Our leaders set the example of behavior. This administration has said we don't have to follow the rules of the Geneva Convention. We can torture people and treat them as they want. This behavior is now seen on our television sets in the form of "reality television."
Read Jon Carroll on this subject.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/08/27/DDBMROA23.DTL
He requests that people not buy anything advertised on "Kid Nation" so the TV show will go away before it begins. I don't watch this kind of television, so don't know what will be advertised on it, but my sense now is that it probably won't be anything I buy anyway.
Riane Eisler spoke at the conference on Writing for Change on the Hierarchy of Domination which we have vs. the Hierarchy of Actualization which it is time to create. Plumbers make upwards to $100.00 an hour. The people who take care of our children don't make anything close to that. Plumbers are trained. Early child care people are not necessarily trained. We spend more on maintenance of our pipes than we do on care for our children. She said we see the Hierarchy of Domination in our sitcoms. We have dominator humor, the laugh comes when someone is humiliated.
Philip Zimbardo spoke of how we are influenced by what others are doing. That is why it is important for each of us to get a handle on our "heroic imagination" and set the example others can follow. Don't get sucked in to being an ass. Lead the parade triumphantly to clarity, compassion, kindness, care, and love.
Riane Eisler had great difficulty getting The Chalice and the Blade published. It didn't fit into any one category. That seems to challenge the publishing community. The book Breast Stroke doesn't fit into a category. It is uplifting, though dealing with what might be seen as a depressing subject. One thing I learned at the conference was that memoir or narrative non-fiction needs to be written with the "me" being the reader. I am curious now what was interesting about my experience, why it did intrigue. It seems publishers are shocked that the book The Glass Castle is a success. All indicators showed people were tired of depressing subjects. I think people want intensity, truth, and keys to navigating what comes. We all have bumps in the road. How do we meet them? Seeing how other people handle what happens to them can help us handle our own lives. Navigate on hope.
The fog is a thick blanket today. Unless it clears I won't see the lunar eclipse tonight, and I will know it is there.
May today fulfill for us all!!
