The Awakening

It is probably a déjà vu. A surge of global consciousness similar to the one that transpired in the 1960s when in every corner of the world the cry of freedom and independence was heard. Then we had a Kennedy in America, now we have an Obama, both known for their think-globally-and-act-locally type of outlook.

And now the Internet is completing the global neuron network in the same way that the brain had done millions of years ago to complete its neuron integrated circuit to wake mankind and bring about human consciousness. It was then that man, as opposed to animals, came to be.

Why Obama? I don’t mean he has anything to do, at least directly, with what is going on in this world at present, but the mere fact that Americans elected a world-friendly and inspiring Obama goes on a long way to show that the people on the other side of the Atlantic have, more or less, become global-oriented at least for the time being. And this has, at least, an indirect influence on the world political, economic and social development.

Of course the basic cause for such an upheaval that is shaking North Africa and the Middle East at present is none else than economic injustice, but rising up in such an unprecedented number and in a united front can be attributed to some sort of global consciousness that mankind is undergoing at present.

The world has now become, whether we like it or not, one country, and its peoples will soon become world citizens. Mankind is now inclined to think in a global manner and perspective, taking the world as its homeland and wary that it is neither oppressed by economic or social injustices nor destroyed by reckless environmental contamination and pollution. Everybody now seems to be conscious that the entire human race is in fact on a sailing boat, and feels that either as species we will proceed together in peace, or we will sink into oblivion separately.  

The goal of human evolution, that which was to distinguish man from the apes, was the waking up of man from his animalistic slumber and his transformation to become a rational animal. In other words, man had developed enough neurons in his brain and had made so much those necessary connections that he began to contemplate himself and became aware of his being. This differentiated him from the animals who never made it to complete the consciousness loop and thereby contemplate themselves.

Thus the first stage in the journey towards perfection that was destined to pass through never-ending levels of consciousness began when man became self-conscious and asked himself ‘Who am I?’ Or maybe ate of the forbidden fruit and knew what was good and bad, becoming more or less like God, thereby extricating himself from the animal kingdom.

The second stage in this evolution of human consciousness seems to be in the process of being achieved in our times as the world is shrinking so fast that the five billion human brains now inhabiting this world are developing global consciousness thanks to the Internet and its components.

The third stage will be what may be aptly called a universal consciousness, a consciousness that will help us to think universally, in unity with our interstellar brothers and sisters.  And this journey along the path of consciousness will go on and on to make us finally achieve a supper consciousness that will merge us with, to use Teilhard de Chardin’s terminology, the Omega Point, a sort of unity with the absolute, which can never be achieved in full as the absolute is unreachable.

Now, the peoples of the earth seem to have reached the second stage as is witnessed by the universal thirst for justice in the form of democracy, economic equality and the like. Everywhere people are clamoring for social justice, for fair share of the earth’s natural wealth and resources (think of the Nile waters, etc.), the desire to be able to lead one’s national destiny by oneself (Southern Sudan, etc.), the cry for secession and self-autonomy (the Kurds, etc.).

Such clamors had of course been heard before, during the Age of Reason followed by the American and French Revolution. But this is the first time that such uprising could be made through the Internet unifying a large number of this world’s people to think as one person.  

Mankind as a whole and as one species seems to have become self-conscious of his rightful place on this planet, and no tyrants or multinationals or oppressive systems in whatever form or guise, are going to take that global consciousness away from him. 

Look at Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan (secession), Libya, etc. Power has to go to where it had inherently belonged… to the people!

Until now power had been given to the people in few countries only, those who call themselves democracies. In the past, the Greek aristocrats were careful not to relinquish power to the mobs, for mob-power is misguided and destructive, they said. The communists pretended to hand over power to the masses but kept it confined within their politburos and national security apparatus.

Islam, as a theocratic religion, can be accredited with handing social and political power over to the people, or Uma, creating thus equality between slave and prince under one God, including the dispensing of economic, social and political justices. One God, One Book, One people!

It was the first social system that came closer to the stage of introducing global consciousness into the mind of mankind as it considered all believers as one, and all the land inhabited by believers as one land! A great human or spiritual achievement by the standard of the times! Alas, it seems that at present members of its clergy along with fulltime fanatics have finally retaken that power illegally from the people and are playing havoc with the religion of God!

In the past, man lived in complete liberty hunting and gathering fruits. Then came the clan, the tribe etc. that made life much more safe for him. He sold, as it were, some of his liberties to the community in return for social and economic protection and security.  The ruler was thus created to dispense justice and see to it that everyone in the community was within the reach of the law. That’s how individual power dissolved into the common interest of all.

But then the ruler became a monster subjugating the people to his personal wishes and madness (think of Kaddafi, etc.).  

The monster appeared in different forms and sizes. Imperialism, followed by capitalism and communism, not to mention fascism and Nazism, enslaved the masses, and multinationals robbed the earth of its riches for their own interest leaving two-third of the peoples of the world destitute.

The world has now become like a small village and everything has become too visible and too audible to miss or to ignore.

With the Internet and the democratization of war (suicide bombing, the crafting of lethal weapons in one’s own garage, the taking of hostages, sea piracy, etc.), the perpetrators of injustices, wherever they are, should think twice before making their next move.