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___________________________
Feel free to pass this on or post on Facebook (or wherever) by copying the following link.
“If you want to find pure gold, you must see it through fire.” – Mumonkan
* * * * * * * * * *
___________________________
Feel free to pass this on or post on Facebook (or wherever) by copying the following link.
“If you want to find pure gold, you must see it through fire.” – Mumonkan
I have a cat.
Pretty neurotic.
Just like my other cats.
Just like me.
Frisky and guarded.
Wary.
Not knowing entirely what is to come.
Not being entirely ok with that.
Craves affection.
Pushes away.
Ambiguous about people.
This tiny little place his jungle.
Entirely.
And you intrude.
He wants to be attended.
He wants to be alone.
Go figure.
“You have always taught us that liberty is the same thing as capitalism, as if life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness cannot be crushed by greed. Your American Dream is financial, not ethical. Thank you. You have taught us well.”
“To those who are lost in the kind of cynicism caused by over-exposure to the mind numbing critiques of the left, particularly over issues of foreign policy, I can only say that I don’t believe for a minute “both parties are the same.” The difference, even in foreign policy, is clearly put forth in the rhetoric of the presidential candidates. Mitt Romney forthrightly represents the old colonial assumptions of white supremacy and the just rule of financial elites. Barack Obama’s foreign policy, which has been criticized for being too reactive (rather than pro-active) consistently emphasizes themes of cultural diversity and cooperation and are never mired in the rhetoric of religious and racial bigotry. It’s true, I will concede, that both candidates and both parties support the continued strength and overwhelming superiority of the American military. Both will do what it takes to keep the lights on. Both will use drones (or whatever means necessary) in wars against foreign enemies (with consequential collateral damage to civilians). I do believe, however, that the switch from a rhetoric of domination to the rhetoric of cooperation and defense is more than just a change in vocabulary. It indicates an important step toward new approaches in a world facing enormous changes where cooperation is the only path that can take us beyond disaster.”
What we expect from our governments and leaders is that they maintain the infrastructure that supports our existence, and that they protect us from those who want to hurt us. ALL of us who choose to live in a particular country agree on these things.
Some of us may see the destination more clearly and most of us disagree somewhat on the path from here to there. Some of us are extremely short sighted and selfish. Some of us are lost in our dreams.
The war that’s raging in this country and most of those raging around the world are religious wars, dealing with disagreements about the purpose and destination of the journey. In this election two very different metaphysics are represented. The parental metaphor is apt. American politics in fact, has long been characterized as a clash between the “daddy” state and the “mommy” state.
I see it as a clash between two distinct value sets. One is based on the religious concept that our ultimate destination is another world completely (the Abrahamic religious legacy in the west and the Hindu philosophy in the east). Against this is the view that our natural destiny is one of codependency with the natural world and each other. The latter view flows most recently out of the conclusions of science, particularly as Systems Theory. It also is seen in several religions that emerged out of the so-called Axial Age that began about 2500 years ago.
If you listen to and analyze the vocabulary used in virtually every speech at the Republican and Democrat Conventions you will see an amazingly stark representation of these opposing metaphysics.
This is a conflict that is much older than America. In a country that’s a melting pot and in some ways a microcosm of the whole world, our political process is a mirror of this ancient struggle.
Unlike in many other countries in the world, we may be sitting in the back seat, but we ultimately decide, collectively, who will sit in the front.
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Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting.
– Alan Dean Foster
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Sites of interest:
http://open.salon.com/blog/ralph_melcher/recent
http://arclist-ralphmelcher.blogspot.com/
To subscribe to the Arclist send a message to melcher@nets.com
“If you want to find pure gold, you must see it through fire.” – Mumonkan
* * * * * * * * * *
Sites of interest:
http://open.salon.com/blog/ralph_melcher/recent
http://arclist-ralphmelcher.blogspot.com/
To subscribe to the Arclist send a message to melcher@nets.com
“If you want to find pure gold, you must see it through fire.” – Mumonkan
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