Klein and Forel

Shock Doctrine and World Vision

By John Taylor; 2008 March 25, 05 Baha, 165 BE

Sometimes you do not even need to read the text of an article, its summary says it all. For example, from a headline in last week's digital edition of the New York Times: "Pakistan to Talk With Militants, New Leaders Say," by Jane Perlez; "American officials fear a softening stance just as President Pervez Musharraf has given the U.S. a freer hand to strike at militants." Poor babies! Crushed by fear. What a scary thought, that -- what? Peace will break out? That things will get "softer" and there will be discussion? That lives will be saved? No, the fear is deeper than that. The real fright is that influential arms manufacturers might make a little less money, and therefore that their generous contributions to the coffers of political parties might be curtailed. What is frightening for me is the ambiguous term "American officials," which conflates corporate with government officials.

I just finished Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine, which explains why I am so conscious of how frightening "softness" is to the present order. We are talking an investment of billions of dollars in the technology of removing fear. A possible reduction in the threat of violence has become the most frightening thing imaginable. What was it that an American president said back in the 1930's? "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." That was before our poor leaders had to deal with fear of the cessation of fear.

Israel, for example, in the early 1990's had a large influx of Jews from the new pogroms in Russia, which ended its economic dependence on Palestinian Arabs for cheap labor. Israel now uses the apparently negative publicity about violence in the occupied territories as free publicity for its arms, surveillance and protective services industries, that now constitute a substantial percentage of its GNP. Now that widening income disparity is turning the rest of the world into an armed camp, suddenly Israel is the most experienced party from whom to buy your walls, razor wire and surveillance cameras.

Clearly, Klein's book is one of the most important to come out in years; in fact, it often called to mind Marx's Capital, not in content or "leftiness," but in importance and influence. It is never going to be as easy to shock and awe the public out of its money and property again. Go onto her website, <http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine> and watch the interview she had with Charlie Rose on PBS. It is amusing to see how one of Uncle Milty's oldest buddies tries to trip her up with a ploy that was old a century ago, the false dichotomy that democratic socialism does not exist, the crock that you are either a libertarian or an anti-capitalist communist. My estimate of Charlie Rose's IQ just took a nosedive.

August Forel

The reason I am so fascinated with August Forel right now is his ideas about greed and the social re-organization of society, which were evidently inspired by his monumental study of ants. He says, "... the worst hates, individual and national, are caused by money -- by the universal money -- greed, which is corrupting today all humanity. There is only one remedy for this: the true co-operative state of the future..." I would not have accepted this emphasis on greed so vehemently before I read Klein’s discussion of Disaster Capitalism, but now I do. Unfortunately, Forel's study of ants is long out of print, and only available in French. I found a complete copy of the set on the website of an antiquarian bookstore in England, but the price was 800 dollars. Too rich for my blood. So I will have to content myself with some other, more modern study of social insects.

Here is an article by August Forel from the third volume of the Baha'i World, evidently written not long after he became a Baha'i. You can see that he is still struggling with aspects of Baha'i belief. As a co-discoverer of the neuron, it is understandable that he devotes the first several paragraphs of this "world vision" statement to talking about how brain processes not only influence but constitute our thought and will. Forel was a monist rather than a mind-body dualist, and believed that there is no difference between the firing of neurons and what we call mind, soul or will.

It is also evident from this article that he had not entirely given up his earlier racism, though to be fair he was only repeating the received scientific understanding of his age. The principle of harmony of science with religion demands that faith not contradict science "to its face," as it were, no matter how sacred we may hold the oneness of humanity. Of course, now science does not put much store by the weight of the brain as an indicator of intelligence or "superiority"; for example, Neanderthals and at least one other species of primitive man had much larger brains than we do, though they are not generally thought to have been more intelligent than homo sapiens.

As for his admonition to Baha'is at the end of the article to keep our hands off superstitious crap like astrology, I agree with Forel completely. You cannot believe in the scientific method and tolerate mysticism and New Age garbage without contradicting yourself. The more Baha'i scientists we have reminding us of that the better. But that does not mean we accept the monist's Force, however attractive George Lucas's Star Wars fantasy series may make it seem.

 

The World Vision of a Savant

By Dr. Auguste Henri Forel, Baha'i World, Vol. III, 1928-1930, p. 284

 

Original Editor's Introduction

Dr. Forel is one of the greatest scientists in the world and the greatest living author on ants. His life has been devoted to humanitarian aims and purposes; he is a thinker, a scholar, a doer. He has been very active in temperance work in Europe at a time when public opinion was wholly on the opposite side. He is a man who believes in deeds rather than words, and when he took up temperance reform, he had his vineyards destroyed.

 

True science should occupy itself only with what man can know. Now, we can know things only through the channel of our senses-sight, hearing, touch, and so forth. These take the impressions of the exterior world to our brain by the aid of the nerves. The human brain, of which I have made a profound study from 1872 to 1907, comparing it as well as its functions to that of animals -- this human brain is an organ weighing on the average twelve hundred and eighty grams, the cerebrum alone weighing about one thousand grams. It is composed of very tiny, interrelated nerve cells or neurones, of which it contains millions which are connected one with another by their fibers and their minute filaments. At a distance, these ramifications become covered with a white sheath which we call nerves, whether in the brain itself or serving to enter it or leave it.

 The nerves of our senses enter the brain to carry to it their sensations; the nerves called motors leave the brain in order to direct our muscular movements which we call our will. But between the two, in the interior of the cerebrum, the living force which calls our attention travels from one neurone to another, combining there our sensations and our feelings in order to make of them immediate perceptions, then concepts, and finally abstract ideas with the aid of words, whether spoken or written. All these combinations demand their continual recall to our self-consciousness which is the synthesizing power over them.

 Before the motor nerves leave the cerebrum, the attention is carried to the combinations mentioned above and concentrate a group of neurones called motors, which are situated on each side of the center the brain. With the aid of the motor nerves, the attention causes the transportation of the said combinations mentioned above to the spinal column, to the outer nerve systems of our muscles as soon as it becomes necessary to execute a movement of the will. The spinal column itself suffices only for the movements called reflexive. Now, with this necessary premise, let us come to our main subject.

 Through ignorance human beings dispute and even make, alas, wars based upon misunderstandings; and these misunderstandings rest, for the most part, on words, which excite the passions of hate. It is just the opposite of science. Let us cite some examples.

 Peoples often make wars because of not understanding each other's language -- as, for example, the Germans against the French and vice versa. But then, why does a German born in France take the part of the French in the case of war, and a Frenchman born in Germany do the opposite? This is nevertheless, what I have always observed. It is for this reason that Dr. Zamenhof, living in Poland and distressed by such hatreds, without common sense, constructed his splendid international language, Esperanto, which is spreading more and more. But it will be necessary, later on, to perfect this language by having a single word for a single meaning and several words for several meanings.

 Moreover, one makes a pretext that there are differences in races; but if one excepts those races, altogether inferior, with a lighter cerebrum (according to Wedda about eight hundred or eight hundred and fifty grams instead of one thousand) it is a fundamental error. All Europeans, Chinese, Japanese, Hindus, Semites, Americans, and so forth, are equal as races. It is necessary, therefore, to seek for other real causes for the hatreds and the wars than the differences of languages and of race. Here are five such causes:

1. Creeds. It is necessary to distinguish clearly between religion and creed or belief. The term creed ought to be reserved for the beliefs, rites, formalities and so forth which are man-made and crystallized into dogmas; different in the different faiths, and taught by the clergy over the entire world. Diversity of creed separates peoples and foments wars, improperly called religious wars. True religion, on the contrary, unites them.

2. Domination. Egoism gives to human emotions a tendency toward domination. The man wishes to rule over the woman, sometimes the woman over the man. Man wishes to rule animals, to rule the earth, to rule and control objects; but above all else, to rule other human beings. He wishes to be their superior, whether by brute force, by cunning, by manual skill and work, by speech, by writing, and so forth. The father or the mother, or both of them, wish in general to dominate their children in different ways. The spirit of domination, personal or collective, is, alas, hereditary. It is a very great obstacle to that social co-operation -- peaceful, fraternal, and impartial -- of which we have an urgent need.

3. Greed. But the worst hates, individual and national, are caused by money -- by the universal money -- greed which is corrupting today all humanity. There is only one remedy for this: the true co-operative state of the future, which I have treated elsewhere. It is impossible to adequately treat here of this great social question.

4. Alcoholic drinks. By complete prohibition the United States, Finland and Iceland give us a courageous example. All countries ought to follow their example; for alcoholic traffic is the most nefarious of things; it poisons life, above all, our brain and our soul. It causes deterioration, moreover, in the germ cells by what I have called "blasphematoire."

5. Tariff. Customs and duties tend to create national hatreds by their barriers created to bring revenue to national governments. The simplest remedy for this is international exchange or what is called free trade.

 It is necessary, therefore, little by little to suppress wars by a true Society of Nations which shall be a Society fundamentally cooperative. In this super-national society, it will be necessary to take from each state its army, making it little by little a super-national army; and to replace everywhere gradually but surely, military service by civil service.

Our Baha'i religion, with its twelve principles, is therefore. a true religion without creed, super-national and spiritual, without dogmas or clergy. In December, 1917, before I knew about the Baha'i Movement I had published, myself as well as the Reverend Tschirn, the "Religion of the Social Good." In March, 1919, I completed it, adding to it the term, "Scientific Religion. It was not until January, 1921, that, at the home of my son-in-law I came to know of the Baha'i Movement. I wrote directly, to 'Abdu'l-Baha, Who was still living. Then I withdrew my "Scientific Religion of Social Good" as unnecessary in the light of this Movement and I became a Baha'i, like my son-in-law, Dr. A. Brauns.

Certain aspects of spiritual philosophy are strongly my belief. First as regards the term, "God." The term "God" can be interpreted very differently. All monotheistic creeds believe in a single, "All-powerful God." But while some declare Him personal, we Monists look upon Him as representing the Force (metaphysical) of the universe, unknowable to human beings.

There needs to be a harmonizing of these two concepts of God. The teachings of Baha'u'llah are perfectly clear on this subject, and in due time the conceptions of God, so different in different parts of the world and with different temperaments, will adjust themselves to the one true concept.

There are several conditions of utmost importance which Baha'is ought to meet, if they wish to remain scientific. They ought above all to remain super-national and strictly super-ritualistic. They ought, inasmuch as they are Baha'is, not to mix with their Baha'i truths any inherited creeds and beliefs or any other ideas in which error is mixed with truth. They should refrain from metaphysics, from seeking to know the Unknowable; and should occupy themselves wholly with the social good of humanity here on earth.

Confucius said about five hundred years before Christ, "Men of the four seas are all brothers. Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you." And the Roman poet, Terence, about one hundred and seventy years before Christ said, "I am a man and nothing that is human can be foreign to me, I think."

Our duty as Baha'is is not only to speak and think of God, but to be active for the social good.

 

==========

 

Forel tells Baha'is not to mix error, "inherited creeds and beliefs" with the truth. Later, Shoghi Effendi translated a letter of Baha'u'llah that contains the same warning, and I cannot resist including here as an addendum.

"As to thy question regarding the sayings of the leaders of past religions. Every wise and praiseworthy man will no doubt eschew such vain and profitless talk. The incomparable Creator hath created all men from one same substance, and hath exalted their reality above the rest of His creatures. Success or failure, gain or loss, must, therefore, depend upon man's own exertions. The more he striveth, the greater will be his progress. We fain would hope that the vernal showers of the bounty of God may cause the flowers of true understanding to spring from the soil of men's hearts, and may wash them from all earthly defilements." (Gleanings, 81-82)

Unrelated

Three Unrelated Topics

By John Taylor; 2008 March 24, 05 Baha, 165 BE

 

Research Request

A Discovery about the Baha'i Position on Darwinism

Pupil of the eye

 

==========

 

Research Request

I am passing on the following research request from Antony Samy. If you can help, contact him directly at: <astony2002@yahoo.com>

"Happy Naw Ruz. From the history of the Faith, we gather that the Blessed Body of the Bab was hidden for 10 years in the House of Abdullah Pasha, in the room occupied by the Greatest Holy Leaf. I would like to know the exact location where it was hidden, on the wall? under her bed? corner of her room?  I also would like to know (about) any article/paper written regarding the arrival of the Body into the House of Abdullah Pasha. I appreciate your help."

 

Discovery about the Baha'i Position on Darwinism

 

My recent interest in the proofs of deity led to a study of the Master's tablet to Dr. Forel, one of His last and most important messages. I mentioned some of my discoveries about Forel in a recent essay called “Targeting the theist worldview," <http://badiblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/targeting-theist-worldview.html> Around then, I was prompted to read a short monograph on Forel, and now the following, longer, book-length discussion of Forel's relation to the Faith, which I ordered from the publisher:

John Paul Vader, "For the Good of Mankind, August Forel and the Baha'i Faith," George Ronald, Oxford, 1984

This book corrects several errors and misconceptions about Forel's understanding of the Faith. The earlier monograph states that Forel had been an atheist, based on a mistranslation of the German word for skeptic. Forel started off as an agnostic or deist, and apparently kept up a correspondence with the Guardian for years, which was unfortunately destroyed by his heirs after he died. So it is difficult to be certain what his final beliefs were. After his death in the early 1930's, Shoghi Effendi called him a monist in the following letter,

"At any rate there is no doubt whatever that the well-known Tablet revealed by 'Abdu'l-Baha for him (Forel) had brought a tremendous change in his monistic theories and induced him to accept the Message openly.

"However great the contradictions in Dr. Forel's testament in regard to his attitude towards the Cause we cannot fail but to recognize him as a Baha'i who had but a partial glimpse of the Baha'i Revelation. No one can claim that his knowledge of this Revelation is adequate, especially at this time when the Baha'i Faith is still in the embryonic stage of its development. Dr. Forel was sincere in his convictions but like every human being his comprehension was limited and this was not in his power to change." (Shoghi Effendi, The Light of Divine Guidance v II, pp. 16-17)

The penultimate paragraph here by the Guardian is especially important, as it applies to us all. It is easy for those of us who have the leisure to read the Writings to imagine that we understand the Faith adequately. We do not, and nobody will for centuries; even the Guardian does not make such a claim, as this sentence implies.

Forel's daughter, Martha Brauns-Forel, was a Baha'i too, a stalwart of the German Baha'i community, who lived through the Nazi scourge. Her father first studied the faith when he was staying with her and her husband.

I still have not finished my little research project on Forel -- I would like to get a hold of some of his non-Baha'i writing, much of which appears fascinating even were he not a Baha'i. His socialistic, Esperantist beliefs will become more important now that the poverty of Friedmanism is becoming obvious even to the fanatic free marketer.

However, I cannot resist sharing now a little discovery made in this book, a short quote from the Master about Darwinism that does not turn up in an Ocean search. It comes from a conversation the Master had with some German fellow that was published in an obscure German-language periodical. I think it is important, concise and covers ground untouched elsewhere. We of course are familiar with Abdu'l-Baha's brief discussions of evolution in Some Answered Questions, including question 49, Growth and Development of the Human Race (SAQ, 191), and question 50, Spiritual Proofs of the Origin of Man (SAQ, 195). But these treat the philosophy of Baha'i belief on its own merits; the following implies that Darwin's theory was intended (as I had begun to suspect from other reading about him, and about the theory's co-discoverer, Wallace) not so much as a scientific theory as an attack by atheists on religion. Anyway, here is what the Master told the German,

"Moses taught that the world was brought into existence in the six days of creation. This is an allegory, a symbolic form of the ancient truth that the world evolved gradually. Darwin can refer to Moses for his theory of evolution. God did not allow the world to come into existence all at once, rather the divine breath of life manifested itself in the commanding Word of God, Logos, which engendered and begot the world. We thus have a progressive process of creation, and not a one-time happening. Moses' days of creation represent time spans of millions of years. From Pythagoras to ibn-i-Sina (known as Avicenna) to the `faithful brother from Basra', through Darwin and to the blessed Manifestations of the Bab and Baha'u'llah, both scholars and Prophets have testified to the progressive creative action of the Logos (divine breath of life). The Darwinian and monistic theories of evolution and the origin of species are not materialistic, atheistic ideas; they are religious truths which the godless and the deluded have unjustifiably used in their campaign against religion and the Bible." (For the Good of Mankind, p. 17)

 

Pupil of the eye

 

Here is the latest music video made up by London, Ontario Utube videographer Penny Filias, done in honor of the contributions to American culture by Blacks, called "pupils of the eye."

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKrAjeuYsgE

 The Youtube blurb says, "This video was created to recognize, highlight, and honor the spirit, excellence and achievements of but a few of the many contributions to society made by black people. 'Hats off' to those represented here and those regretfully omitted due to time and space limitations!"

 My only comment is that recent discoveries based on ever deeper investigation of our genome indicate that the human race went through a "bottleneck," that is, the genetic diversity of non-Africans was severely and permanently reduced by at least two natural disasters.

 That means, in my opinion, that in future people of African heritage will be in high demand as breeding stock, since hybrid vigor dictates that the more diversity in one's genetic heritage the more robust the offspring. Every father and mother will be pushing their daughters and sons to marry into an African family in order to bolster their grandchildren's genes against the shock of the pollution and poisons that are assaulting our bodies from every direction. Other studies have reinforced the evidence that we all originally came from Africa. What could be firmer ground for pride of place than the fact that the original of all humans is the black African?

 

 

The Mashriq

Neighborhood Utopia

By John Taylor; 2008 March 22, 03 Baha, 165 BE

All praise be to the Mashriq! The Lotus Temple long ago surpassed the Taj Mahal in number of visitors, and is beginning to rival the Eiffel Tower and other world class tourist magnets. Every day, I pray for a Mashriq, that the day soon will come when one will be built in a neighborhood near me, so I can visit it every morning for dawn prayers. There is a blank space, yearning for this to take its place. Here is the Master's explanation of their effect, spiritually, upon the world:

 "For just as the external world is a place where the people of all races and colors, varying faiths, denominations and conditions come together -- just as they are submerged in the same sea of divine favors -- so, likewise, all may meet under the dome of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and adore the one God in the same spirit of truth; for the ages of darkness have passed away, and the century of light has come. Ignorant prejudices are being dispelled, and the light of unity is shining." (Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation, p. 65-66)

The Mashriq is a dream, life is a dream, and the reality lies beyond; the Mashriq will be a kind of fulcrum that will take us to the utopia hoped for by thinkers throughout the ages. In the following proto-essay, written during the fast, I continued the dream of a neighborhood that would be synchronized to the spirit of the Mashriq.

Neighborhood Spectra

My generation was raised under the shadow of thermonuclear war. We knew we could at any minute be exterminated by the clash of two economic ideologies, communism and capitalism. As a child, my naive questions were: why the death struggle? Why not have the best of both worlds? What would be wrong with a full spectrum economy, with one economy in one location being communistic, another more capitalistic, another socialist, another mixed, and maybe even another based on an aboriginal lifestyle and a hunter-gatherer's diet?

 It seemed silly to argue constantly over freedom versus equality, as if they were mutually exclusive, as if balancing them like two sides of an equation were not inevitable. Another false dichotomy was conformity versus rebellion. Why not take your choice, use a buffet model? Surely that would be more scientific. If you give people a choice among many degrees of freedom or equality, we could evaluate the results and see what works for each kind of personality. Testing might find that one side of the spectrum suits human nature best, but my bet is that the chart would be very scattered, that a variety of different preferences would make for a more productive economy overall, as well as a more satisfying one for the individual.

In fact, the existence of a Mashriq at the center might change the dynamic; why not put the broad spectrum of varied lifestyle and economic choices in the same neighborhood? One apartment building might be communal, with everybody sharing space and facilities, sharing all goods and services in common, while the building next might be designed with the individualist in mind, with separate living areas, independent kitchens, bedrooms, and so forth.

That would give a real choice.

We might find that at one point in our lives it suits us to live a solitary life, free of distractions, and at another we may need to be sociable and cooperative, free of loneliness. Or it may be that one personality type always leans to the communal apartment, while another thrives only in an individualistic arrangement. At least we would know.

Judging by the leanings of my parents, my mother constantly chatting up neighbors and befriending strangers, my father preferring to be alone and friendless, a mixed neighborhood with such choices could become sexually segregated in time. It would be mostly women in the communal condos and mostly men in the discrete, independent domiciles. However, judging by the extremely high mortality rates due to suicide and addiction among senior men living alone, it would seem to be wise to discourage this leaning to isolation in men while they are still young, flexible and habits are being formed. At the same time, it might be beneficial to encourage social butterflies at certain times to buckle down and focus by living alone with their thoughts for a while.

Surely offering a variety of householding styles, starting on the level of families and neighborhoods, would be a good start on a Mashriq inspired utopia. Right now we are living in a private, oligarchic dystopia.

 A recent study found that people are increasingly lonely in the U.S., the place where capitalism, materialism and individualism have the most sway, and where the economy, transport and housing reflect this most directly. One quarter of the population cannot name a trusted confidante, for instance, and this isolation is having a measurable adverse effect on their health. ("Aging and Loneliness: Downhill Quickly?," summarized in Popular Science, April, 2008, p. 78) Another study found that a poor self-image is related to materialism in youths aged 12 to 13 years old, who use "material possessions as a coping strategy for feelings of low self-worth." If their self-esteem was boosted by kind words from an acquaintance, an experiment found, their materialist obsessions could be lifted, albeit briefly, for a day or so. ("Growing up in a material world," in Ibid.) The self-loathing of these children is clearly the result of exposure to advertising, the propaganda machine of unfettered capitalism, long before they were ready for it -- if one is ever ready for systematic mind control by parties who profit from creating false desires, who cut down our self image in order to encourage us to compensate by blind consumption.

The first fruit of every worldview is how it either bolsters or undercuts the identity of those who subscribe to it. Materialism, commercialism, and unfettered capitalism by nature undermine our sense of self-worth. This is perhaps the most persuasive reason why materialism is untenable, psychically as well as environmentally. It undercuts human identity and undermines the freewill, in both individuals and groups.

I have encountered nobody, no thinker or leader of thought more directly concerned with bolstering our high identity and destiny as human beings than Abdu'l-Baha. His genius was to elevate our self-worth, to make us proud of ourselves as creatures of God beloved of God, but not so complacent that we did not desire to act for change. He portrayed the forces of materialism as spent, as products of a former age of heteronomy, what He called "epochs of oppression." He beckons to a new, more intimate relationship with one another, as varied but unified members of one human family.

"We will become as fathers and sons, as brothers and sisters living together in complete unity, love and happiness; for this century is the century of light. It is not like former centuries. Former centuries were epochs of oppression. Now human intellects have developed, and human intelligence has increased. Each soul is investigating reality. This is not a time when we shall wage war and be hostile toward each other. We are living at a time when we should enjoy real friendship." (Promulgation, 222-223)

Abdu'l-Baha is the new Odysseus. His odyssey started not in war but on release from bondage, when He traveled across Europe and America, the breeding grounds of materialism, and gave forth a new vision of who the human is, and what is possible. We are not blind consumers, not citizens of one land but of all lands; we are followers of the light. He did not see America as the soul of materialism; He saw it as the emerging progenitor of a new assurance of how high we can soar. May we live up to the glories He saw in us.

"O ye friends of God! Through the Appearance of the Blessed Perfection the theories are abrogated and the facts established. The time of superficiality is gone by and the cycle of reality hath appeared. One must become the incarnation of Servitude, the personification of Love, the embodiment of Spirituality and the mirror of Mercy." (Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v2, pp. 430-431)

Happy Naw Ruz, 165

Something for Worrying Wanda to Stew Over

By John Taylor; 2008 March 20, 01 Baha, 165 BE

Yesterday, while doing my usual quotidian research, this time about purity, I came across a little discovery that was so distressing and sad and depressing that I simply shunted the more theoretical and less agonizing findings into my daily essay for that day, the last for fast, and attended our Naw Ruz in Simcoe in a cataleptic state. It was as if I had been shot up with ketamine, a drug that induces a dissociative state where you can "still experience pain, but cannot react to it, or really react to much of anything at all; it is as if the mind and body are separate. Ketamine is commonly used ... in veterinary surgery and as a date rape drug," according to the doctor who keeps a blog commenting on every episode of House, M.D., a television show that I watched way too much of this fast. In fact, on those endless fast afternoons I worked through the entire first three seasons, and have only the unfinished season four yet to watch.

Silvie came home from school yesterday and commented that her Grade Eight teacher had told them that this Easter takes place so early that another year like this will not come around for at least another two centuries. So in that sense, this is surely an almost unique Naw Ruz, for, as an Iranian Baha'i told me that evening, the non-Baha'i Persians celebrated their Naw Ruz yesterday, not today, because the actual solstice had taken place the night before. So, enjoy this very unusual Naw Ruz that takes place on the same day as Good Friday, but a different day from the Persian Naw Ruz. We will probably have to wait around for many centuries before there is another.

Actually, do not worry about living centuries, because as I say, we are probably not going to live that long; and not just because normal senescence will kick in first.

Our Simcoe Naw Ruz was a success, there were several kids there of similar age, and Silvie and Thomas amused themselves playing games with them like Truth or Dare and one I had not heard of, Toilet Tag. It was a long, thin room, and two long tables were set up with the many dishes of our pot luck feast lined along the middle -- this arrangement assured that my every thought that evening would be about food, and that I would eat too much and suffer indigestion. My contribution was my bean salad spiced up with a special spice concoction that smells like it has anise in it, supplied by my sister-in-law, who works in a spice factory. It got good reviews, I am pleased to say; certainly I like it, I make up a big batch and eating a bowl of it has become the highlight of my day, especially during the fast. A Persian woman from Brazil sang a duet with Ron Speer, the song of the Master, "Look at Me," which Ron had sung in the home of Abdu'l-Baha on his pilgrimage in January. A grand finale.

I had run out of House episodes for the last day of the fast, and instead read more from Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine," which I cannot put down. Really, I would love to put it down, but I cannot. It is gripping non-fiction, and the closer to the present it gets the more suspenseful it is. I keep expecting to read in the next chapter events that I know have not happened yet, like when some crisis like, I don't know, a financial meltdown, happens and the American president decides that maybe they should put off the next election indefinitely, and that maybe he should replace the secret service with his own force of private sector mercenaries clad in characteristic wraparound sunglasses. As the blurb on the cover reads, this is scary stuff.

But not as scary as my little discovery yesterday about purity. Here is how it came about.

In our children's class we are going through the virtue of excellence in the Virtues Project workbook, then we read a story about the early years of Abdu'l-Baha from Hitjo Garst's excellent new biography of the Master designed for kids (I tried some adult material about Baha'u'llah for a while but the difference was so marked that I dropped it as soon as Garst's book arrived), and finally we have been working through the Book of Matthew.

In Matthew, we just read the parable of the soils, you know, the one about the seeds that a farmer throws on rock and various other kinds of soil. This prompted me to do an Ocean search of the Writings using the keywords "pure soil" and "pure earth." Aside from the Master's direct commentary on this parable, Baha'u'llah mentions the metaphor over a dozen times. Clearly, in the eyes of God, the human heart is soil in which the seed of His Word either thrives or dies out, according to how pure we keep it. So the cry goes out and rings from the rafters:

"Keep your soil pure."

Okay, this is the scary part. An article in Discover Magazine called "Superbugged" came to my attention. It is not yet available online, but here is a précis to be found on the net:

"(Jessica) Sachs discusses the science behind recent headlines about DNA pollution and antibiotic resistant genetic material that can transform ordinary bacteria into rogue "superbugs" that are immune to antibodies. Over the last 60 years virtually every known strand of disease-causing bacteria has developed an antibody-resistant strain, largely due to the increased usage of antibiotics in both in humans and (more importantly) in livestock, where unregulated usage of antibiotics is most worrisome. Sachs clearly lays out the real effects of the phenomenon, touring farms and meatpacking plants." <http://www.brijit.com/abstract/14501/Super-Bugged>

The précis hardly does the article justice. Our failure to recycle at source has effectively invented a new and deadly type of pollution, DNA pollution, rogue genetic material that poses a "potentially colossal new health threat."

"In part, modern medicine is paying the price for its own success. `Antibiotics may be the most powerful evolutionary force seen on this planet in billions of years,' ... By their nature, antibiotics support the rise of any bug that can shrug off their effects, by conveniently eliminating the susceptible competition. But the rapid rise of bacterial genes for drug resistance stems from more than lucky mutation... The vast majority of these genes show a complexity that could have been achieved only over millions of years. Rather than rising anew in each species, the genes spread via the microbial equivalent of sexual promiscuity. Bacteria swap genes, not only among their own kind but also between widely divergent species, Levy explains. Bacteria can even scavenge the naked DNA that spills from their dead compatriots out into the environment." ("How DNA pollution may spawn deadly antibiotic resistance: the story behind the headlines." by Jessica Snyder Sachs, Discover Magazine, March 2008, p. 58)

The threat is not way off in the future, either. "The newly resistant strains have been implicated in some 90,000 potentially fatal infections a year in the United States, higher than the number of automobile and homicide deaths combined." Hmm. Strangely, the intrepid, eagle-eyed investigative reporters of our press, ever vigilant for public safety, are not picking up on this story. If only these lives carried the same weight as the three thousand or so who died from terrorist attacks in the past decade, Then you would really see the press stand up and take notice.

 But, oh yes, I forgot, I am getting things out of proportion. The drug industry stands to make a fortune by keeping up with a flood of resistant strains, requiring ever newer and more powerful antibiotics to fight them. Here is what is happening with just one strain of resistant bacteria, known as MRSA.

"...Researchers estimate that invasive MRSA kills more than 18,000 Americans a year, more than AIDS, and the problem is growing rapidly. MRSA caused just 2 percent of staph infections in 1974; in the last few years, that figure has reached nearly 65 percent. Most reported staph infections stem from MRSA born and bred in our antibiotic-drenched hospitals and nursing homes. But about 15 percent now involve strains that arose in the general community."

What is causing DNA pollution? Having just finished my fast marathon of House, M.D., my impression is that the only thing doctors use more than lies is antibiotics. If you took lies and antibiotics out of their quiver, there would remain only one or two arrows for them to fight with. But they are forced by various demands to moderate their applications, whereas factor farmers are under no such restraints.

 So yes, the cause is overuse of antibiotics by factory farms, yes, the three million pounds a year prescribed by doctors to sick humans, and yes, the unnecessary use of antibiotic soaps in most households, but mostly DNA pollution is accelerating because of the ubiquitous custom of spreading of sewage sludge onto crops.

What happens is that sewage collects together with the antibiotics in our soap, and one or two bacteria figure out how to deal with it. Sure, the sewage treatment plant kills the bacteria dead. But, as the investigators featured in this Discover article found out, it does not matter that they are dead, the rogue DNA material survives and when it is dumped onto food crops, the living bacteria in the soil pick up the resistant DNA material. Then resistance propagates on its own. Milton Friedman, the great proponent of free markets would be proud; the bacteria set up a massive free market where resistant DNA is put up on the auction block and sold to the highest bidder. Now thanks to the miracle of the invisible hand and free enterprise on the molecular level, most of the ground we walk on is a witch's brew of superbugs.

Our most fertile and productive soil is rapidly becoming impure, a toxic wasteland, just like in the parable.

I wondered if any of the Worrying Wandas in the environmental movement have picked up on this danger, so I Googled keywords like "sewage," "sludge," and "crops" and it automatically jumped me over to the industry-designed euphemism, "biomass." When I saw that mild, scientific-sounding name, I felt a lot better. I was even more assured when I read that farmers have to have a toxic waste handling license before they are allowed to dump biomass onto their crops -- at least in the EEC they do. What is going on in Canada, much less the Wild West soon to be renamed Uncle Miltyland south of the border where most of our food is coming from, well, that is anybody's guess. Farmers must be licensed because if they spread the sludge in the wrong way or at the wrong time, it can contain some of the heavy metals and other toxic waste that often gets dumped, intentionally or not, into the sewer system.Sure enough, Worrying Wanda is wringing her hands over the toxic waste, which has been proven to transfer toxic materials from the sludge into food crops and small animals, but as far as I could see she has not been alerted to DNA pollution yet. And, thanks to the our privately-owned free market-oriented press, it is unlikely that we will hear about this until inhabitants of gated neighborhoods start dropping from poison and sepsis in very large numbers. More about this tomorrow. Happy Naw Ruz.
Ketamine, anybody?

p25pur The Baha'i Way, Truth and Light

Purity and Toxic Waste

The Prophet Muhammad had personal tastes, which included a preference for cats over dogs, and a dislike for garlic. This is reflected throughout the Middle East; dogs are unpopular and tend to run wild on the streets rather than on the laps of fine ladies; garlic is completely excluded from the national cuisine of Islamic nations. I was interested, therefore, to read lately that Baha'u'llah shared this aversion, at least to some extent.

"One day, while travelling from Kazimayn to Baghdad, the Blessed Beauty observed, `How removed from good manners are the Shi'ihs! In spite of their acknowledgment of the Hadith, "The believers are alive in both worlds"; they enter into the holy places with stained clothing and mouths reeking of onions and garlic. The repugnancy of unpleasant odors in these places is such as We are disinclined to describe.' Shuja'u'd-Dawlih (a prince and high-ranking Persian official) used to remark, `The reverence which You feel for the Imams defies description.'" (Ali-Akbar Furutan, Stories of Baha'u'llah, p. 24)

This saying, that a believer lives in this world and the next at the same time, it is wise always to bear in mind. That is why Baha'u'llah asked that we attend the feast in our best clothes, which should be spotlessly clean. This helps both worlds, it reduces the chances of spreading communicable diseases, and conduces to joy and spirituality.

Scientific studies have confirmed that the most dangerous substance to our bodies is organic waste. Our excrement, for example, is over fifty percent bacteria, most of which are very unfriendly and contagious. Science also discovered -- not surprisingly from an evolutionary point of view -- that the organic variety of toxicity registers as the most disgusting of all, both to eyes and noses. Shown pictures of various dangerous and repulsive substances, humans pick out infections and bacteria-ridden substances almost every time. Ditto for the smells they let off.

Some atheists claim that the greatest problem with belief in a compassionate God is the fact of suffering. How can a kind Creator tolerate so much pain? Others dismiss suffering as the "toxic waste of free will." We have a choice, and when we make the wrong choices, the result is pain and agony. No error, no effluent. Certainly God creates both purity and waste, including the waste of free will, suffering. But He also creates ingrained into our being a strong aversion for even the thought of it. So strong, in fact, that many reject a God that allows suffering at all. But again, if we only followed our own inclinations and tastes, we would avoid unnecessary suffering, in the same way that we avoid disgusting smells and repulsive sights whenever possible.

Another thing that the mind draws back from instinctively is conflict. When someone is liable to get angry over something, everyone around them avoids even mentioning it. When a group shows itself willing to enter into conflict over an issue, this earns it respect and deference. Nobody wants to see and smell the toxic waste of the emotions, anger and contention. This is why "politicizing" an issue is an extremely effective strategy. It is why abuse is so common as a coping technique in school and the workplace. It is why monkeys throw excrement at all who displease them. But as the Hadith says, we live in both worlds at once, and there are spiritual costs, spiritual toxicity, for trampling the wills of others by intimidation. I think that this is why Jesus advised that we never sit down to pray unless we are reconciled with everybody we know. God by His very nature draws back from anyone who reeks of filth of any kind, be it physical, emotional or spiritual. I think it is in this spirit that Baha'u'llah in His Will and Testament held up as a universal cure for impurity the five word remedy "all things are of God." Here is the scrip:

"Say: O servants! Let not the means of order be made the cause of confusion and the instrument of union an occasion for discord. We fain would hope that the people of Baha may be guided by the blessed words: 'Say: all things are of God.' This exalted utterance is like unto water for quenching the fire of hate and enmity which smouldereth within the hearts and breasts of men. By this single utterance contending peoples and kindreds will attain the light of true unity. Verily He speaketh the truth and leadeth the way. He is the All-Powerful, the Exalted, the Gracious. (Tablets, Lawh-i-Ahd, 222)

To rephrase this slightly, this is the way, the truth and the light for Baha'is: to remember that God owns us, he owns our waste and our by-products too, and it is our sacred duty to purify ourselves and to recycle our waste as effectively as possible. In that sense I completely agree with the Vatican's recent inclusion of the crime of "failure to recycle" as one of the modern "seven deadly sins." If we really do purify effectively, we will finally be worthy to enter into His holy places, be they of body, emotions or spirit.

Meta-Democracy V

Cleaning House for Ridvan Elections
By John Taylor; 2008 March 19, 18 Ala, 164 BE

Differential, people. What do we have?

Well, there are a few candidates written here. There is ...

I am not interested in names. What goes on your ballots is none of our affair; it is confidential. You have heard of ethics, haven't you? What we can do here is list out the problems, the symptoms, the qualities we need for a differential diagnosis.

But if we do not mention personalities how will we know who to vote for?

I am not interested in who. What is what matters. If we draw a picture of what the patient needs to get well, that will be a big step to bringing out the virtues the leader will need.

That makes no sense. Names go down on the ballot and names are what you discuss. That is how you pick the right leader. Always have, always will. I do not see why we cannot talk about people if is a person we are voting for.

Okay, assume you are right. Let us say you get elected. The election is over. We talked names and rejected them all except yours. Now it is time to act. Tell me what your mandate is.

What do you mean, what is my mandate? My name turned up on more ballots than anybody else's. I won. That is my mandate.

Okay, I get it. Victory is in your hands. You are the best man, but where is the wedding? Do you feel like you are married?

What are you talking about? This is an election campaign, not a wedding.

Wrong. It is a marriage. Let me ask you this, if people know they already love one another, why do they need to get married?

To solemnize their bond?

To make it permanent?

To turn it into a sociological entity?

To make a family?

Yes, yes, yes and yes. But you are missing the point.

Okay, I think I know what you are getting at. You want us to say that a wedding mixes in the sacred, the social, the pair's ideals, hopes and dreams so that later on when they hate each other's guts they will not lightly throw away what they conjoined during that first two years when their nervous systems were swimming in endogenous opioid polypeptide compounds.

My, my, my, aren't we cynical?

It is what you always say, "Everybody lies."

I say that? Actually it is worse, we lie even when we tell the truth, and when we tell the truth it turns into a lie. But if we give a patient a scrip for a sugar pill and a real illness gets cured, then what does it matter what we thought?

Yeah. Call it the placebo-like nature of reality.

Exactly. Which is why we have election campaigns as well as weddings. The point is not whether your vote "counted" or was "wasted," or not. The main point of it all is the ceremony, the ritual, the combination of wills that make for belief, faith, something that will last beyond the endorphin high.

So the entirety of our votes is nothing more than a vote of confidence to the one who is chosen?

Well, what else will come out of that long, tedious campaign? Is a list of the names of people who happen not to be sitting in our seats going to help anybody do the work any better? Is a list of all the people they did not marry going to help a married couple get through hard times?

I agree with you, as far as it goes. The hopes, dreams, prayers and love that are expressed at the wedding. Love is what is all about, whether you feel it or not.

Yeah, well you would say that.

While you people are bickering we have a very sick body politic that is not going to get any better until we find the problem and cure it. So really, tell me what do we want the one we vote in to come away with from this election?

Hold on. Election campaigns do discuss issues. That has got to help.

It helps diddly. Everything changes.

Well, maybe a plebiscite is a good idea. It is the will of the people, after all. If names are so bad, why not just vote on issues directly? With modern information technology we could easily do it.

Oh, yeah. Show me an airline company that takes a vote among the passengers about anything.

How do they know sitting back in the back what do or which direction to take?

And who are we to say what things will be like five minutes from now? Anything we say now about the issues is obsolete before we shut our mouths. That is why we elect people, not issues.

Yes, things in the cockpit change too fast; there has to be a knowledgeable expert in the pilot's seat who can move fast as soon as unforeseen conditions change.

Absolutely. It does not matter how advanced the intercoms and autopilots are, there has to be a human sitting in the pilot's seat, and it has to be the best expert we can get. Taking a poll has its uses, but not about technical things.

You people are not here to agree with me, I want different ideas from you. If I want a mirror I will go into the bathroom. We are here to find a diagnosis, stat.

Okay, I think I know where you are taking us. You are saying that elections are not appointments, they should not work technical issues, and that an election should talk about things that last forever, like virtues and qualities and attitudes that are needed always but that are especially needed at this juncture of history.

Yeah, if we paint a lofty portrait the one we elect will feel he or she has to grow into the shoes of the ideal man of the hour, or woman of the day, or whatever.

Exactly. Now we are right where we were when we started. What is the situation and what virtues are going to be needed to address it, and not just virtues our leader is going to need, but since we are going to be doing most of the work, we need to go over our virtues too.

Yeah, it takes a village to raise a child.

Would you people stop agreeing? You are really starting to annoy me.

tenv

Platinum LEED-ership

By John Taylor; 2008 March 18, 17 Ala, 164 BE

An anonymous reader left the following comment on my latest essay, "meta-democracy IV," along with two quotes from the BIC's PH, an insightful treatise marred by turgid diction.

"Great post! The Prosperity of Humankind document further delineates the imperative of universal access to information and knowledge--not just as recipients but as co-creators of that information/knowledge."

"The tasks entailed in the development of a global society call for levels of capacity far beyond anything the human race has so far been able to muster. Reaching these levels will require an enormous expansion in access to knowledge, on the part of individuals and social organizations alike. Universal education will be an indispensable contributor to this process of capacity building, but the effort will succeed only as human affairs are so reorganized as to enable both individuals and groups in every sector of society to acquire knowledge and apply it to the shaping of human affairs.

"Justice is the one power that can translate the dawning consciousness of humanity's oneness into a collective will through which the necessary structures of global community life can be confidently erected. An age that sees the people of the world increasingly gaining access to information of every kind and to a diversity of ideas will find justice asserting itself as the ruling principle of successful social organization." <http://info.bahai.org/article-1-7-4-1.html>

 Silvie is increasingly frustrated with my life-long failure to become a published writer. Under pressure from her, in January I submitted a link to a Badi' blog essay to a Baha'i publisher. It was the first time I submitted anything to a real, print publisher in at least fifteen years. Here is the rejection letter, which I feel like posting on my wall.

"Thank you for your short essay on Baha'i non-involvement in politics. Given that the essay was written for your blog, we cannot assess it as a possible article ... We encourage you to rethink the essay as an article and to resubmit it. We are attaching a ... style guide."

 The letter was so polite and accommodating that it was almost a positive experience being rejected; now I feel perfectly good about submitting something again to a print publisher and I might well do so, as soon as another fifteen years will have rolled around. Oh, and Silvie, if you read this, it is out of the question that I resubmit, since the chances of my suffering a migraine are raised considerably when I do not put out my daily post on the blog. I would be putting my health at risk. Yesterday I tried holding back and writing something for this editor, and the sense of non-wellbeing was so overwhelming that here I am back at my daily fix this morning. If I were to continue the experiment I would certainly be sunk, especially in this weather.

 I have been neglecting environmentalism, lately, so let us talk about that now. Here is an interesting idea for cheaper and easier solar panels, just make them like the rustling leaves on a tree.

SMITs GROW: Solar and Wind Leaf Photovoltaic Shingles by Emily Pilloton

 <http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/03/01/smits-grow2-project-new-solar-and-wind-solutions/>

At a recent commonwealth meeting with the queen in attendance, <http://mail.google.com/mail/?account_id=BadiJet%40gmail.com&disablechatbrowsercheck=1&ui=1> a Baha'i representative read Shoghi Effendi's famous statement of the Baha'i understanding of environmentalism,

"We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions. (letter, in Compilation of Compilations vol. I, p. 84) and, “We need a change of heart, a reframing of all our conceptions and a new orientation of our activities. The inward life of man as well as his outward environment have to be reshaped if human salvation is to be secured." (Id.)

Also from England, George Monbiot's latest blog entry features an essay warning of "privatization schemes dressed up as customer choice," called "The Patient Stalkers," on March 11, 2008. Turning over a part of the economy to profit takers is a serious move, and it is significant that those interested parties who would do it must resort to deception in order to get it on the agenda. On the other hand, the fact that their lies are so flimsy and transparent is unsettling, showing that the politicians are already in their pockets, it is just a matter of informing the public of a fait accompli. Monbiot writes:

"So why is it so keen on this reform? Because it assists a quite different agenda. To avoid the political firestorm big business rains on any government that stands in its way, Gordon Brown must make constant concessions. What business wants most is the 40% of the economy controlled by the state. He must find clever and camouflaged means of delivering it that do not prompt us to take to the streets. None of this serves either the customer or the taxpayer. The irony of Brown's reforms is that they are wholly centred on the needs of the providers rather than the patients - as long as the providers are corporations. So do not wait to take to the streets. Little by little, the privatisation of the NHS (the British National Health Service) is happening already, disguised as a crusade for patient power." <http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/03/11/the-patient-stalkers/>

Monbiot talks about taking to the streets, and I am not saying that we should not take to the streets when public property is put up for auction. But the thing that would really help would be to learn to consult effectively and implement real democracy, or to speak more accurately, meta-democracy. Although I do not like the whole idea of demonstrations -- their effect is negative, reactive and temporary -- here is an idea for the environmental activist to consider: refuse to set foot in any building that is not LEED certified as environmentally sustainable. (for more, see the Wiki article on LEED at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership_in_Energy_and_Environmental_Design>) Go on pilgrimages to the eighty or so "Platinum" level LEED buildings in the world, starting with the soon-to-be-opened California Academy of Sciences museum slated to be opened later on this year. <http://www.calacademy.org/geninfo/newsroom/releases/2005/Holcim_award.php> This super-green museum building in Golden Gate Park (which I believe was visited by the Master) cost a cool half billion dollars, but the more platinum LEED buildings get made, the cheaper they will get. Needless to say, if the regulatory climate were made more sensible, they would already be cheaper. But activists could give a jump start to this process by paying attention to the good, the LEED platinums, and by protesting the bad, for example by picketing the building lot of every sub-LEED building that is being put up. Sure, it would mean printing an awful lot of pickets, but our survival is at stake.

We can also put pressure in our purchasing decisions. Refuse to consider a house or apartment that is less than LEED platinum. Say LEED platinum prayers, and see the LEED platinum love in the faces of all you consult with, for as the saying goes, we get the politicians we deserve, and we will never deserve LEED platinum leaders until we become LEED platinum citizens. The Master said it all,

"My hope is that in this enlightened century the Divine Light of love will shed its radiance over the whole world, seeking out the responsive heart's intelligence of every human being; that the light of the Sun of Truth will lead politicians to shake off all the claims of prejudice and superstition, and with freed minds to follow the Policy of God: for Divine Politics are mighty, man's politics are feeble! God has created all the world, and bestows His Divine Bounty upon every creature." (Paris Talks, 150)

p22 meta-democracy IV

Local Data Banks

By John Taylor; 2008 March 16, 15 Ala, 164 BE

Yesterday we discussed the meta-democratic profession of the journalist-teacher. These specialists will manage the media under a world government. Today, let us speculate on what the institutional structure of this new world media might be like.

 By some estimates we spend on average a third of our waking lives immersed in media such as films, videos, reading books and newspapers, listening to music, surfing the net, including a whopping fifteen years of just watching television. (Introducing Media Studies, Ziauddin Sardar, Icon Books, Cambridge, 2006, p. 8) This huge portion of our limited lifespan cannot be left to the whim of the moment. If we are to survive and thrive as a species, every citizen needs to plan and optimize his or her involvement with the information media. Our precious time spent there should be as participatory, interactive, efficient and constructive as possible. Our journalist-teachers would be trained to assist citizens optimize and plan this central aspect of life.

 However, qualified and concerned as journalists may be, they cannot supply all of the content of this flood of media content. Rather, they will collaborate with other guiding professions, including most notably doctors, and collectively act as a rudder to a massive supertanker of data. Media content will be nurtured locally by amateur productions. The most outstanding of whose young members will be systematically culled -- again by meta-democratic elections -- to supply the professional artists, artisans and other content providers who produce regional level media.

 In today's stunted world order, the mass media are frighteningly over-centralized and unaccountable. Too little is produced locally and too much comes out of a few giant media centers, notably New York and Hollywood. In economic terms, funds are siphoned out of neighborhoods that could go into local employment and revitalization projects. This dislocation stifles creativity in smaller communities and encourages a passive approach to data, as indicated by that fifteen years spent as couch potatoes. A vital culture has the lion's share of its media generated and consumed on the local level. What is more, local groups, the most immediate and important being the family, have the permanent advantages of proximity and instant feedback.

 As always, a moderate balance needs to be struck by wise administrators. The floodgates of outside data should not be opened so wide as to drown the delicate culture of homes and neighborhoods. On the other hand, shutting off the outside information flow to a trickle would parch local culture, making growth sparse and inhabitants ignorant, inward-looking and provincial.

 Leading institutions will learn judiciously to apply factors like Jane Jacobs' two principles of subsidiarity, government as close as possible to those it serves, and fiscal accountability, budgetary transparency. Another principle is diversity; as many groups as possible can be encouraged to compete in serving the information needs of citizens nearby. Tax advantages, grants and other privileges can be held out as inducements to encourage local businesses, charities, faith and service organizations to serve the needs of the whole neighborhood for entertainment and edification.

 Accordingly, information flow in and out of the locality can be traced and charted on a three dimensional display for all to see who visit city hall. The price of outside data (prices of theater and cinema tickets, cable television rates, and so forth) is raised and lowered here in order to keep the data flow at a healthy balance, in a similar way to how a nation's central bank (in the US, the federal reserve) tweaks an economy's money supply by raising or lowering interest rates. Unlike central bankers, though, this rate would be set by an open, meta-democratic committee representing every part of the community.