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Pizzaonian Conference on a Changing World Order: We are entering a transformational time in the evolution of our species.

 
Today we argue issues but I believe the problem is bigger than the issues. 

We are entering a transformational time in the evolution of our species. The old order is dying and is yet to be replaced. 

Our way of doing business, education, the way we learn and what we need to learn, our politics, science, the way we view history and virtually everything that affects our lives is changing.  The earth is shifting under our feet. 

Our institutions and conventions will slowly die unless they (we) adapt to the new world we are entering.  I need to add, I believe we are on the verge of the most exciting time in our history.  The question is how ready are we to accept what is about to happen.

 

Brother Giovanni. Opening remarks to Pizzaonian Conference on a Changing World Order.

Many say the United States is in decline. It might be just what we need to reclaim our glory.

 
Many say the United States is in decline.  Is that so bad?  Don’t get me wrong, but is returning to our Jeffersonian roots*the worst thing that could happen to us.  It might be just what we need to reclaim our glory. 

We are still without a doubt the most important economy in the world - our military the most powerful.  We are in bad times, but that does not change the facts as stated. 

Just imagine the United States becoming a participating partner in world affairs rather than its most dominant player.   What if we lost our vision of empire and concentrated on what we can be in the world as a partner, rather than ruler.  How much easier it would be on all of us. 

This decline period could be the opportunity to restore our greatness with a new, dynamic model.  We could become not only the beacon of democracy; we could be the ideal of what greatness can be in the new, emerging world. 

Now that is something to look forward to. 

Brother Giovanni, Pizzaonian News Service

 

*President Thomas Jefferson extended Washington's ideas in his March 4, 1801 inaugural address: "peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.

Is the United States in decline? The answer is simpler than you might expect.

 
Is the United States in decline? 

It is easy to measure if a nation is in decline.  One need go no further than to measure the quality of their elected leaders.  Easy you say, not so fast. 

Yes, I do think it is easier than we might think.  It just takes a bit of time to pay attention. 

Hard times come and go for all entities.  Nations are no exception. Therefore, judging by the experience a nation is having at a particular time is not as relevant as it might seem at first glance. 

What is relevant is the quality of a countries political leadership, regardless of what it is experiencing at a particular time. 

Let me submit the obvious truth:  When elected leaders concern themselves with the welfare of the nation over the welfare of their political party or personal, vested interest, a nation survives its difficulties.  When they don’t, we are in decline.  Simplistic?  Most truth is. 

Most national failures occur when a political party or leader confuses vested personal interest with the well-being of their country.  In our time, vested personal interest seems to trump national interest every time. 

We the voters also have a responsibility here.  How easy is it for a demagogue to lead us by the nose and convince us they are protecting us from some great wrong?  How willing are we do be duped in believing there is some scapegoat that is responsible for all bad things that happen to us. 

Since our so-called news and entertainment media is full of demagogues, it takes some soul searching, but the answer is there if we are willing to be honest. 

Any reasonable person who cares about their country knows that we survive bad times by combining the best of all points of view.  And yes, we know that no nation survives bad times without sacrifice from all of its citizens. 

 
Leaders who have the courage and wisdom to tell us what is necessary are remembered by history.  Leaders that understand they must bring the best of all points of view into being are remembered by history. A nation void of this type of leadership does not have a history to remember. 

When the well- being of the country is at stake and we all work together, we will survive and be better for the experience.  Naïve you say!  I don’t think so.  Look at our history; it speaks for itself. 

One caveat this time around.  In the past we had more time to engage in our selfish pursuits since we were endowed with national wealth at all levels. 

It was our long runway, if you will, that allowed us to waste both time and resources before we faced the truth.  That long runway no longer exists. 

Here is the red flag:  We no longer have time or resources to waste.  If we follow the selfish, mistake riddled course of the recent past, we are doomed. 

Therefore, if we can, forget political party, if we can forget our vested interest, and focus only on the well-being of the country, we will survive. Simple and naïve? – perhaps, but nonetheless both necessary and true.  

And never forget: Your objectivity is measured by the distance between the issue at hand and your wallet.  A politician’s objectivity is measured by the distance between the issue at hand and the next election.  The truth sits somewhere beyond and the democratic process requires you to find it.

Caveat Emptor

 
Brother Giovanni, Pizzaonian New Service.

Are we merely sophisticated animals and nothing more, or are we more?

 

Lurking beneath the surface of our moral, ethical and political maxims is the DNA that drives the most sophisticated animal on the planet, us, we humans. 

While we have come a short distance from the caves, our basic, instinctive need for the survival of our species still shapes our grandiose political and moral codes –and yes our major religious dogmas as well. 

What is disturbing is we don’t seem to get it.  It seems the whole point of consciousness is that we should be able to stand back and let our science and reason have some play.  

Granted, we are dealing with deep-seated anthropological roots that shape our instincts for survival.  Nonetheless, we had better get a grip if we choose to survive. 

It is ironic the very instincts that are there to help us survive, create the vehicle for our destruction when we translate them into instinctive, tribal, moral, religious and political dogmas. 

Soon we will have to decide if we are merely sophisticated animals who have codified our basic instincts into clannish dogmas, rituals and laws. Or, are we more? 

Are we intelligent humans who can see that the very barriers we erect to keep us apart are basic instinctive codes playing themselves out?  

When and if we do, we will need to rise to the occasion and let our intellect override our instinctive drives for survival. 

Then, perhaps we can survive as a human family instead of competing, fractious, territorial tribes.  It maybe our only chance and we need to act soon.

 
Brother Giovanni, Pizzaonian News Service

 

The artist within you asks, where do you go from here? - Do you dare answer?

 

Where do you go from here? 

In the heart of every person is the yearning to create.  It is not about education or learning.  No one gives it to you - it was placed there when you were born.  Your journey through life is to bring this creation into being by allowing it to exist.  This is truly more an act of willingness than will. 

What form shall this creation take?  That is between you and your creator.  Work with the divine force within you and it will come into being.  

Open your mind and heart to what form this creation will take.  Let your work talk to you.  Your life is the process of discovering your gift.  You will know the answer soon enough. 

Remember the answer might not be what you want to hear or sacrifice for, nevertheless we know the truth intrinsically by letting the process of our lives speak to us.  The answer is always there.  Do we have the courage to head its call? 

The fulfillment of your life rests in your answer. 

Brother Franco, Headmaster, Pizzaonian Monasteries

 

Excerpts from Brother Giovanni’s seminar for novitiate monks, Pizzaonian Monasteries

 

Life is an act of courage and faith. 

Each of us must believe there is purpose in our being, and if we do not summon the courage to bring our gift into being, we not only deny ourselves, we deny the world of our gift. 

I could say more, but from this point the rest is up to you.

Excerpts from Brother Giovanni’s seminar for novitiate monks, Pizzaonian Monasteries

In defense of Barry Bonds - Pizzaonian News Service - Worldonia

  
When you listen to sports talk and read the various sports columns, you soon feel the undercurrent of hostility that exists between the athletes and the reporters. 

Sports commentators seem to have a well-masked resentment against professional athletes.  Perhaps most sports reporters are envious athletes at heart who just did not make the grade.  It’s subtle, but it is there. 

Why else would sports reporters turn so quickly against the players when they do not play up to expectations.  And, they do turn quickly.  With the exceptions of politicians, is there any group who goes from greatness to misfits faster than high paid professional athletes?  (Maybe managers of baseball teams.) 

And, if they are very high paid athletes, watch out, the harangues are without end. 

Included in the things that send a reporter for the verbal scalpel is anything that violates their concept of the “the good guy, or the club house buddy.” 

Barry Bonds figured this out a long time ago and his integrity never allowed him to play the game of trying to please.  It should be said; however, he was so talented he did not have to play the game other than on the field.  And to his credit, did anyone play the game better? 

Some might say his alleged use of steroids contradicts the above statement, but steroids were as common to baseball players as was batting practice – and everyone from the top down knew it. 

Therefore, when Bonds was accused of alleged steroid use, why did anyone expect him to act any differently?  He was true to his course here, as he has been in everything else in his baseball career. 

As for Barry Bonds the baseball player, Wow!  I had the pleasure of watching Bonds play before and after the so-called steroid era.  He was great in either venue.  In my experience, you are hard pressed to find any other player who dominated the game so completely.

Barry Bonds, despite the storm swirling around him, has been true to himself from the start.  He saw the hypocrisy around him and stared it down. 

I wish him well. 

  

Brother Giovanni, for Pizzaonian News Service, Worldonia. PNS