Message to a Young Poet Friend

This morning, I read this poem by my young friend, Rowdy, who I encountered and befriended while living at Arcosanti in 2016. I am publishing my responses to his poem because it is the beginning of an articulation of my philosophy of life.

Rowdy Man

3 hrs · 

Waking up already spent
Not groggy, jus depressed
Everything is heavy
It isnt making sense
Birds singing for the deaf
Some days I cant understand
Another step torwards emptyness
More weight on the back
Head doesnt even want to lift
Open these eyes crusted with shit
B.c not everything is perfect
Not everything is worth it
The cards we play, moves we make
Chess pieces in the game ov strategy
Some days the sun is shining
Only to laugh at me...
Oh the tragedy, woe to be
See the black clouds comming
Blow a kiss to the grimacing sun
To be swallowed and forgotten
Another mere speck ov dust

In a world of impossible creation
Hallowed by the ever changing universe
Blessed to be one single sperm birthed
Grateful to have lived life and burned
Momentarily failures only last as long as focus
Change perception from the clear differences
Re center the Self, falling in and out of balance
Connect with the inner wolf, the strength, focus
Embrace the pains, part of daily living,
face change, it brings stability

To keep watering when all dried out
To replant when the pots too small
To grow and grow regardless of my roots
One Life to go do all I want to do
These days can seem beyond reachable...
Dark times may be whats most pivotal
Pain may be serious, regret most difficult
Take a breath, scream into pillows
Destroy something beautiful
Beautifully create whats destroying you

Remember all that is possible
Feel bad and grieve, take time to relish in pain
What would life be without the hard days?
We take it all in, continue to have the best day
Wether its your first or last, accept all that is
Good and the bad
Life is a fantastical tradgedy
A tradgedy ov fantasmal existing
Make the most, even on the dark days
We all have them, simply embrace
And find a way to release. . .
Within Grace We find Peace

7even.zer0.6ix.

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Ariel Ky Rowdy, I see you struggle in your poetry with the angst of living in these times that we all feel. Always remember that you are a true poet, sensitive to the core, feeling all the things that most people won't let themselves feel. Remember the trees. Trees are the saving grace for empaths and sensitives like you and me. You can't always rely on people because everyone has all their own stuff to deal with and can't always be available. But the trees are always there to help us. I believe the gemstones want to help people, too, or at least most of them. What I'm seeing is that we have resources to slough off negativity. When I was younger, I also internalized it the way that I see you doing, although you are struggling to some kind of philosophy to deal with it.

Manage

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Ariel Ky Now I'm trying to articulate what I want to share with you to inspire and support you, and maybe even some healing. Who are we, after all? It comes down to that. Are we merely our physical bodies and appearance? Are we our personalities? Yes, we shape our bodies and appearance to a certain extent, but no amount of wishing will make me an inch taller or you an inch shorter. Some things are given. Our personalities, well, that's a little more debatable, but we come into this world with certain proclivities and a nature that gets hammered into who we are through our experiences and conditions. Now, character. That's something we do shape; how we respond to what happens in our lives, that's something we have a lot of choice in. And spiritual growth. If everything that happens, everything we experience, is examined in the light of our spiritual growth, with the understanding of the utter perfection of our shining spirits

Manage

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Ariel Ky This material world, this consensual reality that those of us who are engaged in the paradigm shift have been struggling to shrug off, like a caterpillar in the process of becoming a butterfly, would have you measure your innate worth in terms of your education, career, marriage (or lack thereof), savings and investments, financial success, and your home, car, and possessions. Remember never to use these yardsticks in assessing where you are at (not that I think you do, but it's all around us, and hard not to). At some point, you have to disengage from the notion of success, achievement, and material conditions, and let yourself just be. I know that is how most people will judge you, and believe me I have been judged and found wanting by these yardsticks, but you have to hold true to your inner life, your shining, wondrous inner being. And then you will find it easier to calibrate and find inner peace.

U.S. Military Spending - What Do You Know?

By Ariel Ky July 15, 2018

Ever wonder what the U.S. military is spending our money on?

First, it's important to understand how much money we are talking about. The amounts alone should command our attention.

Here's the dollar amounts, taken from Wikipedia:

Congress approved Trump's request for an increase to $700 billion for FY 2018. That's $700,000,000,000.

"The budget funds four branches of the U.S. military: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. In FY 2015, Pentagon and related spending totaled $598 billion, about 54% of the fiscal year 2015 U.S. discretionary budget. For FY 2017, President Obama proposed the base budget of $523.9 billion (that is $523,900,000,000), which includes an increase of $2.2 billion over the FY 2016 enacted budget of $521.7 billion."

My God, that is so much money! Where is it all going? Don't you want to know?

Well, we do all know that the war in Afghanistan continues, the longest war that the U.S. has ever engaged in. Any idea of what that is costing us? (Including the 2018 budget, we are looking at $840,700,000,000.)

Can anyone tell me why we are still fighting the war in Afghanistan? Do we have any actual goals that can be measured, whether we are succeeding in achieving or not, by this ongoing war? If so, please inform me because I don't have a clue as to what we are doing in Afghanistan. Do you?

And then there is the war in Iraq, the never-ending war in Iraq, which we started as a preemptive war on a pretext that was later proven to be a lie, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. FY2001-FY2018 $1,909,000,000,000, or in real costs, well over $2,000,000,000,000 (two trillion). And we're just talking money here, not the cost of destroyed and ruined lives or a shattered country.

https://www.csis.org/analysis/us-military-spending-cost-wars

I deliberately put in the 0's because I think people don't really consider what a billion dollars actually consists or, nor a trillion.

And the war in Syria? "According to data from the Costs of War project at Brown University, cited by Quartz Wednesday, the U.S. has already budgeted more money for Syrian operations in 2019 compared to 2018. The Defense Department expects to spend roughly $15.3 billion in Syria next year, the highest level yet, with the State Department accounting for another billion in foreign aid," Cost of Wary in Syria Rising, by Michael Rainey April 11, 2018 in the Fiscal Times.

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2018/04/11/Cost-War-Syria-Rising

And then there's all the overseas contingency operations. How much have you heard about them? How much do you know about where our money is being spent on military operations?

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R44519.pdf

Appendix Excerpted from “Overseas Contingency Operations Funding: Background and Status Lynn M. Williams, Coordinator Analyst in U.S. Defense Budget Policy Susan B. Epstein, Coordinator Specialist in Foreign Policy February 7, 2017”

Appendix B. DOD Contingency Operations Funded in the Base Budget In FY2017, contingency operations funded wholly or in part through the DOD’s base budget funding request, and therefore subject to the BCA caps, include the following:

• Support to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a part of NATOled operations in the Balkans region.

• Joint Task Force Bravo, which supports joint, combined, and interagency exercises and operations in Central America to counter the influence of transnational organized crime; carry out humanitarian assistance and disaster relief; and build military capacity with regional partners and allied nations, in order to promote regional cooperation and security.

• Operation Enduring Freedom-Trans Sahara, which supports the DOS-led Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism Program, which in turn supports U.S. Africa Command in executing its strategy for U.S. military operations within certain regions of its area of responsibility.

• Operation Enduring Freedom–Horn of Africa, also known as the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, supports efforts to defeat violent extremist organizations in East Africa. This operation also provides military-to-military engagement with partner African countries, as well as readiness for crisis response and evacuation of U.S. military, diplomatic, and civilian personnel throughout East Africa.

• Operation Noble Eagle, which funds the continuing efforts to defend the United States from airborne attacks, maintain the sovereignty of the United States airspace, and defend critical U.S. facilities from potentially hostile threats or unconventional attacks.

• Operation Observant Compass, which supports the deployment of approximately 100 U.S. military personnel currently assisting the Ugandan People’s Defense Force and neighboring partner African countries in countering the Lord’s Resistance Army operations.

Beginning in FY2016, Operation Spartan Shield, which supports ongoing U.S. Central Command missions and the building of Middle East partner military capacity, was budgeted and requested in U.S. Army and U.S. Navy OCO budget justification documents under Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. In FY2017, funding for Operation Enduring Freedom-Caribbean and Central America, was previously funded in part through the base DOD budget, was requested in the U.S. Special Operations Command OCO O&M budget justification documents.

Then there’s the military involvement in Yemen. Hard to get a figure on the spending by the U.S. on that three-year war. Here’s an article to read about how the Pentagon budget is growing with the undeclared war on Yemen. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/opinion/guest-columnists/pentagon-budget-and-yemen-war-grow-together-20170523

How much money is being spent on supporting the fascists now in power in the Ukraine since the U.S. supported the overthrow of a democratically-elected government?

How much is being spent in the pivot to the Pacific, including ongoing spending on the Korean peninsula?

How much is still being spent in Libya? And what about the Sahel? Sudan? Somalia? 

Support for the Israeli war against Palestinians?

How many undeclared wars is the U.S. fighting? Does anyone care? Do any Americans know what these wars are all about or why the U.S. is involved, spending OUR money on goals that most of us do not support? Most of us would like to see all that money spent HERE in real job creation and services that support people’s lives and the living, not in dealing death around the world.

Until people in the U.S. start talking about these wars and challenging military spending, the quality of life in the U.S. will continue to deteriorate. To say nothing about the quality of life in other countries where the U.S. wages war.

The Palestine Plight

By Ariel Ky, May 29, 2018

The world’s media is condemning Israeli soldiers who killed unarmed Palestinians on April 20, 2018 in the Great March of Return in Gaza. This action coincides with the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

The uproar in the international community has only begun, as the plight of the Palestinians, who live in a de facto prison run by Israel, has come into sharp focus with these actions, and social media has put the conflict under a magnifying lens.

In Brussels, 4497 pairs of shoes (representing Palestinians killed by Israelis in the last decade.) were laid out on the square outside the EU Foreign Affairs Council as ministers are meeting to discuss their response to the recent massacre of unarmed Palestinian protestors.

In a video posted in The Irish Post, May 25, Irish shoppers quickly acted to remove Israeli products from shelves in a boycott action.

However, Israel continues unabated in its persecution of Palestinians. On May 27, as reported in B’Tselem, an entire Palestinian community of 32 families, Kan Al-Ahmar, is being forcibly transferred from their West Bank homes.

It was in defense of such a Palestinian neighborhood that American Rachel Corrie (a 23-year-old peace activist with the International Solidarity Movement, was killed on March 16, 2003, by an Israeli soldier operating a bulldozer to demolish the home of a Palestinian pharmacist. She had courageously stood in front of the home to stop the bulldozer, but lost her life instead.

 “These deaths are preventable. They are us. We are them,” Rachel Corrie said in a speech as a young girl.

(Demolishing civilian homes violates Articles 2 and 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Articles 33, 53, and 54 of the Fourth Geneva Conventions.)

For the most part, the international community has shamefully ignored the plight of Palestinians, and the ongoing genocidal war of Israel against them. It only came out 14 years later after Arafat’s death in 2004, that he had been assassinated, poisoned with polonium (probably by the Mossad). The United States has supported Israel with financial aid and military aid. International businesses have profited from the occupation of Palestinians.

The United Nations Human Rights Council is considering a report, “Who Else Profits” which blacklists Israel and the international businesses that have played a crucial role supporting occupation and settlement, deeming it a criminal business activity violating human rights.

In March of this year, Trump cut off humanitarian aid (more than half of $65,000,000 pledged for aid to Palestinian refugees through the United Nations Relief and Welfare Agency (UNRWA). He demanded that the Palestinians stop sending payments to Palestinians in Israeli prisons, and to the families of those who had died.

The U.S. Congress is split on passing a law against antisemitism, a law which would jail Americans for 20 years for the crime of criticizing Israel. Anyone criticizing Israel’s war against Palestine gets accused of antisemitism, which I consider a red herring to deflect accountability for murder. Just because Jews have been persecuted, doesn’t make their persecution of Palestinians acceptable. Persecution is persecution. It’s always wrong.

If the U.S. Congress passes such a law, it should be immediately struck down as being unconstitutional, as it is a huge move against freedom of speech.

Today, May 29, 2018 the Israeli Navy stopped a Palestinian flotilla attempting to sail from Gaza to Cypress. 22 Palestinians were arrested, including Palestinian patients and students. This was an act of desperation as some Palestinians do not have access to needed medical care.

Not everyone in the international community has looked the other way. Two previous freedom flotillas were launched to assist the Palestinians. On May 31, 2010 a flotilla of international peace activists sailed from Turkey for the Gaza strip. Israeli’s navy troops intercepted the six ships, five of which surrendered without incident, but nine of the activists on the sixth ship were killed when they were boarded. At the time, Turkey branded Israel a terrorist state.

A second flotilla was intercepted October 5, 2016, 35 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza. International women activists, including Nobel Peace prize winner Mairead Maguir of Northern Ireland, were arrested.

The Israelis launched Operation Protective Edge against the Gaza Strip in 2014, killing over 2,000 Palestinians, including over 50 children. That Israel suffered little or no consequences to these actions has given Palestinians a sense that Israeli soldiers act with impunity.

Following are excerpts from Noam Chomsky’s 2005 book, Middle East Illusions, as he describes the history of the conflict, and possible outcomes.

“The participants in the Palestine tragedy of the past half century perceive it as a national conflict: Jews against Arabs.”

“Sooner or later, at some moment the international situation will be unfavorable. That moment, if it arrives, will be the end of Israel, though the catastrophe will be far greater in scale.”

“The Palestinians have suffered a severe historical injustice in that they have been deprived of a substantial part of their traditional home.”

Chomsky explains how this impasse cannot be resolved through the use of force (see Chapter 2, “A Radical Perspective”. He set forth two alternatives, “The first is the continuation of the national struggle between Jews and Palestinian Arabs, both sides locked into the losing strategy that I have already discussed. This will lead either to the physical destruction of the Palestinians, or to a much wider—probably nuclear—war, with unpredictable consequences… 

The only other alternative… is the establishment of a Palestinian state in the currently occupied areas. He adds, “I suspect that only extreme pressure from the great powers could lead Israel to accept a truly independent Palestinian state.”

Chomsky describes a third way, one which embraces social change brought about by local forces in both societies, a movement in which people no longer identified themselves as Jews or Arabs, but people committed in a common effort to achieve social justice, freedom, and brotherhood.

I would add that women must play a key role in the peace process, and that brotherhood is an archaic word that does not include women. This social justice and freedom must include women, and perhaps good will for the human family is a better term than brotherhood.

A long-range process of transition to a peaceful society requires an armistice and agreement to no longer use violence to achieve their goals. What is required is the grace that comes from women’s involvement in changing to a way of life that allows everyone involved (Israelis and Palestinians) to thrive.

https://journal-neo.org/2016/10/30/more-bang-for-the-buck/

F. William Engdahl (New Eastern Outlook) Mon, Apr 30, 2018

It's Ridiculous Just How Much More the Russians Get for Every Billion Spent on the Military

Russian science and engineering are accomplished astonishing results at a fraction of the cost of American weapons

This article was first published in 2016 in Russia Times and New Eastern Outlook, "More Bang for the Buck", so that we can't say we weren't warned about what was coming. Fast forward to March 1, 2018. Putin gives speech about six new sci-fi-scope weapons: 

1) Kinshal hypersonic missile

2) Sarmat, the newest heavy ICBM, which is a low-flying stealth missile which can deliver a small scale heavy-duty nuclear warhead (designed to go over the South Pole), and which Putin claims is invincible against current missile defense systems and counter-air defense systems (it can hit anywhere in the U.S.);

3) Avangard, a hypersonic glide vehicle capable of sharp high speed evasive maneuveurs, and that goes 20X faster than the speed of sound

4) Russian laser weapon

5) Unmanned submersible that is multiple times faster than submarines (which have a top speed in short bursts around 55 mph), and much faster torpedoes.

6) Cutting-edge T-14 Armata tank, which "has no Western competitors".

Putin claims that these weapons have completed the testing stage, and are going into production stage by the end of this year/beginning of 2019.

Putin also spoke about the development of a nuclear-powered ice-breaker, and stated the intention of building a fleet of them. He made it clear in no uncertain terms that Russia intends to dominate the Arctic, which will make the much shorter Northern Sea Route more viable as the ice pack melts with global warming. No denial there.

Their new military defense research center at Arkticheskiy Trilitsnik (Arctic Trefoil Complex) has the latest systems for tracking incoming missiles. It is next to the Nagurskoye military base on Franz Josef Land in the Russian Arctic. Putin cited U.S. continually patrolling the shores along Norway, which puts them in a 15- minute range of attacking Russia with Trident missiles, implying that was the reason for building Trilitsnik. He also stated that The New Siberian Islands now have an aerodrome. See https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/russias-northernmost-base-operational#gs.NNQenH4   

How vulnerable are U.S. aircraft carriers to these weaponry advances? It seems to me that in a hot war they are going to be sitting ducks, especially with the use of drones to track their position. I read a position paper on U.S. (in) vulnerability, which makes me think that Russians also read this, and carried out research to overcome the layers of defense systems that the aircraft carriers have.

http://www.lexingtoninstitute.org/…/aircraft-carrier-invuln…

Not being any kind of military expert, I still think that the factors that have made Americans feel that we have domination of the seas and tremendous military might because of our 19-20 aircraft carriers (when no other country has been able to afford more than one), must be reexamined in context of the Cold War weapons race that we are losing to Russia.

I have been mulling all this over for some weeks, and I have come to some inescapable conclusions that are deeply unsettling. My brother Bart (who died at age 18 during the one month of the year when we were the same age) and I used to play war games with his large collection of toy soldiers, and act out military scenarios that we read about in military history books (which my father liked), such as pincer movements. I am trying to enter the matter of this scary subject with a light-hearted sense of play, like playing with toy soldiers, so that I have the courage to confront what is happening.

Personally, I think that all of this is insane, building up for more war, but the U.S. has left other countries no choice, if they do not want to be controlled by the U.S. In my opinion, the U.S. is responsible for Russia's preparation for a major nuclear war. However, in a sense, the Russians are playing their game, and it is an old, old, tired game, which will NOT build a safer or saner world. It makes me very sad and very angry, but I will not look away.

LIST OF HOPE

LIST OF HOPE

Today there was a post on my Facebook by Keith Barber (shared by Sharon Alder): The Berlin Wall stood for 10,316 days. Today it has been down for 10,316 days.  

What a wonderful time it was when the Berlin Wall was taken down... it gave so many people hope for a better world. We need such a powerful symbol of tyranny to be taken down again, to inspire people everywhere and give people hope again. Actually, what is really needed are rays of light starting to shine everywhere... such as: 

1) Shutting down Guantanamo Bay 
2) Taking down the wall Trump is building between the U.S. and Mexico 
3) Ending the war in Syria 
4) Closing down most of the U.S. bases in other countries across the world, starting with places that people have protested their presence, such as Okinawa and Jeju Island
5) NATO falling apart 
6) North and South Korea ending their war and declaring peace in Korea 
7) Cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch 
8) Actual community building across the U.S. 
9) Prosecution of war profiteers and Wall Street financial scam con artists 
10) Conviction of U.S. war criminals 
11) Restitution to countries that the U.S. has aggressively bombed in wars that Congress never approved or actions that the U.N. never sanctioned, or that were based on lies and fabrications. 
12) Shutting down the Federal Reserve 
13) The U.S. dollar no longer being used as the major foreign currency reserve 
14) China and Japan undertaking a peace and reconciliation process
15) The U.S. opening up again to Cuba
16) Russia getting the respect that it deserves on the world stage
17) Julian Assange being freed to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London 
18) Global celebrations and environmental projects uniting humanity
19) Ending the legal status of corporations which allows economic and environmental crimes to be committed without individual culpability
20) restoring accountability to the electoral process in the U.S., taking steps so that each person truly has one vote

Those are just a few ideas tossed off the top of my head of things that might happen which would give me hope for the future. I just wrote this as ideas came to me; it's more of a brainstorming than anything else. This list is not prioritized, but I'm sure we could grow it if more people gave it some thought and added to it. For people reading this, what are some of the things that would give you hope, just off the top of your head?

Remember, we cannot change the world until we have a vision of what needs to be done. Just fantasizing about a better world without seeing what steps need to be taken to get there is simply escapism. It is wonderful to see so many people on a spiritual journey, and yes, it starts with each and every one of us, but until we see that we must take action in this shared reality to make changes, even becoming a saint will not suffice.

Ariel Ky 4/30/2018

Letter to Jill Stein

(I wrote this letter to Jill Stein because of a letter I received from her (I'm on her mailing list because I voted for her for president.) I am very encouraged that she is so solution-oriented about what we need to do in this country to have honest elections. She talks about how she's been targeted in the Russiagate investigation. I've copied in her letter at the end of this post so that you can see what I am referring to about her being solution-oriented.) 

Here in Arizona we have a special election to vote more money for our prisons, which are anticipated to grow in numbers of prisoners over the next few years. I think that instead of planning on housing more prisoners, that we should tackle quality of life issues that lead to incarceration, and look at alternatives to imprisoning people.

Maybe you can consult with people you know, and see what is out there to change our prison system. We should be looking at ways to close them, and reduce the number of prisoners with innovative programs, such as real jobs that pay well enough to sustain individuals and families. 

Here are a couple of ideas. I'm sure many more have been discussed in the past, and many more could be generated with brainstorming sessions.

1.  ALTERNATIVE CONSEQUENCES TO INCARCERATION  

A council of elders, who would be mostly women, might provide an alternative to the present justice system. Perhaps in a transitional period over a period of 3-10 years, those people facing a jail sentence might choose instead of going to trial, to meet with a council of elders to discuss restitution and other alternatives to incarceration.

2.  JOBS  In order to reduce recividism, when someone is released from prison, make sure they have a job to go to that they will like, and which will support them well. The CCC met a need for employment in the depression, planting trees, creating public art, and other programs.  

 A jobs program for people looking for work could go a long way to prevent people from making the choices that lead to being imprisoned. We need to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure in this country, we need to support our children in the schools with counselors. We need to support working families with more and better after-school programs. 

There is so much that needs to be done for the environment and for people. If we started to address the true needs of our people, there could be many, many jobs generated. For instance, there is a great need for training in healthy eating, cooking, preparing meals, and making sure that your body has all of the nutrients needed to be healthy. Programs to meet these needs could generate a great many jobs.

Also programs that encourage and support people to get more exercise.

Programs to encourage people to become more civic-minded, such as community gardens and other projects that contribute to the life of the community. These could be supported with paid staffers and in other ways that reward involvement.

We could have a public works program to build community centers across the nation, places where political issues are discussed, where local bands play, dances are held, international holidays celebrated, and diversity encouraged and supported, sharing of cultures and ideas. Authors could give talks, experts give lectures and hold debates and question and answer sessions. Workshops could be given there. These community centers would be designed to create jobs for people, not only in their construction, but also in the richness and variety of programs and events that they offer the community.

Really, we need to build community in the United States, and get people interacting in person with each other again. Today this role has been left to the churches, which mostly divides people further. Schools used to meet many of these needs, but with ongoing cutbacks, there is very little done in the way of community programs any more. Everyone in a local community could be involved in some ways with their schools.

These should never be federally mandated programs with centralized authority. Most of the decision-making needs to be made by the local communities. However, there should be federal funds for these programs. There could never be anything on the scale of what we now spend on our bloated military and intelligence community, because most of that has been financed by debit spending anyways, but if we shift our priorities, I'm sure that there are people who can figure out how to make this approach rebuild our economy.

Dear Ariel, Today, I’m breaking months of silence on the targeting of our campaign by the political establishment - both Democrats and Republicans - in their investigation of alleged Russian election interference. Let’s be clear: this was a baseless and politically-motivated act of intimidation against an independent political movement that both establishment parties see as a threat. But we’re used to that sort of thing. So having been dragged into the battle over election interference, we have an incredible opportunity to fight for critical solutions to the very real problems that threaten our elections - and to knock down the establishment’s false solutions of warmongering, censorship and repression. Please take a moment to read my statement on “Russiagate” and help spread the word by sharing it on Facebook and Twitter. You may be getting tired of the media’s obsession with “Russiagate” - and believe me, so am I. That’s why it’s so critical that we seize this rare opportunity to focus the discussion on real, urgent threats to our elections - many of which were uncovered by the 2016 recount effort - and how we can fix them. And we must push back against the effort to twist legitimate concerns about election interference into a campaign of warmongering, censorship and political repression. Thank you for all that you do to build the movement for peace and real democracy. It’s in our hands! Jill

Starting a Women's Think Tank for the Paradigm Shift

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't think tanks always employ men? I would like to start a think tank of women for the purpose of brainstorming ideas on how to push along the paradigm shift to a world of equality between women and men, without violence or war.

Actually, it would be wonderful if there was a man out there who wanted to start a think tank of men for the same purposes. We could collaborate, perhaps. Eventually, we could merge, but at the outset, I think it would be important for it to be all women.

Why do I say this? For too long, men have dominated our world, and old habits die hard. I do believe that the new paradigm is going to be forged mostly by women. However, I welcome the men who are aware that we all benefit from true equality between the genders.

Unfortunately, what I have seen is men tend to gravitate towards guru positions in the lightworker movement, exploiting the ideas and spiritual gifts of women who pay large amounts for their workshops and seminars, and enjoying high status and many perks, just as men have always done, making the decisions, running things.

Our women's think tank would publish position papers and use social media to convey our ideas to bring about a more consciously spiritual relationship with each other and all life, and a sense of the sacredness of the Earth. We would come up with blueprints, new systems, lists of steps to take, questions to consider. We might start our own media company, book publishing firm, legal firm, college, political groups.

Not only would we be a think tank, we would also serve as a clearinghouse of ideas, for people to connect with projects and exchange ideas with others of like mind.

We would tackle both local and global issues. We would do our best to stop wars from starting by exposing the lies. We might even start class action suits on behalf of war-torn families or families who have lost their children in school shootings. We could write legislation and find sponsors to push it through legislatures. We could strategize on how to get awakened women into political positions.

If any of you reading this are interested in this idea of starting a think tank, please let me know one way or another. Maybe you can put me in touch with someone who might be interested.