The Radical Traditionalist Manifesto
Long Live The Fighters



Copyright © 2005 By Robin Artisson
All Rights Reserved.



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I.

Premise:

Flawed, recursive and self-perpetuating systems can only be changed through radical means, through unexpected and extreme alterations to the rules- even sometimes illogical-seeming changes.

Our way of seeing the world is fundamentally flawed.

We betray each other and the world itself in the grip of selfish mania and pursuit of shallow gratifications. Other human beings are viewed by us largely in terms of what service or pleasure they can offer us.

We have become so impoverished in wisdom that we cannot consider the mental and organic system of life- a system in which we play a vital role- to be anything other than a buffet of tasty goods which should be there for our taking.

The cost of our lives is not sustainable, and soon, the world will not be able to reciprocate.

The emotional and spiritual cost of our lives long ago bankrupted the system, leaving hollow places inside ourselves which get filled with more distractions and deceptions.


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II.

Flawed, recursive and self-perpetuating systems can only be changed through radical means, through unexpected and extreme alterations to the rules- even sometimes illogical-seeming changes.

We must be the radicals now.

We must be prepared to do the unexpected.

The rules have to be altered now, in extreme ways.

It may seem illogical, but the cult of "logic", as it has been generally manipulated and understood, has failed us long enough.

There was a time when people knew how to live on this planet. Though the Modernists and Post-modernists will defend their "cult of the modern day" by claiming that the world has "always been like it is now, with the same problems and issues", this is not true. This is a lie born in the most wishful of all thinking- the wish to believe that nothing ever changes, thus exempting themselves of any hint of responsibility; they want to believe that we modern people are above criticism, and that we are now as wise as people ever have been.

But we aren't as wise as people ever have been. We are more isolated than people ever have been; we are more wasteful than people ever have been; we are more capable of spreading death and destruction than people ever have been, and we are more distanced from our humanity than people ever have been.

Our world's ecology suffers through lack of concern;

Our mental ecology suffers through lack of understanding;

Our spiritual ecology suffers through lack of awareness and belief.


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III.

Premise:

We must reconsider all of the basic assumptions that are inculcated into us from a very early time.

It is no longer possible to take more than we give back. If we continue that, we die.

It is no longer possible to assume that we know more than people have ever known, or that the wisdom of other times and cultures is useless. If we continue that, we will miss vital clues that could save this world.

It is no longer possible to continually build divisions between ourselves and this world and the other living beings within it. If we continue that, we kill and then we die.

It is no longer possible to believe that the universe can be reduced to some simple, basic truths, easily explainable in a laboratory. If we continue that, we will die long before that impossible search is completed.

It is no longer possible to consider this world in terms of self-interest only, nor in terms of "other human beings" only; non-human actors and beings in this system rely on us as much as we rely on them. If we continue to think like we are the only beings of importance in this world, we die alone.

It is no longer possible to think that we are divinely chosen among all life forms. If we continue that, we will repeat history.

It is no longer possible to think that death is something that only happens to other people, or that life is about the accumulation of wealth. If we continue that, we die leaving behind a legacy of denial and greed.


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IV.

Flawed, recursive and self-perpetuating systems can only be changed through radical means, through unexpected and extreme alterations to the rules- even sometimes illogical-seeming changes.

We now live in a time when it is radical to think about the well being of others, along with ourselves. So be a radical.

Nothing could be more unexpected than someone standing up for the sacredness of the world, against the tide of blind materialism. So do the unexpected.

Nothing could be more extreme today than someone turning their back on artificial and unbalanced social hierarchies based on wealth. So be an extremist.

We live in a time when it is radical to devote one's time to being a caretaker for this world, rather than a person who seeks to "maximize resources". So be a radical.

It's unexpected today for people to prefer the work of human hands, the art and crafts of individuals, to the dull glimmer of mass production. So do the unexpected.

It seems so illogical today for people to embrace different models of spirituality, beyond the socially-accepted models that have become rote, and which have largely contributed to the condition of our world today. Never mistake it, or let yourself ignore it- in spirituality lies the true seeds of worldview. So embrace a new logic. Realize that belief is not just a personal choice, but a world-impacting reality.


Flawed, recursive and self-perpetuating systems can only be changed through radical means, through unexpected and extreme alterations to the rules- even sometimes illogical-seeming changes.