[Ailist] Appreciation vs. Cynicism

[Rob Voyle]

Hi Kevin

I would agree with you if you are looking at those statements alone.  The easiest 
way to be wrong is to make absolute any position and then speak it as though it 
were certainty. Anyone can pick a hole in those kinds of positions.  Since 
language is an abstraction or statement about something nothing spoken can 
ever be reality.  It is always a statement about some part of reality.  What gets 
crazy is the way we make absolute our partial understandings. For example part 
of me is radically ashamed of the United States and my part in the war in Iraq 
the destruction of civil liberties, the disregard of the Geneva convention which 
my Dad fought for in WWII (the consequences of his having fought which I have 
suffered from in my life) and I can go on and on.  On the other hand there is part 
of me that is proud of people like Martin Luther King Jr. and those who shared 
his passion for justice, the great desire for freedom in this country, the 
constitution, and in our AI community people like David Cooperrider and 
business as an agent of World Benefit, and Marge Schiller and her work in our 
schools or Mac O'Dell and his work in Nepal and Africa and the many other neat 
people I have met who are doing their part to make this a better world. What 
gets really stupid is when I take an internal vote and say 51% of me is ashamed 
and therefore I am totally ashamed of the US.

I also agree that as a change agent I need to respect and deeply connect with 
what is valuable in the community that I seek to help to change.  What I find 
really interesting as I write this is the simple impact of telling story.
As I wrote about what I feel ashamed of I got angry and felt hopeless in the face 
of what I perceive as an overwhelming evil and I could agree totally with Mrs 
Obama, in fact I could go on a tirade and make her seem like a wimp. Because 
when you are in that negative emotional rut, as Barbara Frederickson's research 
would show, it is absolute and you can't see beyond that rut.

On the other hand as I thought of Martin Luther King Jr. and those who not only 
dreamed of a new world but actually did something to make that new world I 
find my heart warmed and tears come to my eyes and I am awed by the people I 
know and I find hope and I find determination to join with those who dream of a 
new day. In this place of awe I do not deny what is wrong nor glory only in what 
is right, nor argue with people I don't agree with, nor seeks justification of any 
past or present state, but is open to the future and a desire to join with other 
like minded people who are interested in what is good, what is really good, and 
not only good for me, but good for you, and good for all those in the countries 
represented on this listserve and good for all those that they know.

Rob



On 8 Mar 2008 at 15:49, Kevin Kervick wrote:

> 
> Hello Rob:
> 
> I like what you are saying here but to be an appreciative citizen
> one has to 
> start with respect for the country less the Pygmalian effect biases
> the 
> outcome.
> In Ms. Obama's comments I notice no such respect, especially since
> her point 
> of view does not jive with the evidence.
> 
> > To create that world we focus on those life giving realities in
> our past 
> > and dream
> > of ways to do more of it to create that future.
> 
> Also are there not also living realities in the present worth
> building from? 
> Ms. Obama's comments suggest that she does not see any.
> 
> Kevin 
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