[p2p-research] Fwd: Thomas greco's March 2010 Newsletter

Mon Mar 1 11:12:22 CET 2010

Dear friends,

thanks for supporting thomas greco's candidacy, see below:

*The End of Money and the Future of Civilization *has been nominated for the
Triple Pundit Sustainable Business *Must Read* list. You can help by casting
your vote at
http://www.triplepundit.com/2010/02/nominations-are-in-vote-for-the-best-green-business-books-to-create-a-must-read-list-for-all-sustainability-folk/

And if you feel so inclined, you might nominate my work for support from one
of these prizes (I surely qualify age-wise):

Purpose Prize for social innovators over
60<http://www.thataway.org/index.php/?p=2230>

Know someone in his/her 60s, 70s, or beyond who is capitalizing on the
expertise and experience of a lifetime to find solutions to local, national
and global challenges?

The Purpose Prize <http://www.encore.org/prize>, now in its fourth year,
awards five $100,000 and five $50,000 prizes to social innovators over the
age of 60. It is the country’s only large-scale investment in social
innovators in the second half of life. Rather than a personal achievement
award, the prizes are intended as investments in these social innovators’
future work.

In addition to the ten prizes awarded each year, the initiative also
recognizes dozens of other outstanding individuals in “encore careers” –
those who are redefining the so-called “retirement years”. If you know
someone who fits this description, visit the Purpose Prize website for more
information on how to nominate – www.encore.org/prize. (I heard about this
through the ASPA-CIVED listserv <http://www.h-net.org/%7Ecived/>.)

BTW, I’ve joined Twitter and will be using it to alert my followers to new
posts on my blogs and websites. My twitter name is tomazgreco. To follow me,
go to http://twitter.com/ and sign up.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Thomas Greco <thg at mindspring.com>
Date: Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 2:44 PM
Subject: March 2010 Newsletter
To: Thomas Greco -- thg <thg at mindspring.com>

 *March 2010 Newsletter*

* *

*Obama and the Politics of Change*

* *

I hadn’t planned to spend my final week in Thailand in Hua Hin, but the
fates conspired to take me back there for an encounter with Barack Obama,
not in person, of course but in a literary sense. Having finished the
Stephen Coontz novel (*Final Flight*) I had picked up in Penang, I went
looking through the small collection of books at my Hua Hin guest house for
something else to read. Along with a few books in German, which are of no
use to me, I found a handful of books in English. The only one that caught
my eye was Barack Obama’s *Dreams from my Father.*

It’s not one that’s been on my list of books to read, I’m generally
disinclined to read books written by politicians or other famous people, as
they rarely qualify as good literature and most often are simply marketing
tools or attempts to capitalize financially on their fame. But for several
reasons, I decided to give this one a closer look. To begin with, the cover
quotes were full of glowing praise, something which I discounted heavily.
More convincing was the fact that this book had originally been published in
1995, long before Obama had become famous. Most importantly, the book
purports to be a memoir, and as such I thought it might provide some useful
insights into the character of the man who has somehow managed a spectacular
ascent to the top of the power pyramid and is now the US president. What
might it reveal about his sincerity, his political agenda, and his ability
to deliver the kinds of positive change that he has promised?

The book is engaging and well written and reads more like a novel than a
memoir. It tells the story of a young man of mixed race seeking his own
identity, trying to come to terms with the demands of his fractured families
and to understand his place in the world. I was astonished at the candor
with which the story is told. Having spent the second half of 2008 abroad
and therefore absent for most of the 2008 Presidential campaign season, I
have no idea what role this book might have played in his bid for the
presidency, or whether it might have been a help or a hindrance in that
regard.

There is little in the book to suggest that this man might someday achieve
the highest political office in the world. I can’t help but wonder what kind
of Faustian bargain he must have made in order to gain sufficient support
from the global oligarchy to become President of the United States. What
does he hope to achieve from that lofty perch, what compromises has he had
to make to get there, what are his personal motivations, is he sincere in
his public pronouncements or is he consciously working to intensify the mass
delusion?

*Another Vantage Point*

* *

Another interesting feature of my Hua Hin guesthouse is the selections on
TV. This one offers a mere 7 channels, only one of which provides English
language programming. *FilmMax* appears to be a Pakistani channel, which
shows mainly Hollywood B movies I’ve never heard of --whatever they can get
cheap, I guess. On the plus side, they’ve also shown some vintage films that
date from my childhood. A few days ago I caught the tail end of the *Wizard
of Oz,* and yesterday I tuned in just in time to see *Flying Tigers* from
start to finish.

I remember seeing the *Wizard of Oz* for the first with my mother and sister
when I was about four years old. I remember being scared to death when the
Tin Man appeared. What makes this film of interest to me now is the fact
that Frank Baum wrote the story as an allegory depicting the fraud inherent
in the money and banking system and the reality of the people’s power to
transcend it. I posted something about that recently on my blog (
http://beyondmoney.net/2010/01/19/the-real-meaning-of-the-wizard-of-oz/).

Growing up in the 1940s and 50s I was strongly influenced by World War II.
Along with the cartoons and cowboy westerns, we were fed a steady diet of
war movies, which I was eager to see. *Flying Tigers* was one of them. It is
a fabled tale about an actual squadron of mercenary American fliers who
prior to the U.S. entry into the war fought to help the Nationalist Chinese
defend themselves against the Japanese invaders. It contains some classic
lines, which now seem pretty lame. John Wayne, the head man, has just
returned after leading his squadron in a battle against enemy bombers and
fighters. When his Chinese ground crewman points out the line of bullet
holes in the fuselage of his plane, he quips, “termites.”

*Malaysia*

* *

When my Thai visa ran out early in February I flew to Malaysia where I
planned to apply for a new visa while exploring parts of the country I had
not visited before. Melaka or Malacca, as the British refer to it, like
Georgetown in Penang, has been declared a UN Heritage site. I spent 5 days
there exploring the old city and near surroundings before deciding I had
seen enough and headed for Penang, which is still one of my favorite places
in Asia. One of the greatest attractions about Georgetown is the food. I
especially like the Indian fare that can be had in the neighborhood
called *Little
India*, which is the best I’ve had anywhere, including India--and it’s dirt
cheap.

In contrast to Thailand, Malaysia seems a little more developed, and the
wealth of the country, despite the inevitable political corruption, seems to
be a little better distributed. Along the way I’ve been told that tourism is
now the second largest component of the Malaysian economy after petroleum. I
suppose agriculture must be third. Palm oil plantations dominate the
landscape from top to bottom and Malaysia is the world’s largest producer.

While in Melaka I met Mr. and Mrs. Yee who have a tea shop near the center
of town, and as part of the Couch Surfing network, often host travelers.
Through them I learned about a Buddhist social action group called *Tzu Chi.
*

*With offices in 47 countries, the Tzu Chi Foundation is one of the largest
charity organizations originating from Taiwan. For over forty years, the
organization has provided services for those in need worldwide*.
http://www.tzuchi.org/

The Foundation has impressive facilities in Melaka, which we visited, and
from their website, I see that they have a major presence in the U.S., as
well. See my pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/tomazhg/201002Melaka

*Work Progress*

**

To start with* *I want to mention that Richard Flyer has published a *Conscious
Community Training Guide. *Richard’s work has demonstrated the kind of
community organizing that needs to be done if the sustainability movement is
to achieve significant results. You can download it at the website,
http://www.itstimereno.org/calender.asp