Escaping the Matrix: How We the People can change the world (Paperback)

by Richard Moore (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Richard Moore has distilled decades of participatory thought and dialog into a delightfully readable volume by exploring a compelling metaphor: The Matrix is our present manufactured reality, carefully managed for the benefit of elite interests and rarely questioned by those who live within its structures. Escaping the Matrix catalogs the persistent historical patterns of 'civilized' hierarchy that keep wealthy elites in control of governments and economies. But Moore does not simply tally historical injustices or enumerate the many discrepancies between Matrix and real-world realities. Instead, he challenges us all to action by courageously linking the apparently bleak situation of a dominated world directly to a hopeful vision for achieving new sustainable societies. He urges us to bridge artificially divisive ideological boundaries through a process of community-centered dialog known as harmonization. Escaping the Matrix contains worldview-altering insights and profoundly optimistic conclusions that will leave readers of every political persuasion with real hope that there are practical ways for ordinary individuals to escape The Matrix by taking personal responsibility for changing the world through local action.

About the Author
American living in Ireland, Before writing, I had a career in software in California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: The Cyberjournal Project (December 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977098303
• ISBN-13: 978-0977098309
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #729,985 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Down the Rabbit Hole, January 20, 2006

By	Carol Liane Brouillet "9-11 activist" (Palo Alto, CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Richard K. Moore fell down the rabbit hole less than fifteen years ago. His Silicon Valley position allowed him to host one of the oldest online discussion community groups at http://www.Cyberjournal.org. The deterioration of the political system in the U.S. drove him to Ireland, but he continues to write, visit, and learn from the growing opposition to what he calls "The Matrix," that fabricated reality sold to Americans by the corporate press and politicians which has little correlation to the physical reality of those who bear the brunt of U.S and corporate policies.

I've known this stuff for years, and I know Richard, but I couldn't put the book down, once I started reading it. It very clearly, succinctly, paints a historical overview of the evolution of the system, and those who pull the strings and profit from war. Geopolitics, that game of control, domination over the world's resources is laid out, from World War I, World War II, to the bogus War on Terrorism, or the budding World War III, which many of us are trying to prevent.

The first half of the book is history and analysis, which few who have studied these subjects, would argue with. 9-11 and the Project for a New American Century, are not anomalies; there is a continuity, an extraordinary disregard for human life in the grand scheme of elite planning. While the reasoning and preparations for genocide might disturb some people, it is clear that the intent of the book is to thwart an agenda that enriches and empowers the few while devastating humanity and threatening the entire planet. The size of the problem needs to be grokked, before Richard addresses what he sees as the path for global transformation.

To support his vision, he also draws upon history, the history of cooperation, the long human history of hunter-gatherers who lived in harmony and with reverence towards the natural world. The anomaly/tragedy of humanity seems to be the success of a small violent minority who seem to have seized the reins from the "Civilization Project." How do they get away with it? How can the majority shatter the "Matrix," get their voices heard, and make the systemic changes necessary for us to survive as a species?

Richard mentions the processes which indigenous, egalitarian societies used- the talking stick, circles. If you have never actually participated in a circle, using a talking stick, it can be a profound, tranformative process. I remember the first time that I experienced using a talking stick, it was at a party, and a funny looking guy with a beard, named Tom Atlee, held up a rock, and started passing it around. Only the person holding the rock spoke, and everyone else listened. By the time the last person spoke, we were bonded by our words, purposes, intentions, and a non-profit organization was born. Since then I have organized a number of conferences, and have incorporated the talking stick, and circles into all of them. Richard credits Tom in his book and shares other processes that share the power of the talking stick, particularly, facilitated dialogue, and harmonization.

There are adversarial and collaborative meetings, according to Richard, and they have very different dynamics. Ideally, amongst a diverse group of people, what can emerge from collaborative meetings is where people find common ground, unity and respect one another's difference in recognition of a shared higher purpose.

Richard goes into quite a bit of process detail and tells how groups are working towards creating these spaces for dialogue, generating group wisdom, empowering people, and building upon that empowerment. One idea is citizen councils where random samplings of citizens get together and then thoroughly study complex issues and give the public their suggestions for solutions to the problem facing their society. This has worked successfully and there is currently a proposal to try this process to solve the election problems facing California.

I believe Richard offers an excellent vision on an important aspect of global transformation- the need for genuine, collaborative dialogue. I think it is vital and necessary, but it still might not be able to penetrate the Media Matrix which strikes me as one of our greatest obstacles. We need the voices to be heard on radio, on television, in music, in films, in the theater, throughout the culture, but perhaps simply generating the dialogue will allow us to penetrate the cultural space until all the voices are heard, all the issues raised, the Matrix is broken, and truth seeps into all conversations, and the real problems that we face can be publicly addressed, identified, and dealt with collectively.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From a political blogger..., January 8, 2006

By	Earl van Amstel "Earl" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews

I find Moore to be deeply analytical and original, not just reporting facts or giving a word-smith opinion.

In this new book, one gets a good look at how the actual political world works at the highest levels, and how the matrix of unreality is formed for us. And then going further after outlining the reality, Moore gives his solutions to this encompassing matrix.

A must read, giving much insight and cause to ponder. I can truthfully say that Moore's insights into the matrix have influenced my own thinking and approach a great deal.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finding how the pieces fit, February 17, 2006

By	yesterdays future dot net - See all my reviews

I have a small basket of the most valuable tools and books that I refer back to and share with others who are looking to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Escaping The Matrix is my newest addition, for which I am most grateful to the author Richard Moore.

Once I read the first page and sensed the pace wasn't slowing, I drank it down in big gulps. I was delighted by the clarity and rapid fire presentation of information, and his linking of the pieces to make the point - that we live in a world quite different from the one suggested to us by the corporate dominated media machine.

I can't praise highly enough, the synthesis of knowledge about the development of our human history and what we can now reasonably assume (based on present wisdom, research, and widely accepted facts) is the real world. That our society is being manipulated and managed by a few elite rulers is a hard pill to swallow when we are deeply embedded in the Matrix view, but we are stepped through the facts until it's obviousness is undeniable. The bibliography and list of resources at the back of the book, offers a plethora of excellent material to help you if you doubt this proposition. And understanding it is a helpful pre-requisite to the second half of the book which deals with some possible responses and discusses how we might become part of the solution - now that the problem is overwhelmingly clear.

If not as thrilling and liberating as peeling away the layers of illusion about the situation we are presently in, the second part has prompted me to go and search out more information, and some of what I have found excites me. In these latter chapters, Richard describes processes and tools, and proceeds to offer ideas about how these might be engaged to transform our society, from the grass roots on up. He paints a picture of a time when large numbers of people might come to that most valued, harmonious and hopeful disposition of "we the people."

While offering a few examples to whet our appetite, perhaps the examples we so desperately need are the ones that will be demonstrated by us.