Apocalypse Porn

"I share the belief of many of my contemporaries that the spiritual crisis pervading all spheres of Western industrial society can be remedied only by a change in our world view. We shall have to shift from the materialistic, dualistic belief that people and their environment are separate, toward a new consciousness of an all-encompassing reality, which embraces the experiencing ego, a reality in which people feel their oneness with animate nature and all of creation." -- Albert Hofmann (1906-2008)

Mr. Hofmann discovered LSD-25 (lysergic acid diethylamide) through an intuitive act of serendipity on a fateful day in April, 1943. He had been contracted by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz as a chemist and had been studying the isomers of the natural lysergic acid found in the ergot fungus which grows on various grain crops. Having synthesized the chemical to test the possible medicinal uses of its derivatives in 1938, Mr. Hofmann had found little pharmaceutical properties of note in his studies. In mid-April 1943, however, being motivated by a dream he had had, he re-tested the 25th lysergic acid diethylamide he had synthesized. Intentionally ingesting 25000 micrograms on April 19, 1943 he discovered that the chemical had profound visionary qualities and postulated that the substance would have therapeutic uses in the field of psychiatry. Much research was conducted for the next twenty years, much of it clandestine and politically motivated, until the substance was criminalized in 1966/67. Since then, LSD-25 has been embraced by the psychedelic subculture and distributed around the globe as a contemporary shamanistic utility, facilitating the experience of ecstasy and temporary higher consciousness.

Of note in the above quote is Mr. Hofmann's allusion to the necessity of changing global consciousness in order to alleviate the illusion of individuality which is referred to as a spiritual crisis pervading contemporary culture. Industrialism, materialism and empiricism are symptoms of the parasitism inherent in our perceptual pathology. Viewing our environment as separate and adversarial to our preservation we have, in fact, created a djinn of cosmic proportions. According to quantum theory, the observer is just as active and responsible in the creation of the observation as the objective data present being observed. In other words, we have created an adversary out of Nature by viewing and treating Her as such. Only we are responsible for the tragedy currently befalling our planet. Having falsely presumed separation from the environment, we have succeeded in phenomenologically creating a subterfuge of annihilation in which the planet has no choice but to destroy us in order to preserve itself. The boundaries and definitions have blurred between essentialism and existentialism, and modernism has confused sufficiency with necessity, much to our own demise. Indeed, the only possible way to separate from the One is through self-destruction. Humanity may have been created through novel sufficiency but now, having considered ourselves necessary, we have attempted to regard and phenomenologically recreate ourselves as separate entities from the environment from which we became. The knowledge of the intimate interdependency of human culture with the surrounding environment has been lost in modern industrialized culture, it has been administratively exised and concealed in the interests of industrial progress and mechanical separation. We have, in effect, chosen to ignore necessary truths in order to progress down the path of technological facilitation. We have blatantly cursed the future to facilitate the present. To Hell with the next generation, the remaining resources are ours for the plundering.

When one does Acid (LSD-25), it becomes evident that there are very few assumptions that we normally take for granted which are indisputable truths. Static reality, which normally appears as solid matter, becomes quite dynamic and fluid under the influence of Acid. Of course, to a learned physicist, it is understood that 99.999% of solid matter is, in fact, space. The only reason it appears as such to our limited perception is due to the fact that the electrons and neutrons are spinning and vibrating at such a high velocities and frequencies that the space enclosed by these rotating particles (and waves) takes the illusory appearance of solid matter. Basic theoretical molecular truths become distinctly apparent while using Acid and one becomes keenly aware of the limitations and arbitrariness associated with normal or unenlightened perception. Considering the fact that the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is but a fraction of the potential and possible wavelengths of energy known to modern science our normal perception is, by definition, extremely limited. When one opens ones eyes to longer and shorter frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum through the use of psychedelics, one becomes aware of entities and energies which exist beyond the boundaries of the visible under normal perceptual circumstances. Creatures and distinct beings which exist and travel within the ultraviolet and infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum are able to be clearly perceived while the mind and the sense organs are affected by Acid. It also becomes clear that the discrete impression of individuality is most obviously an illusion apparently normally adhered to for utilitarian and pragmatic purposes alone. The abstract definition of ones corporeal dimensions loses all meaning while under the influence of Acid and one is acutely aware of the illusory nature of both time and space. Ancient symbols and scripture often line the walls which can often be seen as mere constructs lacking in real substance. The environment is perceived as an extension of ones own existence and vice versa, so that the idea of separation of self from the surroundings becomes a meaningless proposition. One often gets the impression of homogeneity with the immediate environment, whether natural or artificially constructed. The illusion of individuality can be clearly perceived as such. LSD clarifies the perjury inherent in status quo consciousness and liberates ones perception from the conditioned constructs of the modernized industrial death machine.

Terminal greed and illusion of infinite resource availability is a macroscopic insult to our Mother. We are cognizant of the fact that appearances can be deceiving, yet we have used them to justify not only our actions but also our paradigm of an authoritarian frame of reference from we choose to project ourselves. This course of action was adopted generally because it appears to function profitably from within the immediate microscopic view of industrial empiricism. Scientific minds adhere to an idea or observation that passes the rigorous tests of repeatability and universality. Yet, in assuming objectivity, we must accept at least 50% or more of observational phenomena and interpretive sensual data. In other words, how on earth could we have mistaken phenomenological observation for objective reality? This leap of arrogance and misunderstanding of the ground of Being has led us to the present dilemna of environmental catastrophe. It's always difficult for presumed benevolence to admit the surreptitious malignancy of corporate interest. But, regardless of how we analyze these facts or assumptions ad nauseum, we now have a more pressing task at hand: rapid adoption of alternative engineering and combustion of more sustainable sources of energy. It's being achieved in some municipalities, communities and countries. Iceland, for example, has transformed public transportation, being fueled entirely by Hydrogen which produces only H2O as a combustion product. From a purely physio-chemical perspective, inert or noble gases do not react when partially combusted to form unstable compounds such as CO, CO2, etc. Alas, noble scientific inquiry is always influenced by the corrupt intentionality of industry. Like any other school of philosophy, science has had its run and failed vis a vis the necessary development of sustainable activity. We have confused the instinctual ontological search with our own solipsism, being unable to separate our ego from the phenomenological data of perception as has been argued by the opponents of fundamentalist Copenhagenism. All, it seems, we've succeeded in creating for future generations through the advents of technology and industrialism is a cosmic barge of refuse, a garbage scow hurtling through space. Surely, we must have mistaken finititude with perpetuosity. With our head in the clouds, we have allowed ourselves to expeditiously ignore the filth our activities afford. The IPCC have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the indiscriminate use of carbon based energy compounds have affected the climate of this planet almost irreversibly. They have all but suggested that the obvious solution to slowing the change in the climate is the discontinuation of all carbon emissions as they have to temper their perspective with the concealed interests of industry in order to retain diplomacy in the face of impending tragedy. The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado/U.S. have been monitoring the continental ice shelves of North America for approximately 30 years through satellite imagery and are now reporting that ice, permafrost, glacier and berg formations are melting at an observable rate of nearly 3 times the expected/projected/predicted forecasts. What is poignantly surprising to me is that the general population are still acting surprised to realize the pending apocalypse is of our own construction and that it looms on our doorstep, smoldering. The price of gasoline at the pumps is driving people into panic mode when it's really the activity of operating a petroleum powered motor vehicle itself which should be concerning them as the average global mean temperature steadily rises in tandem with the demand for refined petrol, despite the exorbitant cost or known effect on the atmosphere of the planet. So, ultimately, we ourselves are to blame, having sequestered ourselves far enough into the comfortable confines of capitalism to be able to facilitate and ignore the effect of our lifestyle. Ignorance is not a legally defensible position when it comes to the charge of criminal negligence causing death. Of course, unable to take the stand or even be defined with authority, the status quo reels onward like a drunken giant of greed and permissible ignorance. Unable to stop the status quo, short of genocide, industry has learned to create need through perceived necessity and simply control the ogre of ordinary optimism through manufactured meaning. The meaning takes the form of fulfillment of perceived need and the engineered necessity of amenities and luxuries. In the real world an automobile is not a necessity, but in the petrocratic dynasty we live in it has taken on such meaning. The majority of people in the industrialized world deem the car as such a necessity in day to day life. Liberty is a form of slavery. The unwritten slogan of corporate political greed. The power elite know of the power and opportunity afforded through the perceptual paradox of presumption the status quo has demanded of its members. Rather, perceived liberty is usually actual slavery. Tobacco is the most salient example. It's marketed and even perceived by its users to be a lifestyle decision of choice to use tobacco, when in reality it is simply corporate greed creating chemical bondage and salutory slavery. I'd be want to extend this analogy to our cultural addiction to petroleum products if I didn't. The oil companies deceiving people into presuming necessity and prolonging their dependency of oil while they search for alternative solutions to our energy thirst is akin to the tobacco companies selling the consumer light cigarettes. They'll kill ya just as quick, but offer the illusion of a less harmful alternative. The only way to ensure and promote sustainability is to stop using the product. As with petrol, we must cease and desist immediately if our children ever are to have the hope of a sustainable future. Stop all carbon emissions now, save CO2 from expiration. Thinking of CO2 analogies, the amount of CO2 created by operating a petrol powered automobile throughout the average day of the average industrialized consumer exceeds that of an individual respiring over the course of an entire lifetime on this planet. So, if the average person drives everyday, on average, for 30 or 40 years of their life, this one individual would inject as mush CO2 into the atmosphere as nearly 13000 people merely breathing throughout the course of their lives. If you multiply the current population of the planet by 13000, it quickly becomes clear that we are, collectively, attempting to live far beyond our means or our Mother's capacity. The first step on the path to recovery is admission of condition. Collectively, we still have not achieved this landmark, far from it. This is the source of my pessimism. But, I do believe, the only way to realize the good is to project the good. So's this testimony is my attempt at encouraging the necessary good: STOP BURNING PETROL NOW. Our children and our sustaining Mother are far more important than ourselves.
We have alienated ourselves from the One, from the planet, from our children, from our Mother. Through the process of alienation we have forfeited our rights concerning our own destiny. Our arrogance and hubris have cost us dearly in the sense that we have forfeited the future for the present. Technology has turned out to be nothing more than a playground for corporate sabotage. Progress has revealed itself to be pathological through its related environmental degradation. Speaking purely from a cosmological point of view, I can only hope that the viral human genome does not succeed in transmitting itself to other planets. Of course, judging from the manner in which current events are unfolding (i.e. global warming and increased natural disaster), I'm certain that I don't have to lose any sleep over this consideration.
I mourn for our Mother and for our children whom we've abandoned in the arena of corporate capital gain and solipsism. The funeral fugue is being wrote as I speak for a planet that we've misconstrued, misperceived and mistreated for too long.