Todd P Paul

Communal Living

I would encourage you to read the FT article on communes in the weekend paper. It looks at a brief history of intentional communities and talks about the modern movement.

They were the perfect homes for the hippy movement. Loosely structured and easy-going, communes in the late 1960s and early 1970s offered young people shelter, warmth, food and company without any of those annoying constraints of the nuclear family and suburban life. In a commune you could get up late, spend the day doing whatever you wanted and even sleep with your best friend’s partner, all in the name of rejecting conventionality. And it hardly cost you a penny.

Well, at least that was what the view was from “straight” suburbia and it provided plenty a pursed lip and sharp intake of breath around the dinner tables of provincial Britain and middle America.

Full article, free, here = FT - Commune Article

The Self-Sufficiency Handbook

The FT has a interested article, “Living off the Land” in the weekend edition. It is written by the author of, The Self-Sufficiency Handbook Alan Bridgewater. The little article talks about his family's 30 year desire to live a self-sufficient life. It is a worthy advertisement for the book.

103-2132681-8444662

Technorati Tags: Financial Times, Books, Sustainable Living

How will the religious right get on without Jerry Falwell?

This is a continuation on the Economist article mentioned earlier.

The evangelical movement that was prodded out of its slumbers in late 1970's will remain a powerful force in American political life. It will continue to put abortion and gay marriage at the heart of politics. But it needs to broaden its agenda to include issues like the environment. And it needs to embrace a new generation of leaders who are cut from a rather different cloth than Mr. Falwell.

I think this is the major tension point of the Christian church over the next twenty-five years and beyond. Can the institutionalized church move past its present state, toward a new movement that works contextually in Generation Y? The track record with Generation X has not been so good, and the traditional church has not seemed to realize. As traditional churches become more and more cultural irrelevant institutions and the mega-church thrives with a specific demographic, what happens to the rest? The writers of this Economist article have an important point. The need to broaden the cognitive bandwidth of the western Christianity is direr at best at best.

What do you hope people say about you?

This week has been full of historical events. The passing of Jerry Falwell, the resignation of Wolfowitz, and the resignation of Tony Blair. With all of these events, there has been a cloud of speculation around how history will judge these people. While I have varying opinions about each, I am sympathetic to each of their plights. I am also reminded of two quotes, "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely" (Lord Acton) and "With great power comes great responsibility." (Superman).  Each of these individuals have done great things and less than great things, but what has me thinking is how will history remember them? Which leads to the same question about myself.
As I was watching Tony Blair's speak yesterday in the rose garden of the White House. I could see his conviction, character, and courage. I was also able to remember some of his great accomplishments, also some failures. Jerry Falwell - which Will wrote a good piece on - has a similar story. Although, I am less inclined too appreciate his good accomplishments, I still recognizes some value added. But how will these stories be recreated over time? Will Blair be able to raise above the Iraq war? Will Falwell be able to rise above his comments after 9/11 (among others!)? Only time will tell with these individuals but it is not too late for the one individual I have the most control over - me. So my question to you is how do you hope to be spoken of?
I will post my response over the weekend. I am still struggling with some perception/reality problems. I would love to hear so of your thoughts.

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As I thought about this more over the last few days, I came up with a list. This list is more what I hope to live myself into, because I am well aware I have and continue to fail in quite a few of these (okay, all).

Direct

Hopeful

Caring

Loyal

Straight Forward

Where do we go from here?

As I am sure you are all aware, the U.N. passed a resolution on North Korea yesterday. After the unanimous vote in the U.N. security counsel, China quickly offered a descending vote of no confidence. China stated it would not enforce the security checks going into or coming out of North Korea. This has some interesting implication into U.S./ China relations and China/ North Korea relations.
I am interested in how this unfolds. There has already been political rhetoric on both sides. My curiosity is around where does the U.N. go next? The threat of forceful action was taken out of the U.N. resolution. How does the U.N. backup this resolution?

My skepticism says this was a waste of time. The U.S. cannot do anything about North Korea. China and others in the region are unwilling. So, regardless of the resolution nothing happens. I would like to hear your thoughts on the situation.

Sources:
NY Times
Bloomberg
Financial Times
BBC