I received an objection by a member of a philosophical forum that I contribute towards, regarding the subject of Death and Wisdom and my claim that only Age can bring true wisdom
Her objection is quoted below.
I think it's very self-misleading to suppose wisdomness just because of your age. This makes people very narrow minded and closed to alternative views on things in general, but stubbornness can be overcome by a willingness to listen to other peoples ideas even though they might be right.
Hopefully my response provides increased clarification.
Of course everybody is born with a degree of wisdomness and keeps improving upon it as they grow up. Most people do not realize that we all experience seven distinct stages of wisdom as we age.
1. Infancy 0 - 4years
2. Childhood 4 - 11 years
3. Puberty 11 - 14 years
4. Teenhood 14 - 21 years
5. Stewardship 21 - 42 years
6. Mastership 42 - 63 years
7. Sagehood. 63 - 84 years.
None of those time periods are set in stone of course, but they give a reasonably close approximation of graduated development. In normal circumstances every graduation leads to increasing states of self and social awareness. What is vitally important and the criteria I use by which to value wisdom, is that each stage of growth is closely linked to our perceptions of the relativity of the Space/Time consortium.
For example: An infant lives in a naive state of relativity. For them everything exists in the moment. After weaning, from about four years onwards, we begin to increasingly artificialize the here and now as we start to factor past and future states of expectation into our consciousness. This sense of separation from the here and now cycles outwards and peaks at menopause before it begins to shrink back again. Ideally, in sagehood, a state of sagacious perception of the relativity of space and time becomes part of the consciousness. (IE, all distances are very far if you are old and tired and times passes quickly if you are having fun)
At extreme age, Past; Present and Future begin to accelerate the fuse towards a singularity, which is experienced during the Death Moment, when the here and now is starkly present and fully loaded with everything that ever happened and everything that ever will. If the psyche has freed itself of guilt, this timeless moment is the ultimate state of wisdom (enlightenment if you will) and is the fruit of human evolution.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
Race Relations
Tiger Woods. World Ambassador for Race
Yesterday I made a short reference to Tiger as regards to race. I would like to fill that in more comprehensively with some personal observations.
I was born and raised in South Africa during the Apartheid reign. I left the country in 1976 in protest against the racial discrimination policy, which sees blacks as inferior to whites. I sought refuge in Israel only to find race the major issue there, where Jews see themselves as superior to Arabs, will not let them vote in the Knesset - and thereby, because of our Western support in arms and dollars, poisoning race relations throughout the Middle East and all of Islam. In Japan I found discrimination against Koreans. In Europe I saw it among the Germans against the Turks, among the French against the Algerians and in England against the Pakistanis. I came up against it against an anti-white attitude in America as well - in the Rosebud Indian reservation among the Sioux when I travelled through South Dakota, in Arizona among the Hopis when I visited the Grand Canyon, in California among the Paiute and Shoshone while i was in the Sierras and again in Watts in South Central Los Angeles among the Latinos and blacks where I worked as a volunteer teacher.
From my experience I believe that race relations, next to environmental pollution, is the most volatile issue on the planet today and is not being properly addressed.
Tiger Woods is a phenomenon all on his own. He is arguably the most recognized individual on the planet. One can only marvel that the grace and dignity he displays under so much media attention, while remaining essentially a private family man. Supreme master of perhaps the most difficult of all hand/eye/mind coordination game we have, he has stilled forever whatever last residues of racial bias we have in the sports world regarding those abilities.
Genetically he is a mix of African, European and Asian and is therefore directly connected via our ancestors to the three great Houses of Man. Every race can see themselves in him. He has remained aloof from racial controversy. Much of the credit for who he is goes obviously to his parents and the way they raised him.
Earl Woods was a black army officer. In the army he will have learned that there is no humiliation in saluting an officer, black or white, calling him Sir and be ready to do his bidding. I think that military discipline played a large part in his raising of Tiger. The army would have taught Earl that there is reason for establishing a hierarchy of command in the world - in which each man must find his place - and that he can rise up through that hierarchy via his attitude to serve and his ability to command. Tiger has done both, and sits, at a young age, right on top of our pile and brings credit to all aces, for we are all a part of him. Through him and the example he sets, we can come to an agreement that no race is inherently superior to another and try harder to put an end to the race discrimination that continues to plague the human family
Yesterday I made a short reference to Tiger as regards to race. I would like to fill that in more comprehensively with some personal observations.
I was born and raised in South Africa during the Apartheid reign. I left the country in 1976 in protest against the racial discrimination policy, which sees blacks as inferior to whites. I sought refuge in Israel only to find race the major issue there, where Jews see themselves as superior to Arabs, will not let them vote in the Knesset - and thereby, because of our Western support in arms and dollars, poisoning race relations throughout the Middle East and all of Islam. In Japan I found discrimination against Koreans. In Europe I saw it among the Germans against the Turks, among the French against the Algerians and in England against the Pakistanis. I came up against it against an anti-white attitude in America as well - in the Rosebud Indian reservation among the Sioux when I travelled through South Dakota, in Arizona among the Hopis when I visited the Grand Canyon, in California among the Paiute and Shoshone while i was in the Sierras and again in Watts in South Central Los Angeles among the Latinos and blacks where I worked as a volunteer teacher.
From my experience I believe that race relations, next to environmental pollution, is the most volatile issue on the planet today and is not being properly addressed.
Tiger Woods is a phenomenon all on his own. He is arguably the most recognized individual on the planet. One can only marvel that the grace and dignity he displays under so much media attention, while remaining essentially a private family man. Supreme master of perhaps the most difficult of all hand/eye/mind coordination game we have, he has stilled forever whatever last residues of racial bias we have in the sports world regarding those abilities.
Genetically he is a mix of African, European and Asian and is therefore directly connected via our ancestors to the three great Houses of Man. Every race can see themselves in him. He has remained aloof from racial controversy. Much of the credit for who he is goes obviously to his parents and the way they raised him.
Earl Woods was a black army officer. In the army he will have learned that there is no humiliation in saluting an officer, black or white, calling him Sir and be ready to do his bidding. I think that military discipline played a large part in his raising of Tiger. The army would have taught Earl that there is reason for establishing a hierarchy of command in the world - in which each man must find his place - and that he can rise up through that hierarchy via his attitude to serve and his ability to command. Tiger has done both, and sits, at a young age, right on top of our pile and brings credit to all aces, for we are all a part of him. Through him and the example he sets, we can come to an agreement that no race is inherently superior to another and try harder to put an end to the race discrimination that continues to plague the human family
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Ryder Cup. Why we keep loosing
American and European Team Psychology.
Every time America looses the Ryder Cup, the loss is followed by endless puzzled discussions by top sports analysts as to why a star-studded golfing team, packed with the top players in the world, including Tiger Woods, keeps loosing by such a wide margin to a European team of lesser stature.
There are two strategic reasons for the losses and several tactical ones, which when added together provide the variables that make it so difficult for the analysts to come up with a clear-cut answer.
It might be of general interests for Americans, both golfers and non-golfers alike, to share in this analysis as to why these losses against Europe are almost inevitable - as it might help to give us all some added perspective on the existential gap that exists between the American psyche and our cousins across the pond.
The first and most obvious strategic reason for the losses is the simple fact that European players, on both the European and American circuits, are always consciously representing their own country as well as themselves. The Euro-Union aside, the ancient history of European conflict is ever-present in European sporting competitions. Americans golfers on the other hand only play on our own country's more lucrative professional golfing circuit and consequently only represent themselves 99% of the time. They are simply not accustomed to carrying the extra burden of their country men's expectations around the course with them.
The second strategic reason is a little more subtle and may cause some controversial argument among us. But ever since America bragged that it won both World Wars for Europe, that more recent piece of history has served to make Europeans temporarily drop their own national differences and unite themselves against America in any competition. This factor goes beyond sports into international politics and business competition as well. As far as WWI and WWII are concerned the attitude in Europe is that they fought themselves to a stand still and lost millions of soldiers, before America entered the fray for clean-up operations. Though there is no real rancour about our boast, as all of them are grateful for the final victory, the underlying will of the sons and grandsons of European soldiers to prove to us how wrong we are, is very much part of the European psyche and is a significant factor in their sense of unity when they pit themselves against us.
So the net problem in trying to over-come our strategic handicaps in order to win the next Ryder Cup is in how to solve the problem of individual brilliance striking out against team unity.
The obvious answer is to make sure we pick American players who have plenty of over-seas experience, carrying America around on the shoulders when they play. And maybe get our president to publically give more credit to Europe about the wars and their contribution towards world stability than we currently do.
Now the tactical errors.
As four out of the five matches in Ryder Cup competition are regulated to pairs competing against each other, I think it is a mistake of pairing the best two of our players , and the next best two and so down the line, in order to ensure strong anchor teams. The basic psychology we should avoid here is that if you put two equal players together they tend to rely on each other. On the other hand if you put the strongest with the weakest, the strongest tries to stays strong and the weaker guy tries his best to prove he is just as good. Thus, from a tactical viewpoint, as captain, I would pit my own pairs against each other, with the expected result (seeing as how both of our men are stronger than either of the two European players) the opposition will naturally tend to come in third and fourth.
A team needs a recognized leader on the field. In this last Ryder Cup, Tiger, as the most experienced Ryder Cup player, was naturall picked to lead. Not to detract from his sense of social empathy, Tiger is the penultimate individual. His will to win comes from being a black man in a what is arguably the most elite of rich white men's games, and showing the world what being a champion is all about. Personally, I think that until he eclipses Jack Nicklaus's world records, he will remain focused as an individual. So we need to be more circumspect when we try to find the player who might be the most effective team leader, and not simply choose the strongest player. Inspired leadership in the field is what team work is all about, especially when the chips are down. Finding the right one is never easy.
On the general World front, I believe American citizens needs to gain a more holistic view on how the World views us. More of us should to try and travel abroad than we do at present - and try to gain a beter perpsective on our role as super-power by getting to see ourselves as others see us and not as we think they do.
Every time America looses the Ryder Cup, the loss is followed by endless puzzled discussions by top sports analysts as to why a star-studded golfing team, packed with the top players in the world, including Tiger Woods, keeps loosing by such a wide margin to a European team of lesser stature.
There are two strategic reasons for the losses and several tactical ones, which when added together provide the variables that make it so difficult for the analysts to come up with a clear-cut answer.
It might be of general interests for Americans, both golfers and non-golfers alike, to share in this analysis as to why these losses against Europe are almost inevitable - as it might help to give us all some added perspective on the existential gap that exists between the American psyche and our cousins across the pond.
The first and most obvious strategic reason for the losses is the simple fact that European players, on both the European and American circuits, are always consciously representing their own country as well as themselves. The Euro-Union aside, the ancient history of European conflict is ever-present in European sporting competitions. Americans golfers on the other hand only play on our own country's more lucrative professional golfing circuit and consequently only represent themselves 99% of the time. They are simply not accustomed to carrying the extra burden of their country men's expectations around the course with them.
The second strategic reason is a little more subtle and may cause some controversial argument among us. But ever since America bragged that it won both World Wars for Europe, that more recent piece of history has served to make Europeans temporarily drop their own national differences and unite themselves against America in any competition. This factor goes beyond sports into international politics and business competition as well. As far as WWI and WWII are concerned the attitude in Europe is that they fought themselves to a stand still and lost millions of soldiers, before America entered the fray for clean-up operations. Though there is no real rancour about our boast, as all of them are grateful for the final victory, the underlying will of the sons and grandsons of European soldiers to prove to us how wrong we are, is very much part of the European psyche and is a significant factor in their sense of unity when they pit themselves against us.
So the net problem in trying to over-come our strategic handicaps in order to win the next Ryder Cup is in how to solve the problem of individual brilliance striking out against team unity.
The obvious answer is to make sure we pick American players who have plenty of over-seas experience, carrying America around on the shoulders when they play. And maybe get our president to publically give more credit to Europe about the wars and their contribution towards world stability than we currently do.
Now the tactical errors.
As four out of the five matches in Ryder Cup competition are regulated to pairs competing against each other, I think it is a mistake of pairing the best two of our players , and the next best two and so down the line, in order to ensure strong anchor teams. The basic psychology we should avoid here is that if you put two equal players together they tend to rely on each other. On the other hand if you put the strongest with the weakest, the strongest tries to stays strong and the weaker guy tries his best to prove he is just as good. Thus, from a tactical viewpoint, as captain, I would pit my own pairs against each other, with the expected result (seeing as how both of our men are stronger than either of the two European players) the opposition will naturally tend to come in third and fourth.
A team needs a recognized leader on the field. In this last Ryder Cup, Tiger, as the most experienced Ryder Cup player, was naturall picked to lead. Not to detract from his sense of social empathy, Tiger is the penultimate individual. His will to win comes from being a black man in a what is arguably the most elite of rich white men's games, and showing the world what being a champion is all about. Personally, I think that until he eclipses Jack Nicklaus's world records, he will remain focused as an individual. So we need to be more circumspect when we try to find the player who might be the most effective team leader, and not simply choose the strongest player. Inspired leadership in the field is what team work is all about, especially when the chips are down. Finding the right one is never easy.
On the general World front, I believe American citizens needs to gain a more holistic view on how the World views us. More of us should to try and travel abroad than we do at present - and try to gain a beter perpsective on our role as super-power by getting to see ourselves as others see us and not as we think they do.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
The Basic Elements of Mass Psychology
All of us to some extent are students of life. We all begin in childhood, especially when we witness our parents or family in general argue with each other over all kinds of matters. An extremist by nature, I have found that the best way to get to the bottom of anything is to do just that - dig down as deep as I can and try to uncover the foundations upon which any argument rests. I did this professionally for thirty years as a documentary film and television producer.
I started with ethology, which is the study of animal behavior and worked my way up from there, working with Stone Age Bushmen in the Kalahari studying the actual effects of animism on a hunter/gatherer life style; then worked my way up each subsequent level of our evolving consciousness - through shaman-based Bronze Age agricultural tribalism, Iron Age industrial craftsmanship and rigid scriptural dogma; Middle Eastern Sufism, Hindu yoga and Buddhist Zen. In that long process of both self and collective discovery I ended up with a lot of basic conclusions about our current Steel Age of scientific determinism and religious argument that one does not find in standard text books. The fruit of all that work is published in my book "Psyche-Genetics" which I hope you may end up reading one day.
Anyway, here is a bit of base knowledge about ourselves that you might have already figured out for yourself.
Three fundamental Archetypes of Human Consciousness.
On top of the pile are the most blessed among us;
The most physically attractive.
The most industrially accomplished
The most courageous
The most loving
The most artistically accomplished
The most visionary
The most creatively inventive.
In the middle of the pile are the bulk of us, who can only marvel at the best, be thankful that they exist as living examples of what we all can be like and try our own level best to be like them.
At the bottom of the pile are the misfits, all struggling with some form of natural distortion - some applying super-human efforts to rise above their handicaps, and in that process rising above mere mortal level. Others are trying their best to hold their own, or sinking into apathy. Some, too many alas, turn rogue.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Death and Wisdom
I have been hotly challenged on several philosophical forums by young whippersnappers regarding my claim that only age and experience brings on wisdom.
The immature challengers have fallen into the pseudo-intellectual trap of thinking that natural or book-learned smarts, in mechanics or the arts, embellished by a modicum of practical experience, equates with the holistic view of life and the ability to penetrate its enigmas that I am referring to when I talk about the wisdom that comes with sagehood.
I have been at pains to inform them that all they know only forms the fount from which wisdom is distilled; that only when the promise of death becomes a constant factor in the psyche, does the summation of all their life experiences bring on the enlightenment of true wisdom.
They have cried in response the age does not guarantee wisdom, which is true.
Naturally, there are degrees of wisdom attained by the elderly, but no natural smarts or any amount of book learning or practical experience can even begin to equate with the inner realizations that death brings to the table of even the most uneducated psyche.
Mercifully, for those elderly who have led ineffectual lives and have not learned to come to terms with themselves, senility sets in with age and screens them from dealing with the frightful aspect of the grim-reaper.
The blinders of religious Faiths, who's artificial Scriptures promise an after-life, have served to save many from confronting the finality of death head on. Though Faith may comfort the heart of the devout when one is in the cold Shadow, it does not keep enlightening the enquiring mind, and so religious dogma severely narrows the macroscopic view that the Cosmos really offers.
For those old-timers who manage to keep one eye open and embrace Death as a learned companion, the enlightening boon of sagehood arrives to keep the surprise of new discoveries eternally alive.
True sages are Seers with clear hindsight. Summation of the past places them squarely in the present, which in turns gives them endless visions of future possibilities.
Only when Time and Space are fused as a singularity, is wisdom evident.
The immature challengers have fallen into the pseudo-intellectual trap of thinking that natural or book-learned smarts, in mechanics or the arts, embellished by a modicum of practical experience, equates with the holistic view of life and the ability to penetrate its enigmas that I am referring to when I talk about the wisdom that comes with sagehood.
I have been at pains to inform them that all they know only forms the fount from which wisdom is distilled; that only when the promise of death becomes a constant factor in the psyche, does the summation of all their life experiences bring on the enlightenment of true wisdom.
They have cried in response the age does not guarantee wisdom, which is true.
Naturally, there are degrees of wisdom attained by the elderly, but no natural smarts or any amount of book learning or practical experience can even begin to equate with the inner realizations that death brings to the table of even the most uneducated psyche.
Mercifully, for those elderly who have led ineffectual lives and have not learned to come to terms with themselves, senility sets in with age and screens them from dealing with the frightful aspect of the grim-reaper.
The blinders of religious Faiths, who's artificial Scriptures promise an after-life, have served to save many from confronting the finality of death head on. Though Faith may comfort the heart of the devout when one is in the cold Shadow, it does not keep enlightening the enquiring mind, and so religious dogma severely narrows the macroscopic view that the Cosmos really offers.
For those old-timers who manage to keep one eye open and embrace Death as a learned companion, the enlightening boon of sagehood arrives to keep the surprise of new discoveries eternally alive.
True sages are Seers with clear hindsight. Summation of the past places them squarely in the present, which in turns gives them endless visions of future possibilities.
Only when Time and Space are fused as a singularity, is wisdom evident.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Proposal for Political Reform
There are two basic political ideologies in our country that made sense when they were formulated two and a half centuries ago, but which make no common sense today. They are in effect the leading cause for the acrimonious political confrontations and congressional dead-locks that we have experienced since WWI, WWII, The Cold War, the debacle in Vietnam and the current insanity of poking our noses into an ancient Middle-Eastern family feud that goes back to Abraham's time.
They are:
1. One man, one vote.
2. Representational Government.
ONE MAN - ONE VOTE
As it stands now my son, who is 18 can cancel out my vote at the ballot box if he so chooses.
I am a senior citizen. I am well educated. I have mastered several crafts and business occupations. I have lived and worked around the world. For the past 25 years I have faithfully executed my duties as a husband, father and grandfather, while improving our family estate. I am also the director of a non-profit foundation that is working to further the health of the general community. With death around the corner, I have no more self-centered personal ambitions to fulfill, other than to try an make sure that the future is better than the present.
Since there are many more inexperienced voters than there are elders, and who consequently have the majority say in government, what does the future portend? As far as I can see, the political disarray of the moment can only continue unless some form of change takes place and which puts much of the decision-making, especially in foreign relations, in the hands of more experienced voters.
One more point on this before I make my proposal for mass change on Prop 1.
Every man and women over 18 has an undisputed human right to one vote. Why not every new-born? They are immediately and directly affected by political decisions and their parents should be given the regency to execute their rights at the ballot box until they become of age.
I therefore propose a multiple vote system. (MVS)
Vote 1. Registered at birth and administered by parents until 18.
Vote 2. After graduating high school or completing a trade apprenticeship.
Vote 3. Advanced degree from a recognized educational facility
Vote 4. At Age 42, after 21 years of full time occupation mastering a trade or profession.
vote 5. Sustained marriage and parenthood till the youngest child is at least 14.
Vote 6. At least 1 year international experience serving abroad.
Vote 7. Ten years volunteer community service.
REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT
Congress
It no longer takes a man a week or more to ride to Washington to represent a congressional district. We have an instantaneous mass communication system. Every local or national issue can be thoroughly investigated and aired. With our votes only an electronic click away every single one of us can fully represent ourselves and our views.
I propose that the House of Congress be turned into a political museum
Political Parties
Without a Congress the party system becomes passe.
Senate
The needs of each State should continue to be represented by two Senators from each.
Personal qualifications for election to the Senate
1. Minimum age 65. (The word senator, denotes senior)
2. Gender equality: Same amount of male and female senators
3. Holder of 7 votes.
Presidency
Purely ceremonial
I believe that these common sense political changes will get our nation functioning at full efficiency and get rid of all the pork barrelling and special interest influences.
A Senate of internationally experienced elders will ensure that our world leadership role gets our planet mangement responsibilities up to full steam.
They are:
1. One man, one vote.
2. Representational Government.
ONE MAN - ONE VOTE
As it stands now my son, who is 18 can cancel out my vote at the ballot box if he so chooses.
I am a senior citizen. I am well educated. I have mastered several crafts and business occupations. I have lived and worked around the world. For the past 25 years I have faithfully executed my duties as a husband, father and grandfather, while improving our family estate. I am also the director of a non-profit foundation that is working to further the health of the general community. With death around the corner, I have no more self-centered personal ambitions to fulfill, other than to try an make sure that the future is better than the present.
Since there are many more inexperienced voters than there are elders, and who consequently have the majority say in government, what does the future portend? As far as I can see, the political disarray of the moment can only continue unless some form of change takes place and which puts much of the decision-making, especially in foreign relations, in the hands of more experienced voters.
One more point on this before I make my proposal for mass change on Prop 1.
Every man and women over 18 has an undisputed human right to one vote. Why not every new-born? They are immediately and directly affected by political decisions and their parents should be given the regency to execute their rights at the ballot box until they become of age.
I therefore propose a multiple vote system. (MVS)
Vote 1. Registered at birth and administered by parents until 18.
Vote 2. After graduating high school or completing a trade apprenticeship.
Vote 3. Advanced degree from a recognized educational facility
Vote 4. At Age 42, after 21 years of full time occupation mastering a trade or profession.
vote 5. Sustained marriage and parenthood till the youngest child is at least 14.
Vote 6. At least 1 year international experience serving abroad.
Vote 7. Ten years volunteer community service.
REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT
Congress
It no longer takes a man a week or more to ride to Washington to represent a congressional district. We have an instantaneous mass communication system. Every local or national issue can be thoroughly investigated and aired. With our votes only an electronic click away every single one of us can fully represent ourselves and our views.
I propose that the House of Congress be turned into a political museum
Political Parties
Without a Congress the party system becomes passe.
Senate
The needs of each State should continue to be represented by two Senators from each.
Personal qualifications for election to the Senate
1. Minimum age 65. (The word senator, denotes senior)
2. Gender equality: Same amount of male and female senators
3. Holder of 7 votes.
Presidency
Purely ceremonial
I believe that these common sense political changes will get our nation functioning at full efficiency and get rid of all the pork barrelling and special interest influences.
A Senate of internationally experienced elders will ensure that our world leadership role gets our planet mangement responsibilities up to full steam.
Fathering
It is my experience that men in general are not ready for fathering until their forty second year (male menopause.) Prior to that time our psyches are almsot exclusively involved in self-improvement. I '"fathered" my first child at 21. I was so busy and ambitious at that time that I felt no intrinsic need to become deeply involved with his upbringing - so basically all I did was procreate an unplanned child. That marriage ended in an inevitable divorce. It was only in my mid-forties that I felt an emotional need to remarry and father children and pass on all the knowledge and crafts that I had learned and teach them how not to make the same mistakes I did. It might be interesting to note that traditionally among the amaZulu in Natal, until recent times, a man did not get the marriage headring until his 42nd year. Prior to that he was initiated at puberty and trained to be a bachelor lion-fighter - protector of the herds and also serve his time as a warrior against rival tribes. Only after having served his prescribed time and proved his worth as a man, did he received a portion of the tribal herds and retire from the battle field with enough wealth to buy young wives and rear children and finally have the right to his say at tribal council. It would seem to me that focused modern young businessmen and craftsmen remain biologically inclined to follow that ancient path of male development - and that young women who feel the urge to mother and discover the true depth of their own femininity, should look for a reliable marriage partner among matured men and not those still trying to discover their own potentials.
The above refers to men in general and ambitious men in particular. There are always exceptions. Men are also able to evoke powerful nurturing instincts at any age. The problem of young fathers is that they cannot raise and teach their young from direct personal experience. They have to rely solely on custom.
The above refers to men in general and ambitious men in particular. There are always exceptions. Men are also able to evoke powerful nurturing instincts at any age. The problem of young fathers is that they cannot raise and teach their young from direct personal experience. They have to rely solely on custom.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Sexual Morality
Yesterday I watched Dr Phil on TV try to analyse why a beautiful young girl wanted revenge on her cheating lover.
The 18 year old girl was gorgeous and naive. Her lover was a 36 year old bachelor. She had found out that he was having sex with three other women during the same time he was dating her. His defense was that he had made no formal engagement proposal while dating her. As for dating younger women - it was because "older women carried too much baggage." He had no qualms about having multiple sexual relations simultaneously - and cited the reality series "The Bachelor" who did the same thing in front of million of viewers, before choosing the partner he would marry.
Cuts to the audience during the interview showed a lot of women listening to the conversation. Most of them looked inwardly confused. Their smiles at Dr Phil's humor over the situation were strained.
Dr Phil was in the bachelor's corner. His only reservation was that he felt the guy should have been more forthcoming about his other liaisons while dating the girl. He gave the girl a hard time about wanting revenge and told her that she should drop the guy and her feelings of rejection and move on.
The irony of the show (completely missed by the good doctor) was that he was analysing the behavior of a man, complaining that older women were too messed up to date, while at the same time being the sexual predator who callously preyed on the feelings of impressionable young women and in the process was directly responsible for gradually turning them into the baggage-laden garbage that he would not date when they were older.
The show reinforced my view that American sexual morality is skating on a very thin edge. The unhappy faces of the women in the audience reminded me of the fact that the women's lib movement has a price to pay in their fight for sexual freedom. There are times when I wonder if the price is too high. The ever-climbing divorce rate and broken homes seem to support my view.
A century ago, if that naive young girl had been my daughter or my sister, it would have been within my rights to label the man as a cad and a scoundrel and shoot him in a duel. I have three beautiful young daughters of my own. Maybe I am old-fashioned, but I am not so sure if my feelings about men who prey on young women for their private enjoyment have changed.
The 18 year old girl was gorgeous and naive. Her lover was a 36 year old bachelor. She had found out that he was having sex with three other women during the same time he was dating her. His defense was that he had made no formal engagement proposal while dating her. As for dating younger women - it was because "older women carried too much baggage." He had no qualms about having multiple sexual relations simultaneously - and cited the reality series "The Bachelor" who did the same thing in front of million of viewers, before choosing the partner he would marry.
Cuts to the audience during the interview showed a lot of women listening to the conversation. Most of them looked inwardly confused. Their smiles at Dr Phil's humor over the situation were strained.
Dr Phil was in the bachelor's corner. His only reservation was that he felt the guy should have been more forthcoming about his other liaisons while dating the girl. He gave the girl a hard time about wanting revenge and told her that she should drop the guy and her feelings of rejection and move on.
The irony of the show (completely missed by the good doctor) was that he was analysing the behavior of a man, complaining that older women were too messed up to date, while at the same time being the sexual predator who callously preyed on the feelings of impressionable young women and in the process was directly responsible for gradually turning them into the baggage-laden garbage that he would not date when they were older.
The show reinforced my view that American sexual morality is skating on a very thin edge. The unhappy faces of the women in the audience reminded me of the fact that the women's lib movement has a price to pay in their fight for sexual freedom. There are times when I wonder if the price is too high. The ever-climbing divorce rate and broken homes seem to support my view.
A century ago, if that naive young girl had been my daughter or my sister, it would have been within my rights to label the man as a cad and a scoundrel and shoot him in a duel. I have three beautiful young daughters of my own. Maybe I am old-fashioned, but I am not so sure if my feelings about men who prey on young women for their private enjoyment have changed.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Psyche Development
The holistic advantages of dual brain stimulationSplit brain experiments by Roger Sperry in the 1960’s “Hemisphere Disconnection and Unity in Conscious awareness” , and further work by him together with R. Gazzaniga and J.E. Bogen: “Interhemispheric Relationships: the Neocortical Commissures; Syndromes of Hemisphere Disconnection” (which eventually led to the Nobel Prize) presented a general conclusion that the left and right side of brain respond to distinctly different, yet mutually compatible sets of stimuli.
The diagram above, which first appeared in Betty Edwards’ multi-million-seller book; “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” illustrates the masculine/analytical; feminine/ intuitive dynamic that governs the individual human psyche very clearly.
What Betty discovered by applying Sperry’s findings to her art classes, was that by designing drawing exercises that forced pupils to see artistic images and perspectives with the right side of the brain, instead of trying to mechanically regulate them with the left, which most of us do, students (children and adults) with almost no artistic ability to begin with, could without exception, make sudden dramatic breakthroughs in artistic expression and progress to near professional levels inside three months.
Betty’s book got me to read up on Sperry’s findings – that study, together with some thirty years of research I had done myself on child development, among a wide range of cultures around the world, eventually got me interested in developing a dual brain child educational curriculum of my own which I called HeartStart. For the past eighteen years I have applied this home school developmental program to the education of eight of my own children. I have mentioned the outstanding results each have achieved, not only in the high marks in the academic subjects required by the State, but also in their exceptional artistic creativity and ethical social behavior. The threads it was mentioned on generated remarkably little reaction from the members of this forum.
As the future of this nation – and indeed its powerful influence on the rest of the world, will be determined by the next generation if children, such lukewarm interest in how we are continuing to educate them is somewhat puzzling – especially when there is a general consensus that our current education system is failing, while the potential for a revolutionary break-through in dual brain creativity and motivated ethical behavior, uncovered by Sperry, has been languishing in the offing for nigh on forty years.
Perhaps the lack of interest has been because I have failed to mention that dual brain exercises are efficacious not only with children, but among adults of any age as well. In essence dual brain development refers to our grasp of the both the physical world as well as our metaphysical potentials.
We have all been more or less well-trained in physics and know something of its finite limitations, but very few of are aware (other than via the distortion of biased religious instruction) of the infinitely more fascinating field of metaphysics. Specific exercises in right brain stimulation almost immediately open a whole new world of creative potential to those who first attempt it. Most people who have become involved with yoga, tai chi and meditation classes, etc, can attest to this to some extent. But there is also a wide range of other interesting metaphysical drills and exercises that not only further stimulate your creative impulses and allow you to execute skills in every walk of life that you only presently dream you have, but also awaken within you to a deeper sense of affection and altruism for mankind in general - and a more profound grasp, even reverence, for the workings of the Cosmos.
I would like to take interested members through a step by step process, describing the fascinating journey our family has experienced over the past eighteen years as we applied this new dual-brain approach to the development of the child psyche – as well as the general improvement of the adult psyche we have also experienced. I do this in the hope of perhaps giving the dual brain message more substance than previously, and thereby hopefully generating a more lively discussion on a vital subject that has the potential to give us an entirely new perspective on the way we all look at and share this life on this home planet of ours.
Betty’s book got me to read up on Sperry’s findings – that study, together with some thirty years of research I had done myself on child development, among a wide range of cultures around the world, eventually got me interested in developing a dual brain child educational curriculum of my own which I called HeartStart. For the past eighteen years I have applied this home school developmental program to the education of eight of my own children. I have mentioned the outstanding results each have achieved, not only in the high marks in the academic subjects required by the State, but also in their exceptional artistic creativity and ethical social behavior. The threads it was mentioned on generated remarkably little reaction from the members of this forum.
As the future of this nation – and indeed its powerful influence on the rest of the world, will be determined by the next generation if children, such lukewarm interest in how we are continuing to educate them is somewhat puzzling – especially when there is a general consensus that our current education system is failing, while the potential for a revolutionary break-through in dual brain creativity and motivated ethical behavior, uncovered by Sperry, has been languishing in the offing for nigh on forty years.
Perhaps the lack of interest has been because I have failed to mention that dual brain exercises are efficacious not only with children, but among adults of any age as well. In essence dual brain development refers to our grasp of the both the physical world as well as our metaphysical potentials.
We have all been more or less well-trained in physics and know something of its finite limitations, but very few of are aware (other than via the distortion of biased religious instruction) of the infinitely more fascinating field of metaphysics. Specific exercises in right brain stimulation almost immediately open a whole new world of creative potential to those who first attempt it. Most people who have become involved with yoga, tai chi and meditation classes, etc, can attest to this to some extent. But there is also a wide range of other interesting metaphysical drills and exercises that not only further stimulate your creative impulses and allow you to execute skills in every walk of life that you only presently dream you have, but also awaken within you to a deeper sense of affection and altruism for mankind in general - and a more profound grasp, even reverence, for the workings of the Cosmos.
I would like to take interested members through a step by step process, describing the fascinating journey our family has experienced over the past eighteen years as we applied this new dual-brain approach to the development of the child psyche – as well as the general improvement of the adult psyche we have also experienced. I do this in the hope of perhaps giving the dual brain message more substance than previously, and thereby hopefully generating a more lively discussion on a vital subject that has the potential to give us an entirely new perspective on the way we all look at and share this life on this home planet of ours.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
The Anatomy of a Police State
The absurdity of defining ethical social behavior via a written Constitution
This hard fact is made real by the endless expense of trying to enforce it.
The trinity of Truth, Love and God, are one and the same and can only be known directly from within.
Although there is a foundation of common agreement based on the fundamental human values of sharing, working, courage, affection, creative expression and reason, together with the seven virtues that accompany social actions, the Absolute subtleties of Truth, Love, God, which continuously shift and change in Time and Space within the evolving social matrix, will always remain individually and inexplicably unique.
Nobody in history has ever been able to satisfactorily define or explain, in a universal sense, the meaning of the Trinity. Not via inspired Scripture or any rationalized treatise.
Endless “holy” wars, massive bureaucracies, legions of armies and policemen, back-logged courts and prisons over-loaded with law-breakers, have given increasing testimony to this ever since the first law book was ever penned.
There is not enough space in the cosmos that will ever be able to house a library that can contain the law books in which Truth is unambiguously defined via nay amount of clauses and all loop-holes closed.
Yet we have a multi-trillion dollar public education system and an even more expensive, bureaucracy, backed up by a huge legal and police system, trying to do just that.
Up to 80% of the budget of the average city is spent on trying to prove that we can govern human behavior via the rule book.
Though a semblance of peace and stability is sustained, ostensibly via this policed effort – most of that peace is because most citizens respond to the innate sense of goodness this is born in them If this was not so, no amount of regulation could forestall chaos.
Thus we live in a policed state, constantly supervised and legislated by endless new laws, from cradle to grave.
All that history of wasted effort and expense can change inside one generation – by moving from the current Head Start state-sponsored education program, which concentrates almost exclusively on left brain analytical book learning, to a more eclectic home-based dual brain Heart Start education program, which evokes in the individual psyche, an intuitive sense of social and spiritual ethics and the self-policed motivation to excel in each of the seven walks of life
This hard fact is made real by the endless expense of trying to enforce it.
The trinity of Truth, Love and God, are one and the same and can only be known directly from within.
Although there is a foundation of common agreement based on the fundamental human values of sharing, working, courage, affection, creative expression and reason, together with the seven virtues that accompany social actions, the Absolute subtleties of Truth, Love, God, which continuously shift and change in Time and Space within the evolving social matrix, will always remain individually and inexplicably unique.
Nobody in history has ever been able to satisfactorily define or explain, in a universal sense, the meaning of the Trinity. Not via inspired Scripture or any rationalized treatise.
Endless “holy” wars, massive bureaucracies, legions of armies and policemen, back-logged courts and prisons over-loaded with law-breakers, have given increasing testimony to this ever since the first law book was ever penned.
There is not enough space in the cosmos that will ever be able to house a library that can contain the law books in which Truth is unambiguously defined via nay amount of clauses and all loop-holes closed.
Yet we have a multi-trillion dollar public education system and an even more expensive, bureaucracy, backed up by a huge legal and police system, trying to do just that.
Up to 80% of the budget of the average city is spent on trying to prove that we can govern human behavior via the rule book.
Though a semblance of peace and stability is sustained, ostensibly via this policed effort – most of that peace is because most citizens respond to the innate sense of goodness this is born in them If this was not so, no amount of regulation could forestall chaos.
Thus we live in a policed state, constantly supervised and legislated by endless new laws, from cradle to grave.
All that history of wasted effort and expense can change inside one generation – by moving from the current Head Start state-sponsored education program, which concentrates almost exclusively on left brain analytical book learning, to a more eclectic home-based dual brain Heart Start education program, which evokes in the individual psyche, an intuitive sense of social and spiritual ethics and the self-policed motivation to excel in each of the seven walks of life
Friday, September 15, 2006
Moralizing
God knows how uncool it is to keep moralizing on so many issues of both a domestic and foreign nature. Surely a more mature Age must evolve that lies beyond the pseudo-intellectual debates about Church and State and Individual Rights that we are mired in at present, and consciously arrive at a universal consensus about what truly is and what truly is not the right thing to do at all times and places, and thereby get on with the good life that God meant for us, with a clear conscience?
The Evolution of Social Complexities that Confuse Moral Issues
Once upon a time, in A Stone Age of family group values, all of us were intuitive Animists, naively aware of the ever-present Spirit of Mother Nature and the need to step carefully over Her thorns and poisonous fangs. Parents instinctively taught their children that it was not a good idea to trespass on a neighbor’s hunting territory. But ever since our evolution into a Bronze Age of clan-based agriculture, mankind has grown up forced to moralize on ever more complex social and spiritual issues. Artificial trespasses were necessary to domesticate Nature and deal with pestilence. A chore based work-ethic had to be introduced at a young age. An Iron Age of national industrialization introduced the moral issues of conscientious craftsmanship and script-based learning. These two New Ages unearthed and permutated a veritable host of seemingly imponderable moral issues. Reliant on the artificial nature and difficulties of script-based communication and interpretation, we gradually lost our intuitive connection with the Good. Shamans and priests had to evolve in order administer to our troubled consciousness. They tried to point out the good from the bad – but they too lost their spiritual insight and became confused and corrupted by the complexity of social intercourse. Consequently, over the millennia, very serious moral issues have never been resolved – not in any of our regional wars – territorial, religious or otherwise.
When we moved on, into a Teen Age of scientific determinism, endless pseudo-intellectual debates began, and the Ages-long evolution of human consciousness got completely out of hand. Tens of millions of words have been scribbled in endless stream of religious scriptures and political manifestos. None of that wisdom has stopped us from engaging in two world wars, or a Cold War, where for forty years two super-powers, both armed with enough WMD to destroy several planets, screamed Capitalist Pigs and Commie Rats at each other. Not a damn thing has been resolved since the godless Soviet Union collapsed.
So we sit today, with half the planet starving to death while the rich continue to argue over the relative merits of our atavistic totem images, our ideas of God and our self-centered political ideologies. Meanwhile a whole new generation of 3rd World teenagers have grown up, prepared to blow themselves and the whole planet to kingdom come.
The Moral Reality
When all of us know, virtually at first hand, that some four billion fellow human beings are right at the bottom of the pile and that a quarter of them are actually living on the extreme edge of starvation and sending their babies hungry and confused to bed most nights, its hard to get laid back, bite into fat Big Mac, and let the cards fall as they are dealt. The grim reality that exposure to the extremes of wealth and poverty forces on one, is in realizing that most of the suffering can be evened out – ‘cause its mostly related to intellectuals engaged in endless pseudo-intellectual masturbations that have no basis in reality, and to a small number of international bankers dealing out the cards.
Evoking a New Era of Common Sense
Nothing is more motivating or creative than living with a clear conscience. That can only happen when one clearly sees the adult nature of giving and the childish nature of exploitation and can appreciate the difference in maturity. America is the sleeping giant that can change the order of business on this planet if it can only wake up to its evolutionary destiny. If the political and religious spin-doctors on the mass media can shut up for a while and if the fat cats in this country can only be shown what real profits can be like if everybody on this planet is fully employed, a world of new opportunities will open up for all of us. .
In the meantime, if somebody reading this blog can fill me in with a cooler way to spell out the moral dilemmas and the answers to them than I have presented so far, I will be more than happy to tune in and try a new approach.
The Evolution of Social Complexities that Confuse Moral Issues
Once upon a time, in A Stone Age of family group values, all of us were intuitive Animists, naively aware of the ever-present Spirit of Mother Nature and the need to step carefully over Her thorns and poisonous fangs. Parents instinctively taught their children that it was not a good idea to trespass on a neighbor’s hunting territory. But ever since our evolution into a Bronze Age of clan-based agriculture, mankind has grown up forced to moralize on ever more complex social and spiritual issues. Artificial trespasses were necessary to domesticate Nature and deal with pestilence. A chore based work-ethic had to be introduced at a young age. An Iron Age of national industrialization introduced the moral issues of conscientious craftsmanship and script-based learning. These two New Ages unearthed and permutated a veritable host of seemingly imponderable moral issues. Reliant on the artificial nature and difficulties of script-based communication and interpretation, we gradually lost our intuitive connection with the Good. Shamans and priests had to evolve in order administer to our troubled consciousness. They tried to point out the good from the bad – but they too lost their spiritual insight and became confused and corrupted by the complexity of social intercourse. Consequently, over the millennia, very serious moral issues have never been resolved – not in any of our regional wars – territorial, religious or otherwise.
When we moved on, into a Teen Age of scientific determinism, endless pseudo-intellectual debates began, and the Ages-long evolution of human consciousness got completely out of hand. Tens of millions of words have been scribbled in endless stream of religious scriptures and political manifestos. None of that wisdom has stopped us from engaging in two world wars, or a Cold War, where for forty years two super-powers, both armed with enough WMD to destroy several planets, screamed Capitalist Pigs and Commie Rats at each other. Not a damn thing has been resolved since the godless Soviet Union collapsed.
So we sit today, with half the planet starving to death while the rich continue to argue over the relative merits of our atavistic totem images, our ideas of God and our self-centered political ideologies. Meanwhile a whole new generation of 3rd World teenagers have grown up, prepared to blow themselves and the whole planet to kingdom come.
The Moral Reality
When all of us know, virtually at first hand, that some four billion fellow human beings are right at the bottom of the pile and that a quarter of them are actually living on the extreme edge of starvation and sending their babies hungry and confused to bed most nights, its hard to get laid back, bite into fat Big Mac, and let the cards fall as they are dealt. The grim reality that exposure to the extremes of wealth and poverty forces on one, is in realizing that most of the suffering can be evened out – ‘cause its mostly related to intellectuals engaged in endless pseudo-intellectual masturbations that have no basis in reality, and to a small number of international bankers dealing out the cards.
Evoking a New Era of Common Sense
Nothing is more motivating or creative than living with a clear conscience. That can only happen when one clearly sees the adult nature of giving and the childish nature of exploitation and can appreciate the difference in maturity. America is the sleeping giant that can change the order of business on this planet if it can only wake up to its evolutionary destiny. If the political and religious spin-doctors on the mass media can shut up for a while and if the fat cats in this country can only be shown what real profits can be like if everybody on this planet is fully employed, a world of new opportunities will open up for all of us. .
In the meantime, if somebody reading this blog can fill me in with a cooler way to spell out the moral dilemmas and the answers to them than I have presented so far, I will be more than happy to tune in and try a new approach.
Monday, September 11, 2006
America, as seen through Islamic Eyes
Most Moslems are exceptionally devout religionists – significantly more so than the average Christian. . They share the Old Testament with us and pray to the same God their ancestor, Abraham, did. They do so for up to five times a day. They revere the teachings of Mohammed as expressed in the Koran. Mohammed helped to wash away the shame of Hagar and Ishmael’s deception and restore their pride in self. They see Jesus as a fellow Semite and most study and admire his prophecy and his teaching. Most Moslems fast on Rhamadan. Millions try to make at least one difficult pilgrimage to Mecca before they die. Traditionally Arabian scholarship has always been of a high order. Millions of their youth are expected to memorize whole sections of the Koran by puberty. Their literature is exquisite. Their calligraphy is perhaps the most beautiful in existence. Their mathematics revolutionized the Roman system. At one time they ruled most of the civilized world.
I am personally intimate with Islam. I have traveled and lived in the Middle East. I have bowed my Christian back many a time inside a Mosque and knelt shoulder to shoulder with up to three thousand men inside a single hall and have felt both the brotherhood as well as the surge of spiritual power that comes from taking part in a mass Islamic observance of Almighty God.
For the past twenty years I have been married to a Middle Easterner who was born in Baghdad. She is the mother of four of my children. She is easily as intelligent as any American and I can vouch for her sense of personal honor and integrity. She is also an American citizen. I have insisted that our family honor her ancient culture by having at least one of our children inducted into Islam. He is now 18.
Since 9/11, millions of Americans have come to see Islam as an evil force. Most of us do not understand why Middle Easterners in general, have grown to dislike us, or why so many of then even hate America.
This is why.
Christian hypocrisy.
Moslems traditionally engage in Holy Wars and see no religious hypocrisy in engaging with infidels to the death. At the same time they are well aware that the fundamental tenet of Christian teaching is based on love for one’s neighbor. We trumpet that our God is the one and only God and he is enthroned in heaven as the Prince of Peace. Jesus urged us, even as he suffered on the cross, to forgive trespasses and turn the other cheek. Yet Christian crusades, civil wars, world wars, holocausts, pograms and religious persecutions have killed more than a hundred fold of God’s children in the name of Christ, than all the Islamic Jihads put together. Even our policy in the Middle East is based on war. Thus, in Islam’s eyes, Christians are outright religious hypocrites who pray for peace on Sunday, go to war on Monday and in the execution of those double standards, show no reverence for the teaching of their prophet.
Sodom
The whole of Islam is aware of America’s debate on homo-sexuality and the ever-increasing leniency of our laws towards it. To Islam the Old Testament explicitly forbids sodomy and God destroyed the city of Sodom because of it. It is natural for many to see AIDS as God’s judgment on sodomites
Gomorrah
In Gomorrah the Golden Calf, Baal, is God. Islam sees America prostrate before the almighty dollar. We walk reverently in corporate cathedrals. Almost every American intercourse is underpinned and calculated by the value we place on money. God is forgot in our mighty trade centers. We gamble with stocks and bonds on the temple floor of the Holy Estate. We are robbing them of their oil. Thus, in Islam’s eyes, the incredible sight of the Twin Towers of Gomorrah literally crumbling to dust in front of the whole world’s eyes, was both a biblical as well an Osama Bin Laden prophecy fulfilled.
Revising Middle East Policy
There are over one billion Moslems devoted to Islam sharing this planet with us. They comprise one sixth of the human race. They are a vital and integral part of the global equation, As such, for all of us who believe that mankind can and must learn to live in peace, and steward this planet as a single family estate, their good will is unquestionably essential to all of us.
If we do not like their view of us, what can we do to show them that they have got us wrong?
Send more troops to Iraq?
Nuke Iran and North Korea?
Continue to plunder the planet’s finite natural resources, with short-term profits as the prime objective
Burn away the last reserves of the world’s precious fossil oils?
Scorn the United Nations?
Refuse to sign the Kyoto protocols?
Ignore the World Court?
Deny Global warming?
Or do we take a reversionary attitude to the way we go about social mores, business, politics and religious observances?
Can educators not realize that by incarcerating children inside classrooms for twelve years and more and concentrating almost entirely on left brain analytical development via rote learning, and not investing an equal amount of time in encouraging exercises in right brain intuitive inspiration, they are not evoking the full ethical and creative potential of the human genius?
Can the homo-sexual community not see the ancient spiritual call to monkhood and nunnery, which those who are born with a transcendent desire beyond basic procreation with the opposite sex have traditionally responded to throughout past Ages, and resist the base temptations of the flesh in order to live an exemplary life of service to God and community? Have not ten thousand celibate saints and mystics attested to ecstatic states that come from religiously-practiced spiritual disciplines that far surpass any produced by the flesh?
Can international businessmen not see the severe limitations that the artificial barrier of money imposes on global development in a new era of globalization – and how the goal of short-term profits keeps two thirds of the world under-employed, even starving, when there is so much environmental clean-up to do, as well as vast new planet-management projects to design and under-take in order to accommodate the exponential needs of our expanding global population, in advanced systems of education, indoor agriculture, vertical city construction, and sustainable energy production?
Can America not see that representative government and jealously-guarded national boundaries in a new era of instant travel and communication, while burdened with a antiquated written constitution that has to be administered and enforced by millions of bureaucrats, has become redundant?
Can Christians not finally realize that the brilliant spiritual insight of Jesus, who stated emphatically, that love and peace, not military might, is the only path to God and is the ultimate answer to world-wide social harmony, challenging as it may be.
Can America not go out into the world with a sincere mission to practice what we preach no matter how reactant the resistance?
I am personally intimate with Islam. I have traveled and lived in the Middle East. I have bowed my Christian back many a time inside a Mosque and knelt shoulder to shoulder with up to three thousand men inside a single hall and have felt both the brotherhood as well as the surge of spiritual power that comes from taking part in a mass Islamic observance of Almighty God.
For the past twenty years I have been married to a Middle Easterner who was born in Baghdad. She is the mother of four of my children. She is easily as intelligent as any American and I can vouch for her sense of personal honor and integrity. She is also an American citizen. I have insisted that our family honor her ancient culture by having at least one of our children inducted into Islam. He is now 18.
Since 9/11, millions of Americans have come to see Islam as an evil force. Most of us do not understand why Middle Easterners in general, have grown to dislike us, or why so many of then even hate America.
This is why.
Christian hypocrisy.
Moslems traditionally engage in Holy Wars and see no religious hypocrisy in engaging with infidels to the death. At the same time they are well aware that the fundamental tenet of Christian teaching is based on love for one’s neighbor. We trumpet that our God is the one and only God and he is enthroned in heaven as the Prince of Peace. Jesus urged us, even as he suffered on the cross, to forgive trespasses and turn the other cheek. Yet Christian crusades, civil wars, world wars, holocausts, pograms and religious persecutions have killed more than a hundred fold of God’s children in the name of Christ, than all the Islamic Jihads put together. Even our policy in the Middle East is based on war. Thus, in Islam’s eyes, Christians are outright religious hypocrites who pray for peace on Sunday, go to war on Monday and in the execution of those double standards, show no reverence for the teaching of their prophet.
Sodom
The whole of Islam is aware of America’s debate on homo-sexuality and the ever-increasing leniency of our laws towards it. To Islam the Old Testament explicitly forbids sodomy and God destroyed the city of Sodom because of it. It is natural for many to see AIDS as God’s judgment on sodomites
Gomorrah
In Gomorrah the Golden Calf, Baal, is God. Islam sees America prostrate before the almighty dollar. We walk reverently in corporate cathedrals. Almost every American intercourse is underpinned and calculated by the value we place on money. God is forgot in our mighty trade centers. We gamble with stocks and bonds on the temple floor of the Holy Estate. We are robbing them of their oil. Thus, in Islam’s eyes, the incredible sight of the Twin Towers of Gomorrah literally crumbling to dust in front of the whole world’s eyes, was both a biblical as well an Osama Bin Laden prophecy fulfilled.
Revising Middle East Policy
There are over one billion Moslems devoted to Islam sharing this planet with us. They comprise one sixth of the human race. They are a vital and integral part of the global equation, As such, for all of us who believe that mankind can and must learn to live in peace, and steward this planet as a single family estate, their good will is unquestionably essential to all of us.
If we do not like their view of us, what can we do to show them that they have got us wrong?
Send more troops to Iraq?
Nuke Iran and North Korea?
Continue to plunder the planet’s finite natural resources, with short-term profits as the prime objective
Burn away the last reserves of the world’s precious fossil oils?
Scorn the United Nations?
Refuse to sign the Kyoto protocols?
Ignore the World Court?
Deny Global warming?
Or do we take a reversionary attitude to the way we go about social mores, business, politics and religious observances?
Can educators not realize that by incarcerating children inside classrooms for twelve years and more and concentrating almost entirely on left brain analytical development via rote learning, and not investing an equal amount of time in encouraging exercises in right brain intuitive inspiration, they are not evoking the full ethical and creative potential of the human genius?
Can the homo-sexual community not see the ancient spiritual call to monkhood and nunnery, which those who are born with a transcendent desire beyond basic procreation with the opposite sex have traditionally responded to throughout past Ages, and resist the base temptations of the flesh in order to live an exemplary life of service to God and community? Have not ten thousand celibate saints and mystics attested to ecstatic states that come from religiously-practiced spiritual disciplines that far surpass any produced by the flesh?
Can international businessmen not see the severe limitations that the artificial barrier of money imposes on global development in a new era of globalization – and how the goal of short-term profits keeps two thirds of the world under-employed, even starving, when there is so much environmental clean-up to do, as well as vast new planet-management projects to design and under-take in order to accommodate the exponential needs of our expanding global population, in advanced systems of education, indoor agriculture, vertical city construction, and sustainable energy production?
Can America not see that representative government and jealously-guarded national boundaries in a new era of instant travel and communication, while burdened with a antiquated written constitution that has to be administered and enforced by millions of bureaucrats, has become redundant?
Can Christians not finally realize that the brilliant spiritual insight of Jesus, who stated emphatically, that love and peace, not military might, is the only path to God and is the ultimate answer to world-wide social harmony, challenging as it may be.
Can America not go out into the world with a sincere mission to practice what we preach no matter how reactant the resistance?
Sunday, September 10, 2006
The Time Bomb in Jerusalem
Israel and Ishmael, sons of Abraham, it is time to acknowledge your brotherhood and bury your differences
Though my grandfather was a Jew and his father a rabbi no less, because my grandmother was a gentile, according to Jewish rabbinical law, I cannot claim any right to the Semite blood in my veins.
Since the dispersion of the Jews out of Babylon twenty seven centuries ago, and their subsequent migration into Europe and Asia and onwards to all points further south and west, except for the Sephardic Jews from Morocco (who are the lowest caste on the Israeli social totem pole) its is doubtful that after more than eight generations of exile, if there is one Jew in Israel today who is of pure Semite blood - certainly not among the white-skinned blue-eyed elite Sabras who boast of western European ancestral domicile, and who dominate the Knesset and dictate Israeli domestic and foreign policy. What I am driving at here is that, genetically speaking, just as I am told by any Jew with a kosher grandparent that I have no claim on the Holy Land (nor would dream of asking for it) so too should I be able to I retaliate by stating that neither do 90% of the Jews who currently live there.
After the endless persecutions suffered in innumerable East European pograms throughout the centuries and the ghastly action of the western European holocaust, one can deeply sympathize with the need for those who have traditionally placed great store in whatever Jewish blood and culture they have left, of seeking sanctuary in a land over which they have full political control. But at what expense to basic human rights?
After leaving South Africa thirty years ago, forced into self-exile because of my anti-apartheid TV programs, I traveled in the Middle East and sought sanctuary in Israel. When I got there, the atmosphere of racial hatred between native Arab and European Jew could be cut with a knife. I felt as though I had jumped out of the apartheid frying pan into the apartheid fire. Instead of some 18 millions blacks hating white political domination, here I was surrounded by one hundred and thirty million Arabs all hating white political domination. The zealous oath sworn by young Israeli sabras on top of Masada to continue that domination to the last drop of their blood, made my own blood run cold. Racism transcends politics and offends the very heart of human intercourse.
The racist marriage law in Israel that nobody but a Jew can have any political clout in the land Arabs call Palestine, has the potential to set off a nuclear Time Bomb in the Middle East. . The fall-out from such a race war has the potential to engulf the whole planet – for Jews continue to reside everywhere, and with their money and international clout, will insist that the whole world is involved.
The political and human rights solution in Israel is the same that was forced on South Africa. In a democracy the majority opinion rules. Three million expatriate Palestinians currently in refugee camps must be allowed to return home and open elections held in the country, irrespective of race or ethnic affiliations. If this is refused, sanctions and boycotts, especially on armaments, should be imposed against the current regime.
Though my grandfather was a Jew and his father a rabbi no less, because my grandmother was a gentile, according to Jewish rabbinical law, I cannot claim any right to the Semite blood in my veins.
Since the dispersion of the Jews out of Babylon twenty seven centuries ago, and their subsequent migration into Europe and Asia and onwards to all points further south and west, except for the Sephardic Jews from Morocco (who are the lowest caste on the Israeli social totem pole) its is doubtful that after more than eight generations of exile, if there is one Jew in Israel today who is of pure Semite blood - certainly not among the white-skinned blue-eyed elite Sabras who boast of western European ancestral domicile, and who dominate the Knesset and dictate Israeli domestic and foreign policy. What I am driving at here is that, genetically speaking, just as I am told by any Jew with a kosher grandparent that I have no claim on the Holy Land (nor would dream of asking for it) so too should I be able to I retaliate by stating that neither do 90% of the Jews who currently live there.
After the endless persecutions suffered in innumerable East European pograms throughout the centuries and the ghastly action of the western European holocaust, one can deeply sympathize with the need for those who have traditionally placed great store in whatever Jewish blood and culture they have left, of seeking sanctuary in a land over which they have full political control. But at what expense to basic human rights?
After leaving South Africa thirty years ago, forced into self-exile because of my anti-apartheid TV programs, I traveled in the Middle East and sought sanctuary in Israel. When I got there, the atmosphere of racial hatred between native Arab and European Jew could be cut with a knife. I felt as though I had jumped out of the apartheid frying pan into the apartheid fire. Instead of some 18 millions blacks hating white political domination, here I was surrounded by one hundred and thirty million Arabs all hating white political domination. The zealous oath sworn by young Israeli sabras on top of Masada to continue that domination to the last drop of their blood, made my own blood run cold. Racism transcends politics and offends the very heart of human intercourse.
The racist marriage law in Israel that nobody but a Jew can have any political clout in the land Arabs call Palestine, has the potential to set off a nuclear Time Bomb in the Middle East. . The fall-out from such a race war has the potential to engulf the whole planet – for Jews continue to reside everywhere, and with their money and international clout, will insist that the whole world is involved.
The political and human rights solution in Israel is the same that was forced on South Africa. In a democracy the majority opinion rules. Three million expatriate Palestinians currently in refugee camps must be allowed to return home and open elections held in the country, irrespective of race or ethnic affiliations. If this is refused, sanctions and boycotts, especially on armaments, should be imposed against the current regime.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
How the United States ended up with a lop-sided Foreign Policy and is playing a losing game.
Contributing towards the well-being of one’s neighbors ensures domestic security. International goodwill is vital.
America has been forced to look inward and attend to her own domestic policy ever since the revolution. The business of building a national consciousness and extending civilization ever further into the New World wilderness, while catering to an endless influx of the world’s immigrants, is the natural cause of that inward sight. The bloody Civil War and the painful generation that licked its wounds afterward, allowed the country to resolve a host of internal issues. The resultant sense of national unity allowed America to view itself as a global power.
If Europe and Asia had gotten over their selfish imperial squabbles by the start of the 20th Century, America may well have ventured out into the larger world with a keener sense of respect for other nations and the delicate diplomacy needed to establish lasting good foreign relations. But everywhere America looked the globe was in turmoil - leading Uncle Teddy to simplistically believe that a big American stick could dominate and police international order. This simplistic view of world diplomacy was reinforced by the disgrace of two World Wars. In both wars America was dragged into international conflicts against its will and forced to take sides. Since then America’s disparaging view of foreign powers, as expressed in the United Nations Organization, has worsened, culminating in the present administration’s refusal to sign a number of vital international agreements. The administration further alienated the international community by reserving America’s right to use pre-emptive force when-ever and where-ever Uncle Sam deemed it necessary.
The reactionary result of this bully-boy foreign policy, as we are all painfully aware, is that America has bared its vulnerable under-belly to international terrorism.
Historically, once there is a general sense that that the powers that be are in-sensitive to the needs of the masses, and no serious attempt is made to address it, no nation has ever been able to halt and contain the growth of internal resistance movements by force and avoid a revolution. What is not fully appreciated about the current revolt from the Middle East is that this is not a foreign affair that can be settled by a military invasion and forced occupation. The world has shrunk and at the same time become more over-crowded. The shortage or glut of essential commodities is a global phenomenon that affects every-one almost immediately. Communication and transportation is almost instantaneous. Ethnic groups of every political and religious outlook are spread across the globe. The grievances of once-far-off relatives are now made real and immediate via the internet. Cells of dissidents are lodged in every nook and cranny of developed countries. In effect all and any resistance to insensitive government anywhere on the planet becomes internal everywhere.
We are in a whole new global-sized ball game and America is playing via self-centered nationalistic rules that no longer apply in a global milieu. Unless we make a serious attempt to address international distress signals which are in effect internal, history informs us that resistance movements will grow in power and eventually engage us all in a violent global revolution.
We need to re-examine our foreign policy and consider an extreme make-over. If there is to be a global revolution, as all signs indicate, America has the power and resources to make it a peaceful one
America has been forced to look inward and attend to her own domestic policy ever since the revolution. The business of building a national consciousness and extending civilization ever further into the New World wilderness, while catering to an endless influx of the world’s immigrants, is the natural cause of that inward sight. The bloody Civil War and the painful generation that licked its wounds afterward, allowed the country to resolve a host of internal issues. The resultant sense of national unity allowed America to view itself as a global power.
If Europe and Asia had gotten over their selfish imperial squabbles by the start of the 20th Century, America may well have ventured out into the larger world with a keener sense of respect for other nations and the delicate diplomacy needed to establish lasting good foreign relations. But everywhere America looked the globe was in turmoil - leading Uncle Teddy to simplistically believe that a big American stick could dominate and police international order. This simplistic view of world diplomacy was reinforced by the disgrace of two World Wars. In both wars America was dragged into international conflicts against its will and forced to take sides. Since then America’s disparaging view of foreign powers, as expressed in the United Nations Organization, has worsened, culminating in the present administration’s refusal to sign a number of vital international agreements. The administration further alienated the international community by reserving America’s right to use pre-emptive force when-ever and where-ever Uncle Sam deemed it necessary.
The reactionary result of this bully-boy foreign policy, as we are all painfully aware, is that America has bared its vulnerable under-belly to international terrorism.
Historically, once there is a general sense that that the powers that be are in-sensitive to the needs of the masses, and no serious attempt is made to address it, no nation has ever been able to halt and contain the growth of internal resistance movements by force and avoid a revolution. What is not fully appreciated about the current revolt from the Middle East is that this is not a foreign affair that can be settled by a military invasion and forced occupation. The world has shrunk and at the same time become more over-crowded. The shortage or glut of essential commodities is a global phenomenon that affects every-one almost immediately. Communication and transportation is almost instantaneous. Ethnic groups of every political and religious outlook are spread across the globe. The grievances of once-far-off relatives are now made real and immediate via the internet. Cells of dissidents are lodged in every nook and cranny of developed countries. In effect all and any resistance to insensitive government anywhere on the planet becomes internal everywhere.
We are in a whole new global-sized ball game and America is playing via self-centered nationalistic rules that no longer apply in a global milieu. Unless we make a serious attempt to address international distress signals which are in effect internal, history informs us that resistance movements will grow in power and eventually engage us all in a violent global revolution.
We need to re-examine our foreign policy and consider an extreme make-over. If there is to be a global revolution, as all signs indicate, America has the power and resources to make it a peaceful one
Friday, September 08, 2006
The Cost of Ignoring the Noble Impulse
The social imperative for cultivating a permanent class of higher ethical conduct
as a standard example of good national behavior.
Mankind is intrinsically good, and if shown the Good, will do good.
Despite cynical arguments to the contrary, this has been the belief and teaching of Pythagorus, Socrates, Plato, Loa Tse, Buddha, Confucius, Christ and Mohammed. It is the central spiritual principle upon which the cultural foundation of modern civilization has been built over the past two and a half millennia..
Dis-Honor at the U.S. Open
Several nights ago millions watched on TV as Andre Agassi played a tennis match in the U.S. Open against a Greek Cyprian, named Bahgdatis. It turned out to be a closely fought contest. In the fifth set Bahgdatis was floored by a painful case of cramps. According to the rules he was not allowed to be treated. The pro-Agassi crowd screamed for their hero to finish the unfortunate man off. Several grotesque minutes followed as an inwardly confused Agassi repeatedly failed to deliver the coup de grace to his staggering opponent, who limped, and gasped and grimaced as he fought bravely to stay in the game. To the delight of the crowd and the millions watching, Agassi eventually won the match - and in the process, via succumbing to an act of poor sportsmanship, no matter who wrote the rules, it under-lined the failure of Americans, who place so much store in winning at any cost, to understand the subtle meaning of nobility and how important it is to all of us to make sure it is especially present when on public display.
As a reverse example that illustrates this reality, if it had been Agassi who had cramped up and Bahgdatis who took advantage, it is almost certain that the Cypriot would have been booed by an outraged crowd from start to finish. If Agassi had found it within himself to heed his inner impulse, ignore the rule-book and cries for blood from the crowd and act like a true sportsman, win or lose, America and the world would have been clearly reminded of the fair spirit of nobility that dwells in all of us. The basic fact is that there is no material prize on the planet worth the tarnishing of one’s inner sense of the good. When an entire nation loses that inner spiritual sight for want of good examples, we are in for a world of trouble.
Noble Characteristics
The nobleman is neat and tidy in his person. He rises early, eats moderately and keeps both body and mind fit and ready for any emergency. He has a sound work ethic and is polite and courteous at all times. He is profoundly reverent of his ancestral lineage. He is concerned with the upkeep and improvement of his family estate. He is expected fight for the honor and security of his nation and display an in-bred sense of bravery on the battle field. He sets an example of fair play and of fair dealing. No material bribe can sway him from any act that is not right and honorable. He is a connoisseur of fine art and a preservationist of all that is valuable in both nature and manufacture. He is aware that his privileged position rests on the shoulders of the working class and has a profound sense of affection for them and the hard effort they put into life. He is deeply conscious of his obligation to represent and display all that is godly and honorable in all men.
A new generation of American children can be trained to tread that noble path and the world will be richer for it. All we have to do is refine our dream.
as a standard example of good national behavior.
Mankind is intrinsically good, and if shown the Good, will do good.
Despite cynical arguments to the contrary, this has been the belief and teaching of Pythagorus, Socrates, Plato, Loa Tse, Buddha, Confucius, Christ and Mohammed. It is the central spiritual principle upon which the cultural foundation of modern civilization has been built over the past two and a half millennia..
Dis-Honor at the U.S. Open
Several nights ago millions watched on TV as Andre Agassi played a tennis match in the U.S. Open against a Greek Cyprian, named Bahgdatis. It turned out to be a closely fought contest. In the fifth set Bahgdatis was floored by a painful case of cramps. According to the rules he was not allowed to be treated. The pro-Agassi crowd screamed for their hero to finish the unfortunate man off. Several grotesque minutes followed as an inwardly confused Agassi repeatedly failed to deliver the coup de grace to his staggering opponent, who limped, and gasped and grimaced as he fought bravely to stay in the game. To the delight of the crowd and the millions watching, Agassi eventually won the match - and in the process, via succumbing to an act of poor sportsmanship, no matter who wrote the rules, it under-lined the failure of Americans, who place so much store in winning at any cost, to understand the subtle meaning of nobility and how important it is to all of us to make sure it is especially present when on public display.
As a reverse example that illustrates this reality, if it had been Agassi who had cramped up and Bahgdatis who took advantage, it is almost certain that the Cypriot would have been booed by an outraged crowd from start to finish. If Agassi had found it within himself to heed his inner impulse, ignore the rule-book and cries for blood from the crowd and act like a true sportsman, win or lose, America and the world would have been clearly reminded of the fair spirit of nobility that dwells in all of us. The basic fact is that there is no material prize on the planet worth the tarnishing of one’s inner sense of the good. When an entire nation loses that inner spiritual sight for want of good examples, we are in for a world of trouble.
Noble Characteristics
The nobleman is neat and tidy in his person. He rises early, eats moderately and keeps both body and mind fit and ready for any emergency. He has a sound work ethic and is polite and courteous at all times. He is profoundly reverent of his ancestral lineage. He is concerned with the upkeep and improvement of his family estate. He is expected fight for the honor and security of his nation and display an in-bred sense of bravery on the battle field. He sets an example of fair play and of fair dealing. No material bribe can sway him from any act that is not right and honorable. He is a connoisseur of fine art and a preservationist of all that is valuable in both nature and manufacture. He is aware that his privileged position rests on the shoulders of the working class and has a profound sense of affection for them and the hard effort they put into life. He is deeply conscious of his obligation to represent and display all that is godly and honorable in all men.
A new generation of American children can be trained to tread that noble path and the world will be richer for it. All we have to do is refine our dream.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
American World Leadership
The reason why America is an international pariah
Plans for a mass change of American consciousness
and the mindset required for World leadership
The Redundant American Dream
The American Dream, which has served to draw millions from around the world to our shores, has fallen into general international disrepute. The ostentatious nature of the wealth amassed by one nation over the past three centuries, and the seemingly vulgar appearance of a nationalistic ideal that encourages each of its citizens to aspire after millions, despite the obvious signs of environmental distress, while billions suffer from hunger, war and disease in the Third World, is viewed by the rest of the world with an unhealthy mix of envy and distaste. Our materialistic lack of self-restraint has poisoned the minds and hearts of thousands of idealistic young people in the Middle East who are committing desperate acts of suicide in an effort to halt the tide of America’s expanding global influence.
Universal condemnation of a once laudable ideal raises questions of how the American Dream differs from that of other nations and what its significance has been in the larger field of global development. A short investigation into an obscure point in America’s developmental history might bring to light an interpretation of the Dream that has not perhaps been fully evaluated.
The Influence of Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine’s denouement of the divine nature of royal appointment was a crucial aspect of his pamphlet on Common Sense. It helped to break the Iron Age spell of superstitious loyalty to the crown (which had originally evolved during the Bronze Age of totemic worship and ancestral reverence) and galvanize the colonists into war.
Not enough emphasis has been placed on the positive/negative dynamic of how that radical break from class-conscious thinking initiated, in itself, the mass change of the common man’s mind-set that has so radically altered the course of mankind’s cultural development.
The Positive Dynamic
With equal rights to accumulate kingly wealth decreed to be the entitlement of every man, Paine was directly instrumental in inspiring an entire nation of commoners to let go of their former social taboos, which had made it culturally unseemly for the common man to aspire to the power and privilege of the nobility – to go ahead and dream the dream of kings and unrestricted wealth – without an inhibiting sense of disloyalty to one’s birth rite. This surge towards a new level of mass consciousness set millions of Americans on the road to become the world’s economic super-power.
The Negative Dynamic
Unfortunately, exposed only to the negative aspects of the nobility, Paine left out a vital leavening ingredient in his socio-economic equation. Never directly aware of the finer cultural points of sophisticated self-restraint, together with and sense of compassionate respect for the hard life of the under-class, which defines the essential spirituality and evolutionary purpose of creating a noble class of leadership, which is designed to set a standard of the finer aspirations of life, in his denouement of the King and the House of Lords, Paine cut the umbilical chord of America’s direct connection to its cultivated lineage of noble example.
The International Result
Consequently, in the great rush towards prosperity that Americans have enjoyed, which has created over the past two centuries some three million super rich families, and some twenty million more who are very rich, and who all may be as wealthy as any king ever was, they are for the most part, devoid of a cultivated sense of nobility and the larger social responsibilities such privilege status entails.. Thus an essential in-bred sense of self-restraint and cultural influence that vast wealth and social status is supposed to exercise over the nation, is not a significant factor in governing the commercial behavior of the American psyche or in its political expression.
It is this brash rudeness that the more cultivated Old World is sensitive towards and which undermines its admiration for the power we have developed.
And so the unrefined rough and tumble wealthy young nation of America finds itself today in much the same place as young European nations once did. It is dominated by rudely ambitious baronial Corporations, each fiercely defending its territory against rival takeover wars, with their eyes on international (imperial) expansion at any expense. The commoners who work the mass production lines have to pay through the nose to rent or buy tiny plots of God’s Earth just to build a house and raise a family. As the inevitable gap between the 6% rich and the 94% poor widens, the working man has to deal with tax collectors, corrupted politicians and zealous religious ministers, while supporting a vast, heavily-policed, government bureaucracy and is left wondering and puzzled why he is viewed as an international pariah.
American World Leadership
For good or bad, America is the acknowledged super-power on the planet. It is in the position of supreme dictator. In order to initiate a global concert of efficient planet management, the world desperately needs strong and focused leadership. The congregation of all the cultures of the world in America, is an evolutionary rite of world leadership.
Nobility is in deed - not in title.
What America needs now, in order for such a dictatorship to be benevolent and all-inclusive, is to inculcate a noble outlook in its next generation of young people and educate them to see not just America, but the whole globe as a single estate under the stewardship of the entire human family..
The New American Consciousness
In this new atmosphere, is it common sense to suggest that America is ready for a refinement of its National Dream? Is it ready for a new revolution? Is ready to break its atavistic hold on a redundant Constitution? Is it ready to disband the petty partisanship of an ineffectual Congress? Is America ready to set higher standards for the selection of an equal gender Senate. Is it ready to dismantle an out-dated education system? Is it ready to refocus its short sighted, short-term corporate business practices? Is America ready to initiate a whole new consciousness of the collective Self and learn the business of planet management?
In the coming days, weeks and months, this communication will attempt to give some idea of what ideals and practicalities the new dream should be focused on.
Plans for a mass change of American consciousness
and the mindset required for World leadership
The Redundant American Dream
The American Dream, which has served to draw millions from around the world to our shores, has fallen into general international disrepute. The ostentatious nature of the wealth amassed by one nation over the past three centuries, and the seemingly vulgar appearance of a nationalistic ideal that encourages each of its citizens to aspire after millions, despite the obvious signs of environmental distress, while billions suffer from hunger, war and disease in the Third World, is viewed by the rest of the world with an unhealthy mix of envy and distaste. Our materialistic lack of self-restraint has poisoned the minds and hearts of thousands of idealistic young people in the Middle East who are committing desperate acts of suicide in an effort to halt the tide of America’s expanding global influence.
Universal condemnation of a once laudable ideal raises questions of how the American Dream differs from that of other nations and what its significance has been in the larger field of global development. A short investigation into an obscure point in America’s developmental history might bring to light an interpretation of the Dream that has not perhaps been fully evaluated.
The Influence of Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine’s denouement of the divine nature of royal appointment was a crucial aspect of his pamphlet on Common Sense. It helped to break the Iron Age spell of superstitious loyalty to the crown (which had originally evolved during the Bronze Age of totemic worship and ancestral reverence) and galvanize the colonists into war.
Not enough emphasis has been placed on the positive/negative dynamic of how that radical break from class-conscious thinking initiated, in itself, the mass change of the common man’s mind-set that has so radically altered the course of mankind’s cultural development.
The Positive Dynamic
With equal rights to accumulate kingly wealth decreed to be the entitlement of every man, Paine was directly instrumental in inspiring an entire nation of commoners to let go of their former social taboos, which had made it culturally unseemly for the common man to aspire to the power and privilege of the nobility – to go ahead and dream the dream of kings and unrestricted wealth – without an inhibiting sense of disloyalty to one’s birth rite. This surge towards a new level of mass consciousness set millions of Americans on the road to become the world’s economic super-power.
The Negative Dynamic
Unfortunately, exposed only to the negative aspects of the nobility, Paine left out a vital leavening ingredient in his socio-economic equation. Never directly aware of the finer cultural points of sophisticated self-restraint, together with and sense of compassionate respect for the hard life of the under-class, which defines the essential spirituality and evolutionary purpose of creating a noble class of leadership, which is designed to set a standard of the finer aspirations of life, in his denouement of the King and the House of Lords, Paine cut the umbilical chord of America’s direct connection to its cultivated lineage of noble example.
The International Result
Consequently, in the great rush towards prosperity that Americans have enjoyed, which has created over the past two centuries some three million super rich families, and some twenty million more who are very rich, and who all may be as wealthy as any king ever was, they are for the most part, devoid of a cultivated sense of nobility and the larger social responsibilities such privilege status entails.. Thus an essential in-bred sense of self-restraint and cultural influence that vast wealth and social status is supposed to exercise over the nation, is not a significant factor in governing the commercial behavior of the American psyche or in its political expression.
It is this brash rudeness that the more cultivated Old World is sensitive towards and which undermines its admiration for the power we have developed.
And so the unrefined rough and tumble wealthy young nation of America finds itself today in much the same place as young European nations once did. It is dominated by rudely ambitious baronial Corporations, each fiercely defending its territory against rival takeover wars, with their eyes on international (imperial) expansion at any expense. The commoners who work the mass production lines have to pay through the nose to rent or buy tiny plots of God’s Earth just to build a house and raise a family. As the inevitable gap between the 6% rich and the 94% poor widens, the working man has to deal with tax collectors, corrupted politicians and zealous religious ministers, while supporting a vast, heavily-policed, government bureaucracy and is left wondering and puzzled why he is viewed as an international pariah.
American World Leadership
For good or bad, America is the acknowledged super-power on the planet. It is in the position of supreme dictator. In order to initiate a global concert of efficient planet management, the world desperately needs strong and focused leadership. The congregation of all the cultures of the world in America, is an evolutionary rite of world leadership.
Nobility is in deed - not in title.
What America needs now, in order for such a dictatorship to be benevolent and all-inclusive, is to inculcate a noble outlook in its next generation of young people and educate them to see not just America, but the whole globe as a single estate under the stewardship of the entire human family..
The New American Consciousness
In this new atmosphere, is it common sense to suggest that America is ready for a refinement of its National Dream? Is it ready for a new revolution? Is ready to break its atavistic hold on a redundant Constitution? Is it ready to disband the petty partisanship of an ineffectual Congress? Is America ready to set higher standards for the selection of an equal gender Senate. Is it ready to dismantle an out-dated education system? Is it ready to refocus its short sighted, short-term corporate business practices? Is America ready to initiate a whole new consciousness of the collective Self and learn the business of planet management?
In the coming days, weeks and months, this communication will attempt to give some idea of what ideals and practicalities the new dream should be focused on.
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