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The Paradise Perspective: Commentary from a Free and Compassionate Alternate Reality Volume 2, Number 8 Shield and Strength: The Power of Love by Glen Allport Exclusive to STR March 10, 2008 "Love
is the central ingredient in building a strong and resilient personality.
It equips us with the mobilizing chemicals such as dopamine that allow us
to be aggressive, to establish goals and pursue them, to stand up for
ourselves and have the energy to accomplish things. It accounts for
self-confidence, a 'can-do' attitude. It prevents the need for drugs later
on, such as cocaine, that do what dopamine should have done had there been
adequate supplies; had there been adequate love. Most drug addiction, and
the choice of drugs, is an attempt to normalize a system that is
unbalanced. If the inhibitory/serotonin system is deficient then
pain-killers will be the later choice for addiction." [Emphasis
added]
~ from The
Biology of Love by Dr. Arthur Janov, 2000 -
1 - The
Economic Shield Begins to Collapse More
bad economic news
was reported this past week, continuing the trend of bad economic news
since the first of the year. Prices are moving higher for almost
everything; oil is holding above
$100/barrel (just over $105 as I write this) and mainstream sources see $200/barrel
as a real possibility; peak
oil combined with increased Asian and other demand make it likely that
prices will stay high. Global
food shortages are adding to concern over rising food prices. The
housing market continues its collapse
with damage to millions of homeowners
and to mortgage holders and others including the construction and
home-improvement industries. Many banks and other financial institutions
are feared insolvent (such as Carlyle
Capital, in the news last week, and mighty Citigroup
at risk for bankruptcy even after recent multi-billion-dollar cash
infusions from Middle Eastern sovereign funds); the muni
bond market is imploding, putting yet-more financial pressure on
America's cash-strapped towns and cities; the stock
market is trending downward and dollars
themselves are worth less and less against most other currencies, not
to mention against food, oil, coal,
metals, and other real goods. All
this comes on the heels of ominous economic events reported throughout
most of last year. In turn,
that news followed inevitably from previous years and decades of bad news
which sometimes looked like
good news, as with the run-up of economic bubbles (for example, the
Roaring Twenties or the recent housing boom). Nearly all of this bad news
was created, directly or indirectly, by corrupt Americans
have long been shielded from many of the pains and problems of life by our
nation's breathtaking prosperity, generated largely by unmatched economic
freedom and strong respect for property
and other rights. With American freedoms now having mostly faded into
myths and slogans, the prosperity we once created is now also
fading. Prosperity has already
vanished for millions of Americans, often with shocking speed. The chill
wind of joblessness,
of rude calls from creditors, of higher prices for necessities, of lost
pensions and withered investments, of homelessness and hunger and bleak,
stomach-churning fear, is growing stronger. As
I have said before, a storm is coming, and the leading edge of that storm
is becoming more difficult to ignore. Most Americans including those
who still hold decent jobs are increasingly
uneasy about the future. These fears are perfectly sensible. If
anything, the situation is worse
than most Americans believe perhaps far
worse. -
2 - A
Shield and Strength of Another Kind Yet
there is one strategy you can
pursue which will serve you and your family well regardless
of what happens. This strategy provides a powerful shield against hard
times and other difficulties; it creates a core of strength to meet
whatever life may bring and improves the quality
of life far more than money ever can. This shield will not stop bullets or
creditors, nor will the strength I speak of allow for leaping tall
buildings in a single bound. Yet this strength is real and profound, and
it can indeed shield people in important ways from the pain and hardships
of life. If you look carefully, you can see this strength at work in the
lives of (some) people today and in history, and you can see the problems
and harm caused by a lack of this strength in the lives of others. You
can make use of this strength yourself, and can to some extent give it to
those around you, including especially to your children. As with a
financial shield, this one requires time and effort to create. This
strength, this shield against the hardships and sorrows of life, is rooted
in an ancient and profound biological ability: love. Love
is the other half of freedom; the yin to freedom's yang. Love and freedom
require each other despite the commonplace denial of this truth. A free
society without love a sociopathic society will not long remain
free. An unfree society a police state or other tyranny is toxic
to love. The
most persuasive evidence for the power of love is impossible to convey in
words, just as the taste of cinnamon is impossible to convey in words. You
can say words on such topics
for instance, "cinnamon has a dusky yet spicy taste" but
unless you have actually tasted cinnamon, no description of the spice's
taste can convey the experience to you.** This
points to a basic human truth: we
can only hear what we already know. Without some level of shared experience on a given topic, two people cannot
really communicate. The
difficulty the impossibility, really of fully conveying an
experience in words to someone who has not had
(or does not remember) similar experience is shown dramatically in the
response to teachings on love and compassion. Telling people to "love
one another" (as the major religions teach, for instance) can only
have so much effect even for someone who sincerely wants to follow the
advice. The limiting factor is mostly, although not entirely, the extent
to which a person's ability to love has been fostered
or harmed, especially in
childhood and infancy. The child, after all, "is father to the
man." Despite this, admonitions to "love one another" can
be helpful in at least two ways: by encouraging positive changes in
behavior and, in some people, by awakening their connection to the deeper
levels of consciousness in which love mostly resides. -
- - - - Part
Two of this column will include descriptions of love at work in the world,
and thoughts about how to bring more of love's power into your own life.
For now, consider browsing this
collection of items on the power of love mostly described by the
harm done by un-love, as is typical in studies on the topic. -
- - - - Notes: *
For those interested in a more detailed look at the epic financial
implosion now underway, or who want to check my predictions from a year
ago, see Destruction
by Paradigm: How the United States wrecked the worlds most robust
economy and impoverished its own people from March 2007. Gold was
$652.20 then; as I write gold is $972.40
a gain of $320.20, or almost 50%,
in a single year. You can check the current price at 321gold.com.
For a shorter article on the same topic, see Money
from last October. ** In addition, your experience of cinnamon (or of other foods) may be different from mine, so my description might actually be at odds with your experience; for instance, I have a visceral dislike for the taste of peanut butter, but most people apparently enjoy the stuff. (I always assume they're kidding, but they insist otherwise). Glen Allport is the author of The Paradise Paradigm: On Creating A World of Compassion, Freedom, and Prosperity and maintains paradise-paradigm.net. This is one in a series of columns on the human condition.
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