Some people have so much more wealth than others. (The wealthiest one percent control 90% of the nation's wealth!)
What is required in order to amass such wealth? Is this wealth the result of merit and hard work, or is it possible that some of this extreme wealth actually requires some form or another of oppression? Does some (or maybe even much) of this wealth depend on some form of putting others down?
Is there bullying? If so, why.
Why does bullying go on?
Is wealth a measure of success?
Are wealthy people superior to other (less wealthy) people?
Is it possible that wealth is not so often based in merit, but instead in pure ambition, maybe even a certain amount of ruthlessness?
Is it possible that in the drive to get ahead, some others are forced behind?
Survival of the fittest? Or survival of the meanest?
Why is ambition, even when it verges on ruthlessness toward others, rewarded with wealth?
After all, we teach children that bullying is not okay.
If bullying is not okay for children, then why should it be okay for adults?
Why don't we have policies in order to regulate against economic oppression and bullying? (e.g. Wall Street, war profiteering, exploitative labor practices, companies that have extreme discrepancies in pay between highest and lowest, hoarding and destruction of natural resources [which ought to belong to all of us or to none of us at all.])
People destroy each other with war. People destroy the environment. These activities, which are detrimental to all of us, should not lead to wealth for some few. We need to regulate against harmful economic activities—in the interest of the common well-being of all.
I just posted three new blogs on OlyBlog. One about the socially destructive nature of advertisements, another about my letter of interest to serve on the Editorial Board of The Olympian, and the following Thought Bandit, which is also cross posted here:
Had a great discussion at book club tonight about nonviolent communication (language,) nonviolence as a cultural alternative, the prospects for empathy, kindness, compassion for creating a better world.
I also described a movie that I saw in fourth grade. In the movie it rained all the time, except for a two hour window every year. The two hour window was known well in advance, and in the movie, which was set in an elementary school, all the students and teachers were very excited and looking forward to the annual two hours of sunshine (because in the film, all the flowers would bloom in that very short window.)
When the day came, some mean students locked up one of their peers in a closet, so that she was unable to venture outside and run in the sunshine through fields of flowers.
I felt very sad for the poor child, a victim of bullying. I wonder how other people interpreted the film. Maybe that it is better to be strong than weak, better to be a bully than to risk being bullied?...
Personally, I think the path to peace is through trust, honesty, openness, truth, and vulnerability...
There are so many reasons to believe in the transformative power of love and compassion, and cooperation - rather than fear, hate, and violence, and domination...
The following is an interview with Chalmers Johnson that mentions how U.S. military generals get treated like royalty:
What are the lasting impacts of taunting, teasing, and physical harassment between children? Why are kids who are different singled out and picked on? What can parents do if their children are victims of bullies? Psychotherapist, parent, and process worker Dawn Menken, author of Speak Out! Talking About Love, Sex & Eternity, discusses her work with public schools and families to break the cycle of bullying.
I keep trying to remember the title of film I saw when I was in the fourth grade. This film had profound impact on me. I want to know the title so that I can look it up, it's something I would like to see again. Maybe I will go to the library and see if a Librarian can help me out with it.
The film is set in a place that is very rainy and cloudy. It is constantly cloudy and rains pretty much all the time. The focus of the movie is a school. It seems like a boarding school. It's all concrete (kind of like the Evergreen State College.) Anyway, in the movie, forecasters predicted that the sun was to come out - but only for 1 or 2 hours, and only on one day. - Maybe if I remember right, this is an annual, or semi-annual occurence, or once in a few years - anyway, it's a rare occurrence. So, everyone in the school was very excited for the rain to stop and the sun to come out.
One of the students in the school was prone to being bullied. And there was a group of students whom were very mean. While all of the other children were excited about going outside, a few of the mean ones took this other victim student and locked her into a room so that she was unable to go outside when the sun came out.
So it went. The sun came out. Everyone went outside and ran through the fields. Flowers bloomed. Everyone went outside—except for the one victim child. It was so sad. It touched me very deeply. I remember some of the children picked flowers, and gave them to the victim child. Some consolation.
A great film, I took two morals from it - one about the dangers of climate change, and the other about the problems of meanness and bullying. Thank you, Mr. Halpern.
