Some Thoughts about Discharge in Times of War and Trouble
This is a difficult time for so many of us. Restimulation makes figuring out principled and liberation-focused language and positions slippery [confusing] at best. Who among us is not restimulated by acts of humans harming other humans? The following are some thoughts about discharge in times of war and trouble:
Don’t trust your restimulation.
Don’t make decisions based on restimulation.
Don’t take a position based on restimulation.
Don’t stake out any claims on anything at all in the midst of restimulation.
Avoid acting based on any restimulation, either mine, yours, or that of somebody else.
When in the midst of restimulation, do the following:
Seek out more opportunities for discharge.
Stay focused on discharge, discharge, discharge.
Discharging on the immediate restimulation can be helpful but is seldom strategic. It is strategic to discharge about the early experiences that are the basis for present-time restimulation.
It is strategic to clarify a few key principles that are the basis for your discharge:
Remember, simply running over and over the same hard spot in the road does not automatically make the hard spot easier. It sometimes makes the hard spot harder. It is sometimes useful to look at the angle from which you are approaching that hard spot.
Ask yourself, “What are the principles or key ideas or beliefs on which your discharge is based?” They make all the difference.
Some principles that I try to hold include the following:
1. There are no human enemies. There are policies, behaviors, language, and practices that are anti-liberation and anti-human.
2. Be for all humans. I oppose policies, practices, behavior, language, structures, and organizations that harm humans. They perpetuate oppression.
3. No humans harming humans. Human harm to other humans is anti-liberation.
4. The oppressive society uses division and alienation among humans to support and perpetuate oppression. Getting people divided and fighting among themselves is a key strategy to perpetuate oppression and interrupt liberation. If I am tempted to side with one human against another human, I can be sure this is supporting the perpetuation of oppression.
5. War is anti-human. War is rooted in oppression and supports and enables oppression.
6. Every form of hatred toward any group of humans supports the perpetuation of oppression.
7. Revenge is a tool of oppression.
8. Liberatory goals cannot be accomplished using oppressive strategies and tactics.
9. Asking, “What about when X— did y or z?” is a form of distraction that focuses attention away from liberation.
10. I try to place everything that I am restimulated by in the widest historical context that I can. Sometimes I need to learn a bit more history or ask a lot more questions in order to stretch or deepen my historical context.
One thing we know for sure. The more discharge that we do about anything, the clearer our thinking becomes. No one has yet found a point of too much discharge.
Remember love. The most powerful force on planet Earth is love.
For life, love, liberation.
Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
(Present Time 214, January 2024)