DC-Area Student, Avery Coffey, Accepted at 5 Ivy Leagues

 

 

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Posted: March 30 2014 7:42 AM

Last week, the nation heard about 18-year-old Chad Thomas, a senior at Booker T. Washington Senior High in Miami, who received 150 scholarship offers for his prowess on the football field and ability to play nine instruments.

This week brings Avery Coffey, a senior at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington, D.C., who applied to and was accepted at five Ivy League universities, including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Brown and the University of Pennsylvania, according to Fox News.

Four have already extended very generous financial aid packages, while Harvard is still crunching numbers to formulate its offer, the article says.

Coffey, who boasts a 4.3 grade-point average, grew up in a single-parent household in D.C.’s Ward 8, one of the poorest areas in the city. His mom works as a technician at Children’s Hospital, the report says.

“You can go anywhere you want to, pursue any career that you want to, and you shouldn’t let anybody hinder you from trying to reach your goals,” he told Fox News, giving advice to younger students.

Coffey, who plans to major in finance, hasn’t yet made up his mind about where he plans to enroll. But he’s giving close consideration to the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard, the report says.

Banneker is known for its strict rules and policies. None of its 439 students is allowed to bring cell phones into the building. Nor are they allowed to access their lockers during the school day, a measure designed to discourage loitering in the halls.

Kwasi Enin was accepted to all 8 Ivy League colleges

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Greg Toppo, USATODAY 5:08 p.m. EDT March 31, 2014

In the next month, Kwasi Enin must make a tough decision: Which of the eight Ivy League universities should he attend this fall?

A first-generation American from Shirley, N.Y., the 17-year-old violist and aspiring physician applied to all eight, from Brown to Yale.

The responses began rolling in over the past few months, and by late last week when he opened an e-mail from Harvard, he found he’d been accepted to every one. School district officials provided scanned copies of acceptance letters from all eight on Monday. Yale confirmed that it was holding a spot for Enin.

The feat is extremely rare, say college counselors — few students even apply to all eight, because each seeks different qualities in their freshman class. Almost none are invited to attend them all. The Ivy League colleges are among the nation’s most elite.

“My heart skipped a beat when he told me he was applying to all eight,” says Nancy Winkler, a guidance counselor at William Floyd High School, where Enin attends class. In 29 years as a counselor, she says, she’s never seen anything like this. “It’s a big deal when we have students apply to one or two Ivies. To get into one or two is huge. It was extraordinary.”

For most of the eight schools, acceptance comes rarely, even among the USA’s top students. At the top end, Cornell University admitted only 14% of applicants. Harvard accepted just 5.9%.

But Enin has “a lot of things in his favor,” says college admissions expert Katherine Cohen, CEO and founder of IvyWise, a New York-based consulting firm.

For one thing, he’s a young man. “Colleges are looking for great boys,” Cohen says. Application pools these days skew heavily toward girls: The U.S. Department of Education estimates that females comprised 57% of college students in degree-granting institutions last year. Colleges — especially elite ones — are struggling to keep male/female ratios even, so admitting academically gifted young men like Enin gives them an advantage.

He ranks No. 11 in a class of 647 at William Floyd, a large public school on Long Island’s south shore. That puts him in the top 2% of his class. His SAT score, at 2,250 out of 2,400 points, puts him in the 99th percentile for African-American students.

He will also have taken 11 Advanced Placement courses by the time he graduates this spring. He’s a musician who sings in the school’s a capella group and volunteers at Stony Brook University Hospital’s radiology department. Enin plans to study medicine, as did both of his parents. They emigrated to New York from Ghana in the 1980s and studied at public colleges nearby. Both are nurses.

Being a first-generation American from Ghana also helps him stand out, Cohen says. “He’s not a typical African-American kid.”

Enin says he got the idea to apply to all eight in 10th or 11th grade, discovering that each has “their own sense of school spirit” and other qualities he liked. He also applied to three State University of New York campuses and Duke — and yes, they have all accepted him.

In a phone interview, Enin said Princeton so far has offered the most generous aid package. But he has yet to get offers from Columbia, Cornell or Harvard. Either way, he’ll need to accept a place in the class of 2018 somewhere by May 1. He wants to pursue both music and medicine.

Cohen says he’s “sitting in a very good place right now — I think he can negotiate the very best financial aid package he can get” at his top-choice school. “Almost any of them would do anything for this type of candidate,” Cohen says.

She advises that Enin call or write each of the eight and let them know that he’s got a slot in each other’s freshman class. They’ll compete to get him to show up in the fall.

Once he decides, she says, he should write letters to the seven runners-up saying he’s “honored to have been admitted.” After all, he’s got to keep his options open for graduate school.

Earthquake Kits

Here are lists of supplies to have at home, in the car and at work:

At home

• Nonperishable packaged or canned food

• A gallon of water per person per day (Replace every six months and count pets as family members)

• Manual can opener

• First aid kit and handbook

• Clothing, rain gear and sturdy shoes

• Blankets or sleeping bags

• Portable radio and flashlight, with spare batteries

• Essential medications

• List of family physicians and the style and serial number of medical devices, such as pacemakers

• Extra pair of eyeglasses

• Extra set of house and car keys

• Toilet paper, toiletries and feminine hygiene items

• Fire extinguisher

• Pet food, water and leash or carrier

• Cash and small change

• Water purification kit or unscented liquid bleach (eight drops per gallon when water is first stored)

• Any special foods and supplies for babies, the disabled or the elderly

• Plastic eating utensils, paper cups and plates

• Heavy-duty aluminum foil

• Paper towels

• Knife or razor blades

• Candles and light sticks

• Matches in waterproof container

• Work gloves and broom

• Hammer and nails

• Coils of rope and wire

• Ax, crowbar and shovel

• Small tool kit

• Cheesecloth (to strain water)

• Large and small plastic bags

• Two tarps, 8 feet by 10 feet

• Local street map and compass

• Paper, pens and stamps

• Entertainment pack of family photos, notebooks, reading material and games

In the car

• Nylon tote or day pack

• Bottled water

• Nonperishable food

• Manual can opener

• Transistor radio, flashlight and extra batteries

• First aid kit

• Gloves

• Blanket or sleeping bags

• Sealable plastic bags

• Moist towelettes

• Small tool kit

• Matches and lighter

• Walking shoes and extra socks

• Change of clothes

• Cash (small bills and coins)

• Local street map and compass

At work

• Dry food, such as candy bars, dried fruit, jerky and crackers

• Water or orange juice

• Tennis shoes or walking shoes

• First aid kit

• Flashlight and portable radio with extra batteries

• Matches

• Small and large plastic bags

• Toiletries

• Entertainment pack of family photos, notebooks, reading material and games

See The Elephant

Seeing the Elephant
by

It’s natural to protect ourselves from information we perceive as threatening. But it can be a big monkey wrench in seeing the elephant and recognizing God.

Four blind men encounter an elephant. One grabs the leg and concludes it is a tree trunk. One holds the tail thinking it is a whip. Another touches the elephant’s trunk and decides it’s a hose and the fourth man pats the side concluding it’s a wall.

The wise man tells them, “All of you are right.”

The first time I heard this parable, I thought it was illustrating that truth is relative. Here are four different people, each one coming away with very different conclusions.

Years later I realized the story conveys exactly the opposite: truth is objective. After all, is there an elephant? Of course an elephant is there! That is the objective reality, independent of anyone’s viewpoint.

Truth is complex, multi-faceted, and at times very difficult to fully grasp. But it’s not relative. There is truth out there; we just need to figure out what piece of the puzzle we’re holding onto.

The four blind men fell prey to a common mistake: reaching conclusions without sufficient information. Based on an elephant’s trunk alone, it is unlikely anyone will come to an accurate conclusion.

The four blind men should talk to each other and share their information. By putting all the pieces together, a clearer picture will begin to emerge and some initial conclusions could be made: this is not a piece of furniture, it’s definitely a large four-legged animal. With more and more information the picture will eventually sharpen, revealing the identity of the elephant.

The Hebrew word for truth, emet, is comprised of three letters, the first, the middle and the last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, because truth is a composite of the whole — the beginning, the middle and the end. In order to come to a just verdict, a judge tries to get as complete a picture as possible.

Seeing the elephant is by no means easy. It requires an openness to challenge our axioms, assumptions and beliefs. A genuinely open mind can be daunting.

CHALLENGING ASSUMPTIONS

Let’s take for example the blind man who mistakenly thought he was grasping a hose, not a trunk of an elephant. We’ll call him Mr. Gray. Based on his discovery, Mr. Gray goes on to write best-selling books on the nature of “hose,” becoming a famous, successful author and frequent guest on the talk-show circuit. He establishes a chair in a prestigious university dedicated to researching the nature and benefits of “hose.”

One day there is a knock on his door. “Pardon me, sir. Are you Mr. Gray, the author of The 7 Secrets of Hose?

“Yes I am,” he proudly answers.

“Well I have some very important information for you, Mr. Gray. I don’t know exactly how to tell you this but … you got it all wrong! You weren’t holding a hose. You were holding a trunk of an elephant!!”

How does Mr. Gray react to this information? Does he say: “You mean to tell me I’ve been making a mistake all these years? Gosh, it’s a good thing you told me! How can I ever thank you?!”

More likely Mr. Gray slams the door on the guy’s face. It is a natural reaction. We want to protect ourselves from information we perceive as threatening, especially when we sense it may be true. Mr. Gray instinctively throws up a defensive barrier attempting to shut out the truth that has come to tarnish his reputation and career.

Only computers assess data devoid of all emotion. Our volatile emotional world often clashes with our rational intellect. When faced with consequences we perceive to be potentially painful, whether it’s a wounded ego or a difficult change, the heart struggles with the mind. It doesn’t matter if those negative consequences have nothing to do with reality. When feeling threatened, our knee-jerk reaction is to shut all systems down, reject the data and override our desire for truth.

NO ONE IS IMMUNE TO COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

This is called cognitive dissonance. It is the major monkey wrench in seeking the truth — and no one is immune.

The discovery that the earth is round was initially rejected, even in the 17th century when Galileo presented undeniable proof through the usage of new telescopes. Without understanding gravity, people could not comprehend why they were not falling off the earth. Accepting this bizarre notion was too unsettling, and besides, who likes to admit that they’re wrong? It was much easier for people to just ignore the facts.

The Torah recognizes that everyone is prone to bias:

You shall not pervert justice, you shall not display favoritism, and you shall not take a bribe, for the bribe will blind the eyes of the wise and distorts words that are just. (Deut. 16:19)

The Torah is addressing all of us. Anytime we make a decision we are in the position of being a judge, and we need to check the subtle and not so subtle bribes that cloud our thinking.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE AND GOD

When it comes to recognizing the existence of God, cognitive dissonance can be a tremendous obstacle. Rightly or wrongly, many of us view God in ways that can make Him a real turn-off. Some of the more common negative associations people may have with God are:

  1. God, the Killjoy.

    The existence of God presents an unbearably high standard of morality which snuffs out freedom and unadulterated fun.

  2. God, the Tyrant.

    With so much pain and suffering in the world, it seems that God sure has a lot of explaining to do. War, starvation, domestic violence, natural disasters -– what kind of God is this?

  3. God, the Unknowable.

    There’s something out there that I can’t understand!? I’m supposed to relate to a dimension that is beyond me? We have free will and yet God knows everything? How can I live with paradox? I give up.

  4. God, the Unfashionable.

    Take a leap of faith and have everyone think I flipped my lid? Actually pray and take this religion stuff seriously? No, thank you. Religion is outdated and not for me.

Since cognitive dissonance can be so strong when dealing with the issue of God’s existence, it is important to be aware of its influence.

It’s a struggle to attain objectivity. How do we overcome internal bias? Are we hopelessly lost within our own subjectivity?

Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler writes:

… bias never entirely obscures the truth. Even after the desires of one’s heart have persuaded him to accept the false way as true, he still knows in his heart of hearts that the true path is “truer” than the other one. He accepts falsehood as a substitute for the truth, not as truth itself … Every human being thus has the faculty of determining in his own heart where the real truth lies. (“Strive for Truth: The Truth Perspective”)

We never lose the objective part of ourselves. Even in the midst of an argument when our emotions flair, we know that if we really wanted to we could force ourselves to be objective and hear the other side. We could even admit we’re wrong.

In spite of the fog, we can still be honest. It’s not easy, but when we decide that truth is always in our best interest, we are motivated to rise above the emotions and to work hard at ensuring that our mind is out in front leading our decisions.

Let’s go find that elephant.


This article can also be read at: http://www.aish.com/sp/ph/48917627.html

Wikileaks

Wikileaks began on Sunday November 28th, 2010 publishing 251,287 leaked United States embassy cables, the largest set of confidential documents ever to be released into the public domain. The documents will give people around the world an unprecedented insight into US Government foreign activities.

The cables, which date from 1966 up until the end of February 2010, contain confidential communications between 274 embassies in countries throughout the world and the State Department in Washington DC. 15,652 of the cables are classified Secret.

The embassy cables will be released in stages. The subject matter of these cables is of such importance, and the geographical spread so broad, that to do otherwise would not do this material justice.

The cables show the extent of US spying on its allies and the UN; turning a blind eye to corruption and human rights abuse in “client states”; backroom deals with supposedly neutral countries; lobbying for US corporations; and the measures US diplomats take to advance those who have access to them.

This document release reveals the contradictions between the US’s public persona and what it says behind closed doors – and shows that if citizens in a democracy want their governments to reflect their wishes, they should ask to see what’s going on behind the scenes.

Every American schoolchild is taught that George Washington – the country’s first President – could not tell a lie. If the administrations of his successors lived up to the same principle, today’s document flood would be a mere embarrassment. Instead, the US Government has been warning governments — even the most corrupt — around the world about the coming leaks and is bracing itself for the exposures.

The full set consists of 251,287 documents, comprising 261,276,536 words (seven times the size of “The Iraq War Logs”, the world’s previously largest classified information release).

The cables cover from 28th December 1966 to 28th February 2010 and originate from 274 embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions.

For twitter or other social networking services please use the #cablegate or unique reference ID (e.g. #66BUENOSAIRES2481) as hash tags.

Key figures:
•15, 652 secret
•101,748 confidential
•133,887 unclassified

•Iraq most discussed country – 15,365 (Cables coming from Iraq – 6,677)
•Ankara, Turkey had most cables coming from it – 7,918
•From Secretary of State office – 8,017

According to the US State Departments labeling system, the most frequent subjects discussed are:

•External political relations – 145,451
•Internal government affairs – 122,896
•Human rights – 55,211
•Economic Conditions – 49,044
•Terrorists and terrorism – 28,801
•UN security council – 6,532

Gliese 581-D

A planet called Gliese 581-D was discovered in 2007. it is seven times as big as Earth but has water & a rocky terrain like we do. 1 problem.

This planet is 20 light years away. 120 trillion miles away. We all might have to move there one day if we keep killing this planet or destroy ourselves with wars, catastrophes, etc.

It’d take traveling 11 miles per second and 350,000 years to get to Gliese. We better get to work. fast.

Gliese 581 c (pronounced /ˈɡliːzə/) or Gl 581 c is an extrasolar planet orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581.[2] With a mass at least 5.36 times that of the Earth, it is classified as a super-Earth, a category which incorporates planets exceeding the mass of Earth but smaller than 10 Earth masses. Assuming that the planet’s mass is close to the lower limit determined by radial velocity measurements (the true mass is unknown), it was the smallest known extrasolar planet around a main sequence star, but on April 21, 2009, another planet orbiting Gliese 581, Gliese 581 e, was announced with an approximate mass of 1.9 earth masses, which is now the smallest known extrasolar planet around a main sequence star.
Gliese 581 c initially generated interest because it was originally reported to be the first potentially Earth-like planet in the habitable zone of its star, with a temperature right for liquid water on its surface, and by extension, potentially capable of supporting extremophile forms of Earth-like life. However, further research on the potential effects of the planetary atmosphere casts doubt upon the habitability of Gliese 581 c and indicates that the fourth planet in the system, Gliese 581 d, is a better candidate for habitability.

In astronomical terms, the Gliese 581 system is relatively close to Earth, at 20.3 light years (192 trillion km or 119 trillion miles) in the direction of the constellation of Libra. This distance, along with the declination and right ascension coordinates, give its exact location in our galaxy.  It is identified as Gliese 581 by its number in the Gliese Catalogue of Nearby Stars; it is the 87th closest known star system to the Sun.

Pumapunku (Puma Punka)

Pumapunku (Puma Punka)

This is another ‘temple area’ with many finely cut stones some weighing over 100 tonnes. Its position to the south of the Akapana may have been important because
it gave a good view to a sacred mountain far to the east. Of course there is no certainty that this was the reason as the ancient builders left no written records.
All the legends have been handed down through the generations.

Puma Punku ruins, Tiahuanaco, Bolivia
(courtesy of www.sacredsites.com and Martin Gray)

Puma Punku, truly startles the imagination. It seems to be the remains of a great wharf (for Lake Titicaca long ago lapped upon the shores of Tiahuanaco) and a massive, four-part, now collapsed building. One of the construction blocks from which the pier was fashioned weighs an estimated 440 tons (equal to nearly 600 full-size cars) and several other blocks laying about are between 100 and 150 tons. The quarry for these giant blocks was on the western shore of Titicaca, some ten miles away. There is no known technology in all the ancient world that could have transported stones of such massive weight and size. The Andean people of 500 AD, with their simple reed boats, could certainly not have moved them. Even today, with all the modern advances in engineering and mathematics, we could not fashion such a structure.

How were these monstrous stones moved and what was their purpose?
Posnansky suggested an answer, based upon his studies of the astronomical alignments of Tiahuanaco, but that answer is considered so controversial, even impossible, that it has been ignored and censured by the scientific community for fifty years.

Carved stone block at Puma Punku. This precision-made 6 mm wide
groove contains equidistant, drilled holes. It seems impossible that this
cuts were made with use of stone or copper tools.

The so-called Gate of the Sun seen at the back side.
Made of one piece of hard rock. Possibly it was a part of a large wall.
By the courtesy of www.inkatour.com, nr. 3696

Puma Punku doesn’t look impressive: a hill as remains of an old pyramid and
a large number of megalithic block of stone on the ground, evidently smashed by a devastating earthquake. However, closer inspection shows that these stone blocks have been fabricated with a very advanced technology. Even more surprising
is the technical design of these blocks shown in the drawing below.
All blocks fit together like interlocking building blocks.
Source: Jean-Pierre Protzen & Stella E.Nair, “On Reconstructing Tiwanaku Architecture”, Jpurnal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 59, Nr.3, 2000, pp. 358-371

A wall of the Akapana, the pyramid of Tiahuanacu, shows similar modular design.
Blocks that are piled one on top of the other but the underside of the upper stone is cut at an angle. The top of the standing stone is cut at the same angle, as shown on the figure below.
Source: Jean-Pierre Protzen & Stella E.Nair, “On Reconstructing Tiwanaku Architecture”, Jpurnal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 59, Nr.3, 2000, pp. 358-371

This stone technology plainly contradicts what official archaeology suggests about the general state of development of the ancient peoples of South-America.

Stages Of Development – Erik Homburger Erikson

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“It is human to have a long childhood; it is civilized to have an even longer childhood. Long childhood makes a technical and mental virtuoso out of man, but it also leaves a life-long residue of emotional immaturity in him.”

— Erik Homburger Erikson (1902-1994)

As you read through the following eight stages with their sets of opposites, notice which strengths you identify with most and those you need to work on some more.

1. Infancy: Birth to 18 Months

Ego Development Outcome: Trust vs. Mistrust
Basic strength: Drive and Hope

Erikson also referred to infancy as the Oral Sensory Stage (as anyone might who watches a baby put everything in her mouth) where the major emphasis is on the mother’s positive and loving care for the child, with a big emphasis on visual contact and touch. If we pass successfully through this period of life, we will learn to trust that life is basically okay and have basic confidence in the future. If we fail to experience trust and are constantly frustrated because our needs are not met, we may end up with a deep-seated feeling of worthlessness and a mistrust of the world in general.

Incidentally, many studies of suicides and suicide attempts point to the importance of the early years in developing the basic belief that the world is trustworthy and that every individual has a right to be here.

Not surprisingly, the most significant relationship is with the maternal parent, or whoever is our most significant and constant caregiver.

2. Early Childhood: 18 Months to 3 Years

Ego Development Outcome: Autonomy vs. Shame
Basic Strengths: Self-control, Courage, and Will

During this stage we learn to master skills for ourselves. Not only do we learn to walk, talk and feed ourselves, we are learning finer motor development as well as the much appreciated toilet training. Here we have the opportunity to build self-esteem and autonomy as we gain more control over our bodies and acquire new skills, learning right from wrong. And one of our skills during the “Terrible Two’s” is our ability to use the powerful word “NO!” It may be pain for parents, but it develops important skills of the will.

It is also during this stage, however, that we can be very vulnerable. If we’re shamed in the process of toilet training or in learning other important skills, we may feel great shame and doubt of our capabilities and suffer low self-esteem as a result.

The most significant relationships are with parents.

3. Play Age: 3 to 5 Years

Ego Development Outcome: Initiative vs. Guilt
Basic Strength: Purpose

During this period we experience a desire to copy the adults around us and take initiative in creating play situations. We make up stories with Barbie’s and Ken’s, toy phones and miniature cars, playing out roles in a trial universe, experimenting with the blueprint for what we believe it means to be an adult. We also begin to use that wonderful word for exploring the world—”WHY?”

While Erikson was influenced by Freud, he downplays biological sexuality in favor of the psychosocial features of conflict between child and parents. Nevertheless, he said that at this stage we usually become involved in the classic “Oedipal struggle” and resolve this struggle through “social role identification.” If we’re frustrated over natural desires and goals, we may easily experience guilt.

The most significant relationship is with the basic family.

4. School Age: 6 to 12 Years

Ego Development Outcome: Industry vs. Inferiority
Basic Strengths: Method and Competence

During this stage, often called the Latency, we are capable of learning, creating and accomplishing numerous new skills and knowledge, thus developing a sense of industry. This is also a very social stage of development and if we experience unresolved feelings of inadequacy and inferiority among our peers, we can have serious problems in terms of competence and self-esteem.

As the world expands a bit, our most significant relationship is with the school and neighborhood. Parents are no longer the complete authorities they once were, although they are still important.

5. Adolescence: 12 to 18 Years

Ego Development Outcome: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Basic Strengths: Devotion and Fidelity

Up to this stage, according to Erikson, development mostly depends upon what is done to us. From here on out, development depends primarily upon what we do. And while adolescence is a stage at which we are neither a child nor an adult, life is definitely getting more complex as we attempt to find our own identity, struggle with social interactions, and grapple with moral issues.

Our task is to discover who we are as individuals separate from our family of origin and as members of a wider society. Unfortunately for those around us, in this process many of us go into a period of withdrawing from responsibilities, which Erikson called a “moratorium.” And if we are unsuccessful in navigating this stage, we will experience role confusion and upheaval.

A significant task for us is to establish a philosophy of life and in this process we tend to think in terms of ideals, which are conflict free, rather than reality, which is not. The problem is that we don’t have much experience and find it easy to substitute ideals for experience. However, we can also develop strong devotion to friends and causes.

It is no surprise that our most significant relationships are with peer groups.

6. Young adulthood: 18 to 35

Ego Development Outcome: Intimacy and Solidarity vs. Isolation
Basic Strengths: Affiliation and Love

In the initial stage of being an adult we seek one or more companions and love. As we try to find mutually satisfying relationships, primarily through marriage and friends, we generally also begin to start a family, though this age has been pushed back for many couples who today don’t start their families until their late thirties. If negotiating this stage is successful, we can experience intimacy on a deep level.

If we’re not successful, isolation and distance from others may occur. And when we don’t find it easy to create satisfying relationships, our world can begin to shrink as, in defense, we can feel superior to others.

Our significant relationships are with marital partners and friends.

7. Middle Adulthood: 35 to 55 or 65

Ego Development Outcome: Generativity vs. Self absorption or Stagnation
Basic Strengths: Production and Care

Now work is most crucial. Erikson observed that middle-age is when we tend to be occupied with creative and meaningful work and with issues surrounding our family. Also, middle adulthood is when we can expect to “be in charge,” the role we’ve longer envied.

The significant task is to perpetuate culture and transmit values of the culture through the family (taming the kids) and working to establish a stable environment. Strength comes through care of others and production of something that contributes to the betterment of society, which Erikson calls generativity, so when we’re in this stage we often fear inactivity and meaninglessness.

As our children leave home, or our relationships or goals change, we may be faced with major life changes—the mid-life crisis—and struggle with finding new meanings and purposes. If we don’t get through this stage successfully, we can become self-absorbed and stagnate.

Significant relationships are within the workplace, the community and the family.

8. Late Adulthood: 55 or 65 to Death

Ego Development Outcome: Integrity vs. Despair
Basic Strengths: Wisdom

Erikson felt that much of life is preparing for the middle adulthood stage and the last stage is recovering from it. Perhaps that is because as older adults we can often look back on our lives with happiness and are content, feeling fulfilled with a deep sense that life has meaning and we’ve made a contribution to life, a feeling Erikson calls integrity. Our strength comes from a wisdom that the world is very large and we now have a detached concern for the whole of life, accepting death as the completion of life.

On the other hand, some adults may reach this stage and despair at their experiences and perceived failures. They may fear death as they struggle to find a purpose to their lives, wondering “Was the trip worth it?” Alternatively, they may feel they have all the answers (not unlike going back to adolescence) and end with a strong dogmatism that only their view has been correct.

The significant relationship is with all of mankind—”my-kind.”

Neighborhood Councils. a new way of doing things.

kevin-carter-vulture

“I think we will see Neighborhood Councils representing groups of houses and streets. If someone is lonely or hungry or in any sort of need, it will be the role of the Neighborhood Council to take the necessary action. They will not ring Social Services because Social Services won’t exist in the way that it does today. Everything will be on a smaller, community scale.

The explosion in the Welfare State and Social Services has been a reaction to the collapse of community. Now that the Brotherhood elite have largely achieved that, they will seek to squeeze the welfare services. Neighborhood Councils will alert the people of their area as to what needs to be done and will sort it out themselves, whenever possible. You could set up a Neighborhood Council where you live, today. Through this, you could co-ordinate the care of the people in your area by the people in your area.

There is no need to wait for a crash. It is a tragedy that so many do not even know who lives in the flat next door, let alone at the end of the street. Centralization and the system of divide and rule, have brought this about. It is time to change this but it will not be easy. It will take commitment and there will be many people who fear participation because they have been programmed to believe that they are here to follow, not to lead.

But, these changes will happen because circumstances and awakening consciousness will demand them. The more we can de4ink from the system now and prepare the groundwork for community organization, the smoother the transition will be.

Neighborhood Councils will have a representative on the Community Council. How big an area these Community Councils will cover, will be decided by the people involved, in consultation with other communities around them. I would see elected Community Councils working alongside community forums.

These forums would be open to everyone to present their views and suggestions for ways of improving the community. They would allow the knowledge and ingenuity of people to be given a hearing. Today, we have professional politicians making decisions about subjects they know little or nothing about. Those who are close to these subjects are never asked to speak in the debates or to offer their insight into problems which they work with every day.

Giving people that opportunity in the present system of centralized control is almost impossible because there are too many people involved. But, in a community situation, that would not be the case. Everything would take place on a human scale. Even now, under the present system, there is no reason why community forums could not be organized to give a platform for local views and action. Indeed, this is happening as awakening people follow their instincts.

The elected Community Council would attend these regular forums and listen to the people they represent. The councils would consist of people elected from right across society. Besides representatives from each neighborhood there would be the opportunity for all sections of society to have an elected spokesperson -food producers, shopkeepers, employees, environmental groups, young people, old people, and so on.

I would suggest a similar dual approach to economic organization. Elected representatives to a community economic cooperative would coordinate the day-to-day organization and development of the community economy while an economic forum would allow everyone to contribute to the discussions on economic matters.

People are much more enthusiastic and motivated when they know they have the opportunity to contribute and make a difference. You will be amazed at how many apparently insuperable problems can be solved once human ingenuity is harnessed to its full potential. The task for these community economies in the transition period will be to provide food, shelter, warmth and clothing for everyone and to do it in ways that are environmentally sustainable.

I would see the main roles of Regional Government to be the following: To support the communities in their efforts to be self-reliant in all essentials; to ensure that essentials which cannot be provided locally are provided from surpluses in other communities; to coordinate necessary trade between communities to the mutual benefit of both; to be a forum for communities to exchange information and experiences; to pass on details of new discoveries and technology which would benefit communities and add to their self reliance; to arbitrate in disagreements between communities; and to ensure that the actions of one community do not adversely affect another, either economically or environmentally.

The regional level will be particularly important in the transition period in organizing food distribution to the big urban areas which do not have enough food-growing land to feed themselves.

I do not believe the present national governments, as such, will be necessary, although groups of regions may choose to get together to support each other. The next level of representation after regional could be continental. These would be areas covered today by the European Community or the United States and Canada – that sort of size. I would see these as forums and coordinators, not governments.

This is very different from the present European Community model which is little more than an economic trading bloc with system-serving and centralizing motivations. The continental forum I am thinking of would be a meeting place where regional representatives could exchange ideas and discuss issues of mutual interest. This level would arbitrate on disagreements between regions, ensure that one region was not harming others economically and environmentally, and help to identify and direct the essentials of food, warmth, clothing and shelter to regions who were not yet self-reliant or who were struggling, temporarily, from the effects of natural disasters.

They would also coordinate relief operations in places where natural disasters had occurred, with expertise, transport and technology on permanent standby to be on the scene in the shortest possible time. This would be a kind of Global International Rescue which all communities and regions could call upon.

The other level of representation would be the World Forum. This is not the same as World Government. It would be a place where representatives from the continental forums would meet to discuss topics that affected the whole world. It would arbitrate in disagreements between continents and co-ordinate the provision of essentials which a continent was unable, at any stage, to provide for itself.

The World Forum would have no army at its disposal and, apart from powers to intervene to prevent environmental degradation that had global implications, it would have no other power to impose its decisions. All armies will be dismantled when the transformation of consciousness is well underway. I would also see the World Forum as a body that would represent the planet in formal interaction with other Universal Civilizations which are going to be openly visiting this planet and we theirs in the future just as we visit other countries today.

We desperately need forms of democracy that empower and involve all people. The present ‘democracies’ were created by the Brotherhood with built-in flaws to ensure they were only illusions of freedom:

“All these so called ‘People’s Rights’ can exist only in idea, an idea which can never be realized in practical lift. What is it to the proletariat laborer, bowed double over his heavy toil, crushed by his lot in lift, if talkers get the right to babble, journalists get the right to scribble any nonsense side by side with the good stuff? The proletariat has no other profit out of the constitution save only those pitiful crumbs which we fling them from our table in return for voting in favor of what we dictate, in favor of men we place in power…”
(Illuminati Protocol 3).

This devolution of economic and representative power to communities with support, but not control, from above has built-in environmental benefits. People, as a rule, do not wish to pollute their own neighborhood. National governments give permission for polluting factories to be imposed only on those communities where they don’t have to live themselves.

The main motivation of a national government is economic growth, not the wishes of one community. With decision-making transferred to community level, the incentives to reject polluting technology are far greater. If you are seeking to be self-reliant you are going to look after your environment as a first priority because that is your self-reliance. The link between a sustainable environment and a sustainable economy will be staring you in the face every day.

This structure is not a model for the future written in stone. I have only outlined a few ideas to illustrate some of the trends that are already quietly underway and which will come to the fore as the transition proceeds to challenge the Brotherhood nightmare of central control.

I expect the economics and representation of the future to be much more diverse than a single, set structure. In every community and region there will be variations on the theme of self-reliance in essentials and decision-making at the lowest level possible. There will be many difficulties and complications to overcome because these trends are faced with a world that has been geared and created to serve a very different system.

Communities and regions do not break down into neatly packaged units with the ideal ratio of farmland to people. We have appalling urban sprawls and it will be some time before anything like the ideas I have put forward will be reality world-wide. There will be a lot of chaos, hard work and learning from experience before that can happen. What we can do is make a start now and try to de-link ourselves as much from the system as we can.

It is worth noting again that the fewer material wants we have the less we need to work and earn to live. This frees more time for us to do what we really want to do. If we simplify our material lives we give ourselves choices which are denied us if we work, work, work to chase the material dream and its symbols of ‘success’.

We need to free ourselves from the so-called work ethic. This insists that, unless we are in paid employment all day, at least five days a week, we are lazy and work-shy. What bullshit. But what could be better for the system over the last two hundred years than for us to believe in the work ethic and its misguided morality?

With people rejecting this conditioning and giving themselves time and opportunity to use their full creativity, we will see such changes for the better; an explosion in the arts for a start. Music, in particular, has a fundamental role to play in using its vibrations to raise the frequency of the planet, although it can be used to do the opposite in the wrong hands. We are going to discover more notes and tones as the changes gather pace.

People think that the collapse of the present order will see us living in caves and tents for evermore. But the release of human creativity will lead us into a world of abundance. Being poor is not purity, it is poverty, and we will have the means to remove this cancer. Ours will be a world that celebrates and encourages beauty, style and excellence in all things. The idea, put forward by some, that living rough has some kind of spiritual street-cred is a delusion, I feel. The transformation is about balance while poverty is an obvious sign of imbalance within a society.

Two areas related to political and economic change are the media and what we laughingly call justice. The media, or most of it, is the propaganda machine of the present system. Nowhere do the mainstream newspapers, magazines, radio and television programs question the obsession with growth and free trade, except in the rarest of circumstances. The only questions they ask are how best to stimulate both.

They never ask why these things are so desirable and what the consequences of them are. The media depends on the system to survive and offers all the support it can. It is also Brotherhood-controlled. The media has allowed itself to become the vehicle for selling the American (Brotherhood) culture to the world. In its raw state, the media is like knowledge. It is neither negative or positive. It is how it is used that is negative and positive.

Some individuals in the media already do some outstanding work, exposing exploitation and hypocrisy and highlighting injustices that need to be addressed – but they are a depressing few. Local radio stations can be wonderful sources of information close to the people and they are going to be crucial in times of turmoil and change. The media could be used to communicate understanding and information that would free humanity.

Instead, its overwhelming contribution is to imprison our thinking because its own thinking is imprisoned.

“We must compel the governments of the goyim to take action in the direction favored by our widely conceived plan, already approaching the desired consummation, by what we shall represent as public opinion, secretly prompted by us through the means of that so called ‘Great Power’ – the Press, which, with a few exceptions that may be disregarded, is already entirely in our hands.”
(Illuminati Protocol 7).

“What is the part played by the Press today? It serves to excite and inflame those passions which are needed for our purpose or else serves selfish ends of parties. It is often vapid, unjust, mendacious, and the majority of the public have not the slightest idea what ends the press really serves… All of our newspapers will be of all possible complexions aristocratic, republican, revolutionary, even anarchical – for so long as the constitutions exist… Every one of them will have a finger on any one of the public opinions as required. When a pulse quickens these hands will lead opinion in the direction of our aims… Those fools who will think they are repeating the opinion of a newspaper of their own camp will be repeating our opinion or any opinion that seems desirable to us.”
(Illuminati Protocol 12).”

~ David Icke. one of my heroes.