To Become Counterpower

We must start with a spiritual revolution. We must build an Empire of the Mind.

Readers who have been with me for a while might have noticed my spinning off The Grey Robes into its own Substack. Dr. Egon Spengler warned us not to cross the streams, after all. In other words, Underthrow with its subversive innovation, and The Grey Robes with its exploration of psychospiritual matters, would each have elbow room. But now and again, a Gozer appears. The Venn Diagrams will intersect and the streams must cross. Today is one of those days. —Max

Contemporary empires are no different than the old ones, built as they are on domination, subordination, and manipulation. Elites with a monopoly on the threat of violence will lord their power over those who must comply—or perish if they fight back. Compliance requires far less friction if one has mastered the gift of swaying others to believe their subjection is good.

If domination is power over others’ bodies, manipulation is power over others’ minds.

Over time, repeated manipulations can be transmuted into habits of mind, and collective habits of mind become culture. Stir in mugwort, toadstools, and black bile—you have the stuff of ideology. Inculturated ideology is potent. Try telling a Muslim there will be no more visits to kiss the Ka’ba or that they should eat bacon for breakfast during Ramadan. You will be struck with the bottom of a shoe if you are not stoned to death.

As silver coins dropped into an outstretched palm, ideology helps one look away from the violence on which most empires are built. Combine ideology with ingots, and an army of zealots will line up behind your imperial cause. Yes, there were red-coated soldiers stationed around various places in the British Raj, but they had their tea, taxes, and imperial apologetics.

To become counterpower, we must formulate our own concoctions, make our magic, tell our stories, and find the antidotes to fear and ideologies of violence. Because we renounce the threat of violence against the innocent, we must plant the seeds of our doctrine in the humous soil of human souls.

A Spiritual Revolution

As I have written elsewhere:

There is a paucity of spirit in our times. Once, we came together through multiple dimensions that were the sources of siblinghood. Today, we live in digital Skinner Boxes created by the proxies of corporations and states. The proxies lie to us, herd us, and milk us for taxes and profits.

Yet, we have gotten comfortable.

Those who seek to manipulate and control us are working at a clip to keep us blind, numb, and vaguely amused. Living under censors and controllers means the contours of our invisible prison are almost perceptible. They will lure us with carrots and threaten us with sticks, treating us as good little milk cows.

We cannot let them get away with it.

But what can we do?

We must start with a spiritual revolution. We must build an Empire of the Mind.

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This article was originally posted at The Grey Robes.