Why do we humans elevate the least evolved among us to positions of the most power?

Why do we humans elevate the least evolved among us to positions of the most power?  The list of "powerful" people, politicians and CEOs, who are psychopaths, whose cravings for power dominate their lives, is extensive.  If you list the politicians and CEOs in power now, how many of them are psychopaths? Most if not all. That means they do not care about anyone or anything but themselves and that which pleases them.  And we see the result. The world is on fire. The social contract has been shredded in the US and is in the process of being shredded in other countries. More violence, more hate, more religious insanity.  Aren't we tired of this?  I know I am.  Aren't you?

Independence Day??

Ironic that on Independence day weekend the "Supreme" Court has chosen to take the nation one step closer to theocracy, the very thing this country was founded NOT to be. By ruling that businesses can refuse to serve someone based on religious preferences is an appalling and unethical "flipping of the bird" at the founders of this country, and at the people alive now, the majority of whom do not want the US to be ruled by so-called christian tenets.  

The civil war is on, the evangelical, white supremacist and Catholic extremists are fighting tooth and nail to establish the US as a "Christian Nation" to be ruled by white heterosexual men.

It's Just Another Day...

 I awoke feeling the weight of the world today, seeing all the hate being stirred up in the US by religious extremists against transgender people.  I understand the machinations of cults, and I understand how republican political extremists use religion to manipulate folks who are susceptible.  We have seen in Germany and Rwanda and elsewhere, how those seeking control will demonize a group and get their followers to hate and harm those they've demonized. This is what's happening with transgender people in the United States. The Christian "Right" has chosen trans folk to demonize.  Social media is rife with religious extremists, not only Christians but also extremist Jews and Muslims, broadcasting their fear and hate.  It's very sad and misguided, and eventually, as the "good Germans" did, most of them will come to regret their participation in the Republican death and hate cult, but not until they have caused great harm and suffering. Make no mistake about it, they are causing harm and suffering now.

I do not care what people believe. I care how they behave.  If you don't understand transgenderism, that is fine.  If you disagree with the science and psychology, so be it.  Please, however, do not make other people's lives more difficult because of your beliefs and feelings.  Be kind, even when you don't agree or understand.  

A Traveling Person

One of the things I do with this life I have been given is to travel. I am fortunate to be able to do so! Part of my intention, in all I experience, is to make my experiences available to others so they might find some value for themselves.

On May 9 I flew to England for a month.  I went to visit friends, and to meet up with old friends from Vermont to hike Hadrian's Wall, an 80+ mile trail which runs from one side of the island to the other near the Scottish border.  I attended a friend's concert, I met new friends, I did some bodywork happy to see that I still "have it," I received some excellent bodywork, saw great art (the Van Gogh Immersive Exhibit), ate good food, drank lots of cider, and felt the strong connection I have with that land.  I have 0% Celtic genetics in this body but 100% spiritual connection to the Earth in that place.  I grew up in New England, and if you look at the Pangea maps (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGdPqpzYD4o) you see that New England and the British Isles were all once part of the same land map adjacent to each other,  which may be part of it.  I recognize the flora and fauna as familiar.

Something I notice traveling is how easy it is to share kindness, whether with friends or the person serving in a pub or café or the person ringing up groceries in the store.  This is not news to me. Traveling across Canada and the US in the early 2000s I found the same thing.  Most people are available for a smile and a friendly word, if not more.  With all of the political sturm and drang, and the active efforts by political agents to polarize We The People, I hope this is not lost!  Nowadays politics and religion serve more to divide us than to bring us together, and more's the shame.

Now I am back in Jamaica.  It's hot and green.  The politics here are as corrupt as they are anywhere, with the politicians recently giving themselves a 200% raise while giving teachers 2% and police 5%. 

My vision, and I thank my parents for their contribution to this, is for humanity to collectively reject violence, to reject the power-over paradigm and blossom into co-operation and kindness.  We can do it!  I know we can.  I wonder if we will.

This week's episode of Paradigms focuses on a specific modality of healing music coming from African traditions, infused with some modern instruments and multi-cultural foundations.  I hope you'll check it out at Paradigms.Life.  The episode speaks to our individual healing needs and possibilities, which of course informs the well-being of the whole of humanity.  Made with love.