a new understanding of today, time and space.

the fact is IQ45 is a failure…
both personally and professionally…

WHAT? What did you say? How can you call someone worth
a billion dollars and president of the U.S, a failure…

it is by placing IQ45 in context… context means experience…

IQ45 is a failure… pure and simple… once you understand why…

look at his role within the system… he has caused chaos and
has damaged the american system badly…
it will takes many years to repair the damage IQ45 has
done to the American system…the so called signature piece of
legisation of the IQ45 years… the tax bill… when we know, from
prior experience that tax cuts don’t improve the economy or create
jobs… as shown by history…from JFK tax cuts to Bush’s tax cuts, not
once has a tax cuts been shown to increase jobs or help the american
economy…all it is, is welfare for the rich…nothing more…
it does nothing for the economy…it will takes years to recover from
that despicable act of corporate and personal welfare for the wealthy…

let us return to this idea of checks and balances…
it is clear that the congress has failed to do its job
and be part of the check and balance on the president…
as has the judicial system… and this failure has damaged
the political system… it has allowed IQ45 to violate the law
and the constitution…his personal enrichment while president
which violates the law and the constitution…there are no checks and
balances on him because congress has failed to do its job…

so where is the checks and balances on him?
it is in the streets and in the state capitals…
we the people… and we the people are the check and
balances on him when we march in the streets in protest…
as weak as that is… because we the people, see that IQ45
is damaging the American political system…

and that damaging the system is in part why he is a failure…
a person who damages a system is a menace to that system…

let us look at another aspect of this story…
IQ45 is about hate, envy, lust, greed, anger…
those lower, primal instincts…

he doesn’t raise people to create better citizens or
better people… he lowers people, to allow them
to become their lower instincts of greed and hate and anger…

he is a failure because he is about the lower instincts
and not creating better people…

I don’t think I can emphasize enough how much of a failure
IQ45 is…there is no point where he has improved or help America
become a better place or a better country or a better culture or
a better people… he has failed in all aspects of being a leader
and has failed in all aspects of being a human being…

he brings inequality which is unbalanced in our equation…
and for a system to survive it, must be equal and balanced…
and he doesn’t do that…

for a person to be judge means a person is to be judge
on the strength and improvement one brings to the systems
to which they belong… Let us look at say, Jesus… he
brought about values of love and peace and hope…
he improved the system he lived in…

and this is true of other leaders like Gandhi and MLK…for example…
they brought values like love and peace and hope into their own
specific system… for values like love and hope and peace improve
a system whereas hate, violence, greed, anger, envy damages
a system, any system that values those primal, instinctual values…
to maintain a system requires love and peace and hope and charity
to damage a system requires hate, anger, greed, violence, envy
the lower instincts damages a system…

and here we see values at work… what a value does to a specific
system is part of the improving a system… values that are positive
improves a system, values that are negative damages a system…

so it all becomes tied up, transactional vs transformational actions
and values and check and balances and understanding and improving
systems… they all interact and reinforces each other…

so once again, we have distinct and separate ideas becoming
one and the same…

Kropotkin

so let continue this look at systems and values
among other aspects…

What was the value of the enlighenment?

it brought positive values like toleration into society…
and this is important… what values exist in society?

the Greeks brought positive values into their systems
and that is why they were so successful and also why
they failed…the values they promoted, they
didn’t spread them all over Greece but did spread them
all over the world…it gave people a positive aspect to their
lives…and that is the value of someone like Gandhi…
he brought positive values into India…
we look at a system and it must have positive values to survive…

a system that only has hate, anger, greed, envy is a system that will fail…
because those values are unsustainable… but values like peace and love
and charity are sustainable values… a marriage based on negative
values will not survive, values like hate and greed and envy and anger…
a marriage based on positive values will most likely survive…
values like love and peace and hope and charity… those values
allows a small system like a marriage to survive and small systems
are just like big, large systems… and the values that allow
a large system to succeed must also be positive values…
and this is another reason why IQ45 is a failure…
he is about the negative values of hate, anger, greed…
values that will damage a system and possibly destroy a system…

we must to sustain our current system incorporate positive
values and move away from, avoid negative values…

the values that are needed in any system are positive values…
the values to make a person a successful person are positive
values…

actions that are needed are not transactional values but
transformational values… positive values…it is not enough
to maintain the status quo but you must engage in the system
to create positive values that are essential to allowing the
system to survive and grow… for any system, growth is an
essential aspect of a system…individual as well as across
a system, we must grow… that is an essential part of being human…
learning to become a better human being as we get older…
learning to be a more vital aspect of being part of a system…
to be a positive part of a system, and not a negative part
of a system…for us to survive as individuals, we must
be part of a system and we are part of many, many systems…
and we must learn to be part of those systems… and part
of who we are and who we can become, happens within
those many systems… thus the Greeks felt that to become
a “true” human being, can only occur within the polis, the city…
a system…that was an essential part of the Greek knowledge…
how to be part of the polis…you can only become within that
system and it as it is true for the Greeks, it is true for us…

and to be part of that system, you must engage within that
system and to be an effective part of that system, you need
to bring with you, positive values…which helps a system
maintain and grow… which is part of the system…
maintaining AND growing…and only by positive values can
we do so…

Kropotkin

and what of the values of the industrial revolution?

I see those values as being negative and the events
of the 20th century seem to prove my thesis…

the values of the industrial revolution seem to be
negative in regards to how we see ourselves…
we are not just a means to profits/money…
the industrial/ capitalism values are nihilistic…
they negate human values like love and hope
and charity because those values don’t improve
or increase profits…the industrial/capitalistic values
are negative values…they don’t improve who we are…
they are values that devalue us…

I am not a machine that functions best when on the clock or
treated transactionally instead of transformationally…

if you want to engage with the best of me… that part
is the part that is positive and transformational…
not transactional or negative…and the same is true of
everyone… for I am everyone…it is not about the “I”
but about the “US”… WE THE PEOPLE… not, me the one…

I recall reading long ago the saying…

“Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains”

he is in chains because man is treated with negative values
and treated transactionally…instead of having positive values
and being treated transformationally…

the chains are the chains of the industrial revolution where
we are treated with negative values and transactionally…

it is time for the postmodern world to begin and that beginning
comes once we return to positive values and treat people
transformationally… and we act and behave transformationally…
not because of someone’s leadership but because it is the right thing to do…

we must act not with leadership but with an understanding of what is best
for us and society… and that is with values that are positive and in
a transformational setting…not with rewards and punishment style
of transactional actions and behavior but with the beginning of, becoming who
we are…transformational behavior and actions…

we become the leaders we want others to be…
we lead by engaging in transformational behavior and actions…

it is not about finding the leadership to lead us out of this crisis…
but about finding what is best about us and letting that lead us
out of this crisis…we engage personally and by that we lead
others… by that I mean, that the battle to become human
is a personal one…I am engage with myself…but within that
battle comes a better person… one who leads by example…

who are we? we are people who have the example of positive
values… and all we have to do with simply act upon those positive
values in our own lives…with ourselves and with others…

the path is clear… we simply have to follow it…
do we have the courage?

that is the question?

do you have the courage to become who you are?

Kropotkin

let us continue to think about this…

We have the enlightenment which wanted to free us from
our myths, habits, prejudices and superstitions… but why?

because of the understanding that those myths and habits and prejudices,
superstitions are chains upon one’s soul…they bound one to certain
actions and beliefs… for example, if I accept the myth of Christianity,
then I am bound to act as a Christian… accept those precepts that make
one a Christian…I am not free in my actions for Jesus clearly says, that
the way, the only way to the father is through him, through Jesus…
so I become limited in my beliefs and actions if I truly understand and
accept Christianity…that belief becomes a chain upon my soul and body…

the path to god for a Christian is a narrow and slim path…
it doesn’t allow for freedom of choice…it doesn’t allow for deviation from
that path… any deviation means one may not be able to enter the kingdom of god…
and that is clearly the end game of any Christian… to reach heaven…
any other goal besides that goal is not Christian… simple as that…

following ism’s and ideologies means that one is not free to act freely…
for example, if I call myself a capitalist and I call for socialize medicine,
am I a capitalist or am I as socialist? most people would, correctly, call
me a socialist…it doesn’t matter what we call ourselves if we act
on certain principles that denies or works against what we call ourselves…

in other words, ism’s and ideologies and myths and habits and prejudices
and superstitions act as something that narrows and defines one’s path…

to have a ism’s or a prejudice is to have one’s path narrowed…
you must follow or have the prejudice or ism as your guide…
this is nothing more then when vacation and you have a map and you see your destination
on that map but your journey is clearly drawn on the map… you have no choice
but to go to that destination but by that guide… so,
you have a map of Christianity and you know your goal/destination of
getting to heaven… but your journey must follow one path and one path only…
for you to reach heaven…you have no choice on which path to follow if you
are a Christian…that is what ism’s and ideologies and habits and prejudices
and superstitions force you to do… they clearly mark out the path you must follow…
to have a superstition or prejudice or an ism is to have your path marked out by
others…

to become human, fully human… our path must not be so marked out…
for the road to becoming human is ill-defined and often unmarked…

with the removal of every myth or prejudice and superstition and ism comes
a freedom to act… and it is in that freedom to act, that frightens people…
a myth acts like a straightjacket on a person…it limits mobility and action…
this is true of myths, habits and prejudices and ism’s and ideologies… they are
straightjackets that confine our path and our actions and our destinations…

so to be transactional in our actions is to follow the myths and habits and
prejudices of that time, organization, country, lifestyle…
remember transactional actions are focused on the use of rewards and punishments
in order to achieve compliance from followers… transactional behavior is about
the efficiency of established routines and procedures and are more concerned
with following existing rules then with making changes in the structure of the
organization…so to be transactional is to be with myths and habits and
prejudices and superstitions… to be with ism’s, is to be with transactional actions
and transactional behavior embraces and promote

to have myths and superstitions and habits and ism’s is to engage in
transactional actions and behavior…that is to engage in the lower level
of human needs…in transactional actions/behavior is to remain with the
lower level of human engagement…to remain with the food and hate and
anger and lust… the base level of human actions and affairs…

to become transformational… is to engage with the higher level of
level of human possibilities… to engage with love and peace and hope
and charity… to engage with the higher possibilities of being human…
not the lower level…to engage with transactional behavior and actions is
to engage with the lower level part of being human, the instinctual level…
to engage with transformational level is to engage with the higher level of
being human…

this lower level is the path of habits and prejudices and superstitions
and ism’s and ideologies and myths…to engage with myths is to engage
with transactional actions or behavior…

and thus those who engage with the higher level of human possibilities
engage with the higher values of being human… that is why Gandhi
was a transformational figure because he was engaged with the higher
level of human possibilities and the higher values of being human…
he didn’t engage with the current ism’s and ideologies and he didn’t engage with
transactional actions or behavior… thus he wasn’t concerned with increasing
the efficiency of established routines and procedures and he wasn’t concerned with
following the existing rules…and he wasn’t concerned with other transactional
actions or behavior like emphasizing goals and efficiency of operation and he
didn’t concern himself with any increase of productivity in people…
he was concerned with freeing India but also concerned with freeing
people from their myths and habits and prejudices and superstitions and ism’s
and ideologies that tied their souls down to certain actions or beliefs or certain
goals…to become free of a myth is to become free of action and possibility…

to remove the chains that bind us to myths and ism’s and prejudices superstitions…
is to free us to greater possibilities and actions… it is transformational to become
free of habits and myths and ism’s and ideologies… because those myths tied us
down to already set starting points, journey’s and destinations/goals…
remove the chains of ism’s and myths to is to free us to new possibilities
and actions… with new starting points, new possible journeys and new
goals and destinations…

to say, I am a Cristian is to say, I am bound, tied down to a certain set of
principles and actions with only one course of action and only one goal/destination…

become free of ism’s and ideologies and myths and habits to become free to act
as one see’s fit and as one needs to act in a given environment… which is of course
how evolution happens… the person/animal that can best survive and pass on their
genome in a given environment is the winner in the game of evolution and life…

so being tied down to a given ism’s or habits hurts people from being able to
freely change and adapt in a given environment… by being tied down
by any given ism or ideology or myth or prejudice means having one’s
chances to adapt to or change reduced…the ism creates a
straightjacket that prevents one from being able to adapt and change
in a changing environment…it is as if the Dinosaurs went extinct because
of their ism’s and habits and prejudices and superstitions prevented them
from changing and adapting to changing conditions in their environment…
that lead to them becoming extinct… they were unable to adapt or change
because they were so tied down, chained down to ism’s and ideologies
and habits and prejudices that they weren’t able to adapt…and they died out…

think about that when you proclaim yourself a Christian or a capitalist or even
a socialist…what are you committing yourself to? and can you change and adapt
to the ever changing conditions we find ourselves in…to hold on to a myth
or habit even in the face of new evidence or changing conditions makes you,
a Dinosaur… nothing more…

Kropotkin

now one may claim, that by following that path of finding
out who we are, we are unleashing chaos and anarchy and devastation
all over society…but we are not… if we remember that we belong,
to a series of systems…we have small personal system like the family
and we have large impersonal systems like capitalism and the solar system…
we must remember that we must act in such a manner that allows the system
in question to survive… we cannot act in an irresponsible manner creating
anarchy and chaos for example, in our family life and still expect to
have a family…actions still have consequence… but we can find
our new path, our new goal and destination and still hold a place
in our current systems…the two idea’s, that of discovering who
we are and that of keeping the system/systems operating are not exclusive…
they can work together and work quite well together…

if we find out who we are and try to hide that, we become alienated
from ourselves, so we must become who we are and still hold our place
in the universe/systems together…I didn’t say it would be easy however…

as we change and discover who we are, truly are… we change and in that change
comes the new paradigm of who we are and the system must be adapted… (there is that word again)
to the new vision of who we are… and we must adapt to the new system… it is a continuous
yin and yang of change creating more change which creates more change…
and we must adapt to each change…both within ourselves and within
the system… we must become Zen and then after the mountains dance
and the sea becomes violent and the river overflows its banks… the
after Zen where the mountains are stable and the sea calm and river
returns to its banks… that is us… and once we settle down
to after Zen… we can calmly make the changes we need to make
to our systems to adapt to the new conditions we find ourselves in…

the process is ever changing and ever moving and we must learn
to harness and adapt to those changes…

so, what am I suggesting?

it is simple, instead of adapting new ism’s or ideologies
or myths or prejudices, we begin with the values that drive
our myths and ism’s and ideologies…

we begin with human values… values that are the upper
level of possibilities of being human…

we begin with values like love and peace and hope and
charity… the higher values… and we approach
our lives and our systems and our world with these
higher values instead of ism’s or ideologies or myths
or prejudices or superstitions…or values that promote
the lower understanding of what it means to be human…

instead of approaching the world with hate and violence
and capitalism and communism and other ism’s and ideologies
and myths and habits…

we approach the world/systems beginning with love and peace
hope and charity …among other higher values we can name…
we don’t attack the world with ism’s and myths, but with values
like justice and equality and love… the values that give our lives
meaning… that is the new paradigm… we begin with values
and those values represent the higher vision of what it means to be human…

we begin with understanding that we can act with instincts or we can
act with conscious choice and choose the higher values…
and then approach the many systems we live in with these higher values…
try to create change, if needed, with the higher values we have…

we don’t try to engage in transactional actions which means supporting
the status quo but we engage in transformational actions which transform
and change the current us, who we are, and our systems…

it is not enough to say, the system is corrupt and wrong…
we must also act like a doctor and prescribe a cure…
and the cure in our case is… an understanding of
what it means to be human and what are our possibilities as
human and then engage in those values that are our higher possibilities …
love and peace and hope and justice and equality and that is how we approach
the world… not with ism’s or habits or ideologies or prejudices or superstitions…
but we values…values we need to help us become a better system and
helps the many systems we are part of, becoming better…
we focus on values like justice and equality and peace and love
and not on ism’s, ideologies and hate and violence or prejudices or myths
or superstitions…

we free ourselves from our chains of ism’s and hate and violence and ideologies
myths…and we become who we are…with love and justice and peace…

am I understood?

does it even matter?

Kropotkin

so we don’t approach the world via lower level instincts
and we don’t approach the world via myths and habits and
ism’s and ideologies… but we approach the world via
higher human values like love and peace and hope
and justice and equality…

so, how does this work?

we know, that certain systems to work have to have certain values,
but other systems values are irrelevant…an example is the system
I call, my marriage… negative values like hate, anger, greed, violence
damages and can even destroy that system called marraige… but
other values, positive values like love and peace and hope
and justice and equality help that system called, my marriage…
and you can name quite a few systems that are improve
and engage with better with positive values like love,
and hope and charity and justice and equality…
the system called Kropotkin… as a system, I am improved
by and helped with positive values like love and peace and charity
justice and equality…

the system called Kropotkin is harmed by and damaged by values
like hate and anger and greed and violence as with other negative values…

but not all systems react with values, negative or positive…

the solar system for example, a very important system we need to survive
is indifferent and really, really, really doesn’t care about peace or hope or
love or justice or equality… all the solar system is about is gravity
how the equation of gravity keeps the system going and in nice round circles
for ever…love won’t ever help the solar system maintain its system…

but love will help biological systems like the human body and love
will help social systems like our society and our culture, the system
called the USA…love will help the U.S far more then hate and violence
and anger and greed… the positive values improves and helps maintain
social systems like society and culture and civil society like a democracy
or an economic system like capitalism…because capitalism is driven by
negative values like greed and envy and jealousy… negative values
will at some point destroy a social structure like a society or a civil society…

so an understanding of the system in question can help one key in on
what values are necessary or even what values won’t bother to even help a
given system like the solar system… where values are unimportant…they
aren’t needed in a system like the solar system…but values are needed
in a system like a social system like marriage or society at large…
and values that are positive are of greater value
to a society and to an individual then negative values like hate and anger…

transformational understanding of our actions will help us become
positive values like love and justice and peace…and that is the ultimate
goal… not to hold these positive values like love and peace and justice but
to become those positive values…not just to hold, but to become values…

every step leads us to another step…

Kropotkin

the wife and I are on vacation this week… we are in Truckee California…
which is about 15 miles north of Lake Tahoe… we are in the mountains…
our condo is at 7000 feet or so…

we are high in the sky and surrounded by tree’s with lovely weather…
we are in nature…

but what does that mean? we have to be careful with our food because
we have a problem with bears in this neck of the woods…and we have
rodents and birds and sorts of nature… all you have to do is look out of the
window and see the tree’s and mountains…

so, once again, what does this mean?

nature is just nature… is isn’t evil or good or determine to
destroy us… nature just is…we exist as part of nature…
and our actions are building condo’s and the like… aren’t necessarily
bad or good, they just are…so what do we need to understand?

that our existence in nature is also about balance… an equation…
we can build to a point and then we must stop… for we must allow
nature to have its land and sea and water and air…

we cannot take over so much of nature that we don’t leave room
for animals or birds or tree’s… their right to existence is just as
clear and present as our right to existence…

we must give an equation to how much building we can do and
how much land we can squander and how much air, land and sea,
we can pollute before it becomes too much…

balance and an equation… not only works for our life, but it
works for the things we do, the actions we take, we must leave room
for nature to do its thing and that is the balance I am talking about…
yes, we can build condo’s on mountain tops, but we must balance it out
with plenty of land for tree’s and animals and rivers and lakes…
if we take too much of the land and pollute the land, air and sea,
we create a loss of balance and like the man who doesn’t have balance
in his life, it threatens the system, man in one case and nature
in the other case…we must balance out what our actions are…
we must keep the equation between man and nature…
otherwise we threaten both…any system overwhelmed with
too much of anything becomes lopsided and unbalanced and
is threaten with a shutdown…

if nature isn’t allowed its equation, its balance, then that
system, nature becomes lopsided and unbalanced and is threatened…

if we fail to maintain a balance with nature, we unbalanced our own
system and we are in danger of doing just that…

human beings need nature… as much as we need our basic needs
of food and water and clothing and shelter because without those
basic need that nature creates like food and water and breathable air…
our systems, political, economic, culturally and our very own, personal
system called Kropotkin is threatened… every tree that is cut down
must be balanced with another tree planted… you cut down too many
tree’s, you have an unbalanced nature and the system is in danger of failing…

Kropotkin

That’s common sense, P.K.

K: ahhhhhhh, it is not so simple…
it becomes a question of competing values, competing goods as one might say…

the developer who builds condo’s wants to built lots and lots and lots of condo’s
because that is how he makes his money…

so for him, the value of money/profits, outweigh the need for balance
in the system or any other possible public good…
it becomes a question of whose values are given priority…
the developer or me? and it is clear from the massive building
going on in this country that the value that has priority is
pursuit of money/profit over having nature or having any balance with
nature… the equation becomes money first and everything else second,
a very distant second…that drive for profit, to build the condo’s that
destroy bears habitat or destroys a beautiful meadow… and by destroying
that bears habitat or the beautiful meadow, we unbalance the entire system…
every action must be balanced by an equal and opposite reaction…
that is the rule of physics… every action has an equal and opposite reaction…

and failure to protect our forest and our meadows leads us to an equal and
opposite action… now one may protest that that equation,
every action has an equal and opposite reaction… is a physics equation…
but it can be applied to other matters beside physics… just as equations
can be applied to a great many things…

so we have competing goods, the drive to profits and the equal drive to protect
the system we live in for the greater good of everyone…not just an private
drive to profit but an equal drive to protect EVERYONE…which is system
thinking… what action/actions promotes and protects the system?

building one set of condo’s on the hillside won’t destroy the balance or destroy
the system… but miles after miles after miles of condo’s do unbalance the system…
and those building create an equation that threaten all of us…

so, how can we decide or figure out, what is the balance or what is the equation
we use to decide if and when do we build condo’s?

let us follow the argument a bit and then perhaps we can see…

if we don’t build condo’s, then people have no where to go and that builds
up resentment and possible inequality in the system which might threaten it…
just like the French Revolution was driven by those who had nothing and had
nothing to lose when they began that revolution…

the real problem is not about building condo’s or where to build them…
the real problem lies in the fact that there are too many people…
our very numbers challenges the entire equation between the ability
to feed and clothe and shelter the number of people we have and the number
of people we have…

in other words, we can easily feed and clothe and shelter a million people…
we can easily feed and clothes and shelter a billion people…
but at 7 billion people and rising, we challenge the resources we need
to be able to take care of those 7 billion people…

it is an equation… the amount of resources the earth has and the
number of people we have…does the earth have enough resources to
take of all of us AND take care of all those creatures that exist on earth?

to allow massive amount of resources to be in the hands of a small amount of people
instead of in the hands of the people means that if we have food enough to 10 billion
people but a small number of people own 7 billion amount of food, the reality
is, that everyone is fighting over 3 billion amount of food… this is very, very
badly said, but it points to a truth…if we allow income inequality to dominate
the political system, we set the stage for an revolution, just like the French revolution…
so in this private vice of acquiring goods we set the stage for two separate
issues… first of all, this drive for money/profit creates an unbalance
income inequality which threatens us and secondly, we are using up
resources to build stuff that exists only to make money… resources
are not unlimited…we cannot accumulate resources thinking that
those resources are unlimited and we can continue this forever…

the equation is simple, we have a finite amount of resources
and we have to stretch those resources to accommodate everyone
and all creatures great and small…and the forest and the meadows…

unfettered capitalism is unsustainable which passes beyond the simple
remark that saving nature is common sense… it becomes an issue
of competing goods and an understanding that resources are limited…

several factors come into play here, beyond just common sense…

Kropotkin

wrote a long post yesterday and gone…very dicey internet up
in the mountains…

so we have conflicting goods/values…one wants money, one wants
love, another wants justice and another safety… how do we decide which value
is the values we are to follow as a system/culture/state? what criteria are we to use
to first, evaluate our values and second, which values are “the” values we are to follow…

as with any journey, it depends on where we are and where we are going…
plus any analysis requires an understanding of our current situation…

we have many focused on values that aren’t appropriate to our current situation…
to make money/profit isn’t appropriate to our current situation…
we are facing a multitude of situations that exist beyond just money/profits…

to ensure my post makes it, I will post and begin next post…

Kropotkin

to continue:

for example, the problem that lies behind all the buildings and the use
of resources is a growing population…a population growing out of control…
that is the real problem, overpopulation…we must first grapple with
overpopulation and solving that helps with the massive overbuilding
and destroying nature…

but once again we have conflict between values…
the word of god says,

“be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth
and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds
in the sky and every living thing that moves on earth”

that precept has damaged the earth because it became unbalanced,
it doesn’t fit into the equation when too many people are on planet earth
and we have too few resources…so this question of values must be
understood in context of the current situation…we can also create
change with our use of values…we must use values that fit the situation…
for example, we might have an home invasion… love as a value might
solve that situation but more likely violence will be needed to solve it…
the situation dictates the values needed…

again, post in a bit…

Kropotkin

ummmm, thinking about this… I may be going about it the wrong way…

perhaps, the difference between modern values and pre-modern values
is the fact that there was less values to fight over, perhaps…or just
that in the “Modern” era we have more values then previously…
perhaps, because of the industrial revolution, we have become more aware
of values… as our values have become negated and invalidated because
of the industrial revolution…we have come to see what values are really
important…or perhaps the enlightenment has created a new understanding
of values that the industrial revolution then tried to negate…

so we have a new understanding of values and then people decide or choose
to honor this value or that value… perhaps the real modern problem
is we don’t conflict resolution between values… no one may argue we
have the court system… but as we have seen justice/equality is no longer
blind and is bought and sold to the highest bidder… so how do we
have real conflict resolution between values? maybe that is the question
of the modern times? how do we resolve values conflicts?

Kropotkin

in thinking about this, values were dictated by authority, tradition,
canonical words… people didn’t create their own values…
values were given to them by other sources… the bible speaks
of love and that value was given to man… in the modern era, beginning
with the enlightenment, this new method was to attack the old myths
and the old habits and prejudices and the old values… to replace
them with a new understanding… with new values…the modern era
is about the complexity of new values…and the conflict between these new values…
so we must understand our relationship with values and what they mean to us…
so if modernism is about the new values, then post-modern means…

and in the end, we still need a means of conflict resolution of our values,
of the debate between people about which values we should and must follow…

Kropotkin

still on vacation and sick as a dog… so I will call this late
night thoughts under the influence of Nyquil…

we have, what has been called the “Human condition”

but I think it should be rightly called the “Modern condition”…

what is the Modern condition?

if you think about the past, the choices or options for people
were less, far less then we have today… less choices in the values,
less choices in jobs, less choices in having a say in the society you lived in…

less choices all the way around…

for example, the Greeks believed in Arete which is excellence, that
was their value of choice…that comes from Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey”

Think of the Romans, their values called, Mos maiorum, or “ancestral custom”
or “the way of the ancestors”… and I wrote about those values in an earlier post…

and the values of the middle ages… are the Christian values we know today,
of humility and meekness and knowing one’s place… Religious values

in these three examples, there was no chance for the average person to escape
the values of the society, be it Greek or Roman or medieval…you lived
under a small number of values and you were expected to obey these values…
because you had no choice…

from the enlightenment comes a new awareness of values… and how society
was driven by a small number of values… remove myths and habits
and prejudices and superstitions comes the call of the enlightenment thinkers…
remove those values and become an independent thinker, a free human being…

and look about you today, America had a set value system which has been destroyed
by actions taken over the last 40 years and especially over the last 18 years…
what values have been driven over the last few years?

well after 9/11, when asked what the average American can do to support
America, bush Jr said, well go shopping… that was the value the president of the
united states thought was important after 9/11…

the problem for these men/women of limited thought is that the genie has
been released from the bottle… we see a multitude of values that are possible…
we have far more choices then the average Greek or Roman or man of the Medieval
period…choices in jobs, choices in values, choices in sexuality…

the human condition is about choices and we have many choices which
is why I say the human condition is really the modern condition…

we have conflict today between the modern/scientific values
and the religious values and between various religious values
have conflict and we don’t have a means of resolving these values
conflicts… whereas in the ancient world, they had means to resolve
values conflicts, the church and/or the state would resolved value
conflicts…when we see the church or state attacking a group of
people, for example the Medieval church would attack and or destroy
a movement I can’t think of their names right now, but the church destroyed
several groups of people who espoused different values then the official church
values…

but we don’t do that today… we celebrate all values, as we should…
but the modern condition makes us wonder which values are the values
we should be holding…

and how should we decide?

Kropotkin

we have literally hundreds of values we can focus on…

I have listed some of them, just some of them…and we have hundreds more to
think about… but what is the big deal about values?

values are what give your life meaning and values give you some basis
for actions… should I help that old man cross the street?
values gives you the answer…at its heart, values tell us
what is the meaning of our actions…without values,
how do we know how to act? values give us purpose of action…

I love my wife and so I bring home some flowers…

love is the value here and bringing home flowers are the action…
think of bringing home flowers without the value of love…
it doesn’t make much sense now does it…

we sent troops to Iraq… and on what value basis would we do such a thing?

values justify our actions…

upon what values do you justify your life?

the right values and we can stabilize the system…

values are the heart of our systems… our man made systems…

“democracy” as a statement is full of values…

but the question becomes, what is the end result of democracy?

is there an end game with democracy? what is the goal? what is the destination
of democracy? as a system is democracy a better system then other political systems,
say, monarchy, communism, dictatorship, republic… what values do these political
system promote and how well do they function as systems? that is the question…

the question of values and the question of values within any given political system
and do those values help keep the system in question stronger or weaker… more stable
or less stable, do the values in question keep the system balanced and in some equation?

for a system without values that don’t maintain the system, that is a recipe for failure…
and what values do we promote in the U.S today? do those values help maintain
and keep the system balanced and in a equation? I say no…

what do you say?

Kropotkin

I am home but still sick as a dog and under lots
of drugs, so lets see how well this goes…

in thinking about those who fear technology and AI,
but the same people often praise capitalism…

now the problem lies with the idea of the private vices
creating public good that is capitalism…
but they fear the growth of technology and AI and want them to
be controlled, limited in their uses and in some cases, banned…

but what is the exact difference between allowing capitalist free sphere,
outside of government control and those who engage in technology and AI
and Transhumanism? why can’t those who engage in transhumanism and technology
also practice private vices for the public good? doesn’t the same argument that is
right for capitalism also work for those who deal with technology and transhumanism
and AI? if you allow a capitalist to do his thing without any government control or
regulations, then why not allow those who engage with transhumanism or technology
or AI, to go about their business without government control or regulations?

the argument seems to me, to be the same…

now personally, I am in favor of government control and regulations of
both capitalism AND those who engage in technology, transhumanism and
AI…

I just don’t see how you can separate them… either they are both free of
governmental regulations or, or they are both under the government regulations…

Kropotkin

I was talking to a friend about teleportation technology in the future.

I said because it could teleport drugs or weapons, the government would try to control it, and suppress it.

This principle of miss-use applies to basically all technologies in the futuristic sense of the word.

K: ahhh, does the principle of the “best government is the least government” which the
right uses to defend capitalistic policy, can also be used to defend the least amount
of government in technology, AI, transhumanism and teleportation devices?

the theory does seem to suggest that you must keep government involvement in
both areas limited? that is the principle, “the best government is the least government”?

so, why does one area get engagement from the government and the other area doesn’t?

Kropotkin

I read a story this morning, about a minor Hollywood star,
who went to the DMV, motor vehicle department in California…

he went in with a bad attitude, making a fuss right from the start…
and then later realized he had forgotten his wallet in a taxi…
and made a huge fuss about them letting him get by without some form
of I.D because he was a star and everyone knew him…
left and came back shortly to accuse someone of stealing his glasses…

and the moral of this story is that he was aware of one thing and one thing
only, himself…he had no understanding of the fact he was one of many people
in the DMV office, and given how many DMV offices we have here, one of thousands
in a DMV office and one of thousands engage in activity with the government here…
he was so lock into himself and his thoughts and his feelings that there wasn’t room
for anything else…

we get so lock into our thoughts and actions, we forget that we too
are also part of billions of people and a part of hundreds of systems…

or to say another way, we, individually, are just one atom in the midst of
billions of atoms…

to understand, really understand who we are, you must place us into
context, of each of us being one voice in the midst of billions…

you must become aware… and in doing so, begin to place us into
context…you want to know your place in this story… this human story…

begin by understanding that billions have come before you and billions more
will come after you…context is everything… context is just another word for
experience…and what is your context in everything? what is your place in everything?

do we ever rise above context? no, but we can make sense of and learn what
is possible within that context…

but the first step, the very first step is to become aware… place yourself in some
context and see your role within the many systems of which you are part of…

become aware…see every action you make as if you were on stage in a play,
does your action/actions make sense in the play currently going on?

what if you don’t like your lines? rewrite them…

what if you don’t like your part? get a different part…

expand your thinking about who you are and what is your role…

and all this can only happen once you become aware of who you are…
or said differently, once you begin to understand your context in life…

everything begins with awareness…

Kropotkin

we have limitations as human beings…

personally, I am limited by my loss of hearing but even hearing people
have limitations… they don’t hear as well as dogs or cats or lions or…

and we not only have physically limitations, but we have other limitations…

for example, the Romans or Greeks or Egyptians had only ground transportation
to move people and goods… cows, horses, carts, people pulling carts…
for most of human history, there was a limitation on how far and how fast
people and goods could go…you had boats and the like but it was still limited…

today we are less limited in the ways we can transport people and goods…
we can, in many ways overcome our limitations by technical means…
we have glasses to overcome bad eyesight and hearing aids to overcome
bad hearing and medical techniques to overcome a lot of medical limitations…
and we can use tools like a telescope and microscope to overcome our limitations
in seeing a long ways and seeing the very small…the entire advancement of
the human race can be considered as a means of overcoming our limitations…

so, we see that overcoming limitations is in large part what makes us and our
technology today…so what limitations are you overcoming?

limitations don’t necessarily need to be physical, they can be mental,
psychological, emotional… but the process of becoming must involved
overcoming limitations… the battle to become human means overcoming
our limitations…even if those limitations are being human… so what do
we need to do to overcome being human? the process of evolution is all
about overcoming limitations…

so what are you overcoming? what limitations are you trying to overcome?

perhaps that is the meaning of life…the simple act of overcoming your limitations…
whatever they are… mental, physical, emotional, psychological…and limitations
of your society and the environment you exists in… we are always in the process of
overcoming some limitation of some sort… become aware of what limitations
you are trying to overcome…be it social or environmental or personal…

Kropotkin