Hi folks! :)
Responding to Bob Hiltner's quote of Jacque Fresco.
<< Our major concern is the redesign of a culture and to elevate human
beings to their highest potential. Very simply stated, we feel this can only
be accomplished by surpassing scarcity and the money based society with all
its inherited superstitions and folkways and distorted sense of morality.
This system is responsible for many of our social problems such as greed,
self centered behavior, environmental degradation, etc. When we come into the
world we come in with a clean slate bigotry, racism, nationalism, jealousy,
superstition, greed, self centered behavior are all learned patterns of
behavior which are strengthened or reinforced in our upbringing.>>
It sounds like Bob, Jacque & I agree generally about goals & possibilities.
I tend to agree that in order to accomplish the "redesign of a culture and
to elevate human beings to their highest potential" we're going to have to
deal with levels of reality which, at the very least, are not easily apparent
in day to day life - spiritual capabilities for centering oneself and
fostering a planetary, universal and God-source consciousness that will
allow/reinforce an individual's attempts to live within the values and
behavior patterns of that redesigned culture.
BUT - my friends, I must still urge caution in the language we use.
"distorted sense of morality" "This system is responsible" "When we come
into the world we come in with a clean slate"
In order to be able to move ahead without making anyone feel like we're
stepping on their personal toes and blaming them or an institution which with
they identify for any "evil", we need to watch our language. Surely the new
culture will also have a new language which will be purposefully
non-confrontational and will assume the best intentions from all members.
And even more than this, I'm not really only trying to sound nice. I believe
what I am saying. We don't really come into this world with a clean slate.
While we're infants we may seem innocent enough, but there are animal
instincts for survival/scarcity avoidance built in that will eventually come
out and are the very emotions upon which human culture has been building for
the past....100,000 years? 1,000,000 years? 3,000,000,000 years?
(assuming we're just the product of the evolution of life on earth)
I'm basing my comprehension of all this upon "long ago" reading of the likes
of Robert Ardrey & Joseph Chilton Pearce butressed by all that I've seen
since. We can't really "blame" ourselves for not yet having recreated the
Garden of Eden. For not yet having created a messianic era. For not having
achieved anything resembling perfection. That's what's motivating us.
But we have to treat our "present selves" and our current culture with some
mercy. Oh I'm not saying that it's bad to express frustration. After all,
it's that frustration that, in large measure, may be motivating us. But in
order to achieve the benefits of a civilization based on love and trust, we
need to build it on love and trust.
So, from where I stand, there are very few "bad guys". We're just embarking
on plans to use all these wonderful and scary tools for genetic engineering
and for worldwide communications that will allow us to "do" things to our
culture that we've never done before. We, as a species and as a culture,
have some experience with the phenomenon of love. We haven't exactly been
able to incorporate love as an integral part of our culture. We talk about
it a lot. We admire some folks (at least we say we admire them) for being
loving. (Jesus comes to mind most significantly) but we really haven't
nearly learned how to maximize love in our lives and in our societies.
Even if prior to the 20th century there were semi isolated cultures that were
developing expertise in the cultivation and transmission of love, the
upheavals and mass urbanization of the 20th century have brought strange
cultures face to face. Too close and too strange, at first, to avoid the
inbred (healthy) instincts to avoid the strange and to protect from the
stranger. So now we're back close to the beginning, trying to build - in a
multicultural setting - what might have been much easier to build in a
monocultural setting.
So let's be patient. Lets talk among ourselves to be sure we can agree on
past, preesent, future. Then, once we think we "have" something to report,
we can work to widen our circle.
Hey! I've been harboring these thoughts inside here alone for 30 years now.
It feels great to think that there's even the possibility of sharing them
with folks who are interested, even if it means I have to be prepared to give
up some deeply cherished visions of the future.
Let's get to it. I love you all for being there to work with me on this.
Steve Weinberg
Community Action Services
nevets2@aol.com
Cyberspace Planning & Development
Think globally....Talk globally....Act locally
Nourish love wherever you find it
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Dec 07 2000 - 23:22:10 PST