Bill Hicks used to asked his marketing and advertising audience to go "kill yourself" and see them as "Satan's little helpers". If anyone ever wondered why he was so hard them have only to look at the presence commercial spending over the state of poverty that exist today between and within societies around the world. Marketing and advertising professional render their creative juices to the creation of artificial needs to the masses and the abrasion of human appropriacy.
The world in most aspects if not all are constructions and make belief. The creation of fear and otherness is a fundamental in governance and war mongering as well as in the preservation of the clergy in most religions. The mad rush and long queues for a newly launched Iphone or NIKE shoes bear the same feverish emotions of need as that of a religious incited mob over the fear of the others. It is this mindfulness of what is from what is apparent that makes the individual human intelligent (and not necessarily academic scores.) When one succumbed to the falsity of truths to the extent of embracing anger in protecting it, one either profits from it extensively or one lacks the mindful appreciation of the presence environment. The understanding that no one or one group hold a monopoly of the truth is a beginning of appreciating others or other truths.
As Foucault so aptly puts it there is nothing outside discourse. Discourses are constructed in most cases today to govern human thought and thus behavior. It is an institutionalized way of thinking which predetermines what reasonable knowledge is. The acceptance of it creates a validation as real. Anything else that falls outside or challenges the epistemic reality will be construed as false. This is more apparent in religious and political truths than in other discourses. It is always refreshing to revisit our "truths' and gives proper appreciation to other "falsities".
I enjoy sitting down while having my cup of coffee and pondering on what may be inconsequential questions to many. The moment I lose sight of the many possibilities or truths out there, it maybe that I lost grip on my mindfulness. It may be that I am drowned in my future fears or shackled by my past experiences or in most cases both. It is all in my mind and the meanings I attribute to discourses that are out there. In times where I am troubled or disturbed, it always good to be mindful of the present and re-orientate my mind to composure.
We see the world through our own very eyes and yet we let ourselves drowned in the representations set and created by others and most of the time by our past experiences. We accept the epistemic reality because we have been trained to think institutionally. This is why once immersed in the belief of a production of truth, not many can revive and bring back the neutral self. It is not easy as we live through these beliefs for years in the transportation of these beliefs through our conditioning everyday in our societies and in our recollection of our experiences of the past.
We see the world through our own very eyes and yet we let ourselves drowned in the representations set and created by others and most of the time by our past experiences. We accept the epistemic reality because we have been trained to think institutionally. This is why once immersed in the belief of a production of truth, not many can revive and bring back the neutral self. It is not easy as we live through these beliefs for years in the transportation of these beliefs through our conditioning everyday in our societies and in our recollection of our experiences of the past.
However, our experiences of past too can be overwhelmed by the production of truth that instill a potential fear. This was the case in the former states of Yugoslavia where good neighbors turn violently on another as a consequence of the discourses of the few leaders whose recognized that ethnic preservation and threat were the ingredients of a successful fear mongering and propaganda to control the masses and hold power. The genocide of Bosnians remained a grimed reminder of what fearful minds can bring forth the desecration of humanity. While the Balkans remained a historic lesson, the world is still oblivious to the Israeli government continual usage of fear in finding support within and outside of its state in the occupation of the helpless Palestinians. The states system provides for the awareness of its own territorial environment and the political discourse of citizenry ensures the continual practice of "Otherness" in our viewing of the world.
It remains the initiative of the individual to be mindful of discourses that instill fear and threats to our thoughts. The need to be mindful starts from the self and surrounding. It is so easily to be consumed by discourses of fear that border upon ethnic, cultural, religious and nationalistic sentiments. It is not that it is all bad. It is significant if not crucial that nationalistic discourses are employed to the betterment of the country and its citizens just like the others sentiments. It becomes dangerous when the self loses the sight of objectivity and when such discourses evolved a strong resentment to others who are not exclusive to our identity or beliefs. The self has to be mindful of what these discourses may bring about. It is best to reorientate our minds to calmness or equilibrium.
Sometimes a cup of coffee and a nice place to sit and ponder on our thoughts maybe the best way start making sense of our world.
