Theos-Talk Archives (June 2005 Message tt00397)

Another parallel POV

To cut short: Almost every nation, from the smallest to the largest, has the power of producing less pollution with litlle or minimum destruction of our environment but it is not of high interest due to the economic powers involved.
Countries like USA for example is commented to be one of the biggest pollution-producers in the world, - of course, fast food and first fossile-fuel machines were made in America - should use their funds or their interests to start an example, giving wide support, but who wants to earn less, dimminish the profits ?We all know but money talks louder.

Krishtar
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jerry Hejka-Ekins 
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 11:57 PM
Subject: Re: Theos-World According to demand or creating the demand


Dear Anton,

>So, they created radio apparatus out of coca-
>cola preserve, using buffalo's excrement as a source of energy.
>
I had a small collection of newspaper and magazine articles about people 
who did things like make their cars run from pig's excrement, recycling 
rain water for gardening, solar energy for heating water, building 
techniques to take advantage of the sun's energy etc. Occasionally I 
hear of someone who put it all together and became independent of the 
water and power companies, but yet meet any of them. I always thought 
that a real service would be to have people master these technologies 
and teach them in the US which uses 80% of the world's resources. I 
suspect that if it happened, the energy corporations would get a lot of 
laws enacted in order to make such projects impossible.

>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.
>
Yes, I remember this from the 60s when Gestalt therapy become popular. I 
was working at an open setting Community Mental Health center at the 
time. The mind travels its well worn groves until one gets 
(metaphorically) slapped across the head by a larger reality. I always 
thought of the Secret Doctrine as one of those books which forces the 
reader to start forming new pathways if they are to begin to understand 
what is in that book. It is a really extraordinary book, but must be 
read slowly, carefully and thoughtfully.

>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.
>
Yes, there were political polls preceding the 2004 Presidential election 
predicting a win for Bush, and others for Kerry, which were trying to 
influence the public. There were others out there who were trying to 
accurately measure who was favored where. This is the first time I have 
ever seen a Presidential administration so blatantly trying to 
manipulate public opinion. I remember all of this starting in the Reagan 
administration where they made a fine art of it. But what they are doing 
now is comparatively crass.

>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.
>
I'm not sure if anyone is right for that kind of competition. The Karl 
Rove technique is to go after the candidate's strongest points and 
destroy them from there. They did that to Kerry by attaching his war 
record and then took a line out of context from one of his speeches to 
give the impression that he was unable to lead. The party which wins is 
always the party which controls the rhetoric. Eventually the average 
person will realize that the Iraq war is another Vietnam situation, and 
we are nearing a very serious recession. The signs are all around us and 
a few people are beginning to see them. Retail is down, gasoline is 
near, and sometime over $2.50 a gallon. There are the kinds of things 
which usually brings about a change of parties--but not always. There 
are some very popular Republicans who might have a good chance in 2008.

>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.
>
Well, that is something to ponder. In this country, most voters are of 
retirement age and are primarily interested in things like building more 
prisons and have more police in order to protect their property. Seems 
that in Europe, political awareness cuts across all age levels.

>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.
>  
>
It seems that their are always a few souls who naturally gravitate in 
the direction of altruism--more people just want to make sure that get a 
piece of the pie and don;t want to know anything else. My wife developed 
and teaches a graduate level course which exposes public corruption. It 
is a life changing course for many of them. Few are aware of the extent 
and systemic nature of the public corruption and are very deeply shocked 
when the material is presented to them. Near the end of the semester 
they begin to feel depressed and helpless. But these are all students 
who are training to become Public Administrators, so she uses the last 
part of the semester to teach them things they can do in order to 
mitigate against the trend.

Best Wishes,
Jerry









Anton Rozman wrote:

>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
>  
>
>  
>


   
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