Go back to the
Cave
by Azly Rahman
Let us go back to the cave, this new year
Let us move forth
beyond the hypocrisy of New York Time Square’s ball-dropping
of those screaming and yelling amidst confetti falling
More than just a night of fireworks in the sky, adorning,
Of drag racing,
Of disco-dancing
Of well-wishing
Of drunk-driving
And next, another year of national forgetting
… a nation in amnesia we are made to be in
Let us not forget what must lie ahead
As we retreat to the “cave”
To think of shadows on its wall
And to reflect upon the “doctrine of reminiscence”
… the river of forgetfulness we drank from, intoxicated therein
In this cave we congregate
And begin to look at this Reality we have constructed
Inside and outside of us as we are made to become cogs
in the wheels of Industry
Inside and outside of us we build Neon Gods and bow down to these
and their creators
Inside of us we have become these Gods
In the cave we must contemplate
The nature of revolution we must initiate
One that must begin with the mind and end with the mind
And in-between these we gather all those
Not yet intoxicated by the fireworks displays nor the hypocrisy of celebrating
Against the backdrop of world’s poor suffering
And in between these-- come forth will those be in full force
to bring this corrupt system down its knees
From inside of us, into the outside of this
… a revolt that must begin with the end in mind
In this cave
We are one
We are many
We are the powerful and the powerless and we are once the power abusers
We speak the language of Nature
Of one that will bring down this world of Materials Culture
Of one that will rewrite our History
So that the past will be closer to our Primordial Nature
So that the future will be close to our Heart’s desire
This will be our cave
In it we will speak of Politics and Culture in its most Ideal form
So that we may speak of The Culture of Vultures outside this cave
this vulture culture that is corrupting Human Nature
making the rich filthier
the poor poorer, trampled upon easier
This will be our cave
Wherein we no longer speak of the national economy
Calibrated by statistical lies only, trumpeted globally
In fine imitation of the language of composite indexes and standards and poor
And how bulls and bears will roam the streets running amuck
to the tune of the velocity of money
as currencies move globally creating national tragedies
This cave will be the place
Wherein we no longer speak of how many billions and gold bullions we will need
To prop up the next emperor with a kris
Nor a place wherein we talk about curbing corruption
Whereas we ourselves are too corrupt to curb ourselves
In this cave
There shall be no fireworks to burn
There shall be no slogans to clutter the timid mind of the people we govern
There shall be no strategies of deception and intrigues of politics to renew
There shall be no plans of monopolizing the prime media to honor
the Neon Gods anew
In this cave
There shall be dialogues our politics and pedagogy once knew
There shall be conversations around the idea of
Who should rule?
Why should we be ruled?
What is a just government?
When does a government become ineffective, abusive, oppressive,
and tyrannical?
and what then must we do?
Must investment bankers become emperors?
Must future leaders ally with global corporate raiders?
Must we disobey unjust laws?
How must we learn to question authority?
How must our children be taught?
How must their intelligence be respected?
Must these young minds be developed by State-conditioned educators?
How must we stop the decay in our universities?
How must we reclaim its prosperity and recapture its dignity?
And vote out those who rule with arrogance and intellectual brutality
What is an ideal society, a perfect government, a philosopher ruler
How might we create a messiah out of wisdom and virtue?
How might we make these possible?
Through a revolution of Pure Reason
That will overthrow governments run by robber barons
This will be our cave
As what Socrates once spoke of
In which Muhammad the prophet of Islam found illuminations in
In which Lao Tzu would had also once retreated to
Let us all go back to the cave
Let us first make our way to the mountains
There is no mountain high enough
Come into our cave---
Educators, university professors, Vice Chancellor, students, activists, enlightened politicians, social workers, farmers, rubber tappers, fishermen, doctors, lawyers, engineers, entertainers, religious leaders, military officers, artists, artisans, musicians, comedians, petty traders, currency traders, multimedia producers, princes and princesses, schoolchildren, …
Come into our cave---
Revolt we must against the Gods of Materials Culture and Political Vultures
Who reign through the Divine Right of Kings
Reigned through Hidden Terror
Mandated by the Modern State it Legitimates
Through the use of The Ideological State Apparatuses it Finely Decorates
So that the Masses will be cleverly subjugated
Let us, when we are ready, come out of the cave---
To create a new social order
For—this world is too much for us.
But we are not merely a speck of dust
We have choices. And we evolve.
This new year, we should be in a cave.
by Azly Rahman
Let us go back to the cave, this new year
Let us move forth
beyond the hypocrisy of New York Time Square’s ball-dropping
of those screaming and yelling amidst confetti falling
More than just a night of fireworks in the sky, adorning,
Of drag racing,
Of disco-dancing
Of well-wishing
Of drunk-driving
And next, another year of national forgetting
… a nation in amnesia we are made to be in
Let us not forget what must lie ahead
As we retreat to the “cave”
To think of shadows on its wall
And to reflect upon the “doctrine of reminiscence”
… the river of forgetfulness we drank from, intoxicated therein
In this cave we congregate
And begin to look at this Reality we have constructed
Inside and outside of us as we are made to become cogs
in the wheels of Industry
Inside and outside of us we build Neon Gods and bow down to these
and their creators
Inside of us we have become these Gods
In the cave we must contemplate
The nature of revolution we must initiate
One that must begin with the mind and end with the mind
And in-between these we gather all those
Not yet intoxicated by the fireworks displays nor the hypocrisy of celebrating
Against the backdrop of world’s poor suffering
And in between these-- come forth will those be in full force
to bring this corrupt system down its knees
From inside of us, into the outside of this
… a revolt that must begin with the end in mind
In this cave
We are one
We are many
We are the powerful and the powerless and we are once the power abusers
We speak the language of Nature
Of one that will bring down this world of Materials Culture
Of one that will rewrite our History
So that the past will be closer to our Primordial Nature
So that the future will be close to our Heart’s desire
This will be our cave
In it we will speak of Politics and Culture in its most Ideal form
So that we may speak of The Culture of Vultures outside this cave
this vulture culture that is corrupting Human Nature
making the rich filthier
the poor poorer, trampled upon easier
This will be our cave
Wherein we no longer speak of the national economy
Calibrated by statistical lies only, trumpeted globally
In fine imitation of the language of composite indexes and standards and poor
And how bulls and bears will roam the streets running amuck
to the tune of the velocity of money
as currencies move globally creating national tragedies
This cave will be the place
Wherein we no longer speak of how many billions and gold bullions we will need
To prop up the next emperor with a kris
Nor a place wherein we talk about curbing corruption
Whereas we ourselves are too corrupt to curb ourselves
In this cave
There shall be no fireworks to burn
There shall be no slogans to clutter the timid mind of the people we govern
There shall be no strategies of deception and intrigues of politics to renew
There shall be no plans of monopolizing the prime media to honor
the Neon Gods anew
In this cave
There shall be dialogues our politics and pedagogy once knew
There shall be conversations around the idea of
Who should rule?
Why should we be ruled?
What is a just government?
When does a government become ineffective, abusive, oppressive,
and tyrannical?
and what then must we do?
Must investment bankers become emperors?
Must future leaders ally with global corporate raiders?
Must we disobey unjust laws?
How must we learn to question authority?
How must our children be taught?
How must their intelligence be respected?
Must these young minds be developed by State-conditioned educators?
How must we stop the decay in our universities?
How must we reclaim its prosperity and recapture its dignity?
And vote out those who rule with arrogance and intellectual brutality
What is an ideal society, a perfect government, a philosopher ruler
How might we create a messiah out of wisdom and virtue?
How might we make these possible?
Through a revolution of Pure Reason
That will overthrow governments run by robber barons
This will be our cave
As what Socrates once spoke of
In which Muhammad the prophet of Islam found illuminations in
In which Lao Tzu would had also once retreated to
Let us all go back to the cave
Let us first make our way to the mountains
There is no mountain high enough
Come into our cave---
Educators, university professors, Vice Chancellor, students, activists, enlightened politicians, social workers, farmers, rubber tappers, fishermen, doctors, lawyers, engineers, entertainers, religious leaders, military officers, artists, artisans, musicians, comedians, petty traders, currency traders, multimedia producers, princes and princesses, schoolchildren, …
Come into our cave---
Revolt we must against the Gods of Materials Culture and Political Vultures
Who reign through the Divine Right of Kings
Reigned through Hidden Terror
Mandated by the Modern State it Legitimates
Through the use of The Ideological State Apparatuses it Finely Decorates
So that the Masses will be cleverly subjugated
Let us, when we are ready, come out of the cave---
To create a new social order
For—this world is too much for us.
But we are not merely a speck of dust
We have choices. And we evolve.
This new year, we should be in a cave.
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