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 [...] 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.
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Top reviews from other countries
- Davey MalinReviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2015
Great read, but loses its way...
