11 Freedom

Freedom   11

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     Voyagers don’t just pull their ideas from the center of the ideological spectrum. They believe creativity happens when you merge galaxies of belief that seem at first blush incompatible. They might combine left-wing ideas about labor unions with right-wing ideas about local community to come up with a new conception of labor law. Because they are syncretistic, they are careful to spend time in opposing camps, always opening lines of communication. The wise moderate can hold two or more opposing ideas together in her mind at the same time.

David Brooks

New York Times

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     “I hesitate to speak,’ rumbled Cesar, the iguana,” but I must, at least, give you pause for reflection. Returning to those human problems that King rattled off, I would like to add a suggestion. Stop thinking about human nature for a moment and consider the human condition.”

     “Thank you for bringing that up,” crooned Mira, the sloth,” This conversation has been too fast for me to digest.”

     “Spit it out,” bleated BillyG, “Don’t hold back.”

     “Think about it this way,” Cesar whispered, “A woman in Massachusetts just won over 750 million dollars and I doubt that she will be able to maintain her composure because conditions will far outweigh her ability to cope.”

     “How do you know about her?” questioned Bertie, the peregrine falcon. “We are on Dominica and a bit isolated to say the least.”  

      “Until yesterday, I was a famous person’s pet iguana in the Washington area. He brought me here as a safe place compared to the United States. He returned to deal with the coming crescendo. You all know that the world is in disarray or you would not have started this group,” replied Cesar.

       “Let’s cut to the chase,” Milvus, the black kite, demanded, “The suspense is ruffling my feathers.” 

        “The overall message that I bring from my anthropologist owner concerns consciousness. He believes that bulk of human consciousness is a tribal one. We must find a way to deal with that or go around it. Otherwise, human nature will bring us all down through a simple lack of awareness. We can see it because we have been reverently deliberate in our journey through time,” rumbled Cesar.        

     “We cannot tackle a problem until people become conscious of it.”

      “What in the hell is reverently deliberate?” squawked Cackle.

      “ I think that humans have lost reverence for Mom Nature,” bleated Mum, the nanny goat. “About 4 million years ago the guys (males) left their families and joined tribes leaving the girls to tend to the families. Hormones over humbleness, testosterone over humility, and ultimately triumphant ego driven tribal leaders over Mom Nature, herself. What a disaster! The family was so effective and good for the little tykes that boredom set in and the guys stumbled into wine making. The rest of the story is not pretty.”

     Hooie hoots, "Do we really have freedom if some of our consciousness is stuck in our DNA and emerges from time to time and embnarrasses us? I would say that we are free if we are aware that our poorly hidden tribalism is in our genes and we counter instinct with compassion."