Fearmongering: Humanity's Existential Threat

Or A Social Cancer

Fear sells stuff. All sorts of stuff. Whether it’s bee-killer poison or Ring cameras, or even elections, fear is the greatest marketing tool in any advertisers utility belt. Currently our fear is being pushed using the “get on with AI or be destroyed” mantra which Silicon Valley is waving and Washington is carrying. The other bit is Musk and his “let’s leave planet Earth for interplanetary travel since Earth is dying.” Everywhere we look the sky is falling. From pedophiles in Hollywood and on Wall Street to the latest string of conspiracy bros on Instagram, it’s the end of the world as we know it…and I’d say collectively we don’t feel so fine, as the song goes. What to do, what to do? How do we claw back our agency from a system that wants to grind us under its heel? I think the initial response is Rage Against Machine’s opening mantra from their hit Vietnow: “turn on the radio, nah fuck it, turn it off.”

The other day I was sucked into a video on how we are being pulled into a mass psychosis around the pseudo-religious positioning by pre-IPO AI companies. The set-up was around a real event that occurred in Africa with the Xhosa tribe who took the dream of a local prophet who predicted that the ancestors would return and bring utopia if they were to make an incredible offering, sacrificing their entire livestock and economy. They followed her guidance…and ultimately paid the price. None of her predictions came true and much of her tribe died of starvation. This “prophecy” forced a major sacrifice driven by fear with the hopes that a better tomorrow would be born. Never operate out of fear or destitution. It is business 101. Don’t make decisions out of desperation or in a state of despair. We have collectively been worn down and are now being told that a small group of “prophets” can save us with their vision. It’s bullshit. I’m not against the technology…I’m against the assholes and oligarchs pushing their own greedy narrative.

Technology, science, and spirituality all meet at the intersection of creativity. It is human ingenuity and its ability to collectively dream that gives us a distinct flavor outside of the other beasts of the field and creatures in the sky. This dream is a collective one, that begins with a hope for a better tomorrow. Yet so often we forget about today as we future-cast our ambitions into the ether, envisioning a reality that often doesn’t align needs versus wants. We are manipulated by our insecurities, forced to compare ourselves on a daily (or minute-to-minute) basis depending on our media consumption. Our mental health is strained to its limits at the moment, and we will soon break if there is not a collective pushback to envision a future that does not feed on greed. This is the core issue of humanity…collect the most points and win the game. Whether it’s in the religion game where good deeds get you into heaven, or the money game where currency gets you measured success, there is a constant through-line that focuses on a quantitative narrative connected to a sacrificial flex. My favorite line from the above video is that the modern tech CEO is “not a scientist but a psychotic pagan wearing a Patagonia fleece.” Very well said.

Fear is the driving force to get people to act emotionally. There is no measured response when motivated by fear. Instead, there are only knee-jerk reactions. People are told that they will be murdered by their neighbor then they go get a gun to protect themselves. Nothing wrong with protecting oneself at all. But their kid has been online getting indoctrinated by a group of incels who peddle racism to their fanbase…so the kid poses with the gun saying he’s gonna shoot up a school. FBI flags it but who knows, maybe they are a day too late. Kid goes and follows through so all the other “incels” don’t think he’s weak…then turns the gun on himself ‘cause ya know what’s their left to live for it’s all going to shit anyway. What started from fear, bred more fear, and ended in fear. The cycle continues. This is why we are not in some sort of “immigration crisis” or “AI crisis” etc…what we are deep in the throes of is a mental health crisis. One that spans multiple generations and with the soon-to-be dying off of the boomer generation leaves a very distended Gen X leadership stuck with an incredibly hot potato.

Midjourney prompt: the fearmongering institute created by the deleted ideas of society

This is the current state of the world…and we aren’t that far removed from our pagan ancestors, looking for gods to save us from our own folly. Technology is the latest string of fear-drivers that pushes this agenda and it takes us further away from spirituality as we lean into the promise that the machine made by our own hands will be the rope that spares us. Unfortunately it is the rope that hangs us if we continue to follow the psychotic leadership that has infiltrated our social collective. This is not a flagrant use of the word or an exaggeration on the sociopathic tendencies that often are associated with leadership roles. This is a real cause for concern as psychopaths have a truly destructive tendency towards the greater good. When a small collective of psychopaths convince the people that they are humankind’s only hope, we begin to realize (if we pay attention, that is) that the only tool in their toolbox is fear. The irony to it all is that the plentitude of conspiracy theorists ,such as Dimitri Legrand, peddle these theories as it serves them…not us the viewer. They are in this to make money too. Fun to watch, but if you are unable to critically think for yourself then don’t go down these rabbit holes.

At the end of the day it is a vicious cycle that feeds on itself. Attention generates more energy, more energy generates more money…and the wheel keeps turning. What needs to happen is that the energy turning the wheel needs to be swapped out. Instead of fear, we need something a bit more sustainable. Love is the easy answer…but not the easy action. It reminds me of the tests in religion class when I was in grade school. We all knew the answers and gave them so we would get a good grade. Were we all acting in accordance to what was the innate response? Probably not since we were a bunch of pre-teen kids going through the early stages of puberty and doing the best we could given our circumstances. That said, we weren’t bad kids…just selfish at times. Yet this selfishness, when left unchecked, breeds into something far more detrimental. Those that learn how to manipulate others take control of the flock and drain them of their energy. Where do you think the vampire stories originated?

Midjourney prompt: a modern day vampire created by a weird brain of disgusting ideations, cartoon illustrations

Where we are now is at a mental health crisis that is plaguing our entire planet, drowning us in a sea of white noise. Every sector is in need of restructuring how it handles mental health on both a physical and psychological scale. I know I often write about this topic especially with how it relates to our spiritual wellness, but when you have a charlatan like Peter Thiel spouting about the anti-christ while he embodies the very traits that he wishes to expose there is something fundamentally broken with the current state of leadership. As we say in Freemasonry, all things will find their Level and this is in accordance with Time. Currently we have swung too far to the left hand path of Severity, leaving Mercy behind. It is the Middle Path that we must embrace in order to not fall victim to the hubris of humanity. When fear is the currency, we must find an exchange rate that shifts the system.