Oklahoma Teens Alleged Murder of Australian Exchange Student – America’s Pathological Detachment

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Who are these accused boys? What is the world they inhabit? … I mean ‘who are these young Americans’ and ‘what American world do they inhabit’. … By briefest sketch, these youth are young Americans living in a nation that practices little else but ‘detachment’. … This shooting may be a consequence of a culture such as we have in America – a culture pleased, at least until now, to rely on ‘detached’, ‘measured’, ‘reasonable’ restriction of empathy in order to ‘get things done’. Continue reading →

What is Willful Blindness vs What is a Whistle-blower?

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What is ‘willful blindness’, how influential is it in our personal, workplace, community, and political lives? What motivates whistle-blowers? Margaret Heffernan reviews what she’s discovered as answers to these questions in a 15 minute TEDx talk. Well worth a listen! Continue reading →

Reminders about ourselves …

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Today’s offering “… a ‘repository’ where foundational ideas, ‘samples’ of our human doings, and pointers to possible solution – that I find valuable and important” – are collected in one place. One theme not well represented here that I nearly daily comment on with passion and plea is ‘earth care’ – our stewardship of all earth, all life. … Continue reading →

Capitalism, Steve Jobs, and Faust

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The Faustian tragedy is not a tragedy of the individual, Steve Jobs, (except in so far as he may have wrestled with the bargain he struck to climb to success). In a deeply irremediable way, such bargains are ‘inevitable’ under current dominant economic systems. The Faustian tragedy is a tragedy of humanity itself – we collectively have accepted a bargain promising “success” as delivered through fierce competition; “benevolent cooperation be damned” Continue reading →

We Are The Help That’s On The Way (If We Pay Attention)

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David Brooks observes: “This is symptom of a larger problem.” The larger problem is that our entire culture’s sense of ‘success’ is skewed to a measure of success that lacks social trust. It would take much writing to ‘unpack’ the relevance of what Brooks ‘runs by us’ in a mere 18 minute talk. Instead of trying to do so, I post the talk here. Enjoy and take heart! We’re on the right track! Continue reading →

“People Get Ready … The head and the heart are gonna drive this train”

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Buoyed and enthused at the richness of today’s ‘exposure’ to “the best we can be”, including direct reminding of Adler, and science that supports belief in ‘our best’, I paused to ‘soak it in’ only to find the song, “People Get Ready…,” rise up in my thoughts. (I’ve posted a YouTube selection here.) Continue reading →

Glencore: Profiteering from hunger and chaos – Features – Al Jazeera English (Reflections)

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This world needs economic systems that do what economic systems ‘theoretically’ are supposed to do. They’re supposed to serve humanity. They’re supposed to help us uplift ourselves and one another toward greater fulfillment of our astonishing potential and promise. … This post features an Al Jazeera article on food insecurity, but offers also larger awareness. The better we understand, the better we can be strict and clear in our questions and demands to those we elect. Continue reading →

May Day: a new global movement « 21stcenturymanifesto (Response)

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What I especially value in Sutton’s piece is that he reminds us of the universal nature of a general ‘uprising’. It is world-wide. He briefly notes many ‘movements’ of current time. I would add Iceland and Asia. From my perspective, this is not only ‘political’. The rising is, as American founders said: “unalienable” – inborn and inevitable….We (all humanity) do have this time, this 21st Century, to “pull together” thousands of years of experience and contemplation – and to – finally! – “get our ‘head/heart’ act together! Continue reading →

Obama Approves Use of Armed Predator Drones Over Libya – ABC News

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…And I especially detest drones. So far, drones are the most monstrous war machine, ever. Distant, mechanical, deadly, unannounced, silent. I can’t imagine the constant heightened state of trauma chemistry coursing through the bodies of people living where drone strikes are a possibility…., …The satisfaction of “doing something meaningful and/or grand” by strutting brutal power in our world is, fundamentally, no different today than it was one, or two, thousand years ago. Technology has changed, but human commitment to a world of shared respect and wide-spread common weal has not budged one inch forward. Continue reading →

BBC News – ANC’s Julius Malema defends ‘shoot the Boer’ song

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The nation of South Africa, demonstrated, for the world, a greatly ‘enlightened’ way for humans to resolve conflict – conflict with an extreme history of brutality and violence. The Truth and Reconcilliation Commission far surpasses “achievements” such as flying into space. Whether or not the spirit of the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission returns, and is allowed to be the standard of performance guiding minds and hearts of all involved, remains to be seen. Continue reading →