Obedience is the enemy

Obedience is the enemy. I had plans to cover the sails of my little keelboat with this message a few years back.

The occasion was a maritime defence exercise hosted out of Auckland’s Devonport naval base combining allied warships, and I planned to spend a couple of days sailing to and fro in front of them. I started prepping the banners then got hit with a nasty flu - it never happened.

War is futile, we could probably all agree on that, but still our leaders find reasons. My advice for anyone dependent on the military - national or mercenary - for their families food and shelter, is find another way to pay the bills. In this gig economy we now inhabit, most of us have to keep re-inventing. Now’s as good time a time as any to move on from the uniform.

If we hand on heart believe we’re doing the right thing, ridding the world of terrorists, defending our patch, whatever, then best we keep peeling the onion.

There’s some good stuff of course, our navy involve themselves with cyclone relief in the Pacific, fisheries patrol in coastal waters, praise all round. But if we’re called upon to service the twisted narratives of an allies’ geopolitical interests, the old Us and Them thing, sit that one out, obedience is the enemy.

The silent bloodshed lies in the shell games of the financial world. Military interest pivots around leverage of resource and money, a marriage made in hell - shop soiled bedpals those two, grubby to the touch.

Without giving you the full 101 macroeconomics tirade, tossing aside the gold standard and the Glass-Steagle act were two of the sketchiest moves american presidents ever made. Despite their electioneering rhetoric, these ‘leaders’ then as now, toe the line, or, as JFK found out, you’re gone by lunchtime. And now with BRICS and the global awareness that the USA has gone rogue, time’s shortly to be up for the hollywood of hegemony and their economic dominance. Some say it already is, and not before time. The global financial system, hundreds of yrs in the making, the last 50 on meth, is pure and simple ponzi. Gambling, where the house always wins. The house in our case is Mother Nature, and he/she/they cares not for quarterly financials, the sugary donut on the boardroom table. Contrary to popular belief, economic growth is a dark horizon to be setting sail for. Don’t fall for the growthwashing.

I’ve taken a keen interest over the last few decades in the United States, haven’t we all. They have reprehensible foreign policy, Team America World Police. Shady at the best of times, it’s that old chestnut of insecurity and greed, and the inevitable grab for power and control.

Sadly their domestic policy is little better. Which is unfortunate because the folk that inhabit the States, like anywhere in the world, are awesome humans that just want the best for their children, elders and communities. The States have given rise to some formidable intellect, the best of creative minds.

But the twisted narratives that generations have built around the american dream ? Smoke and mirrors. And here we sit in NZ, the USA as allies, the Five Eyes intelligence sharing complicity we suck up. Dubious.

Longtime analysts like Noam Chomsky have always followed the money as they say, to peel back the layers of oval office and pentagon endeavour. And the real power, financial gravy trains and fat controllers that sit behind them. Many great observers - Steinbeck, Vonnegut, Orwell, Huxley, Margaret Atwood, William Burroughs, George Carlin, musicians like Frank Zappa … have for some time been calling bullshit on the backline of self-interest and greed.

Currently I find sounder narrative coming out of Chinese leaders mouths, more considered thought, a country playing the long game. State controlled capitalism seems to be the current flavour of their saviour. And biding their time. They don’t tend to drop munitions on countries willy nilly like some we know. They could, but they don’t.

The USA is new, a youngster, still emotionally finding it’s way, hormonally erratic. Their current leadership is a fine reflection of this … spoilt manboys in their playground bully years.

White Empire (an affectionate term for the States, coined by the global south), carry recent enough shame in genociding american indians, profiting from the slave trade, and now propping up any regime (eg NATO/Zionism/Taliban/al-Qaeda/Iran/Iraq the list is endless) that will divide and conquer; buy/sell arms, spin a buck, and steal resource that’s not theirs, under the guise of protecting their interests. I’d suggest that the US’s interests lie within their own borders, and they have no business bullying other nations, whether Vietnam, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Palestine/Middle East, Latin America, Africa, just about every corner of the globe - a stakeout of multiple military bases, standover tactics every which way. No business at all.

American foreign policy is global terrorism incarnate. They’ve invested multiple billions in PR via every channel imaginable to convince us in the West that they are here for us, the flagbearers of freedom and enterprise. Rubbish, always has been and now the emperor has no clothes. Here’s looking at you USA, you have lost your way. China stretches back thousands of years. I would not want to live in China with a dissident spirit, I’d likely get disappeared if I challenged their narrative, same now in the States, ICE etc. But I can see why kiwi Rewi Alley took a shine to China. The all for one and one for all attitude, a collaborative rather than competitive culture, well it makes sense to me. The mountains of consumerist junk that they spew and we eagerly lap up, not so much. But I get their gameplan, with most of the world now playing Chinese checkers, the host holding the board.

No, I don’t think Xi, Modi or Putin are the answer to our current challenges as a species, but it’s clear to see that american leadership and the course they’re setting is delusional and ultimately defeatist.

Stateside the Dem’s, Republicans, red/blue, tweedledum/tweedledee, whatever, are a bunch of owned Wall St bitches, complicit the lot of them. The system is a rort and even the misinformed mainstream media consumer can sense the rat under the floorboards. As a consequence we’re turning our backs on the buy-in, aware that a lot of our past truths have been sifted and shuffled, served up as brainfog.

Money, power and war… the shit going down in Palestine, that’s been decades of US backed land theft, displacement and extermination. I visited Israel in the 90’s, it resembled California, an american outpost all modern with glass and steel high rise, a desert land pimped up with wealth, paved roads, modern infrastructure, the USA’s 51st State for sure. And so it has recently become glaringly obvious. Zionism is not Judaism, and it’s now getting a lot of airplay on the world stage as a crushing ideology of othering, of cruelty and genocide. They’re not alone in dirty deeds, but that doesn’t make it alright to pass trauma down the line. 2 years ago in Peru, just before the Hamas uprising, I spent a week in a hostel dorm with some young Israeli’s fresh out of their compulsory training with the IDF. Got talking, and I couldn’t find one of them keen to go into Gaza. One said to me ‘Baz we’ve been asked to inherit the vengeances of our elders’ … how cool, after all the trauma’d othering they’d grown up with, they didn’t see Us and Them. Ran into a few of them in Bolivia post-Oct 7th and they were sad, not angry, cos they knew what was about to come. With recent reports that the IDF have a lot of young reservists like these refusing to turn up for duty, I’m thinking they’re working it out, that obedience is the enemy.

Men in suits and military fatigues. Has there ever been a weaker more cowardly strain of reptilian human than those prepared to use aviation to drop munitions on populations. Dresden, London’s Blitz, Hiroshima, Kissinger’s Cambodian B52 lolly scramble, Gaza. Ad infinitum. We have a long way to go, obedience is the enemy.

Back here on the home front, New Zealand’s ‘leaders’, men in suits, women with shoulder pads … in all my voting years, and I’m a grandad now, I’ve never seen such a vague bunch more out of their depth than our current finger pointing government. Bless them but they are ideological beginners with little economic or emotional literacy. Even my second cousin (yes we’re related) ShowPony Winnie™ could do with a moral compass re-swinging. For Winston, magnetic north has always been a television camera. Sorry bro, hurts to say that. But not much.

So what to do.

Hitherto handles like capitalism/socialism, left/right are no longer fit for purpose. I am a believer in hard work, but simply for self-aggrandisement ? That wont get you an invite to my barbie. Ownership is an illusion, mother nature owns the lot, and ‘profit’ whatever that means to you, needs to be returned to the communities from whence it’s generated. Including ecological communities - the ladybirds need a voice. Call me yesterday’s leftie and you’d be wrong. I question everything. I’m looking for a new structure within which we can conduct ourselves, and it likely won’t take hold with any real intent till our current one has a few more 2008 GFC seizures.

Wealth for me is having people around me that give a shit, feeling like I belong somewhere, that I’m not an island. And valued, of some purpose to a greater good than just me.

And yes I need some form of food, shelter and clothing. Tho this doesn’t need to be opulent, I already am. Mere fact I’m a white boomer with a NZ passport and right to reside makes me priviliged beyond the wildest dreams of those struggling in developing nations. I have the luxury of time to tap this out on laptop, the luxury of a laptop, access to electricity and wifi. I am the 1%.

In todays economic climes, globally and here at home, our kids struggle to find jobs, cos the concept of having one especially white collar, is on the wane. High schools have not so much lost their way as never found it. Putting teenagers in rooms behind desks for much of the day … what the actual fck is that about. Most media we consume is mindless distraction. I was a schill in both those service industries. What they could be, and what they largely are … don’t get me started.

Our kids will likely never own their own shelter, they can barely afford to rent it, unless they are lucky enough to have a mum and dad with a trust account like NZ’s current “I’m sorted’ Prime Minister. Boy is that ladder puller in the wrong job.

Our petrol and diesel comes from far away. We currently need it to prop up our material oil dependent lives, at the least to get food to supermarkets given our relationship with food has largely become an eftpos card. Mother Nature doesn’t need it, he/she/they would prefer we left the fossil fuels in the ground, scientists mostly concur.

So again, what to do ?

I was recently priviliged to interview a bunch of locals in my community about their hopes, fears n’ good ideas. Not a paid job, a passion project. I did this because I think that we’ve become insular, scared, a bit alone, and we’ve no reason to be. My thoughts are that as humans, what unites us is bigger than what divides us. I hosted these on this blog, shared on community social media, now up to about 25,000 views over 50 interviews. That’s big for a small community. Seems like we’re interested in what our neighbours think. Who knows, such sharing could grow connection and empathy.

As the new realities bite, I’m thinking our worlds are going to indeed become local. As far as we can walk/run cycle paddle sail. Now that will be very interesting. No skiving off to the Gold Coast on a JetStar members deal for the weekend. Getting to Hamilton from Auckland might take a few days, a sleepover at Huntly on the way. Could be the leg up Huntly needs. Akld - Dunedin would be like a month or so on the Te Araroa trail. A sailboat across the Cook Strait, fancy that.

One blog recently suggested we won’t be teaching our kids to code (AI has that down), but to compost. Growing food within walking distance will be the new black, everyone gainfully employed in food, shelter and conflict resolution. Or go hungry with the real possibility of becoming food/compost ourselves.

Of all the people in my life at the moment, two of my favourites are women in their mid 80’s. There’s Betty, fit as a fiddle, knits, grows veggies and pickles/bottles and preserves like there’s no tomorrow. Always at the saturday market on Waiheke Island, each week she makes several hundred dollars for one of a number of charities. Then there’s Pauline, a piano accordion teacher. Plenty of core strength this one, her 10kg+ of breathing chest furniture swinging off her shoulders. She teaches and regularly gigs the thing, on the bill at a bar I played not long ago.

These women are inspirational, they are my leaders. They’re not only physically and intellectually together, but emotionally fit for purpose. Way more so than the calculating duplicitous FartSuits we see at the helm of the likes of the USA, UK and NZ.

One could argue that women have a higher emotional intelligence than men, a stereotype far from watertight, but there might be some truth in there. My thoughts are robust leadership first and foremost requires the individual or entity to have their emotional shit together. When I witness world ‘leaders’ coming together for this or that summit, it’s invariably men in suits. There’s sometimes a sprinkling of oestrogen but largely it’s an ageing boys brigade. The suit is intended to convey a just-add-water respectability. I find the more suits on stage, the handshakes for the camera, the less credible the oratory when their mouths move.

These people are not my leaders, these men in suits.

We are slaves to a globalised neoliberal structure that no longer serves most of us, we serve it, stressed and anxious hunger games proles. Minimum wage slaves tethered by subscription serfdom, held to ransom by guns and butter. Before too long, overheated financial markets will bomb and take our developed privilige with it. We’re not going to like it.

It’s really down to what the likely triggers will be - there’s a few contenders, and when, and how the downstream impacts will present. This is bad news but also good news. The current game is simply not sustainable. Indigenous cultures may have seemed primitive to my thieving european colonising ancestors, but we badly need those indigenous smarts in order to live within nature’s parameters, or what’s left of them, in order to survive as a species.

So yeah, obedience is the enemy. Try practicing selective disobedience, we all have a moral compass, let’s use it.

Arohanui all xx