This morning I awoke from a dream that I was among the mob that stormed the Bastille. We were taking it apart brick by brick.
I have wondered throughout the day why I would have such a dream. Is my subconscious a little “riled up” beyond my routine disapproval of royal policies? Perhaps it is a sign of something else, bigger than me: something boiling in the collective unconscious. Or a sign of deteriorating mental health? Perhaps I should make an appointment with myself for an attitude adjustment sometime this week.
The storming of the Bastille—a fortress for political prisoners, before the French revolution— inspired my imagination when I first read about it decades ago. To me it is a compelling story of the power of people united with determination against injustice.
In my favorite version (there are several) the enraged citizens dismantle the fortress brick-by-brick with their bare hands. Hence the dream metaphor. Impossible but impressive. It is said that thousands of such bricks subsequently found their way across France as souvenirs, becoming in time as common as “pieces of the true cross.”
I was also impressed that the Bastille was overwhelmed so quickly and thoroughly. Even as a myth it is symbolic of something significant I think: that people are powerful together. Disunited we are rather pitiful and easily manipulated. It is one of the biggest challenges for the ninety-nine percenters.
When I saw this morning’s news, I suspected that my dream had also been telling me to wake up (!), because while I slept, the Attorney General cleared up the official reason no high-level Wall Street banksters have been prosecuted for their crimes leading to the Bail-out scandal. Many of us were wondering. Are you ready for this? We will not enforce the law against the banking criminals because it might upset the economic apple cart. Brilliant!
And on the same note, the biotech octopus Monsanto has arranged a backroom deal with Congress for immunity from culpability for any future problems arising from their genetically modified (GMO) products. They call it the Farmer Assurance Program. Classic: Name it the opposite of what it actually is and hopefully no one will notice. Monsanto authored it themselves. Of course. In typical fashion, the provision was appropriately “hidden” as a rider in HR 933, the stop-gap measure to keep the government solvent for a while longer.
What Congress does is frequently weirder than a conversation with a Cheshire cat. The FDA already takes Monsanto at their word regarding the safety of GMO foods and does no independent testing, despite the protests of millions, the opinions of their own scientists and considerable evidence that GMO’s are not safe. The infant technology raises serious concerns among non-industry scientists about a variety of health risks and environmental consequences. Yet Monsanto says not to worry and the FDA insists that we trust them on that. End of discussion.
Ask yourself why the poster child for corporate deceit would seek immunity from future repercussions of their GMO experiments? If you know about tracking, it’s a sign. With their record on truth-telling, is that not a red flag that something might be amiss?
It has been suggested that corporations are sociopathic by nature, created as they were to evade as much responsibility as possible for the negative outcomes of their ventures. Reminds me of Benjamin Franklin’s observation (paraphrased) that the only legitimate purpose of government is to insure the rights of the People against the encroachment of wealth and privilege that would otherwise exploit them. Something like that.
In spite of their coup, I wonder if it is a sign that Monsanto was feeling the heat. The truth about genetic modification is getting out despite the millions spent to distort it. I think it very likely that Monsanto finagled their little back-room immunity deal because they can read the handwriting on the wall, and it does not bode well for them.
As mandatory labeling is achieved – which is just around the corner—the truth about GMOs and the astounding campaign of deception waged by Monsanto and the FDA to install them in our food system will be commonly known, and GMOs may be finished in the market place. Monsanto may well need that immunity to avoid the legal ramifications of their shameless lies and stay out of jail. They’re just thinking ahead like all good sociopaths must do.
Thinking about that dream, it occurred to me that the robber-barons of Wall Street and deceptive corporate giants like Monsanto no doubt now believe themselves as far above reprisal as did the French queen before the storming of the Bastille. Let the peasants eat GMO cake!
Dr. Jim Redtail Collins is an ecopsychologist, energy healer, ceremonialist and elder of both Lakota and Laika medicine lineages.
