August has been widely reported as a period of civil unrest in the UK, with protests and riots happening in cities across the country instigated by anti-immigration extremists on the far-right of British politics. The often sensationalist coverage has given encouragement to those on the right wishing to destabilise British society, emboldening them to create fear and havoc wherever and whenever possible.

The dislocated ignorance of social media has fuelled the destructive flames as unvetted misinformation is continually disseminated to an international audience. The initial violent disorder began after misleading, inflammatory content was posted on X (formerly Twitter) by an account known to publish anti-immigrant and Islamophobic views. It falsely alleged that the suspect behind a mass stabbing, in which three children from the northern town of Southport tragically died, was a Muslim immigrant.

The claim was amplified across social media, shared by far-right influencers and channels with the post being viewed over 10 million times. Almost inevitably, in an attempt to reflect prevailing Islamophobic tropes, a faux news website calling itself Channel 3 Now posted a completely fabricated ‘muslim’ name for the suspect which then went viral. Elon Musk, owner of X, who reinstated several previously banned far-right accounts when he bought the platform in 2022, unhelpfully commented on his own feed that ‘civil war is inevitable.’ Incitement? I should coco. Thanks for that, Elon.

I am relieved to report from the UK that the blithely projected civil war has not happened and was never likely to emerge. As quickly as the small numbers of right wing agitators tried to inflict mayhem in hitherto fairly harmonious multicultural communities, anti-facist demonstrators gathered in huge numbers to protest against the rioting.

On the evening of 7th August, further widespread rioting had been predicted across the UK by the usual far-right sources. A spuriously authored list of 39 immigrant support centres had been circulating on social media as targets for violence, and consequently nearly 6,000 police officers (approximately one third of the entire UK force) were deployed to protect local communities under threat. Shops, pubs, hotels, and immigration advice centres were boarded up, theatre performances were cancelled in anticipation of far-right disorder and a country nervously held its breath.

What actually occurred changed the national narrative dramatically. An impromptu mass mobilisation of counter-protestors in their thousands across the UK sent a clear and peaceful anti-facist message to the tiny minority of hooligans hell bent on racist violence. From Newcastle to London, Bristol to Birmingham, Liverpool to Brighton, anti-racism demonstrators so outnumbered far-right activists that the police had to surround them for their own protection. In many of the locations targeted for attack the far-right didn't even turn up. With nothing to counter the counter-protestors began an evening of street celebration in true British ‘carnival’ tradition with music, singing and dancing. Anti-racism placards declaring, “Refugees welcome. Racists not”,“The enemy arrives by yacht and limousine not by small boats” and “Hate never wins” were widely in evidence. The party ran deep into the night with no incidences of violence or arrests for public disorder.

All this upheaval has been happening in the run up to August’s Aquarius full moon. In astrological circles, an Aquarius full moon is often depicted as a time for intellectual contemplation and engagement. Generally speaking, full moons have a reputation for being a bit high-stress, exacerbating emotional responses and existing states of mind into extreme, often negative action. With fears and passions still running high here in the UK but also in mass demonstrations that have deposed the government in Bangladesh and are challenging the election victory of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela (amongst other focal points of international civil unrest) there’s a strong argument to be very clear in our thinking during the remaining weeks of this month.

But just how aware are we of the stuff we end up thinking? Do we have a choice in what we think, and if so, what do we want to think about exactly? Is there a direct correlation between our thoughts and the quality of our life experience? How much of what we think is informed by direct personal experience and how much is primarily influenced by secondary sources of hearsay, gossip or projection? How much of our thinking distracts us away from the life-affirming stuff that is actually unfolding around us at all times? How much time and energy are we giving over to thoughts that evoke suffering as opposed to making ourselves and others feel good?

To think is to create.

(Joseph Benner)

In becoming more aware of the creative power in our thinking we begin to wrestle back control of our own life experience from the cultural conditioning to which we are all subjected. The agendas that dominate recent conditioning are information led and fed, the immediate digital nature of which has led to less thorough source scrutiny. The information we consume has never been more unreliable, ephemeral or fragmentary. We all crave our next info hit as frenzied daily routines shift away from anything that might involve time-consuming cognitive practices such as direct experience, memory or wider perception. Society reflects the destabilising influence of digital immediacy, embodied by phenomena like fake news, and we are collectively cast adrift on the turbulent currents of virulent external regimes, constantly seeking direction. Consequently, we, as individual constituents of that society, have never felt more anxious about being still, silent or engaging in our own distinct internal dialogue.

In the western iteration of the neoliberal Anthropocene age, we believe we have dispensed once and for all with the oppressive rules and regulations of totalitarian governance. We believe we are free as individuals and societies yet mounting evidence suggests that humans are historically more effective at exploiting ourselves today than in times when we were exploited by others. As the Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han often suggests in his work, we have become absolute servants, exploiting ourselves without a master.

Self exploitation is more efficient than exploitation by others, because it goes hand in hand with a feeling of freedom. Only an oppressive regime provokes resistance. The neoliberal regime, which does not suppress but exploits freedom, does not encounter resistance. Authority is complete when it masquerades as freedom.

(Byung-Chul Han)

Our info led thinking is driving a wedge between humanity’s intelligent evolution and the natural world upon which it depends. We are engaged in the messiest, most improbable divorce in history: that between our intellectual insatiability for the new and the immutable truth of time honoured reality. Our intellect has clouded our inherent intelligence and sense of wonder. Our preoccupation with the individual personality has blinded us to our intelligent place within the living masterpiece of existence.

The animal wrests the whip from its master and whips itself in order to become master.

(Franz Kafka)

Surely, all right thinking should now be directed toward healing the schism that our thinking alone has created. The symptoms of the split: climate breakdown, genocide, war, civil unrest, pestilence, famine and poverty are conveniently available for viewing on a variety of digital platforms 24/7. But by preference, let’s look beyond the increasingly ungovernable AI Info State and return to the reliability of the here and now. How do we feel at any moment in our bodies, in our hearts, about the circumstances actually unfolding around us? How does what we experience resonate with a lifetime of memory rather than a host of outsourced opinions? How open are we to the reflections of our unique internal dialogue or do we simply operate to someone else’s rulebook?

The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.

(Confucius)

No thought is ever wasted; if carefully observed, the outcome of each becomes immediately evident, so why waste thought? In quietly sitting still for short periods, watching the way thoughts arise in the mind, we can exercise our capacity to consciously determine the nature of those thoughts and direct them, along with their associated words and actions, for the benefit of All.

I am acutely aware of the irony in adding these thoughts to the ever burgeoning Info State via this digital platform. I can only hope that their availability means the ideas reach those to whom they might make a difference. However, in all seriousness, the less attention we pay to the digital realm, allowing us more space in which to contemplate the tangible reality of our personal experience, the closer we will come to healing the fragmented human spirit. It really is time for us to switch off in order to switch on.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

(Martin Luther King)