The following practices are so pervasive they are almost
thought of as natural:
racism; sexism; ageism; discrimination against gay people;
discrimination against people with disabilities; neglect of the elderly, ill, and anyone else perceived as unproductive;
abuse and trafficking of children and women. Not one of these is a new phenomenon. All are old, based in antiquity.
The strong and mighty dominate the weak and defenseless.
History shows this is a fact. Who is strong and who is weak seems to rotate over time, like a fortune's wheel continually
turning. On top one day could mean on bottom years later, then back on top again after that.
It is possible to get thrown off the wheel entirely.
There are records of people who are no longer here. Maybe weeded out by evolution. Maybe blended into other
groups. Maybe victims of hard times. But some social scientists note that the number of people wiped out by various governments far exceeds that of those who fall to natural phenomena - including climate, weather, disease,
famine and sudden disaster.
Human enslavement is arguably the oldest group practice on
earth. Slavery is used to build wealth and power for the slave holders. Sometimes the cheap labor, (nothing
is "free"), including soldiering, is the major contributing factor to the stakeholder's wealth. Sometimes
the slave him or herself can be used as currency.
Right alongside the willingness to oppress others, we seem
to harbor a deep loathing of and rebellion against oppression. Somewhere in our make-up we revile chains.
There have been countless attempts to wipe out oppression, overthrow tyrants and tyrannical policies.
Yet somehow there is a propensity for replacing the tyrant's
oppression with our own version of the same. We battle for years, sometimes generations, to get out from
under and at last we succeed. We call it liberty, freedom, democracy or some relgious name. And then these
ideals eventually become flimsy covers for the old business as usual - misuse, inequality, inequity.
Right now something is happening. In the face of harsh
realities, we seem to be changing, or at least our view is changing. One example: millions of
people all over the globe recently united with one purpose - to stop an impending "war" between a major power and a lesser
state - even before the first strike had been launched. This unification took place on several
separate occasions. On a level unprecedented in modern history, including in the Vietnam era.
There was agreement even among countries that share
few commonalities. Sometimes no broad language or cultural match, or even friendly trade. But somehow over
a spectrum of national identities a consensus arose regarding one specific and impending issue. That consensus
was enough to bring disparate groups together for some loud and highly publicized action. As one
voice.
What does such global unity of thinking indicate? That
we are beginning to value our own views as highly as we do that of any leadership we've chosen or had thrust on
us? That
we're getting stronger and more self reliant? Or something
else? And why now?
We
have a communications technology that is not only growing but accelerating. We now have comtech like we haven't
had it before. Is our development and use of newer and newer technologies the reason we're able to come together
quicker and with far more impact? It seems the smarter we get the smarter we get. Maybe that's good.
Or maybe we'll eventually outsmart ourselves.
What
is democracy and do we have any
What
is leadership and do we have any
Are we moving toward or away from them
Do we need either one
