Bill Hobler wrote that he was one who celebrated the end of the Cold War
and offered in conclusion:
>How does a nation learn? Nationals look to history, meditate about how we
>went wrong, and work to assure we don't walk that road again. We do this
>one by one and then help each other avoid the same mistakes.
>How does the world learn? We as citizens of the world should think about
>this system called our global community of people.
I too celebrated in my heart that the balance of terror had been rejected
as a way of managing the world.
The new management mode looks economic - I see a world where all markets
are regional and the economy is global.
This is primarily because of the communications network - all modes plus
the Internet which enables this and millions of other information
transactions - and the transportation network - overnight anywhere.
Shortcomings of economics are thrown back in our faces with environmental
consequences, which will come to be managed.
Global connections - global community. There is just one planet here, like
it or not. We are connected and everyone is watching. Secrets are harder
and harder to keep.
The Soviet Communists put a great deal of emphasis on education, but it
seems they expected the intellect they nurtured to only attend to
technology and science, and not to be concerned with politics. They could
not maintain the disinformation that their system was producing more and
better goods than the market economies when even their managed media could
not hide the details.
The United States has learned as well. People do not trust their
government as they once did, so there will be not likely be another Viet
Nam for us. Peace, however, requires order, so there still is a military.
Its major role is to provide policing - and policing is something that
every culture has to learn and maintain with justice. The rule of law over
the rule of kings, dictators or mobs.
The world should be ruled by its people - consent of the governed. Most do
not want to take that responsibility personally. They just want governance
to be invisible, so they can have unfettered "life, liberty and pursuit of
happiness."
Peter Kropotkin, the Russian anarchist (1842-1921) said, "The urge to
destroy is a creative urge." This confused me as a 20 year old student in
1967, but in the spirit of Ecclesisastes, chapter 3 - " To every thing
there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." I've learned
this to be true.
War is not needed, but order is. If "the order" can change without
violence, if we can have creative destruction, then learning is
demonstrated.
Slavery is abhorred, but I recall reading that in older times all the
captives were killed after a battle. That's why they fought to the death.
Being taken as slaves was seen as an improvement on the old paradigm by
captives in that time.
The message of this season is, "Peace on earth, good will toward men." It
is only through learning that our cultures and their organizations can
perpetuate peace. This is simple, but not easy. What appeals to me about
the learning organization approach is that our planet can support a
diversity of organizational types, all of which support life's
continuation.
Peace Dynamic
Tom Christoffel
Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel * TJCdesigns * E-mail: tjcdsgns@shentel.net *
Box 1444 * Front Royal, Virginia (VA) 22630-1444 *
"Design with re-use in mind. Peace Dynamic' !"
--Tom Christoffel <tjcdsgns@head.globalcom.net>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>