How to make change in the world/ your government/ your community/etc

@Vishnu; I honestly didn’t even consider that when I made that post! I was thinking in terms of people’s perception of change; clinging to old patterns for security reasons etc.

Amethyst Rock.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSR7H580e5U

@Jason: [I am confident that this generation will be the one to smooth out the power ratio, and at least establish freedom and autonomy for those with the knowledge and responsibility to wield it]
As Emeril would say, “kick it up a notch.” If you smooth out power, you are just redistributing it. And who will be the judge of “freedom and autonomy” to decide who will wield it? Don’t get trapped in the programming that my generation has pounded into your subconscious.

Answer me this:
Why do people need power?
At what point should one person stop making decisions for another?

Hey Bruce! I didn’t mean to sound hasty in that last post; by autonomy I was simply referring to the rights of the individual to express themselves without fear of OPPRESSIVE rule. I’m all for structure in society, but there is definitely an imbalance between the government/citizen level. “For the people, by the people” should mean more than just voting for the lesser of two evils.

I understand the delusion of a self-governing utopia, but I honestly believe that human have the potential to achieve something very close to this, if the governing officials are actually on the same page. Ideally, it shouldn’t be a master/slave situation at all.

And to answer your question, people don’t need power over anyone else. What we really need is to awaken the power within ourselves, to understand the charade that is humanity. Plants and animals abide by the power of the law of the jungle/Darwinian struggle, but humans absolutely possess a higher potential than mere survival at all costs. We are super animals; let’s start living like it!

And to your second question; I don’t think anyone should be making decisions for anybody but themselves. It’s not the government’s place to tell me what I can and cannot put into my body, nor what kind of health insurance (if desired) I will opt into. The government should behave like a good moderator; stepping in only when there is an issue, and keeping law-abusers at bay. The current model treats citizens like they aren’t responsible enough to make true choices, so we have a babysitter situation.

Of course, most people ARE indeed ignorant, so this is half of the issue.

The problem is, we are now in a situation where the government just leverages EVERY issue as abuse/safety, then convinces the whole to submit freedoms under the guise of national security. THIS is what I am referring to in regards to the power ratio.

with that Nicholas Cotton! if a teacher’s job is considered as important as a scientist’s or a researcher’s then we automatically start getting better, passionate teachers at all levels of education. teaching is one of the most important jobs in all respects: parents teach, teachers teach and we teach ourselves everyday. its no ordinary job! and thats wat we’re downplaying. sigh.
here’s a better way for schools to be run. this also goes with the autonomous power Jason was tokin about: classes shud be made free to attend/ not to. an attendance shud not be taken. that way students will automatically gravitate towards the classes (ted style, love it!) of awesome teachers, and the not so great ones can be weeded out. every student shud also be able to express their opinions towards each class… that way, students are no longer made to ‘sit’ in a class just like how the govt. tells us wat to do.
@Jason… the whole power-slavery thing… completely agree. we are so conditioned into it all we can barely think outside of it. ”Of course, most people ARE indeed ignorant, so this is half of the issue.” the truth is that an astounding number of people want to do something about all this (even though they may not have clarity on what to do)… many of us give up when we see the magnitude of change that is to be brought thinking thats too much. but we sure are not completely deluded by the sweet talk of those in power. my point is that active discussions should be made in order to reach a consensus of all those who want to fight the system. i’m not talking placards and protests, that is just temporary resistance. what i think is we need to have an organised group of people who agree upon the same things (like we’re talking here) wanting the same result (of evening out the power ratio)…. emphasis on ‘same’.. other wise there wud be internal conflict. if such a group of ppl so much as come together, it will be enough to show those in ‘power’ that we are not complete robots that cant think and act outside of the little cage they’ve built for us..
does that make sense, or is it the same thing as repairing the old amplifier, and working within the current paradigm??

@Josh; your activism is a great idea; those pamphlets sound awesome. My commitment is most obviously through ThinkNowLiveNow; getting those people whom Vishnu mentions are “on the edge”, but just can’t seem to get past the emotional barriers of overwhelming odds. Living a better life for yourself inspires you to help others achieve a similar quality of life.

@Vishnu; I really dig the idea of optional attendance. Modern schooling is essentially academic socialism, whereby classrooms are set by age instead of intellectual capacity, and the stupid kids bring everyone down with them. Yes, I understand we have special placement classes for advanced students, but these classes only exist to further groom the smart yet gullible kids into certain roles in society.

If they had the option to show up, it would then behave more like natural selection; kids with passion for knowledge will get ahead, while the kids who prefer over-socializing will pay natural consequences instead of being rewarded for it.

@Eric; I have no idea how I missed your post on this page; absolute brilliance. Terence McKenna is somewhere off in hyperspace applauding your post at the top of this page : )

@Jason [I’m all for structure in society, but there is definitely an imbalance between the government/citizen level.]
I’m old enough to have seen that when it was a gap, not a chasm. It is called “over-socialization.” Currently, government grabs you as young as possible to get you away from family ties and puts themselves in the position of surrogate parents–and makes sure you never grow up and lose that dependency. They want you to be old enough to mow the lawn, but not old enough to make decisions.

In some cultures, like India, this technique is devastating to the young, as their traditional, family values are being cut right at the source. I think @vishnu would understand that; I’ve talked with a number of Indians over the years and their top conflict is “family obligation” versus “personal desires.” And that ties back in to my initial question regarding “power.”

@Jason [people don’t need power over anyone else. What we really need is to awaken the power within ourselves, to understand the charade that is humanity.]
It was a bit of a trick question, as most people will take the stance of “no power” (as in Eric) or totalitarian rule. I’ve watched this process for a long time, so let me pass on my observations:

1. You cannot awaken that which you have voluntarily given away.
2. We have a NEED for power, as do all biological organisms–the power to control our own survival.

Think about it carefully. Examine the terminology, “those in power,” “the powers that be”… they did not take the power, you gave it to them with your IMPLIED consent, which is a fundamental principle of the UCC (Uniform Commercial Code)–the international rulebook to govern the world as a corporation. The law is clear: if you don’t disagree, then you agree. And “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” so they don’t actually have to go out of their way to make things publicly known. As I said, mine is the “covert” generation–always keep that in mind.

Few people control their own survival these days. How many of you live on a self-sufficient farm or ranch? If your money is cut off, how long will you last? This constant worry, conscious or subconscious, generates the fear that is used for control. What is needed it to RECLAIM that power, and that is done through knowledge, intelligence and experience.

What @mANIMAl described is exactly correct, and the feedback being sent into the governing system is “you are responsible for my survival, not me, whatever the cost.” What would happen with a paradigm that sent the signal, “I don’t need you; I can do it myself?”

@Josh… just yesterday i came across something somewhere (electronic media jamming my senses!) of the kind of atrocities you mentioned, and i thought how the FUCK is anyone okay with that?!!! when did it start becoming okay for shit like this to happen? seriously… unimaginable shit happens everywhere everyday and thats just the things that get ”media (the fuckin hypocritic media) attention’…
yours is a brilliant idea, and i shud do that here as well. i’ll contribute my ideas to this thing… and when its done, if u dont mind send it here as well for distribution. LETS DO SOME SHIT! seriously, diggin that idea.

^Bruce, that was the best thing I’ve read all morning : )

@Jason [that was the best thing I’ve read all morning ]
I just found your web site… best thing I’ve read all morning.

@vishnu: there are 3 types of schools here, public (government, curricula decided by the National Education Association), private religious (decided by church, but heavily influenced by NEA), and private corporate (in it for the government money, so “by the book”). I will check out your link.

I attended Catholic school, and got an excellent education from the brothers and sisters, because it was their vocation–they didn’t get paid to teach, they did it because they enjoyed it. Perhaps the solution is to REDUCE teacher’s salaries–that way, you’ll only get people with a passion for teaching!

oh man, this revolution in education and workplaces (where they take ppl in by their human value as priority no.1 ) shud happen. will contribute a lot right????

This thread has been an interesting read. I agree that change is needed and asking the current political structure to make those changes is a waste of our energy. being the change is vital, but has one flaw. it’s reach is often limited to the people we interact with frequently enough to inspire to change. how do we spread a message to a wider (and largely apathetic) audience?

there are two sides: one, is it right for us to want or expect others to change to fit the world-view we think is necessary to thrive in the coming century? even in HE, we have some pretty differing viewpoints on problems and solutions.

Second – if we believe we’re in the right to push large-scale change, how do we reach the herd? This balance: “I want it to be short enough to be easily absorbed, but informative enough to make an impact” is so difficult to attain in any kind of generic communication. when you’re passing out info to a more or less random group of people, you’re going to get tons of misses.

here’s what bugged me about Occupy. They got everybody’s attention, and what did they ask everyone to do? Listen, instead of giving a direction to act. Same thing with Obama, he motivated a huge base of people during the election, but then didn’t issue much of a call to action, and didn’t take definitive action himself, either.

I have no immediate solution. how to grab attention and deliver a message? the crop circles would have worked. maybe the “loud noises in the sky” crowd are going to use the attention they’re drawing to inspire change. Some kind of coordinated worldwide hoax/action that grabs everyone’s attention and then has a real message instead of a gotcha or paranoid conspiracy theory at it’s core . . . like 10,000 HEthens conducting coordinated acts of kindness and beauty across the world until they go viral and the true meaning is unveiled.

this is like pay it forward, the movie….
ok 10,000 is too less a number worldwide, and even lesser number is gna sign up… so we need to come up with something that really hits harrrrrd, penetrates through all the BS… or something that wud inspire more and more ppl to make this a chain reaction, not just the initial 10,000!