[Dialogue] beyond the Republican meltdown: some further thoughts; social process triangle

[elliestock at aol.com]

Marshall,

I have used the social process triangles often in adult classes at church and at other meetings to try to provide an image of what is happening in contemporary society.? I have not usually had time to go into the deeper levels of the triangles, but the concept is still on target, and I still draw it?with unequal triangles--a dominating economic part of the triangle, a small political triangle and even smaller cultural triangle.? We used to say we don't address the economic by attacking the economic directly but by rebuilding the the cultural and political, particularly the cultural--the?story/meaning/being dynamic. ?That's what our Town Meetings and HDPs were about.? I think that's what David Korten's book The Great Turning is about and also Berry's The Great Work.? The task is very practically doing the spinning and demonstration of the new story--from local to global level.? Not easy.? But still the mission.? That's still what we see ourselves doing in?our local congregation, linking up locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally with networks of the sensitive and responsive ones.

Ellie Stock

-----Original Message-----
From: W. J. <synergi at yahoo.com>
To: oe at wedgeblade.net; dialogue at wedgeblade.net
Sent: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:18 am
Subject: [Dialogue] beyond the Republican meltdown: some further thoughts







Thank you all for putting up with my existential angst. I got some wonderful responses off-list, including one from one of our token Republicans.

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Upon further sober reflection, my mind went to the Social Process triangles (of course). 

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To stick with the obvious, we're seeing more econimc tyranny played out in alliance with an impotent political process that accepts payoffs/influence/collusion and refuses meaningful regulation. This imbalance is leading to severe global economic 'wobble' (my term) which requires painful quick bandaid fixes that are totally irrational from the perspective of the famous Republican unregulated?free-market philosophy.

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So where does that leave me and my colleagues? I think we're squoze together way up in the tiny cultural corner of the social process trinagle and trying to decide what the hell to do from there. 

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Empowering the political makes a lot of sense this fall. I see Obama as a cultural figure working to shift the context of the political process, with a lot of resistance and not a lot of experience in taking us all to a new place. Remember, 'It's not that easy bein' green.'

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And that nightmare image of Miss Piggy in the Oval Office...well, if you'll forgive me for invoking her again, I see her too as a cultural phenomenon, coming from a highly reductionistic context and invading the political process as a kind of political messiah figure with lipstick, waving the right wing Republican banner.

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These two figures clue us in to the absolute necessity of the cultural dimension for articulating the meaning(s) of where we are globally, as oposed to political 'business as usual.'

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And for what it's worth, I see the destruction of the Twin Towers as a cultural attack, or an attack on our primary Western cultural values (that one's so obvious, maybe that's why it's so hard to get it).

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So, as we all continue to watch in horror at the Republican meltdown, keep in mind that its an economic meltdown (DUH!) as well as a political meltdown, and finally a cultural meltdown . . . as the Reagan Revolution finally runs outa steam. Jelly bean, anyone? There's not much of anything else left to offer.

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Marshall

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