CHASING THE ELUSIVE “GOOD GOVERNMENT”

Over the past 15 years or so, I have gone through radical shifts in my political ideology.  From being a counter-culture rebel for rebellion’s sake- believing in the right to smoke weed freely and completely cynical towards government and politics; to what could best be described as a conflicted “progressive-libertarian”- who was anti-war, anti-corporatocracy, believed in “good government” and promoted civil liberties; to what would be described by many as an “anarchist”- from the Greek an-archon, which means “without rulers” not “without rules”(contrary to popular belief).  The major constant behind all of these ideological shifts has been a continually evolving understanding of what I would best describe as the Divine Principle of Free Will, as well as a dash of natural contempt for authority and authoritarianism.

This understanding of free will and a slowly matured understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of government led me to the following conundrum: If every human being is at his or her core a divine being that is endowed with the Divine Light of the Creator of All Things, then how does any other human being have a right to claim themselves as an “authority” over another and impose their will in anything other than a completely open and voluntary manner?  Obviously a primary response might be, “well, sometimes people violate the free will of others and need to be punished for their violations so hopefully they don’t do it again”.

Okay, even if we are to take that a violation of the free will of another somehow obligates the violator to surrender their own free will, still the question remains, who is given that right, that power to enforce some sort of over-arching authority or “law”?  Better yet, why are a select few people awarded that power and authority that the rest of us are told we do not have?  What makes them qualified to wield that sort of power?  These are questions many don’t bother asking, preferring to accept things as “just the way it is”.

Others may say this is part of what is known as the “social contract” in which peoples within a society “willingly” give up a certain amount of freedom in exchange for order and protection.  This is of course, order and protection maintained by a third party, i.e. government (via the police, Homeland Security, the military, etc.).  If individuals, families and communities were actually charged with defending themselves, there would be no need for anyone to give up any liberty.  This can also be said for things that involve taxes and taxation.  There leads us to the question as to whether you could honestly say people “willingly agree”  to comply with these social contracts, when many feel they have no real choice unless they ultimately want to face the barrel of a government enforcer’s gun.

My questions regarding whether there can be or ever was any such thing as a truly legitimate government or authority led me to look into the governing systems of my ancestral folk- the ancient Celtic and Germanic tribal peoples of Europe.  In the book entitled “The High Kings: Arthur’s Celtic Ancestors”, author Joy Chant describes how “tribal interdependence made for a society wherein each individual had value, where for example women were equal to men, and children had legal rights rather than being at the disposal of their parents.  Rulers were usually elected from among an eligible group rather than succeeding by right, and their authority was far from absolute; a King was subject to law, and his people could pass judgment on him.”

In Celtic society, the king or queen was chosen from the warrior or “protector” class of those who had proven themselves especially skilled in battle.  His primary duty was the protection of the tribe or clan.  The closely related Teutonic or Germanic peoples of Europe had a similar role for their king or chief.  Often times, a king would only be chosen to lead during a time of war.  There was a naturally wariness of despotism among Northern European peoples.  In pre-Christian Germanic society there were three basic tiers: the king, the nobility, and the freemen (men and women who are not slaves or serfs).  The Roman general, Tacitus described how tribal matters were settled:

“About minor matters the chiefs deliberate, about the more important the whole tribe.  Yet even when the final decision rests with the people, the affair is always thoroughly discussed by the chiefs. [… At the assembly, w]hen the multitude think proper, they sit down armed.  Silence is proclaimed by the priests, who have on these occasions the right of keeping order.  Then the king or the chief, according to age, birth, distinction in war, or eloquence, is heard, more because he has influence to persuade than because he has power to command.  If his sentiments displease them, they reject them with murmurs; if they are satisfied, they brandish their spears.”

We see in both the Celtic and Germanic tribal structures, there was a general sense of what would be considered an equal say to a large extent.  This was not uniform, across all tribes and nations, but definitely appears to be a dominant trend in Northern European tribal structure.  It is this vein of consciousness that brought forth documents like the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights along with the “democratic republics” that are seen as the hallmark of freedom.  The tribal egalitarianism of the Celto-Germanic peoples differed greatly from the more overtly patriarchal and at times greatly oppressive empires of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East.  It was this latter form of ruling consciousness that was eventually implanted into the rest of Europe first through the old Roman Empire, then through its “rebirth” as the Roman Catholic Church.

In Celtic societies it was the “learned class” of bards, druids and ovates, rather than the warrior class of kings and nobleman that were the true leaders of society.  Arising out of the Indo-Aryan Brahman class of Ancient India and out of the Pythagorean Mystery Schools of Europe, these were men (and women) that were keepers of the law and the sacred Word of the ancient oral traditions.  They were the healers, the teachers, the priests, the philosophers, the poets, the historians, the musicians, the architects, the astronomers and the keepers of time and the calendar.  These were men and women of legendary abilities and attainment who reportedly trained for upwards of 20 years to hold this important position.

However, unlike those Celts of the warrior nobility, the Roman Empire could not come to terms with or assimilate these dissident intellectuals and conducted a campaign to systematically eradicate the druids.  Sadly, most of their knowledge appears to have died with them.  Most of what we have left is the somewhat biased writings of the Roman conquerors and the later writings of the Irish Catholic Monks.  It is this class of individuals that has truly captured my imagination and been the source of much contemplation as I attempt to understand the nature and role of human governance, what went wrong, and what if anything could possibly be done to move towards a form of right governance.

The druids with their combination of cultural sophistication, deep philosophical and mystical understanding combined with their reverence for the natural world and understanding of its core workings is the archetype of the enlightened man.  Now is this to say that all druids were necessarily “enlightened” beings or that all druidic practices would be suitable for this or the coming Age?  No.  But this archetype of the man or woman that goes through intense and rigorous spiritual initiations to the point of real purification; this archetype of the “Renaissance Man” who is learned of the true arts and sciences and understands and knows how to utilize the Laws of Nature and Creation; this archetype of the enlightened man who is grounded in true morality- this is what we need to be demanding our leaders embody if they are to be worthy of holding any sort of position of power or authority over the rest of us; which means that the VAST MAJORITY of men and women that currently hold a position of power, have no business doing so.

Our leaders need to be living representations of incorruptibility, virtue, honor, wisdom, and understanding, representing the highest forms of human aspirations and potential, not the lowest.  Unfortunately, those who rise to the top of the political and corporate ladders are more often than not the very opposite of “moral” or “incorruptible”, and are often selected due to “fraternal” ties or showing that they will do “whatever it takes”.  Our leaders who we allow to become our rulers are by and large just as enamored with the trappings and vices of the material world as any one else walking the street.  In truth, many of the most powerful and influential leaders have far more skeletons in their closet than the average man or woman.  These men and women are the opposite of the spiritually attained druid or the noble warrior.

Our modern-day “leaders” are not required to undergo any training or testing to prove themselves honorable or ethical outside their ability to present an image to the public.  Politicians are often groomed (or blackmailed) by the powers-that-be and installed due to their ability and willingness to advance a socio-political and/or economic agenda.  When it comes to the general public, leaders are often chosen for little more than catchy slogans, good campaign rhetoric and ability for us to “identify” with them-to win the “popular vote”.

First, we are not actually electing leaders we are electing RULERS.  Leaders lead the people by example- by noble and honorable words and deeds.  Rulers give edicts and commands to the people that they are required to follow, even if the rulers themselves do not (how many times have you heard of government “officials” skirting or exempting themselves from the law somehow and getting away with it?).  Secondly, the general population consciously and/or unconsciously wants rulers that are in tune with the Mass Mind of the people- this is the collective lower mind that most of humanity resides in.  This is the mind that is drawn to vice, power, control, and greed.

When we select leaders or rulers who appeal to this mind, we will never really rise to anything other than what we have right now.  All the best legislation in the world- left, right or center- will NEVER be anything more than temporary Band-Aids.  We don’t need leaders and rulers who are like us, we need leaders who are better than us; and by better I mean if we’re going to have leaders or rulers, they need to be men and women of the utmost moral character who are among the highest examples of living human potentiality.  They should be representative of what we can be, not what we are.  We need men and women who can lead us out of the lower vibrations of the Mass Mind not cater to them, and the policies and ideologies promoted by both sides of the political spectrum do just that.

Some may feel I am being unfair towards those who are in positions of power.  Some may feel that my demands or expectations are unrealistic, and that the possibility of men and women of such attainment and virtue existing is just as unrealistic.  First, I should state right off the bat that I myself do not feel that I am anywhere near ready to take that sort of position either.  I still have a lot of learning and growing to do yet.  I am not through being educated or initiated to that point, and that is my point.  That being said, there are indeed men and women who DO fit these criteria, and I have met them.  Unfortunately, our current control-based system of government does not tend to attract these types.

What it ultimately boils down to is that our leaders and our society lack the sort of real education and initiations needed to turn out anything close to a qualified “statesmen” or government “authority”- be it a president or a cop.  This is why government as we know it doesn’t work and this is why government as we know it can’t work- EVER (at least not for those of us who are among the governed).  Monarchy, oligarchy, republic, democracy, socialism, communism, fascism- it doesn’t matter.  Yes that is a bold and definitive statement and I am 100% certain of this.

Many in the western world have been brought up with this notion that WE are the government.  To those that still believe this I ask when the last time was that you were consulted about fiscal or foreign policy?  Did you agree to the traffic laws and taxation systems that generate billions in government revenue each year?  And do we still honesty believe that our representatives truly “represent” our interests?  Why do we think these lawyers and corporate climbers are even capable of representing our interests?  Do we believe they will set selfish interests aside so as to be of service to the people?  Remember, they are public “officials” now, not public servants- that means something.

Do we for some reason believe these “officials” to be incorruptible?  If so, why?  Have we not seen enough incidents of government corruption across the board to know that isn’t true?  What makes us think things will be different come next election?  A real look at campaign contributions as well as voting records and policies espoused by most government “officials” and agencies would probably show that our governments “officials” indeed do represent someone, but that someone isn’t “we the people”.  And it has been this way for a long, long time.

All that being said, in a way, we DID agree to all of this.  We agreed by saying nothing.  We agreed by “going along to get along”.  We agreed through compliance.  We agreed to allow ourselves, our family and our folk to be fleeced and relegated to debt slavery and taxation serfdom.  We agreed by choosing to remain in the dark and let “someone else” handle the big problems, which was the same trapping of the despotic governments of old.  The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.  We did not remain vigilant and our “Great American Experiment” has failed.  The majority of human consciousness wasn’t ready for the responsibility of true freedom yet.  We don’t need to get down on ourselves about it, I’d argue it was almost inevitable.  We certainly don’t need to waste time trying to “change the system”?  What we do need to do is learn from our mistakes and move on.

The current systems of governance across the globe are failing and rotting.  The great experiment of “liberal democracy” and representative government are in their death throws.  International Usury, Corporate Globalism, Medical Authoritarianism, the Military Industrial Complex, the war on “extremism”, forced multiculturalism, and the weird cult of political-correctness has successfully subverted and eroded the sovereignty, self-determination and liberty of the people that liberal democracy promised.  This is why we need to let go of our ingrained attachment to “reforming the system” and admit its failure.  At that point we can throw off (not overthrow) this system entirely and create something new for ourselves.

Namaste and God Bless.