Occupy your mind #2

I can see the end of oppositional political dialogue. People will stop asking me to sign petitions, join protests, take part in camps, hoist angry placards, target this and that. No longer will people of good intentions shake donation tins when they see me, or print clever leaflets in order to engage my attention.

The Twitter flock will stop calling for opposition, for a new round of digital intifada against the wealthy and powerful.

No longer will I be identified by what I am against. Instead I will be acknowledged for what I am for.

Oppositional political activity is so widespread, a cultural understanding so embedded in the global psyche, that oppositional people groups have been made use of to further other agendas. It is yet to be determined if the so-called “Arab Spring” has been hijacked, or even spawned, by elements who want de-stabilisation in the Middle East. There continue to be voices questioning whether various groups in Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Libya and elsewhere have been trained, mobilised, armed by external authorities.

Paternalistic authorities have commented sympathetically on the Occupy movement, but it is unclear if the Occupy movement is itself being “occupied” in turn – and used to distract, deny, deface or disengage from progressive political engagement with the claims of the Occupyers.

To resist undue power, to fight against repression, to struggle against loss of liberty, to battle with the forces of environmental, social and economic destruction – this negative energy is futile.

To fight something gives it a power over you. To walk away and live a life of love and progressive construction – that is the only way to deny the misappropriated authority of the forces of evil.

To live the alternative does not require you to be negative, to have a mindset hardened against others, against their evil deeds, against their evil plans.

I have been told that I should show solidarity, unity with those who campaign against the Powers That Be. I have been urged to join in with drives by charity and other non-governmental organisations, some with highly argumentative, discordant narratives. Yet I feel that too much negativity breeds failure. In fact, I think that always being in the position of opposition makes people incapable of success.

We need to be about what we are for, not hurting ourselves by being constantly set against the things we cannot accept, things that must stop.

We need to replace evil with good. We need to stop chafing at the bondage of evil and start breathing the fresh air of goodness.

Don’t ask me to join your movement. Don’t tell me the horrors I must oppose. Don’t ask me to burden my mind with your tales of injustice.

I walk into the glorious liberation.