As the poet, dissident, and member of the Czech underground resistance movement during the communist regime, Ivan Martin Jirous wrote, perhaps in “Parallel Polis: An Inquiry”:
“If it proves impossible legally to compel the ruling power to change the ways it governs us, and if for various reasons those who reject this power cannot or do not wish to overthrow it by force, then the creation of an independent or alternative or parallel [society] is the only dignified solution ...”
With the shadow of totalitarian or techno-feudalist regime change looming over us and already detrimentally impacting our lives, and the dismal prospect of a further descent into superficiality, falsehood, blatant corruption, vulgarity, and barbarism, not only in the Disunited States but also elsewhere in Europe, the UK, and around the globe, we need to be making preparations right now, and developing alternative infrastructure – and a faithful record of our history – while we are still at liberty to do so.
That means providing independent alternative education with a diverse range of subjects including the arts and humanities, so despised by the despot, as well as training in traditional crafts and skills, not least critical thinking, and with an emphasis on compassion, empathy and inclusivity; independent social networks and community events; independent print, audio, and visual media; decentralised and self-sufficient alternatives to the Internet; even alternative forms of community currency and finance; renewed community spirit, charity and philanthropy.
As in the Underground Railroad of enslaved African Americans; in far-right Nazi-occupied Europe during the Second World War; in the former Soviet Union; and in repressive, Taliban-run Afghanistan to this day, it may well be that these activities have to be carried out under the radar of the authorities, or covertly, and perhaps under threat of persecution or some worse fate.
War Has Already Been Declared
If it isn’t as yet abundantly clear, I’m not talking about some fanciful future dystopia that we can experience vicariously as we scoff our popcorn and canoodle on the couch: the despots have already seized power and, flexing their brutalist muscles, they have already declared war on the downtrodden masses – that’s you, me, and our good neighbour Josephine Bloggs down the street – and they’re stripping us of our fundamental rights to free speech and peaceful protest. They’ve declared war on liberality, on our hard-won civil and human rights, and on all that we hold dear and that helps make and keep us sentient human beings.
I realise that this may come as cold comfort right now, but as the teaching story from the writer and thinker Idries Shah’s The Way of the Sufi reminds us:
“A powerful king, ruler of many domains, was in a position of such magnificence that wise men were his mere employees. And yet one day he felt himself confused and called the sages to him.
He said:
‘I do not know the cause, but something impels me to seek a certain ring, one that will enable me to stabilise my state.
‘I must have such a ring. And this ring must be one which, when I am unhappy, will make me joyful. At the same time, if I am happy and look upon it, I must be made sad.’
The wise men consulted one another, and threw themselves into deep contemplation, and finally they came to a decision as to the character of this ring which would suit their king.
The ring which they devised was one upon which was inscribed the legend:
THIS, TOO, WILL PASS.”
Until Then
Until that time comes, if you’re interested in peaceful resistance and in preserving truth, goodness, and beauty through this ever-darkening age, until sanity finally prevails and freer and happier times return – hopefully a renaissance, imperfect as we mere mortals are – please check out H.M. Forester’s Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt, a story of resistance, and follow the breadcrumbs.
Freely available at the Internet Archive’s Library:
https://archive.org/details/@esowteric?tab=uploads
And in full, as a PDF, at the Facebook groups Mystical Faction, ishraqi institute, and Caravanserai, in the Files section.
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Image: Underground Resistance Movement #2 / ChatGPT.