IDEAS FOR A BETTER FUTURE
Since January, 2002

September, 2006
Vol. 5, Number 9
 
The SNS Press E–Zine presents new perspectives for a better future in society, politics, religion, education, self-awareness and human relations.

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A hopeful approach for the future of international relations.

Redirect teen rebellion towards idealism and self improvement.

Read excerpts from unpublished book: Science, Religion and the Search for God —Bridging the Gap.

Poems of society, the human condition, and spiritual discovery.

Our student activities and curriculum materials instill an environmental, cultural, and global perspective, and integrate various academic disciplines.

 

This Month's Article

The News is not "New"

After I get up in the morning I go wake up my computer. I check the New York Times to make sure that California has not slipped into the ocean, I check to see if the balance of terror is still balanced, I go to The Huffington Post to learn which Republicans are now criticizing Bush, and then I check out the NOAA National Weather Service web site to see if the rain falling outside is thirty percent rain, fifty percent rain, or perhaps sunshine. In the back of my mind I am hoping for something out of the ordinary – some great evolutionary breakthrough, something to knock human consciousness off its track....Then I go about my daily routine.

All news from all media if taken together, presents very little that is new. To me, all news resembles a school of fish in a vast ocean — lots of individuals, but only one collective mass moving together driven by a mass instinct. Sometimes sunrays glisten off the reflective scales of the fish, but all in all, the news just darts here and there instinctively trying to satisfy its hunger and propagate itself. So the news is simply a mirror of human society and consciousness, conditioned by history, habits, instincts, emotions and the boredom that thirsts for entertainment. Yet when people look at the news or read the news, they are always hoping to be surprised, always hoping to find something new and unexpected; something to lift them out of the present routine; something to stir the imagination. It must be called “news,” not for what it is, but for what people wish it were. If people didn’t feel so trapped by the monotony of life they wouldn’t be so hungry for “news.” People even greet each other saying, “What’s new?”

That which is new in society is the product of thoughts and actions that seek to free people from the mindless school of fish that blindly moves through the ocean.  At best, news commentators or bloggers attempt to be the psychoanalysts or conscience of society. However, the focus is always on the nuances and frustrations in a world of sameness. All diverse ideologies, all the politics and relationships that drive the news, all the religious doctrines, all the ill-will and injustice, and all the emotions that create the excitement of fear and contentiousness that people find so stimulating, are old and backwards-looking. The school of the news is just teaching one lesson — that in the perpetual motion we feel from day to day, the individual has no power.

Why do we not have a “news” that is new and empowering? Why are people not demanding of the best minds and leaders to find a way out of the misery and suffering caused by perpetual ignorance and blindness? What people really want from news is new hope, are new perspectives that show that there really are solutions to the problems paralyzing human welfare everywhere in the world. People want to know that there are people unselfishly working to improve the human condition. Let’s face it, it is not in the interests of either the established political systems in any country or in the interests of the media to empower people to think for themselves or to have hope in the future. The word, “hope” has even mutated into a popular code word used by politicians who are seeking to rationalize failed policies and justify limiting human freedom, while trying to make people accept their misery. The news media and the blogosphere thrive on conflict — battles between adversaries and perceived powerlessness are their food.

So where can one find real NEW news? Look outside the news media and beyond political rhetoric machines. What is new is the documented proof that people are working untiringly to solve problems of the world. Visit the websites of non-governmental organizations that are working to solve health threats, to promote human rights, to combat poverty and ignorance, to save the environment, to investigate intelligent and spiritual approaches to better relations and to saner ways of living. Read the mission statements and accomplishments of the many organizations that have taken on a world problem and are trying to solve it. 

“News” is only new when it breaks our old notions about the direction of world events, and about our own possibility to influence them. When a fresh perspective replaces our fear and uncertainty, we may see alternative scenarios and new ways of responding. When we can intelligently and objectively view world events, we may stand apart, and no longer be swept along in a mindless school of fish. Breaking free, we may even find a cause to work for that gives us a sense of empowerment. The search for real news has the power to make one a new and independent thinker.

 

RESOURCES: ALLIANCES THAT HELP

InterAction

Network for Good

Taking It Global (for youth)

The Hunger Site (and more)

Care2 — Make a Difference

SaveOurEnviornment

 

© 2006 Richard Sidy

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Contact me with your comments about this topic


Articles about Consciousness and the Future:

Hope for the Future
Series on Leadership
Series on Global Consciousness
World Peace in Less Than a Month?
Can Idealism Solve Problems?

I Know I'm Not Alone — the wisdom of Michael Franti

Related Poems:

Making Friends
Take Heart

 

Support child survival, protection and development:
Donate to U.S.A. Fund for UNICEF


Donate to
American Red Cross

 

Archives 2005
Volumn 4
January: "Standing up for Humanity"
February: "The Wake of Disaster" – a poem
March: "Unity in Diversity
April: "Life is Calling"
May: "Entertainment" – a poem
June: "Thought and Imagination" part 1
July: "Thought and Imagination" part 2
August: "Imagination and Healing"
September: "Malice or Neglect? – Lessons of Katrina"
October: "Protecting Children"
November: "Intelligent Design or Evolution?"
December: "Building with one hand, destroying with the other"
Archives 2006
Volumn 5

January: "Conflict, Harmony, and Integrity"
February: "Satyagraha or Soul-force and Political Change"
March: "I Know I'm Not Alone - Wisdom of Michael Franti"
April: "Human Programming and Conflict Part I"
May: "Human Programming and Conflict Part II"
June: "Soccer Diplomacy"
July: "Sustainable Development is Nature's Way
August: "Parallel Universes"
September: "The News is not New"
October: "Legalizing Torture"
November: "Living Without an Enemy"
December: "Fast Food is really Slow Food"

Archives 2007
Volumn 6

January: "State of Fear"
February: Criminal Justice - "The Powerful Over the Weak"
March: "Culture Shock: The Good Life and Survival"
April: "March Madness"
May: "No Child Left Behind" Leaves Many Teachers Behind
June: "Personal Ecology"
July: Criminal Justice - "The Ethic of Custodianship"
August: "Exploring the Mind - part 1"
September: "Exploring the Mind - part 2: The Poetic Mind
October: "How Much Pain Can We Stand?"
November: "When Languages Disappear"
December: "Is it Enough to be Tolerant?"

Archives 2008
Volumn 7

January: "Beyond Ideology: Politics of the Future "
February: "Beyond the Bush Years"
March: "The Imaginary Economy - Part I
April: "The Imaginary Economy - Part II
May: Questions from Prison
June: "iGods and Connectivity"
July: "Energy Independence"
August: "Tribalism and the 2008 Elections
September: "Guilt, Shame and U.S. Justice"
October: "Have We Been Willing Slaves?"
November: "Are We Ready for the Future?"
December: "Are we done learning from pain?"

Archives 2009
Volumn 8

January: "Awakening"
February: "When Sacrifice is no Sacrifice"
March: "The Good New Days"
April: "The Power of Metaphor"
May: "The Conflict of Mythologies"
June: "The Time is Right"
July: "The New Anarchy"
August: "The Art of Living"
September: "Outrage"
October: "Are Women Becoming More Unhappy?

November: "Effect of the manufacturing culture on the American Psyche"
December: Who are the Real Game Changers?

Archives 2010
Volumn 9

January: The Music of Place
February: Earthquakes and Other Awakenings
March: Sense of Place, Sense of Self, Sense of Humanity
April: Why Do People Serve?
May: Decentralizing Food and Energy
June: Beyond Reading and Writing — Ecological literacy
July: Organization or Organism?
August: Fear and Cynicism = “Inter-fear-ance”
September: Are we afraid of our "Better Angels?"
October: Choosing Our Battles
November: Meeting the Need
December: A Living Canvas

Archives 2002: Vol. 1, Numbers 1-12
Read past articles including:
Hope for the Future
Six Part Series on Science and Religion
First Three Parts of the Series on Leadership
Archives 2003: Vol. 2, Numbers 1-12
Read past articles including:
Series on Leadership continued
Avoiding Dictatorship in a Free Society

Art and Politics
Living the Good Life

Teaching Teens
World Peace in Less Than a Month?
Archives 2004: Vol. 3, Numbers 1-12
Read past articles including:
Seven Part Series on Global Consciousness
Is "Liberal" a Dirty Word?
Can Idealism Solve Problems?
Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All
Poetry Diplomacy Science and Religion  Teen Help
Archives 2002 Archives 2003 Archives 2004
   
© 2006 SNS Press
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