Smarter Than That

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

Al Gore has been making the book circuit, touting his new offering, “The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change.” We pretty much allowed Bush and company to make a loon of Al in 1999 — although he didn’t help himself much, truth be told — but when you listen to the guy, you have to admit, he’s sharp. I appreciate that. He doesn’t just give an opinion, he tells us why he thinks it’s so. Like any accomplished academic, he doesn’t just site a fact, he lets us know about the study that produced it and what else it found.

Political Blog, News, Information, Astrological Perspective. Gore is a historian and a futurist, and I’m glad he’s being given an opportunity to talk about the world and where he sees it going. His newest book talks less about climate emergency (although that’s a given) than about the urgency of reclaiming democracy, coming to a unified vision on sustainability, and learning to manage the enormous new technological discoveries of this century. Listening to him speak is like getting a B12 shot. In a nation that’s created a cult following around what’s shallow and simplistic, beatified a culture war on intelligence and higher education, and declared mindless obedience to self-defeating anachronism, we desperately need to hear smart voices and real facts.

It doesn’t take much to realize just how irrational the nation has become in these last few years. Turn on cable news and watch awhile, it’s all there. Watch John McCain make an ass of himself, determined to brand Chuck Hagel a traitor on the Iraq war, particularly Bush’s ‘surge’ and therefore disloyal to “American hero” David Petraeus. Find the video of Lindsey Graham stammering (with a hint of embarrassment) about the plunder and rape that we might all face if we don’t have an arsenal of weapons at the ready, or better yet, let Jon Stewart give you that reflection. And while I’ll admit that I look at politics differently than many, I can’t be the only person shaking my head at old timers defending things that — like Elvis — have already left the building. I can’t be the only person who thinks these conversations are an enormous waste of time and energy that we could better use to rebuild and restore, rather than fight to remain entrenched in old paradigm thinking.

The current meme tells us that polling doesn’t mean much, but I think it depends on the poll (and who’s doing it.) Statistics can be strung together to paint a vivid picture. As the topic of gun violence comes up, for instance, when Al Gore casually mentions that there have been six additional school shootings since Newtown, that’s smart. That strikes our overextended senses, rings them like a gong, sets up a vibration that stays with us after the conversation’s done. Truly, there comes a time when facts break the spell woven over public perception, and once we shake our heads clear of cobwebs, each new statistic is like a nail in the coffin of a fading trend.

For instance, according to Ultraviolet, the mere presence of a gun in a situation of domestic violence increases the chance that a woman will be murdered by 500%. And in states that require a background check for handguns, 38% fewer women are likely to die at a partner’s hands. Those statistics suggest a kind of “story” that has fleshed out the Newtown tragedy, proving that we can no longer wait for common-sense action like background checks for gun buyers.

After Columbine, the NRA supported background checks, but corporate America (and the influence of weapons manufacturers) has grown by leaps and bounds since then. Now it considers checks a threat to freedom (and sales.) Still, with a growing list of dead children to point to, that’s a harder sell than it used to be with all but the most paranoid citizens endorsing background checks by huge numbers. If you wish, you can urge your senator to support that legislation here.

Listening to Al Gore talk about things like the Enlightenment and the importance of the public forum, things we no longer seem to value in this nation, it’s evident that we could use a refresher course in democratic thinking. The ability to self-govern with insight and intelligence is what will allow us to “fix” ourselves, building on respect for science, technology, education: without them we’re lost. We are, by and large, smarter than we’ve been behaving, wiser than we’ve been allowed to consider ourselves. We’ve endured a decade or more of silly infighting, paranoid delusion and short-term preoccupation while the republic has twisted in the wind, but people don’t get dumb overnight. It takes real effort to forget our best instincts, to isolate ourselves from actual solutions, devolving into belligerence and apathy. Not all of us have drunk that Kool Aid.

I had a conversation recently with some “townies” who have a summer place here, at the lake. Fishin’ Jim and I went to lunch with his fishing buddy, a tradesman from St. Louis, and his wife. Since we can never have a discussion that doesn’t include politics, the election came up, but mentioned lightly as I wasn’t sure where their sentiments lay. We got off onto the topic of education reform in the state (which is under attack, Republican-style) and it became quickly evident that the wife was holding a charge about trying anything ‘liberal’ in what is — it can’t be denied — their difficult urban setting.

Turns out her brother is a dedicated high school teacher in a bad part of town with a high failure rate. All the solutions, all the money — said this woman — poured into the schools over the years have been ignored by the hostile, disenfranchised students. Any improvements have quickly been trashed by the uncaring student body who have no interest in learning, and the administrators have received no cooperation from their disinterested, often fractured, families. She never mentioned race. She didn’t have to.

She became quite emotional, and as someone who spent over a decade working in public education, I was empathetic to her frustration, but also aware — from the anger she was directing my way — that this racially-flavored topic was tied, as these things so often are, to notions of “deservedness.” I’m not saying that she and her husband are racist so much as stuck in a traditional response to urban decay and ghetto politics, leaving those invested helpless and angry. Exacerbated by the economic problems we all face in this decade, the problems of welfare, section 8 housing, crime and unemployment in minority sectors create a whirlwind of challenge, leaving behind a long history of “white flight” and forgotten citizens, victims of their own devices.

As this woman spoke, trembling with emotion over the topic, I thought about my daughter, who puts a few hours in as a lunch lady at the grandkids’ school. In a very white-bread, conservative community in California, she tells me about one employee in particular, who complains bitterly about the waste to the taxpayer from kids who refuse to eat nutritious meals provided by the state. This is pretty much a no-brainer: given a choice between broccoli casserole and french fries, you know which wins. The sad truth is, much of what is provided in free lunch programs gets tossed. Michelle Obama’s veggie-appreciation program is still a slow starter. The tendency to blame someone for this level of ingratitude — if not an unthinking 8-year old, then surely the parents of same — is all too human. I understand the urge to place blame, but it seldom helps and most often hurts.

I thought about how difficult that pattern is to break as I listened to this woman talk about her brother’s experience. I asked about what had been done, what kinds of programs had been tried. With each suggestion, she became more agitated, insisting that everything that COULD be tried, had been. I just kept saying, gently, “We’re smarter than this.” It may take a level of social engineering that drives conservatives crazy, it would surely take trial and error, but it simply isn’t reasonable to believe that there is no solution to these kinds of challenges. We can’t fix family dysfunction but we can create — as Obama likes to say — a fair playing field on which to compete for resources and opportunity, a standard of living that gives a person common ownership of their community. Those things were all part of the American landscape when I was a child, a goal of the democratic process; have we lost the ability to provide them? We’re smarter than that, aren’t we?

The inner city of St. Louis — or LA or Detroit or any other neglected city in this nation — suffers what we all suffer these days, only there the down-turn has come to a place where generations of inequality and complacency have eaten away at the community, leaving little cushion for those trying to survive. Politicians who refuse a decent minimum wage or funding for health care at poverty level are even more responsible for creating the ghettos than are those living within them who turn their rage upon themselves. To blame them for their situation is to turn our back on our own systemic failure to address the mental/emotional health of our society.

If you’ll pardon my bleeding heart liberalism, it is not impossible to find a way to fix broken communities, to bring difficult kids around, to make failing families more cohesive. We could do that any time we decided to employ the skill and resources to make it happen. We like to pretend it isn’t about what WE do, but of course it is! And summoning the political will to bring all the citizens of this nation into the 21st century — isn’t that the whole point of what we’re trying to accomplish?

We need opportunity and safety in fragile neighborhoods, grassroot movements that bring us together instead of driving us apart. We need programs that engage community and service organizations, that inspire merchants and churches alike to contribute, creating them as the solution rather than the problem. We need less judgment, less worry about ‘deservedness,’ and more concern about feeding the soul of democracy that nurtures us all.

We can only heal ourselves by attending to the whole. Everything is connected, nothing stands alone. The ghettos of urban legend are a closed system and so is Wall Street, all stuck in dysfunction, all chasing their own tails. Neither can heal to serve the national interest unless both do. Jim’s friend’s wife is stuck there too, lost in her resentment, not getting a big enough picture to break her bias. It’s time to acknowledge that no one politician, no legal precedent, police force or government mandate will solve what takes a village to understand and mend. It isn’t just government systems that have broken down, it’s our entire psycho-social agenda.

In an interview with Charlie Rose, Gore discussed his feeling that television was largely responsible for the public disconnect from the American tradition of discourse in public affairs, which no longer engages our communities. As press failed and cable replaced it, we became voyeurs rather than participants. He suggests that the internet has returned the public forum to us, if we understand that it is our responsibility to engage as thoughtful and informed citizens. I can’t help but agree.

I look at the last ten years and all I can say, gently, is: we’re smarter than this. I watch John McCain have his tizzy-fit, I shake my head at Lindsey Graham doing his best to pretend to be Bagger-inclined so he can garner votes, and I KNOW we’re seeing through the pretense, watching some kind of silly reality show rather than engaging in an informed dialogue.

Bobby Kennedy famously told us that, “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”

I’m not — you’re not — asking why anymore. After all this time swirling down the drain, after years of observation and disbelief, we’ve finally seen the ego-need and power-mongering, the renegade capitalism and corporatocracy that have driven this society into the danger zone. We’re finally smart enough to know when we’re being played.

So now it’s time to ask, why not? We know how to do all these things that seem impossible, we know how to work together, how to engage community, how to establish a fair playing field for all our citizens and create a prosperous future built on a solid democratic foundation: we just aren’t doing it because of politics and money. Neither is a good enough reason NOT TO. And seriously, my dears — on just about every level, we’re smarter than that.

8 thoughts on “Smarter Than That”

  1. Jude,

    Fantastic article. I have some thoughts that have been burning in my mind ever since I read two articles about some studies done on conservatives and liberals that showed how their brains differ. The studies showed that conservatives have an area in or around the amygdala which is more active than liberal braisn are; the fear center. Liberals have more gray matter which gives them a mind more open to change. What this means is that conservative brains are fearful and not wanting any change at all and liberal brains are not fearful and they do want change.

    If people’s brains are that set, CAN the conservatives ever change? The studies said they do not know if the brain structures they saw that differed were due to nature or nurture and as such they cannot be sure how these brain differences came about or IF the people having them can be changed. The evidence is not promising that’s for sure.
    If conservative brains are hardwired for fear and status-quo, they may be unable to change. If that is found to be the case what then is the strategy for lightworkers everywhere? We had better think about that enough to come up with a plan should that be found to be the case. So far I have read lightworkers everywhere saying we must help conservatives through the change with loving hands even though the same conservatives are doing everything they can to push against the changes that sre already happening in humanity. What if it is found that doing that won’t help? Wasting energy on trying to help them may not be productive.

    Another hypothesis I have heard bandied about is: what if the conservative brain is the previous evolutionary model and the liberal brain is the new, current evolutionary model? That kind of talk is worrisome; it can lead to things we do not want happening.

    Ths studies were small ones and a lot more study needs to be done in this area before anyone jumps to conclusions but it does make me think and wonder if any lightworkers might want to at least entertain the possibility that helping conservatives may not be the way to get things done; there might need to be a peaceful plan B.

  2. Just days after being sworn in for his second term, the Federal Court has much to say about President Obama:

    http://larouchepac.com/node/25294

    Life may be getting much more interesting for us here in America. When we clean up our act around the globe we will be better able to clean up our act at home.

  3. Yes, dueling banjo’s, GaryB — but beautiful country. It was never my intention to stay but … well … bloom where you’re planted. It’s funny, I’ve lived “country” in a number of places but this one is the hardest to get used to, still. Historians use the word “hardscrabble” to describe it, and that seems to be both circumstantial and entwined into the DNA.

    As to alchemy, I’m a believer — but I’m also a gardener, and you have to prepare the soil to accept the seeds. The little victories mix the soil over time, create the circumstance for the new thing to take root … then Uranus provides the lightning bolt and we think, “Wow! Sudden change!” without acknowledging that it was ‘coming on’ for quite a while. Me, I am in deepest respect of the entire process.

    Laughed, kiddo, when you mentioned Lindsey — I’m thinking even the Old Guard chicks could take him. And there’s my illustration of how light bulbs seem to majikally appear above our heads: we’ve suddenly discovered that he’s only about three feet tall!!!

  4. Thanks Judith,

    I remember my first visit as a young children to your neck of the woods to fish for trout and camping. Memorable. Later I returned in my early 20’s for a weekend visit with a girlfriend whose girlfriend lived there. Short story-single wide trailer and a supply of moonshine from the owner of the bowling alley. Duh duh duh dun duh! Deliverance doesn’t just reside in West Virgini. Memorable. Currently glaciers may be moving faster than incremental change for those locals. You have my highest regards for your courage to be a shape shifter in your community! and everywhere for that matter.

    But I am with be -fasten the seatbelt-alchemy can happen everywhere! Progress doesn’t happen in incremental steps. Witness the 60’s and here we go again in big spurts. Step right up this is going to be the best new ride the state fair has ever seen!

    By the way- I am pretty sure any of the new “chicks”- fine female representatives, can kick Lindsay Grahams’ ass. Just sayin!

  5. Believe it or not, progress! I DO believe, be, and you always come along to fill in the blanks with the transits to prove the possibility. We’re all in a new place, space, some of us still trying to make our old persona fit. That’s never an easy transition but we’re already in the flow, and it sounds like a seatbelt is good advice.

    I see progress everywhere I look. Growth is not a zero-sum game, it’s baby steps, falling down, bumping into things (and getting bruised) as we learn to stand. We are in a constant flux of progress, from my point of view, because every frontier we break open, every positive concept that inspires and excites us, changes the dynamic of our intent and possibilities. Hayes’ comment is an example of progress, wisdom flowing into the collective pool of political self-perception and … as you say … alchemy. Just knowing that we’ve got to change AND CAN is the first step to accomplishing it.

    I’ve thought of you this week, kiddo, reading about the problems ol’ Mitch is having with his constituents. Thinking about the liberals joining with the Baggers to sandwich him between them, pitchforks waving, makes me wag my tail! Couldn’t happen to a nicer fella!

    Thanks for your comments, Patty. My father was a high school teacher until he realized the kids had the upper hand in behavior issues; since he taught metal shop, and got the “rougher” kids, that didn’t sit well with him. He went on to other pursuits. The educational system needs an enormous makeover, that’s no kidding! However, this article wasn’t about race so much as it is about class and the inevitable pitfalls of pigeonholing people based on learned behaviors.

    Here where I live — a very rural resort area, heavily populated by year-round retiree’s and under-employed, under-educated white folk, most unmarried with a passel of kids — the same could be said about parenting. In fact, if you want a chilling picture of what “white ghetto” looks like, country-style, rent “Winters Bone.” It’s an Indy movie — winner of the 2010 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Jennifer Lawrence’s breakout role — made locally, using people I know, and accurate to a fault.
    http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/winters-bone/

    My point was, and is, we can do better. We’re smarter than this. We can begin to create our schools, communities, assistance programs, yadda, differently, giving people not only a chance to change but an INCENTIVE. Judging their behavior is less effective, has always been, than giving them reason to change it.

    The woman I spoke of in this piece is a very nice, very rational person but she had reached her ceiling of possibility on the problems she saw; in her mind, there was no answer for it because “people don’t change, it’s always been this way.” I get so tired of hearing that, especially here where so many people do exactly what their Daddy did, or like to say they do, lost in dysfunction and self-defeating choices.

    It forces me to be that little voice in the wilderness, pointing out to them that it’s CHOICE at hand, not destiny. Every little victory, every success that encourages the next, every insight and revelation that shows us a way forward creates the platform of change we’re looking for. Progress is not zero-sum … it’s process and it’s continual — and frankly, if that were NOT the case, what would be the point???? Just sayin …

  6. School Choice seems to be working well in a lot of communities as more parents opt for vouchers to send children to private schools. The state teachers union is aghast about it, of course. Have to protect tenure at all cost. I was thinking about the school lunches we were served in the 60s. There was not a single cola or snack machine in school, and everyone that bought lunch got the same thing. I’d venture to guess that fewer people had allergy problems back then too. We may have eaten white bread with our peanut butter, but both were non-GMO. I only remember one fat girl in my class of 117 students. Students were punished (usually with a paddle) when they used inappropriate language. What is sad today is the police have to be called when a 7 year old acts out in class, knocking over bookcases and desks. What can a teacher do in that situation? Not anything. Then the teacher has to hope the parents don’t sue. You are calling this a race issue, but I think it is a parenting issue. If it is a race issue, the parents are to blame. There is a family in my area whose children were all in trouble with the law (they are white) at one time or another. They consistently bad-mouthed the police and teachers as the kids were growing up. As adults, they still have problems. Oh yeah, and their 60+ father is still on home detention for growing pot. As my sister in law used to say, “stupid parents have stupid kids.”

  7. Thanks for a well-thought out article today Jude, and no you aren’t the only one who thinks the old paradigm thinking must go. Last night on Rachel Maddow’s show Chris Hayes said something to the effect that until the U.S. sees itself at peace rather than at war it can’t move forward on things like global warming issues. This got me to thinking that in astrology, having a sense of yourself is a first house function. The USA’s first house (Sibly chart) is ruled by Jupiter. Transiting Jupiter, now in Gemini, sees things dualistically, chatters incessantly, and is in the US 6th house of fixing things (and nitpicking). Shortly after it moves into Cancer though, it will conjunct natal Jupiter in the US chart and start a new cycle. New cycles provide new opportunities to gain a “NEW SELF-IMAGE” as transiting Jupiter in Cancer will also form a grand water trine (more feeling, less thinking) with Saturn in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces. Transiting Chiron will be trine the U.S. natal Sun too. Since transiting Pluto is presently in the US 1st house anyway, this country’s self image is already undergoing a drastic transformation.

    However, before that can happen, transiting Jupiter must first cross over (conjunct) the US Mars in Gemini (square US Neptune in Virgo). Before that even, transiting Jupiter will conjunct the US Uranus in Gemini (square US Ceres in Pisces) again, and all this starts happening in March. There will be a new moon in Pisces (which is in effect til April 10) and it forms a T-square with the US Mars square Neptune on 3/11/13. Nine days later (3/20) the Spring Equinox puts transiting centaur Pholus at 22 Sagittarius, opposite US Mars and square US Neptune, who was opposed by the New Moon in Pisces. In other words we will have a grand mutable square that will provide a month of negotiating, mind-changing and transitioning in Washington DC and all over the country. Believe it or not, we will be making progress.

    Trans. Saturn will be exactly sextile trans Pluto in March as trans Jupiter conjuncts the US Gemini Uranus. Fortune bestows a blessing on the US when, at that same time, trans. Jupiter will also sextile transiting Uranus who sextiles the US Uranus! This combination of transitioning and mind-blowing can appear chaotic but from it new ways of thinking shall be born.

    Let’s not forget the repeat of the Winter Solstice yod between trans. Jupiter(understanding), front and center with the sextile of trans. Pluto (death-rebirth) and Saturn (structures) later in the month of March also. This happens at the same time as trans. Mars (by then in Aries) opposes the US Saturn and squares the US Sun, just to keep things interesting. I doubt this March will go out like a lamb, although Mercury (all month), Venus (most of the month), Sun (most of the month) and Mars (1st half of the month) in Pisces, along with Neptune and Chiron just might prove me wrong. Double, double, toil and trouble, but alchemy it is; and wouldn’t gold be a nice change from all the lead we have endured.

    After that we begin the Eclipse season – three of them! After that the New Moon will conjunct the US Chiron. Fasten your seatbelts everyone.
    be

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