Resilient Civilization
M. Reza Behnam
Pandemic in the Age of Trump
www.tikkun.org/pandemic-in-the-age-of-trump
May 15, 2020
Eight centuries ago, the Iranian poet and mystic, Saadi Shirazi, renowned as a great panegyrist and lyricist, wrote (in translation):
"The children of Adam are limbs of each other,
Having been created of one essence.
When the calamity of time affects one limb,
The other limbs cannot remain at rest.
If you have no sympathy for the troubles of others,
You are unworthy to be called by the name of a Human."
Saadi's poem graces the entrance to the United Nations building in New York. His social and moral thoughts remind us of our common humanity, especially in times of calamity such as these.
Every nation has been touched by the COVID-19 pandemic. Neither wealth, military power nor border walls have been able to contain the virus or keep it out.
The retreat from daily life through social distancing and quarantines has forced Americans to confront the glaring deficiencies in the U.S. political and economic system, to reflect on how we got here and ask how we want to live in a post-pandemic world.
One of the primary responsibilities of government is to protect its citizens. In this disaster, the Trump administration has failed and it needs to be held accountable.
The Trump White House, like its predecessors, has viewed U.S. security in entirely military terms. The most virulent threats, however, have not come from huge invading armies, but from hijacked planes and coronaviruses. ....
The catchphrase "We won't go back to normal, because normal was the problem," is especially true for the American workforce. COVID-19 has exposed all of the inequalities in the existing system. We now see the importance of good government, the urgency for moral leadership and the critical role of citizens in creating a healthy public sphere.
Class and privilege have shielded many Americans from the impact of war, depression, poverty and other hardships people face around the world. Freed from the numbing embrace of consumerism and given the luxury of the time to think, we are presented with the unique opportunity to be changed and to consider alternative ways to live.
Unlike President Trump, who ruthlessly sees people and the world divided into winners and losers, the pandemic opens the path to a more just and equitable system where all citizens can thrive—a system where we can all be worthy to be called by the name of a Human.
Cascadia Quest, Eugene
Dear Cascadia Quest Community,
Nature. Community. Spirit. These are the three main ingredients of Cascadia Quest. From our offerings and ceremonies to councils and office work, we focus on and make sure that all three are present. They are perennial pillars of the human experience—and of earthly life—and therefore where we turn for solace, balance, and wisdom in times of uncertainty and dramatic change.
Over the past two weeks, listening to the land, each other, and our inner and outer guidance we have heard similar messages: slow down, rest, take care of yourself and each other, stay connected, do what's necessary to keep the essentials going, focus on what is truly important, healing happens when we get out of the way, and that Life is unfolding as it should. Additionally, we feel clear that a large scale, perhaps humano-global initiatory experience is underway. As a community and organization deeply engaged in initiatory experience, we feel it is critical to remain present and involved while hearing the above messages.
Bearing this in mind, here are our current updates:
- We intend to do any previously scheduled programs we can once it becomes possible again. Our staff, guides, and Board will make a decision based on the best currently available information. Until those decision dates, we will continue preparing as if programs will run. Participants will be informed of changes on the next work day after decision dates.
- We will continue to take registrations for summer and fall programsand beyond. We are working on a modified refund policy for these new registrations.
- In order to keep the community connected and well through these challenging times, we are working on a series of community offerings including weekly telephone or zoom councils, nature awareness activities, etc. Right now we are offering a weekly tele-council on Mondays, from 3:30pm-5pm. Our tele-councils are a great way to have a deeper level of connection and emotional presence similar to what is available in our in-person meetings. These tele-councils are open to anyone, anywhere. Join in and invite a friend. Connection is the best antidote to the challenges of isolation.
- Our office staff is slowing down and will do the best we can to maintain communication. Expect responses to be slower. We will check emails on Tuesday only. Phone calls (not texts) will likely receive the quickest response.
- As with so many organizations, these are very difficult financial times. We are doing the best we can to find funding to maintain our "bare essentials" operation. We know that so many of you love and benefit from this community. If you are able to donate in any amount to help us keep going, please do so. If you are able to make a large donation at this time and wish to have a personal conversation, please call me at 458-201-2868.
- We plan to send general update emails twice per month.
In closing, we wish to remind you to get outdoors and to be a student of Mother Nature. Sit calmly and listen. Notice and feel the great teachings of the Springtime, that Beauty abounds and Life persistently renews itself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzsDeSJr_6M
Staying Sane in the Time of Coronavirus: Leslie Davenport on mental and emotional well-being.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt5dsD1z1R4
Uncharted Territory: Nate Hagens view on how the coronavirus could affect the economy.
Arundhati Roy
https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca
'The pandemic is a portal' | Free to read
Arundhati Roy APRIL 3 2020
coronavirus has made the mighty kneel and brought the world to a halt like nothing else could. Our minds are still racing back and forth, longing for a return to "normality", trying to stitch our future to our past and refusing to acknowledge the rupture. But the rupture exists. And in the midst of this terrible despair, it offers us a chance to rethink the doomsday machine we have built for ourselves. Nothing could be worse than a return to normality.
Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.
We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.
Tom Atlee's Co-Intelligence Journal |
What this message is about: The apocalyptic COVID-19 can be taken as an urgent invitation to see together into deeper truths about ourselves and life that the pandemic is revealing to us. Such potential realizations include: We are all connected. We are all vulnerable. We are all co-creating what happens. And we are all in this together.... |
Dear friends, Just yesterday I noticed that within the name of this pandemic virus - COVID-19 - we find the Latin roots co- (together) and videre (to see). And then I remembered that the word "apocalypse" derives from the Greek apokaluptein (to uncover or reveal). Apocalypse is often described in terms of "lifting the veil" or "what is hidden will be revealed". So I asked myself what Covid-19 might be revealing to us or calling to us to see together more clearly, urgently and deeply. I suspect there are many ways to take up that challenge, but the following four realizations came up for me almost immediately: 1. WE'RE ALL INTERCONNECTED. We just are. We always have been. Today's infocomm technologies, globalized economies, and growing environmental crises just magnify this ancient fact. And as the COVID-19 virus herds us into physical isolation, we experience new intensities, challenges and opportunities showing up - both from our interconnectedness and from our efforts at separation. The connectivity we have long ignored - or just assumed - is calling us to wake up to its implications. 2. WE'RE ALL VULNERABLE. Not just people, but all life. Some lives are clearly more vulnerable than others, while less immediately noticeable harms and disturbances ripple - subtly or unexpectedly - into our families, our workplaces, our networks, our social systems, our confidence in the future, shaking up seeming stable realities and relationships we've come to depend on. In the end, we learn we're all vulnerable - and, if we learn that lesson deeply, we realize the wisdom of seeing, hearing and joining with each other. 3. WE'RE ALL CO-CREATING WHATEVER HAPPENS. It is so easy to point at some particular actor or factor as the Real Cause. But closer inspection almost always finds us all playing roles, large and small, often reluctantly or obliviously, caught up in the dynamics of larger systems and stories unfolding in and around us. The curse of this realization is the responsibility it implies. Its blessing is the power it can give us to participate more consciously and wisely - individually and together - making the differences that are needed. 4. WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. It is of course important to take responsibility for our own circumstances, beliefs and responses. But the three realities highlighted above lead inevitably to Martin Luther King's observation that we are all "caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny." Waking up to this, we can tap our inclusive co-creative power to make that garment strong and beautiful - together. As that adventure is welcomed, it becomes a source of tremendous meaning and joy. Coheartedly, PS: Check out this beautiful "Letter from the Virus" video poem which offers a complementary urgent invitation, this time about listening to the message of COVID-19. PPS: You may also be interested in my post "Sense-making – together and apart"which explores ways to see, hear, think and feel together to generate healthy understanding and activity. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tom Atlee, The Co-Intelligence Institute, POB 493, Eugene, OR 97440 |