EvidentlyThe Chinese recently launched a satellite, and the event was shown on national TV. Unfortunately

the TV station made a terrible mistake, and during the lift off they played background music "America The

Beautiful". This evidently enraged the Chinese people, and many made calls and sent messages condemning

the atrocity, and expressing outrage that such hateful music accompanied such a glorious event.

As an American citizen and operator of an American blog, I would like to take this opportunity to express

my sincere condolences to the people of China for what they had to endure. One can scarcely imagine how

horrible it must have been to endure this sordid American garbage during such an illustrious moment for

China.

But, on the bright side, it really isn't a half bad tune. I mean, it could've been worse, and, well, there really

is SOME beauty in America....but even so, the nightmare must have been simply unendurable...

Tone of Voice

Capitalism is competition. America is capitalism, and America is competition. And the level of competition keeps going up, decade after decade, as the economy grows, technology advances, and opportunity beckons. You see it all the time. Forty years ago, when I was in high school, the traffic light would turn green, and my classmates would race to get off the starting line ahead of the classmate in the other lane. I could swear the same people behave the same way, forty years later.

Maybe our competitive spirit has something to do with our angry aggressive political rhetoric.

Of course, its nothing new. In George Washington's day American politicians were calling each other adulterers, drunks, miscreants. Only they did it indirectly, using surrogate sources.

Now we just do it straight up, and the names include modern versions such as "dork", and "moron"...

When my friends email me to argue with me I wish they would use a slightly smaller, lighter font. 

I wish President Obama would lower his voice just a bit, and accuse the Republicans of wanting to do something a bit less harmful than "cripple" the country...

I certainly wish the conservatives wouldn't call Obama a traitor, and accuse him of not being an American citizen...

If we could all just maybe tone it down a tad, and keep making our points clearly, but just a little bit less...let's see now...LOUDLY!

Please pardon the puny print on the previous page. This new website has not yet "worked out all the kinks", but intends to, and appreciates your patience.

For the sight challenged among you, the previous piece, yesterdays last blog, brought into existence a new global organization called "the Worldwide Organization of Ordinary People on the Internet (WOOPI)..

...the purpose of this organization is to bring about an absolute, direct, global  democracy, or to at least talk about it...

You would think that eventually almost everyone would have a web site. Why not?

What's not to like about a web site? Is the internet among the most wonderful achievements of humanity?  Indisputably. And of course it is also a very powerful
tool, with potentially lethal uses...
...Demonstrably, the world needs an ever increasing number of open minded, good hearted thinkers,communicating with each other, sharing their ideas and solutions.
Its possible that the recent revolutions Egypt, Lybia, and Syria were initiated by some tenth grader in New Jersey!

The Internet allows everyone among the world's masses of ordinary, powerless people to have a voice, a voice with which it is possible to exert influence on global society.

It is alleged that the world is controlled by a small, highly secretive group of ultra wealthy and ultra powerful humans, who have for centuries run the world from behind the scenes such that the few profit at the expense of the many.This elite group is called "The Illuminati".

I hereby propose, indeed, I proclaim, a counter group. A group to oppose the Illuminati, to fight for power for the common people, an organization of the
masses, rather than the elite .

I hereby proclaim the formation of THE WORLDWIDE ORGANIZATION of ORDINARY PEOPLE
on the INTERNET, or  "WOOPI!"

Quagmire

Willingness to consider all options is the definition of  "openmindedness", and this attitude can lead you into a quagmire of options. Imagine being totally openminded about your religion. Why, you'd have 11000 to choose from.

Pick any issue. Marriage, for example. Willingness to tolerate any kind of marriage could result in a kind of marital chaos. You, with your traditional Christian marriage, are quite content, for instance. Your next door neighbor is an equally happy gay couple. Across the street live a pair of lesbians. Down the block a bit a half dozen folks maintain a group marriage.  Across the railroad tracks some guy has declared his marriage to a statue of Madonna. (He recently divorced his flagpole). Who among us is sufficiently open minded to even tolerate that, let alone accept it!

Other than this website, probably noone...

It has often been pointed out that it does little good to identify problems without offering solutions.

It is hoped that solutions and opinions will appear often on this site and that they will come from many sources.

What about this? Let's form a consortium of billionaires, pool assets, and invest in clothing and shoe factories, television factories, and motorcycle manufacturing. America needs manufacturing, more of it, correct?

Can the United States import prosperity, or must it be manufactured in the country?

I received an email from a good friend of mine, who happens to be a staunch conservative, expousing the virtues of school voucher programs. He based his support on the idea that competition will improve pubic schools, and will help families afford to send their shildren to private schools.

Public schools, because they are public, are socialistic, and were never  intended to engage in competition. If competition is needed to improve public schools, let us simply improve them, cooperatively, as a community, in exactly the same way that competition with privates schools, in theory, would.

I have no objection to private schools. They are great. The more the merrier. But is it necessary to regard them as "competing" with public schools?...perhaps we could see to it that they work together, for the same goals.

Private schools are free enterprise capitalism, and capitalism should not be interfered with by the goverment, say my conservative friends. Where do vouchers come from?  (the gov)....

There will ensue here many comments about American culture, and global culture, written by many people. Each comment will reflect an openminded approach to life, and it is hoped that the comments will prove interesting, illumanating, original, and thought provoking. .

Current global circumstances seem to indicate a need for open minded, creative discourse.

What I've seen in my 56 years is enough to convince me that we all need to be talking about what's going on in this world, and how to improve it.

I've never been outside the U.S.A., but my opinion is that American culture, strong in many ways, is also so sick that were it a horse it would be shot...

and what information I get about the situation in various parts of the world indicates to me that
things are not much better anywhere else...

We , the human race, could make this planet a paradise, even more than it already is...anyone who wishes to participate here is invited to do so...

Religious Open mindedness

If one wanted to be truly open minded in religious matters, one would have to be an agnostic, correct? To choose a religion, and to steadfastly adhere to it, is a form of closed mindedness, isn't it? So perhaps open mindedness isn't always the answer. I, for example, believe in God. But I'm open minded enough to respect agnosticism as well as all other religiosity. In fact, I think I respect agnosticism more than any other form of belief, including my own, precisely because of its inherent open mindedness.

No human can ever prove or disprove the existence of God. Many have tried, none that I know of have succeeded, though ostensibly convincing proofs have been offered on both sides of the issue.

Our personal beliefs are, ultimately, a matter of choice. I choose to believe in God because I simply want to so believe.

I received an email from a person who said  he noticed two candidates who expoused no liberal viewpoints, and were therefore "probably worth watching". By this he meant that they might possibly be good candidates, precisely because they showed no signs of liberalism.

I used to be the same way, only in reverse. If someone demonstrated an ounce of conservatism, forget 'em. I went the whole nine yards. I called conservatives bad names, and so forth, and so on.

But then I got tired of it. I got tired of myself for being that way. And thus, the whole purpose of this blog is to celebrate my newly open minded attitude towards conservatism, and my new desire to view it as something other than stupid or evil.

We all create our ideologies, and then spend much more time expousing them than questioning them, or augmenting them by changing, or being willing to change them, after giving full consideration to contrary opinions. 

When we openmindedly give credit  (for being valid and understandable) to opinions with which we disagree,  we expand and enhance ourselves.

Surely this is preferrable to resolutely standing our ground, discounting all with whom we disagree, and never augmenting, and thus enhancing ourselves.

I went to donate blood at a high school, and while on my back struck up a conversation with several of the students. One thing led to another, and before long we were betting on who would be finished bleeding first. I won, but was a little amused at myself for caring, and for "trying" to win. (I squeezed the rubber ball a bit more often).

Our culture is obsessed with competition. We parade 6 year old girls on stage, and vote on the best one. Student pianists take their turn before judges who award trophies. Singing and dancing contests dominate television. One television program features a man who challenges himself to eat a huge amount of food within a time limit.

Bela Bartok said "competition is for race horses".

It is well that we live in a country which tolerates and even publicizes theatrical demonstrations. Hundreds of people parade on Wall Street, protesting corporate control of politics. We should all join them.

Or, we should solve the problem with seven words: "The purchase of political advertising is prohibited."

At the  University of California, Republican students hold a bake sale, charging higher prices for white customers, to ridicule affirmative action.  The solution here is a bit more difficult; the elimination of categorical thinking, and the division of humanity into 7 billion "races", each with his or her own skin color.

Ethnicity is a paltry distinction, race is an illusion.

Name Calling

Now comes the season of our narrowmindedness, the political campaign season, upon us far too soon.

Let the name calling begin. This is the usual scenario, yet again, wherein people who graduated high school forty years ago, then had families and careers, start calling opposing candidates "dorks" and "idiots"...

Are they ever reminded of childhood?

Has the word "dork" made it into the dictionary?

Can one really suppose that a person who attended Yale or Harvard is actually an "idiot"?

DORK: a person with whom I, after strenuous, conciliatory thought, vigorously disagree.

IDIOT: a person with whom I, after open minded consideration, disagree.

But just what is strenuous, conciliatory thought, and just what is open minded consideration?

To be openminded is to frequently be uncomfortable and uncertain. Most people dislike openmindedness as much as they dislike truth. Perhaps the most difficult task is to openmindedly give thoughtful consideration to ideas which we initially find abhorrant.

Who has ever been more abhorrant, in word and deed, than Osama Bin laden ? And yet, at least one of his central ideas might have some merit.

Bin laden believed that the United States is too heavily involved in middle eastern affairs, that the U.S. wields too much influence too far from its shores.

This is not altogether unreasonable. It could reasonably be argued, as it has by many Americans, that America should become self sufficient in obtaining energy sources, and less involved in middle eastern matters.

The merit of any idea or opinion should be measured independently of its originator or adherants.

If we can openmindedly measure the merit of an idea from Bin Laden, we can do anything...

Openmindedness

Openmindedness, you might have guessed by now, is the theme, the catchword of this blog. And openmindedness is a rare thing, a very rare thing, difficult to achieve, not to be taken lightheartedly.

Openmindedness requires that the thinker give fair and honest consideration to all ideas.

It requires that the Christian listens to the Moslem, that the liberal listen to the conservative, that one nation listen to another, that we all listen to each other. We all tend to stake out our intellectual territory, and defend it religiously. By doing this we strictly limit our intellectual territory, we strictly limit ourselves.

Is this the best we can do? Or, is there a better way...

As a left wing liberal socialistic member of the Democratic Party, I used to hate conservatives (not really), and despise convervatism....

This I no longer do..in fact, I would like to nominate myself national chairman of the L.L.A., "Limbaugh Liberals of America".  Thus I embrace polar opposites..how do I accomplish this? Listening regularly to Limbaugh from my left wing perch? With great difficulty, I assure you.With great difficulty..but I do it.

I force  myself to do it. To listen openmindedly to conservatives. It aint easy....I have never met another liberal who does this, and because I do it, I am a pariah within my liberal community...

But it must be done. Openmindedness must prevail on this planet, in order for us to survive...we must change our thinking so we can change our civilization, and perhaps save it from ourselves.

The Case Against Competition

Years ago I read a book titled "The Case Against Competition" by an author whose name I forget. It presented a highly persuasive argument for the complete elimination of all forms of human competition, intellectual, athletic, and so on, all forms of competition. The book convinced me, but after I put it down I decided I didn't want to embrace so extreme a position. (I enjoy sports too much).

The world today seems divided and fractured by extreme forms of competition, involving billions of people. Nation against nation, religion against religion, liberalism versus conservatism, rich vs. poor. And so on, endlessly.

Discussing this situation from all conceivable viewpoints is the intent here. OPENMINDEDNESS means willlingness to give consideration to something new and different. Openmindedness should be encouraged by everyone, everywhere...


Ask someone to name their favorite movie. Then ask them to name the best movie ever. Chances are the two answers will be the same movie. Anyone who gives you two different answeres is openminded. Anyone who gives you two different answers understands the vast difference between "subjective" and "objective".  Bless those who give two answers...

The Truthless Reconciler

The Truthless Reconciler is devoted to free expression and openmindedness.How can healthy competition result inthe cooperation which leads to great achievements, rather than the conflict that leads to destruction?

Quite simply, by nurturing an open minded attitude towards disparate ideas which leads to tolerance, acceptance, and systhesis.

There is no absolutely true religion, or absolutely  true philosophy, political system, or economic system. There is only the possibility of evolution and systhesis.

6th grade

My 6th grade teacher, on whom I had a crush 45 years ago, told our class one day to never disscuss religion or politics. I can't remember whether she provided a reason for her admonition, but I suspect she did and probably it had something to do with avoiding conflict. Evidently I wasn't listening very well. I think I was sitting there horrified that anyone would dare deprive me of life's two most interesting topics.

I still have a crush on Mrs Stirewalt, but I still disagree with her advice. Important as the avoidance of conflict is, and the nurturing of cooperation, the cost of censorship is simply not worth the benefits.

The pyramids were probably built with slave labor. Freedom, and free inquiry, must never be sacrificed on the alter of harmony...

Competition and Cooperation

Competition seems to inspire our progress, and cooperation achieves it. We have been, and still are, a highly inspired species. Our future survival would seem to depend on much more cooperation.

Cooperative endeavors have always produced miracles. Through cooperation peoples around the world built such incredible stone structures that we today have little or no idea how they did it and many of us simply can't bring ourselves to believe that they ever could have, preferring instead to suspect extraterrestrial assistance.

If aliens built the pyramids, so be it. I'll bet the ancient Egyptians never lifted a finger to try to stop them.

If ancient people could cooperate with each other, if ancient people even cooperated with extraterrestrials, then surely we modern folk, enlightened by our past, can work together not only to solve problems, but to build our own monuments...

Openmindedness

                                                         The Truthless Reconciler




                                  A Journal of Openmindedness
                                                                          ...expousing the truth in all....


                    points of view..


 A "Truthless Reconciler" is a personality type. As opposed to a "loveless prophet", who seeks truth at any cost, a truthless reconciler almost seems to avoid absolute truth at any cost, preferring instead to embrace any and all points of view, even contradictory ones, never firmly accepting or rejecting anything, but instead seeing merit in all arguments, dismissing none,incorporating, placating, conciliating, rather than taking a stand, digging in, and fighting.


Americans like fighters..Americans ARE fighters! Americans compete, and they hate to lose. Of course this trait, to some extent, is seen everywhere. Humans are pugnacious by nature, and that
aggressive nature has greatly contributed to human progress.


Cooperation, often through compromise, is another human and American trait. Without it, we would kill each other (more than we already do). Without cooperation and unity we would be helpless. Indeed, we could not exist.

Openmindedness

The purpose of this blog will be to help instill within the human race a greater willingness to tolerate, accept, and even embrace new ideas. In the United States, for instance, American culture tends toward closed minded thinking. Liberals and conservatives attack each other, instead of understanding each other.

The Truthless Reconciler will attempt to persuade people to understand and tolerate more, and to attack less. If one is sufficiently open minded, one can be a liberal one moment, and a conservative the next. One can be a bit of both.

One can  do even more. One can simultaneously embrace all religions, while creating one's own religion.

Welcome to the world of open minded thinking.