Not long after my article ‘Ukraine Showdown: Why Trump And Biden Are Facing Off‘ was published a few weeks ago, a reader named Marie sent an email that was quite intriguing in nature. It made a reasonable argument, and I felt it was a great illustration of a subtle misconception about remaining neutral in Left/Right politics, and the role neutrality plays in being fully engaged in the process of our collective awakening.
I fundamentally agree with Marie that now is a time for passionate activism, but I wanted to make an important distinction between being passionate and being polarized. I thought that presenting Marie’s points and challenging them on the concept of neutrality would help us to go deeper into its meaning and distinguish it from some aspects that are easily associated with it, such as passivity and inaction. Please note that this is a single email that I have divided into sections to respond to the individual points, it was not a ‘chat’ I had back and forth with Marie.
Marie’s Email
Hi Richard,
I want to chime in on your article pertaining to the Ukraine story. I think it’s a little deeper than just the theater of the absurd. The reason it appears absurd is because THE truth is not being given to us. This story is just one of many where the actions and results taken affect the entire globe.
The side that must be taken is the one for truth and justice which is being denied to all the citizens as we are tossed and manipulated by the politicians of the world with stories (and so many more) like this Ukraine saga. I think the collective consciousness will rise immensely when truth and justice actually start to be served.
If I understand your point here, it is that in this particular right/left battle Trump is on the side of truth and justice.
Yes, the article fundamentally details an uncovering of the truth behind Joe Biden’s lies about his dealings in the Ukraine. And let’s go further and even say the article clearly demonstrates that Biden is guilty of corruption. The question here is, is it necessary to align ourselves with the Right (Trump) in order to find out the truth about the Left (Biden)?
My argument for neutrality is that truth has no ‘side’–I don’t believe any ‘side’ has the whole truth, nor is any side fully absent of truth. And it is not necessary to be partisan (choosing right over left, or making Trump the hero and Biden the villain) in order to arrive at the truth on this or any other matter. Truth is truth, it will evidence itself to the keen and careful observer, but neutrality is important if we are ever to get to the full and unbiased truth. If we side with any politician and their side of the polarity we are unlikely to ever glean the whole truth.
Secondly, I need to make a distinction between truth and justice. It just so happens that justice does not need to be served in order for us to extract the truth from a situation like this Trump/Biden face off. The notion that Joe Biden and other such criminals need to be indicted and convicted before collective consciousness can rise is dubious. There is nothing wrong with seeing criminals have their day in court, but the extent of their punishment should really be of no consequence to the rise of our collective consciousness. Only the greater revealing of truth, if indeed the formal judicial process provides it, is of value to us. And that value is highest if we are able to remain neutral.
I believe the American government system was divinely founded and set up as an example for the world to follow. Fast forward to today’s world and politicians have managed to find every way to compromise truth and justice; and, we, the people, are left miserable and forced to try to live by the laws that certain others continually thwart. So, I don’t think anyone can sit this out and just observe with neutrality. Now is when people need to demand that the whole truth and justice for all these stories be offered. How can any of us be satisfied until that happens? Otherwise, we keep settling for the absurd and become cynical.
I can go along with the notion that the American Republic was divinely inspired, or at minimum was conceived by profoundly wise and aware people. The belief that a full return to Constitutional rule in the United States is the path of our salvation is something that I am still on the fence on. What you go on to imply here is that we ‘need to demand the whole truth and justice’. What form would these ‘demands’ take? Is it really important that we extract the truth from the mouths of liars? Is the truth not already available to us? And if we actively seek out the truth with neutrality, and try to share it with others, can you really say that we are just sitting this one out?
If you bought an expensive ticket for a sports game and observed a game where the rules were changed haphazardly, you would be angry and want your money (taxes for example?) returned. Not to mention all the people fired for lying to you about how this game was going to be played.
I don’t necessarily agree with this analogy, that I would get angry and would want my money returned. In the grand scheme of things, I believe the rules that were set out when we chose this incarnation ARE being followed, and we agreed to abide by them. In that regard, I believe what is playing out now in the political arena, what I have called the theatre of the absurd, does indeed support our ultimate goal of collective evolution. But not because it is pushing us to anger and fighting and polarization, but indeed because it is pushing us to something higher, above the fray, in a neutral place–which is where conscious activism is waged from.
So, I can’t see being a neutral observer. This is actually the time to demand the absolute truth and justice that we want and that we continually pay for with our hard work and money only to watch it go to monstrous out of control governments. Yes, this is theater of the absurd but we should let it be known that our money and lives are paying for it and it’s not acceptable anymore.
Again, being neutral does not necessarily equate with being an observer. One can be neutral in the world and be active. Peaceful protests have this nature to them. (In fact Marie sent me a quick follow-up email noting an example of peaceful activism which I am inserting here):
Yesterday, 10/5, there was a march in Waikiki led by Native Hawaiian leaders to protest an ongoing dispute around building another telescope on top of Mauna Kea, a sacred mountain. Around 10,000 people were expected. I haven’t seen something this impassioned here for some time but it’s the kind of communicating that I think citizens will have to show in order to let government leaders know that people have reached their limits with just the absurdity you are talking about. This protest isn’t just about a telescope- it’s also the Hawaiian frustration with government bullying; and there hasn’t been any violence, just firm determination from the kupuna (elders).
I certainly support this activism. The conscious protester knows that the ultimate battle is not for whether or not a telescope is erected on top of a sacred mountain, but whether or not the hearts and minds of growing numbers of people on the planet are being won over to the cause as a consequence of the protest. The cause, ultimately, is human sovereignty.
Now back to the original email:
And like Pres. Trump or not, none of this was brought forward until he appeared on the scene. Let’s give him a chance.
I don’t have any problem with this, and I agree Trump appears to be looking into corruption and ‘draining the swamp’–and I’m coming from a neutral place. Which means I’m perfectly willing to let things play out as they are in the political arena. What I will not do, from a neutral place, is deem Trump the savior without whom we would be doomed. It is quite possible that Trump will make some positive changes and bringing hidden crimes to light, but that doesn’t mean that when all this is said done we will have ‘Heaven on Earth’ with Donald Trump at the helm. We still need to look beyond him, and, I believe, look beyond the currently constituted American Republic itself, to arrive at our destination.
Perhaps, the only way out of this swampy mess will be to offer pardons in exchange for admissions and start again from there.
Marie in Hawaii
This I would agree with, and it comes back to my point that we need the truth but we don’t necessarily need a particular form of ‘justice,’ if indeed we are looking to get to a place where all of humanity comes together as one.
The Takeaway
Neutrality is not antithetical to activism. And if that activism is to be conscious, then neutrality is essential. Without it, we think in terms of polarities, right versus wrong, good guys and bad guys, left and right, and we pit ourselves against each other, which actually thwarts our collective efforts towards greater unity. The truth alone is what can set us free, and neutrality does not suppress our hunger for the truth but only heightens our discernment of it. Joe Martino and I get together week after week on the Collective Evolution Show and model what we feel Conscious Activism looks like: having open conversations, challenging established ideas and staying connected with our highest aspirations as humans. Below is the introductory clip of our discussion of the showdown between Trump and Biden, and to see the full episode and hundreds more videos you can start a 7-day trial on CETV.
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