Obama's tweet about the events in Charlottesville got the most "likes" of any tweet in twitter history. It is a quote from Nelson Mandela: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion … People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love … For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite,”
On Wed, Aug 16, 2017 at 12:50 PM, Steven A Smith <sasm...@swcp.com> wrote: > Marcus/Eric - > > > Great observations, both. I think this cuts to (part of) the heart of > the matter. > > > I just recently watched "Glass Castle" (current run at Violet Crown) with > Woody Harrelson playing the role of a fairly intelligent (his daughter, the > memoirist characterizes him as brilliant) but highly dysfunctional father > of 4 who himself has (mostly/almost) escaped the small Appalachian > coal-mining town he was raised in by an acutely abusive mother and an > apathetic/dysfunctional father and greater community. The family lives a > vagabond life with Harrelson's character (Rex) leading them on an > alternatingly merry and curiosity-driven chase through skipping out on bill > collectors and trying to find the "next big opportunity" and "escape the > forces out to repress us!". It is (IMO) a great story of a nearly > effective attempt (by the parents) to escape/transcend their own > dysfunctional roots and the mostly effective experience of the children > escaping their own (passed down a generation) from that half-functional > platform. > > > I also picked up (at a "tiny library" in a neighborhood) a copy JD Vance's > "Hillbilly Legacy", a memoir written by a 31 year old Harvard educated > lawyer, now living happily (and presumably functionally) in San Francisco > with his wife and child(ren?), but still quite attached > emotionally/romantically to his own roots in Appalachia (a small KY coal > mining town) and the Rustbelt (Middletown OH, aka MiddleTucky) where all of > his family and most of his childhood friends still live and vote for and > continue to support Trump. > > > The common thread is the abject hopelessness that surrounded the people > locked into those environments by circumstance, including lack of > perspective to "just leave". Vance credits his Grandparents who raised > him most of his life for having had enough perspective to shield him from > the worst of that and to encourage/help him "just leave". His chronicle > (I also listened to an NPR book interview when it came out maybe a year > ago) includes feeling that he had "done everything in his power to waste > his life up until about 18 years old" and looking at his cohort and family, > might use the term "but for the grace of God, there go I". > > > My Pollyanna (a fairly significant player in my personal Pantheon of > Personalities which helps me cope with the kinds of Cosmic Ennui and > Existential Angst that comes with trying to be a thinking/caring person in > these hyper-connected, seemingly chaotic times) has me looking for a > "bright side" of all of this. > > I particularly want to call out the following quote from Marcus: > > *A healthy society is one where individuals can mature to the point they > can begin to doubt the meaning in their own anxiety (whether by themselves, > with their shrink or their spiritual authority) and make it to the next > day. * > > and offer a rewording (my words are *underlined*) or expansion: > > "*whether with themselves, their shrink, their spiritual authority,* *or > their community of emergently self-enlightened people*" > > and > > "*and make it **beyond** the next day* *and into a new era of > contagious enlightened self-interest*" > > I hope that if we can ever get through this acutely dark/inverted time > that we can follow some of the example of Nelson Mandela in his perspective > and leadership out of the centuries long oppression of his people that was > most recently exhibited as Apartheid. Obviously that moment was only a > partial antidote, as too many of the original problems linger or arise > again. But I *think* it was a better solution than to the similarly > genocidal/punative response many of his people were calling for when the > descendents of their Colonial Overlords finally fell. > > I heard recently a quote from Barbara Boxer as she left the political > stage after many decades: > "No victory is final" > > This underscores why we are dealing with the rise of > white-supremacy/nazi/confederate/kkk, > gender oppression, and many other battles presumed to have been won. > This moment (in most places) is nothing like the conditions of the > antebellum South, nor the era of Nazi/Fascist power in Europe, but there > are clearly strong echoes. Such things *might* be suppressed temporarily > by force, but ultimately those kinds of behaviours/activities dissipate > through healing and enlightenment much more than regulation/punishment/ > suppression. > > my $.02, > - Steve > > On 8/16/17 9:10 AM, Marcus Daniels wrote: > > Eric writes: > > > < It is not so far from Nietzche’s notion that “God is dead” creates a > problem for people, and they will face a fork in the road in how they try > to deal with it. > > > > Yeah, it is probably nothing new that is happening nor a new > interpretation. Institutions of various kinds can give individuals a > role to play and guidelines for conduct, but a highly interconnected > population with a complex economy will stress these institutions and reveal > their limitations. Meanwhile, only exceptional and delusional individuals > can really make a convincing case (esp. to themselves) about their unique > value either coupled-to or uncoupled-from from institutions. However, I > fear the stakes are pretty high now -- the contagion of people going > bonkers could be fast with social media. A healthy society is one where > individuals can mature to the point they can begin to doubt the meaning in > their own anxiety (whether by themselves, with their shrink or their > spiritual authority) and make it to the next day. > > > Marcus > ------------------------------ > *From:* Friam <friam-boun...@redfish.com> <friam-boun...@redfish.com> on > behalf of Eric Smith <desm...@santafe.edu> <desm...@santafe.edu> > *Sent:* Wednesday, August 16, 2017 6:56:23 AM > *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] the Skeptical Meme > > > > Their desperation and rage just comes from a feeling that they can't > confront, that they just don't have much to offer. > > > > Marcus > > Reading this, I feel like you could found a new generation of something > that is like existentialist philosophy but equally-well political theory. > > It is not so far from Nietzche’s notion that “God is dead” creates a > problem for people, and they will face a fork in the road in how they try > to deal with it. Maybe even, considering the currents running through > European and particularly German society at the time he was writing (and > that he specifically wrote about), driven by concerns based on similar > observations. > > It strikes me that this is an available point of view for almost any > person. Granted, the distribution of rewards and frustrations differs from > person to person and also from region to region, and that matters. But the > black box (black hole?) of how minds form characters and orientations in > response to streams of these things draws from an immense and to me-obscure > range of inputs. > > Makes me wonder, > > Eric > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove > -- Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D. President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy emergentdiplomacy.org Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA Visiting Professor in Integrative Peacebuilding Saint Paul University Ottawa, Ontario, Canada merlelefk...@gmail.com <merlelef...@gmail.com> mobile: (303) 859-5609 skype: merle.lelfkoff2 twitter: @Merle_Lefkoff
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
