Free Spirit of DC
By
Phil Penner
Aponi
guns the Envirobile away from the construction entrance of the White House.
This SUV of a mobility chair sports a wooden Native American Jesus standing at
the rear. He’s adorned with beaded braids and feathers, these are mostly
cindered by his crown of fiery thorns. This mock execution device snaps
violently with arcs of electricity that have fried the head of Environmental
Jesus. Dried greasewood vines grasp his feet and torso and splay his raven
graced arms out to form the cross.
Aponi rented this
cart and mounted her Jesus on the back. Her friend programmed the cart to
automatically do laps in front of the Whitehouse. The sides have electronic
signs scrolling her latest socio-environmental poem. Her recorded voice is
crisp and yet massages her mantra of global survival. She preludes her
recording with:
“Say friends, are
you fully informed about reality? Humanity and our environment are bottoming
out quickly. Our world economy is going under, our dysfunctional corruption is
the cancer on our collective inspiration to thrive. Our violent world is
promoting unjustified destruction of innocent lives, and our extremists can
only get worse. Let’s hit the reset button! Many believe only science can save
us by engineering a healthier and more balanced human race.”
She’s nestled into
her boxed in fortress with a do not disturb sign blocking clear sight of her
face. Aponi is a thirty something chemist. She has large vial of her
proprietary ectoplasm. This vial exudes a mildly sharp off gassing that tingles
one’s nostrils like a swim in salty surf.
Aponi has
concocted potions that free her of her spindly legs which have refused to carry
her frame since an accident when she was quite young. This chemical process
could kill her so she bolsters herself with a Navajo war chant, “Hey ah na
na hey ah na na hey ah na na HEY.”
Aponi meditates
briefly on the will of the greater good. She sucks up two blasts from her red
inhaler canister. She drops her baseball cap over her eyes and slumps into her
chair. Suddenly she sees her body below and feels herself propelled away by the
heat from her ectoplasm. Her soul is still grounded in her body while her
spirit travels and transmits back to her brain. This gives her spirit
self-willed determination on the fly.
She propels her
ectoplasm away from her auto-piloted Envirobile while sensing the thoughts of a
passersby. Another damn environmentalist that’s gonna drive down the stock
market and take away our motorhomes.
Aponi blasts a
message back into him through spirit, “We’ll free your children’s children
to love life abundantly, in electric motorhomes.”
She thinks high
five while passing the sculpture of our prime progressive, George Washington.
Aponi pumps her ectoplasm cloud up, like a jellyfish, up to a second floor
window. She senses the presence and brainwave sleep state of the First Lady.
Aponi races into
her sinuses and melds into the nuances of electro-bio-chemisty. This is their
seventh session and the familiarity produces a welcome response. They banter as
though Aponi is merely her friendly alter ego.
“We must
recruit millions of sisters from free and willing nations,” thinks Aponi to
the First Lady. “The masculine influence will come later from many of the
scientists who plan our new reality and may get voted into the NGO’s by the
public. None of them will be political figures, only architects.”
“I’m very
concerned,” thinks the First Lady. “History tells us that the radical
right will attempt to kill the intellectuals to maintain the status quo.”
“We must provide them
anonymity and secure networks for communication,” thinks Aponi. “The
sisters must be allowed to operate in tolerant countries who protect them and
freedom of speech. The other countries will eventually collapse from within when
their citizens witness the evolution of a better world.”
A sweet smile
pours over the First Lady’s lips as she thinks, The love of God, and
dreamily kisses her pillow.
+
Succulent
aromas are wafting from the wood fired steak house next door to the spiritual
center. Aponi wheels up while thinking, After
five years as a vegan, it only smells good, who wants to get breast cancer from
food that’s tainted with hormones?
It’s difficult
navigating the doorway into the spiritual center, the building is old and has
no room for proper handicap access. Fortunately the brothers who clean the
modest lobby have given her a storage closet for her chairs and robotic Exos
legs. She slips into them, they sound like an aquarium pump while grasping her
thighs.
Aponi loves
sprinting up the stairs, half a floor per jump, with smooth and articulate
landings, controlled only by her thoughts.
On the second
floor she greets the residents with namaste hands. They return her gesture with
mindfulness and smiles. Her heart is warmed by wood paneled walls and the
serenity imbibed in the room. A prominent You have arrived, You are
here, is scrolled out on breeze driven cloth that dances against the
wall.
Resident
nun – Tangin, gives Aponi a smiling gaze in hopes of hearing of her travels.
“The
President terminated the whole Keystone fiasco and redirected investment into
solar,” says Aponi, “If they want to sell that garbage it will have to be on
another planet.”
Tangin
and the three brothers cheer the hard won battle.
“He’s
going to come around this term,” says Tangin. “Don’t you think?”
Aponi
can’t resist her huge emerging grin. “He certainly will,” she says. “And more
than you can imagine.”
The others have no
actual knowledge of Aponi’s spirit journeys.
“Give
us some clues to imagine with,” says brother Mardhi. He’s seen chemicals and
supplies among Aponi’s belongings and they’ve heard her slipping out at night.
“There’s nothing
to be concerned about,” says Aponi, with a smile. “I’ve been visiting a special
friend. We’re working on a speculative project that I’m not free to discuss
just yet. Soon it will ring out as clear as a sound bowl.”
Mardi and the
others nod in compliance and give Aponi her space. Mardhi rocks forward a bit,
gleams a smile at her, a friendly pass for activities that must be concealed.
For the last five
nights Aponi has visited the President in his dreams. She has helped him
remember his roots and feel the suffering of the common man. She has gained
strong familiarity and inspired him with a new sense of purpose. She has
encouraged him to trust his wife’s judgment and recent endeavor.
+
News crews at the
United States Capitol are concerned about the young woman with the do not
disturb sign draped over her eyes. Why, they wonder, is she sleeping next to their
vehicles? Aponi’s toned torso is slouched in her lime green ProActive wheel
chair. Her laptop is closed and cable locked to her chair.
Aponi’s
spirit is sweeping through the Capitol Building. Here comes the Chief of Staff,
photographers, and a cameraman motoring in reverse on his platform. They
maintain a decent lead on the President who strolls with distant eyes. He
shoulders the world’s problems like Atlas with his poker face honed to
perfection. He blows off his distractions and decides that he’ll handle this
State of The Union Address with flare and panache because he’s a star.
Aponi
sweeps up into his nostrils at full tilt, filling his sinuses with buttered
salinity from her ectoplasm.
The President
stops instantly while shaking his head. A cameraman taps at the Chief of Staff
who looks and says,
“Mr.
President, are you alright?”
The
President whiffs a bit thus lodging Aponi’s ectoplasm firmly in place. For a
brief moment his spirit is being lulled into submission and his eyelids drop.
Aponi tunes into his brainwaves and blasts him with dopamine. He smiles as big
as Texas and says,
“I’m
great, just archiving a boatload of issues in my head so I can focus.”
They stroll out to
the Chamber of Congress and receive the standard mixed reception from the
bipolar legislative body. He grabs the edges of the podium like he’ll shake his
adversaries into submission and begins speaking,
“Dear ladies and
gentlemen, distinguished guests, fellow Americans, and brothers and sisters of
humanity:
I
am compelled to bestow upon you the audacity of truth. The type of truth that
is self-evident and when denied, it’s usually at one’s own peril.
The time for
change is long overdue. Most cultures have divorced themselves from nature.
This has been happening for thousands of years. The consequences of our
philosophy of dominion over the Earth rather than healthy stewardship is now
threatening a great deal of humanity with extinction. The truth is: If we don’t
change the Earth will change us. This will be far worse than if we begin to
adapt now. Personally, I find it unfathomable that any of us have considered
passing our crushing debt and destruction of the environment on to our
children. Therefore I believe it is absolutely incumbent on ourselves to begin
cleaning up the mess we have created.
Although there
will be many necessary changes that have yet to be defined, they will define us
as citizens and they will define us as a species. We will either adapt and
survive like honey bees, or persist in greed and delusion while continuing to
consume our resources like locusts, who ravage the land and collapse due to
their own consumption.
The truth is often
painful and that which people refuse to accept. If we can’t accept it we can’t
fix it. For decades our society and in some form, nearly all societies on
Earth, have been in a moral freefall. How many innocents must be slaughtered by
crazies with guns and terrorists before we recognize our collective mental
illness?
In many ways we
can’t admit to ourselves what we’ve done and how bad it has truly become. This
is because the media doesn’t show us most of the social and ecological damage
our rampant consumerism is doing around the world. This damage is reaching
critical mass. The truth is that our present economic system can not sustain
it’s trajectory and will in fifteen years or so, collapse like a dying star.”
Jaws stop, drop
then flap all through the chamber. The President continues,
“It’s not good
enough to allow the feeding frenzy of financial sharks that bankrupted our
system to continue on and devour all of our common resources. If they succeed
we’ll live on a miserable third world planet with its capitols in corporate
boardrooms and offshore banks.
We my friends, are
trapped in a large box. We can’t fix it until we take our minds out of the box
and seek freedom from the turmoil that’s going on inside. This turmoil destroys
too many things, primarily our ability to cooperate and progress as healthy
spiritual human beings.
This is why the
First Lady is by my side to announce her bold new initiative. When she told me
about it I was skeptical, as most of us will be. Then I realized that all of
our best efforts throughout history have propelled us into our present quagmire
of global dysfunction. We have very little management of complex global issues
because corporate self-interests control governments with little oversight or
guidance. Our system is far too broken for an overhaul. We need to pull
ourselves up by our bootstraps and build a world that works well for most
people, not just a privileged few.”
The blue side is
cheering voraciously while the reds flush green with envy that they have no
real leadership. The First Lady takes the podium. Many are perplexed by the
joint delivery of the address. She’s beaming like the sun is coming out from a
long winter and begins with,
“Thank you so
much, ladies and gentlemen of every nation. Most of the problems bearing down
on humanity should be confronted by governments. But instead they are powerless
because they have been emasculated by entrenched power. These are issues of
greed and self-indulgent behavior rather than working toward the greater good,
as God would have us do. Therefore we can’t solve our biggest problems with
more money or the military or our old school ways of self-interests rather than
the global interests of everyone.
We are
experiencing a collective crisis of consciousness due to corruption and being
told we have reached the end of times. This is creating a massive chronic
low-grade depression for humanity as a whole. Until we can bring our species
into balance with the Earth, humanity is in essence, homeless.
To repair this
dilemma we need to reach out to the man on the street so that our children will
still have a street. Everyone needs to know that in this finite world, we are
all connected. We must treat all life forms with due respect or we will
disrespect ourselves and pay the consequences.”
Many of the
Democrats are hopping like tropical birds performing a mating ritual.
Republicans are crimson and scowling.
She nudges the
President while continuing,
“The initiative of
which my husband spoke of is called the Numanity Project. Listen up; all of you
scholarly sisters from around the world, listen very closely. We must not fail
to form a coalition of Non Governmental Organizations. From these we will form
armies of other women all around the world. They will practice deep listening
with compassion. They will listen to their white-collar husbands who don’t feel
good about hurting people in the name of business. They will listen to
blue-collar workers who will die before they can retire. They will listen to
the soldiers who need just cause to kill their fellow man. They will listen to
the talented musicians who are marginalized due to our focus on materialism.
They will listen to their neighbors whose children have contracted cancer from
our poisoned world.
After listening
with sincere compassion they will explain the need for population reduction and
living in God’s will of the common good. They will convey the determination
that we shall join together to build a better world.
The NGO’s will
then take what they have learned from the man on the street and boil these
messages down to their simplest terms. The scholars operating Numanity’s NGO’s
will boil it all down again, into the essence of the suffering of humanity.
Then the NGO’s
will seek out the best of the best in the sciences of sociology and economics,
and those knowledgeable in energy and the environment. These scientists will
partake in the essence of the suffering of humanity and our biosphere, this
will water the seed of compassion in their hearts.
These scientists
must recognize the interdependent nature of our finite planet. They will know
that what happens to one group of people will ultimately affect everyone else
for better or worse. They must cast off the shackles of failed thinking that
brought us to this condition. Greed, prejudice and delusion are not healing our
hearts, they are poisoning our minds.”
The First Lady
softens her tone and continues,
“When you were a
child, if your little sister crashed on her bicycle did you abandon her and
race quickly home to eat her dessert? No, it’s more likely that you loved your
little sister and cared for her. On this finite planet we need to understand
that other nations are our brothers and sisters too. Our United Nations must be
given the authority to act like moral parents to all corporations and nations.
We must seek the greater good in all our affairs.
I believe that
most successful people appreciate the love and respect of their fellow man.
They would rather be carried on shoulders in a parade, and not be barricaded
away with guns. We need to inspire the disadvantaged to look up to their
leaders, not be repulsed by their corruption.
Numanity’s NGO’s
must be completely independent from all governments and corporations. Any
donations channeled into Numanity must be anonymous and given only for the love
of humankind.
We will take what
we have learned from scientists and boil it down to regional solutions with
vibrant global trade. Trade must be accomplished with green energy to
compliment the superorganism of Earth.”
“This is high
treason,” rings out from the minority whip.
“No sir,” blasts
out the First Lady. “Our old world is collapsing under the weight of greed and
short sightedness. How can you hold young people at fault for seeking a better
world? We have taken the best of times and tolerated the fleecing of our
economies by vulture capitalists. How can you even begin to suggest that our
children should accept massive debts and our fraudulent behavior? Would you,
and with no benefit to yourself, accept this treatment sir?”
The minority
whipped is dumbfounded. The First Lady’s eyes casually cast him into the lake
of fire and she carries on,
“And for you
rightfully skeptical folks, consider this; our entire organization will
emphasize decentralization and broad base networking of information. All we
have done is create a framework for safe communication. We will know the truth
as self-evident and we will not allow anyone or anything to impose control upon
our process. We will guard our children’s future like momma grizzly bears.
We will not be
seeking corporate sponsors, or super stars and politicians that confuse our
goals. The star participants in the Numanity project will be local heroes from
everywhere. They’ll be paid in brotherly love, for they will be the brave men
and women who forge a healthier future for our entire Earth.”
Most of congress
is at once stunned and swept away. The red side looks sadly shameful and
applauds with hollow hands. The Dems are like teenage girls at a Beatles
concert.
The First Lady
bows curtly then continues to wave and salute and tamp down their applause.
The beaming
President takes the podium, “See why I’m so proud of this lady?” After a few
moments he continues,
“In the mean time
we have a diseased economy that must build our gateway to the future. We need
to wind down the use of fossil fuels as fast as possible. This will be a huge
undertaking in itself.
I believe that as
we move along, the inspiration of building a better world will enable us to do
incredible things. When the ninety nine percent join hands we can build a
global railway system for the future. Railways that replace air travel and
cargo ships, railways that will be powered by clean energy.
Just the fact that
we would begin to focus most of our energy on working together rather than
fighting wars will move mountains and bring heaven into our hearts.”
“Goddamm
communist,” shouts a furious Congressman.
The President furrows his brow and
thunders from on high,
“How
can you label something that science hasn’t created yet? Some think we can let
global warming take its toll and that then us more fortunate ones will be just
fine. It’s far more likely that many societies will collapse with the economy
and wreak havoc on everyone. If we choose to bury our heads in the sand, or in
underground shelters, when we come back up it will probably be to a living hell
of gangs and potential cannibalism.”
The President lets
that soak in for a moment and continues,
“It may take
decades to transition from our dying expansionist way of life into a
sustainable world. Economic models suggest that we can adjust our world economy
to last for 20-30 years. We will then watch our corrupt reality collapse and we
will take flight like the Phoenix.
I personally
believe that it is incumbent upon us as civilized human beings to allow our
young adults to shape their own future, guided by the wisdom of their most
capable elders. I believe the Numanity Project is the best way to do this. We
must do this my friends. Not because we have to, although Mother Nature is
proving this to be true, we will do it because we are the champions for the
world.”
The President
tamps down their applause and bows curtly, preparing to depart. Aponi will have
her hands full now. She’ll have scores of hamstrung leaders to influence in the
ways of spiritual solutions to material problems.
One of the red
crazies runs toward the podium while pulling something from his pocket. It’s
tucked into his palm and not visible yet. He stops and points his tiny ceramic
gun at the President and fires, BAM, the bullet screams like desperate
propaganda.
The
President drops to the floor while his bodyguards rush to his side. “Idiot,”
says the President. He rips open his shirt to reveal a nasty flesh wound. He
jumps back up to the podium with a grimaced smile.
“I’m
okay, it’s only a scratch. Peace be with all of you.”
He salutes the Chamber, does an
abrupt about face and boldly walks away.
This is the shot,
felt ‘round the world, the hinge-point of the metamorphosis of humanity. We
will fly away from our cocoon of insecurity and greed and into the sunshine of
a brighter future. A future that benefits everyone to the extent that they
embrace it. A future that rewards us well as individuals for achieving great
things for the greater good of all life.
Science
tells us that we all evolved from a common grandmother in Africa. Now we have
the proud parents of Earth’s first truly advanced and thriving civilization.
They will be loved and celebrated for millennia to come, long live Numanity!
