Written by Rick Staggenborg, MD on Aug 25, 2009 8:22 PM PDT
This essay is dedicated to John Hammond and Rudi Nussbaum, Professors of Philosophy and Physics at Portland State University. I thank both for helping me to clarify my understanding of the utilitarian principle and the nature of power and energy.
Physics can be described as the study of energy and its transformations. All matter can be expressed as an equivalent amount of energy according to the famous formula E=Mass x the square of the speed of light. Thus, mass is just an extremely concentrated form of energy. The potential energy of an object suspended in the gravity well of a more massive object and free to fall is expressed as E=mass x g (the gravitational constant) x the height above ground zero.
Given these two relationships, it is a trivial matter to prove that given the gravity of the problems facing humanity, a sufficient mass of humanity can create a great deal of energy under the right circumstances. For instance, if we could elevate enough of the human race through education, we could fall on those who would seek to subjugate us with sufficient force to obliterate their evil designs. Perhaps more immediately achievable, truth in the hands of enough people could be used to create a weapon of unimaginable power. This could be a “clean nuke” which would only affect those who lack the protective shield of a sense of our common humanity that protects both our souls and our genetic integrity from the destructive power of this unknown but detectable energy, this x-radiation.
Construction of a Truth bomb, or T-bomb, is a delicate and tricky enterprise. This bomb is of the fusion variety, and much more powerful than the common fission bombs used by the enemies of humanity to threaten us into submission through fear of death. Fission is by its nature limited by the material on hand, while fusion actually adds some of the energy of the medium of delivery to the explosion generated. A T-bomb requires purity of the elements used, or the reaction can grow out of control. If impure self interest is allowed to remain in what is treated as “truth,” the contamination can result in a chain reaction such as we have seen take place in the human consciousness since Reagan popularized the notion that greed is good.
The tendency of fusion power to consume whatever tries to contain it makes it difficult to generate safely and is why the illusory “cold” fusion method generated so much excitement. If we can initiate a fusion reaction in human consciousness while controlling the heat of the passions involved, we can safely use the T-bomb for peaceful purposes. Thus, it is essential that we apply cold reason in determining what constitutes the truth that will set us all free. It would be ultimately self-destructive to allow the heat of our anger to influence our thinking in determining what actions serve the greatest good for the greatest number.
For instance, does freeing the Lockerbie bomber after he was diagnosed with cancer serve a greater good, or is it an evil? The true Christian would answer that forgiveness cannot be an evil. Recognizing the humanity of an individual who has committed such a craven act is not an act of weakness, does not signify condoning of the action and is not going to influence the probability of another deluded soul convinced of the virtue of violence not to commit terrorist acts. It takes more courage to forgive ones enemy than to punish him, but the rewards are manifest to both the forgiver and the forgiven, as those of us who follow this philosophy understand from our own experience. One does not have to be a follower of any of the Christian religions to understand this, as any Buddhist and some secular humanists can confirm.
If we can purify enough of humanity to reach what is known in particle physics as “critical mass,” we will have the material for a T-bomb that would have the potential to vaporize the present consensual reality and allow a new one to emerge from the ashes of the old world. In this time of multiple threats to human survival, the time has come for a Manhattan project to create this weapon to fight the fascist forces that threaten the permanent destruction of democracy and freedom in America and the world. If we succeed, we will avoid the fate warned of in the Biblical prophecy foretold in Revelation. Time is short. I estimate that we must succeed by 2012 in destroying the old world and creating a new one, or all Hell will break loose. If we succeed, perhaps God’s Will will truly be done on Earth as it is in Heaven, and his Kingdom will have come, as the old prayer goes.
In the immortal words of Rado, Ragni and MacDermot:
(As sung by the Fifth Dimension)
When the moon is in the Seventh House
and Jupiter aligns with Mars,
then peace will guide the planets
and love will steer the stars.
This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius,
the Age of Aquarius,
Aquarius!
Aquarius!
Harmony and understanding,
sympathy and trust abounding.
No more falsehoods or derisions,
golden living dreams of visions,
mystic crystal revelation
and the mind's true liberation.
Aquarius!
Aquarius!
When the moon is in the Seventh House
and Jupiter aligns with Mars,
then peace will guide the planets
and love will steer the stars.
This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius,
the Age of Aquarius,
Aquarius!
Aquarius!
Rick Staggenborg, MD
At the AFGE national convention in Reno, Nevada.
This was a particularly fun essay to write while relaxing after a hard day lobbying for the passage of a single payer resolution at the AFGE national convention in 2009.
ReplyDeleteThe resolution passed, but only under the agreement that AFGE would accept whatever corrupt bargain the Demican Party made with the lobbyists from the medical-industrial complex who are the Puppetmasters of spineless lackeys like Max Baucus, Ron Wyden, Blanche Lincoln and Charles Grassley.
You will remember that Wyden stood with some of the most corrupt Senators in Congress to call for "slowing down" the torurously slow negotiations on health care "reform." Of course, he was only angling to get his Healthy Americans Act back on the table. This bill was so bad that it received bipartisan support before being dropped for the public option bait and switch which Rham Emanuel tricked the public into believing was a real effort at reform.
I was certain even at this early hour that after this fiasco, the American People would recognize that the senate has become a tool of the international corporate terrorists who start wars, deny us access to the health care that is our human right, devastate the environment and threaten the world with mass starvation, all in the name of corproate profits for the already rich.
I will keep telling the truth because I have faith that the better angels of our natures will awaken us to the fact that we have been lied to by most of our leaders and it is our responsibility to wisely choose who should stay and who should be forced out of the Roman Senate that fiddles while the nation burns.