"Imagination is more important than knowledge. "
~ Albert Einstein
"Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow!"
~ Norman Vincent Peale
Song Around the World
A Basic Misconception:
From "Partisan Thinkers Don’t Use Reasoning": "A new study has used brain scans (specifically, fMRIs)
to demonstrate that partisan Democrats and Republicans don’t use the areas of
their brains associated with reasoning when faced with criticism of their
candidate."
We do need to identify, and be honest about, what
contributes to any type of violence.
This discussion needs to happen, from kids being raised on violent
games, to a two party political system that focuses strongly on partisanship
rather than solutions for the common good of the people.
How can you value your core beliefs and still contribute to
solutions? How can we help make the
change we want to see? It takes careful
self examination to find in ourselves where we may be caught up in unexamined
emotional political rhetoric vs. being willing to search for the common truths
and solutions. If we are hooked into win/lose, like many politicians are and
want us to be, we unconsciously add to the conflict (violence) in ourselves and
others: Improve Your Information.
You’ll find common ground in material such
as: Healing Our World: The Other Piece of the Puzzle “War and poverty are caused, not by
"selfish others," but by our own reactions to them. If we wish to
change the world, we must first change ourselves.”
If you're ready for action, connect to the fast growing arena of Social Networks in the Notable Links section.
Where are we and what can we do?
If everyday
People around the World want peace, if they just want to be good citizens of their community, which is what I've witnessed time and time
again through international travel and the internet, why are we
experiencing such turbulent times and injustices? One must ask, if most
Religions espouse peace and brotherly love, where is the media in
reporting their acts and voices of leadership? Where are the acts
and voices of the politicians of every free country who are responsible
to represent what the majority of the good people want? There are
hundreds of thousands of websites all over the world calling for no more
war. Many say something to the effect "This new site has just been born."
People want peace. How is it that almost 62 years after the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the United States still finds it necessary to lead its allies
in physical wars against sovereign peoples? One must ask WHO is
warring, WHO is behind creating the need and the patriotism for war? WHO
is inciting war when normal everyday people all over the world just
want to be left to their own affairs?
Learning
about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Universal Laws allows us a base from which to assess our own and others beliefs
and actions. It allows us to separate stereotype from truth, dissent
from violence. Do you associate those in the Tea Party movement with
violence as the media suggests, or are you able to evaluate individual
circumstances and listen for truth? Do you direct anger
toward government employees, police officers or judges, or do you treat
everyone with respect while taking appropriate action for freedom and
justice? The point is to become aware, no matter what group or party,
of those who cross over a dysfunctional line into exclusiveness,
hate-mongering or violence.
In the introduction I mention the need to examine our belief
systems. Where do we undermine the peace we want in the world by
holding onto practices that are destructive in our own lives? For
example, you may strongly believe in Christian values, yet use violence
to accomplish your goal. In such a case, you may love but hit your
child to discipline him because somewhere you learned 'it's for your own
good'. You may talk about and believe in God, yet participate in child
pornography or feel it's your right to have sex with anyone you wish.
This kind
of fragmentation in us, this unexamined
disconnection between belief and action, can be corrected. Yet we've all
known those who deny and will not look at their own abusive actions. I
don't know why one person takes responsibility for their actions yet
another person rigidly clings to excuses and plays the victim or the
bully to get out of any call to accountability. What I do know is that
violence is based on early neuro-biological conditioning and each
individual can change this programming if they want to.
We
must become aware of violence in ourselves and our belief systems in
order to choose an effective remedy and stand up to fight the right
battles effectively. I respect those
who have, upon principle, taken stands toward freedom and rights.
There are those who have given back their driver's license or who
have stood sovereign ground with a traffic cop. There are those who go
into a courtroom pro se to uphold their constitutional rights within a
highly controlled judicial system. I appreciate everyone who has
sacrificed their own personal safety to stand their ground with the IRS,
and all those whose administrative processes have tried to help people
confront fraudulent mortgage lenders and banks. These are the
warriors upon which this movement rests. At the same time, I also
acknowledge all officers, judges, and government officials who are good
people and mostly unaware of what they are really participating in.
The
above acknowledgments are a necessary part of discerning good people
from the truly bad apples found in every group or
profession. This leads to the issue of those who perpetrate abuse and
will not examine what they do. M. Scott Peck in the book "People of the Lie”
identifies people who will not change, no matter what evidence is
presented to them of the need to do so. They control and hurt others
and will not take responsibility for what they do. This is what Peck
calls true evil. With case studies, this book gives an eerie feeling of
people who will not allow co-creation, who believe they are right at the
cost of others. Once you know what to look for you recognize when a
person or system is not co-creating with you. In that sense, the Evil
in this world is done by a few real people, somehow influencing and
maintaining real structures of power. Uncovering this reality and how
it affects our world is the true remedy. According to Peck an evil
person:
- Is consistently self deceiving, with the intent of avoiding guilt and maintaining a self image of perfection
- Deceives others as a consequence of their own self deception
- Projects his or her evils and sins onto very specific targets (scapegoats) while being apparently normal with everyone else
- Commonly hates with the pretense of love, for the purposes of self deception as much as deception of others
- Abuses political (emotional) power ("the imposition of one's will upon others by overt or covert coercion"
- Maintains a high level of respectability and lies incessantly in order to do so
- Is
consistent in his or her sins. Evil persons are characterized not so
much by the magnitude of their sins, but by their consistency (of
destructiveness)
- Is unable to think from the viewpoint of their victim (scapegoat)
- Has a covert intolerance to criticism and other forms of narcissistic injury
A
reader says "I agree that to be mentally healthy we must believe what
is true and only what is true. After reading this book you will be
better equipped to deal with people who cause strife and confusion. It
will also help you identify thought patterns where you are lying to
yourself."
So
consider that our remedy will come from many directions, many groups
and processes, rants and exposures, until a critical mass of awareness
is achieved. Although I don't subscribe to any part of Democrat &
Liberal, Republican & Tea-Party that focuses on inciting people's
emotions to blame and fight the other side, I DO listen to what is
really being said. A non-partisan stance allows me to
gather information from any source which shines a light on any
fraud, collusion, deceit, theft, conspiracy or racketeering that goes on
anywhere. A strong vision, presence and awareness of Universal Law
within myself supports the ability to discern and take thoughtful and
appropriate action at times with banks, agencies or people. We've got
to start somewhere.
We
all wonder what the future holds. Will it be evolution or
revolution? Where is true "evil" woven into our system? What will it
take for Good to prevail and evil forces to be defeated? I don't know,
yet I do know that unless people begin to wake up and look, we'll
continue to do what evil wants us to do.
"On
the Fourth of July, we celebrated Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Madison
and all the other great men who created our democracy, right?
Not
exactly. The Founders did create the framework for a democratic
republic, but they didn't create much democracy. Indeed, in America's
first presidential election, only 4 percent of the people were even
eligible to vote.
The
Founders created the possibility for democracy, but it took the
struggle (often bloody and always hard) of ordinary people over the
years to create the substance. In some decades, we've made advances; in
others, we've fallen back -- including in the past three decades, when
the power of America's workaday majority has steadily been usurped by
corporate elites. So now, We the People must put America back on its
historic path toward economic and political democracy.
"Fine," you might say, "but how? I'm just one person. What can I do?"
1) Start
by considering what's reasonable for you. Few of us can be full-time
activists, and the list of issues and problems is intimidating, long and
complex. So just take one bite, choosing an issue that interests you
most, then start contributing what you can (time, skills, contacts,
money, enthusiasm, etc.) to making progress. No contribution is too
small. If you can only devote half a day a week, or an hour a day or
even minutes a day -- it all adds up. As a young Oregon woman said of
her half-day-a-week volunteer door-knocking in a legislative race: "I
was only drop in the bucket, but I was one drop. And without all of us,
the bucket would not have filled up."
2)
Inform yourself. A little effort can quickly connect you to accessible,
usable information and insights on any given topic, allowing you to
gain a "citizen's level" of expertise so you can talk to others about
it. Read progressive periodicals, tune in to progressive broadcasts, get
information from public-interest groups, and plug into good websites
and blogs.
Don't
know how to go online? Nearly all public libraries not only have
computers, but also librarians and volunteers who'll assist you in
finding the info you want and teach you how to use the machines. Or find
a youngster (maybe your grandchildren or someone at church) who'll help
you. Yes, you can do this!
3) Democracy
belongs to those who show up. Join with others. Everyone feels better
when they're part of a group, a movement, a community (whether real or
virtual). In your own town or neighborhood, many others are either
already working together or willing to help form a group -- seek them
out, maybe at bookstores, book clubs, coffee shops, events, churches,
blogs, Websites and other meeting places.
4) A
community is more than a collection of issues and endless meetings.
Combine the serious with the social, and remember the Yugoslavian
proverb, "You can fight the gods and still have fun!" So discuss your
issues and strategies at potluck suppers (bring the kids, have some
music, pour a little wine), throw an annual festival of politics, create
weekly sessions of beer-mug democracy at local taverns, set aside one
day a week for Big Talk (rather than small talk) at the coffee shop, etc.
5)
Become the media. Create a local newsletter, blog, bulletin board (on
the wall or online), Internet radio broadcast, etc. Just as importantly,
enlist high-school or community college speech and journalism teachers
to help you learn how to do radio and TV interviews and how to get local
media to cover your issues. Also, get them to train you and others in
pubic speaking, so you can have your own speakers' bureau to address
clubs, churches, schools, etc.
6)
Hold your own "what to do" sessions in your community.Don't wait for
national progressive groups, which haven't figured out a cohesive
strategy for focusing on people's anger about the meekness of
Washington's [leaders]. Instead, have your own discussions about what
should be done nationally -- if anything -- and start zapping those
ideas to other communities, heads of national groups, progressive media
outlets and so forth. Let the ideas percolate up from a thousand
localities!
That's what democracy is. Some assembly required.
National
radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the book, Swim
Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow, Jim
Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf
of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families,
environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks."
Copyright 2010 Creators.com
Truthout
How do we make a better world? Maybe we just keep singing and finding that which sustains, unites and grows us. Singing and uniting around the world.