The Psychology of a culture is revealed and perpetuated in how they relate to and treat their children and in how they relate to and treat the most vulnerable people within their society. Heal that and we can heal everything.
"The fact is that we (the adult world) do not feel an obligation to be truthful to children. We are like managers and manipulators of news in Washington, Moscow, London, Peking and Paris and all the other capitals of the world". ~ John Holt
Peace is more than the absence of War
Who to vote for?
John Holt, a world renowned educator and author, makes a pertinent observation of the power dynamic of Schools in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
“School tends to be a dishonest as
well as a nervous place. We adults are not often honest with children, least of
all in school. We tell them, not what we think, but what we feel they ought to
think; or what other people feel or tell us they ought to think.
The fact is that we (the adult world) do not feel an obligation to be truthful
to children. We are like managers and manipulators of news in Washington,
Moscow, London,
Peking and Paris
and all the other capitals of the world.
We think it is our right and our duty, not to tell the truth but to say
whatever will best serve our cause – in this case, the cause of making children
grow up into the kind of people we want them to be, thinking whatever we want
them to think.
We have only to convince ourselves (and we are very easily convinced) that a
lie will be ‘better’ for the children than the truth, and we will lie. We don’t
always need even that excuse; we often lie only for our own convenience.”
-1964, from a talk by John Holt who carried
out thousands of hours of acute observation of children in schools across America.
How much does this still resonate, in 2017, in the UK?
I think the public and official discourse around War (and much else besides) as it exists in the UK
2017General Election - or any national election, and even each bye-elections - for Parliament
reminds me somewhat of this “dishonest and nervous place.”
Who to vote for in a warring State?
One way of placing the election in context, I would suggest. For any democratic election, any time, anywhere when States wage war as a 'last resort' tool of 'foreign policy'.
Rather focus’s the mind, don’t you think?
The fact that this is not a central question in this General Election, given
that the powers of ‘defence/offence’ and ‘foreign policy' (keep the diamond mines British!) are being handed over
to an elected person in this Election is troubling. It’s irrational, though
those who would, for whatever reason, wish to avoid the issue, it might appear
a rational avoidance.
How can you vote for that?
Kindest regards
Corneilius
"Do what you love, it's Your Gift to Universe"
*If you like this post, if you found the themes resonant, if you agree in part, would you be kind enough to let others know about it? I would really appreciate that.
You could drop a comment too, if you felt the urge. Or not.
I will moderate contributions, and block any that are abusive. For obvious reasons.
Thank you for reading.
ANY Family, Community or Society that does NOT care for the most vulnerable
within it's domain is dysfunctional. Those that engender shituations where more
people are made vulnerable through ideological, military and economic war are
pathological.
The concept that democratic electorates should be satisfied and happy to merely
vote and let others do the work of Governance and policy decision making is out
of touch, out of date and, to be frank it breeds subservience and
irresponsibility.
We all bleed red, we all cry tears of salty water, we all experience loving
kindness and we suffer abuse in pretty much the same way.
We are human, first and foremost.
One generation is all it would take.
If History was taught honestly, humanely, with the children encouraged to do their own
research and then share it and discuss it and write it up in in schools, the
BNP/EDL and ISIS/Wahabists could not exist.
Nor would the far right or the ideological left nor the various factions within which anger and rage is the dominant currency have such a support base. If critical thinking was encouraged rather than opposed in schools, the lies and propaganda of any political power base would be seen as the lies they are, and resisted.
Simples.
One generation is all it would take.
Healthy behaviour is always realistic, and abuse is always idealistic, in as
much as there is a biological mandate towards optimal human biological health and behaviour, and this
mandate is more real than any invented social system that attempts to impose it's concept
of what should be, through coercion and indoctrination, through punishment and reward - be it religious, ideological or any other form - or any other method to
undermine, disrupt and replace the biological mandate of optimal human biological health and behaviour.
There is a war being perpetrated by Power Establishments against any and all people who no longer
accept the 'right' of 'might' and it includes spreading discord between people,
between the genders, between the young and the elderly, between the different
faiths. Conspiracy theories, hatred of the Jews as 'controllers' of the banking system (a lie), hatred of Muslim people, hatred of LGBTi, escalating violence at home and abroad are all planks of this war.
There is no war against white people by brown people, nor is there a war
against black, brown or any other colour by white people. There is no 'clash of civilisations' as Tony Blair claims.
Study history, see the patterns, study predatory psychopathy, see the
patterns and study optimal human biological health and see the patterns. Break free of your own social conditioning. Liberate yourself from mental slavery!
Become
fully human, fully humane.
Check out the Power Inquiry folks, and examine the detail of what genuine
devolution of power means - it means taking up the shared responsibility of
decision making, policy formulation and oversight --
which means getting down into the evidence, the data and working with others to
suss out what is most beneficial to the community as a whole - business,
community and social welfare alike... it means challenging those in our communities who are ideologically bound, angry, abuse with the evidence, face to face, it means understanding what needs and insecurities lie behind those fears, and offering ways to meet those needs, allay those insecurities.
£10 million grifter, enabled Brexit.
Deterrent Claim Debunked. Socratic
Method. It works.
1. Who had the first Nuclear Bombs?
2. Who used them, twice, on massive civilian populations, when nobody else
had them?
3. Who were their declared 'enemies' after WWII? Were the detonations of the
two bombs over Hirioshima and Nagasaki
a 'demonstration' of who had the ultimate power, and the willingness to use it?
4. Did the declared enemies have any Nuclear Bombs?
5. Did they build their own bombs as a deterrent against the already
existing bombs because they were declared enemies of the State that had the
Bomb and they believed that the bombers would use them again, as the threat
implied?
6. The deterrent is to deter the original threatener.
The rest is lies and hyperbole.
That aside, the possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction is a question of insane power politics trumping common sense and humanity. On all sides.
Peace is more, much more than the absence of War!
Don't get me wrong,
All the States that operate Hierarchical systems of
organised politically motivated violence are the result of historical psychopathic behaviour, whose origins in violence are beyond doubt, which are re-created and managed by psychopaths,
sociopaths and their servants, run on a day to day basis by carefully
conditioned ‘citizens, all of this paid for by tax payers under coercion. David Cameron's evasive answer to an honest question is illustrative.
The recent reports on the dealings between Saudi Arabia and The UK Government regarding mutual support for each others election to the UN Human Rights Commission, and the case of Ali Mohammed al-Nim, who was arrested at age 14, for making a pro-democracy protest in Saudi Arabia, and who is now 17, in jail and has been sentenced to being beheaded and then crucified, and David Camerons evasive answering to the question put to him by Jon Snow, "Why did you make this horrid deal with Saudi Arabia?" is illustrative.
That Cameron blurted out an unsubstantiated claim that Saudi Intelligence about a 'bomb flying over the UK' and that Saudi intelligence helps UK Security is appalling, devious and obscene.
He must be put to the test, and he must present the evidence for his claim. Even if it turns out to be true, the fact remains - the deal made to infiltrate the Saudi Regime into the UN Human Rights Commission, given their record and intransigence on Human Rights is shameful and repugnant, and brings the British Government and all it's offices into disrepute. Is this really acceptable in the 21st Century?
Corbyn says, as did the Power Inquiry, and as many, many millions of people do, that the electorate and party
membership is ready to mature our political activism and engagement, that the grass roots wants to step up to the plate and get stuck in, examine the data, the evidence, craft policy, and maintain oversight of how policy is being implemented - rather
than leave it to a self selecting minority of whom we cannot be assured that they have all our best
interests at heart, be it the people, our children or our business activities.
One generation is all it would take, just a matter of 30 years.
Be part of that generation. I am part of that generation. We have nothing to lose and so much to gain by engaging with all our abilities, our heart and passion.