The Anti-Venom for the Walking Dead

Summary

The article critiques the support of authoritarian actions by certain political figures, equating them to zombies for their perceived lack of spirit and life, and suggests that embracing the spirit is the antidote to such mindlessness.

Abstract

The author of the article expresses deep concern over the public endorsement of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine by high-profile figures such as a former U.S. president and media personalities like Tucker Carlson. This support is characterized as a form of mindlessness akin to being part of the "walking dead," due to a denial of spirit and purpose beyond self-service. The article contrasts this with the concept of life being a combination of body, mind, and spirit, and posits that the true essence of living is the expression of the spirit. The author suggests that the victory of "Old Joe" (presumably President Joe Biden) over "Daren" (a portmanteau of Donald and Karen, symbolizing a certain political mindset) in the election is a triumph of life over the soullessness represented by the other side. The piece also touches on the irony of some Republican Party members and QAnon supporters, who are typically pro-life and religious, aligning with Putin's perceived soullessness. The article concludes by emphasizing that acknowledging and living by the spirit is the antidote to the "stupidity" of authoritarian actions and that history has shown walls and autocracy to be ineffective against the human spirit.

Opinions

The author views the support of Putin's invasion by certain U.S. political figures as indicative of a lack of moral and intellectual integrity, likening them to zombies.
The article suggests that the former president and his supporters are detached from the spiritual aspect of life, focusing solely on material gain and power.
President Joe Biden is seen as a symbol of life and spirit, in contrast to his political opponents who are depicted as soulless.
The author criticizes the hypocrisy of some pro-life, church-going individuals who simultaneously support authoritarian leaders and ideologies.
The piece argues that the expression of the spirit is essential to defeating the mindset of the "walking dead" and that historical examples show the futility of trying to suppress human freedom and ingenuity.
The author believes that the Republican Party, or at least some of its members, will come to regret supporting actions that aim to restrict the freedom of other nations.

The Anti-Venom for the Walking Dead

Illustration designed by BSIENKART (used with permission from artist)

I suppose I’m not the only one who’s watching newscasts in utter disbelief these days. I’m having trouble understanding how a self-proclaimed capitalist ex-president could possibly say that Vlad Putin invading Ukraine is genius. He didn’t say it was evil genius either. He even went so far as to opine that we need that kind of peace keeping force at our southern borders.

I don’t have a clue about what that guy is looking at or with. Russia’s economy is smaller than the economy of Panama. Do you think that guy would ever say that someone in Panama is genius? Would Tucker Carlson wax all mushy about the president of Panama being justified in closing down the Panama Canal, for example. Of course not. That would be stupid. Tucker or even the Ex-Pres wouldn’t gain anything from such a statement, they would simply be in the throes of destructive behavior.

I have to admit, I’ve had a lot of trouble trying to understand what someone that stupid would think they would gain from actually saying anything that thought-free. Then slowly but surely it began to come to me. The Agreement that Vlad and Tucker and the Ex-Pres all share in common is that they’re all essentially zombies. They don’t think they have anything to lose. They’re examples of the walking dead.

Think about this for a moment. We pretty much all claim to consist of body, mind and spirit. If one denies spirit then one is accepting that we are nothing but a walking computer which has no purpose other than to serve itself. You see, we have a word for when the spirit leaves the body. The word we use is dead.

Yeah I know, that’s upsetting, huh? Of course it is. It should be. It’s supposed to be. You know what is most upsetting about all of this? One of our political parties could, by this definition, be described as the zombie nation. I mean it is hard to justify mindlessness as the fullness of life. But then how else could people who claim to be champions of the monied class be cheerleaders for the leader of a nation with the largest land mass of any country on earth, but is still outstripped economically by Panama? It certainly doesn’t stand to reason to think that Vlad or Daren (Don + Karen = Daren) understand concepts which lead to generational wealth. It’s hard to understand life when you’re a zombie. It’s just too difficult to get all excited about human achievement when all you can think about is brains.

I don’t know but I suspect the reason Old Joe beat out Daren in the last election is because Old Joe represents life. I wouldn’t be surprised that the reason that folks on the right are constantly bad mouthing the old guy is because his very existence calls into question their zombie attempts at living. Consider that Joe told Vlad to his face that he didn’t think the Russian had a soul and Vlad, god love him, agreed. Remember please, that there are folks in the Republican Party who are in Agreement with the soulless part of Vlad’s existence. They celebrate it, don’t they?

These are the same folks who, for the most part, are supposedly pro-life or at least against abortion. A lot of these folks are good church going individuals. And a lot of these folks also are QAnoners, hanging out in Dallas waiting for JFK to return. Why, there are even some of these folks who are in Congress. There are some of these folks driving tractor trailers to Washington to bitch about the government trying to protect them from dying of Covid. So what do all these diverse people have in common? They all are destroying something/anything without any gain for themselves. That defines stupidity.

The invasion of Ukraine can not be defined as a win/win situation. So it can not be defined as intelligence either. It is in every way stupidity of the vilest variety. So how does one combat stupidity of this magnitude? I think it’s by acknowledging that life is made real through the expression of the spirit through each of us. That idea is the anti-venom required to neutralize the walking dead among us. A zombie is soulless. To demonstrate the spirit is to defeat the zombie. John McCain understood that idea. He demonstrated the spirit by simply giving the thumbs down signal to prevent Obamacare from being canceled. That was a win/win situation. Daren was mortified and defeated. Mike Pence defeated Daren by doing his job on January 6th and on into January 7th. Mike single-handedly defeated Daren’s goon squad that day.

See, I think it makes sense to give the zombie anti-vax crowd what they want. There’s way fewer of them now than there was a while ago. I just can not muster up any sympathy for someone who shoots themselves in the foot. Who I feel sympathy for is the people that are left behind. Those women and children must face the stark reality of a spiritless body which was once a living person they loved. That makes acknowledging the spirit an ever so practical matter. It’s just common sense.

One of the hallmarks of a soulless autocrat is that he inevitably silences those who speak against him. If he were to hear what those folks were saying then he’d most likely have to admit the existence of a soul within him. It isn’t as though we can pretend that we do not have a soul and that pretending makes it so. We are souls no matter if we admit it or not. So the autocrat can not bear to even hear ideas which demonstrate the spirit in action. Daren still hates on John McCain. I suppose he must be afraid that the spirit might express through him in spite of his steadfast resistance to such an event ever taking place. Maybe Daren would have to care about living people like his very own kids? Like the kids of black and brown people? Maybe he’d have to see the folly of his thinking about the southern borders?

It might be a good thing if Daren and the wall advocates were to consider the Maginot Line. It didn’t work. The Germans came around it. Hadrian’s wall didn’t work either. Anyone who has ever had cows knows that fences are temporary suggestions as to where limits should be maintained. Humans are more resourceful than cows by a lot. The problem that stupid people have with other humans is they can not be controlled. Humans will believe what they want to believe. That’s the deal with the spirit. The spirit doesn’t have a body. It has life. So it must honor what the body deems important. The question is if the body can honor what the spirit deems important. It appears that zombies can not honor the spirit. Spirited people can not honor captivity. That’s why I predict that the Republican Party will rue the day that even some of its constituency cheered for the invasion of a free people to try to put them into captivity…Common old horse sense would tell you that.

Article originally post on The Business of Forging Agreement blog.