End Times

Well folks, it's official.

The End Times are upon us.

Don't take this as some doom-and-gloom bullshit. I'm just calling it straight: this is the end of the world--as we know it. And things are just getting interesting!

The events currently unfolding around the world will determine where our species goes from here.

I guess you could say we're at a fork in the road. One fork leads to widespread misery and destruction, the other to a Star Trek-like world unlike anything we can possibly imagine.

I know how this must sound: like pure insanity.

If you know me personally then you know that I'm both dead serious and at the same time totally joking.

I'm playing my favourite role: the trickster. I'm messing with your head--or am I?

The trickster isn't so bad! He helps out in his own way. He teaches the heroes a lesson. Sometimes it's a painful lesson, sure, but it always helps in the end.

And that's what I intend to do: help, in the end. 

Let's take a look at the situation, shall we?

First we've got climate change: that's a nasty one. I try not to think or read about it, but inevitably I come upon a gloomy article that strikes terror into my heart. At the end the writer always adds some distant projection for when the shit is going to hit the fan--by the year 2100, for example--and then I feel a tiny bit of relief.

Chances are my kids won't even be around by then--phew!

But then I think of exponential growth, and the fact that the media is blatantly lying to us about everything these days, and the fact that the north pole is currently 25 degrees hotter than it should be, and the fact that we're crushing global temperature records year after year, and I poo myself a little.

OK. Moving on.

Next up we have our broken government. Here you'll find the source of political and corporate corruption, which is in turn the source of income inequality and a driver of climate instability.

All of these issues are related. All represent legitimate threats to our existence, and all of them lead back to our broken model of government.

It isn't surprising: we're talking about an 8,000 year old model that's only been slightly updated here and there. The longer we insist on using this model, the more we flirt with disaster.

What is this model, you ask? Simply put, it is Rule of the Many by the Few.

Call them elites, one percenters, politicians, oligarchs, the Illuminati, or whatever you want, but it doesn't change what they are: a few people.

That's right: a handful of regular fucking dudes.

Simply put, a handful of people hoard 80% of the wealth while another handful of people wield all the legislative power.

Tell me: how is that working out so far?

Look at nature: have you ever heard of an ecosystem where 1% of the animals consume 80% of the food? Of course not. Because such an ecosystem would be unsustainable it would collapse in no time.

Everywhere in nature there's balance, cooperation, and harmony: what makes us think we're above nature's laws?

All of this leads us back to our old, broke-ass government.

Democracy, capitalism: it's all bullshit. It's no different from the days of God-Kings and Emperors, except now we have the illusion of choice, the illusion of control, which makes us complacent.

Why try to take charge when you already think you're in charge? Why fight for freedom when you mistakenly believe you are free?

I think by now most of us understand who actually runs shit around here. Thanks to our compromised political system, entire industries and special-interest groups can bribe and lobby our elected representatives. In turn, laws are passed not for the good of the people but for the good of large, faceless entities, and more importantly, the people who profit from them.

Two questions usually come up right about now.

First: "If not democracy, if not capitalism, then what?" The follow up to this usually goes, "What are you suggesting: Communism?" Another good one I hear is "We've already tried everything else and this is the least-worst of the bunch!"

I'm always astounded by such responses.

Where's the imagination?

Of course I'm not suggesting we move backward; to the contrary, onward, fellow humans!

We can design a better system. That's right: we. Us.

One that's more balanced and less susceptible (or better yet, immune) to fraud, corruption, and dishonesty. One that represents the interests of the many and still allows for a free market.

I know it can be done! There are so many great and powerful minds out there: we just need to recruit them to our cause. Then it's just a matter of planning, design, and a lot of work.

But it can be done--not in fifty years or in thirty years or even in ten: it can be done in a matter of months!

Question number two: "Isn't income inequality natural? And isn't the alternative some kind of socialist pipe-dream?

Income inequality is natural and healthy to some extent. In its current exaggerated form, however, it undermines the stability of our global civilization.

To use an illustration, imagine a pyramid.

The stability of the structure comes from its base. That's us: the average working Joes and Janes of the world, the middle-class backbone of the economy.

What happens if we move a few bricks from the bottom of the pyramid to the top? Not much. It'll look a little weird but remain stable.

Now what if we move 80% of the blocks from the bottom to the top? What do you think might happen then?

The pyramid starts teetering badly and sooner than later it's going to topple down.

You see trickle-down economics--the idea that giving the richest people more money because they create jobs--has always been a scam invented by--you guessed it!--the richest people.

How do trickle-down economics work in real life?

Factories are moved to third-world countries where workers work for pennies. Billions of dollars are stashed in tax-free havens. Jobs are lost by the thousands and the economy is robbed of billions in tax revenue.

This, coincidentally, is a contributing factor to Donald Fuckin' Trump's narrow win over the Lizard Queen. But I won't delve into that now--saving it for another post :)

For now I want to get back to the End Times. Did I mention they're upon us?

Let's end on a positive note.

My old friend Marcus wrote, "What stands in the way becomes the way."

What stands in the way now is a combination of greed, ignorance, corruption, and division. Though these are grim problems to contend with, they nevertheless point us toward the solution.

Greed is overcome by generosity; ignorance by knowledge; corruption by virtue; and division by unity.

Now more than ever we must unite, organize, and mobilize.

We must lead the Revolution.

Oh, don't worry: I'm not suggesting violence!

No, ours will be a silent and peaceful revolution. No blood will be shed--not by us, anyway. Instead we will exploit the same broken system currently used to keep us down. We will turn the apparatus against itself and replace it with something new--something designed deliberately by the people, for the people.

And to all you old billionaire fucks: don't worry, you'll get to keep your money.

You just wont get to keep our government.

Madness!

I don't know what it is but ever since I heard Adele spit that Nicki Minaj verse I've been feeling so inspired.

No, not just inspired.

Hungry. Energized. Powerful.

Most of all, I feel ready.

Ready for what, you ask?

The world, chico, and everything in it.

Watching Adele tear shit up in that SUV awakened something in me.

Selling out arenas and making a ton of money can easily go to your head, but somehow Adele remains authentic as fuck.

And for some reason, any time I see people--famous or otherwise--keeping it real, I can't help but get jacked up.

It's a nice reminder that staying true to oneself and giving zero fucks are crucial, not only to being successful but also to being happy.

Adele's swag isn't the only thing that's got me feeling like this, however.

There's something else.

For months I've been neglecting you. I've had urges and impulses but I forcefully redirected them into other projects.

And these other projects are going well, thanks for asking! So well, in fact, that I feel I can allow myself to once again indulge my guilty pleasure.

That's you, by the way.

I just can't bear to be away from you any more, baby.

So the other day I cracked open the laptop and shot madness out of my fingertips.

And it felt glorious!

I think it was a combination of things that set me off.

Karaoke Cab notwithstanding, there's been so much goddamn nonsense out there, so much noise and so many people reacting to noise.

It would be nice if I could tune it out. It would be nice if I could let it be.

But I can't.

There's too much bullshit out there. I feel compelled to get knee-deep into it. I feel the urge to rake and fling this shit into people's faces so they can see it for what it truly is.

I mean, people have got to be paying attention to the madness, right?

You've got the American political scene, which is a piping hot mess right now. On the right you've got Trump and Palin, Rubio and that other shit-head, Cruz. Then on the left you've got Her Majesty, Lizard Queen Hilary and Bernie fuckin' Sanders vying for the nomination.

You've got Making a Murderer on Netflix and the very disturbing fact that Steven Avery is in jail for a crime he didn't commit--again. 

You've got black people getting shot by cops or poisoned by politicians. You've got white militiamen taking over government buildings and who knows what else.

It goes on and on and on...

This tweet expresses exactly how I feel right now:

Only I'm thinking bigger picture here, folks. I'm thinking this is the last season of Earth as we know it and the writers are leading us into one hell of a cliff-hanger.

Will the bipolar apes survive this self-created predicament? Will they evolve sufficiently and avoid a global cataclysm?

Or will they continue on their merry way to extinction?

Who knows?

Either way it's an extremely compelling show. Not sure about you but I can't turn away.

Must. Keep. Binge-watching.

And if we're gonna watch, why not do a little running commentary?

I've got about a dozen posts lined up, not counting the random oddball ideas that will undoubtedly become posts of their own.

In other words, get ready: I'm about to add to the madness.

Facebook has Trumped me Again

Ah Facebook, you never cease!

Just this evening we were conversing and you mentioned that Top U.S. Psychiatrists Confirm Trump's Narcissistic Personality Disorder, "Textbook Case." 

And I was like, You don't say? 

You acted surprised when I didn't click on the link. "What if it's an Onion article or something?" you asked. "Don't you want to, you know, fact-check?"

And I was like Nah Facebook. I don't need to fact-check this particular tidbit. Whether it's a spoof piece or the real deal, I already know: Donald Trump is insane. His view of the world is so skewed, so out of alignment with reality, that he must surely qualify for a number of of mental disorders.

Narcissism is just the appetizer. 

Same goes for his rambling narrative, thoughtless insults, and lack of class: they all take a backseat to his incoherence. 

He just doesn't make sense on any level.  

You don't need top U.S. psychiatrists to confirm anything. Unless you're as crazy as he is, you can tell Trump is off his meds.     

It's for these reasons and more that Trump is the perfect Republican nominee for POTUS.

No, hear me out: he's ideal. 

It's no wonder he's polling ahead of every other candidate: none of those guys make sense either! So the Republican Party has been forced to think outside of the box. They figured If all our candidates are wackos, lets support the biggest wacko! 

Go big or go home. That sort of thing.

And Trump fits that description to a tee.

He's hyperbolic. He takes everything to extremes!

He talks about himself in the third person

He wants to build two walls to keep the immigrants out.

He's had lots of failed marriages.

He's a reality TV star.

He has lots of money.

And best of all, he's brilliantly hypocritical.

Side note: Who do you think will be in his cabinet? 

Starring Flava Flav as Vice President; Kim Kardashian as Foreign Affairs Minister; David Hasselhoff as Trade Minister Hoff; and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Minister of War.  

Why not? Let's take it as far as we can people. 

It's madness I tell you. Pure madness!

Unless.

Unless this is it, the day the Christians have been talking about all along. 

Armageddon. 

The final food fight.

(Read the following out loud in your best Bruce Buffer voice)

And in the Red Corner, wearing a toupee and man boobs, representing the 1%, he's the Self-Made, the Natural, the Gifted, he is DONALD "YOU'RE FIREEEEEED" TRUUUUUUUMP.

And in the Blue Corner, wearing owlish spectacles and old man legs, representing the people, he is the Hebrew Bulldog, the Democratically Socialist independent, he is BERNIE, "THE BERN" SAAAANDERS.

This is it guys. The Fight of the Century!

Trump and Sanders are diametrically opposed. Trump, the ultimate embodiment of the 1% ethos, versus Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist who wants to go after big banks. They are truly the outliers. 

You won't find anyone further left of Sanders, nor are you likely to find anyone further right than Trump. 

If this were the UFC I would tweet Dana White and tell him to make the fight, but I understand that's not how politics work. I know that Bernie still has to get through the number one contender, Hilary "the Clint" Clinton before he can get a title shot. 

He's close, but the odds are stacked against him. 

The fact that Bernie's made it this far is a little miracle unto itself.

This is 'Murica, land of the Bold and Free, God Bless't and all proud and stuff. If you work hard, if you have good ideas and the will to carry them out, you can become anything. That's it. That's all you need. It doesn't matter what your roots are, what colour your skin is, whether you're an immigrant legal or otherwise, whether you have access to education or not--no! It's the land of opportunity. 

Didn't you hear?

A socialist anything shouldn't stand an ice-cube's chance in Hell running for POTUS. And yet here we are! 

So to have the "S" word uttered in respectable places is in itself a minor victory. But on top of that, Bernie has climbed the polls neck in neck with Hilary and carried himself respectably in the debates thus far. He's competing. He's what they call a live dog. He's upset-minded.

"They brought him in to lose: but no one told him that!"

Look, it's time we humans come to grips with the situation at hand and change our thinking. For the Americans, carrying Bernie to the top would demonstrate such a change, a move toward reason and equality to be sure--just remember who's in the Red Corner!

A win for Trump however, signals the tragic decline of a former world power. It signals a Dark Age for America both at home and abroad. 

A Trump win equals a net loss for all involved, and in this day and age, we are all involved.

Now I don't think Trump has a chance. I think either Hilary or Bernie could defeat him. I have faith in humanity, and I don't believe that Americans are any different from Canadians or any other people on Earth. I didn't think Canadians would re-elect Harper again, and I certainly don't think Americans will elect Trump at all. 

But anything is possible. So be warned my American friends! Don't vote for Donald Trump: he's a textbook Narcissist. 

It said so on Facebook so it must be true. 

But just in case, #FactCheckYoSelf

Trophy Hunting

I wasn't planning to write about trophy hunting but a few people asked me my opinion on the topic so I thought, what the hell. A quick rant can't hurt!

Allow me summarize.

If you kill an animal to feed and/or clothe yourself, you're a hunter.

If you kill an animal for fun, you're a psychopath.

Think about it for a second. Who else keeps trophies of their kills?

Serial killers, that's who.

Anyone else watch Dexter?

If you take pleasure in killing something, doesn't matter if it's a person, lion, giraffe, or duck-billed platypus: you're a weirdo. Your meat-vehicle came off the assembly line with some wires crossed.

They've done research on this. They sat a thousand people in front of a TV screen, hooked their brains up to a special gadget, and started playing different clips.

A touching family reunion.

A car commercial.

A beheading.

For about 99% of people you follow along on the gadget and watch their brains light up like this: pleasure, pleasure, horror.

But for about 1% of the population you see: nothing, nothing, pleasure.

That's right: some people literally get off on pain and suffering. They need to manipulate, steal, hurt, or even kill just to kick-start the old feeling box. Otherwise life is dull and meaningless.

Out of that 1% only a few actually grow up to be a Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy. The rest become CEO's, politicians, and medical professionals.

They aren't any better than their serial killer counterparts, mind you: they just lack the balls to follow their dreams. White-collar crime and political corruption are safer than, say, killing prostitutes and canning their livers. So a lot of these guys (not being sexist: they're almost all men) puss out and stay under the radar.

And trophy hunters (like the dentist who wounded Cecil the Lion) are the weakest psychopaths of all! They can't even do it alone. They need locals to help lure the beast and sometimes even finish the job.

You think Dahmer needed help making his sex zombies? Fuck no. He played kidnapper, anaesthesiologist, and mad scientist all at once. Now that's a real monster right there.

These other losers who kill giraffes and rhinos and pandas are Psychopath Lite. They might purposely skimp out on the novacane before doing your root-canal, punch and kick defenceless cattle, cheat on their taxes, lie to and steal from shareholders, but they won't go all the way.

You know me: I'm all about owning it. So to me these weak psychopaths are even more wretched and despicable than their serial killer counterparts.

I can respect the guy who puts it all on the line, who risks his life and freedom to embrace the darkness within. I don't condone his actions but part of me is like "Way to follow your dreams, you sick twisted weirdo!"

And as a bonus psychopaths can't hide after they fully indulge in their twisted fantasies. Once they step into serial-killer land it's only a matter of time before they're caught and locked away for life. Meanwhile weak psychopaths could be hiding anywhere and we'd never know.

So to the trophy hunters I say: save yourself some money. Stop flying to Zimbabwe. Stop killing hippos from a distance. Follow your dreams instead! We both know you'd rather hunt the ultimate prey, so get on with it! Start hunting the long-pig.

Then, after we catch you (and we definitely will because you're a bumbling, ineffectual coward) we can throw you in jail and get rid of you once and for all.

Hipocrites

I've always wanted to try cat.

What I mean is, I've always wanted to eat cat.

I don't know why. Maybe it's because I suspect I've already eaten my fair share (along with everyone else who eats Chinese take-out). Maybe it's because cats are little assholes who think they're sooooo much better than everyone else.

I don't know why. But I really want to eat one.

Quick! Go look in the mirror. You see that look of disgust and outrage on your face? That's called "hypocrisy." Say it with me now: heh-pah-crahssy.

That's right, say it with a Boston accent.

Tell me, what's the difference between cats, cows, chickens, horses, pigs, and dogs?

"Well, um, some of them are pets and others are, well, food?"

Correct! Now let's talk about what they all have in common:

• They're all animals;
• They're all domesticated;
• They all have the capacity for pleasure and plain, fear and joy, even affection; and 
• They all taste delicious.

So why are we okay with eating some but not others? Sounds like discrimination to me!

The reason is that we've spent generations developing emotional attachments to some animals while eating the others.

We're like, "Hey, you see those animals there? Treat 'em like shit, then kill 'em so I can stuff my face with bacon and steak. But those ones over there? I like to cuddle and take cute pictures with 'em, so they're off limits."

In some cultures it's downright weird to own pets. In some cultures keeping dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and other critters in the house is as weird as having a pet chicken in your living room or a pet cow on a leash.

You know they eat guinea pig in Peru? It's a delicacy. You get to pick it out yourself! The cuter the guinea pig, the tastier it is. Or so they say.

And then there's a dog festival in southern China. Sorry, that's dog eating festival.

I'm not trying to gross you out. I'm not preaching a vegan lifestyle. I love meat too! I just don't feel comfortable drawing a line. If we're going to consume the flesh of other living creatures let's set aside half-measures.

Let's abandon arbitrary distinctions between "pet" and "dinner."

Let's stop being so hypocritical.

For years now your precious little pussy got to enjoy Fancy Feast and catnip and snuggling on the couch while you watch reality TV. If I BBQ the little fur-ball tonight at least it had a good life.

Which is a lot more than we can say about last night's roast.

It got stuffed (literally) full of food it doesn't like just so it would make that lovely sizzling sound while on the grill.

It lived shoulder to shoulder with its neighbour, never seeing the light of day.

It got pumped full of chemicals and antibiotics and then died so we could eat.

Meanwhile we have no-kill shelters crammed full of cats and dogs who can't find loving homes. We have deer running out into the street and endangering motorists.

But suggest a deer cull and people get all up in arms. Suggest that shelters serve orphaned kitties to the homeless (and anyone else who wants to dine on feline) and people throw up in their mouth a little.

Fuck your cat. Seriously. It's food. Not my fault you fell in love with it.

And if it ever comes down to you or him, guess what? You'll eat that little fucker in a heartbeat.

So let's stop pretending we care so much about the animals, okay? We might get pissed about trophy hunting or animal abuse but we don't really care. If we did we'd be up in arms about the inhumane treatment of livestock. We'd boycott factory farms right now, march and protest until governments enacted laws mandating the humane treatment of cattle, chickens, and all those other living creatures we call "dinner."

As it stands we're selective about which animals we care about. And by selective, I mean hypocritical.

Look at the happy cow!

So until we can be honest about our role in the needless suffering of animals worldwide I'm going to keep fighting for my right to eat your pussy.

The Book

It's been a minute since my last post so I thought I'd stop in to say hi and maybe drop a rant or two.

No, I haven't forgotten about you. And no, I'm not "quitting" again. I'm working diligently on the Book and things are going so well I'm scared to take a break.

See I've been trying to write this thing for over 6 months now and 99.8% of that time has been spent spinning my goddamn wheels.

Write a chapter. Delete a chapter.

Write 50 pages. Delete 50 pages.

It wasn't writer's block. Stuff was coming out the whole time. My struggle was finding the right hook or access point.

The question I was trying to answer was, How can I make the subject matter relevant to people in the 21st century?

How can I include all the good stuff while still making it accessible, entertaining, and compelling?

And, How can I boil it all down to one or two basic themes that tie everything together?

I toyed with an objective tone devoid of the author's voice, opinion, and anecdotes.

I experimented with Plato's favourite format, the dialogue, so that the whole book would've played out like a conversation between two fictional characters.

Then I tried taking the Morpheus approach. You know, the Book as a red pill: read it and see how deep the rabbit hole goes. But the sleeping/awakened analogy at the core of this approach came off a little too high-and-mighty for my taste.

Like "Oh I'm awake, look at me, I'm so spiritual and enlightened!"

Space Jesus?

Which we all know is far from the case.

In life there is no awakening, only different levels of slumber. Some of us are in REM sleep and deeply embedded in our personal dreams; others hover near the surface and flirt with Truth.

True awakening only happens after life, when we cast these meat-machines aside and dance with the stars once again.

After a few months of making no progress on the Book I started feeling sick. Part of me noted the irony: my desire (and inability) to write about meaning, purpose, and happiness was the only source of unhappiness in my life.

So I said "Fuck it." Either I was going to write this thing or I wasn't. Either way it wasn't going to define me or dictate my mood.

That's when I set the Book aside and promptly ended up here with you.

Like a rejected lover going back to his ex.

At first I just re-read old posts. Then I started writing new ones, only something had changed. The posts came out effortlessly. Whereas before I struggled to write one measly little article now I was firing them off in rapid succession.

I had finally stopped thinking about writing and simply wrote.

No pressure, no pretension, no bullshit.

Coincidentally blogging helped me work through some of the problems I had encountered while attempting to write the Book. Specifically it was this post about finding happiness in the little things that caused everything to fall into place.

The point of access I was looking for, the angle or hook, was happiness. That's what ties it all together and makes it relevant, not only to nerds and new-age types like myself, but to everyone.

After all, who doesn't want to be happy? And more importantly, how many of us truly are?

I had already written on the subject but found that my original happiness hypothesis was only partially true. I still believe that happiness begins within, that it's rooted in our perspective, but more recent experiences have shown me that there is indeed an external piece to the hypothesis.

Happiness starts within but inevitably overflows and spills without into our lives. Equanimity and the ability to give zero fucks  are at the foundation: from there we build upward and outward by finding purpose, meaning, and transcendence.

There's more to it than that obviously, but you get the idea.

Which brings us back to the Meme Merchant.

Why am I here, you ask? Why aren't I writing more of the Book?

Because duty calls. The world keeps turning and with every rotation it produces absurdities that require careful handling.

There's an election coming up and lots of bullshit to dissect so here I am to point out subtle truths and offer a third position in the false dichotomy that pervades our culture.

Whenever we're asked to choose between A) or B) you can be sure that I'll be here with option C) at the ready, a "None of the Above" for the sane.

You might not agree with my option C) but that's not the point.

The point is that we don't have to accept the false dichotomy. We don't have to engage in black-and-white thinking.

The correct answer is always somewhere in those pesky shades of grey.

In the Service of Madness

I was chatting with a friend about the events in Charleston the other day when he bluntly stated: "I'm racist."

"Not against any one ethnic or cultural group," he added. "I'm racist against humans in general. I think we're the stupidest fucking animals on the planet."

On the surface my friend's statement seems pretty spot-on. Take a look at the state of affairs in the world right now (or at any point in recorded history, for that matter) and you'll find people enslaving and slaughtering each other over imaginary lines drawn on maps or in the name of some invisible Sky Fathers. 

My friend cited climate change and atom bombs as evidence of our stupidity but I see these as evidence of our vast and powerful intellect.

The ingenuity required to dramatically affect the climate and destroy people by the millions is direct, indisputable evidence of our intelligence.

It's not that we're stupid, you see. It's that we're fucking crazy. 

The way things are right now is not a result of intelligence that's lacking but, as Eckhart Tolle accurately puts it, intelligence in the service of madness.

We'd rather have our cheap thrills and entertainment than overthrow the psychopaths running our governments and industries. And those psychopaths would rather see the earth ruined and humanity decimated than give up a penny of profit or an ounce of power.

What good is money when there's nothing left? What good is power when there's no more people to hoard it over?

The one percenters aren't evil: they're merely a representation of all that's wrong with humanity condensed into a few individuals. They're the worst parts of us magnified and concentrated into a small group of hateful, greedy, and ultimately frightened scumbags.

But they wouldn't exist if humans in general weren't so fucked up.

I've said it before and I stand by it: we're bipolar apes.

Half rational, half emotional. Half logical, half instinctual. Half present, half time-traveller.

We've known this for millennia.

What do you think the Egyptians were getting at when they carved the Sphinx? The body of an animal with the head of a man: that's what you are! A hairless bipedal ape driven by biological urges and instincts but also governed by something entirely different, something capable of discursive logic, reflection, anticipation, and so on.

That's the human head on top of the animal body.

Most of us have been taught to repress or enslave the animal body and all its powerful drives and sensations. We're told to get a grip, to stop being so emotional, to think about it.

By ignoring and silencing the animal we split ourselves in half.

Hence the bipolar ape.

Carl Jung, the Swiss psychotherapist and one-time partner to Sigmund Freud, wrote about this psychological split on numerous occasions. According to him a key step in the development of the human psyche is a process called "individuation" by which the instinctive animal mind and logical human mind are integrated together into a smoothly-functioning whole.

This process produces balanced individuals who are not only capable of rational thought but who are also keenly aware of the unspoken instinctual (or intuitive) function of the older animal mind.

The result is that we cease to be divided and become whole. We stop trying to mediate (unsuccessfully) between the inner-beast and the cold, calculating computer that wants so desperately to run the whole show.

We rise above the two halves and govern them both as one, giving each equal consideration and preventing the extreme mood-swings that currently grip our species.

Until we undergo a collective individuation, ingenuity, intelligence, and cleverness--the crowning qualities of our species--will continue to serve madness, and countless millions will continue to suffer needlessly.

Rather than ignore or repress our inner animal why not get to know it? Why not make it our friend?

Rather than contend with its wild and unruly energies why not harness and turn them toward a purpose of our choosing?

Until we do this we'll only be half of what we could be and twice the crazy.