We live in a Global Village: People interest over personal interest
These times of uncertainty, anxiety and overwhelming information, mean that many of us are seeking to find a sense of calmness.
On top of that, the global upheavals of a virulent pandemic, a very real climate crisis, the instability of economic and political powers and the emergence of anti-racist and anti-violent movements like Black Lives Matter and US Presidential Impeachment procedures are all issues that call to people to engage responsively with our world.
A mindfulness practice, the simple act of pausing, taking a breath and becoming aware of our mind, body and heart, may offer some respite as well as a way to support one’s desire for action.
J. Michael Dennis, ll.l., ll.m.
Strategic Systemic Planning… and Many Other Things
Today and tomorrow, like it or not, the future belongs to crowds.
We are now living in a society where there are too many chiefs and not enough indians.
Remember the images of the Chinese pro-democracy protesters dispersed by troops in Tiananmen Square; the images of the several million mourners streaming through the streets of Tehran to the funeral of Ayatollah Khomeini; the images of a “tent city” emerging in Tompkins Square Park; the images of hundreds of English soccer fans penned against a chain-link fence during a match at Hillsborough Stadium, in Sheffield?
The year 2020 is now defined by images of crowds to rival those of the past: people waiting in mile-long lines at food banks; police using tear gas to disperse protesters; thousands of people gathered in support of Black Life Matters, Pro-life, LGBTQ rights and so on. More than ever, the protests of the past few years have shown that the most immediate and dramatic way for people to register discontent and call for change is by massing in the streets in frank and perilous defiance of the establishment and public order.
More than ever, people are standing in the streets rather that in the voting polls.
A dire consequence: governments, legislators and politicians are no longer adopting legislations and policies to build a better society, they are doing it to please the crowds and make sure to be re-elected and maintain their own personal power. To make things worse, news media in search of better ratings, are throwing oil on the fire: news commentators are no longer reporting, they are commenting; the more incipient and incendiary they are, the more profit. The real problem of the world today is not the Covid-19, the real problem is the degeneracies and degeneration of the people.
Imbecility is now the trademark of most of our populations.
Among the younger generation, progressive values are hegemonic. On issues ranging from LGBTQ and women’s rights to anti-racism and immigration, younger people are attempting to communicate their moral values on social media to the older generation. “Black Lives Matter” is just one flashpoint in that struggle.
2020 is getting really crazy, perhaps the most astounding year in generations, a year of norm-shattering abnormalities with an unlimited potential of destruction that might culminate in world-wide conflicts.
Based on the crisis-infused year we are in now, it is easy to predict that the balance of 2020 will unfold with even more craziness and long forgot aberrations. As I see it, as for the deluge, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Covid-19 is a benediction that will purge the earth from all the Trumps of this world, from all the malefactors of an evil society.
Michel Ouellette / Joseph Michael Dennis,isa former attorney, a Crisis & Reputation Management Expert,a Public Affairs & Corporate Communications Specialist, a Warrior for Common Sense and Free Speech.
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