It's variable and not one way. If larger units prevail the US would have easily the war in Vietnam. Yes, now in a long period of a militarized state what you say about centralized state structures seems as inevitable. Indeed, as we seem trending toward a world culture run by transnationals, you might consider this along with Harari's concerns about AI and bioengineering. If you really want to argue that this is all inevitable, then so be it. I'd prefer a broader vision of possibilities.
Vietnam was just where the United States fought China and the Soviet Union with Vietnamese lives. It wasn't some little guy beating the big guy, although that certainly could happen on rare occasions.
The big trend may not be inevitable but I don't see what stops it. What do you think will or are you just thinking hopeful thoughts? Seriously, if you have a scenario that takes the current trend and changes it to something more positive, I'd like to hear it. Hopefully it is not some vague faith in spiritual evolution.
The successful scenario, if there is an alternative to the dystopian vision, depends first-off on having an open stance to the possibilities offered by the human imagination. If one wants to explore current visions of possibility there are plenty out there. Mostly, because they are imaginal ports of entry, they are not concretized scenarios but rather paths for exploration including but not limited to spiritual evolution. It starts with loosening the commitment to a colonial mind that argues that the past currently described consensually by the victors is prologue. If you don't want to open to possibility there's no reason to do so. If you are asking for a path of heart that comes with an advance insurance policy that it will work, I don't believe that it exists. There are diverse paths toward possibility. For example, in the metaphysical terms of this forum, Idealism opens the imaginal portal for more possibilities as plausible than does Physicalism, even though it does not make a specific practice or outcome guaranteed.
Or, poetically, in the words of T.S. Eliot:
With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always--
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flames are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.
Yeah, I know "that's poetry." I also know that poetry is a technology of possibility. It's not the only one.
Be calm - Be clear - See the faults - See the suffering - Give your love
Ben Iscatus wrote: ↑Sat Nov 13, 2021 6:57 pm
Drat! Just when I thought Lou was going to enlighten us on the forthcoming spiritual enlightenment. <sob>
Or at least make a guess as to what % of the GDP will it take to bring it about
Here out of instinct or grace we seek
soulmates in these galleries of hieroglyph and glass,
where mutual longings and sufferings of love
are laid bare in transfigured exhibition of our hearts,
we who crave deep secrets and mysteries,
as elusive as the avatars of our dreams.
Jim Cross wrote: ↑Sat Nov 13, 2021 7:13 pm
technology or ideas ?
In this forum, at least under idealism, they're the same
Here out of instinct or grace we seek
soulmates in these galleries of hieroglyph and glass,
where mutual longings and sufferings of love
are laid bare in transfigured exhibition of our hearts,
we who crave deep secrets and mysteries,
as elusive as the avatars of our dreams.
Lou Gold wrote: ↑Sat Nov 13, 2021 7:40 pm
Aha, Dana. So it seems you've found the metaphysical basis of the discussion.
I can dream can't I?
Here out of instinct or grace we seek
soulmates in these galleries of hieroglyph and glass,
where mutual longings and sufferings of love
are laid bare in transfigured exhibition of our hearts,
we who crave deep secrets and mysteries,
as elusive as the avatars of our dreams.
Lou Gold wrote: ↑Sat Nov 13, 2021 10:07 pm
BTW, as an idle bit of curiosity, have you ever arrived at the literal (material) end of the rainbow and seen what is there?
Nope, it always seems much further away than I'm inclined to literally hike But I suspect it's like trying to reach the horizon, no?
Here out of instinct or grace we seek
soulmates in these galleries of hieroglyph and glass,
where mutual longings and sufferings of love
are laid bare in transfigured exhibition of our hearts,
we who crave deep secrets and mysteries,
as elusive as the avatars of our dreams.
Lou Gold wrote: ↑Sat Nov 13, 2021 10:07 pm
BTW, as an idle bit of curiosity, have you ever arrived at the literal (material) end of the rainbow and seen what is there?
Nope, it always seems much further away than I'm inclined to literally hike But I suspect it's like trying to reach the horizon, no?
No! A little over one year ago driving (under normal influence) down the road and rounding a bend during a brief sun-and-rain shower, fortunately with a companion witness, there it was dancing at the edge of the road less that twenty feet away. The great blazing arc ended hovering about a foot off the ground. I suspect you can imagine what was there?
Be calm - Be clear - See the faults - See the suffering - Give your love
Lou Gold wrote: ↑Sat Nov 13, 2021 10:07 pm
I suspect you can imagine what was there?
"IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole?
I did get a shot of this one on Maui, but can't make out the details at the base ...
Here out of instinct or grace we seek
soulmates in these galleries of hieroglyph and glass,
where mutual longings and sufferings of love
are laid bare in transfigured exhibition of our hearts,
we who crave deep secrets and mysteries,
as elusive as the avatars of our dreams.
)