Our ideas and beliefs are governed by many variables, and change is very hard. I grew up in rural South Carolina. I think the key to being a good person who does not cause additional harm in a very scary world, is a good education that teaches us to be as open to new ideas as possible.
On Sun, Jan 8, 2017 at 7:36 PM, Gary Schiltz <[email protected]> wrote: > Merle, I think a lot about what makes ultraconservatives the way they are, > since as I said, the majority of my family is of that mindset. I grew up on > a farm in Kansas, so I do relate somewhat to the people I grew up with. > However, I left that life behind decades ago, and have come to see how > narrow-minded they (and I) can be. I believe a large part of it has to do > with male authoratarianism. I remember a recent Facebook post by one of my > cousins that said something along the lines of "people have forgotten what > an alpha male is like, and Trump is going to show them." This is closely > tied to the religious fundamentalism of the south, which to my thinking, is > damn close to that of Christian cults (I don't have any personal > experience, just going by what I've read about figures like David Koresh > and the Branch Dividians, and the Hollywood prortrayal of them). Somewhere > in this mix, a big dose of fear of the government controlling our lives > leads to fierce defense of the right to have guns - despite the more > "moderate" views in the NRA of needing guns for hunting and self defense, > the most strongly held view is that they are necessary to take back the > country if the government gets too powerful. I must admit being torn on > that issue myself. I don't buy the whole "I'll give up my gun when they pry > it from my cold dead hands" mindset, but I'm also pretty suspicious of an > overly strong centralized government. You can take the boy out of the > country... > > On Sun, Jan 8, 2017 at 8:18 PM, Merle Lefkoff <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Your candor and honest reflection is refreshing, Gary. And I agree with >> you. I'm a recovering international mediator, and in addition to teaching >> graduate students in Canada in a course titled "Complexity Thinking for >> Integrative Peacebuilding", I also teach in the Buddhist chaplaincy program >> at Upaya Zen Center--so I try never to see "the other" as evil. Some of >> the men I've had at the table over the years in negotiations had committed >> truly evil acts, but they are human beings nonetheless. I've become quite >> radical as our trusted systems at every level are collapsing, and that's >> what is promoting revolutionary resistance. In order for social movements >> to be successful they must remain relentlessly non-violent, and they must >> have as part of the self-organizing process some sense of how to replace >> the structures underlying the failed systems that they have disabled. >> Facilitating that process is, I believe, part of our political work as >> Complexity thinkers. If you're interested, a paper I wrote on applying CAS >> principles to social movements has just been published in an academic >> Canadian peace journal. I'll send it if you like. >> >> On Sun, Jan 8, 2017 at 1:24 PM, Gary Schiltz <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> What really worries me about the USA is how polarized the society there >>> is, so "mass resistance" will certainly, at least in the short term, >>> increase this polarization. From the standpoint of this on-the-fence >>> liberal, it would be nice to have the luxury to be able to see the "other >>> side" as being evil, so that I wouldn't care how they feel. The problem for >>> me is that I can't, since many of the people I grew up with, including >>> nearly all of my family, are part of that other side. And I see their point >>> of view on a lot of issues. No way could I ever support Trump, but a lot of >>> good people really do. And I don't know how to deal with this. I sure as >>> hell don't want to see another civil war, but sometimes I think the >>> passions are strong enough to instigate one. >>> >>> On Sun, Jan 8, 2017 at 2:54 PM, Merle Lefkoff <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> <https://www.facebook.com/bekah.wolf.5> >>>> Bekah Wolf <https://www.facebook.com/bekah.wolf.5> >>>> January 8 at 7:17am >>>> >>>> A year ago, an action against deportations: >>>> https://www.facebook.com/toni.arenstein/videos/10208311021676102/ >>>> >>>> 2017 is going to be the year of mass resistance. This is only thing >>>> that works now to overcome our slide toward endless war and increasing >>>> social injustice. These protests and the larger social movements emerging >>>> all over the world are self-organizing systems with much to say about >>>> applied Complexity. Visit our website: ecosgathering.org. Enough >>>> blah, blah. Time for action. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D. >>>> President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy >>>> Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA >>>> merlelef >>>> âkâ >>>> [email protected] <[email protected]> >>>> mobile: (303) 859-5609 >>>> skype: merle.lefkoff2 >>>> >>>> ============================================================ >>>> 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 >> Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA >> [email protected] >> mobile: (303) 859-5609 >> skype: merle.lelfkoff2 >> >> ============================================================ >> 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 Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA [email protected] mobile: (303) 859-5609 skype: merle.lelfkoff2
============================================================ 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
