Come Undone Together

“At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality.” ~Che Guevara

If the institutions that comprised society as a whole were geared towards the development and wellbeing of the individual, towards enabling the full expression of each individual, and instilling in each individual member of society the awareness of their self as infinitely valuable... then society as a whole, the collective, will naturally express the beauty that humanity is capable of. The individuals comprising such a society would never need to be outwardly compelled to be 'a contributing member of society' because their inherent value and natural self expression will inevitably contribute far more than they could under current circumstances, simply as a byproduct of being.

Conversely, a society (such as we have) not geared towards the nourishment of each and every individual, and driven to aid each member of society in the full expression of their humanity, is a malnourished society. It lacks the mental and emotional nutrients only fully healthy individuals can enrich it with. It is a society that can only produce rot. The psychic damage of every child not fed, of every person who grows believing themselves as less than, can only grow exponentially becoming a heavier and heavier weight around each successive generation. The glaring proof being the United States today, what it has become and all the reasons why.

The sole purpose of society is the betterment of the individual, so the individual is in a position to naturally better society, so that society is in a better place to aid in the development of the individual. This creates a cycle of healthy nourishing interdependence and growth. All the functions and forces and systems and institutions must be bent in this direction. They must aid in the personal fulfilment of the individuals who comprise and/or interact with them. Because if they are not, they are actively harming society as a whole. Inevitably, they will turn the entire collective society to a cycle of decline and at best create the stagnant conditions that allow mold to grow and disease to spread.

The biggest issue in getting from here, this point in time, this particular place we find ourselves in, and getting over the very real and monumental obstacles in place to get where we need to be, is that we are all malnourished. Unhealthy individuals attempting to imagine and bring into being something healthy. We are, by virtue of the society we were born into, and the nature of its forces and systems, very ill individuals. A society that is not actively nurturing is actively harming, and our society is not actively nurturing. At best, if lucky, we have a few others close to us who do what they can to nurture our individual selves. But there is no one alive not dealing with the immense psychic trauma of living in a world where children starve to death while massive resources are spent on building bombs that kill other children. 

Trying to overcome systems that actively make us ill while ill is very much a blind leading the blind scenario. As evidenced by the many well meaning attempts at social progress that helped us limp forward until kneecapped by those who profit off the way things are. And how much of that progress was just appearance, just illusion with little substantive lasting change. For all the tremendous work of the civil rights movement in the US, the government still imprisons minorities for slave labor and executes citizens with little to no recourse for those victimized. 

Of all the things that need be done to correct such massive soul devouring issues we are faced with, step one may be the most difficult, since it is the one that must be taken amidst the soul devouring. In which even allies are fractured. It's the step everyone should be taking with the full support of society, but instead must be taken beneath the weight of it, in opposition to it. It is the most important individualistic natural expression of humanity, what gives form to and binds together the cycle of individual nourishing society which lifts up and nourishes the individual.

Step one is mindful compassion and empathy. It is knowingly and willfully setting yourself on the path of unconditional love for all things. Not achieving such a state, because that is a process, and if you can achieve it just by deciding to you may want to get checked to see if you are a reincarnation of the Buddha or the second coming of Christ or an avatar of Krishna or something. 

This is not a utopian idea that flowers and rainbows will overcome the darkness. Love does not stop bullets or billy clubs. Being kind to cops will not end police brutality, no matter how many get hugged they'll still murder the poor and help each other cover it up. Showing compassion to Jeff Bezos will not result in him utilizing his vast wealth to help anyone, no amount of good will or positive energy being sent his way will feed all the children he allows to starve. 

Because society does not nurture the individual, the opposite in fact, it is critical that individuals center themselves and focus on healing and personal growth. A person cannot approach the full expression of their humanity without being solidly rooted in compassion for others. Nor is it possible to overcome the gulfs that exist even between people with similar goals, without all the people prioritizing the compassionate nature of the goals over all else. 

Any movement hoping to last and actually turn the mechanisms of society to the benefit of all, must be able to continuously adapt to the moment, and evolve with the needs of the people. It must find ways to nourish itself from within, as society offers it none. Which is not possible if there is some set in stone utopian end goal now matter how well defined by thought and theory it may be. It must be established and grounded in the critical concepts of compassion for and devotion to every individual. Things will change in unforeseeable ways, but the importance of physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy individuals to an overall healthy society will not. How people feel compelled to best express their humanity will evolve, but the importance of a society that supports and is invested in the full expression of the individual will always remain the same. 

Socialism is defined aptly by the dictionary, and just as aptly countless other ways by those have taken up the cause of socialism. But apt and correct does not mean understandable, practical and not muddled. So what is the defining characteristic of socialism? What should the term actually bring to mind in those who haven't looked into for themselves? What is the main through-line that connects Debs to MLK Jr. to Allende to Guevara to Hampton to Chaves to Morales? It is undoubtedly compassion towards every individual, and the empowerment of every individual within their sphere of influence. They all gave expression to the most empowering ability within human experience, compassion. And this should be the through line that unites every true leftist movement and organization in the world.

But to be clear, just as love is a mother bear feeding her cubs, love is also the same mother bear laying waste to anything that gets between her and caring for her cubs. Compassion as a force is as much a compulsion to empower others as it is a compulsion to lay waste to anything that denies compassion and the betterment of mankind as a whole.

And just as important as helping reshape society into a benevolent force in people's lives, is the reality that you deserve to be well. You deserve personal fulfillment. You deserve to know your intrinsic value as a human being. You deserve the right and ability to express and even assert your value at all times in all things. There is but one simple yet difficult process to reach such a state of being. Rooting yourself in mindful compassion for others, and overcoming any personal barriers to seeing everyone as individuals with the exact same intrinsic value as yourself, with the exact same need and right to be nourished by society and ability to recognize their own individual value.

We are blind, all of us. That's nothing to be ashamed of. It is not through fault of our own but a fault of causes and effects that predate us. We are all of us existing within and beneath systems that crush individuality and mute the healthiest forms of self expression. So it is critically important for our own wellbeing as well as the long term health of society, that we as individuals find solid ground within ourselves to stand on. 

Being mindful of compassion and intentionally willfully expressing it in more and more activities triggers exponential growth. It empowers. It draws in others both of a similar nature and those greatly in need of compassion. It provides an unerring framework for creating and altering social structures so they work for the empowerment and betterment of all. 

Because the purpose of the whole of society must be the empowerment and giving full expression of the individual, otherwise you inevitably have a society that takes a form much like the US of today, it is absolutely of utmost importance that the transformation of society as a collective begin with a foundation centered on the wellbeing and growth of the individuals who take it upon themselves to begin such a change. As an individual your manner of empowerment and expression, and how you best affect change, will necessarily differ from everyone else, if by degrees, but still it must be rooted in the same sense of inherent value of yourself and every individual that comprises society. 

Every movement for positive change has been eventually ground down or torn apart. There are internal egos within the movement. External forces chipping away at its foundation, or it is redirected if not entirely taken over by those who wish to blunt its effectiveness. But if the underlying purpose of the movement is individual personal growth, individual empowerment and healing, there's not much for external forces to corrupt or subvert. Because we are blind we must accept the stumbling forward that will inevitably occur. Flaws do and will exist within ourselves and therefor any movement we take part in. There will be ups and downs and stops and starts. Momentum will ebb and flow. Both roadblocks and huge breakthroughs are guaranteed. But if the primary focus is compassion, then even when there are struggles to get more people fed, when attempts stall for a time to make political gains, when hurdles to housing everyone start to seem endless, there is still something critically important moving forward: the existence of compassion within the movement insisting to people that they are valuable, and they are necessary, that their wellbeing is essential to the wellbeing of society. And that insistence is critical in preventing burnout within a movement, and critical message that needs to be insisted upon in the current corrupted society.

Meet yourself where you are at, be mindfully compassionate towards yourself and accept your intrinsic value. Meet others where they are at, see them as individuals, and accept their intrinsic value. Grow yourself, overcome whatever obstacles inside you that may prevent you from seeing another both as a fellow human being in need, and their potential as a fully expressed human being when their needs are finally addressed. Whatever your individual direct actions for improving the world around you, combine them with being an example that it's possible to heal. Let that be the undercurrent that unites your particular work with the work of those around you. 

Step one: acceptance. Mindful compassion. You are who you are where you are in life. None of that detracts from your value or potential. You deserve to heal and express your potential. Every individual you come in contact with deserves the same. And those children still to come, they deserve the society we were never given.