The Way Of The Gun: Why We Really Fight

The Way Of The Gun: Why We Really Fight
mumin_bey@yahoo.com

7:26 AM 06/17/2006 Sat

Since the Mars-Saturn Conjunction of 2006 is upon us, I thought to post up something here in response to a recent series of comments back in March of this year. It's about the gun, a weapon that's been with us for several centuries, and all that comes with it.

It must be said, over and over again, that the American Astrology Community is not only ignorant of its own development, but it's also kind of latched onto this notion of blind pacifism; it's quite fashionable to be "new-age" chic, if you will.

My comments, in reply to a lady astrologer colleague's ruminations over the founder of the modern day machine gun, needs to be seen in the light of recent developments in Iraq, where the vicious murderer Zarqawi was killed - KILLED - by US Military Forces. For all of the highbrow notions and pie in the sky, Arkashic Record-rhetoric, none of it would have made a hill of beans' difference to men like Zarqawi, who would just as soon as to lop off your head as to look at you. The world and certainly Iraq is a much better place without the likes of him walking the Earth.

And that's as a DIRECT result of the Gun-or in this case, a 500lb bomb. Two of 'em.

Much to the chagrin of my peacnik astro-colleagues, the reality of this world is that we still need people who's chosen profession is to break things and kill people, because there are other people around who will not abide by civilized norms of human interaction, and indeed prove themselves to be a danger to the world at large.

Biggup shoutouts to Comrade Kalnishnakov...

Comments, please...

The Way Of The Gun: How Mars & Men Always Get A Bad Rap

5:53 PM 05/06/2006 Sat

Hi Julie, All,

I saw Julie's post on Hiram Maxim, the inventor of the machine gun, dated Mar 24 of this year, and though it's a bit late in the game, I wanted to respond just a bit to her thoughts.

It's quite the norm these days to encounter what I call a "light and love" element in Astrology circles - you know what I mean, the neo-hippie "no-war" vibe. It also follows that so much of this kind of influence comes from the increasing female presence in astrological circles, particularly in print and online. This makes sense once one factors in the grand profit to be made from marketing astrological content to women, which has actually been the case here in American now for decades, much moreso since the advent of the Internet. I'll have more to say about this and other trends in the development of Astrology in America in due course. But for now, back to the gun...

I know Julie and perhaps a good many of you here may not have seen them but actually in the past year I have devoted much time and intellectual capital towards putting men and the symbol that most represents them in general, Mars into the astrological context of our times; two essays of note come to mind, that adds much flavor to the pot: "Mars Retrograde & The Incredible Disappearing Man" & "Mars & Murderdelphia". Both these essays, particularly the latter, speaks in stark terms to the topic being discussed here.

Very often, people like Julie will decry the very invention of firearms; if only the world didn't have so many, ideally none at all, the world would be such a more lovely place. Right? Wrong - the single biggest weapon of mass destruction isn't the Uzi, Anthrax or Nukes, but the good ole Machete' - you know, like the ones used in the Rwanda Massacre? If we were to follow the thinking of those who call for the wholesale removal of any and all weapons, much of the world would be deprived of a valuable tool in clearing forestry and conducting farmwork.

Weapons are tools like anything else, and tools in general - since most of the time, they are made of metal - are represented by Mars. And, for the most part, tools are invented by men, again ruled by Mars. Both work and violence fall within Mars' domain. Going on the offensive is decidedly Martian, but so too is defense.

I have long said, and this is a strong declaritive statement on my part, that the vast majority of women simply do not understand men. Period. This is strongly evident when one takes the time to sit down and read the many postings and the like in astrology circles online, etc. In fact, I've long argued that the reverse is true, that most women have a great deal to learn about men, instead of the conventional wisdom that says that men need to understand women more.

While the no-war crowd and the like are busy putting down the gun and the men that both make and use them, they might want to give a bit of thought to the following things:

1. That most of the things we take for granted today, like the Volkswagen Bug, airline travel, the Internet, radio, etc. came as a DIRECT RESULT of military investigation and investment; if you're really against guns and by extension the advance of progress, you are fully free to go back to washing your clothes on/with a rock, turning in your Jeep Cherokee and going back to using smoke signals on your roof instead of making use of the broadband internet connection on your computer (and you can forego the PC too, since it also was initially invented and heavily used by the military before the civilian market grabbed hold of it)

2. The harsh truth is, as Sep 11 has clearly shown us, that there is a such thing as evil in the world, and at some point, the only way to deal with it is through the use of violence - lots of it. It's always interesting to me to hear the many folks who are antiwar go silent when the mention of th Civil War or WW2 comes up - they know that "just talking" wouldn've stopped Hitler or Lee. There will always be a need for a national defense known as a military, just like there will always be a need for your body to have a way of fighting off disease, otherwise you end up like so many with AIDS. Both are ruled again, by Mars.

3. The making of firearms in the modern era is one of the major reasons why the Western World is so far ahead of the rest of the world in terms of technological sophistication. The gun only represents the extent to which we in the West have come in terms of inventive genius. Uranus may represent inventions, but it takes Mars to make it happen in a concrete way. For every Glock, there is also a Bausch & Lomb, a BMW & a Bose stereo; just taking a look around the world's gun makers ives one a very instructive lesson in where a certain country is in its technological development (one important exception is Japan, where there have certain restrictions on things like firearms and the like, in large part due to the conditions placed upon it at the end of WW2).

4. In our astrology, which reflects our society in more ways than we astrologers are willing to admit, Mars is constantly given a bad rap, and so are men in today's world. Both are regarded with suspicion, if not out and out prejudice. Yes, both can be very violent, but both can be immensely productive as well.

5. Contrary to popular opinion, most gun manufacturers don't make out well in the marketplace; if one takes the time to study the rise and fall of gun makers, they'll see that relatively few ever make it to the big time, so to speak. Many folks in the anti-war crowd, for example, put down GE or Rockwell or Boeing for being large military contractors, but the real deal is, you can make a heck of a lot more moola if you're making lightbulbs for the residential market than you can making anti-personnell weaponry for the US gov't. The reason why? Very simple Econ 101 - because there's a much larger market and demand for light bulbs than huge machine guns that can be mounted on the side of Blackhawks. Mars represents risk, and as Harvey Mansfield points out in his recent work "Manliness" the very thing that most defines a man is in taking risk, which, as we all know, most women are averse to doing, understandably so. This is why Mars is related to the idea of promoting a cause, be it in the military or in the civilian market where it finds expression in such areas like sales, and why Mars plays such a huge role in the charts of entreprenuers.

Just some thoughts for the group and Julie to chew on.

Comments?

Salaam,
Mu