Ideas

... ideas can liberate us

by Carol Nelson

I watched a late night television interview with Thomas L. Friedman, the author of "The World Is Flat". The cover of his book shows the artist's depiction of ships sailing right off the edge of the world, just the way everyone used to believe they would. Friedman spoke about ideas, my favorite subject. He listed ten developments which have changed the world, all having taken place since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Click photo for larger view of wall. When I traveled to Germany a number of years ago, I especially wanted to see the Wall, or what was left of it. My favorite rock group is Pink Floyd who created the music for "The Wall", both a movie and an album. I have a strong sensitivity around devisive situations. The Wall was not just a concrete obstruction to freedom, but also a metaphor for the human condition and what happens when people are ostracized or closed off, for whatever reason. Ideas can liberate us and renew old concepts that no longer serve in an ever connecting world. I feel a great surge of hope because of ideas that change the focus away from despair. In order to change anything, we must be able to perceive it changed. I have begun to think about what the idea may have been, originally, in the mind of the thinker. For example, the Beatles must have been thinking of peace and love; Martin Luther King and Ghandi: freedom and equality; and, I feel, Christ was more about creating compassion and forgiveness than an institution. Mr. Friedman's ideas could change our country's empirical direction to one of cooperation (one of the best ideas on Sesame Street.) The world calls for connection ... or is that just my idea? June 3, 2005

Loading

| Return to section | The Front Page | Write to us |