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The Zeitgeist Movement

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Response to FBI Targeting Political Activists as Terrorists

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...but I'm curious if you see any difference where

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just very very kind of obviously peaceful activists,

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like environmental activists, animal rights activists,

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people that attend a documentary or that use sidewalk chalk on the street

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in order to write their slogans are now being targeted

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as if we are seeing a new low of what you call

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"quashing dissent".

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As many students of history are familiar,

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Galileo, famed mathematician and astronomer,

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known today by many as the “Father of Modern Science,"

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was forced in the 17th century

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by the Catholic Church under threat of torture

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to recant his “heretical” view

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that the earth revolved around the sun and not vice versa.

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This scientifically valid idea voided long held religious dogma

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and hence challenged the Church's integrity itself.

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In a letter from 1634, René Descartes,

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one of the world's most noted thinkers and philosophers, stated:

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“Doubtless you know

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that Galileo was recently censored by the Inquisitors of the Faith,

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and that his views about the movement of the earth

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were condemned as heretical.

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I must tell you that all the things I explained in my treatise,

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which included the doctrine of the movement of the earth,

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were so interdependent

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that it is enough to discover that one of them is false

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to know that all the arguments I was using are unsound.

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Though I thought that they were based on very certain and evident proofs,

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I would not wish, for anything in the world,

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to maintain them against the authority of the Church.

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I desire to live in peace and to continue the life I have begun

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under the motto 'to live well you must live unseen'.”

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If we step back and think about the challenges that faced

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this small progressive and scientific community

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during the 17th century in Europe

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and compare the fear and patterns of suppression

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coming from the established orthodoxy of that time to that of modern-day,

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we find only a mere variation.

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Descartes' revelation and retreat from exposure

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as expressed by the motto 'to live well you must live unseen'

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is a disheartening disposition that speaks volumes

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and sadly carries on to this day across the world.

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The use of fear, intimidation and other time tested variations of oppression

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continue to persist, as the dominant institutions of our society

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work to protect its established order regardless of social validity.

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Even more, the overall culture itself,

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which invariably tends to support the accepted beliefs put forward

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by those who define the power of a period,

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also tend to condemn those who pose a challenge,

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as it becomes a threat to the mass-accepted identity itself.

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The result is that many are simply not willing to risk their lives,

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occupations and reputations to challenge the orthodoxy of the time.

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In late May, 2011, news reports were generated

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that detailed how the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States

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was actively targeting “Political Activists”

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under the pretense of “Terrorism”.

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Just as people like John Lennon and Martin Luther King

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were watched and harassed by the FBI for their activism years ago,

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it appears modern, so-called “Anti-Terrorism” resources are being used

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to target environmentalists, peace, animal and political activists.

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Just like the accusations of “Communism”

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against people like Martin Luther King, Jr. in the mid 20th century,

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this newer, more generalized device of the 21st century called “Terrorism”

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is no less a “heretical," accusatory tool

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than what was employed by the Inquisition centuries ago

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to maintain the politico-religious social system.

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So, we can sympathize with Descartes' notion,

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as to move against the zeitgeist

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is to position yourself against the odds,

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regardless of how empirical, necessary or obvious

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the truth you wish to convey and act upon is.

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Unfortunately, Descartes' position is unacceptable in the modern world.

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The risks that now exist within our current order

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are beginning to far outweigh the temporal personal risks

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generated by the act of activist objection itself.

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It is no longer issues of accurate data, “rights” and “freedoms”.

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Today our very stability as a civilization is in question

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and, if left unhindered, it threatens us all,

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regardless of one's position in the modern feudal hierarchy.

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We can sit in confusion and watch

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as global unemployment rises due to technological unemployment

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and the resulting regional instability that is sure to grow.

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We can stare blankly at the systematic debt collapse of the world economy,

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country by country, like dominos,

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as self-appointed global banking institutions

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that derive money out of nothing impose austerity measures

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against the poor and middle class of each country

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to help support the wealthy, furthering the ever widening income divide.

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We can twiddle our thumbs as what we have called “democracy”

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turns inexplicably into global plutocracy

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and the world economy becomes measured by how much money

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the rich move around amongst themselves.

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We can distract ourselves with our little gadgets as the rainforests,

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considered by many the “lungs” of the planet,

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are destroyed at faster and faster rates,

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reducing our ability to absorb the growing CO2 in the atmosphere.

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We can keep the TV on as clean water and food shortages

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that currently affect over 1 billion people

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continue to grow to 2 billion or 3 billion.

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We can scan the tabloids at the grocery store news stands

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as the very basis of industrial civilization, the hydrocarbon economy,

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inches towards crisis scarcity

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with virtually no active initiative taken to change course.

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We can continue to pretend that our “leaders”

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are anything other than “mis-leaders”

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set in motion by monetary commercial interests

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that follow the rules of the free-market

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with all legislation and offices

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going to the highest bidder one way or another.

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And we can stand amused as a new global arms race gains speed

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as each country comes to terms with the very real reality

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that wars for resources are upon us

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in a way unlike any other period in history.

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This is what separates our world from the one that Descartes hid from.

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The fear tactics of the orthodoxy,

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in this context, the FBI or any such “Intelligence Agency,"

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are no longer worthy of viable concern or even acknowledgement.

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At no time in history has any true social change

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come in a manner that was not opposed with hostility

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by the dominant orders of the time.

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If you choose fear, then fear exists

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and those little lists and statistics

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held by the intelligence and police agencies have merit.

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If you choose love, pride and self-respect

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then no accusations, lists or threats can ever stop you.

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The trick now is in numbers

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and if we can gain critical mass

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to non-violently override the “divide and conquer” techniques

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used to keep the orthodoxy in place,

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the game is over.

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The Zeitgeist Movement is a global sustainability activist group

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working to bring the world together

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for the common goal of species sustainability before it is too late.

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It is a social movement, not a political one

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with over 1100 chapters across nearly all countries.

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Notions of division such as nations, governments, races, political parties

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religions, creeds or class are regarded as non-operational distinctions.

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Rather, we recognize the world as one system

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and the human species as a singular unit, sharing a common habitat.

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Our overarching intent could be summarized as

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“the application of the scientific method for social concern.”

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To learn more about our work, please visit www.thezeitgeistmovement.com