I wish we could live in tribes as Native Americans did before colonization. I had the honor of serving as a pediatric nurse for families that were members of the Hopi, Zuni, or Navajo tribes when I lived in the SW. I appreciated how decisions were made by a tribal council of elders for the community and how spirituality and respect for the earth were part of daily life. That deep connection to the land and the community is what has been missing in Western life.
I started reading the article and admit I fell into the "depressed" and "want to check out" category. I'm glad I read the whole thing! Thanks for shining a light on a bleak situation and somehow inspiring me to work harder on creating an ideal society. As the virus of imperialism plays out and weakens, we should be spreading the virus of life-affirming goals at every opportunity!
Great read. Thank you. The core of imperialism is the deep craving and mindset for accumulation really resonates. And we must find practices spiritually and practically to heal the root.
A hopeful post at a time when everything looks bleak. The only way to fight the oligarchy is through Economic Democracy, as we have seen over and over again that Political Democracy has failed the people.
Actually, the only real solution is most accurately expressed in my newest double-sided, ad-hoc, focus-group tested, and very favorable Demonstration/Protest signs, which simply say:
at the local level, a working garden, including small livestock on every public and private school campus in this country. outlaw childrens use of cell phones during school hours. outlaw use of computers in school until high school. quality physical education classes instead of the current babysitting agenda. outlaw spraying of herbicides and pesticides anywhere. outlaw them, they're cancerous and hormone disrupters in humans and animals. outlaw gas cars. the list goes on.
Your point is well taken. The virus of accumulation is spreading at an unprecedented rate. Today, social media that captivates so many of us, is simply a guise for selling us things we did not know we needed.
Back in the 70's advertising was a bit more straight forward and not nearly as prolific. Now as kids scroll through their social media feeds it is often difficult to distinguish the ads from the innocent posts. We are now bombarded with sophistically targeted ads at an unprecedented rate. So we can try to outlaw cell phones for kids, but I doubt outlawing anything is the answer. Banning something makes it all that much more attractive to folks, esp. kids.
Perhaps the answer is to outlaw commercials on social media, outlaw billionaires from owning social media platforms, outlaw campaign contributions and limit campaigning to 6 weeks before an election, design algorithms that promote positive life-centered posts and de-platform fear- based misinformation posts designed to stoke anger.
We need to flood the media streams with positive life-affirming content.
You are correct in all you say. What concerns me, as a retired teacher who ran a 1/3 acre garden for 15 years as a middle school teacher, is that we, as a culture and society do not truly care for our children. we do the expedient thing, not the right thing. children can only become what they see and hear. again, speaking of our culture and society, we glorify violence and consumption. we do not teach the spirituality of interdepedence, even though most established religions, in their core writings do so. we glorify and worship the self, hyperindividualism rules. we simply do not have the will to make the hard, necessary decisions. doing the next right thing is impossible if one's life is built on an entirely corrupt paradigm. and yet, there are some small instances, such as banning smoking, drinking, driving for kids where we do recognize their developmental stage. so, expedience and lack of will, coupled with too busy chasing the next shiny thing to care about our kids.
I completely agree with you. As a retired teacher myself, I wholly understand your concerns. It is nearly impossible to make the right decisions while swimming in the soup of a corrupt paradigm. I vote for small changes that protect kids every chance I get. There are so many ways we need to be contributing to the small streams that will hopefully become a flood that shifts society in a major way.
I wish we could live in tribes as Native Americans did before colonization. I had the honor of serving as a pediatric nurse for families that were members of the Hopi, Zuni, or Navajo tribes when I lived in the SW. I appreciated how decisions were made by a tribal council of elders for the community and how spirituality and respect for the earth were part of daily life. That deep connection to the land and the community is what has been missing in Western life.
I started reading the article and admit I fell into the "depressed" and "want to check out" category. I'm glad I read the whole thing! Thanks for shining a light on a bleak situation and somehow inspiring me to work harder on creating an ideal society. As the virus of imperialism plays out and weakens, we should be spreading the virus of life-affirming goals at every opportunity!
Great read. Thank you. The core of imperialism is the deep craving and mindset for accumulation really resonates. And we must find practices spiritually and practically to heal the root.
A hopeful post at a time when everything looks bleak. The only way to fight the oligarchy is through Economic Democracy, as we have seen over and over again that Political Democracy has failed the people.
Actually, the only real solution is most accurately expressed in my newest double-sided, ad-hoc, focus-group tested, and very favorable Demonstration/Protest signs, which simply say:
DEMOCRATIC
SOCIALIST
EQUALITY
PARTY TM SEP
(and on the other side)
AIPAC
IS THE
EF-FING
EMPIRE
at the local level, a working garden, including small livestock on every public and private school campus in this country. outlaw childrens use of cell phones during school hours. outlaw use of computers in school until high school. quality physical education classes instead of the current babysitting agenda. outlaw spraying of herbicides and pesticides anywhere. outlaw them, they're cancerous and hormone disrupters in humans and animals. outlaw gas cars. the list goes on.
Your point is well taken. The virus of accumulation is spreading at an unprecedented rate. Today, social media that captivates so many of us, is simply a guise for selling us things we did not know we needed.
Back in the 70's advertising was a bit more straight forward and not nearly as prolific. Now as kids scroll through their social media feeds it is often difficult to distinguish the ads from the innocent posts. We are now bombarded with sophistically targeted ads at an unprecedented rate. So we can try to outlaw cell phones for kids, but I doubt outlawing anything is the answer. Banning something makes it all that much more attractive to folks, esp. kids.
Perhaps the answer is to outlaw commercials on social media, outlaw billionaires from owning social media platforms, outlaw campaign contributions and limit campaigning to 6 weeks before an election, design algorithms that promote positive life-centered posts and de-platform fear- based misinformation posts designed to stoke anger.
We need to flood the media streams with positive life-affirming content.
You are correct in all you say. What concerns me, as a retired teacher who ran a 1/3 acre garden for 15 years as a middle school teacher, is that we, as a culture and society do not truly care for our children. we do the expedient thing, not the right thing. children can only become what they see and hear. again, speaking of our culture and society, we glorify violence and consumption. we do not teach the spirituality of interdepedence, even though most established religions, in their core writings do so. we glorify and worship the self, hyperindividualism rules. we simply do not have the will to make the hard, necessary decisions. doing the next right thing is impossible if one's life is built on an entirely corrupt paradigm. and yet, there are some small instances, such as banning smoking, drinking, driving for kids where we do recognize their developmental stage. so, expedience and lack of will, coupled with too busy chasing the next shiny thing to care about our kids.
So well stated! I worked as mental health case manages in a high school for 14 years. Your response so resonates.
I completely agree with you. As a retired teacher myself, I wholly understand your concerns. It is nearly impossible to make the right decisions while swimming in the soup of a corrupt paradigm. I vote for small changes that protect kids every chance I get. There are so many ways we need to be contributing to the small streams that will hopefully become a flood that shifts society in a major way.
Looks like parents in Britain are stepping up.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/world/europe/smartphone-ban-schools-uk-childhood.html?campaign_id=51&emc=edit_mbe_20250402&instance_id=151577&nl=morning-briefing:-europe-edition®i_id=73096462&segment_id=195007&user_id=cd0d026e2ef8d1537872549e34d2a248