Recently I discovered the concept of Ubuntu (oo-boon-too, n.) means, "I am because we are." Ubuntu is a Zulu or Xhosa word, and a traditional African concept. It's a term for humaneness, for caring, sharing and being in harmony with all of creation.
When I first read about the concept, it came with the story of the anthropologist who asked children to see who could get to a basket of fruit or sweets first so the children all locked hands and ran together. The anthropologist asked why they didn't run separately and the children answered "How can one of us be happy if all the others are sad?"
I have recently heard this is actually a hoax, but you see I don't care. Its a common enough theme both in Buddhism and specifically Tibetan Buddhism where the Dalai Lama, the human embodiment of Chenrezig, repeats similar themes over and over again.
I heard a zen story once where hell is this massive pot in the centre of the room and everyone has long handled spoons and everyone served themselves. In heaven it was exactly the same except each would help the others.
Before Obamacare if one of our friends lost their health insurance and 1000 of our friends went to complain about it, health insurance corporations would not dare drop any of us. We ignore our politicians instead of harassing them with our 1000 best friends. We need to gather into groups, the 1% do with citizens united, the think tanks they fund, their lobbyists, their politics, they went to school together, they grew up together, the 1% protect each other, they are in bed with govt, they are in bed with each other. They are tribal and we are their enemy. Our only purpose is to be manipulated to manipulate their stock prices.
The 1% care so little about us that they treat their workers so badly and these are the people that represent their business to us. We are just pawns in the game to them, they really only care about their stock prices, because this is what measures their wealth. How much they sell and what they well is pretty much irrelevant, its all about the perception of the worth of their stock.
The 1% have so manipulated us into never forming communities because they prefer us isolated and alone or at most in tiny groups. This was why they waged a massive campaign against unions. This is why they polluted the political system of 'communism', this is why they have employed so much behavioural psychology on us via the TV to make us buy stuff. The people on TV are a substitute for real people in our lives and TV is more convenient than walking into the next door neighbours or meet with other friends.
However the 1% do form groups and communities that we are not invited to. They have always been organizing. We must do so to.
What I think we must do is form broader unions of people, not just worker unions, but with students, ordinary citizens and as many possible groups. I am not interested in playing partisan politics. GOP/Dems are just to divide us really into camps, men v women, tribe v tribe. Enough. We have to stop treating each other like the enemy because that is exactly what the 1% want us to do. Yes I like Democrat politics more in general, but both parties support corporations.
All would be required are really numbers and possibly some time and commitment. I don't want it to cost much or anything if possible. I am sick to death of getting requests from rich politicians asking me to donate money. Money is not the bottom line, our humanity is.
When I first read about the concept, it came with the story of the anthropologist who asked children to see who could get to a basket of fruit or sweets first so the children all locked hands and ran together. The anthropologist asked why they didn't run separately and the children answered "How can one of us be happy if all the others are sad?"
I have recently heard this is actually a hoax, but you see I don't care. Its a common enough theme both in Buddhism and specifically Tibetan Buddhism where the Dalai Lama, the human embodiment of Chenrezig, repeats similar themes over and over again.
I heard a zen story once where hell is this massive pot in the centre of the room and everyone has long handled spoons and everyone served themselves. In heaven it was exactly the same except each would help the others.
Before Obamacare if one of our friends lost their health insurance and 1000 of our friends went to complain about it, health insurance corporations would not dare drop any of us. We ignore our politicians instead of harassing them with our 1000 best friends. We need to gather into groups, the 1% do with citizens united, the think tanks they fund, their lobbyists, their politics, they went to school together, they grew up together, the 1% protect each other, they are in bed with govt, they are in bed with each other. They are tribal and we are their enemy. Our only purpose is to be manipulated to manipulate their stock prices.
The 1% care so little about us that they treat their workers so badly and these are the people that represent their business to us. We are just pawns in the game to them, they really only care about their stock prices, because this is what measures their wealth. How much they sell and what they well is pretty much irrelevant, its all about the perception of the worth of their stock.
The 1% have so manipulated us into never forming communities because they prefer us isolated and alone or at most in tiny groups. This was why they waged a massive campaign against unions. This is why they polluted the political system of 'communism', this is why they have employed so much behavioural psychology on us via the TV to make us buy stuff. The people on TV are a substitute for real people in our lives and TV is more convenient than walking into the next door neighbours or meet with other friends.
However the 1% do form groups and communities that we are not invited to. They have always been organizing. We must do so to.
What I think we must do is form broader unions of people, not just worker unions, but with students, ordinary citizens and as many possible groups. I am not interested in playing partisan politics. GOP/Dems are just to divide us really into camps, men v women, tribe v tribe. Enough. We have to stop treating each other like the enemy because that is exactly what the 1% want us to do. Yes I like Democrat politics more in general, but both parties support corporations.
All would be required are really numbers and possibly some time and commitment. I don't want it to cost much or anything if possible. I am sick to death of getting requests from rich politicians asking me to donate money. Money is not the bottom line, our humanity is.
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