[Dialogue] The Transestablishment Stance

Fri May 31 10:24:03 PDT 2019

Not to mention the corruption and ‘bent on hidden goals’ dynamic in the disestablishment – and in all of us!  Remember the wars within the SDS factions?  Ever wonder why certain parties can’t get it together?  I find the doctrine of ‘total depravity’ wonderfully comforting these days – all of us are screwed up.  Deal with it!  Of course, the next part of the doctrine (TULIP) is unconditional election – no matter how screwed up we are, we’re still responsible…

Bill Schlesinger

From: Dialogue [mailto:dialogue-bounces at lists.wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Randy Williams via Dialogue
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2019 9:04 PM
To: Colleague Dialogue <dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net>
Cc: Randy Williams <randycw1938 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] The Transestablishment Stance

I did t know we made judgments about the establishment one way or the other but rather just said it was the conserving dynamic.

Randy

On May 30, 2019, at 6:43 PM, W. J. via Dialogue <dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net <mailto:dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net> > wrote:

I don't think we ever said that the Establishment was not totally corrupt or "bent on hidden goals." In fact that's exactly the distortion of the social process that keeps the Establishment in power. 

Marshall Jones

On Thursday, May 30, 2019, 6:37:28 PM EDT, Dharmalingam Vinasithamby via Dialogue <dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net <mailto:dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net> > wrote: 

The three categories don’t seem to be exhaustive. I understood the establishment to be about preserving the status quo, keeping things in being; and disestablishment to be the forces that seek to question and bring in the new. But what do you do about forces that appear to be establishment but are clearly corrupt and bent on hidden goals? Or the global role of the US with its exceptionalism and refusal to be part of any global consensus regarding issues like climate change, war crimes etc? Are they “establishment”? The categories don’t fit or clarify anything.

On Friday, 31 May 2019, 04:23:22 GMT+8, Randy Williams via Dialogue <dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net <mailto:dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net> > wrote: 

Lots of good questions and insights in this dialogue. Back in the day we understood that the transestablishment dynamic was to hold the tension between the establishment and disestablishment, and all 3 were fairly identifiable. But in the era of Trump I really don’t know which he and his minions are; none of the above as far as I can discern. He is clearly not the transestablishment, and I can’t relate to him as either of the other 2 without myself becoming the polar opposite. I just don’t know how to play the transestablishment role in this situation unless I totally ignore Trump. That’s not only nearly impossible to do, but ignoring him may well be immoral.So that’s the point of my frustration.

Randy

On May 30, 2019, at 1:08 PM, Terry Bergdall via Dialogue <dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net <mailto:dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net> > wrote:

Good question, Carleton. These are easy days for falling into despair which is what I often do. Beyond the “transestablishment” image. in my more positive moments, I also totally believe that an indirect focus on culture, rathere than direct efforts on the political or economic, still makes total sense. So how is it to be done? That’s the rub, of course. 

I personally have found inspiration in Margaret Wheatly who, I discovered, has had her own bouts with serious despair. She said she used to think it was a matter of enabling people to see the wisom in objective scientific data, especially in regards to climate change. Then she realized that people simply put on their blinders and deny it. She says such stubborn clinging to that which is passing away means we find ourselves living in a “sea of insanity.” Rather that beating our head against rocks trying to convince others to correctly read the signs of our times, she suggests that the job of awakened people (that might be my words not hers) is to create “islands of sanity” within that dominant “sea of insanity.” This is what give me courage to continue with my personal investment through time, energy, talents, and financial resources, etc., in endeavors like Acclerate 77 and its heir, the Chicago Sustainability Leaders Network, and the transformation of an old broken-down building, which marks its centennial in 2021, into the GreenRise Learning Laboratory, i.e., a demonstration. Local action has never been more urgently required than now.

For what it’s worth, that's the story and active engagement that keeps me going.

Terry

On Thu, May 30, 2019 at 12:31 PM Carleton Stock via Dialogue <dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net <mailto:dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net> > wrote:

I have been thinking a lot about this lately, especially with The Donald in the White House and Congress in dysfunctional mode.  We know how to be the establishment dimension by supporting the status quo and we know how to be the disestablishment dimension by being critical of the establishment.  Those of us on the Left do a lot of shouting at screens these days.....anger and frustration with the way things are going in the government.  Personally, I have been more engaged in politics since November 2016 than I ever was, sometimes jumping into the mud pit to take on the other side.  But what about the third dimension, the trans-establishment, that we talked so much about in the Institute over the past 50 or 60 years?!  That was the correct stance we said.  But what does it mean to be trans-establishment in the Trump Era when things we love and care about are being dismantled?  I didn't worry too much during the Reagan or Bush years though they were conservative Republicans.  We knew this too would pass, hopefully after the next election.  But during the Trump years I worry about lots of things, not the least of which is the survival of democracy, the survival of life on the planet, White Supremacists in power, human rights for minorities and people of color, women, unconventional life-styles, etc.  The list goes on and on but you get my point.

Is the trans-establishment stance still viable in these times and if so, what's it mean to live it out as a Movement Network and in individual families and in faith communities and other groups?

Any wisdom on this matter would be much appreciated.

Carleton Stock

St. Louis, MO

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