Message from Berlin

Thu Jul 24 15:02:19 PDT 2008

John! Nice to see you here on OSLIST!!

What you say (His words are fine -- but his orotunditude will keep costing
him heartland votes.  Thank God for GWB: the only man who could elect BHO.)
may well be true  -- to a point, but I think there may be some more to say.
For those not familiar with Americanisms "heartland votes" refer to all
those folks who live in the towns and villages across this land. It is true
that they tend to be "conservative" in that that they are very attached to
the history and traditions of their particular place, which for them is
pretty much the whole world. They were born there, they raised a family
there, and they will die there. 

It is also true that if you spend any time in their presence you will
discover they are what we (Americans) call "Salt of the Earth." That doesn't
mean that there are not some narrow minded, nasty folks - but my experience
every time I am privileged to be in "their space" -- is that these are warm
people who care for each other, and will take care of each other. There are
some rough edges to be sure, but as they will tell you, they come from the
"heartland" - which can't be all bad. 

Up here in Maine (farthest northeast part of my country) you will find some
of these "heartland folks" on the outer islands in small fishing
communities. They don't fish much - it is all about Lobster. Or in the local
dialect "Lobsta." Every day they go out into what can be a very unforgiving
sea. Some people call them the "cowboys of the sea" - and that is pretty
close to the truth. Fiercely independent, competitive, plain spoken - the
salt of the earth. AND they take care of each other, and anybody else who
happens to run into some difficulty at sea. 

I have a boat. I spend a lot of time on the sea, and I know something about
those "difficulties." Like - you have lost your engine (dead) and there is a
large pile of rocks right in front of you! You call the Coast Guard
(Government - and you should), but well before the Coast Guard has gotten
through all the "formal questions" it is more than likely that some
Lobsterman (person - women skipper the boats too) will show up and toss you
a line. They not only care for each other - they care for anybody who is in
need. In other parts of the world, this is called, the "Law of the
Stranger." Which should make the point: "Heartland Folks" are not simply an
American phenomenon. And I know that to be true. Everytime I have meet such
folks in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, the "outback of OZ" - Same
thing. They care for each other. They will care for you -- a perfect
stranger.

It is very easy to idealize all of this. Back to nature sort of thing! But I
find it useful to honor such people for who and what they are - and
recognize the limitations. It is a strange new world for these folks. Their
space has been violated with odd and troublesome happenings. An unchanging
world changes constantly. Anxiety and fear is the result. It will do no good
at all to "tell" them what to do - they must have the space/time to figure
it out for themselves. And they will - given the space/time. I think this is
where we (US - the silly OS Community) come in. It is not about a political
platform, a particular candidate, a special "bete noir" (George) - but about
creating the space/time in which the people of the Planet can evolve to be
their future. 

We have a lot of work to do! Being present and totally invisible will be
very demanding. I know we are up for it!

Harrison

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Drive

Potomac, Maryland   20854

Phone 301-365-2093

Skype hhowen

Open Space Training  <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> www.openspaceworld.com

Open Space Institute  <http://www.openspaceworld.org/>
www.openspaceworld.org

Personal website  <http://www.ho-image.com/> www.ho-image.com 

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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of John Rapp
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 3:06 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Message from Berlin

His words are fine -- but his orotunditude will keep costing him heartland
votes.  Thank God for GWB: the only man who could elect BHO.

On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 11:52 AM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:

A rather remarkable speech. For the full text go to --
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/07/24/obama_delivers_berlin_ad
<http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/07/24/obama_delivers_berlin_a
ddress.html?hpid=topnews> 
dress.html?hpid=topnews

Harrison

Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland   20854
Phone 301-365-2093
Skype hhowen
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> 
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org <http://www.openspaceworld.org/>

Personal website www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com/> 
OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Michael M
Pannwitz
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 1:59 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Message from Berlin

Thirty minutes later...and I think you and all of us near and far from
San Francisco are doing exactly what BO put into the center of his
speech: tearing down all the walls between us and building bridges to
bring about what we aspire to...simply by working with Open Space
Technology...
Greetings from Berlin
mmp

Michael M Pannwitz wrote:
> Dear participants in San Francisco,
> while you are probably all having a ball in San Francisco
> BO is just in this minute beginning his speech in Berlin to a
> enthusiastic crowd of more than onehundredthousand people...
> cheers
> mmp--
--

Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg
Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
++49-30-772 8000
mmpanne at boscop.org
www.boscop.org <http://www.boscop.org/> 

Check out the Open Space World Map presently showing 447 resident Open
Space Workers in 71 countries working in a total of 132 countries worldwide
Have a look:
www.openspaceworldmap.org <http://www.openspaceworldmap.org/> 

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