It's not every day, but at least once a week you really hit it out of the park -- clear, concise writing with no bs, just good solid information. Along with a plan for a solution. Thanks for giving me some hope.
Yes. There needs to be a summit meeting of the various progressive groups and elected leaders to formulate a vision that takes into account Scott Nakagawa’s caution about replacing one authoritarian structure with a progressive one.
Also, the farmers are looking at huge increases in fertilizer; I saw one farmer say that after crunching the numbers, she will lose $68,000 this year. Not a lot to a corporation but a death knell for an independent farmer. One must ask, and your new government idea notwithstanding, is this planned? Are we all being driven into poverty in order to make the oligarchs richer and the tech bros in charge of everything from bombs to education. Yipeeee!
We may be at the point that Oklahoma and Kansas farmers were during the dust bowl when they just gave up and abandoned their properties and the banks were only too happy to foreclose and sell to the highest bidder. Or in 2008 when banks sold hundreds of foreclosed homes to single buyers for 10 cents on the dollar which has led to our housing crisis now. Somehow in America, the rich always get richer.
Your comment, to restate, is the systemic issues are the deeper problem. To oust Trump would not correct the forces allowing him to exist. That he could start a war without serious comment from the GOP is telling. That in his Easter meeting he could extoll his worldly ego and still retain the evangelicals is telling. The depravity of weak ethics and soul are the telling qualities of Trump’s world. It isn’t a failing of our Constitution. Rather, it is a moral flexibility treating principles as quaint notions.
Humanity itself is at a crossroads. Our politics reflects the level of our human consciousness. When Maharishi Mahesh Yogi arrived in the US and established the first Transcendental Meditation Centers he also had intense research conducted to validate its effect on human consciousness. To date there is literally an LA phone book size document worth of data on the social benefits of TM. Several experiments showed that as few as 1% of a city’s population practicing TM on a daily basis lowered crime rates, reduced traffic accidents, minimized hospital visits, lowered domestic abuse calls, etc the list goes on…
TM describes this phenomenon as “restoring brainwave coherence” leading to harmonious behavior. When enough people meditate their brain “waves” ripple out affecting everyone if just a little bit. We focus so much on externalities yet it is our internal state that influences our external environment. I have a friend, several actually, whose view of reality is in significant contrast to my own; one is a flat earther, the other a die hard Republican Trumpeter. They are angry, feel like victims, full of grievances, but mostly they are afraid. Afraid of what? Lack of control, maybe? Fear of rejection? My acting teacher taught us that every character’s motive is fueled by either love or lack of love. Perhaps the missing element is restoring our relationship with Love of self. I have felt the presence of a person so totally present with unbiased acceptance it made my whole being happy with gratitude. Fear and gratitude cannot exist in the same space. Thank god for people like the Maharishi and Pope Paul.
I am overwhelmed by the destruction going on and the hollowing out of our country, Working through the reality of its progressive hollowing out over the past decades. I am on the street protesting again but this time it is for survival. We have gone terribly wrong and the right guy was here to exploit it. I am further overwhelmed by the task Ahead of rebuilding, reforming and refining a good basic concept of we the people. Your Bill of Rights is the good start and the necessary basis for what needs doing. How do we do this? When? I’m ready but see so much apathy and no substantial pushback by so Many… repugs, Congress, legacy media, oligarchs. It seems a long stumble to the mid terms.
I've noticed a MSM lack of coverage on the approximately 20,000 seafarers currently trapped in the Strait of Hormuz. Isn't it a looming humanitarian crisis?
The last paragraphs, with a call to action to redesign our country, are inspiring and so needed. Opponents jeer that the No Kings protests are self-soothing wastes of time, but only if we're not also engaged in envisioning and building a better system as you outline. Thank you for the Bill of Rights. I don't agree with all of it, but it is a fantastic starting point.
Good thoughts, Mary! We have an opportunity to start anew and make a better world for our children and grandchildren. There is no going back to what was considered OK at this point because we are seeing and living through blunders unimaginable in our current government and the thought of going back to "a tad" better government is not going to work. We're here for the rebuilding and remaking of a government that has been running in the ditches since 1970. I'm in!
No, we cannot go back to the way we were. I wholeheartedly agree that we need to begin anew. We need a system immune to exploitation, and immune to people like trump (still not sure why him?). But before we can do any of that, the current administration has to go.
"...emceeing the clown-car stage of imperial decline while the wheels bounce off in every direction." As strangely riveting as it is to watch this train wreck, you offer a sense of hope for a different future.
A breathtaking call to action, thank you.
Profound and moving essay-- and beautiful writing as well... Thankyou...
It's not every day, but at least once a week you really hit it out of the park -- clear, concise writing with no bs, just good solid information. Along with a plan for a solution. Thanks for giving me some hope.
Yes. There needs to be a summit meeting of the various progressive groups and elected leaders to formulate a vision that takes into account Scott Nakagawa’s caution about replacing one authoritarian structure with a progressive one.
Also, the farmers are looking at huge increases in fertilizer; I saw one farmer say that after crunching the numbers, she will lose $68,000 this year. Not a lot to a corporation but a death knell for an independent farmer. One must ask, and your new government idea notwithstanding, is this planned? Are we all being driven into poverty in order to make the oligarchs richer and the tech bros in charge of everything from bombs to education. Yipeeee!
We may be at the point that Oklahoma and Kansas farmers were during the dust bowl when they just gave up and abandoned their properties and the banks were only too happy to foreclose and sell to the highest bidder. Or in 2008 when banks sold hundreds of foreclosed homes to single buyers for 10 cents on the dollar which has led to our housing crisis now. Somehow in America, the rich always get richer.
Your comment, to restate, is the systemic issues are the deeper problem. To oust Trump would not correct the forces allowing him to exist. That he could start a war without serious comment from the GOP is telling. That in his Easter meeting he could extoll his worldly ego and still retain the evangelicals is telling. The depravity of weak ethics and soul are the telling qualities of Trump’s world. It isn’t a failing of our Constitution. Rather, it is a moral flexibility treating principles as quaint notions.
Humanity itself is at a crossroads. Our politics reflects the level of our human consciousness. When Maharishi Mahesh Yogi arrived in the US and established the first Transcendental Meditation Centers he also had intense research conducted to validate its effect on human consciousness. To date there is literally an LA phone book size document worth of data on the social benefits of TM. Several experiments showed that as few as 1% of a city’s population practicing TM on a daily basis lowered crime rates, reduced traffic accidents, minimized hospital visits, lowered domestic abuse calls, etc the list goes on…
TM describes this phenomenon as “restoring brainwave coherence” leading to harmonious behavior. When enough people meditate their brain “waves” ripple out affecting everyone if just a little bit. We focus so much on externalities yet it is our internal state that influences our external environment. I have a friend, several actually, whose view of reality is in significant contrast to my own; one is a flat earther, the other a die hard Republican Trumpeter. They are angry, feel like victims, full of grievances, but mostly they are afraid. Afraid of what? Lack of control, maybe? Fear of rejection? My acting teacher taught us that every character’s motive is fueled by either love or lack of love. Perhaps the missing element is restoring our relationship with Love of self. I have felt the presence of a person so totally present with unbiased acceptance it made my whole being happy with gratitude. Fear and gratitude cannot exist in the same space. Thank god for people like the Maharishi and Pope Paul.
I am overwhelmed by the destruction going on and the hollowing out of our country, Working through the reality of its progressive hollowing out over the past decades. I am on the street protesting again but this time it is for survival. We have gone terribly wrong and the right guy was here to exploit it. I am further overwhelmed by the task Ahead of rebuilding, reforming and refining a good basic concept of we the people. Your Bill of Rights is the good start and the necessary basis for what needs doing. How do we do this? When? I’m ready but see so much apathy and no substantial pushback by so Many… repugs, Congress, legacy media, oligarchs. It seems a long stumble to the mid terms.
I've noticed a MSM lack of coverage on the approximately 20,000 seafarers currently trapped in the Strait of Hormuz. Isn't it a looming humanitarian crisis?
The last paragraphs, with a call to action to redesign our country, are inspiring and so needed. Opponents jeer that the No Kings protests are self-soothing wastes of time, but only if we're not also engaged in envisioning and building a better system as you outline. Thank you for the Bill of Rights. I don't agree with all of it, but it is a fantastic starting point.
Good thoughts, Mary! We have an opportunity to start anew and make a better world for our children and grandchildren. There is no going back to what was considered OK at this point because we are seeing and living through blunders unimaginable in our current government and the thought of going back to "a tad" better government is not going to work. We're here for the rebuilding and remaking of a government that has been running in the ditches since 1970. I'm in!
No, we cannot go back to the way we were. I wholeheartedly agree that we need to begin anew. We need a system immune to exploitation, and immune to people like trump (still not sure why him?). But before we can do any of that, the current administration has to go.
"...emceeing the clown-car stage of imperial decline while the wheels bounce off in every direction." As strangely riveting as it is to watch this train wreck, you offer a sense of hope for a different future.