Monday, July 5, 2010

Major areas of modern knowledge

An educated citizen needs to be able to apply concepts and foundations learned in one area to other areas as part of a lifelong learning process. The educated citizen needs to be able to live and work intelligently, responsibily and cooperatively in a multicultural society and to develop abilities to address complex issues and problems using disciplined analytical skills and creative techniques.
An educated citizen checks out the society and his role within, does he see how other citizens fit into that broad overview? Does he obtain knowledge of cultures and civilizations on an overall global understanding? The world is definately going global. What happens on the other side of the world effects our side of the world and what reprocussions does it have for us. Perhaps one of the largest problem confronting America and our population is the job situation. Americans have long been receiving large wages and benefits when you compare the remainder of the world. Now is the time when Americans are seeing their wages and benefits stagnating and declining. The "American Dream" is starting to disappear, the middle class is getting smaller, requirements for jobs are becoming steeper for less money. Expenses are skyrocketing due to world demand for the same supply that had been America's. China, and India have more and more people entering the "middle class" and demanding the same resources, thus prices are increasing. America is having to come to grips with vast changes that most do not comprehend.
An educated citizen needs to absorb all the information and translate that into decisions within. They need to be able to communicate their opinions to friends, neighbors, church groups, civic groups anyone that can help change for "The Greater Good".

Thursday, July 1, 2010

The Greater Good

The Greater Good is a term that is being used nationwide in the past few months. I have looked up the term and going to give you a breakdown of what it really means. The information comes from a great site: http://allforthegreatergood.com/
Basic definition: "All for the Greater Good is a philosophy that embraces the vast-untapped power of humanity to focus collectively on wisdom that improves our world's sustainable quality of life."
"Purpose: To improve our world
Vision: Influence our worldview with wisdom that improves sustainable quality of life.
Basis: Scientific Method
Emerging Ecological Worldview
Greater Good Theory, a.k.a., Greater Good Philosophy--asserting that civilizations whose leaders and people center their worldview around Greater Good values ultimately improve their sustainable prosperity.
Progressive Scientific knowledge and Classic wisdom.
Value-oriented--love, truth & happiness, liberty, social justice, and unconditional mutual respect, tolerance, empathy and patience, synergistic relationships and functional ego, anti-scarcasm, anti-avarice and non-aggression, humanitarianism and Meliorism, optimistic, proactive, and pragmatic attitude, tactiful cooperation and collaborative spirit.(Meliorism def. noun, the belief that society has an inate tendency toward improvement and that this tendency may be furthered through conscious human effort.--The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, third edition)
Key Method: Transform our educational philosophy to foster nurturing learning environments, which inspire love for life, knowledge, and creativity, while emulating our most noble ideals."
Results:
"Vast increase in Quality of life and sustainability for all.
Global security
Fulfilling & harmonious society
Improved educational system
Self correcting citzenship, through a collective purpose.
Broadmindedness & emotional intelligence
Less aggression and lower crime rate
Productivity
World Patriotism
Salvation for our civilization"

That gives you a better idea of what The Greater Good is about. Notice, it is about everyone, not some at the high end of the class structure. Several people send me emails saying that you can't attain wealth, if you have to share it with the entire population. What they don't say is; they only care about "their" bottom line, no one else. It is a very "I" centered situation. The Greater Good is not "I" centered, but doing what is right for the entire civilization.
We are now starting into that era. The Green Earth means we all have to work together to be able to sustain our existence. It also means the people looking only at the bottom line MUST stop looking at the bottom line only. They have to start putting anti-pollution devices on chimneys on factories, safety devices for employees, etc. They have to get their eyes off the bottom line and look at what is best for their employees and the entire population.
If you haven't been following the solar energy movement, it has been a very slow climb to even get recognition. Yes, the product has had to get better, but in reality, the real reason is solar energy doesn't bring in bottom line dollars. It is for the Greater Good, however, not for the financial giants.
The "Populist" party has been using this term for years. Populism is usually used in expressing thoughts from the people in a particular region, especially involving farmers, that protest against depressed economic conditions for example, the Populist Party from 1892-1908.
With the Republican and Democratic parties both falling on their faces with their constituencies voters are starting to look around for alternatives. More and more independents are registering to vote because existing Republican and Democratic voters can not "buy" what their parties are "selling". The Populist party is gaining in this area also. If you would like to see some of their views, check out Jim Hightower's site: Lowdown from our resources section on the first page.
This is getting pretty long, so I will cut it off for now, more later.