In some recent conversations with other Co-conveners (*Verna Allee , *Aimee Bernstein, *Peter Block, *Dinesh Chandra, Roosvelt Finlayson, David Gutzwiller, **Jed Jones, *Michael Lindfield, Sadandand Ward Mailliard, Gary Merrill, Gary Musinczky, Bill Tobin, Lauren Vanett, **Doug Walton, Vivian Wright) the concept of a "Global Open Space" emerged. Permit me to play devil's advocate or at least to question the meaning of this statement
I am wondering specifically what emerged in the sense that I thought that in the sense that Harrison has tirelessly over 25+ years connected alumni round 80 countries open space is already global. So what extra does this phrase of Global Open Space mean - it sounds pretty important if there is extra that we all know about it on this list. There's another problem and I am going to be blunt because 10 non-US people have stated it to me almost the same way in the last 7 days. Today, we see the United States as not United but 2 different countries; largely speaking the Red middle that doesn't travel abroad and the Blue coasts do; the Red Middle to the extent that it has ideas of the world beyond America's borders is largely conditioned by a tv media that is so local that as one CNN broadcaster explained our policy is not to announce anything in the news in a way that might cause a viewer to switch the channel; that is number one editing criterion - yes thanks for explaining that! We ten unrepresentative but international people would rather the United States really got to know its own identity (patriotic egotism) problem before it offered us even one more global solution. For most of my life we have looked up to the US for ideas on global solutions; at the moment the 10 of us are in no such mood to value a US view just because it is US more than any other view, in fact perhaps its time for reverse discrimination. Perhaps 'ignoring' US views as if they don't exist while they are so often without of our contexts is the only way 5.8 billion people have left when .2 billion people vote for their own superpower over the world using the content that American mass media chains. This isn't to say we want any less open space percolated around the world but the name global open space being launched out of America (if that's what this message says) may be the wrong name at the wrong time unless the people I have been talking with are a very confused international sample - quite possible I admit because these are possibly the most confusing times on my 50 years on this planet. Just 90 minutes ago on BBC television I thought I heard Britain's prime minister stake both his reputation and Bush's on resolving the Palestine conflict over the next 5 years. I believe Blair said many of my own party are sick of him but they will see its all worth while once we (B&B) turn this round. This is a very peculiar statement if I heard it right; I'm struggling I think Blair did say it and believes its what he's agreed in last 36 hours; I suspect Bush never meant to have promised any such thing (but then I am struggling - my faith comes from a different place than where these 2 gent's faith seems to have come from month after year; anyhow they have so confused imagery and reality that I would rather not have to listen to words from either of them as soon as that becomes a realistic possibility, they have drowned the start of a millennium in a way that lacks hope, spirit, love, whatever the word I fumble for) Or maybe its just a day when I cant read between the lines any more; in which case apologies for this mail. I'm off for 3 days in Spain at a conference where I hope to talk to people representing cities from at least 20 countries; maybe I will return with my mind clearer. Chris Macrae * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
