Theos-Talk Archives (June 2005 Message tt00143)

Dear Jerry,

>>From the review this does indeed appear to be an excellent book. I 
am especially impressed that he is interested in helping the 
underclass.<

Yes, he undertook some really impressive projects with his students, 
for instance, designing wireless and TV sets for undeveloped regions 
of Africa and Asia. So, they created radio apparatus out of coca-
cola preserve, using buffalo's excrement as a source of energy. The 
cost of this unique wireless set was 8 cents, but people could 
listen to their local news and decorated it as they want, creating 
some really special pieces. If I recall well the cost of TV set was 
50 dollars.

>Perhaps there are some ideas here which could be applied to other
altruistic efforts? Ideas which we can use?<

Maybe the most interesting and applicable would be his way of 
breaking stereotypes in which mind see the things. He had some 
interesting graphic exercises to that purpose, but I can't reproduce 
it here, so I will send you an example on your private e-mail.
As he worked as professor at the California Institute of the Arts 
too, maybe they have some more information about his unique 
educational approach.

But I read this book long time ago and don't have it anymore, so I 
can remember only some fragments and his well grounded idealistic 
orientation and enlightening message. And there is another book of 
his, The Green Imperative: Natural Design for the Real World, which 
unfortunately I didn't read yet.

For interested here is his biography link: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Papanek


>Often poles are used in political campaigns in order to create 
public opinion. But, poles can have more honest uses too, and they 
often do.<

Yes, the methodology is neutral per se. It is the operator who 
determines the nature of its use. And as always, it is the motive 
which is important. Individuals and agencies have to earn for their 
living and if there are public resources lacking (due to the 
privatization of public budget) they lose their independence and 
they have to, to not jeopardize their existence, adopt themselves to 
the demand of employer, often quite self-restrectively. (We used to 
say here that they have a political commissar in their head.) And 
there are really only few who are courageous enough to challenge 
such situations.

>Kerry's was the most poorly managed campaigns since Goldwater in
1964.<

Far for being an expert, but I got the impression that he is not the 
right person for such type of competition, it seemed that he is not 
in his shoes, and that they should conduct a different campaign or 
have another candidate.

>One thing I like about France is that the people (on the whole) do 
not trust their government. That, combined with a free press and a 
public who remains politically aware, they do a good job keeping 
their government in check.<

I would say that this is quite common in Europe. People see their 
political leaders as more or less corrupt and the state as enemy 
which takes their money and otherwise hinders their freedom and 
which don't care much about their needs. Maybe the Scandinavian 
countries are different for there the social awareness is quite high.

>The fatal flaw is that most Americans don't want to know how bad 
things really are.<

I think that this is quite natural reaction, and if their social 
position is not in danger people don't want to see ugly things. They 
usually turn away from bad scenes. But here comes in play one's 
moral dimension. Morally developed person takes the responsibility 
and tries to overcome this natural reaction of lower bodies and to 
act to eliminate injustice.

>The development of discrimination requires training. People have to 
be trained to think critically. Most do not know how. … Theosophy is 
for people who can think, or who can drive themselves to think. One 
could also apply this to what is required to become an awakened 
human being.<

Yes, and I would add that this development of discrimination demands 
not only the capability to think but also the capability of ethical 
evaluation and that a really awaken human being sees the "sorrow in 
the eyes of forgotten children" and acts accordingly.


Warmest regards,
Anton


--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, Jerry Hejka-Ekins <jjhe@c...> 
wrote:
> Dear Anton, 
> 
> >Yes, I remember an excellent book by Victor Papanek, Design for 
the 
> >Real World, http://www.914.qc.ca/monde.html, in which he 
described 
> >methods of the creation of artificial needs and how a socially 
> >responsible industrial design (in the broadest sense) should look 
> >like.
> >
> From the review this does indeed appear to be an excellent book.  
I am 
> especially impressed that he is interested in helping the 
underclass.  
> Perhaps there are some ideas here which could be applied to other 
> altruistic efforts? Ideas which we can use?
> 
> >Yes, I agree, but the problem is not so much with the results. 
> >Public opinion is created with the selection of "right" 
questions. 
> >For instance, before your last presidential election I visited 
> >Gallup Institute page and I was shocked. There were questions 
> >something like (I don't remember exactly anymore):
> >
> Yes, you are exactly right on this. Often poles are used in 
political 
> campaigns in order to create public opinion. But, poles can have 
more 
> honest uses too, and they often do.
> 
> >Do you find John Kerry inconsistent regarding the terrorism?
> >  
> >
> The last Presidential election is an excellent example of how 
public 
> opinion can be manufactured. Karl Rove was the mastermind behind 
it 
> and settled upon focusing the campaign saying that Kerry "flip 
flops,"  
> therefore he cannot be trusted. The Republican's political 
> advertisements featured a sound bite, taken out of context, of 
Kerry 
> saying that he voted on a budget item before he voted against it.  
It 
> was very effective. Another trick was creating a "Swift Boat 
Veterans 
> group." which produced a campaign ad of people from the Vietnam 
war who 
> gave the impression that they knew Kerry and that he did not 
deserve his 
> medals. Ben Ginsberg, Bush's re-election campaign lawyer was one 
of the 
> coordinators of this attack.
> 
> However, in spite of the barrages from his opposition, Kerry ran a 
very 
> poor campaign and the public had little sense of what he was 
really 
> about. Kerry's was the most poorly managed campaigns since 
Goldwater in 
> 1964. Of course, Kerry is consistent. But the real issues were 
never 
> aired in that campaign anyway. 
> 
> >And some other similar questions about the democratic candidate. 
Not 
> >that the questions about republican Bush weren't similar; they 
> >weren't any at all. So, the manipulation begins before getting 
any 
> >result.
> >
> Yes. That is exactly what happened.
> 
> >You indeed mentioned that polls conducted by and for political 
> >interests are often designed to create public opinion, but I used 
> >this simple example to indicate how these things works, surely in 
> >other areas too.
> >
> Theoretically, yes. One must always be aware of who is financing 
the 
> polls. However, polls also are used for information gathering.  
Protor 
> and Gamble spends a lot of money trying to find out why people 
might 
> prefer one brand of tooth paste over another. They are, in this 
case, 
> interested in getting accurate information so that they can market 
a 
> tooth paste that will sell better. On the other hand, sometimes 
> statistics are used in advertisements to create opinion. I 
remember one 
> that ran for years repeating the otherwise meaningless 
phrase: "three 
> out of four doctors recommend aspirin."  
> 
> >The sad thing is that from that time on this type of deception 
> >became an art and evolved in the "Truman Show", more or less 
fully 
> >practiced all over the world.  
> >  
> >
> To a great extent, yes. It is easier to allow others to think 
for you 
> than to do your own. One thing I like about France is that the 
people 
> (on the whole) do not trust their government. That, combined with 
a 
> free press and a public who remains politically aware, they do a 
good 
> job keeping their government in check. On the other hand, 
Americans 
> (generally speaking) are overly complacent and politically 
unaware.  
> Generally, they also trust their government. It is a bad 
combination.  
> The saving hope is that the United States does have a free press.  
The 
> fatal flaw is that most Americans don't want to know how bad 
things 
> really are. 
> 
> >whenever they publish something that is even mildly critical of 
the administration, the White House calls the editor and threatens 
him<
> >
> >Well, I didn't imagine that they do these things so openly. It is 
> >obvious that they feel enough strong to do that; and history gave 
a 
> >certain name to such governments which spread fear and cultivate 
the 
> >idea of chosen nation.
> >
> Their arrogance is their greatest weakness. Right now, the 
> neo-conservatives control the Executive and Congressional 
branches. If 
> they gain control of the Judiciary, they will have power 
unprecedented 
> in this country's history. Recently, congress called a special 
session 
> in order to pass a special law which applied to one person in 
order to 
> embarrass the judiciary branch. It was one of those rare moments 
when 
> public opinion saw through the sham and Bush's popularity went way 
down. 
> 
> >But maybe the lesson we have to learn is not to rely on any word, 
on 
> >any appearance, but only on one's own inner discrimination.
> >
> The development of discrimination requires training. People have 
to be 
> trained to think critically. Most do not know how. Most 
Americans, 
> anyway. It reminds me of a line HPB once used--something like: 
> Theosophy is for people who can think, or who can drive themselves 
to 
> think. One could also apply this to what is required to become an 
> awakened human being. A good place to start is for people to 
learn the 
> difference between feelings and intuition. In English, this is 
very 
> hard for people to see, because the two words are used 
interchangeably. 
> 
> Best wishes,
> Jerry
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anton Rozman wrote:
> 
> >Dear Jerry,
> >
> >  
> >
> >>They are interested in training people to be consumers - to buy 
> >>    
> >>
> >their products whether they need the product or not.<
> >
> >Yes, I remember an excellent book by Victor Papanek, Design for 
the 
> >Real World, http://www.914.qc.ca/monde.html, in which he 
described 
> >methods of the creation of artificial needs and how a socially 
> >responsible industrial design (in the broadest sense) should look 
> >like.
> >
> >  
> >
> >>I believe that American public opinion polls more or less reflect
> >>    
> >>
> >public opinion.<
> >
> >Yes, I agree, but the problem is not so much with the results. 
> >Public opinion is created with the selection of "right" 
questions. 
> >For instance, before your last presidential election I visited 
> >Gallup Institute page and I was shocked. There were questions 
> >something like (I don't remember exactly anymore):
> >
> >Do you find John Kerry inconsistent regarding the terrorism?
> >
> >And some other similar questions about the democratic candidate. 
Not 
> >that the questions about republican Bush weren't similar; they 
> >weren't any at all. So, the manipulation begins before getting 
any 
> >result.
> >
> >You indeed mentioned that polls conducted by and for political 
> >interests are often designed to create public opinion, but I used 
> >this simple example to indicate how these things works, surely in 
> >other areas too.
> >
> >  
> >
> >>Do you know where and when the story of Potemkin's village 
> >>    
> >>
> >originated?<
> >
> >As far as I know it is based on the real events during the period 
of 
> >Catherine the Great, but maybe Konstantin could say more about 
that. 
> >Meanwhile here is a short description: 
> >http://www.ehistory.com/world/amit/display.cfm?amit_id=2216.
> >
> >The sad thing is that from that time on this type of deception 
> >became an art and evolved in the "Truman Show", more or less 
fully 
> >practiced all over the world.  
> >
> >  
> >
> >>whenever they publish something that is even mildly critical of 
the administration, the White House calls the editor and threatens 
him<
> >>
> >>Well, I didn't imagine that they do these things so openly. It 
is 
> >>obvious that they feel enough strong to do that; and history 
gave a 
> >>certain name to such governments which spread fear and cultivate 
the 
> >>idea of chosen nation.
> >>
> >>But maybe the lesson we have to learn is not to rely on any 
word, on 
> >>any appearance, but only on one's own inner discrimination.
> >>
> >>Warmest regards,
> >>Anton
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, Jerry Hejka-Ekins <jjhe@c...> 
> >>wrote:
> >>    
> >>
> >  
> >