The Beast Within!
When you look in the mirror, is this what you see?
Friends, I believe that within all men and most women, there exists a beast like the one shown in the image. It is a beast that, given the right set of circumstances, will reveal itself, will dominate and control its host.
I see suggestions of it in the smiling faces of Netanyahu and Abbas, of Mitchell and Gates, of Mugabe and Murdoch, of Bush, Blair and Howard, of Pol Pot, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, et al. It is clearly evident in the faces of all those who seek to achieve absolute power and infinite wealth by any means, who involve us in wars to make money and to steal land and resources from others, who constantly manipulate and deceive us for their own ends.
I see it in the faces of those who traffic both drugs and women and children, who commit murders and rape, who carry out assaults on innocent people to get a kick, who are found guilty of sexually molesting their own children, who carry out torture and hack off the limbs of civilians, etc.
And it is there in the faces of those who make and sell cigarettes, those who still continue to sell fossil fuels despite global warming, those who exploit people in developing countries by paying them pitiful wages and compensating them little for their raw materials, and those who fleece people, folk like Madoff and his ilk who set up Ponzi schemes, and those who control the Stock markets and the banks.
It is also evident in the bland faces of religious people who sexually abuse their flock while preaching about love and I’ve seen it in the faces of vengeful mothers who pay back their ex-husbands by manipulating access to the children of the marriage or by destroying his reputation using lies.
Friends, the beast is hard-wired into our genetic code. We cannot escape its evil influence. Once it was called The Devil. For some it still is.
All we can do is to hope that we can control the Beast Within most of the time.
But even the best of us know that it controls us on occasion and makes us feel ashamed and guilty!
Changing our genes is surely the only real solution if we want peace.
That or rid the world of our destructive species!
There have been times when that beast has been in control of what I have done. Once I regained my sanity/reason I have been ashamed of what I had done while under the influence of the beast.
As I have gotten older I can recognize the beast and stop before I do something I will regret latter.
The beast in me was primitive emotion dominating more reasoned actions.
So much of the beast I see today in many others is not like that. For some people the beast has become their whole life and reason used to justify what it is doing.
We have in our genetic heritage the ability to be kind and just or to be a beast (which is really an insult to animals some of whom also have a moral code).
It is our culture that rewards the beast that needs to change.
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David G Reply:
July 31st, 2009 at 9:04 am
Jeannie, there are few people in the world that are as honest or as perceptive as you are.
If everyone could accept that ‘The Beast’ resides within them, then perhaps we could get on with trying to cope with it and then to get rid of it by one means or another.
Cheers!
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Well, OK. But my personal beast seems to have fewer teeth and kinder eyes. It does get really worked up about things like, greed in politics, war for profit, the murder of children. Could be a throwback to better days.
How ya doing, Dave?
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David G Reply:
July 31st, 2009 at 11:48 am
I’m so pleased that a few of us guys have our beasts more or less under control, S’pike. We fit into about 5% of the male population!
Regarding my health, I’m doing as well as can be expected. The problem was caught early before it spread elsewhere and it seems that my chances of survival are pretty good. I’ll have to have a bit of a nip and tuck in a month or so, that or ray treatment. Though I’m no hero, I can handle that. I’m just happy that I can get on with my mission, futile though it may be!
Thanks for asking.
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First, glad to see you are getting along. I often wonder, if I could afford or would want to see a doctor, what they’d find, hence my staying away.
I’m never sure about reading/hearing about percentages of “whatever” and how accurate they are, especially here in the usa. Seems we always hear more people accept things, than really do ; (
Too bad you’re not able to see short videos. I ran across a new Buffy Sainte Marie song and she still writes about the situation we are in with great clarity and irony.
As always, my best to you and yours!!!!!
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David G Reply:
August 1st, 2009 at 8:42 am
Coffee, my good friend, there is much to be said for finding things early while they are still treatable as they appear to be for me.
Hopefully, one day I’ll get access to broadband and videos will be accessible. Regarding the level of acceptance of the masses, it is pretty scary that so many allow so few to control their destiny. Our education system has completely failed us!
Best regards.
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If I awoke in the morning and seen that in the mirror I would know I have met the side of me that let things build up inside way way to much. Things like Hypocrisy, greed, hate, racism, war and religion that occurs all around the globe and it is time to rid the world of those that preach it.
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I think, like Jeannie that we all have some experience with the beast (interesting that that is the name given to the Great Satan in the bible..) inside us all…we want to think that the little evil (opposite to live) is not so bad compared to greater evils..and so we are all victims and victimizers and once we accept our own predicament we can move on to a place that seeks genuine engagement with others for the purpose of balancing and healing each other’s miseries..we cannot change the balance of good/evil in the world today by focusing only on the evil..each day we live a small and seemingly insignificant action on our part for the good can have enormous repercussions and these are really anonymous..we must take hope and know there is so much more going on than we can know. David I have not been on this post for a while and am glad to know it is still here..sorry to hear about your health problems…love and prayer go to you…Kate
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Meagain, getting rid of those who preach is not so easy. They are very cunning and very powerful.
Kate, I’m still plugging along waiting for the more serious stuff that will come in a month or so. I’m fairly optimistic but there are no absolute guarantees.
I agree that we can’t concentrate on the world’s evils. There are some decent people in the world and they should be held up. My post on Suu Kyi is one example.
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