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 3 Oct 2008 @ 02:43
Why do you get up in the morning? What is the purpose of going to work everyday, pursuing a mate, and having children? Is it to grab greedily for every morsel of Earthly spoils, without regard for anything, or anyone else?
We lack understanding for the concept of co-existence and the intelligence to align our behavior to a Universal Purpose harmonious with Nature.
If you claim alliance to any nation or any subset of specialists, you are still an Earthling first and foremost, and our collective participation adds up to the quality of life we now experience. Are you satisfied with the way things are? Do you think within the confines of humanities artificial and unsustainable systems? What do you revere?
With a common objective and understanding the interdependence of all things, we might have a payer. There is only one question to ask when making any decision, or taking action, in any human context be it private or political = Is this a healthy thing to do? Your heart always knows the answer.
It is our shared responsibility to codiscover and cocreate a healthy society. More >
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 31 May 2004 @ 00:13
Well, I don't post here often, yet I always want to believe that this community has more on the ball than those social clones who go through the motions of living without considering the consequences of those actions that nurture corporate culture. Along with the negative energy expended chasing a blind path to money, there are efforts being made to form a healthy consciousness. I write this melancholy note memory of fundamental principles that use to guide us to make good social and political decisions.
It seems we should give thanks for those who fought and died for our nationhood, but the more important thing to ponder, is how we can get out of the cycle of killing to solve a problem.
I have witnessed a few things lately that all illuminate the fact that most all of our systems of economics and government are broken, now failing to produce results that seemed so promising in the beginning. The America I was born into had some corruption, don't know why - it wasn't necessary, yet the lack of ethics in this time is striking.
The 'Arts' are in trouble and artisans are struggling unless they have corporate clients. It is harder than ever for an individual to succeed as a sole proprietorship. The music industry is failing. I have friends that are going into teaching art because they can't survive as freelancers.
I am saddened that only three of the Presidents of the past fifty years made an effort to place us on a course of healthy social change, the most recent being Jimmy Carter. In this election year there is much talk about taking back America without saying how that will be accomplished, or how we will forge a new form of living that is sustainable and joyful. Our heads are not together, We are selfish and ignorant that we are living on borrowed investment without making any new commitments to the future.
I am a hostage to the oil companies every time a fill my car with gas. Gee, how come I can’t buy a car that runs on vegetable products, alcohol, or something renewable, something we don't have to fight for to sustain an unhealthy standard of living?
Diversity in general is vanishing. Large companies are forcing little guys out of business and we are helping them do it. We must make a world that provides grand diversity and supports all the gifts that all people have to offer.
I fear these are some signs of worse times to come, wondering how bad things will get before we get off a dime and do something for the right reasons, considering the rate of inflation we better get off the buck!
Namasté > > > Mark More >
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24 Dec 2003 @ 18:22
 More >
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2 Dec 2003 @ 15:12
It is our shared purpose to co-discover and co-create a Healthy Society.
Through ongoing political and media references planet-wide, human society has become divided by labeling one segment of the population from another, based on any criteria that some people might share. We often reference the 'Poor,' 'Immigrants,' 'Communists,' Conservatives,' 'Scientists,' 'The Homeless' and the like, in a very long list of subgroups of human beings. This activity is useful on a superficial basis and yet it conditions our minds to believe that different groups of people have different basic needs, or that one group is not entitled to the same liberties as another group. This seeds prejudice, bias, segregation and war! It seems that we have set ourselves up in competition with one another, disconnected our global human family artificially, for special interests not associated with the general welfare. I believe it is important to understand and visualize that we are one family with the same basic needs for survival, no matter where you live, what religion you practice, how much money you have, your sex, age, or the color of your skin.
In order to govern ourselves equitably, it is vital that social and political agendas focus to provide infrastructure and resources to support human life consistently. The first meaning of life is to survive and so this is what we are trying to do. However, we have been making feeble attempts on a limited basis which are not sustainable. If we hope for a better future, we must identify and practice shared purpose in a way that preserves human diversity.
What we are looking for is the most basic form of Universal Philosophy that all people can relate to and participate in. This is a valuable goal. Let us not confuse the intellectual pursuit of meta-physical philosophy with this practical need to have a clear incentive for living and working together. Why do you get up in the morning?
The opening statement is designed for ALL people to comprehend, to be profound, truthful and trustworthy. It makes no judgements, but sets before us the core challenge that has always been and always will be our true path. It provides the primary goal of making a healthy society and instructs that we must learn what a "Healthy Society" is. The use of the word "Healthy" is the key governor to making responsible individual and group decisions in any situation. If this statement (or similar statement) is adopted and applied, it becomes difficult to argue or hold conflict against a healthy course. War is not healthy, nor is smoking, lying, or taking more than one needs from the planet.
To include context for our place in the cosmos and respect for the environment a variation on the statement would be:
It is our shared purpose to co-discover and co-create a Healthy Society co-existing in harmony with nature.
The Conscious Evolution Community of Santa Barbara made this statement of shared purpose on 29 April 2003:
"Our purpose is to be a habitat for conscious evolution. Recognizing our oneness with Spirit, we co-create with each other and Nature's Intelligence to discover and contribute our genius for self and social benefit."
I urge that we concentrate on the subject of shared purpose and place our energies on aligning our dreams and actions with the essential need to form a common, positive foundation for our evolution.
Mark Smollin - 2003.12.01 More >
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8 Jun 2003 @ 00:27
It is sad for me to see the frittering of human energy on pointless finger pointing and self-defensive justification in the addictive need to be right. As this is the sum of most social activity on NCN, I have abstained to participate.
There is no regulation for ethical behavior in private or public circumstances. Moral performance is self directed and not due to external influences, because deep inside we know instinctively what is good and what is bad. I have urged in the past that we take full responsibility for our actions and cease blaming others for our weaknesses.
Many logs and comments disrespect the reader as another animal being with feelings, experience and intelligence. We are all children, all interdependent on each other for the quality of life we live collectively.
Tolerance and forgiveness reign supreme, so let us not abuse those we meet in retaliation for a mistake, or think that we don't need to be forgiven. We can turn the other cheek to demonstrate our love and die without question for the right to exist in peace. We can only conquer evil hearts when we avoid joining their ranks.
How do you think Civilization is made?
> > > Mark More >
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 10 Apr 2003 @ 00:14
I imagine that there have been many postings about the war-mongering going on, some pro and some con, so I make this post to place my picture of center in the log annals of NCN.
I believe that the human race has to find a different way of living, where competition and squabbling over natural resources is handled in any way that is healthful, hopeful, non-aggressive, and of course non-violent. At the same time, citizens must not empower their governments to make war, in business, technology, or with political support, or we will remain buried in our destructive stupidity as a species. The wave of new consciousness has revealed once again the undeniable reasoning that Love is all you need, not to mention that you can't be here without it. Let us keep our hearts tuned to cocreating a society of peace, specially after the dust settles from this immediate skirmish.
My heart is particularly touched by those mislead and ungrounded family members who are willing to prepare for and die in a violent conflict. Most are impressionably young and ignorant of the consequences their actions will bring to generations that follow. I see no glory in wasting any life, nothing is won, yet much is lost.
I rest now in prayer of thanks for all those selfless warriors risking loss of life and to those relatives that no longer dwell in the body.
Namasté > > > Mark More >
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22 Jan 2003 @ 20:59
Subject: A week like no other.
Date: 23 Jan 2003 03:59:49 -0000
From: "Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org" moveon-help@list.moveon.org
To: "Mark Smollin"
Dear MoveOn member,
Thank you. This week exceeded our wildest dreams.
Our plan was to launch an anti-war television ad campaign, hold 12 local press conferences, grow our "Let the Inspections Work" petition, and have meetings in Congressional offices around the country. We knew it would be big. But we never thought it would be this big.
That we were able to reach so far and do so much is because of you.
You made it all possible.
We didn't expect, frankly, to have 100,000 new members join our organization this week. We didn't expect to be able to deliver a petition with over 310,000 American signers -- the largest since MoveOn's inception. (We're told that when Senator Diane Feinstein's aide saw the petition, his eyes opened wide. He said that this was the biggest petition he recalled them receiving. Feinstein's segment was over 8,000 pages long.)
We never thought that our ad -- carrying the "Let the Inspections Work" message -- would be aired on virtually every major TV news show. We never thought George Stephanopoulos would show it to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and grill him on the dangers of war. We never imagined it would be broadcast and discussed on news programs in Australia, Pakistan, Russia, and Japan.
We didn't anticipate that a new national poll, taken on the very days our story was playing everywhere, would show public support for war plummeting, or that this poll would be the top story in today's Washington Post.
We didn't anticipate that local press conferences, staffed by MoveOn members in 12 cities, would generate front-page stories on the new breadth and tactics of the anti-war movement.
And then there are the Congressional meetings.
We had high hopes for the meetings that occurred yesterday in Congressional districts across the country. After all, 9,000 folks had signed up to participate, and we had an incredible team of over 800 local volunteers and 12 tireless volunteer regional coordinators who were working to set everything up. But, after a week of continual surprises, our expectations yesterday were once again exceeded.
One comment sums up the experience of many:
"It was fantastic! Probably the best meeting I've ever been at - ever. 18 regular people who came together as strangers, were in agreement with one another, speaking eloquently, passionately, respectfully and from the heart." The member went on to say, "As a former Congressional staff person, I know this was truly impactful and meaningful."
The impact was pretty clear. Yesterday alone, over 30 members of Congress signed onto a Dear Colleague letter to the President, asking him to let the inspectors do their jobs and abide by the UN process. It's pretty remarkable -- Congress is taking up our petition. And more signers keep coming in. In one of our most exciting moments, a pro-war-resolution Representative took a look at the letter, listened to our members, and then signed on the spot. Now that's democracy in action!
The Dear Colleague letter is just the beginning. One Representative from Maryland is taking our petition to the floor of the House of Representatives. Another offered us space in his offices to do more anti-war organizing. One enthusiastic Representative is even going to join MoveOn.
>From Maine to Florida to Arkansas to Washington State, from Grand Rapids, MI to Huntington, AL, diverse, articulate groups of MoveOn members got together to talk to the offices of their Senators and Representatives. Local newspapers, TV and radio stations covered the events, from the Denver Post to Pacifica Radio.
The meetings themselves were simply incredible. But you don't need to take our word for it. Here are a few short samples from the hundreds of reports that have been pouring in:
"The voices of several veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars, of a VA doctor, a pediatrician, other doctors, nurses, retirees, teachers, grandparents, a law student, one after another, built a strong case for encouraging Kolbe to urge Bush to give stronger support for the Inspections Process. It was a bit uncanny. Not practiced, nor planned, but one by one, each person integrated his/her contributions into what had been said before. This was a very intelligent, well-informed, professionally-diverse, group of people, speaking in one voice for winning the peace, without war." --Martha Warner, Congressman Kolbe meeting, AZ
"I was so proud to be associated with the group that showed up to Congressman Tancredo's office! They were an eclectic group of housewives with children, high-powered businessmen, grandmas, artists, executives, PhD's -- and each spoke with such grace and eloquence. It was just amazing." --Carol Grant, Congressman Tancredo meeting, CO
"An interesting and exciting outcome of the event is that the Congressman agreed to lead a rally on Feb. 17th of many different coalitions. His feeling is that it's up to the public to voice their opposition--that's the only thing that will make legislators oppose the President. I/we will be working with him to make this next event a success." --Sheryl Barajas, Congressman Davis meeting, IL
"I was glad I made the drive, it was quite an honor to join with these good folks. A varied group--three women, four guys...a retired Quaker (though Quakers never retire thank god), a Methodist minister & active lay person, a retired fighter pilot who is a Republican, a social scientist, a person who had lived in Kuwait and an anthraxed postal worker. We were together for just an hour but it was a good gathering to share & express our concerns." --Mike DeGregory, Congressman Smith, NJ
"This was my first time ever taking any initiative in political action, and although it was a little scary, I'm really glad I did it, as I received nothing but positive feedback and support from everyone. People really wanted to come out and do this." --Rachel Smith, Congressman Neal meeting, MA
"Rep. Cummings pledged to sign the Dear Colleague letter and also said he would speak about the MoveOn statement and visit on the house floor. He also said he would read comments from the summary of our petition. " --Kimberly Nolan, Congressman Cummings meeting, MD
"[Congressman Holt] quoted Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's address at Riverside Church: We are building a political myth and shoring it up with new violence. (Dr. King's reference to Vietnam still rings true today.)" -- Mara Isaacs, Congressman Holt meeting, NJ
"[Congresswoman] Stephanie Tubbs Jones made a last- minute decision to meet with us personally, and proceeded to sit and speak for an hour. . . She was very pleased to receive a copy of the petition with names and address . . . and VERY excited to hear that ours was one of many coordinated events nationwide." --John Sinclair, Congresswoman Jones meeting, OH
"[Rep. Bartlett's aide Mr.] Otis was clearly impressed by the number of signatories from the Congressman's District, and promised that he would see the petition and the "Dear Colleague letter." He also commented "You have represented your cause very well." " --Gladys Cojocari, Congressman Bartlett meeting, MD
We hope to have a full report on the media coverage for the last week and these lobbying visits up on our website soon. We'll let you know when it's there.
WHAT'S NEXT?
As you can see, we are a force to be reckoned with. So what are our next steps?
Over the next few weeks, we'll be offering you all sorts of ways to continue to engage on this issue. One way to plug in is coming up pretty soon. Win Without War, the coalition of mainstream civic organizations against the war that we helped to found, is calling for a day of local action on January 29th. Members of the coalition include American Friends Service Commitee, Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, Conference of Major Superiors of Men, Global Exchange, Greenpeace, Leadership Conference of Women Religious, NAACP, National Council of Churches, National Organization for Women, NETWORK, New England Health Care Employees Union (part of SEIU), Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sierra Club, Sojourners, Tikkun Community, TrueMajority, United Methodist Church General Board of Church & Society, Us Foundation, Veterans for Common Sense, Women's Action for New Directions, and Working Assets. Look for events organized by some of these groups in your community on the 29th. You may find local events listed at [link] .
THANK YOU
The national meetings project and our work for the last week was made possible by the exceedingly hard work of hundreds of volunteers and scores of local and national organizations. We deeply appreciate the assistance that we have received -- we couldn't have pulled this off without help.
Very special thanks goes to the tireless team of volunteer regional coordinators, who worked around the clock to make the meetings happen. They are: Caitlin Fitzgerald, Judy Froman, Diane Jones, June Muller, Jennifer Oatfield, Jesse Rhodes, Henry Snow, and Hedy Trevino.
Thanks also to: Sarah Allen, Ira Arlook, Parker Blackman, Sarah Buecher, David Cortright, Lynn Erskine, Philip Fryers, David Fenton, Trevor Fitzgibbon, Patrick Kane, Elinore Klein, Kalee Kreider, Dwight Langham, Pacy Markman, Brendan McCarthy, Segundo Mercado-Llorens, Christy Meiring, Alistair Millar, Nathan Naylor, Lindsay Reinhardt, Dora Rose, Noah T. Winer, and Bill Zimmerman.
It's usually our practice to credit by name the local leaders whose incredibly hard work made this all possible. But in this case, the list of leaders would double the length of this email. All the folks who helped put together local meetings and press conferences have our gratitude and appreciation -- they're heroes and true patriots.
We also appreciate support for the meetings project from the following organizations: Friends Committee on National Legislation, the American Friends Service Committee, the National Council of Churches, TrueMajority, Peace Action, and Women's Action for New Directions.
The last thank you goes to every one of MoveOn's members. It is an honor and an incredible privilege to work with such an amazing group of people -- a group that is changing the face of this country and turning the tide against a war. The Washington Post poll released today showed support for the war plummeting. That's because of our work.
The stakes are high, folks. This war is a menace to our country and our world. But the last week has shown that an enormous group of Americans are going to do everything in their power to ensure that a peaceful resolution is reached. So we really mean this: Thank you.
Sincerely, --Carrie, Eli, Joan, Peter, Randall, Wes, and Zack The MoveOn Team January 22, 2002
P.S. MoveOn does all this with only four full-time staff members (Wes and Joan volunteer). If you'd like to support our work, you can give online at:
[link]
________________
This is a message from MoveOn.org. To remove yourself from this list, please visit our subscription management page at: [link] More >
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 22 Jan 2003 @ 13:02
Last night (1/21/2003) PBS aired a show titled "The Journey Of Man," which profiles the work of geneticist Spencer Wells, who also stars in the two-hour episode. This program is based on fifteen years of research profiling the genetic codes in thousands of blood samples taken from all known ethnic groups around the world. It was not possible to do this science prior to genetic testing technologies on blood.
It’s now official! Just in case there was any doubt in your mind about where you come from, where your roots are, or who you are related to, Spencer has proven that we are all of the same extended human family. By tracking a Y chromosome marker passed on to each generation through men, he has plotted the path of human migration over the entire planet from a single tribe in Namibia, Africa beginning 50,000 years ago. We are all their children. We are all related to people of all cultures, religions and skin colors.
So now I feel obligated to wish everyone of you family members belated happy birthdays wishes and missed holiday greetings. Please take good care of all my cousins, aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, nieces, nephews and send photos often so I can keep track of my six-billion relatives!
Hugs and Kisses From Your Brother > > > Mark
PS > See ya at the next family reunion!!! More >
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10 Jan 2003 @ 14:47
"NEW STYLE THINKING" is not new, but Patricia Sun’s (Former Wisdom Radio Host) way of describing an emerging consciousness that trumps our standard concepts of existence, which are outdated and regress from the wisdom of the ages. My spouse has been using these three words in log comments to inspire a different perspective of mind, yet it has raised some questions about what new style thinking is. This post attempts to explain the context.
New Style Thinking is a state of mind that recognizes a Universal reverence for all things and is demonstrated by behavior that is Loving.
Old Style Thinking in comparison, is a state of mind that places an arbitrary value on a restricted set of things and is demonstrated by behavior that is dominantly Selfish.
As members of western culture we are conditioned to believe certain things are cool and to do things that are found to be socially acceptable regardless of their merit, feasibility, value, or sustainability. We are drawn to conform because we want to be accepted by the group, however this minimizes diversity and weakens us as a species. We often do things without ever stopping to think about them philosophically, or about the consequences. Standing on the shoulders of our foreparents doesn’t mean their foundation is strong or wise in all cases.
As technology advance has insulated us from having to know the true meaning of life and it does little to develop our character as spiritual beings. No matter how much we may learn about science, and no matter how powerful our technology becomes, these accomplishments are virtually useless unless we apply them to benevolent goals. The missing piece of the equation is of moral concern. Without ethics nothing will work on a sustainable basis, so it would be advantageous to work on our human character as hard as we do to gain technical knowledge.
In Cosmological terms success has nothing to do with money, it has everything to do with being healthy. Understanding that any non-productive person is a triple tax on the productive people, our obvious task is to support 6.2 billion people equitably. Without an even and fair distribution of resources we will be chained to the cycles of greed wars and fail to experience peace.
New Style Thinking would define thoughts that are relevant to reform our old-style-ways with new healthy ones. I believe our frontier resides in understanding the human mind, learning what we really are as human beings and coming to grips with our less attractive qualities. We are the least efficient animals on the planet and that has caused us to reach this threshold in our evolution.
Let us find the presence of mind to contribute only constructive energy to life. Do we need laws or rules when we choose to act responsibly and unselfishly. We should demand peace and good will of others, and so we should do our best to act that way as ourselves. Anything outside that realm is not loving, nor considered New Style Thinking, regardless of intent.
Namasté > > > Mark More >
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 22 Dec 2002 @ 13:22
From Mark, Martha & Michael More >
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This is the place to talk about positivity and how to make things work cocreatively. How we can make things work? I want to know. |
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