Comic review: Alex + Ada #10- Clarifying what it is that makes us human

Creators: Jonathan Luna, Sarah Vaughn
Publisher: Image comics
Released: 12th November 2014



I’ve always interpreted the ‘androids’ in Alex + Ada to be a commentary on the state of human moral consciousness, and whether or not we are living in accordance with universal moral laws.

Put simply, some of the humans in this story are androids, and some of the androids are humans. The difference is actions, not physical form. Again, put simply, if you do what is morally right you are a human, and if you do what is morally wrong then you an android.

The idea is further clarified in issue #10 of Alex + Ada where a human (Teji) with an android leg acts in accordance with moral law, helping a vulnerable and distressed Ada (technically an android, but morally a human). The futuristic television in this book is telling people to act outside of moral law, but Teji ignores the media disinformation and instead acts in accordance with moral law. A conscious, sentient life form is in trouble, and he helps her. This is what you are supposed to do, no matter what the television is saying.

The television is not meant to inform you on matters of moral law. The role of mainstream television in modern society is to distract, pacify, lie, and control the enslaved masses. It is indifferent to issues of morality, but the propaganda emanating from it is strong. Teji manages to break free from that media propaganda and acts in accordance with moral law. Moral law is the only law, not the law of a corrupt and wicked top down control system, no matter what the television is telling you.

Teji is rewarded in the story by having his android leg replaced with a human flesh and blood version. The part android has become fully human again, not because he is getting a new leg, but because he has ignored the mainstream programming and acted in accordance with moral law.

Writers Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn are making their point very clear here. Act in accordance with moral law and you are human, go against moral law and you are an android. This isn’t just a sci-fi story about the future; it’s a story about how moral law works in the real world today.

Follow orders, obey the mainstream programming and do what is morally wrong and you are voluntarily giving away what makes you a human being. That is what is being said here, and that is why Alex + Ada is a very important comic.

Yes, it’s slow paced, yes it’s not action packed, yes the art is very linear, but that’s the whole point. The art is static, and the humans often appear motionless, robotic even, because what is being explored here is what makes us truly human. It’s morality, that’s what makes us humans, and to not act with morality as the guiding light in our lives rids us of this humanity.

Without strong moral principles we become cannon fodder for the control systems of the world, the control systems that seek to diminish our humanity and to turn us into order following androids in order to control, and enslave us. That is why morality is so important. It is what makes us human beings. Without it we are marching uniforms, marching once again to another war that enriches the rich, and kills the poor.

As for the narrative of this issue, it progresses. The protagonist’s personal relationship is taken to a natural new level and a new threat to their happiness is established. It really is a fantastic comic book. It has an enthralling narrative, empathic characters that you can really relate to, and that essential moral underpinning as the solid backbone to the narrative.

What else do you need to know? You don’t need action scenes, muscles and cleavage to tell a good story. You don’t need a toy box full of Team America World Police action heroes. You don’t need subscriber edition variant covers, and you certainly don’t need celebrity guest writers (CM Punk) to sell your books. All you need is a good story, likeable characters and a strong moral underpinning.

That’s what you get in Alex + Ada, a book with the flash and gimmicks taken out, and with writers who have something to say about human morality. This book is not Spiderman or the Avengers, or Batman or Wolverine in space or whatever gimmicks the big two dinosaurs are relying on this month. Alex + Ada is that strange beast, a rare comic book that has something to say. That shouldn’t be the exception to the norm, but sadly, it is. Buy it, support it, and let’s get more of these good comic books out there.

If you keep buying mediocre then they’ll keep putting out mediocre. Like everything in life, it’s all down to us. The world will not change, unless we force it to. It works the same in comic books as it does in politics. You keep buying what they are selling and they’ll keep on selling it to you. Why wouldn’t they? So put down that mediocre crossover event book. You know it’s not going to be very good, deep down you know, and instead of feeding the machine of mediocrity take a punt on something different. Alex + Ada would be a great place to start, so if you haven’t already had the pleasure, take a chance on it. You’ll love it, I do.

Rating: 10/10

Why do people deliberately avoid the truth? – Epic rant on a rant blog.

‘People like to lie to themselves. Facing the truth is uncomfortable for many. Admitting wrong is very hard for some people to do. They will do anything but that, they will perform mental gymnastics, defensive rationalisation, avoidance of the issue, denial, rejection, refusal to acknowledge, and simply plain old ignore what they do not want to admit to.’ (Kris Nelson)



I always say that people don't want to hear the truth. I say a lot of things, but there's a simple reason for people not wanting to hear about the truth. If they understand truth then they have the moral responsibility to act like a decent human being. By deliberately avoiding truth they give themselves an excuse, a get out clause that justifies their actions, or inaction's. It's not my fault, they will say. I was ignorant. I didn't know. I was obeying orders. I was just doing what I was told. I was a cog in the machine. I didn't understand the bigger picture.

This of course is a lie, but without the lie people have to take personal responsibility. Sadly enough, it appears that the last thing people want to do is to take personal responsibility. So when anything goes wrong, and when truth is exposed (Jimmy Saville scandal, Banks doing whatever the Hell they like, MP's expenses scandal, weapons of mass destruction, child abuse in government 'care' homes, recent wars for corporate profit, the deliberate creation of ISIS, etc, etc, etc) the people personally responsible for these horrible situations always have that moral get out clause. They didn't know. They were just doing their jobs. Lessons will be learnt, lets move on.

These people are always surprised, and sometimes even horrified when the truth that they were deliberately avoiding is revealed to them. The same thing happened after WW2 when allied soldiers forced the local civilian populations to visit the Nazi death camps. They knew, of course they knew. A lot of their family members were working there. A lot of them were working there as well. They just preferred not to know because it was easier for them not to know.

People are very skilled at lying to themselves, but deep down, they know. They know perfectly well how and why terrible things have happened. The terrible things happened because people didn't want to engage with truth. They preferred an easy life, a good 'career,’ no accountability and an in-built get out clause that washes them clean of all moral responsibility for their self-serving actions.

The deliberate avoidance of truth is a lot like the Catholic confessional, and you don’t even have to be a Catholic to use it. Just plead ignorance, and pretend that you are sorry. Works every time, except it really doesn’t.

The eternal moral laws of the universe don't work that way. Moral laws have often been compared to the laws of gravity. If you ignore the laws of gravity and jump off a 200 foot building without a parachute then you will splat on the ground below, like it or not. Laws are laws, and there are consequences for breaking them. The moral laws of the universe act in exactly the same way as the laws of gravity. You might not like them, but if you ignore them then you will face the consequences. These consequences are apparent everywhere we look. The world is the way it is today because that is the world that we deserve. We have broken the moral laws of the universe. We deliberately ignored truth, so this is what we get.

This world is full of people who don’t know the truth, not because they are stupid and they can’t understand the truth, but because THEY DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH. They couldn’t care less about the truth, and they don’t want it. Knowing the truth would mean that they would have to take personal, moral responsibility for their actions. They don’t want that. It would be too difficult, and so they spend their entire lives deliberately avoiding the truth.

We can change the world, but not until we take personal moral responsibility for the results of our own actions. It's not the 'Illuminati,' it's not the 'globalists,' it's not the 'new world order,' it's us.

We create our own shackles, the elite’s benefit, but we are the ones on the ground, day by day laying the bricks of deliberate ignorance that create the prison that we are all living in. If you want to change the world then truth is the key. Engage with truth and things have to change. Avoid truth and endless slavery and human suffering is inevitable. That’s how the moral laws of the universe work, like it or not, we get what we deserve. Ha, epic rant over. Sorry about that. Lessons will be learnt.  It wasn't my fault. I blame the coffee :)




Click link for more details on truth, expressed with far more erudition and eloquence than I could ever hope to muster: (All photographs in my barely articulate rant are taking from this far superior article)
http://evolveconsciousness.org/truth-love/




Summary (of linked article, by Kris Nelson):

‘Do you want to placate, walk on eggshells, keep-the-peace, don’t make waves, don’t get hassled, don’t rock the boat, sugar coat and lie to someone to continue to make them feel comfortable and “good” about themselves (and maintain your relationship, attachment, “loyalty”, etc.) so they don’t have to change, do any work and face themselves and what they do? Or do you want to speak the truth that may hurt or be uncomfortable due to their choice to deny Truth and align with lies, deceptions, illusions and bullshit? Do you want to help them face themselves to improve their lives and the lives of everyone else? If you didn’t care about someone, would you bother to try to help them by having them face the things they don’t want to face? Of course not, you would just let them wallow in ignorance, and not care. Once you understand the importance of Truth, letting people ignore the shadow aspects of themselves that are causing harm to other beings in what they do in daily life, is not Care/”love” for them or others. That is enabling them to perpetuate bullshit, lies, deceptions and illusions as manifestation of action and behaviour to continue the collective self-inflicted suffering, harm, wrong, immorality, etc. that we co-create.’

Jesus Christ as a metaphor for ‘truth.’

A lot of people now understand that Jesus Christ is a metaphor for the Sun, like the many Sun gods that came before him, but he has another metaphorical role that people might not be aware of. 

Jesus Christ is a metaphor for the truth. His entire life is about truth, and he comes to embody truth itself. This isn’t really an arguable point. Jesus even confirms this himself in John 14:6 where he says the following:

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

Barabbas, the choice of mankind

After Jesus is arrested something extremely significant takes place. It’s traditional that once a year on the date of the Passover festival one convicted criminal is set free. The man in charge of the prisoners (Pontius Pilate) gives the people a choice. Do they want to free Jesus or a ‘robber’ called Barabbas. A lot of people mistake this part of the story for anti-Semitism, but this is not the case.  

The crowd of people are not representatives of the Jewish people, they are representative of All people. We are that crowd, and we are being asked to make a choice. Do we want truth, or do we want lies? The crowd yells, ‘Give us Barabbas’ unanimously choosing lies over truth. That choice is our choice. The story of Jesus Christ is our story. 

The world CANNOT change until we reach a level of consciousness where we choose truth over lies. What is truth? It is moral truth, doing what is right over what is wrong. We all know what is right and wrong, what these moral truths are, but a lot of us choose to ignore them. By ignoring these moral truths we make the world what it is today. The world is not unfair. It is what we have made it. We get to choose, but at the moment we are still choosing Barabbas. 

A critical dissection of the underlying themes and ideological assumptions in the opening segment of WWE Monday Night Raw (Monday 14th July 2014)

- The following article will attempt to critically analyse and evaluate the content of the most watched pro-wrestling television programme in 2014. It will look at the story lines, characters and underlying societal assumptions that are made within the programming. I am a long time pro wrestling fan, but this article will not be a typical pro wrestling article. There will be no match ratings, and no complaints about my favourite performers not being pushed. The article will look at portrayals of fake rebellion within the corporate slave plantation known as western capitalist democracy.

The show begins with the usual in ring talking segment. This time it’s the two biggest fan favourites in the company. John Cena- the old fan favourite who is nearing the time where he need to be replaced, and his replacement, Roman Reigns. Cena is a fake face of rebellion, in that he goes against the main villain group, a group called ‘The Authority’ who represent the companies owners, but on a closer analysis of why the authority group would dislike Cena there is very little reason for them to do so. After all, he is still very popular with women and children. Because of this he makes the company a lot of money. He never says anything ‘politically incorrect,’ he never criticises the company, he is clean living and never appears in the media doing something wrong, and he’s a loyal employee who always turns up for work, even when he’s badly injured. In other words, he’s the perfect corporate employee. He tells children to support the troops, to do what you are told, support cancer charities, never question anything and be loyal to your corporate employer. In WWE story line however they represent him as a ‘rebel’ to the authority figures. This is not at all believable, and thus John Cena is the perfect embodiment of fake rebellion within the corporate system. He’s safe, and he is easily controlled because he wants to be controlled. He even begins his talking segment by telling the fans to order the WWE network, an Internet only product that the WWE is hoping will be the future of their business. In every way possible John Cena is the perfect corporate yes man, and there is no reason whatsoever for the story-line villains to be against him and what he is doing. After all, he is perfect for them, and only wants to make them as much money as possible.

Roman Reigns

The young replacement for John Cena is a handsome, tattooed, long haired muscular man who has been given the name of Roman Reigns. Quite an appropriate name really for a man who lives in a country largely modelled on the old Roman Empire. Roman Reigns began his run with the company as a bad guy, beating up good guy wrestlers with a group of black clad thugs. The reasons for them doing so were revealed as being disingenuous and the group later aligned themselves with the corporate authority figures where once again they assaulted wrestlers, but this time because the authority figures ordered them to do so. That group of order following thugs became very popular with the fans, and so became fan favourites. This says a lot about the fans, that they would identify with order following thugs, simply because they looked ‘cool’ in black uniforms (like swat team members of the Police force) and further cements the impression that WWE fans are corporate statist slaves who love their own enslavement. Roman Reigns has very little individuality, personality, or character, but that doesn’t appear to matter to the fans. He looks cool, and he beats people up. That’s all the WWE fans appear to care about.

The opening segment is a popularity contest with the new young lion challenging the old lion. Who wins depends upon the reaction of the paying customers. In this segment the younger lion wins, probably because he’s fresh, and because of his good looks. This will inevitably lead to the old lion turning villain, as that is where the money is in pro wrestling. This will be built up over several months where it will be paid off in a big stadium, for as much money as is possible. The segment also includes a third man, a man called Dean Ambrose who is portrayed as slightly crazed and anti authority. This man also used to be a black clad order follower who worked for the authority figures, but who now wants to strike out on his own. Ambrose is then attacked by wrestlers working for the authority figures, and is beaten down in much the same way as he beat down people before him. This however will not be mentioned by the commentators. Ambrose is a good guy now, and his past order following actions are not to be mentioned, as are the past order following actions of Roman Reigns.

Dean Ambrose

The overall impression created from this opening segment is of two factions within the company. The first faction is the order following goons. They do what they are told, and they do not question. The second faction is of individuals who are individually fighting for power, but need to get together and work as a team to fight against the order following goons. This is a good message, telling the audience that authority figures divide and conquer their enemies, and that the best way to defeat them is to put aside your difference and team up with like minded individualistic people to fight them and their order following goons. The only problem with the WWE storyline however is that the individualistic heroes are only really fighting for themselves, not for any greater good or long-term change. Simply put, all they want is power, wealth and status. Not for any greater cause, but for themselves. They dislike the authority figures, but only because they themselves want to be the authority figures and enjoy the wealth and status that comes with that position. John Cena has been a long time corporate yes man, and both Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose are corporate thugs who have put down their uniforms for selfish, careerist reasons. They represent nothing but their own self-interests.

The 'Authority.' A group that represents the owners of the WWE. 

Conclusions: 

The WWE is sending out mixed messages here. It is telling it’s audience that blindly following orders is a bad thing, yet its top heroes are all men who blindly follow corporate orders. All three main heroes blindly follow corporate orders in their real lives, as not doing so would disqualify them from the positions they now hold in the WWE. To illustrate the point, just imagine what would happen to one of these wrestlers if he went onto twitter and criticised what Israel is doing to the civilians in Gaza right now? He would be suspended, forced to apologise and his career would be irreparably damaged. They know this, and that is why they will never do or say anything that is politically incorrect or controversial. They are on the corporate plantation, and that is where they are happy to stay. However, on television they are the faces of rebellion, telling fans that fighting for what is right is the way to live your life, even when in their own real lives they are fighting only for themselves and their self-interests. They are fake fighting on television so they can buy a bigger house, buy a bigger car, date a hotter girl and take care of their immediate families. Even on television their motivations are see-through. They all fight for power within the corporate system, but they do not challenge the system itself. They are house slaves, fighting for promotion within a system that they will not challenge. That is how WWE portrays both its authority figures and its wrestlers. The authority figures known as ‘The Authority’ constantly mention, over and over again, that they can fire any of the wrestlers at any time, and for any reason. If you don’t blindly follow their orders then you’ll lose your job. This story-line has been portrayed many times recently, with wrestlers sadly assaulting other wrestlers simply because they fear for their jobs. The only possible conclusion to be made by the audience is that everything that is being portrayed here is fake drama, pre-approved by the corporation/authority, for the slaves on the corporate slave plantation. The wrestlers are simply lucky slaves, picked off the plantation, much like in the Hunger Games movies. They get to fight each other for promotion, but they do not get to challenge the circus ringmaster who is setting them to fight against each other. What you are getting on WWE television programming is the perfect embodiment of false rebellion and resistance within the corporate paradigm. It’s a boxing match, with the only winner being the promoter. It is the blue party versus the red party, with the only winner being the corporate elite’s that own both parties. They say that pro-wrestling is fake, but there’s more fakery involved than the pretend fighting. The fakery also exists within the story-telling and ideological programming of the product itself. It’s the same fakery that exists in the mainstream media, financial system, politics and all other areas of fake fighting allowed upon the corporate slave plantation. A system where you can say and do whatever you want, as long as you don’t actually challenge the system itself.