ratty-
nice lyrics!
in honor of your 34th, here's a replay of my
horse tale from four years back:
March 26, 2002
Horse Walks Into A Bar
A horse walks into a bar.
The bartender looks at him closely
and asks,
"So. Why the long face?"
The horse begins to talk,
"During the Clinton years it was easy
to be optimistic because international
guidance and policy from him was
harmonious with the laws of nature's
lust for life and growth. Abundance was
nurtured and everything was growing...
'too exuberantly', according to Alan
Greenspan.
Clinton's vision was that this abundance
would be shared globally... as outlined
in the 'New Rules for the New Economy'
by Kevin Kelly, abundance would become
so common that it would be freely shared
and given to all on earth.
Borders would dissolve. The successful
would teach the less fortunate to use
the networking tools of the information
age... infinite information and knowledge
would be available for all to build
abundance of their own and all on earth
would share information and knowledge. All
would prosper. The old pyramid model of
'leadership from the top down' would be
turned upside down and the power of
decisions and action, and all the
information necessary to guide the ship
would flow from the many... from the
individual crew members, to the helmsmen.
We came so close to that critical mass
necessary for that paradigm shift. If
counted in popular vote in the 2000
election it was there... Al Gore was
part of the problem though. He so
overreacted to the pressure of political
correctness to disassociate with Bill
Clinton's personal faults that he let the
big dream die. Instead he focused on the
little dream of pleasing enough voters to
win the election. Peer pressure from the
squeaky wheels put the fear in him and
he lost the courage to act on his vision
from the heart.
The boom of the 1990's was a severe and
enormous threat to the 'old economy' and
the 'old wealth'. Their assets and power
were threatened and were, in fact,
disappearing before their eyes. Their wealth
was pouring out of their bank accounts like
a dam had burst. The 'dot coms' and info
tech companies were sucking up that flow
like dry sponges. Nerds, small new
companies and individual investors with
their new tools of computers and instant
information from the new internet network
were quicker on their feet, quicker to
analyze, and quicker to change direction
than the 'old wealth' powerhouses whose
interests were naturally self serving from
fear of losing their wealth and power.
These nerds, small new companies and
individuals did not have this fear. They
were not afraid to lose wealth and power
because they'd never had it to begin with.
It's easy to share with the underdogs of
the world out of joy and gratitude if
you've been an underdog yourself. Having
seen the philosophy of the 'New Rules for
the New Economy" work for them as well as
for the masses it makes sense that they
would share rather than hoard the wealth,
for it is that principle that created more
wealth and more opportunity for more
people in the first place. It is, in fact,
exactly how the wealth flowed to them.
It's a hard lesson to grasp and comprehend
but, giving and sharing wealth freely is
the only way to assure that the flow will
continue. 'Fear of loss' and 'hoarding' is
counterproductive and will stop that flow.
Hear me now and believe me later...
That is a law of nature.
Alan Greenspan, an old school economist,
upon seeing something very strange occurring
and not understanding the natural law of
growth, began trying to stem the growth and
flow by raising interest rates and issuing
vocal warnings to increase fear. He saw the
old American powerhouse 'smokestack'
behemoths faltering and was worried that
they would collapse because they were not
designed to adapt to the changing economy
quickly enough to save their asses (assets).
His actions were ineffective as long as
Clinton was at the helm because Clinton
nurtured and supported the new world economy
with his vision and understanding of the
natural principle of abundance... the
principal that says new tools of knowledge
and access to the global network must flow
out to all people of the world if we are
to keep the flow coming in and avoid an
imbalance of wealth and power in the world.
Otherwise, that imbalance would precipitate
cataclysmic anger, distrust, envy and
feelings of forced poverty upon the
majority of the people on the planet.
With the changing of the guard in 2000, the
rules of the 'old economy' were back.
Immediately the 'smokestack', 'gas and oil'
and 'old wealth' economic rules were back
in the driver's seat and the Bush
administration began to shore up the dams
and build back the walls that had been
leaking wealth and power to the masses.
Also patched were holes in the walls such
as free trade, global treaties to protect
the environment, and treaties to stop the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Even more holes in the walls, like lowered
defense spending and the reduced emphasis
on building offensive weapons (things that
acknowledged international trust and
interdependence) were quickly plugged by
withdrawing from long-standing treaties and
international agreements, increasing military
spending, revamping plans to build a 'star
wars' presence in space and 'saber rattling'
to assert America's superiority.
America was saved and the graybeards rejoiced!
But what they did not see, due to their
'fear of loss' and 'hoarding' nature, was
exactly what Bill Clinton was trying to avoid.
An imbalance of wealth and power in the
world, with a demonstrated unwillingness to
play fairly in a world economy, quickly began
to precipitate anger, distrust, envy and
feelings of forced poverty and powerlessness
upon the poorest and most downtrodden people
on the planet.
KAPOW!!...
Nineteen frustrated guys from one of the
poorest and least powerful areas of the
world hijacked four of our own airplanes
and flew them as bombs into what they saw
as the symbols of the 'hoarding' oppressors.
And what did we do in return? Instead of
recognizing the cause and trying to understand
and seek a cure for it, we reinforced the
walls further, plugged up more holes,
rattled more sabers and declared war on
frustration. Anyone in the world who was
frustrated to the point of suicidal/homicidal
action against the tight fisted, self serving
wealth of the world's most powerful was
declared an enemy of the United States...
a terrorist... a target to be hunted down
anywhere in the world and killed. All
without benefit of any legal defense or
trial.
Well let me tell you... that amounts to
more than two thirds of the people on the
planet including many Americans and is
growing both in number and increased
frustration levels every day as long as
we continue the course of action that
we are pursuing.
Our present course of action is a
prescription for disaster for the
United States of America."
The bartender pours the horse a beer and
asks with concern,
"What will it take for countries to
support each other for other than profit? "
"Profit is not the culprit, profit is an
essential ingredient in growth - it is the
great motivator, the reward for effort
well placed. 'Fear of loss' is the
culprit... a misunderstanding of the
natural principle of abundance. When you
fear that your brother is going to steal
your wealth, that's when you stop the
flow and increase the frustration. You
insult his sense of honor and encourage
him to prove you right if for no other
reason than to get back at you for the
insult.
When you share your abundance unconditionally,
when you trust the goodness in humanity and
teach others to gain wealth and power, when
you stop hoarding and start building
cooperative ventures for all to profit
together, that's when you allow the natural
principle of abundance to work freely.
Capitalism is based on profit, not on
competition. When it is understood that
cooperation produces more profit than
competition, partnerships abound,
spawning greater and more widely-spread
profits. That's what mergers and
partnerships are all about."
The bartender scratches his head and
continues with his questions,
"What will it take for us to take care of
our home, our world, our home planet? "
The horse replies,
"Courage and a larger perspective...
We must see that short term fear leads
us directly to longer term disaster.
By the end of this century (perhaps
much sooner), the United States of
America will not exist in its present
form. That's a promise.
We have a choice. We can continue our
present course and our current policies
of being a separate, superior nation of
tight fisted wealth and be destroyed
by anger, distrust, envy and feelings
of forced poverty and powerlessness by
the poorest and most downtrodden...
or we can give and freely share our
wealth, power and talent with the rest
of the world by evolving into a globally
oriented nation... a government that
listens to all the people on the planet.
One modeled after our success as a country
that opens its doors to people of all
faiths, races, colors and creeds...
a global government that respects every
human's rights to life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness and protects those
rights on an international scale.
Regardless of what we do, it will happen.
It is nature's path.
If we don't listen to nature and adjust
to harmonize with its path it will happen
violently and perhaps sooner. If we do
listen and follow that vision from a larger
more encompassing perspective it will be
more pleasant and will include more
laughter and recreational opportunities
to enjoy along the way."
Finally the bartender asks,
"What can we do as individuals to help
this happen via the 'pleasant' route?"
The horse continues,
"Just watch and listen to nature...
1) Observe nature from the large, all
encompassing perspective.
2) Make whatever personal adjustments you need
to harmonize with what you learn from those
observations. Don't fight nature.
3) Internalize the view of nature's evolution
as your own view and then everything you do
and every decision you make will contribute
to the 'pleasant' route to the future.
4) Share your toys and play well with others.
Trust the goodness in your brothers and
sisters.
Nature has only one commandment for success.
'Do unto others as you would have others do
unto you.' From nature's perspective we are
all ONE. Anything that hurts your fellow man
hurts you.
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.
I needed to voice it just to consolidate and
clarify my thoughts to myself. They've been
eating away at me for awhile."
The horse finishes his beer and walks out.
The bartender looks over at a slightly
inebriated pig who has been sitting at the
bar eavesdropping on the entire conversation.
Observing that the pig is extremely moved and
bursting at the seams to say something about
what he has just heard, the bartender
obligingly asks,
"Well? What did you think of that?"
The pig looks up at the bartender and
squeals out,
"WOW! A TALKING HORSE!!"
-elpolvo |
