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Dreaming Life?

How could a nation as advanced as our own allow a few devious leaders to propagandize us into a phony attack on another nation that had nothing to do with our security or safety?

In Adrian Lyne’s 1990 film Jacob’s Ladder, what appears to be one man’s reality is nothing more than a dream – horrible, twisted and strange. Can this be what is going on with all of us? The great Hindu sage Yogananda taught the eastern precept that this thing we call reality is nothing but a great dramatic dream that the higher part of our consciousness is having. We all are the writers, actors and directors of it. My friend Jay tells me that this is nonsense. He, being a man of utter truth and fact, feels that for the entire population of this planet to be having the same dream of reality must mean that this all is real. Who then is correct?

If this third dimension we are existing in is totally real and actual, can it be that with all the evolution of our species over the vast centuries, that a great nation like Germany could allow itself to be overcome by the Nazi movement? That so many Germans of all religions and intellectual levels could allow such a mindset to overwhelm them? The very act of overt torture, humiliation and finally extermination of millions of people could be allowed to occur? Less than 30 years previous to that, the Armenian genocide saw millions of people exterminated. How could such things have happened in the twentieth century? Is this all what reality is about? Or could this all be part of some dream that would end at the other side of this veil of what we call a lifetime?

Fast forward to the year 2000 in our own nation, America. How could a society as (supposedly) well versed as our own allow a total jackass like George W Bush to not only become its president, but for two terms? How could a nation as advanced as our own allow a few devious leaders to propagandize us into a phony attack on another nation that had nothing to do with our security or safety? With all the facts and truths out there to dispel such insanity, why then did it still occur? Alice through the looking glass understood it all when she finally realized that ‘up is down and black is white …’

To this writer and seeker of truth the great teacher Yogananda was correct. When each of us wakes up on the other side of this veil of dreams, reality will first set in.

We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.

As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.

Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.

As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.

At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.

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