[FRIAM] The year ahead

Sun Jan 8 21:46:55 EST 2017

Our ideas and beliefs are governed by many variables, and change is very
hard.  I grew up in rural South Carolina.  I think the key to being a good
person who does not cause additional harm in a very scary world, is a good
education that teaches us to be as open to new ideas as possible.

On Sun, Jan 8, 2017 at 7:36 PM, Gary Schiltz <gary at naturesvisualarts.com>
wrote:

> Merle, I think a lot about what makes ultraconservatives the way they are,
> since as I said, the majority of my family is of that mindset. I grew up on
> a farm in Kansas, so I do relate somewhat to the people I grew up with.
> However, I left that life behind decades ago, and have come to see how
> narrow-minded they (and I) can be. I believe a large part of it has to do
> with male authoratarianism. I remember a recent Facebook post by one of my
> cousins that said something along the lines of "people have forgotten what
> an alpha male is like, and Trump is going to show them." This is closely
> tied to the religious fundamentalism of the south, which to my thinking, is
> damn close to that of Christian cults (I don't have any personal
> experience, just going by what I've read about figures like David Koresh
> and the Branch Dividians, and the Hollywood prortrayal of them). Somewhere
> in this mix, a big dose of fear of the government controlling our lives
> leads to fierce defense of the right to have guns - despite the more
> "moderate" views in the NRA of needing guns for hunting and self defense,
> the most strongly held view is that they are necessary to take back the
> country if the government gets too powerful. I must admit being torn on
> that issue myself. I don't buy the whole "I'll give up my gun when they pry
> it from my cold dead hands" mindset, but I'm also pretty suspicious of an
> overly strong centralized government. You can take the boy out of the
> country...
>
> On Sun, Jan 8, 2017 at 8:18 PM, Merle Lefkoff <merlelefkoff at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Your candor and honest reflection is refreshing, Gary.  And I agree with
>> you. I'm a recovering international mediator, and in addition to teaching
>> graduate students in Canada in a course titled "Complexity Thinking for
>> Integrative Peacebuilding", I also teach in the Buddhist chaplaincy program
>> at Upaya Zen Center--so I try never to see "the other" as evil.  Some of
>> the men I've had at the table over the years in negotiations had committed
>> truly evil acts, but they are human beings nonetheless.  I've become quite
>> radical as our trusted systems at every level are collapsing, and that's
>> what is promoting revolutionary resistance.  In order for social movements
>> to be successful they must remain relentlessly non-violent, and they must
>> have as part of the self-organizing process some sense of how to replace
>> the structures underlying the failed systems that they have disabled.
>> Facilitating that process is, I believe, part of our political work as
>> Complexity thinkers.  If you're interested, a paper I wrote on applying CAS
>> principles to social movements has just been published in an academic
>> Canadian peace journal.  I'll send it if you like.
>>
>> On Sun, Jan 8, 2017 at 1:24 PM, Gary Schiltz <gary at naturesvisualarts.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> What really worries me about the USA is how polarized the society there
>>> is, so "mass resistance" will certainly, at least in the short term,
>>> increase this polarization. From the standpoint of this on-the-fence
>>> liberal, it would be nice to have the luxury to be able to see the "other
>>> side" as being evil, so that I wouldn't care how they feel. The problem for
>>> me is that I can't, since many of the people I grew up with, including
>>> nearly all of my family, are part of that other side. And I see their point
>>> of view on a lot of issues. No way could I ever support Trump, but a lot of
>>> good people really do. And I don't know how to deal with this. I sure as
>>> hell don't want to see another civil war, but sometimes I think the
>>> passions are strong enough to instigate one.
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jan 8, 2017 at 2:54 PM, Merle Lefkoff <merlelefkoff at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> <https://www.facebook.com/bekah.wolf.5>
>>>> Bekah Wolf <https://www.facebook.com/bekah.wolf.5>
>>>> January 8 at 7:17am
>>>>
>>>> A year ago, an action against deportations:
>>>> https://www.facebook.com/toni.arenstein/videos/10208311021676102/
>>>>
>>>> 2017 is going to be the year of mass resistance.  This is only thing
>>>> that works now to overcome our slide toward endless war and increasing
>>>> social injustice.  These protests and the larger social movements emerging
>>>> all over the world are self-organizing systems with much to say about
>>>> applied Complexity.   Visit our website:  ecosgathering.org.  Enough
>>>> blah, blah.  Time for action.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D.
>>>> President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy
>>>> Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
>>>> merlelef
>>>> k
>>>> off at gmail.com <merlelefoff at gmail.com>
>>>> mobile:  (303) 859-5609
>>>> skype:  merle.lefkoff2
>>>>
>>>> ============================================================
>>>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>>>> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>>>> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ============================================================
>>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>>> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>>> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D.
>> President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy
>> Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
>> merlelefoff at gmail.com
>> mobile:  (303) 859-5609
>> skype:  merle.lelfkoff2
>>
>> ============================================================
>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
>>
>
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
>

-- 
Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D.
President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
merlelefoff at gmail.com
mobile:  (303) 859-5609
skype:  merle.lelfkoff2
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