Briefly back to the philosophical

Interrupting my in-progress poem Two Souls, I want to make a more-than-mental note of a couple ideas brought to my recent attention. Each hearkens me back to the series of posts I began a few months ago (and unfortunately dropped due to distractions) regarding the necessity for a new 21st Century Ethos.

I'll try to incorporate both into the continuation of that discussion, which I hope to pick up again very soon.

First, there's a very interesting article in June's Wired Magazine, which features a discussion of the New New Economy. The article is called "The New Socialism: Global Collectivist Society Is Coming Online." Its title is sure to provoke a negative response from Americans who for sixty years have been taught to recoil at the mere mention of the "S" word. Getting beyond that first reaction, it's very much worth reading for its examination of the new forms of social media and how they are creating a greater tendency toward and preference for collaboration and collective action.

The next idea that caught my fancy is the concept of Biocentrism that a friend referenced in a Tweet last week. Below is a passage pulled from Wikipedia that lays out the main points, but I encourage you to read the full article on Biocentrism:

According to Robert Lanza biocentrism has seven principles.

1. What we perceive as reality is a process that involves our consciousness. An "external" reality, if it existed, would by definition have to exist in space. But this is meaningless, because space and time are not absolute realities but rather tools of the human and animal mind.

2. Our external and internal perceptions are inextricably intertwined. They are different sides of the same coin and cannot be divorced from one another.

3. The behavior of subatomic particles, indeed all particles and objects, is inextricably linked to the presence of an observer. Without the presence of a conscious observer, they at best exist in an undetermined state of probability waves.

4. Without consciousness, "matter" dwells in an undetermined state of probability. Any universe that could have preceded consciousness only existed in a probability state.

5. The structure of the universe is explainable only through biocentrism. The universe is fine-tuned for life, which makes perfect sense as life creates the universe, not the other way around. The "universe" is simply the complete spatio-temporal logic of the self.

6. Time does not have a real existence outside of animal-sense perception. It is the process by which we perceive changes in the universe.

7. Space, like time, is not an object or a thing. Space is another form of our animal understanding and does not have an independent reality. We carry space and time around with us like turtles with shells. Thus, there is no absolute self-existing matrix in which physical events occur independent of life.

The right's penchant for red-baiting continues

Conservatives are always quick to attack those who label their policies fascist, but that doesn't stop them from falling back on the tried and true technique of red-baiting Democrats for proposals that advocate any type of social responsibility.

Anyone who has a real understanding of Socialism and Communism will realize how ridiculous these criticisms truly are. For example, it's common among the far right, especially the reactionary media types, to label Hillary Clinton a communist. This probably arises from her healthcare proposals in the '90s. She's also strongly pro-Choice and close to the "Hollywood Elite" that we're told dominates the media and advocates for radically left ideas.

But despite her positions on a couple of the right's favorite hot-button issues, the fact is that Hillary and her husband Bill are actually pretty conservative Democrats whose policies clearly embrace Captialism and side with the corporate oligarchy that has dominated our politics in recent years. Bill Clinton signed into law Welfare Reform that continued the dismantling of the social safety net advocated by the conservative's darling Ronald Reagan. He was also responsible for NAFTA. To my knowledge Hillary has never supported a Single Payer system as the solution to our healthcare crisis. She's also consistently taken very conservative foreign policy positions, including supporting the Iraq War.

The affect of this kind of simplistic, misleading categorization of the Democrats is to skew the political debate further to the right. Democrats have proven quite good at enabling the Republicans in this tactic, usually tripping over themselves to embrace more conservative positions in order to avoid the Socialist characterization.

Below are excerpts from an article on the Guardian Unlimited site describing Rudy Giuliani's attack on the Dems' healthcare proposals. If the health reform Mr. Giuliani advocates (vouchers) is truly the answer to the predicament we find ourselves in, he should tout its merits and let the people decide for themselves if it makes sense. That would serve everyone better than the empty rhetoric and fear-mongering he stoops to by mischaracterizing the Dems' positions as leading to socialized medicine.

Giuliani Assails Democrats' Health Plans
By MIKE BAKER
Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Friday accused his Democratic rivals of embracing health care plans that would amount to socialized medicine.

The former New York City mayor, responding to comments in the first Democratic primary debate Thursday night, claimed Democrats favor "mandatory" universal health care and the plans would only exacerbate the cost of care by putting the system in the hands of bureaucrats.

"They're moving toward socialized medicine so fast, it'll make your head spin," Giuliani said, adding that private solutions could help bring down the cost of care. "When we want to cover poor people, as we should, we give them vouchers."

Read the full article