dear Anna, I fully agree with your perspective and conclusions here, and that we must learn from the good practices of societies before our own, and one's that exist today with better child-rearing practices ..
here are some historical trends on military spending though; it is my understanding that for many western european countries, military spending is down in relative terms, but I checked the UK which is more militaristic than most, it seems down there as well, see 'historical perspectives' here at https://ourworldindata.org/military-spending/ nevertheless with the increasing social and ecological crisis, social instability is again in the air, and it is not at all impossible to see increasing re-armament trends, Michel On Sun, Nov 6, 2016 at 6:39 PM, Anna Harris <[email protected]> wrote: > I am not clear what you both mean by "idealisation". My intention was not > to idealise tribal cultures, but nevertheless there is much that we can > learn from them, particularly as regards to birth practices. The tribal > groups studied were specifically small band hunter gatherers, not tribal > cultures in general. And the point is to take what is good, not import > wholesale. The evidence is based on recent neurobiological research, not > social history. > > The recent protest at Standing Rock also shows a "tribal" understanding of > the importance of natural resources which western cultures can treat with > breathtaking ignorance. > > But I must take objection to the idea that "Military training is now for > volunteer professionals, and the kind of de-sensitizing practices are not > nearly as generalized as they once were". War is a constant part of our > lives, and military expenditure is increasing not decreasing. That in > itself reveals a general de-sensitising towards wholesale destruction of > people and planet. Many still enter the military because it's the only job > open to them without qualifications, and they are treated as heroes. > > If a newborn experiences the world as a hostile place, everything that > comes after is fitted into that paradigm, unless much work is done to > counteract that impression. It will also affect the neurobiological > development of the newborn, in damaging ways that are difficult to reverse. > That is why I am emphasising the need to focus on that entry point, to > ensure that as far as possible, the experience of the newborn is tenderly > loving and sensitively cared for. Leading hopefully to the conclusion of > Michel's last paragraph, with which I strongly agree. > > On 6 Nov 2016, at 10:24, peter waterman <[email protected]> > wrote: > > A good argument, I think, Michel, especially since it has more general > implications for facile references to 'el buen vivir' or 'ubuntu'. > > I make such references myself but by 'facile' I mean an idealisation of > the pre-capitalist, pre-class, non-western, society. Such references might > serve as useful sticks with which to batter idealised/essentialised Western > civilisation/culture, but they hardly help us to dialogue either with such > tiny/isolated autonomous formations as might still exist, even less to > relate to contemporary indigenous communities, deeply affected by consumer > fetishism, equipped with cellphones, and taking action on their own > behalves in manners that require (self-)reflection. > > P > > On Sun, Nov 6, 2016 at 10:38 AM, Michel Bauwens <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> >> On Sun, Nov 6, 2016 at 4:01 PM, Anna Harris <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> There is much evidence to show that competitiveness and anxiety traits, >>> built in to our modern birth and child rearing practices, support the trend >>> towards violence in later life. The lack of care at this crucial point in >>> life, sets the tone for later states of dissociation which allow military >>> personnel to destroy other human beings without compunction, as well as the >>> general lack of connection with the natural environment on which we all >>> depend. >> >> >> so first a general remark of your critique. I guess I'm an >> integrative-structuralist, which means that what you suggest is part of my >> approach, and is well documented on our wiki, but, in this contribution, I >> focus on the structural necessity of the commons/caring shift, which is >> inevitably linked to the underlying psycho-bodily-relational structures. >> >> But this being said, I can't agree with the idealization of the >> paragraph. We actually now know that tribal cultures were <more> violent >> than state-based systems, not less, and that the attachment parenting >> (which is good, and I have practiced largely with my children, but >> especially the last two), was inextricably linked to the desensitization >> produced by the male initiation rituals. >> >> Reading the the Institute of Psycho-History, and especially their very >> well-document 'History of Child Abuse", is very instructive. In fact, we >> have now a unprecedented number of children who have been education through >> democratic and respectful parenting, and they are the ones driving the peer >> to peer/ commons / collaborative culture we draw on. Military training is >> now for volunteer professionals, and the kind of de-sensitizing practices >> are not nearly as generalized as they once were. >> >> There are of course huge pockets of the population (say the Trump voters, >> and the books of George Makoff), where authoritarian education continues to >> be the norm, and produces authoritarian personalities. And the migration of >> countries where such repressive practices are still the norm, create >> additional problems (it's the rural migration from Anatolia which >> overwhelmed the secular state in Turkey). >> >> So we should continue to build on the huge cultural shifts set in motion >> by the 1968 revolts, which were politically defeated, but did put in motion >> changes we can built on. >> >> But of course, I am in agreement that there are still important amounts >> of dis-sociation going on in our child-bearing and child-rearing practices >> ... and that these need to be changed, (taking babies away from their >> mothers as soon as they are born, sleeping in different rooms with anxiety >> provoking baby phones, childcare in anonymous and bureaucratic institutions >> too early in life) >> >> I also agree we should be re-creating the positive effects of more >> collective child-rearing in renewed community setings .. >> >> I have been blessed by living the last 12 years in Thailand, where unlike >> my experience in Belgium, both caring for my kids , and caring for my >> Alzheimer-afflicted mother, was 'easy', because of the support of the >> extended family. >> >> But let's not forget, thai society is also hyper-authoritarian and >> violent, much more than ours, and this is because , 'from 1 to 7, treat >> your children as kings, from 7 to 14, treat them as slaves, from 14 to 21, >> treat them as friends' >> >> In other words, as I said in the beginning, the attachment parenting is >> replaced with very authoritarian education in the school system., >> >> It leads to a society where you dearly love your (extended) family, but >> deeply mistrust anyone outside ... This is what civic societies have >> changed, by extending 'love' to a more broader scope, though still limited >> to the imaginary community of the nation; part of the next phase, is to >> create successful trans-national neo-tribes, firmly rooted in networks of >> physical places, that ca form the basis of an extension of that 'love' to >> humanity as a whole, >> >> >> >> >> Michel >> >> >> -- >> Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: >> http://commonstransition.org >> >> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >> >> <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: >> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens >> >> #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> NetworkedLabour mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour >> >> > > > -- > *Click here for Peter's recent writings* > <https://www.dropbox.com/s/o8s52g2y905rq6w/WatermanGmailSignaturePanel%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20Updated.docx?dl=0> > > -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/
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