Degenerating times?

Tibetan lamas and other teachers refer to "degenerating times" as a benchmark of especially Western behavior, culture and economies. Although people like the Dalai Lama seem to tone down such critic labels, they are "in the wings" none-the-less. Organizations which represent the Tibetan refugees and Tibetan people in the West wrestle with the stresses and strains of label karma which would understand and work to change things successfully. This peaked at the time of the Olympics in China, and has taken a back seat since then, seems to me.

How would our ethicists, philosophers and religious figures respond to a charge of degeneration coming from the East? Recently in a film on PBS shot in China to dramatize the plight of countless small town people who work in sweat shops far from home (people who sew in this case) trying to get home and back to work during the annual celebration of Chinese new year. This huge migration by train primarily is beset by terrible facilities, equipment, military and police traffic and confusion management, angst and heartbreak. There is what could be called degeneration here.

Change cries for labels to try for understanding. One of the Chinese critics of the film mentioned suggested that it was not "patriotic," that it sought understanding and yet made understanding impossible because it implied criticism. The filmmaker was, as I recall, was angered by this remark, and rightly so. What will change the plight of the workers who are caught in the desire to be at home and travel there? And how will American viewers take to heart the lesson to be learned about the need to deal with changing infrastructures as a part

of their futures?

Young People

"Back in the day," when I was preparing myself seriously to do library work (eg. a masters degree in Library Science) today's so-called "young people" were called "young adults." Perhaps this was wishful thinking (?), that we were just going to be working with the younger part of the adult spectrum if we worked in this specialization.

In the last decade or two it seems that the way behavior plays out and is encouraged has changed this a bit. People who reach the voting age, who are more or less expected to leave home, can drink legally, etc., are now (more or less) tolerated as a version of continuous teenagers, in dress, habits, employment & unemployment, residences, etc. There is no obligation to "grow up" necessarily, what's the point? What is it to be "grown up," and who cares?

Talking to local "teens" in the last few years, there are with few exceptions any people who have strong adult tendencies (what ever those are?). When asked what their expectations were to be post high school situation a couple mentioned working for Wal Mart, hopefully as fork lift operators. Others mentioned the local vo tech schools, possibly working with computers or something. And now I realize that I need to "revisit" the situation, try and understand it more.

Part of this is the possibility that I may be able to visit and exchange ideas with a writing class in a nearby high school. Another was the request by the one young fellow who has worked on our place with great distinction for a letter to support his case for a scholarship. This young man is so exceptional, so deserving of support, and I/we feel honored to be asked to write a letter. I only wish there were more of him, and my understanding could have more depth because of them.

They belly full but they hungry

In the memorable words of Bob Marley, the duplicitous behavior of Fox and main stream news has branded the national/international financial protests as the work of mobs. Although there has not been any "mob" behavior until things erupted in Oakland, the word has been used both to slander and mislead those who would try to understand what is going on.

I think I've mentioned the report of the Christian Science Monitor on European protesters and now has called them the "new lost generation." What is it to be "lost" when you are found within a movement that intends to change things? Well, part of it is disillusionment, especially with reporting that seemingly would rather obfuscate than focus. Youth is undoubtedly the driving force behind what is going on, and thus "generation gaps" are obvious.

When a movement does not play by the rules which the power structure would seek to impose, there are bound to be problems, and ultimately violence, as has happened in Oakland. When a movement seeks to shut down a major container port there are will be "fireworks;" if the "powers that be" will not "come to the table," be intelligent and responsive with demands for change police build up and militarization seems inevitable. How fair will be the reporting on this latest "development" in Oakland, what will President Obama say about it?