Dear Organlearners,
sherri@maloufinc.com (Sherri Malouf) writes:
> I think in the US we didn't celebrate the end of the cold war because we
> were losing a very profitable enemy outside. Profitable because war
> stimulates the economy and we had to keep all those innocent little
> countries out of the hands of the commies. Profitable in a power sense
> because if we expand our influence in the world we gain power. Profitable
> in a psychological sense because we can ignore the horrors at home if we
> just look enough for that enemy outside.
Sherri, while reading your contribution, I could not help thinking of the
elephants in the Kruger National Park (KGP). They have no predator, except
mankind for their ivory. In the rest of Africa the elephant population has
been more than decimated (almost "centimated"). But in the KGP they are
protected. Hence they steadily increase in numbers. But they also need
food to live. And being such big animals, they tore down trees for a few
sappy leaves at the top, leaving nothing behind for other animals like
giraffes, antelopes, baboons, birds, etc. When their numbers have to be
reduced to keep the ecology intact, everybody protests in outrage. How
dare you kill elephants in the KNP when there are very little left over in
the rest of Africa. But none of the outraged cries over the fate of the
giraffes, antelopes, baboons and birds - that the elephants make their
habitat desolate.
I see a great similarity between the US and the elephants of the KNP. US
citizins are a protected species through their own creativity. They know
the value of their ivory. But do they love the trees and the other
animals?
> The choice for humanity at the moment is the choice of organizations,
> nations, and individuals. Do you choose love or fear? As long as the
> world remains fear based in its interpretation of reality and the world,
> then we will all be slow in our learning. Isn't it amazing that it could
> potentially come down to something so simple?
Sherri, for those who have emerged into a loving harmony, it does seem to
be a simple solution to all our problems. But those who have not yet
excperienced this emergence, the fear is very real. It is very much like a
mother who has to give birth. She need a midwife to lean upon. It is up to
us to show them that birth is seldom a matter of death, but leads to a new
era of joy and love.
> The mind boggles when thinking about a question like how do nations learn.
> What if the choice is actually a lot simpler? Can you imagine if every
> individual on the planet chose to react differently to one other person
> every day and cared about them instead of being jealous, hating,
> paranoid, fearing, blaming, judging, killing.
An individual does not learn on his/her own. Almost all of the learning
happens in conjunction with other humans. Exactly with nations. When a
nation learn, it has to learn in conjunction with other nations. A
"jealous, hating, paranoid, fearing, blaming, judging, killing" nation is
certainly not a learning nation. It is rather a loose canon which may
wreck the whole ship. Is Saddam the actual loose canon?
Best wishes, a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year to you all.
--At de Lange Gold Fields Computer Centre for Education University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa email: amdelange@gold.up.ac.za
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