Recovering from Institutions: Divine Right and Ordained Hierarchy:
Continue the shift in “Ideology where hierarchy, competition, individualism, materialism, sexism, and a punitive system of education and justice are prioritized.” (OI, Nelson, 185) that did not begin with the merging of church and state in the 3rd century A.D., but certainly gained momentum as kings assumed the divine right to be tyrants in the name of God. “We live in an inhuman society of institutions, from government to business to education and health, which are pyramids. Power comes from the top, from the elite few who control the wealth and resources of the Earth. It is a society which, rather than supporting people, pit people against each other. Rather than a system of cooperation and equality, it is a system of competition, domination and subordination. Rather than bringing people together, it separates and divides. Rather than valuing love and companionship, creativity and learning and the beauty of the natural world, it turns people into consumers who are taught that happiness lies in wealth and status.”(OI, p.26) And “what is the result of this alienation?” “It’s a civilization warped and twisted away from the trend of millions of years of evolution with more complex, rational, creative thought and into the madness of blind, unthinking rage, terror and desperation.”(OI, p.26) “This is what we think is normal. We say it’s just human nature.”(OI, p.26) But “It’s not. It’s insanity. It’s dehumanization.”(OI, p. 26)
as Jeanette Armstrong notes, we cannot hold all equally responsible, as if to say it’s just ‘human nature’ – when not all humans behave this way…only those who’ve learned to overindulge…which isn’t any better for the overindulgent (for the same reason food tastes better to the hungry), than it is for those who go hungry for their sake. So our interest has been misguided if we think we can gain by others loss. John Stuart Mill also makes this argument that oppression harms the oppressor as well as the oppressed. “overindulging will bring misfortune.”(I Ching, p.379) However, “To increase one’s benefits without diminishing others is not only without fault, it is the best way to obtain constant increase.”(I Ching, p. 339) Ideally, “Bringing increase to others without diminishing oneself is the best way to deal with the matter of giving and receiving.”(I Ching, p. 338) But it is also “right to scale down one’s excess to alleviate other people’s deficiency.”(I Ching, p. 339)
“A leader with wisdom and foresight…sincerity and trustworthiness encouraged people to work in full cooperation and with unity of purpose.”(I Ching, pp. 461-462)
As the I Ching puts is, “those who oppose the wishes of people oppose the will of Heaven.”(p. 393) Whereas “an ideal society [is one] of great harmony in which the leader and the people work in full cooperation and with unity of purpose.”(I Ching, p. 387)
(repeat from Re-indigenization)
“It’s going [to] take more than just the traditional ecological knowledge base of Indigenous Peoples. It’s going to take more than the hard science of the Western world.” (OI, Thomas-Muller, 245) It’s going to take dialogue between these…including all the voices of all the ancestors we can access. “[T]raditional science and Western science” are two different paths that have to meet (OI, Ross, 201)
Indigenous voices need access to those dialogues, need a seat at the table (OI, Thomas-Muller, 246), “to put a face to the oppression.” (OI, Thomas-Muller, 244) for those who live downstream (OI, Thomas-Muller, 244) on “the River of Destruction,” (oil industry terms: upstream = extraction, midstream = transport and refining, down stream = consumers…so all of us!)
A great leader will work “to cultivate mutual influence between people,”(I Ching, p.268) of the kind that brings out the best in each and all. “The ancient sages proclaimed that nourishing and nurturing were not a matter reserved for the family but concerned society as a whole.”(I Ching, p.237) Indeed, “nourishing and nurturing a family [only] was selfish, nourishing and nurturing a society was selfless.”(I Ching, p.237) (concentric circles*)
Aristotle, like the I Ching, “applied the principle of managing a household to governing a country... [following] the loving example of one household,” Confucius said, “A whole state becomes loving.”(I Ching, pp. 309-310)
We find ourselves working out some clash of worldviews, ways of knowing and being (OI, Nelson, 298) ) – a ‘dialectic of mesticismos’- different assumptions, mechanistic/organic (OI, Nelson, 298) And for this we need leaders who understand this dialectic art.
“To reconcile and heal the internal split experienced by any Mestizo (also felt by most people currently living on the planet.” (OI, Alarcon, 279) “this new liberating Mestizo/Mestiza consciousness not only embraces ‘others’ as equal and unique human beings but also calls for a new global awareness of the ‘oneness’ of all living creatures and of nature as a whole.” (OI, Alarcon, 275)… “the ‘oneness’ of all life in which the ‘self’ is not alienated from the surrounding nature.” (OI, Alarcon, 275) “a fluid ontology in which any notion of ‘self’ must include the ‘others,’ equally trespassing upon neat demarcations like subject/object, human/nature, us/them, and other similar dichotomies common of western thought.” (OI, Alarcon, 274) (heal*)
As the I Ching says, “Diversity is natural and unavoidable. The key is in seeking harmony… all diversity can be harmonized, no matter whether it is between members of a household, or members of a society, or between nations of the world.”(I Ching, p. 317) Even “In the course of diversifying, there is still similarity – this is the unique wisdom of the I Ching… The key is seeking harmony out of diversity.”(I Ching, p.314)
This is how humility, or what Thomas Hobbes called 'equality of subjectivity' (Leviathan], and Barry Stevens and other humanist psychologists idealized as 'perfect equality'[Barry Stevens, Person to Person: The Problem of Being Human, with Carl Rogers, Eugene T. Gendlin, John M. Shlien, and Wilson Van Dusen (Real People Press: Moab, Utah, 1967) pp.261-262.], and some label merely 'relativistic'. But, appreciative of diversity as he was, Socrates/Plato would have been the last to think of this as 'mere relativity' -- for it was in this very relativity of perspectives from which the objective truth emerged.[Aristotle, Protagoras, Mill]
As the I Ching had put it, “the ideal society – a society of great harmony in which the leader and the people work in full cooperation and with unity of purpose.”(I Ching, p. 387) For this reason, “In bringing people together, a great leader is critically important.”(I Ching, p. 363) Such “an enlightened and bright leader should recognize the potential of virtuous and intelligent people.”(I Ching, p.387) “to replenish the people’s latent productive capacity.”(I Ching, p. 386) A true leader understands “the wisdom of employing virtuous people. Water in a stream is a gift of nature. Water in a well results from the accomplishment of human beings. All the underground streams are there, but without digging the water is wasted.”(I Ching, p.385) “According to the wisdom of the ancient sages, the only way to assure that the supply is inexhaustible is to make the best possible use of the people and resources.”(p. 385)
On freedom of speech, the new found freedom of speech that came with the birth of organized democracy was also, as it happens, the birth of bullshit, or what we these days call political spin. And so the search for truth became a meaningful quest for the practical wisdom needed to keep democracy honest. Hence the reason philosophy, in the Greek sense, was born with democracy.
Continue the shift in “Ideology where hierarchy, competition, individualism, materialism, sexism, and a punitive system of education and justice are prioritized.” (OI, Nelson, 185) that did not begin with the merging of church and state in the 3rd century A.D., but certainly gained momentum as kings assumed the divine right to be tyrants in the name of God. “We live in an inhuman society of institutions, from government to business to education and health, which are pyramids. Power comes from the top, from the elite few who control the wealth and resources of the Earth. It is a society which, rather than supporting people, pit people against each other. Rather than a system of cooperation and equality, it is a system of competition, domination and subordination. Rather than bringing people together, it separates and divides. Rather than valuing love and companionship, creativity and learning and the beauty of the natural world, it turns people into consumers who are taught that happiness lies in wealth and status.”(OI, p.26) And “what is the result of this alienation?” “It’s a civilization warped and twisted away from the trend of millions of years of evolution with more complex, rational, creative thought and into the madness of blind, unthinking rage, terror and desperation.”(OI, p.26) “This is what we think is normal. We say it’s just human nature.”(OI, p.26) But “It’s not. It’s insanity. It’s dehumanization.”(OI, p. 26)
as Jeanette Armstrong notes, we cannot hold all equally responsible, as if to say it’s just ‘human nature’ – when not all humans behave this way…only those who’ve learned to overindulge…which isn’t any better for the overindulgent (for the same reason food tastes better to the hungry), than it is for those who go hungry for their sake. So our interest has been misguided if we think we can gain by others loss. John Stuart Mill also makes this argument that oppression harms the oppressor as well as the oppressed. “overindulging will bring misfortune.”(I Ching, p.379) However, “To increase one’s benefits without diminishing others is not only without fault, it is the best way to obtain constant increase.”(I Ching, p. 339) Ideally, “Bringing increase to others without diminishing oneself is the best way to deal with the matter of giving and receiving.”(I Ching, p. 338) But it is also “right to scale down one’s excess to alleviate other people’s deficiency.”(I Ching, p. 339)
“A leader with wisdom and foresight…sincerity and trustworthiness encouraged people to work in full cooperation and with unity of purpose.”(I Ching, pp. 461-462)
As the I Ching puts is, “those who oppose the wishes of people oppose the will of Heaven.”(p. 393) Whereas “an ideal society [is one] of great harmony in which the leader and the people work in full cooperation and with unity of purpose.”(I Ching, p. 387)
(repeat from Re-indigenization)
“It’s going [to] take more than just the traditional ecological knowledge base of Indigenous Peoples. It’s going to take more than the hard science of the Western world.” (OI, Thomas-Muller, 245) It’s going to take dialogue between these…including all the voices of all the ancestors we can access. “[T]raditional science and Western science” are two different paths that have to meet (OI, Ross, 201)
Indigenous voices need access to those dialogues, need a seat at the table (OI, Thomas-Muller, 246), “to put a face to the oppression.” (OI, Thomas-Muller, 244) for those who live downstream (OI, Thomas-Muller, 244) on “the River of Destruction,” (oil industry terms: upstream = extraction, midstream = transport and refining, down stream = consumers…so all of us!)
A great leader will work “to cultivate mutual influence between people,”(I Ching, p.268) of the kind that brings out the best in each and all. “The ancient sages proclaimed that nourishing and nurturing were not a matter reserved for the family but concerned society as a whole.”(I Ching, p.237) Indeed, “nourishing and nurturing a family [only] was selfish, nourishing and nurturing a society was selfless.”(I Ching, p.237) (concentric circles*)
Aristotle, like the I Ching, “applied the principle of managing a household to governing a country... [following] the loving example of one household,” Confucius said, “A whole state becomes loving.”(I Ching, pp. 309-310)
We find ourselves working out some clash of worldviews, ways of knowing and being (OI, Nelson, 298) ) – a ‘dialectic of mesticismos’- different assumptions, mechanistic/organic (OI, Nelson, 298) And for this we need leaders who understand this dialectic art.
“To reconcile and heal the internal split experienced by any Mestizo (also felt by most people currently living on the planet.” (OI, Alarcon, 279) “this new liberating Mestizo/Mestiza consciousness not only embraces ‘others’ as equal and unique human beings but also calls for a new global awareness of the ‘oneness’ of all living creatures and of nature as a whole.” (OI, Alarcon, 275)… “the ‘oneness’ of all life in which the ‘self’ is not alienated from the surrounding nature.” (OI, Alarcon, 275) “a fluid ontology in which any notion of ‘self’ must include the ‘others,’ equally trespassing upon neat demarcations like subject/object, human/nature, us/them, and other similar dichotomies common of western thought.” (OI, Alarcon, 274) (heal*)
As the I Ching says, “Diversity is natural and unavoidable. The key is in seeking harmony… all diversity can be harmonized, no matter whether it is between members of a household, or members of a society, or between nations of the world.”(I Ching, p. 317) Even “In the course of diversifying, there is still similarity – this is the unique wisdom of the I Ching… The key is seeking harmony out of diversity.”(I Ching, p.314)
This is how humility, or what Thomas Hobbes called 'equality of subjectivity' (Leviathan], and Barry Stevens and other humanist psychologists idealized as 'perfect equality'[Barry Stevens, Person to Person: The Problem of Being Human, with Carl Rogers, Eugene T. Gendlin, John M. Shlien, and Wilson Van Dusen (Real People Press: Moab, Utah, 1967) pp.261-262.], and some label merely 'relativistic'. But, appreciative of diversity as he was, Socrates/Plato would have been the last to think of this as 'mere relativity' -- for it was in this very relativity of perspectives from which the objective truth emerged.[Aristotle, Protagoras, Mill]
As the I Ching had put it, “the ideal society – a society of great harmony in which the leader and the people work in full cooperation and with unity of purpose.”(I Ching, p. 387) For this reason, “In bringing people together, a great leader is critically important.”(I Ching, p. 363) Such “an enlightened and bright leader should recognize the potential of virtuous and intelligent people.”(I Ching, p.387) “to replenish the people’s latent productive capacity.”(I Ching, p. 386) A true leader understands “the wisdom of employing virtuous people. Water in a stream is a gift of nature. Water in a well results from the accomplishment of human beings. All the underground streams are there, but without digging the water is wasted.”(I Ching, p.385) “According to the wisdom of the ancient sages, the only way to assure that the supply is inexhaustible is to make the best possible use of the people and resources.”(p. 385)
On freedom of speech, the new found freedom of speech that came with the birth of organized democracy was also, as it happens, the birth of bullshit, or what we these days call political spin. And so the search for truth became a meaningful quest for the practical wisdom needed to keep democracy honest. Hence the reason philosophy, in the Greek sense, was born with democracy.