"Thoughts On the Manifesto!"

#1

by Michael Ivan Skye

This is a revolution, after all!  A revolution in what it means to be a human being.

 Consider this...  Not too long ago when people heard the sound of thunder, they thought the gods were angry.

What it meant to be human was not much different from what it meant to be an animal.  We were simply smarter animals.  Then, some humans learned that if they told the others that they had some kind of special connection to the gods, that others would follow them.

So, there were leaders and there were followers.  The followers simply had no direct connection to the gods.

 Fast forward to Dark Ages.  The Catholic Church controlled Europe with an iron fist.  What it meant to be human was to be a lowly sinner.

Thinking for one's self, seeking to achieve your personal goals, wealth and money... all these things were evil and sinful (unless you were a Pope or one of his cohorts).

Then, along came a man by the name of Martin Luther, a Catholic priest who, disgusted by the excesses and flagrant abuses of power in Rome, posted his 95 Thesis on the door of the local church.  This was a sin punishable by excommunication, torture and death.  The sin was heresy.  Heresy is the sin of thinking for yourself, of following your conscience, rather than blindly obeying the Pope.

Talk about terrorism!  The Catholic Church during the dark ages hunted down "heretics" by the hundreds of thousands, tortured them and burnt them at the stake.

Martin Luther's manifesto was a defiant stand for conscience.  He stood up for human beings, as individuals who could think for themselves and know right and wrong through conscience.  He changed what it meant to be a human being.  And that change sent shockwaves through the world. 

In these days, we think nothing of choosing our own religion or making up our own minds about what we believe about religion and spirituality.  Thank Martin Luther for that.

He was a hero for mankind.  A visionary.  Fast forward to the Age of Enlightenment,

which followed soon after Martin Luther's days.  This was when people got the radical notion that man was basically good, and could guide himself by his own mind.

This led quickly to the tyrannical idea of self-governance--that a king held no divine right to control other people--that people themselves have a right to live free, and govern themselves.

And this idea led to revolutions across the globe, including the American Revolution, and other revolutions still under way.

We've come a long way, yes. But, we are in desperate need for another revolution.  In fact, this next revolution is coming and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

You see, our idea of who we are as human beings is insufficient.

It allows for us to settle our disputes with violence and war.  It makes compromise the norm.  It has us resigned to our need for government and others to save us.  It has left us fat, addicted, poor, dumbed-down, overconfident, resigned, depressed, fearful and comfortable.

How many times do you hear this... YOU ARE ONLY HUMAN.  Only?  Only human?

Yes, it is still very much a part of our thinking that who we are as human beings is irrational and self-destructive by nature.  AS IF *THAT* IS WHO WE ARE

If you don't expect anything of a child, if you model irrationality and laziness to him/her, if you aren't shocked when he acts irrationally or self-destructively, if you don't stand up or speak up when people in your community act this way...

THEN YOUR CHILD WILL BECOME ONLY A SPECK OF HIS POTENTIAL

Your child will be evidence that human beings are irrational and self-destructive by nature.  And that will make you feel less guilty about not raising your child to be great.  It will make you less guilty or ashamed of your own addictive or irrational behaviors.

HERE IS WHY THE REVOLUTION IS COMING...

The vision revolution is coming because being a follower in times of great change is dangerous.  Fear will drive the revolution.

The revolution is coming because those who can lead as visionaries in times of change will gain the power, the wealth and the inner peace that the others are grasping for.  Competition will drive the revolution.

The revolution is coming, because communications technologies allow us to see the horror and stupidity of war, and of our leader's uninspired compromises.  Disgust and self-righteousness will drive the revolution.

The revolution is coming because technology for self-guidance as a visionary is quickly evolving, and those who have the skills to think and lead and live as visionaries will share it with those who are ready--with those who are young--with those who are disgusted with the system.  The spirit of youth and the eternal quest for freedom will drive the revolution.

The revolution is coming, because more and more people are witnessing those who they knew to be one way are totally transforming their lives and the world around them.  And no other explanation fits, except that there really is technology for causing profound change and that it is possible.  A vision of what is possible will drive the revolution.

THE REVOLUTION IS COMING!

Only human???

We still hold fast to the idea that a rare few of us are great, are visionaries, or geniuses.

More and more, we will live in a world where only a rare few of us are NOT great, visionaries, even geniuses.

HERE'S A RADICAL NOTION: 

Who we are as human beings is visionaries.  We have the potential not just to be good members of society or good people, we have the potential to be great.

(more on that later!)

TOMORROW IS UPON US!