This post was originally published on April 16, 2019. By August of that year, the central bankers would meet in Jackson Hole Wyoming to vote for their Going Direct Reset. The following month, the U.S. Federal Reserve would intervene in the overnight lending market, and by March 2020 the world would be swept up in a health crisis that would further weaken the international economy. While these events exposed what I refer to in the title of this blog, it is only the beginning of the greatest shift we will see in our lifetimes. As we move forward from here, we will see more and more Rotten Pillars exposed, and while this will create great chaos, it will also be a time of incredible opportunity for mankind.
On an ice climbing outing late this winter, I backed off a pillar when I was half way up. Outwardly, the pillar looked good: a flowing wall of beautiful, sparkling ice. But as I put in my first screw, I noticed that the ice was only solid for about three inches. My second screw was no better, and by the time I put in my third piece of protection I heard ice tinkling as it fell down behind the curtain. I knew I had to make a decision: keep going, in the hope that I would find better ice as I attained the height where the pillar met rock, or climb back down to the base, taking out my screws as I went. In the name of certainty and safety, I chose the latter.
My partner and I left the climb, and I was soon back home dealing with the myriad issues that come up for me in the run of a work day. I soon realized that what I had run into on my climb that morning applied equally to many issues I read about or dealt with on a daily basis. Whether it was the global economy whose derivative exposure makes it an over-leveraged house of cards, the pedophilia scandals that continue to plague one of the world’s top religions, or a mental health care system that can’t seem to get beyond the managing of symptoms, I realized I was surrounded by institutions that looked intact on the outside, but were crumbling from within.
In other words, I saw rotten pillars all around me.
Humanity is on the verge of a collective nervous breakdown, which, as those of us who’ve been through one know, is the breaking down of that which no longer serves us so that we may build something new that does. If I can get mythological, it is the Goddess Kali destroying that which is effete; it is the Phoenix rising from the ashes.
As we move through the next phase of humanity’s evolution, may we hold a vision for a world where there is greater transparency, coherence and integrity. May we all sift through the rotten pillars of our own lives, ferreting out that which is no longer in alignment with who we want to be.
Each spring, as the combination of warm temperatures and solar radiation corrupt the ice, the pillars fall away into spring. They are not rotten anymore, because they no longer exist. As ice climbers we know they will form again in the fall, with a stronger base and sturdier ice.
And so it goes…
Great insight! I have always felt uneasy with the world of facades we live in. I can only hope that some day, authenticity will be valued in the world as much as I value it.