From Kindred’s March 2017 Newsletter:
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THE question of 2017 is put to us succinctly in Darcia Narvaez’s new essay: Are We Raising Humans Or Fearful Reptiles? Is it too late? Have our brains become so effectively and systematically terrified, potentially stripped of our human capacity for critical thinking and compassionate action, that we turn over our will to the biggest authoritarian character around, a billionaire-reality-show-celebrity will do, and let HIM create our world for us? _
Fortunately, that thought is not true for the majority of Americans or global citizens. B ut there is little doubt of the severity of the arc toward social justice’s pause a t the moment. For example, Yale professor, Paul Bloom, would have us believe we should be Against Empathy in his new book of the same name. Contributing Editor, Robin Grille, brings in the real science of empathy and di smantles Bloom’s flawed academic argument in the Kindred exclusive below. Bloom’s audacious advocacy for our “cold reptilian brains” over evolution’s preferred empathy-informed intelligence provides stark evidence of how deep the roots of our cultural confusion go.
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It is to these roots and the need for Cultural Compostingthat I speak in this month’s editorial. 2017 is the Year of the Chinese Rooster, and for insight into our imminent cultural collapse I turn to a few former tenets on our family far m: history shows roos te rs were discovered by warlords who groomed them for fighting pits over hundreds of years. When these former champion cockfighters show up today in the form of jittery little guys set on disturbing the peace in humble backyard flocks they are recognized and pitied as “throwbacks” of patriarchy.
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“E ndless crowing, unwanted sexual advances on hens, taunting predators, unprovoked attacks and generally upsetting the peace… while aggressive throwback roosters are pitied, in humans the same traits are clinically diagnosed as malignant narcissism.” Is Trump a throwback human? Is 2017 the year patriarchy comes home to roost?
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While backyard enthusiasts take out their markers and poster board to create ISO New Home signs, Trump resistance marchers take out their markers to show they will not be bullied and broken. Is it enough to resist the throwback forces that would destructively dismantle civilization? Or do we simultaneously need to call upon our rational imaginations to envision the world we want to create? How is this done if we have never experienced compassionate parenting? Sustainable living? A peaceful world?
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In turning to our family farm for insight, another story emerges. After the coyotes moved in and took our last rooster a few years ago, a little hen answered the call of her flock to serve the greater good. Through the innate intelligence of The Blueprint, she grew a comb, green tail feathers and learned to crow to defend her community. Poultry farmers know of this “henster” phenomenon well. Now, just imagine what humans can and are doing right now as they also answer this call to serve the planetary greater good.
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How will Throwback Trump’s policies affect American families on a practical note? We’ve added a Politics column to the Conscious Parenting News e-newspaper to help you find out. (CPN is a sister initiative of Kindred’s parent nonprofit, Families for Conscious Living .) Kindred also features a selection of articles exploring the relationship of attachment, conscious parenting and Throwback Trump here.
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Enjoy Cultural Composting In The Year Of The Chinese Rooster, and my personal cheat sheet for Cultural Gardening and Composting within myself at the bottom of the article. I look forward to hearing about your own tips for consciousness farming as we enter the rebirth of our Northern Hemisphere this spring!
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B lessings,
Lisa Reagan
Editor
Contact me at lisa@reagan.net