Glen:
I took Steve's comments to refer to the behaviors that help define the
people in each of the 11 Nations - not necessarily the genetically
determined
characteristics.
For example:
Appalachia & Yankeedom - the independence that brought them to America
Yankeedom & Midlands - the family and community orientation.
et cetera
I took Steve's comments to mean if these groups could focus on the positive
behavioral characteristics we could collectively interact more positively.
I understand your frustration at not being accepted even though you have
been
a resident of a location for a very long time. I hear that New England
is the same way
.... as well as my own State of Minnesota. Tho to be (funny) fair, if
you put on the Fargo
Accent you will fit in "just swell, don' tcha know.." (Just mimic the
speech patterns of
Sarah Palin (I don't recommend her politics). Her family and others
were settled from
Northern Minnesota to a region of Alaska in the 1920s for employment. I
understand the
entire valley in Alaska all speak with the Fargo accent.
StephT
On 11/11/2013 11:04 AM, glen wrote:
I'm always late to the game, since I (try to) unplug on weekends. But
this excerpt caught my eye:
On 11/10/2013 08:44 AM, Steve Smith wrote:
We are not
who we are proud of being for the most part, and I find that sad. Each
of those 11 nations in Woodard's model have a strong story about what
makes them unique, what they are proud of. I hope we might look to
those ideals and return to them, not as laurels to rest on, but things
to aspire to.
[...]
I believe that the only way out of our spoiled and usurious lifestyles
is to return to the roots of what we can honestly be proud of and focus
on that. In many ways, I feel we long ago threw out the baby and kept
the bathwater. It shows in virtually every walk of life. We are now
much more interested in what everyone else is "doing wrong" than what
"right we should be doing".
To be proud of something that's biologically (or otherwise, I guess)
determined seems a bit odd, to me. E.g. other Texans claim to be proud
of their being born and/or raised in Texas makes me laugh and cringe at
the same time. (To this day, Renee' claims that I'm not _really_ a
Texan because I tend to point out the stupidity that is most of Texas
... my addiction to pickup trucks isn't enough, apparently. Having been
adopted as an infant, I can't really argue with her... I used to imagine
my biological mom was sequestered at a distant nunnery in Houston for
6-10 months to avoid the shame of birthing a bastard.)
Anyway, I can't accept determined attributes as being something worthy
of pride. Enter the "free will" -- for individuals -- and "stigmergy"
-- for collectives -- debate(s). What attributes can we really be proud
of and what do we chalk up as hysteretic?
Similarly, what can we _expect_ from those around us without seeming
"spoiled and usurious"? Even the most John Wayne style individualist
(self sufficient, yet generous, honorable, naively respectful, etc.)
will end up disrespecting her environment (people and things) because
individualism is ... bullsh!t, to put it nicely. So, one not only
should we have expectations, we _must_ in order to fully understand
symbiosis. (That reminds me of the continuing increase in narcissism
scores of college students. Oddly, as civilization progresses,
entitlement progresses... funny that.) What should we expect, if not
lives better, richer, more luxurious, more relaxing, than our parents'?
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