Global Open Space project

[chris macrae]

In some recent conversations with other Co-conveners (*Verna Allee ,
*Aimee Bernstein, *Peter Block, *Dinesh Chandra, Roosvelt Finlayson,
David Gutzwiller, **Jed Jones, *Michael Lindfield, Sadandand Ward
Mailliard, Gary Merrill, Gary Musinczky, Bill Tobin, Lauren Vanett,
**Doug Walton, Vivian Wright) the concept of a "Global Open Space"
emerged.
Permit me to play devil's advocate or at least to question the meaning
of this statement

I am wondering specifically what emerged in the sense that I thought
that in the sense that Harrison has tirelessly over 25+ years connected
alumni round 80 countries open space is already global. So what extra
does this phrase of Global Open Space mean - it sounds pretty important
if there is extra that we all know about it on this list.

There's another problem and I am going to be blunt because 10 non-US
people have stated it to me almost the same way in the last 7 days.
Today, we see the United States as not United but 2 different countries;
largely speaking the Red middle that doesn't travel abroad and the Blue
coasts do; the Red Middle to the extent that it has ideas of the world
beyond America's borders is largely conditioned by a tv media that is so
local that as one CNN broadcaster explained our policy is not to
announce anything in the news in a way that might cause a viewer to
switch the channel; that is number one editing criterion - yes thanks
for explaining that!

 We ten unrepresentative but international people would rather the
United States really got to know its own identity (patriotic egotism)
problem before it offered us even one more global solution. For most of
my life we have looked up to the US for ideas on global solutions; at
the moment the 10 of us are in no such mood to value a US view just
because it is US more than any other view, in fact perhaps its time for
reverse discrimination. Perhaps 'ignoring' US views as if they don't
exist while they are so often without of our contexts is the only way
5.8 billion people have left when .2 billion people vote for their own
superpower over the world using the content that American mass media
chains.

This isn't to say we want any less open space percolated around the
world but the name global open space being launched out of America (if
that's what this message says) may be the wrong name at the wrong time
unless the people I have been talking with are a very confused
international sample - quite possible I admit because these are possibly
the most confusing times on my 50 years on this planet. Just 90 minutes
ago on BBC television I thought I heard Britain's prime minister stake
both his reputation and Bush's on resolving the Palestine conflict over
the next 5 years. I believe Blair said many of my own party are sick of
him but they will see its all worth while once we (B&B) turn this round.
This is a very peculiar statement if I heard it right; I'm struggling I
think Blair did say it and believes its what he's agreed in last 36
hours; I suspect Bush never meant to have promised any such thing (but
then I am struggling - my faith comes from a different place than where
these 2 gent's faith seems to have come from month after year; anyhow
they have so confused imagery and reality that I would rather not have
to listen to words from either of them as soon as that becomes a
realistic possibility, they have drowned the start of a millennium in a
way that lacks hope, spirit, love, whatever the word I fumble for)

Or maybe its just a day when I cant read between the lines any more; in
which case apologies for this mail. I'm off for 3 days in Spain at a
conference where I hope to talk to people representing cities from at
least 20 countries; maybe I will return with my mind clearer.

Chris Macrae
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