Thursday, February 16, 2017

If we don't learn from mistakes of the past we are certain to repeat them.

In November of 2016 I began reading a book written 2400 years ago, Thucydides' history of "The Peloponnesian War" which traced 23 years of war between Athens and Sparta and other Greek city states.  As I read the book, my understanding was increased by reading scholarly comments on Zenpundit.com by others who were reading the book at the same time.   I used my yellow marker to highlight passages that I felt relevant to 2017 and later transferred some of these to a Hackpad, which I used to write my own summary, which was posted here.

Then today, I viewed this ESRI storymap, about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War 2.  It's a powerful story of a mistake and injustice made in the past.

Earlier today I saw a post on my Twitter feed, saying 
"If we can change our worldview, we can change the future". 
That was a post by Harold Jarche @hjarche and drew my attention to a video titled "Crossroads: Labor Pains of a New Worldview".  As I started watching I wanted to take notes and decided to put the video on Vialogues, so I could comment as I viewed the video, and so others could do the same.



At the 12:06 point in the video the narrators begin to show how behavior is influenced and modified by the environment around us.  At the 18:26 point in the video the 1970s Stanford Prison Experiment was discussed, which showed how easy it might be for American's (or others) to repeat the sins of Nazi Germany or of the Japanese Internment Camps.

If you look at the notes I posted the Thucydides hackpad, you'll see a link to an article titled "State of Power: All Change or No Change. Culture, Power and Activism in an Unquiet World."  Within that is another article titled "There is no such thing as Western Civilization" (referred to a "Plato to Nato" in the host article).

From T/MI network building article
I read these and I hope some of you take the time to do the same. We're at a crossroads. It will take the efforts of a few passionate, dedicated people, to identify problems and innovate and implement solutions.  These people must find ways to connect with others, locally and globally, who are working toward similar goals.

This Building Networks of Purpose PDF is one of may that illustrate how this has been my goal for almost 20 years.

In the current political climate there are many, myself included, who fear that in a few years, in the worst case scenario,  many of us might be residing in new US based internment and concentration camps.  In an even worse case, we might tip the balance of nature and destroy the environment, and our ability as a human race to survive.

Neither of these is pre-destined.

If you're at a university, or considering making a major gift to a university, consider establishing a Tutor/Mentor Institute on your campus.  These two PDF show goals of such an effort.

* Forming a College-Based Tutor/Mentor Connection - click here
* University Tutor/Mentor Connection. A Vision. - click here

No comments: