Michael L wrote:
>I think there has been a movement toward change, that the people can stand-up for themselves and fight for what they want, which essentially is to take back what has been stolen over the past 30 years. Obama inspired the youth in Cairo when he was there and, and look at how that inspiration has spread throughout the Muslim countries. This kicking-up of the right to continue to take all they can is their last-ditch effort and I think it is destined to work against them.
I agree with this whole-heartedly. If we were to look at the history of humanity as a macrocosm, look at "man" as a person going through developmental stages, then it seems pretty clear. Compare the most primitive folks to "nasty, brutish and short" toddlerhood. 4-year-olds are sweet, crazy-fun, and very imaginative; 5-year-olds are starting to find their place in the world; 6 year olds fall into very striated social groups, girls vs boys, etc., and on and on.
Our brains keep growing several years after legal adulthood; particularly the frontal lobe where decision making and recognition of consequences are regulated. I think that, down the line, someone is going to do research on what happens in the brain around age 27, when there's a subtle transition from youth to true adulthood, and not just in the waistline.
I'm not sure what stage humanity is in, but it seems like we're around 18. We've gone through grade school, we've been soaked in hormones, we're beginning to scratch the surface of understanding consequences, we've had some losses and some triumphs which we can remember and put into perspective; we're looking at the stars and wondering how we'll change the world. Question is, does humanity as a whole want to make its first million before 30, or does it want to join the peace corps, or does it want to get married straight out of high school and open up an auto shop? And how will the internet and media connection worldwide foster this growth, a sense of connection in our worldwide personality which would parallel the integration of an adult's sense of self?
Watching the news last night about Libya, I was struck by the mention of tribes being used against one another by Kadafi. Here in the Bay Area, I see a LOT of people obsessed with "tribe", and doing body art means a lot of exposure to tribal art and the permutations adapted/adopted by these folks. It's easy to romanticize the noble tribal archetype, but truth is that tribalism can be a trap. I'm charmed by cultural practices as they relate to art, and can see how survival would have dictated such things as ritual circumcision and scarification and food laws. I think we developed tribalism to evenly distribute resources without any one area being too pressured and depleted. It works well in a hunter-gatherer situation. It doesn't work so well when anything more advanced than a spear becomes available to do harm.
America has its own tribalism going on. Elephants and donkeys, red states and blue states (isn't it hilarious how the reds used to be communists, then republican states became red, now Wisconsin's labor movement colors are red and white? Dang, we need a new color!) The totemism of our ancestors is still seen in the iconography of our marketing.
Maybe we who wish to move forward and make the world a fairer place should be green dragons, or purple lions, or orange lotuses. I don't know. I sure wouldn't want my affiliations symbolized by a used-up tea bag.
