That's interesting Bob, do you have any details? > On 7 Nov 2016, at 13:58, Bob Haugen <[email protected]> wrote: > > We worked with a group in Nova Scotia a few years ago that was focused > on economic issues (especially fishing ports), but early childhood > development was one of their main themes, and they thought both issues > were intimately related and inseparable. > >> On Mon, Nov 7, 2016 at 1:53 AM, Anna Harris <[email protected]> wrote: >> Military spending is notoriously difficult to observe accurately. However >> manufactured arms is a better assessment than official defence spending. >> >> "According to research institute, SIPRI, the volume of international >> transfers of major weapons in 2010–14 was 16 per cent higher than in >> 2005–2009. The five biggest exporters in 2010–14 were the United States, the >> United Kingdom, Russia, China and France, and the five biggest importers were >> India, Saudi Arabia, China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan. The >> flow of arms to Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania, and the Middle East >> increased significantly between 2005–2009 and 2010–14, while there was a >> notable decrease in the flow to Europe. >> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry >> >> When we think of violence being an acceptable part of our daily lives, and >> the dissociation which this requires, this is more than just numbers >> however. It is to do with reporting violent crimes, violence in >> entertainment, video games. It is to do with emotions still being seen as >> having no part in scientific discourse. There are many aspects of this which >> result in people accepting soul destroying jobs, increases in anxiety and >> depression etc. Basically not valuing life. >> >> The foundation for all this is set at birth. It may seem incongruous to >> introduce babies into a discussion about structural economic transformation. >> But unless we address those first experiences of a baby's life, it is my >> belief that we will not be able to shift the power play which dominates all >> our lives. >> >> Anna >> >> >> On 6 Nov 2016, at 13:07, Michel Bauwens <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> 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 >>>> >>>> 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 >> >> >> >> -- >> Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org >> >> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >> >> 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 >>
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