“Exclusive: How China built its ‘Manhattan Project’ to rival the West in AI chips
SINGAPORE, Dec 17 (Reuters) – In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence, smartphones and weapons central to Western military dominance, Reuters has learned.
Completed in early 2025 and now undergoing testing, the prototype fills nearly an entire factory floor. It was built by a team of former engineers from Dutch semiconductor giant ASML who reverse-engineered the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography machines or EUVs, according to two people with knowledge of the project.”
It seems the semiconductor industry in China is offering good salaries, monthly housing allowances and accelerated visa clearances. It is trying to attract inward highly technological immigration. It is not trying to stop or limit talent from other countries.
As someone who designed an EUV prototype it makes me wonder what took them so long. Maybe I might be employable after all…
The article goes on to suggest that there has been recent Chinese patent filing in EUV. Huawei are involved as is the state. ASML have literally hundreds of EUV related patents, which cannot easily be enforced globally.
They aim to produce chips in a few years – no mean feat!!
Here is last night’s dream had before 5:26 AM The overall sleep was again goodish.
I am on an old style British train, in a carriage with facing bench seats. The seats are made of that slightly itchy hard wearing material. I am with Simon. We are heading past Gatwick towards Worthing. He is telling me that there are lots of good properties for sale on the South coast. They have come down in price and a bargain can be had. He says that all along the coast they are up for sale. He strongly recommends buying one there. The mood is light hearted. We are going to the seaside.
We alight and are then in the town centre of an unspecified South coast town. Simon leads me to the coast. Off the coast I can see a number of small islands with white chalky cliffs and grassy tops. Each island is seemingly floating in the sea. They are distinct and I know they have their own eco-system. I can see sheep on the cliff tops on some. Simon says the islands float by and that the scenery is constantly changing. They are like the islands floating in air in the Avatar movies. I say that I did not know things like this were off the South coast of England.
We go back in towards town and stop at a small open square with white low rise regency housing. It is a couple of streets back from the front. We are approached by Christine and Elizabeth, both of whom are female dreamers. Christine seems to know Simon. We greet each other. Elizabeth takes me to one side in an overly earnest manner. Simon and Christine walk off together.
Elizabeth says that I must come to stay with her as we have somethings to work on. But first she must clear the coast with her landlord as visitors, especially male, are not allowed. She looks young. I say OK I will find somewhere to wait.
I find a bench and stretch myself out on it naked under a duvet. My clothes are on the ground nearby. I fall asleep. It is in the middle of town. I am woken by Elizabeth shaking my shoulder. I check where my clothes are and dress under the blanket. I have a half a bottle of white wine which I knock back. I wipe my face and am ready to go.
Elizabeth leads me off and downstairs to her basement studio flat in a very large white regency building. The flat is small and cramped but definitely that of a female, from decor and smell. She shows me her single bed and a bed roll she has made up on the floor. I will sleep on the floor. It must be obvious to everyone that she is not sleeping with me, having sex. I comment that I am pretty much past all that.
We lie down and make ready for sleep. As we are nodding off the walls between the flat and that of the next door neighbour fade. In bed there are two women. They have bright “trendy” hair with tattoos and piercings. The hair is vividly dyed. They are in a lesbian relationship. Elizabeth is very conservative in comparison. I ask her if she is a lesbian too, suggesting she dabbled as a younger woman. No. She says that the lesbian relationship here relates to feminine dreaming and that the two women are dreamers like her. I know she is a Westerly dreamer and her mother Christine, a Southerly one. The lesbian theme and the lack of walls is a commentary of the connectedness of feminine dreaming. People are very sceptical about me and Elizabeth. They gather round to criticise. Under the bed is a book we are working on together. To fend off the criticism I sit up on my bed roll and show a hard covered book. It is open at the frontispiece with copyright notice, ISBN and title. As I flick though the pages there are black and white images and text which literally appears as I change page. The gang of gathered critics look on slightly awe struck as the text and images of the new book appear right before their eyes. This is a new book which I may write.
There are a number of instances when I look back on this life and can see intuitions, forebodings and dreams. Several years later, more than decades in some cases, events which can be perceived as being foretold, come to pass. Something has perhaps heralded something else many years in advance. The sceptical scientist could say that it is my confirmation bias, I wanted these “predictions” to come true in order to fulfil a personal pet theory. A similar story can he told for some of the wife’s dreams. A retrospective look at dated material suggests a current event predicted. I have enough confidence in this phenomena that should a “prediction” come true I am not surprised, nor is it a big deal. It is normal in this house.
I have an overarching assimilation for many things which have taken place. This may or may not be “proven” by events upcoming. My hypothetical assimilation is simple yet far-reaching. I will not be surprised if it is correct nor will I be surprised if it is wrong. The gist may be better than the detail. It pertains to the karma of other people which is not mine to address.
My life has already had a number of changes of direction and one could say that these are by way of precedent. As such I will not be at all surprised if life has a least one more sudden and “unexpected” change. Fate may yet have some quirks up her sleeve.
Of late we have been watching a number of fairly modern TV series in which the narrative device involves multiple apparent plot twists, which are “unexpected”. These can be portrayed by showing a snippet of action from before or after. They seem to be trying overly hard to be complicated and clever. The consequence is that they introduce an incredulity into the narrative. “If that had really happened the plot would not be as it is portrayed. It is not internally consistent. It does not make sense.” I suspect that it is a part of the modern algorithm the pitching of which to programme funders has been honed to secure money. The algorithm must not be strayed from, the formula for success is sacrosanct. The elevator pitch must have twists and turns and surprise. For me it has gotten to the point where quality of narrative has been sacrificed for artificial cleverness. “Gee are we not clever…” “You did not see that coming!”
Well maybe but I can no longer be arsed with your programme.
OK. I know I am an old git…
For most people there is some degree of divergence from where they thought their life might go and where it actually does. The degree of divergence varies. Back in the early 1970s we left Bristol for Mt Isa. That was a larger than standard deviation back then.
One of the things which is fairly inexplicable given my life circumstance is the appearance of “important” figures in my dream. These range from high lamas, to spooks, politicians and royalty. Viewed analytically it is very unlikely that such people dream of me. There is no obvious trajectory in which our circles might cross. Yet there remains a very tiny chance that the direction of life here could change big time.
The most obvious trajectory is of a spent life quietly winding down secateurs in hand and toasted cumin seeds in the pestle and mortar.
Based on the life expectancy from South Wales at my time of birth and the age of death of my parents. It is possible I have a decade left. That leaves a while for some kind of quirk of fate to tip up….
This from around 6 AM on a night when I manged to stay in bed until 8AM!! Possibly my best night’s sleep since before the operation.
The dream starts in a palatial dressing room area. He is sat at what can be described as a dressing table. In front of him is an ornate “triptych” of mirrors. He is looking into the mirrors. The reflection in the mirror is of a younger Charles. The one sat on a posh stool is one the age he is now. The Charles in the mirror is saying “great, now I get to be king” he is excited and enthusiastic. The older Charles is thinking, “oh shit, bugger, I have actually got to be king!” He adjusts his cufflinks. He is pensive. He turns and stands up.
Later he is met by Camilla and she takes his elbow. Again he fidgets with his cufflink on his left shirtsleeve. Later on he is joined by William and Kate who are dressed up with blue sashes. It is evening and they all have a gig to go to.
The scene changes and it is another day. Charles is walking along a carpeted corridor with a tall woman who is Blaise Metreweli. From their interaction I can tell that they have met before and are increasingly on familiar grounds. She is giving him his weekly update. He jokes that when an M dies and new M is always born. They both find this mildly amusing. Charles likes to walk and talk and she is comfortable with this. The corridor has a tall window at one end and a carpet which is in a wide strip but which does not reach the walls. There is wooden floor between the carpet and the ornate walls. The carpet is of a reddish hue. They are both walking away from the low morning winter light from the window and casting a shadow in front of them. Charles is listening with full attention. You can almost hear him listening. It is a special skill of his. It is clear that the relationship between king and MI6 is not as simple as it might first seem. It is more nuanced and impactful.
The dream ends.
I wonder where did that come from. It has touched upon something other than the face value which I cannot as yet put into words.
I’ll start this with a seemingly unconnected statement.
A genuine new age will bring with it scenarios, circumstances and “problems” for which there are no precedents and hence the old “solutions” cannot be workable.
People can have a very idealized view of how things might work out. There has been some unwarranted nasty brutality at Bondi recently and there have been cries to “stamp out antisemitism”. There is no magic wand to wave which changes how people may think, one might be able to control the outward expression of antisemitism but not what people think. It is idealistic to imagine thought control. Suddenly people must feel all warm and loving to Israel and Jewry? It is not a realistic expectation. There is an unmet ideal in which things have not changed since the brutality in Gaza began. We want to go back to before.
There is a new reality, which may be difficult to accept.
People do not like it when any kind of ideal is unmet. There is an idea of how things are supposed to be which may be in marked contrast to how things are. The ideal does not match.
When I was tutoring “A” level science many parents expressed the notion that I could walk back into academia at the drop of the hat. I told them that this was not the case. Yet they did not believe me. That had an idealised view. The reality of REF and human resources grid style criteria was unseen. A lack of referees unexpected. Without current referees employment is close to impossible.
The circles I move in are so far from any UK based academia. My life revolves around garden, supermarket, DIY store and medical professionals. Aside from the wife and professionals I have spoken to no human being about my hip operation. This may not be how things are supposed to be. It is how they are.
At the moment there are two nodes in the onward life trajectory. One is seeking permission from the French government to stay, the second is the opinion of the orthopaedic surgeon as to a possible timing of a second operation. I will have an answer to the first by March next year and an indication to the second in January. “Les Echos” a French financial newspaper is suggesting that the French housing market is again stagnating due to ongoing French political uncertainty and public debt. Even though demand outstrips supply. Moving house in France is complex and expensive. The kilograms of documents sap the will to live. But the need to downsize remains chronic. My world is not complex nor highfalutin.
I live in an entirely different world to that suggested in this morning’s dream.
There is little inclination for me to either develop new intellectual property or review old alchemical or Buddhist manuscripts. I certainly am not interested in doing anything publishable in an academic sense. I can’t be arsed to refer to what other people may or may not have thought. This fascination with “lost” knowledge is not something which I have. There is a glamour about it. I am not really going to be overly impressed by the fame and kudos of any university. I won’t get excited by a Harvard or an Oxford. I am not a fan of Inspector Morse.
When people fail to meet the ideals which others may have of them, they can be shunned and criticised. The object of an ideal becomes a hated figure with an alacrity of fickleness. One may be on the pedestal of someone’s imaginary ideal without knowing. All too easily can you fall to the floor and have the metaphorical shit kicked out of you by the herd or mob.
Idealism and expectation can cause a lot of suffering.
People are easily disappointed. That disappointment is often self-inflicted though obviously the stiletto finger of blame points elsewhere. It is never the fault of the disappointed person.
I have been coming around to the idea that the state of the UK economy and job market has relatively little to do with hot-air policy at Westminster. The economy does what it does. The governments then accept credit and apportion blame according to the prevailing wind. They give an illusion that the policies they attempt to enact matter and make a difference. It all seems like a bit of a con job to me…
The political chasm between parties is not all that deep. Though many may pontificate otherwise.
In Fance the reality of an aging population thanks in part to a good health service has brought fiscal problems. Doing the three monkeys won’t help.
Unmet ideals can cause problems with reality. They may clash and acceptance can be a problem…
Sometimes the penny or centime can take a long while to drop.
Here is this morning’s dream had just before 6 AM. I am no longer getting up to watch TV during the night. The sleep is still not profound. I wake several times. After about 3 AM I do not feel tired. But can sleep. After about 6 the lower back pain tends to make me want to get up and move around.
The dream opens on a green field which slopes slightly down to a river. It is like Christchurch Meadow. There can be seen a weeping willow near the river. The dream is certain that this is Oxford. I am walking with two male “fellows” who are a bit younger than me along a path. They are professors. One has dark hair the other more blonde.
The scene changes and we are in some unspecified Oxford college taking the tour. They are showing me a refectory, a library and the kind of rooms that a college fellow has. They say that it has access to university libraries including the Bodleian. It dawns on me that in a round about way they are offering me a position at the college.
I ask them on what criteria they could do such a thing commenting that in no way do I match up to the normal criteria about how these things are offered. They say that because of the private way the college is funded there are many weird and wonderful endowments that could be invoked and used. I do not think they are being serious and it is some kind of cobbled together ersatz. I further comment that I am not able to teach anything vaguely on any university curriculum. They seem unfazed by this.
They want to show me the college farm. We take a short ride out into the country and the dark haired one proudly displays their new eco-farm in which they grow heritage vegetables. He shows me his tutor group in action and shows me a spreadsheet of names arranged in a “portrait” orientation excel spreadsheet. I rearrange the spreadsheet into “landscape”. The names are all very English. One name stands out, Scanlon.
We go back to the college and I am invited to a soirée that evening at which many of the fellows and members of the college will be. The master will also be there. I thank them for the invitation but decline. I explain that I am not fond of such things and generally have difficulty hacking them.
I am near perplexed in the dream as to why they might cobble together some kind of position. It smacks of some political fix; somebody has had a “bright” idea. They have not thought this through.
The dream ends
Wayback even though I was not a top “A” grade student my school wanted me to take the Oxford entrance exams, because the teacher thought I would be better at the slightly off the wall questions. We visited Christchurch. The extra lessons however were interfering with rugby training at lunchtimes so I stopped going. I did not sit the exams.
Many depictions of deity are a tad dated. They arose in times when the power of kings and emperors was quasi absolute. The iconography has “radioactive” halos around sainted beings, chariots, swords and thrones. There are arguments about who stands or sits around the throne and on which side various beings are to be found. There are crowns and often a patrilineal succession of power. Humanity obsesses about organisational flow charts of the heavens and in the past who had career advancement amongst the Gods depended upon level of obedience and sycophancy. The celestial “human” resources department had severance packages to negotiate.
Fear of God put bums on seats and pennies on the collection plate.
These days the power of kings is much diminished. We don’t drive roman chariots all that much. The machete has replaced the short sword. The Heckler and Koch automatic has replaced the spear. The ultimate symbol of mundane power is a ginormous nuclear powered aircraft carrier equipped with stealth bombers. Thrones are old hat.
In constructing a deity and a pecking order of them, whether that be of Gods and angels or Buddhas and bodhisattvas, the notions are related to the mundane order of things. The iconography perhaps an aid for the illiterate. In many cases the “clergy” asserted power over flock and encouraged supplication therefrom. The “clergy” encouraged a notion that they were higher, perhaps better and more revered than the lay. The churches and temples extracted wealth and called it meritorious. It might help your journey in the afterlife to fund the claret of a bishop. It was a good pitch. People can read and think now.
I am not sure older notions of Gods and Buddhas wash as well these days. Despite what fragrances Unilever might add. Subscription to religious providers it probably falling all over the world.
There is a glaring difference in iconography between the seated tranquil garden statue Buddha and the tortured crucified Christ bleeding from his crown of thorns. This despite much similarity in their teachings. Man has emphasised the suffering of Jesus over his peaceful message. It prefers to show images of internecine cruelty and suffering rather than brotherly love. In our time there is much need both for tranquillity and for love.
Religious iconography is very often chavvy and overly ornate. It is showy and “look at me”.
“We have shit loads of gold! We the clergy must be powerful! Kneel pleb!”
Modern military power does not lend itself to very personal, even familial iconography. There is no big hearted daddy on the throne. Rather a couple of old men, fingers above a red button, ready to embody Shiva the destroyer aspect of deity. It is not an image of fatherly love. It is one of pendant wrath and nuclear winter.
Notions of deity need updating in a manner more suitable for modern mind, modern living. And no I do not mean a Marvel escapist universe. The sublime needs divorced from the family drama and the incestuous and the Machiavellian.
Spirit and consciousness needs to evolve away from the zoomorphic whilst retaining the feelings and value. A new form of understanding might spring from where we find ourselves now, so very obsessed with corporeal image and public relations spin-bullshit. Petabytes of images are quite a quagmire for the minds of mankind.
Yup…I think the old forms of iconography and depictions of deity are looking rather dated and may no longer be fit for purpose.
We may even need a thorough review of what we imagine deity and/or a God to be.
I wonder how might we imagine and create a God 2.0 ?
In Connection with the Council Chamber of Sanat Kumara, the Lord of the World
—
As this subject concerns one of the seven goals towards which the Masters aim after They have attained the fifth initiation, it will be obvious to you that there is little that I can say about it. One of the seven Paths for which the Way of the Higher Evolution prepares the senior initiates is the Path of Earth Service. This Path, as you know, keeps the Masters attached to service in the three worlds for a period much longer than the average. It involves tremendous sacrifice. Just as the disciple has to live a dual life, with one part of his reflective nature and awareness centred in the life of the Hierarchy and the other part of his mental responsiveness equally centred on life in the three worlds, and this simultaneously, so the Master, when He chooses this Path, forms a constituent part of the Council Chamber of the Lord of the World and at the same time works consciously in the three worlds, via the Hierarchy (of which He remains also a part), and with the human and subhuman kingdoms in nature. As evolution proceeds, He will work increasingly via humanity because humanity will be shouldering its responsibilities as the Macrocosm of the lesser microcosm. This dual activity entails much specialised training, and as the initiatory process becomes exoteric and men everywhere recognise it and participate in it, the training which Members of the Hierarchy also undergo will not be so secret and mysterious as it is today. But the time has not yet come to publicise it.
—
Only certain further generalisations are here possible, some of which are already known to you because they are so broad that their inclusions and implications are obvious. This, for instance, concerns the “centre where the Will of God is known”. Here at Shamballa work Those Who have unified Their personality will and Their spiritual will with the universal will, and such a unification inevitably brings knowledge. It is, however, not knowledge as you understand it. It is a blend of wisdom based on knowledge, understanding based on intuitive perception, and identification based on alignment, esoterically comprehended. For this peculiar condition or awareness we have no word in any language, and only the utilisation (the trained utilisation) of the abstract mind can possibly convey to you even an embryonic factual conception. But that type of imaginative conception will become more common during the next two centuries, and my words here will therefore serve an ultimate purpose. Those Who form the Council Chamber of the Great Lord are under no misapprehension as to His will because They see it whole. Paul, the initiate, hints at this when writing one of the Epistles; he is in touch then with certain Members of the Hierarchy and is concerned with the theme of Love, which is the fundamental hierarchical theme and motive. He says to Them: “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now we know in part, but then shall we know even as we are known.” He there points towards the future progress of the Hierarchy—a progress which remains as yet only a vague promise, lacking form and shape. But he wrote for initiates to whom love was a growing, vital concern, and to whom love and its practice meant light and the basic motif of all living, divine activity. It is not possible to reveal the will of God and the motivating Purpose of His manifesting Self, except to Those Who have demonstrated perfected love and Who register no sense of disunion or the faintest reaction to separateness.
—
At Shamballa, the Great Lives Who function there not only see manifestation whole and apart from all the limitations of time, but They feel all the major evolutionary impulses which are bringing the developing world into line with the divine Will. They embody those impulses not in terms of progressive movement, but in terms of one great divine and spiritual reaction. This idea can perhaps be best understood by you in terms of the Eternal AUM which is the symbol of the Eternal NOW. You have been told, and it has been demonstrated, that the AUM is composed of one major Sound, three minor sounds, and seven subsidiary vibratory tones. So it is with the Will of God which is embodied and held in synthesis by the Members of the Council Chamber. To Them, as They “hold the Will of God in solution, it is one clear note; as They see that Will in motion, it is three abidingchords, carrying outwards into all the worlds the Purpose of the ONE Who for aeons will abide; asThey impel that Will to demonstrate, it is seven vibratory tones, drawing out into the reflectedworlds the structure of the Plan. And thus the note, the chords and tone produce the Plan, reveal thePurpose and indicate God’s Will.” This is a quotation from certain of the ancient Archives which constitute the study of the Masters; they relate to the nature of Shamballa, its work and emanating energies.
—————–
There are certain synonyms which here may serve to develop your synthetic thinking and so bring in a definite measure of enlightenment.
SHAMBALLA
HIERARCHY
HUMANITY
Synthesis
Unity
Separation
Will
Purpose
Plan
Life
Soul
Appearance
Spirit
Consciousness
Substance
Livingness
Organism
Organisation
Apprehension
Polarisation
Focus of Activity
Power
Momentum
Action
Energy
Distribution
Forces
Direction
Transmission
Reception
Head
Heart
Throat
It will be apparent to you how little you can understand of the Shamballa intention when you realise that it is not easy for you to see any true distinction between unity and synthesis and, at the same time, how impossible it is for me to make the distinction clear. All I can say is that synthesis is, whilst unity is achieved and is the reward of action and effort. As you progress upon the Path of Initiation the meaning of unity clarifies. As you direct yourself towards the Way of the Higher Evolution synthesis emerges. More than that it would be useless for me to say.
—————————————————————————————-
Excerpted from:
“The Externalisation of the Hierarchy”, Alice Bailey and Djwhal Kuhl
Last night following the themes of Metatron and Seraphim which have cropped up in my dreams we watched a film “Legion” in which a disappointed God sends his angels down to cleanse the world of humans. In that Michael goes against God’s orders. He chops off his wings. He ends up fighting Gabriel and a human baby is saved from slaughter, to provide hope. The film was OK…the plot was a bit formulaic.
What is clear to me is that in the collective consciousness there is vast speculation and extrapolation for only a very few verses in religious scripture. Humans have invented vast tracks of images and iconography to do with angels, the messengers and perhaps heralds of God. Most of those images are very idealized with virginal female angels and muscular homo-erotic male ones. Angels have caught the imagination. Angels, it seems, are rarely ugly. There are no middle aged men angels partially shaven and with beer guts. Although perhaps wise, angels rarely have advancing age. In modern psychology visions of angels might be treated as psychiatric illness. Though they have been a part of religion and hence historically a cause for war over the centuries.
The notion of angels pervades into modern culture. Highfalutin beings with special powers are popular in the “mind”. Supramundane entities are nevertheless anthropomorphic and made in the more idealised aspects of our physical images. Just as we might make God an old geezer, we might make an angel a pretty hunk with flowing locks and wings.
I am genuinely surprised as to the extent of extrapolation from only a few words in religious text.
Far out…
Back here on earth yesterday I managed to walk for around a kilometre with only one crutch along the seafront up at the coast. Because it was a nice day there were others taking their disabled and spastic relatives out for a spin. There were a few wheelchairs, one of which looked off road. As the lunchtime witching hour passed more locals were wheeling out their disabled. It was a nice day and the sound of the waves a pleasure on the ear.
Overnight I have my first night without getting up for a shit-TV and KitKat break. I am sleeping upstairs and had a cumulative 6-7 hours with only four wake breaks last night.
This morning I have been out in the garden. In a 2 acre garden it is easy to walk far. We inspected the damage done by the wild boars and looked at the repair to the fence which the wife made. The little buggers have not been back since the hunt visited. Maybe some families had boar for tea. I used the leaf blower to clear the oak leaves from the gully by the pond. I was able to re-tension the five strand electric fence, the coypu deterrent. If we keep them at bay the lotus display next spring-summer will be ace. As winter deepens they come to ours for food. I have indoor and outdoor crutches now. One of which is now very muddy.
I have started to think about doing a small plumbing job.
There is some semblance of normality returning. I did a roast chicken dinner on Friday night and today we have lamb chops in a teriyaki marinade.
The scar is healing well. It is a bit itchy but no longer raised. The pain levels during the day are fine. The flexibility is already better. I can pick stuff up off the floor without kneeling…It is pretty weird feeling a hip joint click and not having painful bone on bone grind. It will take a while to become accustomed. I am happy with the progress at three weeks. I can walk unaided around the house when not tired. It is easy to imagine things getting better.
It is hard to know how well I am doing relatively speaking. We had prepared for more difficulty which has probably made things easier.
As usual preparation nearly always pays off…
My normal physiotherapist will probably freak at how far he can stretch my right leg when I see him next week!!
We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl, year after year
Running over the same old ground, what have we found?
Pink Floyd
————-
The {western} world lacks courage to even begin to question the way it “lives”. It is largely comfortable, though bored. It is comfortably numb. It goes through the motions of life; it exists as opposed to lives. Life is repetitive. There is not enough entertainment generated by {AI} algorithm on Netflix and the like. Net-fix can be had from the data pushers at around ten euros a month. There is a repetitive mediocrity similar to the 1970s middle of the road, which at least gave painful birth to punk. The world is in a “safe” doldrum numbed by the opiates of social media and endless trite imagery. It slices itself with plastic surgery, fills itself with chemicals and scars with tattoo. Allegedly mental health is in decline. The notion of being offended and entitled is pervasive. Complaint is all around us. And all we hear about these days upon the high altar is “deal” none of which are permanent, nor worth the paper upon which they are written. The insidious mantra percolates. A deal is professed as the answer.
The fear of being cancelled is a new 21st century one. Incorrect usage of Newspeak has the baying mob of vigilante thought police at the door. A polished glossy fake mediocrity is the ticket to fame and fortune. We have grey as a pervasive life tone. Table turning, upsetting the apple cart or boat rocking, are taboo. Against this the quasi-fascist nationalist right wing grows more vocal and separative.
Remember folks we tried nationalist fascism last century and it did not go so well…
People who are generally comfortable are very risk averse. They fear missing out on the latest trend or fad. They dread being shunned by whichever tribe they imagine a belonging to. It seems human folly is more addictive than ever. They will not twist; they stick with the cards they have. Because the erroneous notions of guarantee and proof beforehand, have taken hold. No bodhisattva has ever given a Tripadvisor five star rating for their journey. Click on to the next web page. There is no proof it will work. There are no “reliable” ratings.
I’ll speculate that humanity is indeed lost and directionless. While comfortable there is no compulsion to do anything whatsoever. We can sit on the sofa with our home delivered food clicking through hundreds of channels of shit on the TV and internet. Maybe we find something that piques our interest for the first series. We watch the second series knowing well that it will not be as good. Like a coke-head, the subsequent lines do not give the same hit. The novelty has worn off.
So what do we do? Maybe a little more retail therapy? Perhaps some more inane social media posts? Or we can eat drink and shag ourselves stupid. The NHS will clear up the mess…
———-
We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl, year after year
Running over the same old ground, what have we found?
Dreamyoga 