The following is the text of a speech that I gave at the June 6th protest to end the Coronavirus lockdown in Ontario:
I want to talk about complicity. We are all here today because we will not be complicit in this violation of our rights. We will not stand idly by while the powers that believe they be force us into fear and submission. From the moment I woke up two years ago my philosophy has been that I will not be complicit in my own slavery. It has necessitated a great deal of personal growth. The elites may force indignities upon us, like the masks, and the people around me may accept it, but I will not. I cannot control how others behave, but I can control how I respond to the situation that I face. Of course, I am not perfect. I do not always live up to the high standards that I set for myself. But what else can I do but wake up the next day and try all the harder for having erred.
I want to talk about complicity because I firmly believe that we are fighting a spiritual battle. But not in the same way that many people think. It is the spiritual battle to excise from ourselves our greed, our vanity, our materialism, our lust for power.
But the system that we are fighting goes beyond COVID and the events of the past few months. The elites that are currently foisting their pseudoscience on us also own big tech, the fashion industry, big pharma, and every other multinational out there. We are fighting a war on many fronts. We cannot afford to fight here, but let other battles go uncontested.
If you would have asked me three years ago what I planned to do after university, I would have said work for Google. But knowing what I know now, how could I ever work for a Google, or a Facebook, or an Amazon, building the technology that will surveil me, and my family, and my future children. I will have to find other ways to contribute meaningfully.
Unfortunately, I have a history with pharmaceuticals. Not addiction, but depression. When I was 11 my doctor put me on Prozac. Looking back I find that appalling. I tried several antidepressants over the years without ever feeling like they were really helping me. It was only later I realized that their purpose is not to help you, but to drug you into a stupor and make you easier to control. For almost two years I have not touched pharmaceuticals, and I will never, ever, take them again.
Nor will I patronize any store that does not take cash. I make all of my daily purchases in cash, despite the minor inconvenience of having my pocket filled with loonies and toonies. If the elites want to bring in a global digital currency, and I believe they do, then the way to resist that is to refuse to adopt the technology.
I also haven’t filed my taxes in 3 years. That may not be the most tenable strategy. Martyring myself in a one-man tax revolt is unlikely to amount to anything. Perhaps it is not the time for that tactic. But when I hear someone say “people will not participate in that” I hear “I will not participate in that”. The struggle we are in will require us all to take risks, and to pay a price, for our freedom.
I’m not naturally optimistic, but I see the opportunity for a brighter future if we can band together, invest in each other, and create strong local communities. Growing our own food, educating our own kids, and governing ourselves, apart from an oppressive nanny state that would systematically infantilize us. Not change from within the system, but boycotting the system in favour of our own associations. That is what brings me hope.
A video of me delivering this speech can be found here:
https://youtu.be/MZ65-Y1-l90
Overdue Revolutions 
I think you have vastly oversimplified the situation. I also believe this spiritual battle theory is a result of what ‘they’ want you to believe (the Christian project or similar)
LikeLike
It was a six minute speech, so yes it was bound to oversimplify things. It was intended to be inspiring, which it achieved, based on the people who came up to me afterwards.
Regarding the spiritual battle, I don’t mean what most people mean when they use that term, which is usually some sort of global spiritual evolution towards some divine “higher consciousness”. I’ve had people tell me that’s what’s happening currently, and direct me towards planted gurus like Jiddu Krishnamuriti. That’s not what I’m saying – I’m not a Christian, or a religious person at all. What I meant was working to emulate the Stoics in abjuring striving for wealth, fame, power, etc. I don’t really consider that a question of morality, as it isn’t related to reciprocal interactions with others, and you can, technically, act morally while pursuing fame (though it might be hard). It’s more a question of philosophy, in that philosophy deals with preference, and insofar as philosophy contends with what it means to live “the Good Life” it may be considered spiritual. In the contemporary landscape I would argue that actions directed towards achieving wealth or fame or power play into the hands of the powers that be, and thus are counterproductive to anyone aiming to end the present tyranny.
I admit that my use of the phrase may be construed as pandering to the audience. Really I see things as an evolutionary battle, with the extended kinship group of the ruling families intending to dominate and domesticate the other races through technocratic systems of control (Huxley’s final revolution), superficially similarly to how some species of ant farm aphids.
LikeLike
I don’t have the answers (or not easy ones). The real problem with trying to change the system (or keep it the same) is each of us are just one person and can be easily overwhelmed by any group. Like you half implied in your comment (and your actions) all we can really do is attempt to manipulate or motivate others. I agree with most of what you have to say but I think we need to understand the human experience and what it is actually about (if anything) until then I withhold my judgement on many things.
What are your actual thoughts on spirituality, thoughts, subconscious, dreaming, death etc?
LikeLike