Re: Ishmael & Narratives LO3490

Dr. Ivan Blanco (BLANCO@BU4090.BARRY.EDU)
Sun, 29 Oct 1995 12:25:10 -0500 (EST)

Replying to LO3460 --

Jackie gave us a great set of notions, ideas, mussings... I don't know
what to call them, but I enjoyed very much the whole thing.

I have a couple of quick comments, later on I might finish with a long
note or short paper on things we know exist but never get to talk about...

I see a major danger in our ability to manipulate nature to increase food
production, for instance, becuase it feeds our sense of superiority. This
sense of power has led us to believe, for the most part, that we we exist
above nature. We own portions of it, we manipulate it to make fit our own
needs, but at the same time we understand less of our own role in nature.
I think that, since we don't see that we belong to nature, we have
destroyed many natural areas and conditions faster.

The other aspect about women, nututring, and babies... is an intriging
one. I have gone through different facets in my thinking. When Iwas a
tennager growing up in Caracas, Venezuela, I used to believed that women
to some extend have a very important role at home. This could have been
influenced by the fact that my own mother's mail role was at home,
although she some dressmaking work at home. Later on, I became a "cool"
intellectual to be, in college, and \ started to share more important
positions in school and at work with women. Then I thought that women had
aslo very important contributions to make to society through their work in
organizations, the same as men.

Now, a less cool guy, and still struggling to reach some level of
intellectual- ity, and obseerving this American (U.S.) society which has
deteriorated so much during the last 25 to 30 years my thinking start to
change again. I can see how we have changed the desire for more
materialistic gains, at the expense of society's well being. Our pust for
material wellbeing, enterprise in which we have been successful for the
most part in the U.S., has led to social decay.

Thw two-pay-check family has left a great number of kids without a lot of
important family values, and other social learning which are the
foundations of a strong society. I strongly believe today that someone
has to stay home, father or mother, at least until the kids are in the
capacity to deal with life in amore effective way (I know I am going to
have to explain this...).

We have to learn to live with less, rather than more. In fact the
connection I find between this and the natural system balance is that the
more we want to have, to more depletion nature suffers. If we decide to
live on less, nature would probably have more tiem to even replinish
iteself, and the citizens of the world would be better a better place to
live. Even the kids of those families who decide to live with less would
morelikely be better world citizens...

I'll stop here, before I get deeper in trouble trying to explain things...

--
Ivan,
Blanco@BU4090.Barry.edu