Daily Reflection 2.14.21

 My apologies for the light posting lately. I've been feeling very unwell.

As The Art of War continues, it becomes increasingly technical and increasingly focused on very specific military matters, such as the employment of spies or of fire in warfare. It would be tempting to leave it for that reason, and let this series of posts end with a conclusion about the first few chapters of the book. But I don't want to do that. If for no other reason than to exercise the will in seeing the entire effort through to its conclusion, I want to follow this book to the end. 

Chapter 4 continues: 

Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.

Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength.

The general who is skilled in defense hides in the most secret recesses of the earth; he who is skilled in attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven. 

In order to make sense of this passage, I want to return to something that we discussed earlier. On February 3rd, I wrote that we should:

Be aware of psychic currents, and don't set yourself in opposition to a current that you can't resist. Whether it's a new trend in politics, religion, art or culture, psychic currents have a force behind them. That force is by definition easy ground for the powers behind that current, and if you set out to directly oppose that force, you will lose-- unless you have a superior force. Right-wingers and Christian pastors may have railed against the hippies in the middle of the '60s; it did no good, and in fact strengthened the hippie movement. Fifteen years later, the energy of the hippie movement was exhausted, and the early punk movement was able to conquer most of its territory in the alternative cultural space. Fulton Sheen condemning hippies in 1968 only strengthened them; Joe Strummer publicly declaring that "Hippies can shove off" in 1983 had quite a different effect.
 

My current, overarching goal is to remain free of the demonic powers that are sweeping through American society. My view is that these powers manifest themselves in the collective delusions which constitute our politics. Although my own political views are more or less conservative, I don't view this as a right-left issue. Rather, the structure of the demonic delusion is the following formula:

1. Society is divided into two groups.
2. One of these groups consists of victims, who are always innocent.
3. The other consists of perpetrators, who are always guilty.
4. We must protect the victims from the perpetrators by any means necessary.
5. Since the perpetrators are always guilty, they have no rights; since the victims are always innocent, they have no responsibilities.

This simple formula, especially when combined with the constant bombardment of the senses with distractions, advertisements, memes, TV shows, blinking lights, and spells meant to draw forth the passions and silence the reason, is sufficient to drive people mad. 

But how to fight it? Right now, these toxic ideas, dressed up in left wing or right wing packaging, are nearly ubiquitous; political disagreements usually take the form of identifying different groups as victims and perpetrators. 

And the answer, of course, is quite simply that it can't be fought right now. Not openly. In the American collective psyche, the demons have the field and they rule the day. This is their hour; theirs is a superabundance of strength. Right now, it is necessary to remain on the defensive; to focus on yourself and your immediate acquaintances; and to build networks of spiritual resistance slowly, carefully, and, above all, secretly. Hide in the deep recesses of the Earth. The day will come when the Enemy has exhausted himself. Then we will flash forth, like thunder from the Heavens.