To fit in with "The Happiness Economy" thread.
[Thanks to Larry Cooper at UBRON for this.]
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
The Happiness Economy - Part 3: Recap and Inspiration
What have we learned so far? Probably not all that much. Still it might be worth a short recap. We did get to see some history and how it effected the policies of Western culture - primarily, the United States and Europe - as they established the way that both business and culture "should" operate in the entire world.
This was the mandate the world gave to these allies (the US and Britain mostly, but also the USSR in the east) as a prize for winning World War II, and these nations maintained this uncomfortable post-WWII stability through the patently insane mass-production of thermonuclear stock piles, each side - east and west - each claiming they were just trying to "keep the world safe" from the other.
This started the Cold War. And in this new kind of war there was no escape plan. Left as it was, the probability that it would have destroyed the world by accident well before our current date was almost a sure thing, it looked like we were in for big trouble.
The missiles kept piling up, and the computers used in making the decision of whether to retaliate against an "attack" (and there were close calls in this department) were incapable of the perfection needed for flawless defense. When the stakes got too high, treaties needed to be signed. And then it seemed like it took more and more treaties. It was a situation that was quickly spiraling, more and more, out of control. In the case of the Cold War it was not ultimately the leaders of countries who brought the world back from the brink of hell. It WAS the people.
The people of the world pulled a coups d'état on their leaders and said enough is enough. Throughout the 1980's, musicians (Pink Floyd's The Wall and The Final Cut, for example), movie producers ( The Day After), playwrights, poets, songwriters, teachers... and...
Students...
Remember this little hero: Samantha Smith, the little girl from Maine who wrote Yuri Andropov (current leader of the soviet Union at the time) a letter that helped change history?
I want to do the following extensive quote from Wikipedia, because it brings back what a huge contribution this girl made to humanity, with vivid detail, and it tells us just how fast we've forgotten what we've seen and just how easy it is to change the world, if the message is put the right way...
Your children have that same opportunity every day and the right, to express their dissatisfaction with the way adults run things, to add their take. They are much wiser about the basics than we give them credit for. And they could take the truth if we could take it ourselves enough to tell them what it is. Andropov didn't mince words [my bold]...
Don't be afraid to tell your kids things; not to scare them, but to inspire them to action. For Godsakes, tell them that they CAN do something about the overwhelming problems in the world. They don't have to be scared little lambs. In comparison Samantha Smith was a lion. Had she lived, the experience she gained in the 1980's might have led to her becoming the youngest Secretary of State. Had she not died at 13 she would be 39 right now. She could have become President of the United States. Your children should be allowed to think big.
When Samantha Smith died in a plane crash with her father it broke the world's heart. Many thought it was an omen that destruction was inevitable. We know now that the memory of her courage and innocence would inspire rather than discourage the world to end its death wish. And Samantha's loss was indeed felt around the world...
I wasn't kidding about a child leading us (please see "And a Child Shall Lead Us" post). Adults are losing control again. We want to be happy on the earth. We want there to be peace and health and freedom. But we DO NOT ACT as though this were a big priority. Most of us do not act at all. Most of us take the attitude of my parents when I asked about the truth. Any child could be the next Samantha Smith. And the more we can see ourselves through the eyes of our children, the more we will care about helping ourselves, the world we have inherited and, especially, those children of ours who deserve something better than what we are doing right now.
As I've highlighted in two past posts ("God - Within and Without" and "And A Child Shall Lead Us"), there are parents now who give me great hope. My friends from Yarmouth, Maine, especially are models of parenthood. My own sister is an exceptional mother. Her children are confident, well-loved, paid attention to, inspired, allowed to express themselves freely, well-behaved, funny, adventurous, healthy...and happy. But things are not easy for her. Still she makes sure that that doesn't effect the "kiddos" in any negative way.
These kinds of parents (mostly through the leadership of wise mothering - sorry dad's, you are great guys too, but I see this improvement as being largely due to the influence of a new breed of woman arising in the world, one who is not content to make the mistakes of her parents and grandparents, yet also has devotion to the family model and places it above all other concerns - no matter how hard she ALSO works outside or inside the home), the ones once called, "Generation X" (now, 25-45) are forming the foundation for a new society.
Their children are being born post Cold War, post 20th Century. These "Millennials" are the promise we have to the future. Someday, one of these children, I think, a woman, is going to become President of the United States and transform world culture into a more unified trans-national organization. When that happens, it is possible that world-wide wars will become a thing of the past. Starvation will be rare, international emergency agencies will become strong, a new economy based on the premise that humans should strive more to be happy and therefore find wealth, than to practice the false premise that they need to become wealthy in order to find happiness..
I hope so much to be looking back on the concerns of this blog, as a happy old man, and say, "Well, we did it!"
This was the mandate the world gave to these allies (the US and Britain mostly, but also the USSR in the east) as a prize for winning World War II, and these nations maintained this uncomfortable post-WWII stability through the patently insane mass-production of thermonuclear stock piles, each side - east and west - each claiming they were just trying to "keep the world safe" from the other.
This started the Cold War. And in this new kind of war there was no escape plan. Left as it was, the probability that it would have destroyed the world by accident well before our current date was almost a sure thing, it looked like we were in for big trouble.
The missiles kept piling up, and the computers used in making the decision of whether to retaliate against an "attack" (and there were close calls in this department) were incapable of the perfection needed for flawless defense. When the stakes got too high, treaties needed to be signed. And then it seemed like it took more and more treaties. It was a situation that was quickly spiraling, more and more, out of control. In the case of the Cold War it was not ultimately the leaders of countries who brought the world back from the brink of hell. It WAS the people.
The people of the world pulled a coups d'état on their leaders and said enough is enough. Throughout the 1980's, musicians (Pink Floyd's The Wall and The Final Cut, for example), movie producers ( The Day After), playwrights, poets, songwriters, teachers... and...
Students...
Remember this little hero: Samantha Smith, the little girl from Maine who wrote Yuri Andropov (current leader of the soviet Union at the time) a letter that helped change history?
I want to do the following extensive quote from Wikipedia, because it brings back what a huge contribution this girl made to humanity, with vivid detail, and it tells us just how fast we've forgotten what we've seen and just how easy it is to change the world, if the message is put the right way...
Samantha Smith
Historical Context
When Yuri Andropov succeeded Leonid Brezhnev as leader of the Soviet Union in November 1982, the mainstream Western newspapers and magazines ran numerous front page photographs and articles about him. Most coverage was negative and tended to a perception of a new threat to the stability of the Western world. Andropov had been the Soviet Ambassador to Hungary during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and began his tenure as Soviet leader by strengthening the powers of the KGB, and by suppressing dissidents.[2] Andropov declared, "the struggle for human rights was a part of a wide-ranging imperialist plot to undermine the foundation of the Soviet state."[3] Much international tension surrounded both Soviet and American efforts to develop weapons capable of being launched from satellites in orbit. Both governments had extensive research and development programs to develop such technology. However, both nations were coming under increasing pressure to disband the project. In America, president Ronald Reagan came under pressure from a lobby of U.S. scientists and arms experts, while in Russia the government issued a statement that read, "To prevent the militarization of space is one of the most urgent tasks facing mankind".[4]
During this period, large anti-nuclear protests were taking place across Europe and North America, while the November 20, 1983 screening of ABC's post-nuclear war dramatization The Day After became one of the most anticipated media events of the decade.[5]
The two superpowers had by this point abandoned their strategy of détente and in response to the Soviet deployment of SS-20s, Reagan moved to deploy cruise and Pershing II missiles to Europe. The Soviet Union's involvement in a war in Afghanistan was in its third year, a matter which was also contributing to international tension. In this atmosphere, on November 22, 1982, Time magazine published an issue with Andropov on the cover. When Smith viewed the edition, she asked her mother, "If people are so afraid of him, why doesn't someone write a letter asking whether he wants to have a war or not?" Her mother replied, "Why don't you?"[6]
Life
Samantha Smith was born on June 29, 1972, in the small town of Houlton, Maine, on the Canada–United States border, to Jane Reed and Arthur Smith. At the age of five, she wrote a letter to Queen Elizabeth II to express her admiration to the monarch. When Smith had finished second grade in the spring of 1980, the family settled in Manchester, Maine, where she attended Manchester Elementary School. Her father taught literature and writing at the University of Maine at Augusta[4] while her mother worked as a social worker with the Maine Department of Human Services.
In November 1982, when Smith was 10 years old, she wrote to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov, seeking to understand why the relations between the Soviet Union and the United States were so tense:[7]
Her letter was published in the Soviet newspaper Pravda.[8] Samantha was happy to discover that her letter had been published; however, she had not received a reply. She then sent a letter to the Soviet Union's Ambassador to the United States asking if Mr. Andropov intended to respond. On April 26, 1983, she received a response from Andropov:[9]
- Dear Mr. Andropov,
- My name is Samantha Smith. I am ten years old. Congratulations on your new job. I have been worrying about Russia and the United States getting into a nuclear war. Are you going to vote to have a war or not? If you aren't please tell me how you are going to help to not have a war. This question you do not have to answer, but I would like to know why you want to conquer the world or at least our country. God made the world for us to live together in peace and not to fight.
- Sincerely,
- Samantha Smith
- Dear Samantha,
- I received your letter, which is like many others that have reached me recently from your country and from other countries around the world.
- It seems to me – I can tell by your letter – that you are a courageous and honest girl, resembling Becky, the friend of Tom Sawyer in the famous book of your compatriot Mark Twain. This book is well known and loved in our country by all boys and girls.
- You write that you are anxious about whether there will be a nuclear war between our two countries. And you ask are we doing anything so that war will not break out.
- Your question is the most important of those that every thinking man can pose. I will reply to you seriously and honestly.
- Yes, Samantha, we in the Soviet Union are trying to do everything so that there will not be war on Earth. This is what every Soviet man wants. This is what the great founder of our state, Vladimir Lenin, taught us.
- Soviet people well know what a terrible thing war is. Forty-two years ago, Nazi Germany, which strove for supremacy over the whole world, attacked our country, burned and destroyed many thousands of our towns and villages, killed millions of Soviet men, women and children.
- In that war, which ended with our victory, we were in alliance with the United States: together we fought for the liberation of many people from the Nazi invaders. I hope that you know about this from your history lessons in school. And today we want very much to live in peace, to trade and cooperate with all our neighbors on this earth—with those far away and those near by. And certainly with such a great country as the United States of America.
- In America and in our country there are nuclear weapons—terrible weapons that can kill millions of people in an instant. But we do not want them to be ever used. That's precisely why the Soviet Union solemnly declared throughout the entire world that never—never—will it use nuclear weapons first against any country. In general we propose to discontinue further production of them and to proceed to the abolition of all the stockpiles on Earth.
- It seems to me that this is a sufficient answer to your second question: 'Why do you want to wage war against the whole world or at least the United States?' We want nothing of the kind. No one in our country– neither workers, peasants, writers nor doctors, neither grown-ups nor children, nor members of the government–want either a big or 'little' war.
- We want peace—there is something that we are occupied with: growing wheat, building and inventing, writing books and flying into space. We want peace for ourselves and for all peoples of the planet. For our children and for you, Samantha.
- I invite you, if your parents will let you, to come to our country, the best time being this summer. You will find out about our country, meet with your contemporaries, visit an international children's camp – 'Artek' – on the sea. And see for yourself: in the Soviet Union, everyone is for peace and friendship among peoples.
- Thank you for your letter. I wish you all the best in your young life.
- Y. Andropov
Front cover of Journey to the Soviet Union.
A media circus ensued, with Smith being interviewed by Ted Koppel[10] and Johnny Carson, among others, and with nightly reports by the major American networks. On July 7, 1983, she flew to Moscow with her parents, and spent two weeks as Andropov's guest. During the trip she visited Moscow and Leningrad and spent time in Artek, the main Soviet pioneer camp, in the town of Gurzuf on the Crimean Peninsula. Smith wrote in her book that in Leningrad she and her parents were amazed by the friendliness of the people and by the presents many people made for them. Speaking at a Moscow press conference, she declared that the Russians were "just like us".[11] In Artek, Smith chose to stay with the Soviet children rather than take the privileged accommodation offered to her. For ease of communication, teachers and children with fluent English were chosen to stay in the building where she was lodged. Smith shared a dormitory with nine other girls, and spent her time there swimming, talking and learning Russian songs and dances. While there, she made many friends, including Natasha Kashirina from Leningrad, a fluent English speaker.
Andropov, however, was unable to meet with her during her visit,[12] although they did speak by telephone. It was later discovered that Andropov had become seriously ill and had withdrawn from the public eye during this time.[13] Smith also received a phone call from Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to orbit the Earth. However, not realizing with whom she was speaking, Samantha mistakenly hung up after only a brief conversation.[14] Media followed her every step—photographs and articles about her were published by the main Soviet newspapers and magazines throughout her trip and after it. Smith became widely known to Soviet citizens and was well regarded by many of them. In the United States, the event drew suspicion and some regarded it as an "American-style public relations stunt".[15]"Teach your children well" about Samantha Smith. Stress to them just how profound one letter from a child can be! Stronger than any amount of potential nuclear destruction or any other man made thing. To read about this again after all these years was almost overwhelming to me personally. This was a girl from Maine. Maine children should be proud to live in such an place. If they could just see themselves in Samantha Smith, they could do things right now to raise awareness about what a mess we are in. But remember, parents, Samantha did this on her own. She asked the crucial questions and was encouraged by enlightened parents.
Smith's return to the U.S. on July 22, 1983, was celebrated by the people of Maine with roses, a red carpet, and a limousine[16] and her popularity continued to grow in her native country. Some critics at the time remained skeptical, believing Smith was unwittingly serving as an instrument of Soviet propaganda.[16][17] In December 1983, continuing in her role as "America's Youngest Ambassador", she was invited to Japan,[18] where she met with the Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and attended the Children's International Symposium in Kobe. In her speech at the symposium, she suggested that Soviet and American leaders exchange granddaughters for two weeks every year, arguing that a president "wouldn't want to send a bomb to a country his granddaughter would be visiting".[19] Her trip inspired other exchanges of child goodwill ambassadors,[20] including a visit by the eleven-year-old Soviet child Katya Lycheva to the United States.[21] Later, Smith wrote a book called Journey to the Soviet Union[22] whose cover shows her at Artek,[23] her favorite part of the Soviet trip.[24]
Smith pursued her role as a media celebrity when in 1984, she hosted a children's special for the Disney Channel entitled Samantha Smith Goes To Washington...Campaign '84.[25] The show covered politics, where Smith interviewed several candidates for the 1984 presidential election, including George McGovern and Jesse Jackson.
Your children have that same opportunity every day and the right, to express their dissatisfaction with the way adults run things, to add their take. They are much wiser about the basics than we give them credit for. And they could take the truth if we could take it ourselves enough to tell them what it is. Andropov didn't mince words [my bold]...
- You write that you are anxious about whether there will be a nuclear war between our two countries. And you ask are we doing anything so that war will not break out.
- Your question is the most important of those that every thinking man can pose. I will reply to you seriously and honestly.
- Yes, Samantha, we in the Soviet Union are trying to do everything so that there will not be war on Earth. This is what every Soviet man wants. This is what the great founder of our state, Vladimir Lenin, taught us.
- Soviet people well know what a terrible thing war is. Forty-two years ago, Nazi Germany, which strove for supremacy over the whole world, attacked our country, burned and destroyed many thousands of our towns and villages, killed millions of Soviet men, women and children.
- [...snip...]
- In America and in our country there are nuclear weapons—terrible weapons that can kill millions of people in an instant. But we do not want them to be ever used.
Don't be afraid to tell your kids things; not to scare them, but to inspire them to action. For Godsakes, tell them that they CAN do something about the overwhelming problems in the world. They don't have to be scared little lambs. In comparison Samantha Smith was a lion. Had she lived, the experience she gained in the 1980's might have led to her becoming the youngest Secretary of State. Had she not died at 13 she would be 39 right now. She could have become President of the United States. Your children should be allowed to think big.
When Samantha Smith died in a plane crash with her father it broke the world's heart. Many thought it was an omen that destruction was inevitable. We know now that the memory of her courage and innocence would inspire rather than discourage the world to end its death wish. And Samantha's loss was indeed felt around the world...
Samantha Smith was mourned by about 1,000 people at her funeral in Augusta, Maine, and was eulogized in Moscow as a champion of peace. Attendees included Robert Wagner and Vladimir Kulagin of the Soviet Embassy in Washington, who read a personal message of condolence from Mikhail Gorbachev,[33] while President Reagan sent his condolences to Smith's mother, in writing,
"Perhaps you can take some measure of comfort in the knowledge that millions of Americans, indeed millions of people, share the burdens of your grief. They also will cherish and remember Samantha, her smile, her idealism and unaffected sweetness of spirit."[34]
I wasn't kidding about a child leading us (please see "And a Child Shall Lead Us" post). Adults are losing control again. We want to be happy on the earth. We want there to be peace and health and freedom. But we DO NOT ACT as though this were a big priority. Most of us do not act at all. Most of us take the attitude of my parents when I asked about the truth. Any child could be the next Samantha Smith. And the more we can see ourselves through the eyes of our children, the more we will care about helping ourselves, the world we have inherited and, especially, those children of ours who deserve something better than what we are doing right now.
As I've highlighted in two past posts ("God - Within and Without" and "And A Child Shall Lead Us"), there are parents now who give me great hope. My friends from Yarmouth, Maine, especially are models of parenthood. My own sister is an exceptional mother. Her children are confident, well-loved, paid attention to, inspired, allowed to express themselves freely, well-behaved, funny, adventurous, healthy...and happy. But things are not easy for her. Still she makes sure that that doesn't effect the "kiddos" in any negative way.
These kinds of parents (mostly through the leadership of wise mothering - sorry dad's, you are great guys too, but I see this improvement as being largely due to the influence of a new breed of woman arising in the world, one who is not content to make the mistakes of her parents and grandparents, yet also has devotion to the family model and places it above all other concerns - no matter how hard she ALSO works outside or inside the home), the ones once called, "Generation X" (now, 25-45) are forming the foundation for a new society.
Their children are being born post Cold War, post 20th Century. These "Millennials" are the promise we have to the future. Someday, one of these children, I think, a woman, is going to become President of the United States and transform world culture into a more unified trans-national organization. When that happens, it is possible that world-wide wars will become a thing of the past. Starvation will be rare, international emergency agencies will become strong, a new economy based on the premise that humans should strive more to be happy and therefore find wealth, than to practice the false premise that they need to become wealthy in order to find happiness..
I hope so much to be looking back on the concerns of this blog, as a happy old man, and say, "Well, we did it!"
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Twallk 6 - Not Alone
Here is a song about my recent IWALLK Odyssey, and how much it meant to be loved and supported when I needed it most. ALWAYS, there was someone there. I never felt alone. I got a bit depressed sometimes, but it was never out of lonliness.
Maybe as one single unit, humanity is not alone either...
I hope you like it, or at least understand its message.
Words and Music by Alex Wall
Click HERE
for a pdf lyric sheet
Maybe as one single unit, humanity is not alone either...
I hope you like it, or at least understand its message.
Not Alone
Words and Music by Alex Wall
There's an empty bench
In Mill Creek Park
Bring your kids feed the ducks
On the lily pond
I walk for miles inside a song
I want to make my life my own
And I'm not alone...
I'm not alone...
And I can wear my soul
And you will see my soul
I'll spend a golden coin to find the hope
Now there's an empty space
In Mill Creek Park
I'm heading home, the ducks have flown
And the path is dark
There's a broken heart
Inside our world
We've grown apart; we should march as One
With our flag unfurled
We were lost for years inside a dream
And we've forgotten what we've seen
But we're not alone...
We're not alone...
And we can find our souls
And they will see our souls
We can make a Golden Age to call our own
I'm not alone...
You're not alone...
We're not alone...
Copyright 2011 Omega Art and Music
Click HERE
for a pdf lyric sheet
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