Keep up the good work!

In terms of the psychological and existential challenges of the Middle East and the Muslim world.. my feeling is that there’s a certain arrogance to the west that isn’t helping things. I mean this in the sense that our definition of modernity is one that has organically evolved out of a certain western tradition… This consciousness of this modernity is filled with all sorts of metaphysical presumptions that we’ve inherited from our foundations. When I look at the philosophical foundations of India and Asia I see the solutions to many of the problems modernity is not starting to face.

I look at this all in a kind of synthesis of a Nietzschean master slave morality idea, and a kind of Jungian thing… which is to say the modernities presumptions are not cultivating the capacities that are really needed.. so that, in a certain sense, we need things like muslim DNA integrating into the system.

So this I see as a larger psycho-social context underlying the systemic evolution of the situation.

At this point in our story.. I imagine there’s two real challenges. #1 If a US president should see the importance of a commitment to the issue of Iraq and the Middle East.. he’s got his work cut out for him in terms of how to communicate the importance of this.. why its worth the sacrifice, and all of that. #2 What I think is probably more likely is we will pull out of Iraq.. so that how we interact with the larger situation will have to evolve.. and so what’s the implications of all this?

Outside of this I see the US economic situation, and perhaps the world situation, as looking rather bleak because of what’s going on with fuel prices… which I see as a long term trend… and I’m not sure how we can innovate out of this situation.

My fear, in relationship to this, is what sort of a political environment might this give rise to? Particularly if this is a global problem.

Of course, with any luck.. my fears aren’t well founded… any who.. my guess is you’re prolly a lil more sophisticated on some of these issues then I, judging from your comment and blog.

This is tremendously frustrating for them and psychologically damaging for their societies. Once you see Iraq as an attempt to halt a multi-century slide into madness that’s been going on for longer than the existence of the US, you get the proper insight into the stakes of the game. A free, functioning arab society at the religious heart of Islam fixes an awful lot of what ails the muslim world and we’re now on a glide path to that happening. We just have to stick around long enough for the voters to vote and improve their local political class to the point where the changes are self-sustaining. That’s likely 2-4 more electoral cycles judging from slow learners in E. Europe like my own native Romania.

LOL….I think I have a painting that you started back in the JP days that’s based on this song….it also features George Washington and references to Lucifer. Can I get an “awesome” from the congregation?

“Kiddo Jive - Awesome!”