Citing Authorities

An on-line commenter recently suggested that my essays should "provide references supporting [my] presentation."  However, I had not made an unattributed quote. Yes, I agree that writers should let readers know where an honest-to-god quote comes from. Nonetheless, this person seemed to want me to produce an outside-party authority for my personal beliefs and assertions. That's what blew my cork.

I responded that I'd given a great deal of thought to tracking the sources of ideas in my essays, articles and books. However, if one chooses to follow my columns and essays, they will see that I usually present the material as my own experience and opinion, which they (mostly) are.

The recent kerfluffle over plagiarism in Rand Paul's office really brings this issue to light.

Perfecting the Stories We Tell Ourselves

We tell ourselves stories to give our lives meaning. This is how we know who we are, where we came from, what we should be doing, and where we want to go next. This is how we decide what is important and even what is real. 

Individuals, families, communities, cultures and nations may have different stories and so they hold different identities and expectations. The implication of this understanding about stories is that, when we change our stories, our realities, our lives, and our futures change too.

I was raised as a Kool-Aid kid; two cups of sugar and a packet of artificial colors and flavors made my world better. By the time I raised my children, they learned that “things go better with Coke,” which could make the world “sing in perfect harmony.” Children are now told that high fructose corn syrup will make them sick and shorten their lives. Did you know that New York City is banning large servings of sugary soft drinks?

In the earlier history of this country, settlers told themselves stories of magnificent destiny, glorious exploration, conquest and development. A continent of unbounded resources beckoned the adventurous with open land, virgin stands of timber, and even gold. They believed that one had only to keep looking forward, stake their claim and grow rich from exploiting abundance.

Living by Our Stories

The stories that we tell each other explain our world and give meaning to our lives. Our stories illustrate our cultural values and model our desired virtues. They teach moral lessons and set the foundation for our debates. Thus, we should think carefully about our chosen stories and beliefs.

When you were young, were you told to be good because Santa Claus knew if you were naughty or nice? Even the stories that we openly acknowledge as myths or fables are repeated to illustrate what we should or should not do and how we should relate to others. For instance, the story of Pandora’s Box illustrates the bad that can happen from disobeying the instructions of someone older and wiser. Believing that thunder is the laughter of the gods can help ease a child’s fear.

This week, Public Policy Polling (a highly ranked organization with a history of reliable results) examined widespread conspiracy theories sometimes held by American voters.

Getting to Happy

The United Nations recently declared the first International Happiness Day. What’s not to like about individual and general happiness? After all, our national culture is founded on an expectation of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” So, what can we all do to get happier?

One of the things that I learned, while working for Amoco Oil Company, was the management principle that “what gets measured gets done.” The idea is that a leader must not only establish expectations, but create a way to measure progress and provide feedback to those who are responsible for, or affected by, the changes needed to achieve goals. (He or she must also find ways to reward those who promote that progress and punish those who obstruct it.)

The United States has used “Gross Domestic Product” (GDP) as a measure of economic activity since the Great Depression. Our measure of GDP has persistently improved; it has doubled since the 1960s. Yet, the economist who devised the GDP once warned Congress that “the welfare of a nation can … scarcely be inferred from a measurement of national income.”

Cultural Heroes in Difficult Times

Cultural Heroes in Difficult Times

Thank you to those who told me that they missed my columns during the last few months. [Summer, 2012, ed.] We were getting into the last convulsions of some very bitter political campaigns. I felt strongly tempted to respond to the upwelling of political partisanship by fighting a battle of ideas in print. Lord, some of those letters to the editor got me steamed. Instead, I put a bumper sticker on my car that said: “You are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.”

I almost got sucked into arguing with the undoubting faithful from the other side. That has variously been compared to “confronting a shadow in a knife fight,” “grabbing the ears of an angry dog” and “throwing pearls before swine.” Nothing good can come of it.

On the other hand, I believe we should persistently doubt our own assumptions, opinions and preconceived notions. It’s like I used to tell my boys, “It’s okay to talk to yourself and it’s even okay to argue with yourself, but when you start to lose those arguments, it’s time to start asking new questions.”

Urgent: Our Children Must Learn to Love to Read.

Twitter / advice: Books. http://t.co/haIQUAwfyz

33% of High School Graduates never read another book the rest of their lives. 42% of college grads never  read another book after college. 57% off new books are not readd to completion. 70% of US adults have not been in a book store the last five years. 80% of US families did not buy or read aa book last year. Reading one hour per day in your chosen field will make you an international expert in 7 years. 

 

Book: The Role of Productivity in Community Success: The Jesuit-Guarani Cultural Confluence

The Role of Productivity in Community Success: The Jesuit-Guarani Cultural Confluence

This historical essay, drawn from the deepest jungles of Uruguay in South America, examines the creation of a flourishing culture and economy that lasted for almost two centuries. It explores the guided development of a virtuous web of social and economic controls that mixed the philosophy of Catholic Jesuit missionaries with the traditions of the native Guaraní peoples.

An unprecedented experiment in progressive community-building may have once created that rarest of cultural treasures – a functional and stable utopia... ended only by outside pressures of conquest and exploitation.

This is a living parable for our changing world, now suffering from seemingly-intractable political, cultural and economic turmoil… and struggling to be born into a tenuous future on uncertain threads of hope and despair. Rapid introduction of technology, educational systems, health care systems and social order have succeeded before – balancing competition and consumption in a new kind of community – and might be made to work again as we seek to create our own "new economy."

In this startling synthesis, Mr. Satterlee brings together and introduces: 
  • historical records, 
  • the social theories of the Catholic Church, 
  • the management theories of Peter Drucker, 
  • the psycho-social theories of Don Beck’s Spiral Dynamics Integral, and
  • the economics ideas of William Lewis and the McKinsey Global Institute on “the power of productivity.”

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Essay: Eastern influences on contemporary Western culture and spirituality

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Eastern influences on contemporary Western culture and spirituality

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Eastern influences on contemporary Western culture and spirituality

Many people in Western cultures have become aware of, and adopted elements of, traditional Eastern religions to a variety of degrees. Although usually ignorant of, or rejecting the full scope of the associated original foundational historical practice and philosophy, they are creating a new flavor of Western spirituality and a related social consciousness.

Both Eastern practitioners and Western philosophers have helped raise our general consciousness of Eastern spiritual traditions over the last century. Some of the more prominent are briefly described in the following:

William James, a leading psychologist and philosopher published The Varieties of Religious Experience in 1902. This helped introduce Eastern religious thought to the West.

 Aldous Huxley’s 1945 The Perennial Philosophy identifies a recurring insight of divine reality that is common to most primitive peoples and all

Essay: Japan, America, and sacred nationalism

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Japan, America, and sacred nationalism

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Japan, America, and sacred nationalism

The Japanese islands have remained relatively isolated throughout their history. This has allowed for the development and concentration of distinctive religious and cultural characteristics. Although Japan has experienced Eastern influences (mostly Chinese and Buddhism), and Western influences (especially Anglo/American and Christian), these have seemed to only flavor, not disrupt, the Nipponese sense of identity. This bears a strong resemblance to contemporary American right-wing conservatism.

From the most ancient times, Japan, and its Shinto practices have been organized around community-clans and their respective clan gods. Even when communities gradually expanded, community worship continued to revolve around local guardian gods and the ancestors of extended families. Broader political power was rooted in the relationships of confederations of clans. This religio-cultural structure made it unlikely that religions of foreign origin could have much impact and still remain intact. This system retained a stable core of abiding traditions, supplemented by a somewhat more adaptive layer of minor local traditions.

As an example, Buddhism, when promoted by certain nobles, was assimilated in Japan by

Essay: Implications of the Buddhist “no-self” concept

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Implications of the Buddhist “no-self” concept

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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Hindu #Buddhist #Saints

Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Implications of the Buddhist “no-self” concept

The Hindu concept of atman is the indestructible essential self, which is reincarnated in a series of corporeal physical existences.

The Buddhist concept of “an-atman” (or no-atman) refutes the idea of an irreducible unitary essence that sustains an existence. An-atman presumes total dissipation at death and rebirth as a new constitution from previous cause.

The implication of an-atman is that no thing or person is special. Wealth accumulated for the sole benefit of self or favored others is meaningless because we are not only related to all else, but are nothing but “all else.”

With the distinction of all things and selves being illusion, there is no need to cling or grasp for anything desired but perceived to be unobtained. In fact, the desire for things-not-had defines the dukkha (“suffering”) of the human condition.

Since the accumulation of ever-increasing possessions and the

Essay: Hindu class systems vs. cultures and communities in general

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Hindu class systems vs. cultures and communities in general

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Hindu class systems vs. cultures and communities in general

Some, feeling that they lack any interest in Eastern religions, may have the impulse to skip this one. They would miss a thought-provoking exercise in comparing and contrasting that could be very relevant to their own communities and values.

The traditional Hindu class system is anchored in sacred scripture, and many generations of tradition. Hinduism, in part, defines itself by compliance to class distinctions, and so Hinduism fits very coherently with the class system of India. Class systems are common in most religious and cultural systems, including contemporary America.

 In Hinduism, the separation of groups helps to maintain ritual purity. An unclean interaction in society can prevent a higher class member from performing their ritual responsibilities in behalf of others. Each class (varna) has its defined and accepted role (dharma). For instance, sacred learning, community rites, and sacrifice are reserved for the Brahman (priestly) class.

Other Hindu religious classes are defined according to societal place. The warrior class (Kshatriya) serves for defense and administration. Producers (Vaishya) are responsible as businessmen, merchants, and for higher crafts. Menials (Shudra) provide

Essay: The meaning of the “Sacred”

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The meaning of the “Sacred”

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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#Religion #God #Worship

Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

The meaning of the “Sacred”

Let us take “the sacred” to be that which is accepted (by an individual, culture, etc.) to provide an ultimate reality, value, and meaning for life (Ludwig 3). Although there are some who believe that life holds no meaning and that nothing can be proved, these same people usually choose to keep living and hold some criteria that serves as their basis for making choices. I would propose that a sense of the sacred is universal among self-reflective beings.

With the above definition, “anything” can be sacred. For instance, for the very secular, scientific truth may be held as sacred. Anything that merits the use of ceremony may also be endowed with sacred attachment. In religion, baptism and weddings may actually be called sacraments. In a wider perspective, life is so remarkable, the unlikely conditions that make our life-supporting environment possible are so precious, and the potential of our creative nature is so inspiring, that everything should be sacred.

An unusual predominance of such feelings of sacred fullness and identification was first associated with epileptics in the late 1800s. Since then, a wide range of scientific experiments

Essay: Nationalism, cultural assimilation, and pluralistic globalization — or The Ultimate Imperialism

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Nationalism, cultural assimilation, and pluralistic globalization — or The Ultimate Imperialism

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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#immigration
#Imperialism

Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Nationalism, cultural assimilation, and pluralistic globalization — or The Ultimate Imperialism

In the past, as one nation conquered another, assimilation policies affected public welfare. Where deliberate steps were taken to introduce mainstream society and outside cultures to each other, the conqueror benefited from increased diversity and reduced rebellion.

The Ottoman Janissary system seems similar to the Assyrian practice of assimilating and dispersing conquered peoples. For instance, the Israelite Daniel and his companions were taken into the court of the Assyrian king for education and eventual responsibility in governing his empire.

The millet system’s tolerance for other religions was practical, as people are most likely to fight for the religious practices that are ingrained in their world views. Who would you more likely want to displease; your God or some remote king-at-this-time?

Taking the best and brightest children for government service assured that

Essay: When you say “WE,” just who do you mean?

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When you say “WE,” just who do you mean?

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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#fundamentalism #authoritarianism #human #development #integral

Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

When you say “WE,” just who do you mean?

Family is always, obviously, “WE.” But stopping there just puts too many limits on the culture that we can achieve. If WE is only family, you need a strict father or tribal chief to enforce order and to lead YOUR cousins on plundering raids against OTHER families or tribes.

If your WE is too small, you have to always arm yourselves and be vigilant to protect your life and property against the next small group that defines “US” as just “OUR family” or “OUR tribe.” 

Without broader cooperation, life just becomes too hard and too dangerous and it often becomes necessary to attack other families or tribes to survive. Our philosophy becomes, “If we do not stand for ourselves, first, foremost, and always, we stand to fall.” If WE is too small, it is moral to take what YOU can from THEM because OUR needs are more important to US because survival is always the highest value.

Or, do you get your values and sense of who you are from a larger association, community of faith, or regional alliance? Do you identify primarily as Scandinavian Lutherans or Southern Baptists? Is YOUR version of God the ONLY TRUE God? My, how comforting that

Essay: Stages of psychosocial consciousness and culture

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Stages of psychosocial consciousness and culture

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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Integral

Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters





Stages of psychosocial consciousness and culture




The 19^th century German philosopher, Georg Hegel, noted that conflict enables transformation to higher states of organization. This idea was reinforced by research in the 20^th; particularly in Developmental Psychology. These states have developed sequentially through human history as increasingly organized world views—for both individuals and cultures.

As we develop through childhood we experience this transformation and change as our thoughts and feelings become more complex. Developmental psychology demonstrates that this kind of staged development continues through adulthood. Leading researchers have supported this concept of developmental stages: Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, Jane Loevinger, Abraham Maslow, and Robert Kegan.

Hierarchical structures seem judgmental to many and too-easily reflect a prejudicial bias toward people like themselves. Kegan concluded, and carefully defended the objectivity of a staged developmental model, which is generally now considered indisputable.




The work of American psychologist Clare W. Graves extended the concept of cross-cultural staged psychological development. He described these stages as part of a

Essay: Our American Elites – Part 1 Puritan vs. Plantation

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Our American Elites – Part 1 Puritan vs. Plantation

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Cultural origins of Northern and Southern cultures and political attitudes

Our American Elites – Part 1
Puritan vs. Plantation

You have seen me struggling to make sense of the differences between conservatives and liberals, the balance between personal liberties and public responsibilities, and persistent class differences in America. Today, I read an article that suggested a difference between American elites that fills in a gap in my thinking. Naturally, I’m excited and want to share.

Despite our belief that all men are created equal, we have always understood that some of us have advantages of education, wealth, connections, and influence that are not shared equally. And, as a competitive capitalistic society, we mostly accept these class differences in the hope that someday we, or our children, might become rich and powerful too. We expect to always have our elites.

The thing that got my attention was the idea that, in America, there are two major background philosophies among our elites. Some derive their life-views from Puritan thought while some get their thinking from Plantation attitudes. This makes a difference in how a person of privilege thinks about

Essay: The ugly truth about hate speech

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The ugly truth about hate speech

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

The ugly truth about hate speech

It has been a week for contemplating Matthew 12:34, where Jesus pointed out that, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” We continue to be witness to speech and actions of intense hate, cruelty, and outright evil.

I like to think that I am optimistic and frequently take note of good things and of how many things are getting better. But, at this moment my heart is heavy and my head is bowed.

This week, I watched a recording of Representative John Sullivan from Oklahoma at a town hall meeting. He implicitly threatened Democratic Senators: “You know, but other than me going over there with a gun and holding it to their heads and maybe killing a couple of them, I don’t think they’re going to listen unless they get beat.” [He later apologized.]

Memories from just over a year ago came flooding back. Democratic U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head at point blank range by an anti-government activist. Eighteen other people were also shot and six of them died.

I was reminded of how that year was thick with the coded language of “Second Amendment remedies.” Sarah Palin’s PAC had published a political action “target map” showing Giffords’ district in the crosshairs of a gun. Even the Pima Arizona County Sheriff expressed concerns that the pervasive rhetoric of anger, hatred, prejudice, and bigotry that he felt had contributed to Giffords’ shooting.

A brief Internet search shows that there are at least six different versions of “Liberal Hunting Permit” circulating – usually with no bag limit.

Don’t even try to tell me that this is harmless rhetoric.

This is Real.
This is Immediate.
This is Persistent.
This is Personal.
This is Evil.

I lived in southern Texas when James Byrd, Jr. was lynched not so very long ago. He was tied with chains to the back of a pickup truck and dragged to death near Jasper, Texas.

Fear and hate in our hearts and hands are not yet gone from our nation. 

Let us take a stand for the fruitages of the spirit. May our hearts be open to abundant love, joy, peace…