Thank you sister for sharing with us and reminding us that the "American Way of Life" is not the Universal human experience of society or or governance. I would swap your experience of civil society in Spain for what we go through here in America in an heartbeat. The greatest difficulty we face here on Turtle Island is our mindset; our collection of beliefs.

Our national pessimism is based in both our historical experiences and our institutional priorities. The saddest thing about our institutions is that many of them use fear as a means of sustaining themselves. The maintain their influence, fill their coffers, and recruit their constituents by trading in the coin of fear. This is in one aspect Marketing 101. People buy solutions to problems. Whether it is a car that is a solution to the transportation problem, a Quarter Pounder with Cheese that is the solution to the hunger problem, or a Church/Cult that is a solution to the fear of the unknown problem; the solution becomes a commodity. Our government has become the greatest purveyor of a general purpose nostrum for all of our fears. In order to sustain its market; it creates new fears. Other nations don't always follow that pattern. In general it is only our "client" states which do.

"But there isn't that feeling of near desperation/fear and everyone out for themselves like there is in the US....Maybe because we have many of the "evils" of socialism here, like public (ie FREE) health care, public transportation, some public housing and public education through University."

This reality and awareness of it is the most integral aspect to our evolution of the Elders' Mission. Much of what we are called upon to do is summed up in the Sufi saying Ln referenced. We are instructed as Christians (those of us who follow that path) to "render unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar's and unto God that which is God"s." We combine these two intentions in the paradigm of trusting in a Higher Power, while doing all we can in the world in which we must also tend to our society's requirements. Surrendering to fear and visions of doom will not find us a path through the dark wilderness.

We need to become more holistic. We need to prepare ourselves through rigorous training for the potential disruptions of our way of life. Yet we must also do all that we can to alter the pattern of that way of life to become more like the societies in which the impetus is the security and nourishment (physical and spiritual) of all the individuals. Many of us tend to think that the system here in America is so broken that we must exempt ourselves from it and become hermits. Those in that belief want to live in rural settings and return to a less technical period in our past. Our brother Jim spoke of the impending doom of the "Cubicle Dwellers." As though those people are somehow alien to us and not to be included in our intentions for survival. Why should we not instead reach out to them and enlist them in a movement to rectify the disorders within our national family? Inclusion in an intentional community is much more likely to result in the maximum number of survivors. The alternative is to become like the crew of an ocean liner in the process of sinking and make a terrible choice of who will be allowed into the lifeboats. It makes more sense (as in the case of the Titanic) to alter the course of the ship and miss the iceberg all together.

Perhaps the current situation is the necessary process to bring us to an awareness which will motivate us to make the changes in our national character to become more prosocial and proactive. As Ln said, "Spain has lived through a civil war and a dictatorship. I don't know if that's the reason, but it seems like people care more about others here." I hope that is not required of us. Rather I believe that we can learn from other societies and create, through our intention the life we all dream of. This intention is what will manifest the vision that this tribe was created to manifest.