One reason our world seems to be creating dictatorial models for survival is that we act like an inert and powerless mass. We have been told to prepare ourselves for success but that is a tall order without any vision of what success is. Is it the pursuit of truth, beauty, and justice? Is it becoming loving and free? Or is it struggling to prevail in a world that does not give a damn about anyone?
Doping out priorities
Let me suggest that the first two questions in the paragraph above are reasonable answers and that the third question is meant for us to believe.
That is the dominant message of our violence-rich culture.It is what remains when you digest the implication of what has happened in higher education. We pay attention to the high salaries of university presidents whose names we do not know.
Our sad situation
We speak of high ideals at graduation after four years of getting qualified. But we have little idea of what will happen tomorrow. In other words, we have pretty much conceded that the world, the world we can control and master, is beyond us. Whoever "they" are run it and we do what we can.
I must confess that though I sense a way forward I have no idea how it can come to pass unless it is actually a description of where we are destined to go.
Destiny to me would involve the following:
We would wake to the need to all become mediators and move past insular religion to universal spirituality. We would affirm as part of this that we can solve problems if we are open to discussion if we respect all and if we insist that our solutions work or come back for more thinking.
Affirmative action wins for all
We would acknowledge the primacy of fairness and justice and aim to have a democratic rule from the smallest to the largest units of governance. Democracy would respect and accord the same rights to all. We would stress Affirmative Action.
Cybercommunities -- ideas looking forward
We would rebuild our world; according to a design that requires no cars, with integral mixes of everything so that the assets of urban Living are universally available.
We would build an economy that allowed for competition but not at the expense of children and those who wish to live non-competitively.
Regulation is essential to the protection of all
Google Called Harmful to Europe’s Market https://t.co/0NvPM6Q3sx
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) August 3, 2017
Google seeks to be apolitical but most members of the Federalist Society are right-wing.
Education makeover
Education would instill universal values -- the ones cited at the start -- and the action values tolerance, democracy, and helpfulness. We seem headed for conflicts about matters that should have been solved long ago. Only as we assert out universal importance and centrality as nonviolent and civil individuals will we start achieving victories.
