oppression?

[Connie Miller]

Thank you Bud for recognizing the work of Souldrama. I llike this saying from Einstein also.
"I want to know the thoughts of God; the rest are details." 

-- Albert Einstein 
Blessings, Connie


-----Original Message-----
From: BARNETT WEISS [mailto:budweiss at verizon.net]
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 12:48 AM
To: edwschreiber at earthlink.net, list at grouptalkweb.org
Subject: RE: oppression?

I really appreciate this line of thought regarding Moreno's 4 elements of oppression. I of course was totally enamored of these as I was a revolutionary at the time that I became involved with Dr. and Zerka and the work, It seemed to me to be such a clear and precise way of looking at how things devolved from what I and many others considered the idilic life of the indigenous village. In fact, there are very few such idilic places even before the modern distruction of these places and nations for exploititive reasons. It was my hope then as now that through these powerful technologies developed by Dr. I would be able together with others to change the course of what appeared to be a sliding slope to hell. ( I have a wonderful post that I will forward soon about students speaking about hell)

However, the intensification of power which all of us are experiencing now with such deadly consequences seem basically unaffected by the advances that Moreno and his followers one of whom I consider myelf to be. As the title "Who Shall Survive?" can be taken, we are able to observe the process and hoped to be able to influence it by making it more conscious and that in so doing, people would "Choose life!" as the saying goes. As far as I can see, there has been little change through this. Yes, those of us who are doing the work have become more concious I think and have assisted many in becoming more loving caring human beings and discovering the gift in all our wounds, and we have moved forward too little for my money. So where do we go. What do we do to deal with all of what Ed is pointing out here and what is so devestatingly laid bare in the most undeniably clear way in Jenkins Books that Ed has recommended to us all. 
I do think that there is the need to find our way back to what Dr. Some has indicated below through collaboration with indigenous wisdom keepers to reestablish our realizaton of that which Einstein mourned in his statment: 
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
Dr. Malidoma Some indicates that the European did not simply come to exploit Africa or the southern indigenous countries for their natural resources. They also came to recover their innocence and connection to nature or Spirit. Perhaps that is true. It rings so to me and I have been studying with him for the past nearly 10 years as a path to recover these myself. 

None the less, I think there is this very powerful epigenetic process influencing us far beyond what we had expected and is indicated in the Ancestral work that Malidoma has been attempting to bring forward. This influence has occurred over many generations where we have inherited the pain and the oppressiveness of our Ancestors without even realizing how these are influencing our lives, or our missions in life. 
Presently in New York, a doctor Rachell Yahuda, professor of Psychiatry at Mt Sinai School of Medicine is involved very deeply in her particular study of epigenetics, the study of how environment and events effect our genetic coding. She is doing research into how the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors are effected by PTSD. A recent BBC program has gone into this quite a bit. The programme discusses this new field of genetic research called ‘epigenetics’ that suggest that there is evidence to show that the experiences of our ancestors can affect our own DNA, feelings, life experiences and emotions. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/ghostgenes.shtml


I thnk we have to evolve a way of addressing these multigenerational or transgenerational, Ancestral influences, unfinished business etc. to more effectively cut into the 4 elements of oppression. Some of the newer contributions by people like Connie with her Soul Drama and the spin offs from Hellinger's work and Boal's and others can supply some additional tools which along with the well tested ones that have nearly all evolved from Dr. Moreno and Zerka's contributions may just allow the kind of trim tab * influence that turns the ship of our human destiny around. I'm betting on it. 


Blessings, Bud Weiss
* a trim tab is the little rudder on the big ships rudder that begins to overcome the inertia of the huge rudder allowing it to begin to turn which turns the ship. 
The nature of oppression is quite important, in my view, in understanding Moreno's writings about society and his method
called Sociatry. The nature of oppression, which he talked about (ie: wrote about) embrace 4 elelments: sociostasis,
sociodynamic effect, sociogenetic law, socio-gravitation. Much of his writing reflects, for me, the period of the last century
in which he lived, yet points to the forces at play operating within the human social experience that are larger than a family,
but impacts the family; larger than a country, but impacts each country. Moreno wrote about his studies of many cultures,
early ones and his own and found these forces at play. The forces, as he wrote about them, are for me much like a zen
teacher who points to the moon - and then the students fix their gaze on the teacher's finger - thinking wow, a finger is the
story - when it was where the teacher was pointing - that was and is the issue.

Our consumption of the natural world has reached (over-reached) the earth's capacity to sustain the level of consumption.
And we continue at full speed.

In order to consume the natural world, production takes place - moving living to the dead. Living trees to dead trees to make
paper. Living animals to food, etc. On on. This is one point, and important one, in the large picture of oppression because
production required to - for instance keep NYC fed, clothed, warm, cooled - requires a great amount of resources and we need
cheap means of production, more elements of oppression as it plays itself out in the global economy.

My main point of research is on the interplay between these forces (sociodynamic effect, sociogenetic law, sociostasis) and
the development of sociatric intruments. I used to feel compelled to 'develop' these instruments but lately I've come to see,
with Zerka's help, where-or rather that - they already exist but I have to use and consider, ponder and apply them.

One element of oppression reflected by Moreno is the movement of resources from the poor to the rich. Another that we
see in history is the force used to insure that this movement continues and is not threatened.

So there's alot to think about.

The real issue - the bottom line of it all for me - is the working with myself - the moving of me, my mind, thinking, etc., outside
of the cultural conserve called western civiliztion - enough to see these forces and not be simply blinded by them, or organzed
within them to the extent that I cannot see them.

Oppression is in some way how western (or full) civiliztion works - beginning and ending with the consumption (oppression)
of the ecology of the earth itself, for which we (and non-humans) will pay a price for, larger I am afraid than we imagine.

Ed

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