of us realize that the U.S. military not only takes up at least 60% of the economy, but that it actually drives the economy. “We” have at least 800 bases in 70 countries across the world (many of the smaller ones there as outposts in the trafficking of guns, blood, organs, money, and children). Inside the U.S. there are about 500 (declassified, with who knows how many classified) military bases or military-allied companies, existing as a chronic, malignant, erupting, vicious RASH. See this map, and list.

And that’s just on the surface of the earth. What about below?

D.U.M.B. and Dumber: Deep Underground Military Bases

Locally, I have often pointed to the unholy alliance between nearby Naval Surface Warfare  Center and Indiana University.

Google “NSWC Crane and Indiana University.” These “agreements” and “partnerships” come up immediately:

Our entire economy is infected with the virulent militarist virus, including video games and toys.

Meanwhile, let us celebrate efforts like this one:

Musicians for World Harmony

Truly, we live now in the in-between, as jotted down in my notes about a year ago.

It’s important to keep this in mind, this dynamic contradiction between the old values and the new that lives not only around us, but inside us, as we continue to birth a new/old regenerative culture from the old rotting capitalist order.