The Silent Citizen Pt. 1: The Social Entity
By Dale G. Cox
 

The silent citizen? A better question would be, who are we? Today's modern society lives focused on itself, experiencing the outside world thru a series of sound bites and the imagery of social metaphor. Run down neighborhoods are indicative of poverty, etc. Poor people have been defined for us via the media. The media in question is that which exists between us. Experts have proven, 75% of the information we receive is via word of mouth from another human being. He said she said he would never understand, and so on. We know what to expect from wealthy people, or middle class. These lifestyle metaphor's say nothing of the perspective of the individuals observed . Nor the similarity of their personal dramas to our own. Nor does it afford us the opportunity to realize we're a lot more alike than we think. Silent Citizen will tell us what to think. Tell us how those people can't be trusted. Or more comically, that we can trust the ones we know we shouldn't.
The Silent Citizen is the singular expression of all of us, as a whole. The Christian dynamic, wherever there are two or more of us gathered together, there is more than god in our midst. Whenever we agree on an intent to an end, there our energy's are joined in creativity. You could say god celebrates our unity, or our unity is a celebration of god. Even though we don't think so, we are always participating in the social unity, even in our detached forms. Detached forms merely translate into detached concerns. Thus the Silent Citizen expresses itself with detached regard to its own dysfunction. Denial.
How does this entity effect our daily lives? Directly. It effects how we perceive the world around us. It is after all, the world around us. It either helps us, or has the appearance of standing in our way. Passing judgment upon us for acts of insubordination, and when we're not looking, it even teaches our children. If for no other reason, we should want to be concerned as to how it raises our children. As they grow up, this being grows to become, eventually, their reflection. You've heard the term "Actions speak louder than words". The silent citizen is the truth of our expression, not the illusion we want to believe. Case in point occurred in the month of April 1998, in a small town in northern Arkansas. Two young boys, 11 and 13, pulled off a surgically planned assault on their school. Killing four small girls, a teacher, and wounding several others. It is reported the eleven year old was the mastermind. Have we allowed our society to become so violent that even our children kill in anger? The community was shocked and stunned because individually they thought they were better people, than to teach this horrible skill to their children. Well actions speak louder than words. We very often tell our children not to do something we turn right around and do anyway. Our laws are almost a complete contradiction to our moral expression, and as a society, we have no definition of honor or respect. It can be rather shocking to discover you are not what you thought you were, but we must endeavor to persevere.
We would like to say its not our fault, that we don't have the time, or the ability to influence others in this regard. This much is true, we must each make a personal decision to commit, no one can force us. Unfortunately, we are the authors of our reality, and we are responsible. We do have the ability to make time to address the nature of our society. But we are told we do not have the time or ability, by the very same entity we need to change. And there are other people who even assist the perpetuation of this confusion, simply for financial benefit. Thus, we have completely lost the sacred nature of our unity, and as a result, the sacred nature within ourselves.
The big question remains, how insane is this character and when will it go totally mad? I think it has already gone mad, and is now entertaining suicidal tendency's. Do we have the power to avert this impending disaster? Yes. But in order to do so, the walls must come down, we must move beyond the petty jealousy's that govern our social interactions. We must as a group, begin to redefine the nature of our reality. We are at a point in history where we can build a better world for ourselves, and a better future for our progeny. Because it doesn't matter how self important we think we are, we are only ever building the future for our children. We either want them to live happy and secure, or violently at each others throats. Much the way we are, a society of self righteous hypocrites.
The Silent Citizen is a reflection of our nature. It seeks to serve us by showing us the truth of who we are. It shows us the level of fear we operate from on a daily basis. It also shows us our capacity for compassion and the glorious heights we can achieve in unity. It shows us the power of our group dynamic. A power that can lift us up, or completely destroy us. We are always at a critical point of action, now is always the appropriate moment for change. The Silent Citizen will only be healed, when we learn to heal ourselves. The first step in any healing process, is always recognition of the problem. The first step in that process is to take a very long look in a mirror. Enjoy!
 

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