"When people in a democracy are not educated in the art of living --- to strengthen their conscience, compassion, and ability to question and think critically --- they can be easily manipulated by fear and propaganda. A democracy is only as wise as its citizens, and a democracy of ignorant citizens can be as dangerous as a dictatorship."
Paul K. Chappell
The above portrait is of former solder and peace activist Paul Chappell. Being a portrait painter, it caught my attention in some blurb from AOL yesterday shortly after posting about ETHOS the movie, and I liked it as a work of art, so I checked it out. It's of peace activist Paul Chappell, who has stepped up to the issues of war touch on in ETHOS. It's good to see someone from his generation coming forward like this. I've posted a video of his talk below - he's so clear and eloquent......and his comments on the psychology of warfare are well worth listening to! As someone who was trained extensively to be an officer, there's much to learn from his words. (And I do have to say, I hope the largely gray haired audience is not the norm for this important philosopher and activist.)
Lately I seem to get "instant redial", sychronistically speaking........I just posted the previous article about the very important film ETHOS, the forfeit of democracy and the ecosystem to Corporatocracy (and me grousing about my good ole days as a peace activist and how apathetic young people seem now, etc., etc.) when a young student from the U.A. came to the door collecting signatures for Arizona FairShare and a conversation ensued about the organization he was collecting signatures for, and the film. Encouraging!
"Making critical investments in roads, bridges, rails, clean energy and education will put millions of Americans back to work while making life better for all. We need our leaders to advance policies that will start creating jobs. The American Jobs Act now in Congress would be a strong step forward, but many corporations and lobbyists are pushing back. We can afford to create jobs through smart investments if we make big corporations pay their fair share." (www.ArizonaFairShare.org)
OK! Thank you Universe! I'm encouraged!
