On Sun Dec, 01 2002 [08:33PM] "Barbara L. Nelson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote regarding: "[Mpls] Re: Gangs & Violence"
BLN> However, how likely is that to happen here? Not likely. As BLN> you point out, the BLN> anti-drug program supports many jobs. (Think of all those BLN> chemical dependency BLN> counselors needing retraining. YIKES. ;-)) So, I think the BLN> real question, the BLN> practical question is what can we do other than BLN> decriminalize/legalize? Yikes indeed! Lets abandon hope too while we're at it, and just serve the system since we admit that it is no longer even pretending to try to serve us. ;-) Seriously though, this is a weird, mechanical, almost robotic point of view which assumes that the system and it's institutions are incapable of being intelligently engineered to match the needs and will of the citizenry. If the structure is so incapable of being a reflection of our collective will, what is it? Is the momentum and intelligence of our system being governed by the wrong volition and motives? Perhaps the balances which should have empowered the system to serve the citizens have been engineered out. In which case we need to fix it since it's our system, not some out-of-control robot. If we are incapable of restoring them, or of inculcating the balances and checks we need into the system, then the system is no longer serving us, and we are serving a weird anti-utopian factory. We need some leaders here obviously. But, leaders who value the system, and their status within it above of the best interests of the citizenry are probably what is perpetuating this situation instead of mending it. If our so called leaders are doing that willfully, then shame on them, why are they in these positions? They are impediments to our evolution. They are perhaps without even realizing it, actively antagonistic to progress and evolution which needs to replace them with truer leaders. I'd rather pray that we're dealing with a kind of generational gap where the old gaurd just can't absorb changes fast enough to keep up with the rapid reassesment needed to mold the system in response to all this information and intelligence we're constantly learning about. I think you're right though, we can't force it, is has to grow, even if it lags behind. But knowing that, if we abandon hope and cease giving voice to intelligence and reason, we're no longer leading the group forward. This was supposed to be where our leaders come in, where are they? Guys like Ben Franklin or Tomas Jefferson, who could stand up and be idealistic visionaries, they werent just tied to polls and status quo power structures. They inspired the populace, but they also led a populace who wasn't up to their level. They didn't dumb down the message to appeal to and least threaten the largest demographic, they were above average, brilliant and futuristic. We should have choices, but we need to run so called leaders out of town on a rail who are complacent instead of brilliant. Are we afraid of vision and genius? I think so. But I bet it's always been that way, we just have so many more opportunities to think about the mind-gap between the genius and the average guy what with TV and sound bites and all. Leaders need a vision and a dream of a future which can encompass idealism, even utopian possibilities, because that is what mankind is capable of - some day. The world can change as fast as the slowest movers and shakers can shake and move, let's see a little moving and shaking folks, instead of proping up leaders who cannot lead, but insist on merely following. Those of us who might be more on the average side also need to check our fears with a little self confidence and try to elect the people who are really exceptional, even it is means those same people might challenge some pet notion or other. This is the challenge of the mediocracy of the mean. So, that means we also need to boost the intelligence of the mean continuously so that we can have new generations of brilliant men and women. Education is the only way we're digging out of this mess. John Bohumil Northside _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
