tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post6350152283047828820..comments2023-03-26T01:02:06.760-07:00Comments on The Fearless Heart: Responding to People in PowerMiki Kashtanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00907977416574801559noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-32679406340413701142013-01-06T17:18:15.319-08:002013-01-06T17:18:15.319-08:00PS> That baby picture is very disturbing...for...PS> That baby picture is very disturbing...for me it does not convey the message. Although the men who who have killed millions of babies were babies, their crimes beg us to remember them differently than a time when they were innocent.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-2130833140434072572013-01-06T17:06:28.051-08:002013-01-06T17:06:28.051-08:00I found this discussion to be interesting on many ...I found this discussion to be interesting on many levels. I have come to the place after years of struggling with the power dynamic (and not seeing many changes)where I want to concentrate on relationships with those who are not part of the "power dynamic." It seems like a waste of time to try and influence people who get HUGE rewards for screwing others. They are really a very small Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-42637701451180295672013-01-05T23:35:36.599-08:002013-01-05T23:35:36.599-08:00Dear Denise,
I'm deeply touched by your shari...Dear Denise,<br /><br />I'm deeply touched by your sharing yourself so openly. I feel "met" in that willingness to go for truth that is so precious to me, and I am also so so sad that you endured these experiences growing up. I wish for you more and more connection with your beauty (which I experience through this email as unflinching honesty and surprising trust in the human spiritMiki Kashtanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00907977416574801559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-48416517665022300072013-01-05T16:35:46.678-08:002013-01-05T16:35:46.678-08:00Hi aftergadget,
I don't have an answer I can ...Hi aftergadget,<br /><br />I don't have an answer I can easily relax into. I have some faith that in a future world, when we have figured out how to ensure that the overwhelming majority of people have their needs met as infants and children - to know that they matter, to be loved and acknowledged, to have mastery over shaping their lives, as a few examples - adults will not be in such need Miki Kashtanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00907977416574801559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-74379516390697001352013-01-03T03:27:52.290-08:002013-01-03T03:27:52.290-08:00dear miki,
i had not read your article "The E...dear miki,<br />i had not read your article "The Extraordinary Challenge of Wanting to Create Change, Part 2: Beyond the Personal" when i wrote the above...<br /><br />:)birenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11861869356837245245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-68472487922985243152013-01-03T03:03:16.952-08:002013-01-03T03:03:16.952-08:00dear miki,
thank you for sharing this so unreserve...dear miki,<br />thank you for sharing this so unreservedly... <br />even before i started reading, i had a knot in my gut - out of fear, because this is such an important issue in my life.<br /><br />i was looking for answers. i was looking for a relief from the pain and fear i carry.<br /><br />you gave me no answers. <br />but you gave me something even better. <br /><br />you gave me back my birenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11861869356837245245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-35967787032352037032013-01-03T02:49:33.734-08:002013-01-03T02:49:33.734-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.birenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11861869356837245245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-36226610149325764402013-01-02T19:38:27.926-08:002013-01-02T19:38:27.926-08:00Want to add a comment about the prospects for nonv...Want to add a comment about the prospects for nonviolent resistance in the U.S. being grim. While it is true that many forms of nonviolent resistance have not been "successful" insofar as their stated goals have not yet been reached, I would say it is too soon to say. There certainly are plenty of people who have engaged in nonviolent resistance in the last few years -- so it is not Jean McElhaneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-51859092900529805572013-01-02T16:48:15.007-08:002013-01-02T16:48:15.007-08:00"I am frightened to imagine that there may be..."I am frightened to imagine that there may be people whose emotional needs are so high, whose concern with their own safety and well-being so consuming, and whose lack of trust so extreme that no amount of empathy would be sufficient to open their hearts."<br /><br />If you do a search for "Gabor Mate" and especially his book _In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts_ , you will see thatDenisenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-59775196893638998352013-01-02T12:37:49.363-08:002013-01-02T12:37:49.363-08:00I have very little interaction with people with ex...I have very little interaction with people with extreme access to resources like Jonathan. I feel overwhelmed by the challenge of connecting with people who wield much less power and finding ways to relate. <br /><br />When I read this, I felt a chill: "I am frightened to imagine that there may be people whose emotional needs are so high, whose concern with their own safety and well-being soAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-82061637233408419612012-12-30T08:16:26.340-08:002012-12-30T08:16:26.340-08:00How is one to deal with someone who wields his/her...How is one to deal with someone who wields his/her influence for selfish ends without concern for the miseries this wielding fosters? I think, in part this is the dilemma you are posing in this essay. In practice, one is confronted by an individual person, in a particular relationship, and with particular circumstances, which contributes toward fashioning one's thoughts, speech, and actionsRon Greensteinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-38259346943512246102012-12-29T12:20:21.294-08:002012-12-29T12:20:21.294-08:00IN service to opening conversations I wonder when ...IN service to opening conversations I wonder when I read this piece, when you speak of "people in power", which people in power would you like to have an audience with and what would you want to be the content of the conversation?<br /><br />The people in power that I deal with and think about most is the people up the ladder in the medical industrial complex and how an individual sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-56084629648449826172012-12-28T18:45:05.896-08:002012-12-28T18:45:05.896-08:00Dear Alex,
I am so glad you liked what I wrote!
...Dear Alex,<br /><br />I am so glad you liked what I wrote! <br /><br />I want to say that you may have heard these things from me in the first place, since I define power as "the capacity to mobilize resources to attend to needs" - thus making power itself a universal need.<br /><br />The distinction I draw is between having power and using power. power-over is a choice, a way of Miki Kashtanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00907977416574801559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-83123248622613234932012-12-28T18:40:34.375-08:002012-12-28T18:40:34.375-08:00Hi Miki,
You have in my opinion covered the groun...Hi Miki,<br /><br />You have in my opinion covered the ground -- including all the apparent dilemmas -- so thoroughly I find little to add.<br /><br />The small contribution I might make on what has helped me a little in moving closer to that space of not seeing "them" as other is to eliminate the language "people with power" or "people exercising 'power over' Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-85426030759598094262012-12-28T09:37:43.190-08:002012-12-28T09:37:43.190-08:00Dear anonymous,
I was just this morning writing a...Dear anonymous,<br /><br />I was just this morning writing about the complexity of the perception of parents' relationship to children. There is much too much to say about this in a response. I do plan to write more about this on the blog soon. <br /><br />For now, just one thought: ask your 12 year old what are her or his ideas for what would work for both of you. Tell them that you are Miki Kashtanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00907977416574801559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-85987214358493237332012-12-28T09:29:24.508-08:002012-12-28T09:29:24.508-08:00Miki, thanks for this reflection, and for all your...Miki, thanks for this reflection, and for all your pieces that I've so enjoyed this year. This is off-piste although on second thoughts, maybe not. In my experience, those wielding most power are those closest to us - our dear young off-spring. And during this holiday period, this 'power imbalance' is something I'm much aware of, and trying to learn from instead of simply Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-77557842692925859962012-12-28T07:22:40.527-08:002012-12-28T07:22:40.527-08:00Miki,
Michael Nagler talks about obstructive and ...Miki,<br /><br />Michael Nagler talks about obstructive and constructive programs of nonviolence. I think what's needed, based on what I see in Gandhi's and MLK's movements, is a constructive program, one which builds a sense of community and a wide base of experienced solidarity, interconnectedness if you will. In short, what we need is some kind of "church." <br /><br />I Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754739242520868315.post-33481678100315655192012-12-28T07:11:18.482-08:002012-12-28T07:11:18.482-08:00Your suggestion that those in power know somewhere...Your suggestion that those in power know somewhere in their being "that they are outside the web of interdependence and love" really struck me. What would it be like to live with a belief that what I have is always dependent on those who do not care for me, in fact may actively dislike me- what fear this could provoke, how it leads me to want to circle the wagons and make sure that Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com