Monday, May 23, 2016

ARE YOU FAILING TO FULFILL YOUR POTENTIAL?



Did you know that a great many of our private mega-corporations were publicly funded? Would you like to know when we’re going to receive our cut?

As I was scanning news articles the other day I came across an article on alternet.org written about Noam Chomsky; for any of you unfamiliar with him I’ll just say that he can offer you a more objective and ethical view of what is transpiring in this country and our world.

The article was written by Alexandra Rosenmann on May 20, 2016 and is titled “Noam Chomsky Reveals The Hypocrisies of Capitalism in the Financial Capital of the World.” Anyway, Mr. Chomsky was talking about how our financial sector is tax-funded, and that instead of giving the public (that’s us) their fair share of the profits after all these years; like they would a regular investor, they kept it for themselves. I’m thinking about the billions of dollars residing in offshore bank accounts (Microsoft, Apple, & many others) at this moment.


So I got to thinking about our institutions and what we can do to improve them. My study of modern Chinese history and the horrible consequences of their cultural revolution revealed that throwing away our entire history would be very detrimental to our future. Therefore, our best hope is to analyze and remodel the parts of our society and institutions that don’t function effectively. I needed more information about institutions.

I looked on my home bookshelf and found what I was looking for. In 1976 (reprinted in 1981) Edward T. Hall introduced the world to an amazingly stimulating book called Beyond Culture. Mr. Hall expressed the opinion; along with other great students of the human mind, that failing to fulfill one’s potential is the greatest tragedy that can befall a person. He goes on to explain that our cultures and institutions act as anchors which prevent us from fully developing as individuals and as groups.

This reminded me of a video by Alan Watts (philosopher) where he explained that the true goal of spiritual doctrines was to help people see beyond them; because they are artificial creations of humans and limit us. You can view it here in two parts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtgNjBqUVgU.


What do you think? Want to know more?

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