"Death closes all; but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs; the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends.
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world." - Tennyson, "Ulysses."
"Before the Heavens thou wert, and at the voice
Of God, as with a mantle, didst invest
The rising world of waters dark and deep,
Won from the void and formless infinite.
"Thee I re-visit now with bolder wing,
Escap'd the Stygian pool, though long detain'd
In that obscure sojourn, while in my flight
Through utter and through middle darkness borne
. . . I sung of Chaos and eternal Night;
Taught by the heavenly Muse to venture down
The dark descent, and up to re-ascend" - Milton, "Paradise Lost" Book III, 9-20.
"But in any case, Batman’s dismantling in this film, i.e. his loss of his fortunes, his beating and imprisonment at the hands of Bane, is an analogue, a mythic compression, as it were, of the more complex process of the dismantling and reconstruction of New York City itself as it prepares to weather the storms, both political and meteorological, of the coming century." - John David Ebert, "On The Dark Knight Rises."
"Taken as a trilogy, the movies themselves move further towards the symbolic and representational, from the fairly straightforward action movie of Begins to the morality play of The Dark Knight to the genuinely mythical storytelling of Rises. I'm not quite sure it works as well as it could've, but in telling that story in that way, it fulfills the first movie's promise of Batman becoming more than just a person. He becomes an idea, a symbol of hope, and it's that idea that wins out as the focus of the movie." - Chris Sims, "Logic and Symbolism In 'The Dark Knight Rises'."The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall are two highly charged symbolic films that tackle complex and relevant issues such as nuclear weapons in the hands of underground terrorists and the advent of cyber terrorism as well as timeless and personal themes that connect the audience to the central characters.
Both films make reference to a coming storm in very direct and dramatic terms. And there is indeed a storm coming. It is multifaceted and cannot been pinned down. This storm is economic, political, environmental, spiritual, psychological, climatic, global, and cosmic. Or, to use just one word, it is apocalyptic. And it's not coming, it has already started, but most people are unaware of all of its dimensions. For more analysis, read "End Times: An Era of Multiple Crises."
Batman and Bond face not only threats to their cities and institutions, represented by opaque terrorist villains who live in the shadows and like to occupy tunnels, but also inward crises.
Neither hero operates at his highest level and is outperformed by his rival. But in their moments of weakness they reveal their true character. They have the internal strength to pick themselves up and push on in the darkness, ultimately getting the job done.
Both Batman and Bond go through the same cycle of death and rebirth. Batman emerges from the pit after being defeated by Bane with a new confidence to take on his enemy. Bond survives a fatal shot and rises out of the waters of death.
The heroes transcend death, but what about their psychologically traumatized cities? The looming presence of death in Gotham and London is at the core of both films. Bane's bomb is set loose within the city, and the anticipation of it going off lasts right to the end. In Skyfall, the spy-turned-terrorist Silva, who is played by Javier Bardem, successfully infiltrates the computer networks of MI6 and strikes at its heart with explosives.
The explicit message of both The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall is that shadowy terrorists are more to be feared than nation states. Whether or not this is really true doesn't matter, it is a widely held public belief. Terrorists hell-bent on revenge and revolution like Bane and Silva have replaced traditional enemies like the Soviet Union in the Western imagination.
The global 9/11 truth and justice movement has tried to raise awareness to the fact that out of control secret intelligence agencies are behind most, if not all, of the terrorist events in the West. But, so far, myth has triumphed over reality, with predictably deadly consequences. And the most frightening days are ahead. A nuclear 9/11 remains a very real possibility. Gotham escaped this tragic fate thanks to Batman's heroics, but will a real city be as fortunate?
II.
I know this all sounds very scary, but it is not my intention to scare you. This article is written to inform you and embolden you to face the coming storms with composure, maturity, and confidence.
Some level of fear should occupy your mind because that is normal and healthy, but don't be consumed by it to the point that it drags you down. And don't allow yourself to be caught off-guard when a disaster strikes near where you live, whatever its nature may be.
Not all of us have it in us to be self-reliant, so it is vital that we create goodwill with our neighbours and reintroduce a sense of the common good in our countries. It is a shame that almost all Western political leaders do not inspire confidence in the public. There is no question in my mind that without government leadership and political vision we will not get through the approaching apocalyptic storms.
The failure of central authorities in the West to bring people together around common interests is tragic, but it is not all bad because it has created new opportunities for visionary political leaders to make themselves heard.
It is a sign of how badly America is being governed that secession has become a popular word. It is not a word that I would choose to express popular discontent because it alienates many people whose sentiments are similar to my own. There are still knee-jerk reactions to this idea for obvious reasons, but the fact that thoughtful leaders are voicing their opinions out in the open should be a cause for celebration.
Historian Tom Woods talks about the idea of secession in this video. Ron Paul addresses the legitimate concerns of states and citizens who have filed petitions to secede in this video. And Alex Jones explains why Americans must withdraw their consent from the bankster hijacked federal government in this video.
I have not come to final conclusions about the most effective and peaceful ways of resisting global tyranny, but I agree with Thomas Jefferson that the more decentralization the better. It's true he lived in a less complicated world with far less problems and challenges, but his document, the Declaration of Independence, is of more relevance now for freedom-minded people than ever before.
Each of us must personally declare mental independence from the empire of mind control that has managed to convince an entire civilization to believe that it is under attack from non-existent terrorists.
9/11 was not a victory for radical Islamists, but secret intelligence agencies and security services who brought the symbolic buildings down via controlled demolition. They conjured an apocalyptic storm that threatens to bring the Western world crashing down.
The only thing we can do is brace for the impact.
