Rol and Malcolm Jones expound the changing wisdom of the ages. I certainly
do not have the answers. I do have questions-lots of them. Re: the
desire/longing for happiness, securuty/stability, and other comfortable
feelings/positions/expectations--Mostly about where we fit in. For
example:Granparents who struggled to make ends meet used to say, "What do
you mean you're not happy (or comfortable, etc.); you're ALIVE!"
Parents who struggled to give their kids everything they did not have used
to say, "You are not happy? Just remember it's the irritation that makes
the pearl." One statements has to do with NEEDS. One has to do with what
you NEED to be able to achieve.On the other hand, billboards, slogans,
etc. of the American culture for ever so many years have focused on WANTS.
I actually saw this adverisement on a huge billboard-"It's not a matter of
Do You NEED IT. The question is Do You WANT IT?" There is a progression
here from stay alive-to-achieve & perhaps excel -to- consume. My questions
(leaving the issue of manipulation aside): Is the next stage GIVE BACK &
CONTRIBUTE to the larger community? When we look at the benefactors of our
time, they progressed through all of these stages. So, Should we be
thankful that we have the luxury of striving for something more than
staying alive? Should we focus on helping others(our bosses, etc.) get
beyond the consumer phase so that maybe they would give back and
contribute to the greater Good of every one in the organization? Values,
complexity, change posts seem to intertwine. Are we banging our heads
against a wall trying to make change, when in fact there necessary stages
that all must pass through before summits can be reached?
Critical Linkages IINewsletter
> "Capitalism doesn't work"
>
> "What I mean by this is that the current economic system prevailing in the
> West over the last hundred years or so cannot provide the stability that
> many of us seek in our lives and communities. Unfortunately no-one has
> come up with a better system which has been successfully tested in the
> real world, so we are left living and coping with instability."
>
> As individuals we WANT stability, but I do not know that we a) NEED it, or
> b) would be healthy within it. Stability is stagnant, and much closer to
> death or strangulation than the actual world we live in. instability is
> anxiety-producing, but I am not at all convinced it is bad.
Carol Sager, Sager Educational Enterprises
Critical Linkages II Newsletter>
<A HREF="http://www.erinet.com/patterwc/CLIIN/">Critical Linkages II
Newsletter</A>
21 Wallis Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167
V(617)469-9644;Fx(617)469-9639;sagerent@world.std.com
--Carol Sager <sagerent@world.std.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>