Digital Participation to Make Democracies Democrat...

Peter van der Werff: Digital Participation to Make Democracies Democrat...: Rather than reject referendums, Lok Sabha lies, Trump gangs or Brussels labyrints, let us think constructively about better political syste...

Digital Participation to Make Democracies Democratic

Rather than reject referendums, Lok Sabha lies, Trump gangs or Brussels labyrints, let us think constructively about better political systems. One alternative is embraced by the younger generations. See what happens in the UK.

‘The internet has transformed media, retail, communication and other areas of life, but there has been one notable exception – politics.’

‘57% of all adults want the opportunity to regularly vote via digital and social media channels on key issues and legislation debated in parliament.’

https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2015/apr/01/uk-political-system-digital-technology

And of referendums have perceived shortcomings, search for the reduction of those shortcomings so that 'democracies' become democratic. I have offered a number of improvements earlier here.

Of course, there is the risk of hijacking at the Internet. But it is a risk offline as well, and perhaps even more so.

If you keep rejecting Internet politics, do propose better alternatives.

The import-export business of lotus, communism, running and apples

For quite some westerners sitting in the lotus position to meditate is uncomfortable. Contrary to Indians, where the habit comes from, they hardly ever sit like this in daily life. At the same time, other westerners produce mounting evidence that to sit long is unhealthy. We should move - babies, school children, adults, the aged, all of us.

Russia, Mozambique, China, Vietnam and Cuba copied communism from Western Europe but logically did not keep the original model. They gave communism a range of different flavors, each adjusted to the particular culture.

East Africans, used to move over long distances while herding their cattle in the savannas, export themselves as marathon runners to the West and earn way more money with moving in the streets of Boston and New York than their cousins of the plains of Ethiopia or Kenya. One wonders if they will ever start missing savannas.

The apple tree originates from Central Asia and got exported to Asia, Europe and North America, a few thousand years ago. The Old Testament has the apple make Adam and Eve leave Paradise and start the human evolution, about seven million years ago. Paradise must for sure have been in Central Asia and, in package deals with the apple, brought to other parts of the world.

Top ten focal points in football, music and finance

Ten football centers of the world: London, Milan, Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Manchester, Mexico City,  Munich, Sao Paulo.

Ten music centers of the world: London, Milan, Rio de Janeiro, Sidney, Memphis, Havana, Vienna, Berlin, Leipzig, Bologna.

Ten financial centers of the world:  London, Sidney, Toronto, New York, Beijing, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Zurich.

London figures three times in these lists, Milan, Rio and Sidney twice.

Old Pain Wants True Healing

Peter van der Werff: Old Pain Wants True Healing: Meditation, energy work, yoga, aikido, qi gong, tai chi, race in a Ferrari, sports training, ecstatic dance, five rhythm dance, tango work...

Old Pain Wants True Healing

Meditation, energy work, yoga, aikido, qi gong, tai chi, race in a Ferrari, sports training, ecstatic dance, five rhythm dance, tango workshops, sleeping pills, pain killers, mushrooms, massage, tantra, hard work, stardom, reading psychology and spirituality books, pray to God, lying in the grass, orgasms, postpone orgasm, Zen focus, philosophizing, talking, listening, chanting, asking recognition from parents or managers, joining a guerrilla movement, assertiveness training, time management, analyzing astrological charts, awareness of cosmic movements, fight tooth and nail with a partner, resign, hope for the best, trust your intuition, follow your heart, shout revolution, do what the teacher says, be creative, watch your weight, gaze in the mirror, save a child, eat organic food, campaign politically, post on Facebook, hug your lover, enjoy your coffee, reject coffee – you name it – all nice or not nice, but it does not remove your hidden, old pain.

In this list are ways that can soften our old pain or help us on our way to find true healing. We may sound out if such ways lead us away from that healing or not. If they lean towards escape, they function more as blocks than roads to Rome. So, if we want a better life, much of our work is to honestly and courageously sound out our softening of old pain: does it build a road block or an access road?

After all, undigested old pain keeps giving thoughts, feelings and acts that may be unwanted by you or others. So, if you notice such effects in yourself, set sail to discover you old pain.

But you will not digest it by going with the old feelings of rage, grief and fear that were created by your old pain.

You digest old pain by imagining yourself as two different selves. The first self is the discoverer or driver that leads you to the pain. If you are lucky, the other self starts sensing the old pain and goes deeper and deeper into it. The first self stays out of the emotions, does not get swept away, just watches the feeling of the pain, doesn’t identify. It manages how far you can go each time.

If you can’t do that alone, find someone who did all this herself or himself and with whom you feel a click. <3

Political Change from the Outside

Peter van der Werff: Political Change from the Outside: FROM THE OUTSIDE As both multi-party and two-party styles of coalition governance have major flaws, discussing their pros and cons is c...