I started to pick up here what was started about Millennials and future survival earlier, but recognized I need to back up a few paces. Coincidentally (though there is no such thing, of course) two interesting things happened. First, the internet was down all day. No emails. No tweets. Ahhhh. Quiet. An unexpected relief set in. Would Millennials experience this deprivation (even short-lived) the same way?

Yet, here I sit blogging, trusting things will be back to normal within a few hours. A troubling thought rumbled in the back of my mind. Has something thing terrible happened in Israel? Is this blackout preventing news from getting through? I pushed it aside. Paranoia? It served as a reminder, though, that this relatively comfortable lifestyle might not last forever. It’s a reminder of how precious time is.

The last paragraph of the earlier blog (see wp.me/p46Y5Z-cz) stopped short where I must begin here:

The only chance of winning — ultimately, surviving —

is to demand a new, clean, unmarked deck, one with all the cards.

In other words, make a fresh start based on an accurate, complete paradigm.

Rethinking Survival lists the elements of a Fresh Start in detail. Here are a few snippets.

FRESH START

After facing up to the inescapable proof everywhere around us that our language and idea pools have been corrupted, what do we do about it? Extreme radical measures call for opposite and equal survival responses. Scrap everything. Back to the drawing board. Clear the decks. Empty the overflowing in-baskets and clutter on the mental desktop.

Religious leaders have abused the teachings, so atheists have been conned into rejecting the fundamentals of the timeless, perennial philosophy altogether. Human authorities have violated their responsibilities, so reactionaries have been conned into making the mistake of rejecting all authority on every level.

Let’s face it. Religious and secular institutions inevitably degenerate. They accumulate baggage over time and drift away from founders’ visions.

So from time to time in the repeating cycles of history, it becomes urgently necessary to sort out what’s worth holding on to and what not. Do a thorough cultural house cleaning. Right now, people everywhere are overdue for a major rethinking of their paradigms.

Start with the premise that we’ve been brainwashed. We’re ensnared in contradictory myths and misconceptions. So approach the work with humility and extreme caution. Accept the possibility that everything you thought you knew is wrong.

Initiate OPERATION RESCUE. One individual at a time, take back our most precious asset: our minds. Like tenacious truth-miners, sift through the mud to separate out nuggets of pure gold. Hold fast to truth. Fearlessly put the rest behind.

Go back to the drawing board. Wipe the slate clean. Start over with a fresh, unmarked deck. Rethink organizations by the standard of the Positive Paradigm. Start with the smallest unit of organization — yourself. Work with what’s possible. Be assured that every little bit helps. “One grain of rice can tip the scales.”

If this seems daunting, remember, the stakes. They couldn’t be higher: the survival versus extinction of all you love. Each contribution affects the whole. Everyone matters. As Einstein warned in “Ensuring the Future of Mankind”. . . “Each one of us would be at fault if the goal were not reached in time. There is the danger that everyone waits idly for others to act in his stead.”¹⁰

. . . Here are recommended positive attitudes for approaching OPERATION RESCUE:

ONE

Gird personal determination to win the inner war that matters most. Put pride and old attachments aside. Let the consequences of failing to rescue your mind along with the rewards for doing it motivate persistence.

TWO

Take nothing for granted. Appreciate what you have while you still have it. Remember: it took only nine seconds for one lunatic to blow John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s head away. It changed the world as his family and the world knew it. Two bullets was all it took to extinguish our best hope for the future of democracy and world peace.

THREE

Proceed with equal parts humility, courage and trust. Revisit the basic, important life questions carefully. Scrap the old answers. Shed the emotional baggage and prejudices we all carry from personal experience.

Be willing to look at the world and how one fits into it with fresh eyes. Attachments to familiar beliefs as well as obligations to teachers and family are irrelevant to the TRUTH. So are old animosities. Trust that if old answers were correct and personal loyalties valid, they’ll withstand the test of time.

FOUR

Focus on the values everyone everywhere undeniably have in common. Following Einstein’s example, learn how to “think like a genius:”¹²

The scientist or the artist takes two facts or experiences which we separate;

he finds in them a likeness which had not been seen before:

and he creates a unity by showing the likeness. . . .

All science is the search for unity in hidden likenesses.

FIVE

Focus on TRUTH. Give it the benefit of the doubt. If familiar expressions don’t work for you, dig deeper. Or try a better approach. But cleave to the life-sustaining essence which sincere practitioners of every faith have held in common from time immemorial. Communicate from that center. And build community from there.

Just as each atom has only one nucleus, in Positive Paradigm context there’s only one core at the center of creation. Logically, over time and in every circumstance, inspired teachings partake of it. If you delve deep enough into the teachings with a sincere heart, you’ll find the same universal source.

. . . Future generations depend on each of us to transcend our petty animal nature. They demand that we draw upon this inexhaustible resource of inner strength to keep the wheel of life together for their sake. In times of great calamities and sorrow, the truly great in spirit will rise to meet whatever challenges may come, sustained by the eternal center within.

SIX

Don’t get hung up on language. Don’t be confused by misdirecting spin. Stick to the facts. Don’t let double-speaking truth-twisters insult your intelligence. If you allow them to play on your worst fears, they’ll manipulate you into becoming your own worst enemy. Have a standard for knowing who’s who. If you refuse to be fooled by name-calling, empty labels can’t stick. Know friends from enemies by the fruits of their labors. Not by their whitewash excuses.

SEVEN

The Danger. Don’t let alien agents define who you are. . . . The hub at the center of life’s wheel can’t be equated with a political center. Quite the opposite. Remember the Karate Kid? Pick one side of the road or the other. Good or evil. Truth or spin. As Mr. Miagi warned, middle-of-the-roaders get “squished like grape.”

EIGHT

The Opportunity. Inherent in endings are opportunities for new beginnings. “After degeneration reaches critical mass, regeneration follows.”¹⁵

Just as invaders’ agents work to undermine humanity, modern-day sages are tenaciously working to expose and defeat their schemes. That’s why it’s imperative to cut across false boundaries. Connect with like-minded boundary-spanners wherever they are to be found. If they’re true to the common sense voice of conscience, they’re humanity’s best hope. Heed them. . .

But don’t just sit back, waiting for politicians to wake up. Follow Einstein’s advice. Don’t build another human institution, a conglomeration of internally conflicted governments. Instead, build an international community of like minds. The internet gives opportunities for connecting across limiting, artificial boundaries that Einstein would never have dreamed possible.

Wow. That’s a lot. I started by staying two interesting things happened this morning. The first was the internet being down. The second? That’s where I’ll have to pick up next time.