Dignity for All

[chuck kottke]

Ever wonder why things are so slow to change? I began to wonder myself why things are as they are - even the global inequities involving trade and monetary policy are deeply affected - and solving issues of global poverty, instability, and terrorism are all linked to greater social flaws that need to be fixed.

I wandered across a book and a website devoted to understanding this critical issue, and I thought I would share it with anyone interested:Dignity For All

All the wars, the resource wars over controlling essential commodities such as oil and water - all tied to the nature of those in power, and why the abuses of power occur. Plus, solutions. Worth a look, if you've got the time.;)

-CK.

Incidentally, giving it some thought, all the charity work Coldplay does is intimately affected by human nature, and the regions of global poverty are as well. Oxfam might find it less frustrating if we lived in a world of greater equity and dignity, one run by people who represent the higher aspirations of humanity, and have less concern about their rank & more concern about good results.

[The Escapist]

"We now have the power to rid the world of all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life"~ Evermore

 

A little goes a long way. I want to change the world, however little the change may be.

[chuck kottke]

"We now have the power to rid the world of all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life"~ Evermore

 

 

A little goes a long way. I want to change the world, however little the change may be.

 

Interesting quote, Bryce! The former sounds better, the latter unthinkable - at least in modern times.. to tame the animal within and without - that is the challenge.

 

Perhaps being part of the whole is becoming the change we wish to see - it's all pretty much state-of-mind before substance anyhow. What was the one idea Pete Seeger had about change? The idea was that change was like a seesaw, with one end weighted down with the problem, and at the other end there's a big empty bucket. As the people who understood the need began to fill the bucket (a tiny teaspoon at a time), others would say "look, it's such a little amount of sand - the change will never come." But each day, more and more people came, and more and more teaspoons full of sand filled the pail, until all of a sudden, the seesaw flipped the other way! The non-participants were amazed and surprised when the change came so quickly, but they didn't notice how all along a great many people had each been taking the tiny teaspoons of sand, and slowly building up to a tipping point. For the ones with the teaspoons, the change had already began when they lifted their first spoonful of sand.

[The Escapist]

^So true.

 

The quote was from the latest Evermore album "Truth to the world:Welcome to the show". That quote grabs me everytime I listen to it. The album itself is like a political concept album, critising views from the media. very good if you ever want to listen to it.

 

Perhaps one day we will look back in hindsight on this present moment we are in and ridicule how we are running the world.

[chuck kottke]

^So true.

 

The quote was from the latest Evermore album "Truth to the world:Welcome to the show". That quote grabs me everytime I listen to it. The album itself is like a political concept album, critising views from the media. very good if you ever want to listen to it.

 

Perhaps one day we will look back in hindsight on this present moment we are in and ridicule how we are running the world.

Truly a thought provoking quote - and it shows some of the dualisms in our world - I think about this too - one the one side, the gated communities in the hills, and on the other, complete and utter poverty. One steps over the other - it's not how I want to see the world in the future!

I will give it a listen.

And yes, perhaps we will - things seem to happen in phases, and the era we are in shows both great promise and great folly.. I think of the Beatles song , wherein George Harrison sings , "But surely we must be learning.. while my guitar gently weeps.."

[The Escapist]

Its like the world is in a state of negative feedback; like how chemicals work in the body system. If there starts to be to much good news or positive things happens, something bad with happen to bring it back down. If there are lots of bad things happening then something positive will 'appear' to bring our [the world] morality and esteem back up. For ours to be a better world, we need to build positive things on top of positive things. Only then can we make progress.

[chuck kottke]

Its like the world is in a state of negative feedback; like how chemicals work in the body system. If there starts to be to much good news or positive things happens, something bad with happen to bring it back down. If there are lots of bad things happening then something positive will 'appear' to bring our [the world] morality and esteem back up. For ours to be a better world, we need to build positive things on top of positive things. Only then can we make progress.

That's an interesting way of seeing it, and yes, I think everything runs in cycles too. Part of that may be due to a bad historical memory, part due to the overconfidence effect. Feedback loops - Corruption, then reform - makes sense.

The concept from the Uni was the forward spiral view - everything seems to be going in circles, but when viewed from the side, we are slowly making forward progress.

Perhaps there are watershed moments, when several positive events lasting progress..

 

 

[The Escapist]

That's an interesting way of seeing it, and yes, I think everything runs in cycles too. Part of that may be due to a bad historical memory, part due to the overconfidence effect. Feedback loops - Corruption, then reform - makes sense.

The concept from the Uni was the forward spiral view - everything seems to be going in circles, but when viewed from the side, we are slowly making forward progress.

Perhaps there are watershed moments, when several positive events lasting progress..

 

 

 

I like the idea of the spiral view concept.

[chuck kottke]

I like the idea of the spiral view concept.

That, or it was just put up on the screen to make us all feel better!:laugh3: But perhaps understanding the root causes of some of our social problems will produce real results in time..

[Cobalt]

"We now have the power to rid the world of all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life"~ Evermore

 

A little goes a long way. I want to change the world, however little the change may be.

 

That's not an Evermore quote, that's a JFK quote they borrowed.

[Electric.Candy]

^ Multi-quote.

[The Escapist]

That's not an Evermore quote, that's a JFK quote they borrowed.

 

thankyou for letting me know.

[chuck kottke]

Predates my memory! Good quote, great understanding.

As I was thinking about the world we live in - let's face it, any of us that has this kind of access to a computer isn't a member of the 3 billion club - the 3 billion, that is, who live on $2.00 a day or less. Lots of homeless people, and this song came to mind:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfZqXLnBYb4]YouTube - another day in paradise[/ame]

[chuck kottke]

Here's something interesting - how credit cards were part of the financial meltdown that almost caused a second great depression!FRONTLINE: home | PBS

In America, banks keep poor people poor by enticing them in, and then clubbing them hard. And if there's any doubt of the need for campaign finance reform (getting the so-called commercial banks and the rest from contributing handsomely to politicians campaigns), this should seal the case.

I've gotta laugh when a politician gets asked whether or not the credit card company's contribution had any effect on our ability to regulate the "industry" - what a joke! Like, what were they expecting - a piece of cake from the cafeteria?!

[Dfit00]

The reason why the US has over 10% of unemployment right now is because employers can't find good people to hire, although this isn't the only factor.

[chuck kottke]

That's an interesting thought - that much of a shift in the types of & location of employment, or that much of a shortage of trained and qualified workers??

Seems like the majority of the problem still is with the predatory loans, the bearish response in the marketplace (both consumer markets and tradable assets), and the drying up of affordable credit. Property sales are very slow in the upper Midwest here, and manufacturing states have some of the highest unemployment rates. More stimulus in the sector for manufacturing wind turbines, solar cells and panels, etc. would boost things dramatically, & if there were more money available for consumers to use on these purchases.

[The Escapist]

Isn't it true that kindness starts in the home? For developing countries like America and Australia to start leading by example and treat everyone fairly in their own countries.