http://berhane-hilina.blogspot.com/2007/11/purpose-of-l-i-f-e-quintessence-purpose.html
Thursday, 6 December 2007
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
Ontological Experience
A good essay:
It is not only an outlook from a christian point of view but an inquiry into the dialectics of faith and reason. Worth reading and moreover valuable are the philosophers indicated in the paper, who have a lot to say on the issue.
See:
http://www.dif.unige.it/hp/campodonico/expe.doc
Dialogue.....
Dear friends,
Most of our Elite abroad have been living over 20 years far from their
community and the "active leaders" are as well educated as any of their
colleagues in their "new" vicinity.
But ...But....what impedes our Elite to discuss our Ethiopian problems
at this intellectual level ( See below...the "book review"...in a way
relevant to the problem of the "Ethiopian political mind set-up")?
The same question could be posed to the Elite at home too, since it was
highly in touch with the same intellectual community. But....given the
different social and political prerequisites and environment.....(lack
of democracy etc.)..., the question could be conceived and understood
somewhat complexer....
********************
********************
From: Sandy Heierbacher
Organization: National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation
Subject: [NCDD-LIST] summary of Gore's new book
I bought Al Gore's "The Assault on Reason" a couple of weeks ago, but I
haven't really had the chance to read it yet... I thought I'd scan the
final chapters to see what Gore is proposing.
First, just to provide a bit of context, the first seven chapters of the
book (with titles like "The Politics of Fear," "The Politics of Wealth,"
"National Insecurity," and "The Carbon Crisis") support the premise that
"The persistent and sustained reliance on falsehoods as the basis of
policy, even in the face of massive and well-understood evidence to the
contrary, seems to many Americans to have reached levels that were
previously unimaginable. (p. 1)" Š"Why has America's public discourse
become less focused and clear, less reasoned? Faith in the power of
reason-the belief that free citizens can govern themselves wisely and
fairly by resorting to logical debate on the basis of the best evidence
available, instead of raw power-was and remains the central premise of
American democracy. This premise is now under attack. (p. 2)"
I flipped through the book and examined the index, and there doesn't
seem to be any mention of deliberative democracy or facilitated dialogue
- but much in the final chapter sounds strikingly familiar. I decided
to include quotes and page numbers from the last chapter in case any of
you would like to reference some of this in papers, grant proposals, or
on your websites (I know I plan to use some of this!).
At the end of chapter 8, Gore writes (p. 244):
"When reason and logic are removed from the process of democracy-when
there is no longer any purpose in debating or discussing the choices we
have to make-then all the questions before us are reduced to a simple
equation: Who can exercise the most raw power? The system of checks and
balances that has protected the integrity of our America system for more
than two centuries has been dangerously eroded in recent decades, and
especially in the last six years.
"In order to reestablish the needed balance, and to check the dangerous
expansion of an all-powerful executive branch, we must first of all work
to restore the checks and balances that our Founders knew were essential
to ensure that reason could play its proper role in American democracy.
And we must then concentrate on reempowering the people of the United
States with the ability and the inclination to fully and vigorously
participate in the national conversation of democracy. I am convinced
this can be done and that the America people can once again become a
'well-informed citizenry.' In the following chapter I outline how.
Some quotes from chapter 9, "A Well-Connected Citizenry"
p. 245
"What passes for a national 'conversation' today is usually a television
monologue consisting of highly sophisticated propagandistic messages."
He then talks about how TV is one-way, passive communication and that
"attachment theory" holds that responsive two-way communication is
essential for an individual's feeling empowered, and that authentic
free-flowing communication is important for any relationship that
requires trust (such as the relationship between citizens and public
officials).
p. 248
"I believe that the viability of democracy depends upon the openness,
reliability, appropriateness, responsiveness, and two-way nature of the
communication environment. After all, democracy depends upon the regular
sending and receiving of signals-not only between the people and those
who aspire to be their elected representatives but also among the people
themselves. It is the connection of each individual to the national
conversation that is the key. I believe that the citizens of any
democracy learn, over time, to adopt a basic posture toward the
possibilities of self-government.
"If democracy seems to work, and if people receive a consistent,
reliable, and meaningful response from others when they communicate
their opinions and feelings about shared experiences, they begin to
assume that self-expression in democracy matters. When they can
communicate with others regularly, in ways that produce meaningful
changes, they learn that democracy matters.
p. 248-249
"If they receive responses that seem to be substantive but actually are
not, citizens begin to feel as if they were being manipulated. If the
messages they receive from the media feed this growing cynicism, the
decline of democracy can be accelerated.
p. 249
"Moreover, if citizens of a country express their opinions and feelings
over an extended period of time without evoking a meaningful response,
then they naturally begin to feel angry. If the flow of communication
provides little opportunity for citizens to express themselves
meaningfully, they naturally begin to feel frustration and
powerlessness. This has happened all too often to minority communities
who suffer prejudice and are not given a fair hearing by the majority
for complaints."
p. 250
He goes on to talk about how his generation still believes that
democracy works, and that communication and participation are the keys
to making it work well - but that many young Americans aren't sure
whether democracy actually works or not. Referring to television as the
primary medium for democratic discourse, he writes "If the information
and opinions made available in the marketplace of ideas come only from
those with enough money to pay a steep price of admission, then all of
those citizens whose opinions cannot be expressed in a meaningful way
are in danger of learning that they are powerless as citizens and have
no influence over the course of events in our democracy-and that their
only appropriate posture is detachment, frustration, or anger."
pp. 250-251 (Here's where the former VP is channeling our friends Tom
Atlee and Jim Rough, among others):
"Our political system today does not engage the best minds in our
country to help us get the answers and deploy the resources we need to
move into the future. Bringing these people in-with their networks of
influence, their knowledge, and their resources-is the key to creating
the capacity for shared intelligence that we need to solve the problems
we face, before it's too late. Our goal must be to find a new way of
unleashing our collective intelligence in the same way that markets have
unleashed our collective productivity. 'We the people' must reclaim and
revitalize the ability we once had to play an integral role in saving
our Constitution."
He talks about how the traditional progressive solution to problems that
involve a lack of participation by citizens in civic and democratic
processes is to redouble their emphasis on education. He acknowledges
the importance of education, but then says "Education alone, however, is
necessary but insufficient. A well-educated citizenry is more likely to
be a well-informed citizenry, but the two concepts are entirely
different, one from the other. It is possible to be extremely well
educated and, at the same time, ill informed or misinformedŠ.
p. 251-252
"ŠAbstract thought, when organized into clever, self-contained, logical
formulations, can sometimes have its own quasi-hypnotic effect and so
completely capture the human mind as to shut down the leavening
influences of everyday experience. Time and again, passionate believers
in tightly organized philosophies and ideologies have closed their minds
to the cries of human suffering that they inflict on others who have not
yet pledged their allegiance and surrendered their minds to the same
ideology.
p. 252 (how's this for a D&D-supporting quote?!)
"The freedoms embodied in our First Amendment represented the hard-won
wisdom of the eighteenth century: that individuals must be able to fully
participate in challenging, questioning, and thereby breathing human
values constantly into the prevailing ideologies of their time and
sharing with others the wisdom of their own experience.
p. 253 (these paragraphs gave me the chills; they're also a great
summary of what Gore's book is all about, AND what dialogue &
deliberation are all about)
"In an age of propaganda, education itself can become suspect. When
ideology is so often woven into the 'facts' that are delivered in fully
formed and self-contained packages, people naturally begin to develop
some cynicism about what they are being told. When people are subjected
to ubiquitous and unrelenting mass advertising, reason and logic often
begin to seem like they are no more than handmaidens for the
sophisticated sales force. And now that these same techniques dominate
the political messages sent by candidates to voters, the integrity of
our democracy has been placed under the same cloud of suspicion.
Many advocacy organizations-progressive as well as conservative-often
give the impression that they already have exclusive possession of the
truth and merely have to 'educate' others about what they already know.
Resentment toward this attitude is also one of the many reason for the
resurgence of the traditional anti-intellectual strain in America.
When people don't have an opportunity to interact on equal terms and
test the validity of what they're being 'taught' in the light of their
own experience, and share with one another in a robust and dynamic
dialogue that enriches what the 'experts' are telling them with the
wisdom of the groups as a whole, they naturally begin to resist the
assumption that the experts know best.
p. 253-254
If well-educated citizens have no effective way to communicate their
ideas to others and no realistic prospect of catalyzing the formation of
a critical mass of opinion supporting their ideas, then their education
is for naught where the vitality of our democracy is concerned.
p. 254
The remedy for what ails our democracy is not simply better education
(as important as that is) or civic education (as important as that can
be), but the reestablishment of a genuine democratic discourse in which
individuals can participate in a meaningful way-a conversation of
democracy in which meritorious ideas and opinions from individuals do,
in fact, evoke a meaningful response.
And in today's world, that means recognizing that it's impossible to
have a well-informed citizenry without having a well-connected
citizenry. While education remains important, it is now connection that
is the key. A well-connected citizenry is made up of men and women who
discuss and debate ideas and issues among themselves and who constantly
test the validity of the information and impressions they receive from
one another-as well as the ones they receive from their government. No
citizenry can be well informed without a constant flow of honest
information about contemporary events and without a full opportunity to
participate in a discussion of the choices that the society must make."
He goes on to talk about how citizens who don't have meaningful
opportunities to participate in the national conversation develop a lack
of interest in the process, and outlines how people's knowledge of basic
democratic processes and principles is one of the outcomes of this lack
of interest.
Beginning on p. 256, he talks about various steps that can and should be
taken to foster more connectivity in our self-government, including:
- Reconnecting citizens to the substance of the deliberative
process in congress (by airing the most important debates during prime
time on television, for instance)
- Limiting the influence of large financial contributions to
candidates for elected office
- Full and robust public financing of all federal elections
- Increasing the transparency of all contributions to make it clear
where the funding is coming from
p. 259
"Ultimately, however, no reform measures will save American democracy
until and unless we find a way to restore the central role of a
well-informed citizenry. The revolutionary departure on which the idea
of America was based was the audacious belief that, as Thomas Jefferson
said, 'An informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public
will.'
Our Founders knew that the people who are armed with knowledge and the
ability to communicate it can govern themselves and responsibly exercise
the ultimate authority in self-government. They knew that democracy
requires the open flow of information both to and, more important, from
the citizenryŠ.
p. 259-260 (this is where he gets into how the Internet is the answer)
"Fortunately, we now have the means available to us by which the people
of America can reestablish a robust connection to a vibrant and open
exchange of ideas with one another about all of the issues most relevant
to the course of our democracy. The Internet has the potential to
revitalize the role played by the people in our constitutional framework.
ŠThe Internet is presenting us with new possibilities to reestablish a
healthy functioning self-government, even before it rivals television
for an audience.
In fact, the Internet is perhaps the greatest source of hope for
reestablishing an open communications environment in which the
conversation of democracy can flourish. It has extremely low entry
barriers for individuals. The ideas that individuals contribute are
dealt with, in the main, according to the rules of a meritocracy of
ideas. It is the most interactive medium in history and the one with the
greatest potential for connecting individuals to one another and to a
universe of knowledge."
He says many great things about the net, and calls it a platform for
reason because it is a place for the decentralized creation and
distribution of ideas. He does acknowledge the Internet's various
problems and abuses, but says that "as always, it is up to
us-particularly those of us who live in a democracy-to make intelligent
choices about how and for what we use this incredibly powerful tool."
He talks about how the Internet must be developed and protected through
the establishment of fair rules of engagement and the exercise of the
rule of law (as was done to protect the freedom and independence of the
press). Gore asserts that we must shape the evolution of the internet in
ways that are conducive to the reemergence of a fully functional
democracy (by ensuring it remains open and accessible, for one thing).
On p. 262, he writes "in contrast to radio and television broadcasting,
there is no inherent limitation on the number of entryways to the public
forum as it exists on the Internet."
He talks about the Internet being an ideal medium for people with common
perspectives and concerns to find one another and form communities
around their shared interests, and talks about how the internet has
already been changing politics. He uses blogging as an example of how
people are using the internet for public discourse without the public
ever needing to gather in a single public place - and influencing
national politics as a result. He also uses wikis (especially Wikipedia)
and Web 2.0 social networks (like MySpace and Facebook) as examples of
Internet advances that have enormous democratic potential.
He admits that television will remain people's primary medium of
communication for the rest of this decade, and mentions his phenomenal
cable TV channel, Current TV, to which anyone can submit "viewer-created
content" for consideration, and which empowers viewers to participate in
programming decisions.
Gore goes into depth about net neutrality and the danger of network
operators creating a "tiered Internet" with first-class and second-class
citizens on the Web in order to make more money. He ends the chapter with:
"Šthe key requirement for redeeming the integrity of representative
democracy in the age of electronic media is to ensure that citizens are
well and fully connected to an open and robust public forum-one that is
easily accessible to individuals and that operates according to a
meritocracy of ideasŠ."
In his 3-page conclusion, Gore writes (p. 272):
"Today, reason is under assault by forces using more sophisticated
techniques: propaganda, psychology, electronic mass media. Yet
democracy's advocates are beginning to use their own sophisticated
techniques: the Internet, online organizing, blogs, and wikis. I feel
more confident than ever before that democracy will prevail and that the
American people are rising to the challenge of reinvigorating
self-government."
--
--
Most of our Elite abroad have been living over 20 years far from their
community and the "active leaders" are as well educated as any of their
colleagues in their "new" vicinity.
But ...But....what impedes our Elite to discuss our Ethiopian problems
at this intellectual level ( See below...the "book review"...in a way
relevant to the problem of the "Ethiopian political mind set-up")?
The same question could be posed to the Elite at home too, since it was
highly in touch with the same intellectual community. But....given the
different social and political prerequisites and environment.....(lack
of democracy etc.)..., the question could be conceived and understood
somewhat complexer....
********************
********************
From: Sandy Heierbacher
Organization: National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation
Subject: [NCDD-LIST] summary of Gore's new book
I bought Al Gore's "The Assault on Reason" a couple of weeks ago, but I
haven't really had the chance to read it yet... I thought I'd scan the
final chapters to see what Gore is proposing.
First, just to provide a bit of context, the first seven chapters of the
book (with titles like "The Politics of Fear," "The Politics of Wealth,"
"National Insecurity," and "The Carbon Crisis") support the premise that
"The persistent and sustained reliance on falsehoods as the basis of
policy, even in the face of massive and well-understood evidence to the
contrary, seems to many Americans to have reached levels that were
previously unimaginable. (p. 1)" Š"Why has America's public discourse
become less focused and clear, less reasoned? Faith in the power of
reason-the belief that free citizens can govern themselves wisely and
fairly by resorting to logical debate on the basis of the best evidence
available, instead of raw power-was and remains the central premise of
American democracy. This premise is now under attack. (p. 2)"
I flipped through the book and examined the index, and there doesn't
seem to be any mention of deliberative democracy or facilitated dialogue
- but much in the final chapter sounds strikingly familiar. I decided
to include quotes and page numbers from the last chapter in case any of
you would like to reference some of this in papers, grant proposals, or
on your websites (I know I plan to use some of this!).
At the end of chapter 8, Gore writes (p. 244):
"When reason and logic are removed from the process of democracy-when
there is no longer any purpose in debating or discussing the choices we
have to make-then all the questions before us are reduced to a simple
equation: Who can exercise the most raw power? The system of checks and
balances that has protected the integrity of our America system for more
than two centuries has been dangerously eroded in recent decades, and
especially in the last six years.
"In order to reestablish the needed balance, and to check the dangerous
expansion of an all-powerful executive branch, we must first of all work
to restore the checks and balances that our Founders knew were essential
to ensure that reason could play its proper role in American democracy.
And we must then concentrate on reempowering the people of the United
States with the ability and the inclination to fully and vigorously
participate in the national conversation of democracy. I am convinced
this can be done and that the America people can once again become a
'well-informed citizenry.' In the following chapter I outline how.
Some quotes from chapter 9, "A Well-Connected Citizenry"
p. 245
"What passes for a national 'conversation' today is usually a television
monologue consisting of highly sophisticated propagandistic messages."
He then talks about how TV is one-way, passive communication and that
"attachment theory" holds that responsive two-way communication is
essential for an individual's feeling empowered, and that authentic
free-flowing communication is important for any relationship that
requires trust (such as the relationship between citizens and public
officials).
p. 248
"I believe that the viability of democracy depends upon the openness,
reliability, appropriateness, responsiveness, and two-way nature of the
communication environment. After all, democracy depends upon the regular
sending and receiving of signals-not only between the people and those
who aspire to be their elected representatives but also among the people
themselves. It is the connection of each individual to the national
conversation that is the key. I believe that the citizens of any
democracy learn, over time, to adopt a basic posture toward the
possibilities of self-government.
"If democracy seems to work, and if people receive a consistent,
reliable, and meaningful response from others when they communicate
their opinions and feelings about shared experiences, they begin to
assume that self-expression in democracy matters. When they can
communicate with others regularly, in ways that produce meaningful
changes, they learn that democracy matters.
p. 248-249
"If they receive responses that seem to be substantive but actually are
not, citizens begin to feel as if they were being manipulated. If the
messages they receive from the media feed this growing cynicism, the
decline of democracy can be accelerated.
p. 249
"Moreover, if citizens of a country express their opinions and feelings
over an extended period of time without evoking a meaningful response,
then they naturally begin to feel angry. If the flow of communication
provides little opportunity for citizens to express themselves
meaningfully, they naturally begin to feel frustration and
powerlessness. This has happened all too often to minority communities
who suffer prejudice and are not given a fair hearing by the majority
for complaints."
p. 250
He goes on to talk about how his generation still believes that
democracy works, and that communication and participation are the keys
to making it work well - but that many young Americans aren't sure
whether democracy actually works or not. Referring to television as the
primary medium for democratic discourse, he writes "If the information
and opinions made available in the marketplace of ideas come only from
those with enough money to pay a steep price of admission, then all of
those citizens whose opinions cannot be expressed in a meaningful way
are in danger of learning that they are powerless as citizens and have
no influence over the course of events in our democracy-and that their
only appropriate posture is detachment, frustration, or anger."
pp. 250-251 (Here's where the former VP is channeling our friends Tom
Atlee and Jim Rough, among others):
"Our political system today does not engage the best minds in our
country to help us get the answers and deploy the resources we need to
move into the future. Bringing these people in-with their networks of
influence, their knowledge, and their resources-is the key to creating
the capacity for shared intelligence that we need to solve the problems
we face, before it's too late. Our goal must be to find a new way of
unleashing our collective intelligence in the same way that markets have
unleashed our collective productivity. 'We the people' must reclaim and
revitalize the ability we once had to play an integral role in saving
our Constitution."
He talks about how the traditional progressive solution to problems that
involve a lack of participation by citizens in civic and democratic
processes is to redouble their emphasis on education. He acknowledges
the importance of education, but then says "Education alone, however, is
necessary but insufficient. A well-educated citizenry is more likely to
be a well-informed citizenry, but the two concepts are entirely
different, one from the other. It is possible to be extremely well
educated and, at the same time, ill informed or misinformedŠ.
p. 251-252
"ŠAbstract thought, when organized into clever, self-contained, logical
formulations, can sometimes have its own quasi-hypnotic effect and so
completely capture the human mind as to shut down the leavening
influences of everyday experience. Time and again, passionate believers
in tightly organized philosophies and ideologies have closed their minds
to the cries of human suffering that they inflict on others who have not
yet pledged their allegiance and surrendered their minds to the same
ideology.
p. 252 (how's this for a D&D-supporting quote?!)
"The freedoms embodied in our First Amendment represented the hard-won
wisdom of the eighteenth century: that individuals must be able to fully
participate in challenging, questioning, and thereby breathing human
values constantly into the prevailing ideologies of their time and
sharing with others the wisdom of their own experience.
p. 253 (these paragraphs gave me the chills; they're also a great
summary of what Gore's book is all about, AND what dialogue &
deliberation are all about)
"In an age of propaganda, education itself can become suspect. When
ideology is so often woven into the 'facts' that are delivered in fully
formed and self-contained packages, people naturally begin to develop
some cynicism about what they are being told. When people are subjected
to ubiquitous and unrelenting mass advertising, reason and logic often
begin to seem like they are no more than handmaidens for the
sophisticated sales force. And now that these same techniques dominate
the political messages sent by candidates to voters, the integrity of
our democracy has been placed under the same cloud of suspicion.
Many advocacy organizations-progressive as well as conservative-often
give the impression that they already have exclusive possession of the
truth and merely have to 'educate' others about what they already know.
Resentment toward this attitude is also one of the many reason for the
resurgence of the traditional anti-intellectual strain in America.
When people don't have an opportunity to interact on equal terms and
test the validity of what they're being 'taught' in the light of their
own experience, and share with one another in a robust and dynamic
dialogue that enriches what the 'experts' are telling them with the
wisdom of the groups as a whole, they naturally begin to resist the
assumption that the experts know best.
p. 253-254
If well-educated citizens have no effective way to communicate their
ideas to others and no realistic prospect of catalyzing the formation of
a critical mass of opinion supporting their ideas, then their education
is for naught where the vitality of our democracy is concerned.
p. 254
The remedy for what ails our democracy is not simply better education
(as important as that is) or civic education (as important as that can
be), but the reestablishment of a genuine democratic discourse in which
individuals can participate in a meaningful way-a conversation of
democracy in which meritorious ideas and opinions from individuals do,
in fact, evoke a meaningful response.
And in today's world, that means recognizing that it's impossible to
have a well-informed citizenry without having a well-connected
citizenry. While education remains important, it is now connection that
is the key. A well-connected citizenry is made up of men and women who
discuss and debate ideas and issues among themselves and who constantly
test the validity of the information and impressions they receive from
one another-as well as the ones they receive from their government. No
citizenry can be well informed without a constant flow of honest
information about contemporary events and without a full opportunity to
participate in a discussion of the choices that the society must make."
He goes on to talk about how citizens who don't have meaningful
opportunities to participate in the national conversation develop a lack
of interest in the process, and outlines how people's knowledge of basic
democratic processes and principles is one of the outcomes of this lack
of interest.
Beginning on p. 256, he talks about various steps that can and should be
taken to foster more connectivity in our self-government, including:
- Reconnecting citizens to the substance of the deliberative
process in congress (by airing the most important debates during prime
time on television, for instance)
- Limiting the influence of large financial contributions to
candidates for elected office
- Full and robust public financing of all federal elections
- Increasing the transparency of all contributions to make it clear
where the funding is coming from
p. 259
"Ultimately, however, no reform measures will save American democracy
until and unless we find a way to restore the central role of a
well-informed citizenry. The revolutionary departure on which the idea
of America was based was the audacious belief that, as Thomas Jefferson
said, 'An informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public
will.'
Our Founders knew that the people who are armed with knowledge and the
ability to communicate it can govern themselves and responsibly exercise
the ultimate authority in self-government. They knew that democracy
requires the open flow of information both to and, more important, from
the citizenryŠ.
p. 259-260 (this is where he gets into how the Internet is the answer)
"Fortunately, we now have the means available to us by which the people
of America can reestablish a robust connection to a vibrant and open
exchange of ideas with one another about all of the issues most relevant
to the course of our democracy. The Internet has the potential to
revitalize the role played by the people in our constitutional framework.
ŠThe Internet is presenting us with new possibilities to reestablish a
healthy functioning self-government, even before it rivals television
for an audience.
In fact, the Internet is perhaps the greatest source of hope for
reestablishing an open communications environment in which the
conversation of democracy can flourish. It has extremely low entry
barriers for individuals. The ideas that individuals contribute are
dealt with, in the main, according to the rules of a meritocracy of
ideas. It is the most interactive medium in history and the one with the
greatest potential for connecting individuals to one another and to a
universe of knowledge."
He says many great things about the net, and calls it a platform for
reason because it is a place for the decentralized creation and
distribution of ideas. He does acknowledge the Internet's various
problems and abuses, but says that "as always, it is up to
us-particularly those of us who live in a democracy-to make intelligent
choices about how and for what we use this incredibly powerful tool."
He talks about how the Internet must be developed and protected through
the establishment of fair rules of engagement and the exercise of the
rule of law (as was done to protect the freedom and independence of the
press). Gore asserts that we must shape the evolution of the internet in
ways that are conducive to the reemergence of a fully functional
democracy (by ensuring it remains open and accessible, for one thing).
On p. 262, he writes "in contrast to radio and television broadcasting,
there is no inherent limitation on the number of entryways to the public
forum as it exists on the Internet."
He talks about the Internet being an ideal medium for people with common
perspectives and concerns to find one another and form communities
around their shared interests, and talks about how the internet has
already been changing politics. He uses blogging as an example of how
people are using the internet for public discourse without the public
ever needing to gather in a single public place - and influencing
national politics as a result. He also uses wikis (especially Wikipedia)
and Web 2.0 social networks (like MySpace and Facebook) as examples of
Internet advances that have enormous democratic potential.
He admits that television will remain people's primary medium of
communication for the rest of this decade, and mentions his phenomenal
cable TV channel, Current TV, to which anyone can submit "viewer-created
content" for consideration, and which empowers viewers to participate in
programming decisions.
Gore goes into depth about net neutrality and the danger of network
operators creating a "tiered Internet" with first-class and second-class
citizens on the Web in order to make more money. He ends the chapter with:
"Šthe key requirement for redeeming the integrity of representative
democracy in the age of electronic media is to ensure that citizens are
well and fully connected to an open and robust public forum-one that is
easily accessible to individuals and that operates according to a
meritocracy of ideasŠ."
In his 3-page conclusion, Gore writes (p. 272):
"Today, reason is under assault by forces using more sophisticated
techniques: propaganda, psychology, electronic mass media. Yet
democracy's advocates are beginning to use their own sophisticated
techniques: the Internet, online organizing, blogs, and wikis. I feel
more confident than ever before that democracy will prevail and that the
American people are rising to the challenge of reinvigorating
self-government."
--
--
Monday, 19 November 2007
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
War and Entangled "Collective Consciousness"
Some Notes on our Entangled “Collective Consciousness”
(
Away from current affairs on war and similar insanity, it may be sometimes helpful to reflect on consciousness in depth. It can help us even to “understand” the warring factions of all sorts; in our case especially, to ponder on our Ethiopians who refuse to discover the merits of peace and the virtues of harmony….
Along this line, I am sure you are aware of the fact that science is in the background developing tremendously and there are…a lot of speculations especially in the regions of "consciousness" and its depth explanation at the quantum level. And this is not simply out of intellectual curiosity or love of knowledge but also in order to have a clue of what is happening at the macro level (at the individual or the political leadership level) and its implication on our day to day activities up to the point of all sorts of "faiths" and "dogmas", we humans like to entertain in life.
My point:
During the last 2-3 decades, the level of knowledge on "consciousness" though still controversial, has changed substantially; and of course the science community in the west is apt to advice its political community to be aware of this development and all policies are hammered out by the necessary experts on this ground before they go on the air. If our politicians are illiterate in this context, which I am afraid may be the case, we are simply damned to be the "gooney pigs", parameters, and objects of speculation or activities. See for instance the call of war from our insolently concerned “experts” like Mr. Paul Henze or some imported “patriot”s (1), who who want by hook or cook to keep us in the PAST; hailing our PAST. Not to illuminate the relations but to tease and play with our emotions and convince us with such an intellectual dishonesty, that, the American administration has nothing to do with what developed on the issue of Eritrea and etc…etc. Once events are over, we the playing objects are always advised to live with the new realities, and for them, the “serious men”1a (cf. Simon d’Beauvoire) as long as the objects serve the purpose, everything is immaterial, , , , , Machiavelli greets…..
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Entangled “consciousness” and conflict
In the context of understanding our activities in respect to our “consciousness”, I think the contribution (2), I am referring here is valuable and pointing towards a line which I believe may be true…and all the more helpful to understand our own conditions. Especially interesting is the fact of the "virtual collective consciousness"
which may be hovering around our own space, the Ethiopian space, with all our past, present and future (extrapolated) - entangled by all the bitter historical and personal experiences, from which we can but may not be fully free in our present attitudes, decisions and line of actions. Under this context it is therefore wise to comprehend the condition of our "warring" factions of all colours; and if possible to summon them to the region of "Reason”.
In other words, the point is, understanding the "virtual collective consciousness"; i.e. in the language of our peaceful mothers.
(: "Mindine new Torinet felagiwochin Yemianqejqijachew" ;
(What is the substance which gives “the addicts of war” no peace)
Given the entire common cultural, ethnic, religious, historical etc. background; it is only under this glass that I could comprehend, for instance the never-ending "Ethiopian-Eritrean" conflict. During the earlier regimes (The Imperial and the "communist" Dergue) there were other pretexts through which one could comprehend the condition. But these explanations , even without qualifying them, have served their purposes and are gone and have no more validity thereafter - I mean specially under the given fact of the constitution of the dominating ruling groups and their leading cliques; no one would dare to iterate any of the past "hymns" and "opium" of self-determination etc. in this context.
Thus, it is not simply history. It is not "colonisation"; it is not "self-determination“. It is not "Assab"; it is not Badme; it is not “Afar”; ; ; etc. It is neither the “
Therefore there must be another fact of the problem, and that is:
The ruling cliques in
And by the way, these days for instance, the battle of
I don't know how the average intellectual would appraise all these in this context.
I remember a narrated dialogue between a Ghanaian and an Ethiopian.
Ethiopian, proud and lofty says: "we are independent for
I mean, if you have a clear mind it makes you sick to witness such a caricature of patriotism. Pseudo-patriotism modelled as a collective therapy to extrude our concrete material and spiritual destitution; with our never ending Christmas bags to collect alms. (X-mas is approaching to remind us again, and the never-ending “fraternal war” is on the horizon too.)
Oh! Let us save our patriotism....
To continue with my ENTANGELMENT "theory", after finding out how the ruling cliques of the region are ENTANGELED in the PAST, during the last weeks and months, it was as clear as a daylight that Mr. Bush and co. were working hard on this side of the real world to complete the vicious circle of the Entanglement ("der Teufelskreis" in German; the devils circle; a good word). They have succeeded in their complicity on this side of our real world to involve us in their "war of no return". And no one can miss today to know who is the conductor of our "religious-patriotic" war. Intrinsically planned for a long time with all OBJECTS playing their foolish and unconscious roles to be stage-managed for "a war" which has nothing to do with an Ethiopian patriotism. And alas! We are told now that, it is all in vain (3) and a “miscalculation”(4). A “calculation” on which policy designers and engineers like the Rand Corporation have made their good livings at the cost of all the victims of the war…What would be the next miscalculation; the next round of destruction….Above all the human tragedy…
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YES, FATEFUL but I am afraid TRUE; in Retrospect everything seems to fit into the complicity.
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Look at the TELEGRAMM after decades....
>>>>>
STAGE BEGIN
....The Role of Mr. Cohen.... decades ago...
Roger begin…..begin
Bravo
Mengistu....Money...
EPRDF Good...Healthy....Bad History…communist....But....No
Alternative...Can grow...Handle Good...
>>>>
....
..Independence...Brotherhood...Eritrea/Ethiopia..
Crack within the big Fours of African...Leaders....
The "young Intellectual leaders" ....Oh ...Oh....Ha ...Haa
Jam …Jam…..Telegram interrupted …Message ….unknown…
"sew belan ....man belat ???...man belat??!"...
"doron siyatliluat bemechagna talwat!!"
...Brotherhood holds no water.....conflict.... Badme..Assab.....
Assab..."Heros and no Heros"...Get rid of real heros....
...Negotiation......
.....
CONTINUE
...
UN...vs...
Change of Policy.....
Naive Diaspora.....Opposition.....Motivation and protection
...Democracy ....Mission.....Democracy...... campaign....Historical
... democratic spirit ....Democratic pole........Democracy....victory
/ vote of Non-confidence.....Observation...Monitoring....Mediation
....
Law and order...Juricial Procedure....We can't help it....sorry....
Opposition .....Leadership ...Jail.....Repression..... support regime
....encourage ... opposition.....Campaigns ...Petitions.....etc....etc...
Courts procedures...Repression.....regime… further support...
Encourage….Hope and …. change...No.
..Religious Incidents....Support and complicity in
councils ....War lords.....War of no return….
Court procedure ...No freedom... opposition
leadership...mediation...Apology offer....
Sentiments...Drums of War …
Objective: Regime change ...
Mediation – Opposition - Human rights ---Appeal ----pardon….confusion
and …..Parliament Speech---Legal procedures----Judiciary ---fake Independent….Opposition… Court Proceedings---Death Sentence ---
Pretend mediation---- Rationales … Ethiopian …Social Harmony …
NO not wanted … Not necessarily……Keep on …Hold on ….
Final Statement----Coming ....soon S. Abraha Free….. Opposition free;
Successful mediation….Celebrate Millennium….Ok…..Go Ahead…
Opposition abroad… Campaign….ok….HR 2003….
Stop it… short of the Senate….
Oh no!…our big Anti-Terror Ally …in the Horn…..Stop….Demarcation….Fuel the War…
The MILLENIUM calls…whither……
Roger …The END … CONTINUUM in the future… …
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Oh! the lost Assab (cf. L.West (1))....
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It remains to comment; whether the play staged by all the players, is conscious or objectified. I have no doubt that it is objectified for a section of the actors; since the conscious players would never go to jail....because they are required outside to beat the drum of our "patriotic" wars....
It is hard and fateful; but let God bless the genuine Hero; may be they will come up higher…. Aware, Conscious, Mature and Great. Clear is however that the conductors of the play were all the time aware of the outcome; and their objectives. You have only to read on this issue, the comments of the previous American ambassador under different
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And if some of us happen to have clear minds ...we have then to play the
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The Notion of "collective Consciousness"
The Notion of "collective Consciousness" is essentially not new and is common (only under different logos) to all schools of Philosophy or "faiths"- They are related to each other and are essentially made up of the same intellectual substance. - Like for instance:- The other true reality of Plato (the mathematical platonic world; the phenomenal world), the entelechies of Aristotle, the ether of the 19th century, the ultimate Substance of the Alchemists, or even the "Heavens or the Nirvana " of all religions, , , the infinite “Substance” ; the "God" concept from Descartes to Spinoza down to the "Absolute spirit" of Hegel's Phenomenology, or even the social consciousness of Marx... or the all-round harmony of Whitehead up to the "internal space" of the post-moderns like Foucault.
In the regions of Psychology, the cosmic consciousness from Mr. Richard M. Burke up to the universal moral stage of Flawrence Kohlberg or Robert Kegan's inter individual sphere or the Archtype, the collective unconscious of C. Jung or the subconscious, the unconscious stuff of Freud; or the recent modern "new scientific" concepts similar to the Morphic fields/resonance of scientists like Rupert Sheldrake; the Topological Geometrodynamics (TGD) of Mati Pitkänen ...etc... up to all kinds of spaces in several varieties of current mysticism (cf. Sofiatopia; a nice discourse out of
In his "consciousness" essay (2), in the referred document, Mr. Smythies just before he iterates his conclusions says,
In what ever form or substance; from the ancient Ether up to the new Dark cosmic matter or spirit; if I want to make a résumé of what I have learned after my own, I can say, phenomenological experience, I believe that there is a parallel "world" or "space", in a higher and abstracter dimensionality of which our real "world" or "space-time" may be a subset or mirror of this "phenomenal world”.
Our real "world" with the END RESULTS of relations; If that is the case and if our point of reference remains to be only these END RESULTS ; it means our human condition is tragic and in the final analysis we are damned to live in this world, determined from the HIGHER Reality of a Multi-or Parallel-Universe and in the end not free at all. YES, it is TRUE we are living in the END RESULTS but I believe however, that there is certainly a COMPONENT of FREEDOM in these relations (cf. Berdyaev)
I am therefore optimistic in the tradition of many similar faiths and even a new kind of a developing integral science, which has begun to build a bridge between the classical materialistic scientific community and the more spiritually inclined philosophical community with all shades of mystic explanation of our reality i.e. this side of that BEYOND; and in this context, I believe we can be free and are free in determining our paths. That is, when we refrain and resist from simply living in these END RESULTS of these relations and break up these causal relations in favour of new and creative inputs in both the phenomenal and space-time space towards a promising future, which is always open to History; Human History. This is the Dimension of FREEDOM. In this aspect we can learn a lot from our children, who until the point of contamination with our prejudices are free of these causal relations. (I believe, It is in this sense too that Jesus in Christianity is referred to have said "leave the children, let them come to me”).
Theoretically at least, this is not difficult at all:
UNDERSTAND THE PAST, LIVE in THE PRESENT, and Work for the FUTURE
Relations...
Our Ethiopian problem in general and that of all warring factions is: We are OR rather THEY are entangled in the PAST. The END RESULTS without the component of FREEDOM are the relations in which the ruling cliques in our regions are stuck; be it
In general, we like to dwell on the PAST, we hamper the PRESENT, LIFE is not our Principle, (therefore this never ending flight towards pseudo-Heroism; celebration of martyrdom; sacrifice etc.) and we don't see the FUTURE. If we ever see the future, we look for this Dogma, for that Ideology or that Religion to save us; avoiding any
ENLIGHTENMENT....INTELLECT...."Dare to know" through your own Intellect
" Be tizita bicha yeminorew, Berhan ye mayitayew new ". (Those who could not see the light through the tunnel, would only live in their nostalgias)
This is TRUE indeed!
ENLIGHTENMENT is the Human Task of the Intellectual. Those who are better off in this aspect are more cultured and more developed in all dimensions (spiritual as well as material). I am not Euro-centric; I am and remain indeed an Ethiopian in the healthy sense, but see the intellectual History of Europe. They have assimilated all the Histories of mankind's intellect into their own, to come to this Age; given all the blunders and disasters or even current problems. I am sure they will never and no more make wars on their soils etc... (Of course I mean here old
Beethoven's 9th Symphony or Schiller's "To Joy; Ode an die Freude" is
Beethoven's 9th Symphony or Schiller's "To Joy; Ode an die Freude" (5)
Joy, thou glorious spark of heaven,
Daughter of Elysium,
We approach fire-drunk,
Heavenly One, your shrine.
Your magic reunites
What custom strictly parts;
All people become brothers,
What custom's sword separates;
Beggars become princes' brothers
Where your gentle wing alights.
Be embraced, you millions!
This kiss for the whole world!
Brothers, beyond the star-canopy
Must a loving Father dwell.
Do you bow down, you millions?
Do you sense the Creator, world?
Seek Him beyond the star-canopy
Beyond the stars must He dwell.
Whoever succeeds in the great attempt
To be a friend of a friend,
Whoever has won a lovely woman,
Let him add his jubilation!
Yes, whoever calls even one soul
His own on the earth's globe!
And who never has, let him steal,
Weeping, away from this group.
All creatures drink joy
At the breasts of nature;
All the good, all the evil
Follow her roses' trail.
Kisses gave she us, and wine,
A friend, proven unto death;
Pleasure was to the worm granted,
And the cherub stands before God.
Glad, as his suns fly
Through the Heavens' glorious plan,
Run, brothers, your race,
Joyful, as a hero to victory.
Be embraced, you millions!
This kiss for the whole world!
Brothers, beyond the star-canopy
Must a loving Father dwell.
Do you bow down, you millions?
Do you sense the Creator, world?
Seek Him beyond the star-canopy!
Beyond the stars must He dwell
Be embraced, ye millions!
This kiss for the whole world!
Brothers, beyond the star-canopy
Must a loving Father dwell.
Be embraced,
This kiss for the whole world!
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods
May Peace be the Logos of the Ethiopian Millennium!!!
(1) http://www.mahder.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=715
(1a) S. d’Beauvoir on the “serious man”, cf. “The Ethics of Ambiguity”
(2) http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/smythies.pdf
(3) http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/110/pha051007.htm
(4) The East African Standard (
(5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Joy
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FYI; Some relevant Links
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http://www.sofiatopia.org/equiaeon/clearings.htm
http://newphysicsandthemind.net/8.html
http://pweb.netcom.com/~mthorn/tgd.htm
http://www.consciousentities.com/
http://matpitka.blogspot.com/
(Read "about dogmas and world view as a disease")
http://psyche.cs.mnash.edu.au/ve2/psyche-2-03-klein.html
http://www.ahpweb.org/rowan_bibliography/chapter7.html
http://www.phenomenologyonline.cm/articles/misgeld-giroux.html
http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/smythies.pdf
http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC12/Sheldrak.htm
http://www.sheldrake.org/papers/Morphic/morphic_intro.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphogenetic_field
http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC06/Gilman2.htm
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,995465,00.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20041114-111404-8087r.htm
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
The Strife between Sisters....and our "Brothers"
The Purpose of Disharmony……..? (“The function of disfunction”!)
On the verge of our Millennium, I believe Harmony and Disharmony is the dichotomy, which could at best represent the plight of Ethiopia for the whole last century….
What has this to do with Paul Osborn’s Play…and all the more given the fact that this is a “comedy”….Is it?
May be “Our Ethiopian Brothers” could see through the game of Life and spare us the second
Round of Tragedy in the Horn of
The Threatening war of Brothers.. ..on the Horizon…
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Paul Osborn’s play Morning’s at seven is in between for sure a classical work – a play .
Is it really just a comedy, as the critics I encountered suggest and a family drama or more?
The short essay on it from the Utah Shakespeare Festival Forum I read under the title of
suggests more ….even much more than its catharsis social message, which I could fully understand….
Not only this:
- Considering its date of birth….November 1939 just on the verge of the second world war, it has even, I suppose, some substance of prophecy. See the section of the drama with the total dysfunction of the family at the point of Homer ‘s engagement, when all functions and relations got defunct…
- Given the fact that artists or in general great people of culture …be it an artist, a musician, an author or a play writer….mostly take the service of metaphors, idioms or allegories to have access to the intellect of their audiences, I believe the play is apt to make a higher presentation.
I would say a macro presentation of harmony and disharmony…..
Wondering whether the theme of harmony in the way I would like to interpret it, is in the Authors intention, I was delighted to find every character to fit to the “Model of Harmony”, which I think is not only helpful but also pragmatic to understand the purpose of life. - The notion on which I am becoming more and more convinced, the more I try to nourish my intellect through the readings I am making in the sphere of philosophy and modern scientific deliberations along this line…Stretching from the four elements of the Ancients or the four causes of Aristotle to modern cosmology through social sciences like developmental psychology or even social biology up to astro- and quantum physics, with its intention of introducing a quantum-physical explanation of consciousness ( appealing to my notion on intelligence (I = h*q2 too!). I have encountered now enough philosophical and spiritual discourses supporting the four categories or the eight dimensions I postulated in the model to be surprised by the congruency of the ideas, though I have never come across them before. (Beyond my preliminary notes, it is my project, I hope, to substantiate this properly) .
Paul Osborn’s play “Morning’s at Seven” is just one of these instances….in the field of literature…( FYI ……….there are a lot in music & spiritual fields)
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…on the Shakespeare Festival Forum…(
At the outset for my interpretation and to follow up the allegory of the play “Morning’s at Seven’ to the “Model of Harmony”…..I would like to read the title as “The Purpose of Disharmony”.
In order to follow my point …I suggest, if you are not acquainted to the original play, you read the critic under the mentioned title…at first…..to the end to get and know the characters….(may be neglecting its allure to the American family crisis, which is irrelevant in this context).
I will make a summary here, with their essential attributes which form their personalities :
The four sisters and their corresponding families :
- Esther & David ---Esther (the smartest)…strong character and David, her husband….the troublemaker elitist……Esther is the positive pole and David the negative
- Cora & Theodore (Thor) ---Cora (the mildest)…a mild character and Thor, her husband, a cultured strong personality similar to Esther …the mediator….Therefore Thor the positive and Cora relatively the negative pole of the family.
- Aaronetta (Arry), the single and youngest….Arry (the wildest)…a defensive and wild character interfering in all affairs of the family…an affinity to Thor…the strong character…
- Ida & Carl---Ida (the slowest) …a timid but devoted character and a sociable mother to Homer (the son, his fiancée Myrtle) and Carl, her husband, another good for nothing similar to David, suffering from depression and emotional outbursts lamenting on his unsuccessful past…Ida is the positive and Carl the negative pole of the family.
The Gibbs family, before the four sisters went along to make their live hoods can be taken for granted to have lived in harmony dynamically interrelated and complementing each other ….the smartest …with …. the slowest ….the mildest …with ….the wildest …father …mother…etc...
There begins the play “Morning’s at Seven” staging the dynamics of the four sisters during their aging to explore the whereabouts of the original harmony….and the ensuing disharmony….in Life…
In my interpretation, Paul Osborn is staging the Harmony or disharmony of life represented at the micro level by the four sisters of the Biggs family as follows:
If we take the personifications of the four different characters of the sisters high up to the Macro level of Life, I believe we could find a rather fitting allegory to the “model of harmony” I take as the fundamental basis of Life.
The tenor of the HARMONY MODEL hypothesis goes like (see extra Attachment for details):
The Quintessence of life lies on the following planes:
I. The Spiritual Plane (Faith, Religion, Conscience)
II. The Cultural Plane (Laws, Ethics, Love)
III. The Material Plane (Universe, Nature , Mankind)
IV. The Social Plane (State, Community, Family)
The quintessence of Life lying in the four planes of life is represented by the family of the four sisters….
- Esther and David with their tense relation stand for the Spiritual Plane. Esther, the noble character stand for FAITH and David, the dogmatist for RELIGION and CONSCIENCE is their common relation…
- Cora and Thor with their mild relation stand for the Cultural Plane. Cora, the mild temper for LAWS and Thor, the cultured tolerant personality for ETHICS and their orderly relation nurtured by LOVE, the third component of the Plane.
- Arry the single non married sister with her high tempers stand as a totality for the Material Plane. The point of Arry’s cultivation of self defence is indicative of the material aspect of life in its totality. The UNIVERSE and NATURE with MANKIND and its evolutional struggle for survival…Arry’s affinity with Thor (the intelligent) is not accidental but has I think the purpose of indicating the alliance of Intelligence with Energy for an ultimate Harmony of Life…
- At last, Ida and Carl, with their son Homer and his fiancée, Myrtle, the complicated; are the most apparent allegory of the Social Plane. Ida, the slow, the sociable and the devoted mother, who dreads solitude, is a well-formed personification of the COMMUNITY in the social plane; whereas Carl, her husband , with his “spells” , outbursts, emotional peaks and valleys , self agonized by his own past, giving the off springs (Homer and his fiancée) a hard time cannot be missed at all, that he is meant to personify the STATE, (especially the state on the verge of WWII). Homer stands for FAMILY as the common interface (of the social plane) making sure that the bondage of the family remains intact.
Having this allegory in mind, needless to mention that the play is staging the futility of disharmony, there by inverting the comedy represented by the relation of the four sisters at the surface, into a tragedy of mankind which shows how the missing harmony between and within the different four planes of life amounts to an ultimate existential danger. The irrational background of the disharmony, which perhaps was a prophecy of Paul Osborn on the ensuing WWII, is indicated in the final development of the relation between Homer and Myrtle conditioned by the rest of the members of the Gibbs family…read mankind ...The Human Family in Disharmony speeding towards destruction…..with the new generation on board….
See how, out of the blues, irrationality has taken over all through the family inverting all relations just before the new generation (Homer and Myrtle) begins its own drive.
The new generation, in the person of Homer and Myrtle giving up their engagement and love, is sacrificed in the interest of WAR. I.e. FAMILY lost its protection function and purpose.
David has opted to love alone banning Esther; i.e. FAITH (Esther) is abandoned to a higher Realm and RELIGION prevails in the form of a dogma. Without faith, the philosophical component, the Spiritual Plane is at its climax of Disharmony. Carl disappears abandoning Ida altogether; i.e. STATE does not function in its normal way. It is a state of exception. The STATE/Carl is no more at the service of the COMMUNITY/Ida. A period of war. Arry’s condition is as well at stake. In the person of Arry, the material Plane as a whole is on the verge of destruction. War is a threat to MANKIND, NATURE and in effect to the UNIVERSE too, ushering a period of total disharmony. Cora has managed to take her Thor in her love nest. I.e. though “in the slimmest of threads” and insignificant, LAWS may survive taking refuge in the sphere of ETHICS, with LOVE as the survival pole of the two. A precautious wisdom lying behind the Cultural Plane.
The dramatic turn of the play, within 48 hours, was thus meant to indicate WAR, whose proponents, are Religion in its dogmatic feature and STATE in its no LAWS state of exception, victimising the COMMUNITY and Ethics, FAMILY and Love and the Material Plane (Mankind, Nature & the Universe) as a whole.
Now after deciphering the metaphor, it only remains to ask why or can it be blessed as a catharsis?
Is the function of dysfunction really always a catharsis? Is the purpose of disharmony the latter as well? In the aftermath, if ever it would end well, may be in the spirit of appeasing and limiting it …but not in the sense of declaring it as necessary, since it is never worth the sacrifice……War is never a solution but was always an unfortunate material and human condition lacking intelligence . PEACE is nevertheless always an alternative and given the fact of disharmony as a condition of life in motion, the method is a continuous containment of the latter by means of Harmony….Life is full of forces in favour of harmony to promote the development of mankind towards perfection….On our long path towards ……………THE ABSOLUTE…
The destiny of
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The Function of Disfunction
Paul Osborn’s 1939 play Morning’s at Seven explores the dynamics of four aging sisters living close together with their families in their longtime hometown. In fact, after five decades, three of them live in two next-to-each-other houses without a fence. A fourth sister lives just a couple of blocks down the street. Both yards and porches have, for decades, been the stage setting for all of the drama, comedy, and tragedy surrounding their lives. Along with it all, of course, has come a good deal of the emotional palette that goes hand-in-hand with many years of family living: secret love, fits of envy and jealousy, sympathy, caring, anger, and a harmonic disharmony.
If the enormity and complexity of these lives seem overwhelming and complicated to you, imagine the heaviness of the atmosphere hovering above these senior citizens. They have lived through it all decade after decade. Audiences are the lucky ones. They enjoy the opportunity to experience the slightly loony world of the Gibbs Sisters through two of the topsiest, turviest days a family could possibly have.
These four sisters, seeming to be frightfully simple at first glance, become much more complicated when a closer look is taken. These four women are as close-knit as a group of sisters can be, rarely apart during their lifetimes. Despite their obvious affection for one another, intense (and sometimes bitter) rivalries become increasingly evident as the action of Morning’s at Seven develops. The familial support machine is there in place and is solid, but it doesn’t always run smoothly. Despite all of their years together, the engine isn’t always “firing on all cylinders.” How is it that after all of this time there are so many things they haven’t been able to work out amongst themselves?
These women, despite their experience, have all had their fair share of difficulties. In spite of their best efforts, life hasn’t always been cooperative. Past experiences haven’t made things any easier. Although life in their world bears the initial appearance of relative calm, almost everyone in the play is revealed to be walking an emotional tightrope. One wrong move by anyone and the entire apple cart will be upset. The viewer will soon discover that their “familyscape” has long been bound together with a generous helping of duct tape and bailing wire, long overdue to come apart. For this reason, Esther’s calming presence is crucial to her family.
Esther Swanson (Esty) was nicknamed “the smartest” by her father. Esty proves time and again throughout Morning’s at Seven that she is “the rock” of the family: the lone daughter with the ability to keep everyone and everything in check—most of the time. Life through the years has often brought moments when things began to unravel for one or more members within her extended family. Whenever the equilibrium has swayed out of balance, Esty has always been the one to push the pieces back into place, doing so with love and generosity. She is a woman of strong character (she has had to be), possessing the toughest emotional fiber of anyone in the play.
Unfortunately, her husband David has never shared Esty’s passion for the rest of her family. David was once a well-respected university professor, before running his mouth off to the school’s president. He maintains an air of arrogance and snobbery, especially when it comes to his view of Esty’s simpler kin. In fact, things have now deteriorated to such a point that David has forbidden Esther to so much as visit with the “morons.” His professional confidence may have been damaged by his dismissal, but David continues to reek of intellectual elitism and cockiness. He’s determined to keep his wife apart from the rest of her brood and threatens her with marital separation within the house upon her next infraction, planning to banish Esty to the upper floor of their residence.
Cora Swanson is the second to the eldest of the Gibbs women. She lives in a home immediately next to that of a third sister, Ida Bolton. Papa Gibbs called Cora “the mildest,” and she has a tendency to internalize her troubles. She is blessed to have a husband with a terrific sense of humor. Theodore (Thor) Swanson is a jovial man, different from the others in the play. He has a tendency to take most things in life in stride, preferring to tolerate the quirkiness of everyone else’s personality rather than criticize. Of all the men in the play, Thor is the only one who possesses much bonding ability, making him Esther’s male equivalent.
Living with the Swansons is Aaronetta (Arry) Gibbs. She is the youngest, and the only unmarried sister. Labeled “the wildest” by their dad, Arry has developed a “best defense is a good offense” sort of demeanor after four decades of living with Cora and Thor. At all times, Arry has a pressing urge to know what’s going on with everyone in the family and the neighborhood and is certain to have an opinion that she will voice on every conceivable matter. Arry has cultivated an extremely defensive position, convinced that someone in the family is always doing something behind her back. She also displays a strong attachment to her sister’s husband.
Ida Bolton, tagged “the slowest,” is more timid than the other sisters. She is a devoted wife to husband Carl and mother to son Homer. She dreads the prospect of being left alone. In Morning’s at Seven she comes dangerously close to being abandoned by both of the men in her household simultaneously. Threatened by the frequent occurrence of her husband’s “spells” (which are really acute lapses of self-confidence), she is also somewhat reluctant about the idea of losing Homer to matrimony. Still, Ida has tried to do her motherly duty, encouraging him to socialize more with women.
Carl Bolton suffers through emotional peaks and valleys, worsened by the arrival of his twilight years. He agonizes continually over the misbegotten career decisions of his youth, longing to return to that “fork” in the road where he chose the wrong turn. As a result, the slightest amount of normal situational tension can send him plunging frantically into a state of panic, followed by a bout with depression.
His son, Homer, has arrived at the age of forty, positioned at his own “fork in the road.” Homer has rarely shown the slightest sign of interest toward living with anyone else, or, for that matter, anywhere outside his parents’ home. Strangely, he has maintained a steady and long-term relationship with a woman he has kept completely away from his parents. Homer has always found one reason or another not to take the next logical step in his life, and this rattles Carl, who doesn’t want to see his son make the same kind of mistakes in life that he did. Carl has undertaken the extreme action of building a house for Homer, which sits empty up on the hill—to be moved into when, and if, Homer marries.
Homer’s fiancée, Myrtle Brown, is a benignly sweet thirty-nine-year-old single working woman. Myrtle longs for her wedding day, allowing that she wouldn’t at all mind quitting her job to start a family with Homer. Carl and Ida sense that they are as close as they have ever been to hearing the news that they, and Myrtle, want to hear from Homer. Carl, naturally, is tormented by the idea that Myrtle may not think very much of him.
Myrtle’s appearance on the scene is, quite possibly, the most excitement that any of these folks have had in many a year. Indeed, her romance with Homer conjures up memories of relationships consummated in the past for all of the seniors, and, just as importantly, of opportunities missed. A melancholy aura seems to vicariously infect all of the elders, and, as a result, they suddenly can hear the clock of opportunity in life just tick, tick, ticking away. Homer and Myrtle may be facing a major crossroad in their lives, but, in actuality, so are their elders.
Within less than forty-eight hours of Myrtle’s train pulling in, the world of each character in the play is inverted: David banishes Esther to the upper floor and she decides to leave, Carl disappears, and Cora is the slimmest of threads away from taking Thor away to their new love nest. Arry and Ida are both threatened with abandonment. Homer calls off his engagement to Myrtle, who sees her opportunity for happiness slipping away. In a few moments, all of these relationships which have held up for so many years are in danger of being extinguished.
Because we are drawn by playwright Paul Osborn to see the humor in their situation, the characters in Morning’s at Seven don’t appear to be a “normal” family, and yet they probably have much more in common with most of our families than we would freely admit. Upon further inspection, the extended family of the play, on the whole, probably bears a strong resemblance to many American families. What family doesn’t get a little bit carried away in their personal lives at one time or another? In reality, all families suffer from differences of opinion, outbursts of individuality and insecurity, emotional spats, and quarrels sparked by jealousy.
In the early part of the last century, when most folks simply “stayed put,” relationships and rivalries had more time to develop. As a result, they formed with greater longevity and complexity. In today’s world, a group of siblings such as the Gibbs sisters would be more likely to part ways with one another in search of education or employment. We still carry these same family rivalries with us, but nowadays we’re more likely to share our disagreements, heartaches, and disappointments long-distance via e-mail and cellular telephones. Today’s lifestyles often make the impact of family relationships less immediate and conflicts easier to avoid or delay.
Genetics dictate that most siblings have considerable commonalities when it comes to their wants and desires in life. Because of simple human nature, it stands to reason that our yearnings may come into conflict at times. That Cora and Arry are attracted to the same man is no accident, nor is it coincidence that Carl’s son Homer doesn’t have adequate stability or acumen to determine what he really wants to do, or set a steady course toward a goal in life. Genetic factors can create the kind of personality compatibilities and oppositions that will determine the quotient of harmony and competition between children all their lives long, just as it has in Morning’s at Seven.
Still, for all of the hilarious and seemingly dysfunctional behavior we are treated to in Morning’s at Seven, the play ultimately becomes the portrait of a strong family unit that survives personal trauma. Not unlike the release of tension in the earth by a severe quake at the fault line, the ground between these houses trembles mightily in order that stability may once again be restored. Despite all of their incompatibilities, turmoil, and squabbling, by staying together this family manages to hold onto one another in order to work through troubled times. The emotional support system they have developed is strong enough to help them outlast tremendous pressure.
In the final analysis, the Gibbs Sisters offer us proof that the pitfalls engendered by a lengthy family history of unresolved issues can be overcome, albeit with varying degrees of difficulty. By maintaining their faith in the strength of the family unit, the characters in Morning’s at Seven (and most real families) have the ability to brave the storm, and resurface with their bindings intact. The function of their dysfunction is catharsis, which results in a renewed understanding of what makes the others unique and deserving of love and respect. In the end, it purges the family of whatever bad blood exists, allowing them to overcome trouble in the worst of times. Most importantly, the final unearthing of their “skeletons in the closet” enables them to extend and appreciate the most important gifts they receive—understanding and forgiveness.