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At 11:45 PM 4/14/2002 -0400, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Reading your posts the last few
weeks and watching the news, I am struck by<br>
what seems to be going on: leaders looking for ways to keep the
fight<br>
going, while the people want peace.</blockquote><br>
Unfortunately, I think you are right, although at this point I suspect
Arafat is getting tired of the whole affair. But in the case of
Sharon it is all he has got -- and historically it seems it is all he has
ever had. <br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Is it reasonable to think that if
enough regular people got together in<br>
some sort of self-organizing fashion, even the hate of centuries could
be<br>
overcome by love in the latest hour? Could the U.S. be wasting its
breath<br>
on Arafat and Sharon when if they sponsored "peace talks" by
ordinary<br>
citizens, something worthwhile might be born?</blockquote><br>
I am not sure that US sponsorship would be the best thing, at least
directly, but the idea you are suggesting is essentially the strategy my
Israeli and Palestinian colleagues were working from. A negotiated
settlement, such as Powell is attempting at the moment, is possible only
when the conditions are right -- and the establishment of those
conditions is infinitely more complex than the creation of a cease fire.
The mind boggling complexity of The Middle East at the moment (as indeed
any conflicted "organizational" setting) is such that the
rational, linear mind just cannot compute, and even when we seem to have
an accurate picture, all that changes radically in an instant with some
small disturbance in the system. Which is exactly what you would you
would expect in any open, living system -- or self organizing system. I
would go further and say that the only power that is sufficient to deal
with such a monster of fast changing complexity is the phenomenon of
Self-organization itself. <br><br>
We find a similar scenario when we face our own illness. We will often
say -- I must go to the Doctor and be cured, but the truth of the matter
is that the best (and in the vast majority of cases, the only) thing that
the Doctor can do is give the body a little help so that it can cure
itself (or not). To the extent that our bodies are self-organizing
systems (which I take as a given) what the Doctor does is open a little
space so that the natural powers of self-organization can get back to
work.<br><br>
I think the same logic applies in the body politic. We expect the Powells
and Presidents of this world to "fix" the ills of the world, on
the mistaken assumption that they are the only folks who have the power
to do so. My read is that their power is infinitely more limited, in fact
it is quite marginal. I would not suggest that they can do nothing, even
as I would not suggest that Doctors do nothing... BUT the real power, and
therefore the real hope lies in the Body Politic itself, and in it
totality as a self-organizing system.<br><br>
After a number of years wandering around in Open Space, wondering why it
works, I have come to the conclusion (as doubtless I have said ad
nauseum) that the magic is self-organization. And from there I would
propose that the real gift of Open Space is that it allows us to
intentionally and consciously "re-start" the process of
self-organization. And once started (if it starts -- and some things are
just dead) we witness the natural fruits of self-organization such as
appropriate leadership, self-managed work groups, -- and most important
-- those essential qualities of any healthy community, Trust, Respect,
and Hope. <br><br>
One of the more interesting things about Open Space (indeed any time you
open space by whatever means) is that the effects mentioned above (Hope,
Trust, etc) seem to happen REGARDLESS of the subject or theme. So if some
group had "passion" for better pencils -- they would probably
get better pencils AND all the additional benefits. And so the essential
strategy -- Open Space wherever, however, and whenever -- which is what
Tova, Avner, and co are doing... Who knows, it might just work.<br><br>
Harrison <br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Harrison Owen</blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<div align="center">7808 River Falls Drive<br>
Potomac, MD 20854 USA<br>
phone 301-365-2093<br>
Open Space Training
<a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/" eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.com</a>
<br>
Open Space Institute <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/" eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.org</a><br>
Personal website <a href="http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm" eudora="autourl">http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm</a><br><br>
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