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June 25, 2008

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Jay Taber

Richard Atleo, in his book Tsawalk, writes about civilizations completing phases of growth, and likens the resistance to change or transformation to the reluctance of individuals to leave the comfort zones of womb, home, and immediate family as they mature and encounter institutions and ideas outside their infantile experience.

He specifically denotes the exhausted model of the colonial enterprise, and remarks on how it has changed the natural environment and the spiritual capacity of both indigenous and colonial peoples.

The need to make a spiritual connection in order to advance has him concerned that great harm might take place as we struggle to get unstuck from this unworkable arrangement of relationships.

Professor Atleo, an associate scholar of the Center for World Indigenous Studies, is the first aboriginal to earn a doctorate in British Columbia. An audio interview of Dr. Atleo is available in the CWIS media center archives.

Phil

Thank you, Jay, very interesting.

JJ Commoner

Another goofy Canadian ... ;-)

Phil

Socialist mentality, but it is changing as American influence is felt.

Jay Taber

Freire notes that in order to increase passivity, oppressors develop methods that preclude any presentation of the world as a problem, showing it rather as a fixed entity to which people must adapt. Keeping them passive, is “accomplished by depositing myths indispensable to preservation of the status quo"--myths perpetuated by what Jerry Sanders calls "the vast empire constituency".

JJ Commoner

oppressors develop methods that preclude any presentation of the world as a problem, showing it rather as a fixed entity to which people must adapt.

This is key, and in my opinion rarely considered and even less understood ... and, I think, a sign of great peril on the horizon.

Thanks, Jay Taber, for surfacing this and pointing it out.

Jay Taber

These myths enable mostly unhindered perpetration of perception management as documented in Truth From These Podia by Sam Gardiner, Colonel USAF (Retired). Information warfare by government against citizenries is also aided by unwitting public interest advocates who don't know the first thing about psychological warfare. Believing in the power of piety, they predictably are manipulated over and over to reinforce strategic operations. I am convinced that their arrogance is as much to blame as their ignorance. Many limit their studies of mass communication to public relations; how stupid is that?

Phil

Psyops used with the media against the electorate is about right. Psychological warfare to cover economic warfare.

Enrique the Gay Philosopher

Agreed: we're all pretty much a bunch of dumb shits. What's our plan?

Jay Taber

Live and learn, Enrique. Every successful political movement I've observed started with face-to-face instruction and discussion -- what some have called hedge schools -- basically unauthorized learning centers in homes, churches, or back yards. This built a base of informed and committed social support in Northern Ireland, South Africa, Palestine, and Mississippi. Meeting online is fine, but socializing new recruits and matching them up with mentors is an essential function that can't be done in virtual reality; distance learning only goes so far. With so much re-education to do, the sooner we start the better.

Phil

A little like consciousness raising circles in the 60's?

Jay Taber

Never encountered those, Phil. But as you possibly noticed in my proposal, what I'm suggesting is that people who've already made the decision to act on their convictions locally can become more effective by interacting with experienced organizers through a national learning center.

Personal growth is certainly part of acquiring perspective, but learning research and communications skills they can apply directly to the conflicts they're engaged in is more likely to motivate participation in the larger network.

Workshop course participants can in turn take these lessons and connections back home to share with others.

Phil

Got it.

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