this idea also reinforces why i've said socialism can work, but not here in America. In Denmark, a garbage man is happy to be a garbage man, and no one gives him any shit for having a lower class job, there is no embarrasment. Meanwhile, their doctors don't expect the world to fall at their feet because of their education. They all pay higher taxes, and are taken care of in return.
Here in America it wouldn't work. Working class people are ashamed to be working class, and a lot of white collared workers tend towards arrogance towards the lower classes. I remember this psychological process starting around the 2nd or 3rd grade. By the time I was in high school, it was a bona fide rat race to get one up on everyone else in some way shape or form. seekliberation --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > A friend of mine who has been living in the Netherlands > for some years came up with an insight a few months ago > over dinner that I thought 1) nailed an interesting > part of the Dutch zeitgeist, 2) pointed out differences > between that national zeitgeist and that of the US, and > 3) has some interesting parallels to spirituality. > > She said, "One thing you'll learn about the Dutch is > that they have a huge reluctance -- almost a fear -- of > 'standing out.' They long for anonymity, to 'blend in.' > You won't often finding them wanting to be 'special.'" > I've been watching the behavior of folks here ever since, > and I think she's onto something. > > To some extent this might be a leftover group mindset > from WWII. Seeing Paul Verhoeven's "Soldier Of Orange" > certainly brings up that possibility. There are still > generations of Dutch alive who remember the Occupation > years, and the fear of being denounced to the authorities > *by one's own neighbors* for "standing out." I don't know > yet enough about Dutch history to know whether this > tendency goes back further. > > But it's interesting to compare this mindset to America, > and the almost pathological desire of many of its citizens > *to* "stand out," to become famous, to "have their fifteen > minutes of fame." The American media are *all about* being > "special." The role model of success presented to the > youth of America when growing up is to become "special," > and their heroes tend to be those who have gotten them- > selves recognized as "special" -- rock stars, rap stars, > movie stars, pop singers, self-promoting politicians, > billionaires, etc. > > Where this segues into musings about spirituality for me > is that the spiritual trips or traditions I have run into > in my life tend to fall into one of two camps. First -- > and most common -- are the spiritual trips that try to > convince their followers that they're "special" because > they believe the trip's dogma and/or are members of its > oh-so-elite ranks. Far less common are spiritual trips > in which you can find none of this appeal to "special- > ness," and whose dogma *and* day-to-day walking their > talk are more about being an ordinary human being and > realizing that achieving that humble self acceptance > is pretty much as rare and as "special" as one could > possibly get. > > In the Castanedan sense, longing for and striving for > "specialness" is very accessible. It opens one up to > those who would manipulate that longing for their own > reasons. No one is more manipulatable than the person > who has gotten so used to being told how special and > unique and wonderful they are by their gurus or their > fellow students; it is in a very real sense an addiction. > But those who just delight in being "one of the crowd," > without any desire or need to stand out...they're not > only more inaccessible, they're often the ones who in > my experience actually achieve the ego-reduction they > claim to seek. Whereas those who long to be "special" > often become more and more locked *into* the ego. > > My fave singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn once penned > a couple of lines that IMO reflect his balanced way of > living his life. Bruce is a very spiritual dude, but > shuts down any attempt to portray either him or the > way he lives that life as "special." Instead, he just > lives a Christian life the way Christ might have act- > ually imagined such a life being led, and leaves being > "special" to those who are willing to settle for that. > For Bruce, a worthy credo is: > > To be one more voice > in the human choir > rising like smoke > from the mystical fire of the heart > ( from "Messenger Wind," 2001 ) > > Yeah. What he said. >
