fashionRIP: USA Education System

Monday, January 21, 2013

USA Education System - the Trap

Update: Saturday (1/19/13) i learned a lot.

And now i see why the academic model, even as revised by Antioch, will not lead us to the inclusive, vibrant, abundant future.

Building the Bridge as You Walk on It, was one book we discussed in the class i was invited to attend at the Seattle campus of Antioch University. I resonated with this title, as it spoke to how i work. But the discussion was on all the problems that stop us, students brought up their reasons for not going forward, their rational excuses- all the stuff that stops chi. (the energy of i can, thanx David Dorian Ross and PBS this AM) True, empathy was handed around liberally but baby steps, writing ideas down, going slow and careful or just plain stalling doesn't work for me.

The book suggests eight practices of transformation and wow, ok- no- there are a million ways to access transformation so ..is this not a product of system itself, where the logical, linear, rational, head learning approach is maintained because it's a product of said educational construct?

So even as this was a doctorate level class in Leadership and Transformation, i felt it was a revisit not a step forward. When we broke into groups, i was frustrated by the learning gap i encountered. i tried to expose the principles of belief and system limits, the new possibilities that arrive when you see through new windows and/or choose from the heart/mind space. They asked for evidence.

So i tried to share fashionRIP experiences, how the "doing" opened the door and the magick of that vision manifested. I tried to explain how fashionRIP is my alter ego for public experiments with the conscious approach to energy, empowerment and change.

So even as yes, i see the wall many are facing, please, step back, turn left and walk 100 yards and voila the wall ends. You do not need permission, in fact you probably will not get it if you ask!

It is amazing how quickly that turns into a wall discussion, all the bricks, cement, the height...all the reasons one is stuck are true but again "not the point."

Break:

Then another class rich with theory, supported by data compilers (facts culled from the past to superimpose on the future, how wrong is this?) was interesting. However, when challenged by the idea of western agenda, the profs (team teaching -one man, one woman -nice) were at a loss. This broke the conversation open and two other women chimed in to challenge the "accepted" dogma. Great!

To be fair, the Antioch shared learning approach (much like Evergreen) differs from the usual university model. This was pointed out during the orientation briefing. Most universities are highly competitive organizations. professors are set into pecking order constructs where individual "kings" rule discipline silos. So principles of monarchy are guiding our democracy..really.

Well i can see that learning about co-operative constructs in this situation would be a hoot, for if process and event don't synch then the dichotomy is akin to hypocricy ..and just no.

I credit Antioch with having at least seen some of the problem, though they appeared unable to really question the sanctity of western manmade "reality." AKA they were still there to help plug workers into the system, either because they trust the system or they fear the consequences or both.

(So what bridge are we building as a culture..when we agree to see walls while being taught not to see them?)

I also found it disconcerting that these profs were not willing to discuss more than a subject/object perspective. The theory for the next level was put off for the next seminar session several weeks away. (I am hoping/guessing that will be on the the integrated vision or perspective, which when expanded, really gets exciting)

So i am ever more grateful i had the temerity, the gut instinct to veer off the path of the "smart kid" accelerated advance to UW classes that Rainier Beach pushed. Seems the trap of the academic institution feeds your head as insidiously as the trap of the economic Oz.

The best part of this experience was that I met a gutsy outspoken, artist poet from Tunisia who wants to work with local talent and the new story hub!!

And this is how the bridge is built!

bridge my Uncle Nick built in Gig Harbor,

he also did the head-less critter in last post.

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Why it Matters

What's the matter with more and more fashion choices?

It sounds good; we love to be able to pick the perfect outfit. You wear it once or twice and then ....what was the real cost here?

Your time to shop and the money spent, not so much ....go a little deeper and consider the fiber source, the dyes and chemicals used, the health toll on the workers, the energy to run the machines, the transporting carbons...and now it just takes up closet space. But so what? It's been going on for-almost-ever and you didn't make the rules.

In fact we are told this is what a "healthy" economy looks like.

You will recycle it after all, give it to charity or your sister. This is more transportation and more release of those greenhouse gases. We are using a lot of our personal energy and the resources of this planet to make, use and dump "trash" Some rags, remnants and tawdry bits will molder for eons in landfills, as nature's microbial actions are hampered by our normalized, everyday toxic lifestyles.

This goes beyond dumps as the breakdown cycle that nourishes the life of this planet has been sorely challenged by GMO crops, fertilizers, pesticides, antimicrobials..RIGHT!!. All the "living better through chemistry" propaganda after WWI and II- AKA how to sell your "garbage," is our legacy. Well no more, not on my (our) watch, we are seeing things quite differently.

As we now carry 298 toxins in our bods that weren't there in the 1930s the toxic residues of normal are haunting us more and more. Ironic, no? Advanced is merely a word.

Go to the So Whats the Point blog in February for the numbers.

fashionRIP posts are copr at time of posting thank you

Extinctions ...So What?

Life evolves, some species survive some don't. We like to allude to Darwin's "natural selection" or Herbert Spencer's "survival of the fittest" because we are so good at reproducing and taking over this planet and justifying that side of our natures. The fact that we are wiping out the food chain by destroying habitat, fouling air and water and generally behaving like arrogant, tinkering idiots, is called business as usual. .....Well I and others are no longer buying that "sell."

We are wising up to the idea that we too, are dependent on these resources. We too, are physically an organic species and we really don't know what little extinction will be the start of the chain reaction that collapses the structure that we too, are dependent on.

Is this the price we are willing to pay for a pair of plastic shoes?

I say no, that despite the focus on the physical, we are more. We are heart and soul, mind, body, spirit. We are born of stars and we can and will leap over this world view based in old, untrue beliefs led by a science of isolation and religions of patriarchal, hierarchical constructs (your basic dominating Dad- with self reflective rights to rule). It is time to come together and heal. To transition into our fuller expectations and open the new possibilities. We are born with genius...let us help each other get to where we all can shine.