(Author’s note: After six novels in under five years I promised myself I’d take a little break between installments of the Mourning series I’m writing, and that lasted all of three days before I started the third novel. I wanted to spend some time going through my files and posting some old and interesting stuff, including some short stories or novel fragments if I can find them, but scenes from the new novel kept jumping in my head. Life of a writer I suppose, but perhaps I can do both things and spend a little time celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Turtle’s Voice blog. In many ways I’m not much different than I was twenty years ago, and some ways my thinking has altered quite a bit. Of course if we don’t change as we age then I’m not sure we are growing and moving forward, and the world has certainly changed in the last twenty years, although many of its problems are still the same.
This piece made me chuckle when I found it buried in a file from 2007, and I believe I wrote it about the militarization of small town police forces that I saw happening after 911 and The Patriot Act. In the tiny town in North Carolina where we lived back then I saw the local PD change, adding the ram bars to their vehicles, changing their uniform from tan and brown to solid black, and parading their tiny tank, a MRAP, and other military type vehicles around town. It was a strange time in the world with lots of changes coming fast toward the end of Bush era.)
As above, so below, that’s what the old folks say and it’s a simple phrase that contains much wisdom. Remember as a child that aunt, uncle, or family friend, I think we all had one, who hugged too tight, pinched too hard, or worked to scare the crap out of us at every opportunity? As children we would avoid them if given the chance, but every time this relative visited we’d have to say ‘hello’ and the cycle would be set in motion again.
We’d tell our parents we didn’t like this person and they would chuckle, because they remembered suffering through this odd family member’s affection, but since they survived the uncomfortable intrusion, they figured we would as well. So each holiday or get together we walked stiff legged, braced and prepared, across the room to say hello. And when we had our own kids we also sent them on that long walk. Luckily now this person is old and maybe doesn’t pinch so hard anymore, but it is family and we must treat our elders with respect.
The perspective of children fascinates me, and perhaps like animals they listen to their instincts. As children our survival instinct tells us to be wary of this person or that person, relation or not, but our parents in a perfect example of doing to us what was done to them override our instincts and demand that we listen to them, not our gut. Ever watch those funny home videos? Ever notice how young children respond when seeing Santa Claus for the first time? The world says it’s funny, but I find it to be quite disturbing because most kids are terrified. But then the parents step in and explain how Santa is good and brings toys, and once again a child learns not to listen to their instincts.
I spend a lot of time reading opinions and lately there has been a lot of talk about folks waking up and realizing that we have all been lied to about various truths. Often, upon first waking, these folks are in shock and disbelief at how far and wide the lies spread and they are amazed that so few seem aware. But for me it’s just another example of as above, so below. As we force our children to ignore their instincts and tell them that the frightening man who watches them all the time is safe, our government does much the same thing to us. As we force our children into making that long, uncomfortable, walk to the relative they fear, our government does much the same thing by putting us in uncomfortable situations at work, school, and during recreation. They tell us not to fear the men with guns, tanks, and strange clothes, just as we tell our kids not to fear the man in red with a sack on his back.
Real change occurs on the Home Front, not in the Homeland, and perhaps the wisdom of the Golden Rule is something we are all missing. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If we don’t want our government filling our heads with lies and fairy tales, perhaps we should stop doing it to our children. And if we expect our government to listen to us when a policy scares the crap out of us, perhaps we should hear our children when something we consider ‘normal’ scares the crap out of them.
As usual, keep seeking.
