Changing the mindset on how we view human interconnection

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CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

2016 presidential election demographics favor the Democrats and the Clintons, with the swing vote going to Latin American women over 65.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/election ... ction.html

Here is my take on what is most likely to happen. The Democrats have the edge, and Hillary Clinton is going to be the first woman president.

My own dreams and the dreams of Hispanic women throughout the country are best protected by the Democratic Party and Clinton. It's true that I wanted a career in politics, and it simply did not happen. I do not hold office beyond my membership in the NM State Bar, and I'm known more for being from a poor, militarized state and a dysfunctional family than for anything positive and good. I sometimes struggle for a positive view of myself and my own people.

Because I feel frustrated about wanting political power to advance a dove-environmentalist-liberal agenda, I get green-eyed jealous and competitive in relation to imperialistic, but otherwise liberal Democrats. Competitive personal jealousy is not acceptable. Knowing my own personal bias, and not liking it at all, I have to ignore my nose-against-the-window leanings and support the Clinton Democratic team.

Okay, personally, I wish I could run for president and win in 2016, but that cannot come close to happening. It is a fantasy that is impossible times a million. So, I am behind Hillary for the 2016 race. Because I am not a titled officeholder, I can't even hope for the go-to-funerals job of Vice Prez. All I can do is vote and write my heart out.

I want Hillary to win, and I will vote for her.

My private ambitions and those of my beleaguered State of New Mexico and the Americans of Latin descent have to wait for better times. We feel hurt, but we are optimistic and willing to keep working toward a cleaner planet, fewer deaths at the hands of the military and stronger communities.

The insensitive Republicans will lose, the imperialistic Democrats will win, and folks like me just get to wipe away our tears and appreciate the wonderful gift that is our American citizenship.

~
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

There are things about my favorite presidential candidate that I don't like.

I said to myself, "Self, what do we do about the things we don't like?"

I answered myself. "If we can, we fix them. If not, we accept and forgive."

I forgive Hillary two things. One. Her support for war. Two. Her being able to do what so many of us wanted to do, and could not; get elected to the Big Job.

I forgive myself for a couple of things, too. Being jealous and being impatient.

~
Changed my mind. I'm not voting for Hillary.

~
Last edited by CarmelaBear on Sat Mar 28, 2015 6:21 am, edited 2 times in total.
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Here is a beautiful and moving story of quiet dignity and compassion. ( Look through some of the photos and links inside the article as well. ) 8)

https://homes.yahoo.com/blogs/spaces/ed ... 39319.html
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

Makes a body want to go scoop it up and plant it in a park.

:!:
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

CarmelaBear wrote:Makes a body want to go scoop it up and plant it in a park.

:!:
Or leave it where it is and destroy all the other buildings around it. Not so quiet but sometimes noise is necessary. Thumbs up for this lady. Nice article James.
“To live is enough.” ― Shunryu Suzuki

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Thank you both for your kind words. What I found compelling and so moving was not only the woman's steadfast simple dignity but the man's devoted compassion and indeed the community's outpouring of support. It really seemed to beautifully exemplify Joseph's well known quote I spotted on the homepage just now. 8)

The key to the Grail is compassion,
suffering with, feeling another’s sorrow
as if it were your own.

The one who finds
the dynamo of compassion
is the one who’s found the Grail.


Joseph Campbell
A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

I'm almost certain I posted a link to this article somewhere before but I could not find it. After spending over an hour trying to track it down at the risk of repeating it I'm going to go ahead and post it anyway because it's just so powerful and deeply moving. I think it fits perfectly within Joseph Campbell's ideas about the deep mystery upon which our common humanity is riding. And it is truly one of the most profoundly poignant pieces that I have ever read.

http://kentnerburn.com/the-cab-ride-ill-never-forget/
The Cab Ride I’ll Never Forget

kent_nerburn4

There was a time in my life twenty years ago when I was driving a cab for a living. It was a cowboy’s life, a gambler’s life, a life for someone who wanted no boss, constant movement and the thrill of a dice roll every time a new passenger got into the cab.

What I didn’t count on when I took the job was that it was also a ministry. Because I drove the night shift, my cab became a rolling confessional. Passengers would climb in, sit behind me in total anonymity and tell me of their lives.

We were like strangers on a train, the passengers and I, hurtling through the night, revealing intimacies we would never have dreamed of sharing during the brighter light of day. I encountered people whose lives amazed me, ennobled me, made me laugh and made me weep. And none of those lives touched me more than that of a woman I picked up late on a warm August night.

I was responding to a call from a small brick fourplex in a quiet part of town. I assumed I was being sent to pick up some partiers, or someone who had just had a fight with a lover, or someone going off to an early shift at some factory for the industrial part of town.

When I arrived at the address, the building was dark except for a single light in a ground-floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a short minute, then drive away. Too many bad possibilities awaited a driver who went up to a darkened building at 2:30 in the morning.

But I had seen too many people trapped in a life of poverty who depended on the cab as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation had a real whiff of danger, I always went to the door to find the passenger. It might, I reasoned, be someone who needs my assistance. Would I not want a driver to do the same if my mother or father had called for a cab?

So I walked to the door and knocked.

“Just a minute,” answered a frail and elderly voice. I could hear the sound of something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman somewhere in her 80s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like you might see in a costume shop or a Goodwill store or in a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The sound had been her dragging it across the floor.
The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

“Would you carry my bag out to the car?” she said. “I’d like a few moments alone. Then, if you could come back and help me? I’m not very strong.”

I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm, and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness.

“It’s nothing,” I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”

“Oh, you’re such a good boy,” she said. Her praise and appreciation were almost embarrassing.
When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”

“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered.

“Oh, I don’t mind,” she said. “I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.”

I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening. “I don’t have any family left,” she continued. “The doctor says I should go there. He says I don’t have very long.”

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. “What route would you like me to go?” I asked.
For the next two hours we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they had first been married. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she would have me slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.”
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. Without waiting for me, they opened the door and began assisting the woman. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her; perhaps she had phoned them right before we left.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase up to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

“How much do I owe you?” she asked, reaching into her purse.

“Nothing,” I said.

“You have to make a living,” she answered.

“There are other passengers,” I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held on to me tightly. “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,” she said. “Thank you.”

There was nothing more to say. I squeezed her hand once, then walked out into the dim morning light. Behind me, I could hear the door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I did not pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the remainder of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away? What if I had been in a foul mood and had refused to engage the woman in conversation? How many other moments like that had I missed or failed to grasp?

We are so conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unawares. When that woman hugged me and said that I had brought her a moment of joy, it was possible to believe that I had been placed on earth for the sole purpose of providing her with that last ride.

I do not think that I have ever done anything in my life that was any more important.

Life is so precious and can be so short; riding on a razor's edge only to come to an end in an instant by the intervention of some mysterious unforeseen element or force. And I think this article underlines the realization of how just below the surface of everyday existence there is a deeper dimension upon which our everyday goings and comings are operating. And that the realization of this can inform and provide us with a deeper sense of meaning in the lives that we are living if we are only sensitive enough to perceive it's presence and try to listen to it's message instead of following whatever preconceived notions of value we may already have in place.
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Here is an inspiring story about a noble woman striving to pass on her culture with the meaning that it brings even though she is aging and almost totally alone in her efforts to do so. 8)

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32294739
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

Wow! James, you never cease to find great stories about real people who exceed all the limits. It is enriching! Thank you.

~
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

CarmelaBear wrote:Wow! James, you never cease to find great stories about real people who exceed all the limits. It is enriching! Thank you.

~
Thank you for your kind words Carmela. Concerning the story above about the woman teaching her culture's heritage I think she is most definitely a " real " hero. As to the one about the taxi ride before it I am " profoundly " moved every time I read it. :)
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

8)

Your modesty is one of your most endearing qualities.

~
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

It's so hard to comprehend that feeding the hungry can become a crime.
I just don't get it. Does anyone know what 33 cities are involved in this type of legislation?

http://act.watchdog.net/petitions/4753? ... DIVWczRlhw

Image
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Carmela wrote:
It's so hard to comprehend that feeding the hungry can become a crime.
I just don't get it. Does anyone know what 33 cities are involved in this type of legislation?
Carmela without knowing more about the circumstances I might venture a couple of things that might be worth considering when looking at this issue. In many cities it is tied to several concerns the business community has that is linked to shopping and tourism traffic areas because that is normally where the homeless generally congregate to try and obtain whatever financial assistance they can supplement what little resources they may have that are available for their survival. You may also notice certain traffic intersections; such as shopping area vehicle entrances and exits or major commuter routes because that's where the possibility of obtaining money has more potential. Two; some of what we might call " panhandlers " can be rather aggressive; and there is also the issue of drugs and alcohol that is sometimes associated with this situation.

But underneath some of these concerns lies an issue long tied to poverty which is " entitlements "; ( a major rallying cry of certain political groups ); which use this negative stereotypical image to manipulate legislative support by massaging the negative aspects normally associated with the poor and disadvantaged with the logic that if you take away the resources these people will go away.

Also there is the rural as well as the urban dimension to consider for there are different factors driving this in some instances; but none the less I will point out a couple of more things to add to this that also should be noted. One is food banks; supported by churches and other non-profit organizations; which more and more is what many of those who are impoverished depend on; and the other has to do with the rising cost of living driven by a consumer oriented society that constantly emphasizes the creation of jobs for the purchase of things and personal wealth as more important than our human connection to the relieving of suffering as a major societal value.

IMHO the real dynamic involved here that pushes this whole concern at a more basic human level is changing the way people think about what they value at a societal level. In the larger picture I don't think you can legislate the solution simply because it has to do with the whole prioritizing of what the societal values are and how our relationship to our fellow human beings is perceived. In other words if the poor can be perceived as a nuisance or as somewhat less than worthy of consideration instead of a priority then you have a perfect example of how the order of the value system is arranged. ( If you need an example think about how fast these values change when some sort of catastrophic disaster occurs and people all of a sudden have to depend upon each other for survival. ) Now this is definitely an overly simplistic view of the problem; and could expand into a much larger discussion to be sure. But sadly as you have brought up; as difficult as it is I think this issue has more to do with perception and mindset concerning a societal view of the poor than just this particular legislative situation. Yes this most definitely is a pretty outrageous; heartbreaking; and dysfunctional condition. And it reminds me of ( The Power of Myth ) where Joseph Campbell said something about the Golden Rule ( where you treat your bother like yourself because he " is " yourself ). :idea:
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

George Lucas has another idea. I wish all the rich did things like this.


http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/17/real_es ... ney_latest

~
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Carmela thanks for your post on the ( Media and Role Models ) thread referring to this. Yes I think he understands the problem perfectly. 8)
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

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