On 8 Apr 2008 at 19:51, Larry Menkes wrote:

leadership might be at it's best. But, in an addictive, sibling society,
> shouldn't we be preparing for potential of mass regression under acute stress,

Hi Larry... well, this is the part I've been wondering about. When I look at Western civilization as being a forced situation that requires massive amounts of energy to control and maintain, as the energy fades and the fog lifts, people will be "regressing" to a more normal state of being. So much of the stress seems to arise from the way we're living now. While there is always a certain amount of stress associated with uncertainty, would it be more or less from what they suffer from now if people were aware they had an opportunity to improve their actual quality of life?

The big question seems to be what is our "normal" state of being? Are we naturally meant to be in harmony with the creative force from which we have emerged, or are we meant to toil at odds with it? The latter just doesn't make any rational sense to me. But the dominator control story, based on force-based ranking hierarchies that depend on engendering fear of the other, which arises from unmet natural expectations for fulfillment, explains quite a bit. It also lays the foundation for what we could naturally do differently.

is a really apt metaphor, but there's a lot of denial. A few years back, when I
> opened a sustainability workshop like it was the beginning of a meeting of
> Oilaholics Anonymous, the audience didn't quite know how to respond, and very
> few got the joke until I explained it. Larry

A number of years ago we were invited to table with other local non-profits at an event sponsored by a large regional shopping mall. It was their way of trying to show how much they cared about their local community and environment. I put a big sign above our table that said, "We can help you overcome your addiction to shopping." The mall management was not amused.