oops, it replied directly to Theresa instead of to the list...
Hi All, This has been a fascinating discussion. I am particularly moved to discuss the idea that there would be objections us all living in open space like: "Who will run the trains? Who will grow the food? Will there be enough?" I agree that those objections are there and that much of the world is not yet ready (or motivated) to see past the corporate paradigm that currently drives our collective society. I would like to offer an observation that i had about 4 years ago. We had two children in an alternative school. They were aged 3 and 4. Not too long after putting them in the school they were invited to a birthday party for a classmate. When it came time to present the gifts, the children, by themselves, organized into a circle, each holding the respective gifts they had brought. They all sat in quiet excitement for a moment then one of the children got up and took her gift to the birthday girl. All the children sat patiently thrilled at the excitement of the opening of the present. After that gift had been received in gratitude and everyone had the chance to see it, another child, seemingly spontaneously got up and repeated the process. This continued until all the gifts had been given. The parents were not directly involved with the process at all (other than the original suggestion that it would be a good time to do the gifts) but observed in silence. There was no apparent "pecking order" in the children that determine who was next. It was, to me, a pure example of open space without the name. When i asked the other parents and teachers about it, they said that the same thing occurs in the classroom. The children rarely needed to line up for limited resources, they would just take their turns as each one was moved and there was rarely, if ever contention or resources sitting unused. There was also no consistent hierarchy of order. I agree that it will require a revolutionary paradigm shift to take the culture from our present structure to a more open space way of living but i have faith that it does work, that things do get done, and further that perhaps we would be less driven by "the end justifies the means" motivation that currently is destroying our environment and social harmony. The seed is already there in the children. All we have to do is feed and water it and get out of the way so it can grow. duff * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
