Naturally Good or Bad? (孟子 Edition)

 "Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge belong to man as naturally as his four limbs, and may easily be exercised."

    I was having a conversation with a friend last night and the topic of human behavior came up. I took the opinion people are naturally good, but we are taught and or trained to be bad: selfish and greedy. I gave two examples: One being the human nature to raise a child out of love rather than profit and the other being a quote from Mencius (Mengzi, 孟子, 372 – 289 BCE). Cited below.

Mencius was a philosopher during the Warring States of China(403–221 BCE)) and he traveled extensively through the country giving advice to different kings on how to rule people. With great political turmoil all around us now and in part to my conversation last night, I thought it was apt to quote what someone else said 2000 years ago on the nature of humans.

Furthermore and contextually, I optimistically believe things are going to change for the better in our life time. If they don't we will pollute and extinct ourselves. I think with the advent of the internet, in moderation, our generation has the potential to not only change things for us all, but actually be in our natural state, rather than what is taught and engrained in us. Time will tell, for there is only a small window of opportunity. It is up to us, here and now.

The Book of Mencius, Book 2, Part 1, Ch. 6

"1. Mencius said, 'All men have a mind which cannot bear to see the sufferings of others.

2. 'The ancient kings had this sympathizing mind, and they, as a matter of course, had likewise a sympathizing government. When with a sympathizing mind was practised a sympathizing government, to rule the kingdom was as easy a matter as to make anything go round in the palm.

3. 'When I say that all men have a mind which cannot bear to see the sufferings of others, my meaning may be illustrated thus:-- even now-a-days, if men suddenly see a child about to fall into a well, they will without exception experience a feeling of alarm and distress. They will feel so, not as a ground on which they may gain the favour of the child's parents, nor as a ground on which they may seek the praise of their neighbours and friends, nor from a dislike to the reputation of having been unmoved by such a thing.

4. 'From this case we may perceive that the feeling of sympathy is essential to man, that the feeling of shame and dislike is essential to man, that the feeling of modesty and complaisance is essential to man, and that the feeling of approving and disapproving is essential to man.

5. 'The feeling of sympathy is the principle of benevolence. The feeling of shame and dislike is the principle of righteousness. The feeling of modesty and complaisance is the principle of propriety. The feeling of approving and disapproving is the principle of knowledge.

6. 'Men have these four principles just as they have their four limbs. When men, having these four principles, yet say of themselves that they cannot develop them, they play the thief with themselves, and he who says of his prince that he cannot develop them plays the thief with his prince.

7. 'Since all men have these four principles in themselves, let them know to give them all their development and completion, and the issue will be like that of fire which has begun to burn, or that of a spring which has begun to find vent. Let them have their complete development, and they will suffice to love and protect all within the four seas. Let them be denied that development, and they will not suffice for a man to serve his parents with.'"

If you would like to know more about Mencius or other ancient Chinese philosophers, such as  Confucius, Mozi, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, and Han Feizi I highly recommend this book.

2+ Million People Unite in 436 Cities, 52 Countries for Healthy Food Supply

Localize the food supply. After comes manufacturing and regional specialization. We are on our way.

Failed Results of Standardization and Privatization of American Education

It has come to light Michelle Rhee and her StudentsFirst campaign, through independent journalist John Merrow piece, "Michelle Rhee's Reign of Error" and a leaked memo, that there was wide spread cheating under her tenure as Chancellor of Schools in Washington D.C public education in standardized testing. Rhee got nation wide attention for her tough tactics and quick results by linking students test scores to teachers pay, otherwise known as merit based pay. Under Rhee, she hired and fired many teachers and principals for their underperformance based on standardized test taking, one firing she enthusiastically did on national TV in a PBS documentary. The memo and investigation claims there were many anomalies in tests throughout the school district that only could have happened with teachers erasing wrong answers and putting the right ones in. Apparently this could have only been done with principals knowledge at said accused cheating schools. 

On top of this, Matt Taibbi in his Rolling Stones exposé, absoulety eviscerates Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst campaign, where they lobby politicians to gut benefits of teachers, link teachers pay to test scores and implement evaluation systems that can fire teachers based off of students results. In the piece we see that StudentsFirst not only is connected to the already well established, but we also meet hedge fund manager Dan Loeb, who sits on the board of New York City StudentsFirst branch. Coincidentally, he also manages public education pension funds and other public employees at his firm, which seems like a huge conflict of interest. Taibbi notes that Loeb manages public education pensions and at the same time sits on a board that has the complete opposite agenda of public education employees and instead campaigns for charter school like results and merit based pay.  Please read it to get a full understanding of why there is a movement to privatize education across the United States not only in K-12, but also in the university level too. The private sector is lining up to make billions and they will do anything they can to get their cut.

Don't get me wrong, I know there are bad teachers and it can be hard to get rid of them, but linking students test scores to teachers job performance is not the right way to go. Evidence of this is the the Merrow piece that says up to 191 teachers in 90 schools cheated in Washington DC and changed their students tests scores in order to look better. These teachers also got bonuses, while other teachers where fired. Here, you can read education historian Diane Ravitch question Michelle Rhee's motives and her style of education.

In short,  I will say this about standardization and privatization of students in our public education and hope to write in due time, a bigger post about the the direction of public education.  Standardization creates conformity, it creates more obedient workers, it creates students and humans to think in a certain capacity to learn, it promotes regurgitation rather than cognition, it promotes memorization rather than creativity. Standardization does not create critical thinking nor cognitive students and puts students on the first belt of a conveyer system for the rest of their lives. Privatization and standardization is a wider agenda to mold and form students across America to obey and conform to a model of education that is not only archaic, but what I believe, a model for a failed privatized system that is evident by our present socioeconomic values and results.

I look forward to writing my next piece why I think privatization and standardization of education is a formula for disaster for our future and I will use my own experience in education as evidence. You can be the judge and maybe I can help you think differently about or present model for education and reform.

Until then, listen to this dominate rebuttal against Teach for America.
part two

Banned TED Talks on Consciousness and Dogmatic Science

I just found out that TED Talks banned and censored two talks from their Youtube page for what they called "pseudoscience." After watching both of these talks I can't help but wonder why? Is it because they both challenge the status quo or is it because their ideas/theories are fraudulent? I will let you decide. It reminds me that there may be a collective censure in the mainstream narration when people say things that others don't believe in or conflicts with their own said beliefs. If one has an idea/theory that is not accepted by mainstream opinions, does that give reason to censor said theories? I will talk about this in a later post about conformity and my experience with it in the military, public education and corporate world.

At any rate, both Rupert Sheldrake and Graham Hancock gave great talks about dogma in science and consciousness respectfully. Both reference ideas from one of my favorite theorist and scientist, the late Terence McKenna, author of Food of the Gods. As you will see in both talks they both assert that science and consciousness are not as factual and defined as one may think. Here, you can read why TED pulled both their talks and the subsequent fallout.  I also read that TedX West Hollywood got their license revoked because of their proposed up coming speakers and a planned livestream of Graham Hancock's "War on Consciousness."

It's no wonder when people start talking or theorizing outside the accepted beliefs of the mainstream narration they are labeled "pseudoscience," "crazy," or "radical" and are censored. If you say something or present something that doesn't make sense then let the audience counter it or question it, don't censor it authoritatively or marginalize it with stereotypical slander.  Hence, the point why I wrote this post about this subject. I find it very interesting that TED outright banned two talks given by people who question traditional ideas about science and consciousness, which the latter could have a revolutionary role in our present society.

My point being is, we need more people like Rupert Sheldreake and Graham Hancock in order to shake the shackles of conformity both intellectually, socially and scientifically in order for us as whole to move forward in new frontiers of thinking, unity and coming up with solutions to our present enigmas.

Music is a Weapon for Change

This is my first entry and to give you an idea of what I am about and what is to come I made this video in response to the Egyptian Revolution 25 January 2011.  I believe we  people have the power, yet we acquiesce  to higher establishments. Be it in Argentina, China, USA, Iran or Syria we people are being ruled and fooled by the same formula with different variables, but the same results; classic dived and conquer tactics that have been used for years, thousands of years. I believe, as I think many others have said, the internet, the web of interconnectedness, is changing this thousand year old tradition. The flow and rate of information in the last 10 years has changed the name of governance. I believe that we people, around the world, have the power to change this nasty, nefarious system that we have been born into and those that control, deceive, cause death and war will hold onto their power as long as possible.

In the near future, it will be up to us to change it. We must not depend on them, but we must be able to depend on each other, as a community, localized economies with local leaders that will enact local demands; be it with your friends, your family, yourself and your neighbors. We must change it together. Here, I will not only post about politics, society, but in order for me to put my money where my mouth is, I  must be transparent and post about personal growth, feelings and my intuition.

I have gone to the web to find an audience that may or may not listen. I hope to express myself, not only with my opinions, but also with sourced information that you can go look up yourself and come to different conclusions or the same and have a dialogue.

I will do my best to challenge you and I hope you do the same for me.