Part 5 of 5 - Summary and Conclusions

This is a continuation from the entry dated 8/26/2011...

Part 5 of 5 - Summary and Conclusions

I am not proposing to have all the answers. I am searching for answers in earnest that will promote discussion, debate and positive changes toward making our world more peaceful and prosperous.

Part 1 - summary
Used to whet the palate and announce that I had a secret theory on how to achieve global peace and prosperity. I must say now that it may not be an absolute secret. I am sure that I am not the only one asking questions and proposing ideas on this subject. Therefore, it is not unrealistic to think that others before me have ‘discovered’ the ‘secret’, too! I want to make it clear that I am not claiming any kind of exclusive or original ownership of what I have called “my” theory.

Part 2 - summary
Through observations, questions and logic, I conclude that children are our future. Procreation is our #1 most important job at securing the future of human existence and we do it well. (Probably too well, as I think about our exponential, rabbit-like population growth.) Furthermore, I deduce that our children’s knowledge and experiences will influence how they will run our planet when it comes their time to assume that role. I make another leap and propose that adults/parents have a large influence on the knowledge and experience that our children accumulate and that how we influence their experiences and what we teach them is our #2 most important job. I state that this is the job where we are currently failing our children. And finally, (since we are currently systematically destroying each other and our planet in so many ways) I propose that we should think more carefully about how we treat them and what we teach them.

Part 3 - summary
After examining some examples, I propose that how a child learns to relate to their parents when they are young greatly influences how they relate to others when they are older. From this proposition I make the assumption that the child/parent relationship is the ‘relationship foundation’ on which all other relationships are built in the future. Ultimately, I propose that the first ingredient of “the right knowledge” to make available to our children in mandatory high school classes is - how to build a healthy child/parent relationship with their (future) children.

Part 4 - summary
I state that I believe child-like behavior is prevalent and seen in many adult relationships.

And now, Part 5
The secret is now partially out within these first 5 posts. I believe that the biggest obstacle to peace, (although there are many obstacles), is that people just don’t seem to get along well with each other. I see this as the root of the problem. We all have a very low threshold of toleration for other people, their ideas, their behaviors, their cultures, etc. If we can just figure out what it is that would enable us to get along better, then we just might be able to live together on this planet harmoniously in peace and prosperity.

If the child/parent relationship is improved, I believe all future relationships would be improved. This would include an improvement in relationships such as: 
   
    Child/Child
    Family/Child
    Teacher/Child
    Community/Child
    Religion/Child
    Region/Child
    Country/Child

My vision is that after generations of gradual improvement in the above relationships, that we would see improvements in the following relationships:
   
    Family/Family   
    Family/Teacher
    Family/Community
    Family/Religion
    Family/Region
    Family/Country

    and so on, until eventually, we reach the goal of greatly improved relationships between:
   
    Country/Country
    Countries/Countries
    Countries/Earth

The crux of the theory is my belief that in order to get along better we must carefully consider how we influence the experiences of our children, especially the parent/child relationship, and we must build a wiser curriculum of education so that our children are taught the right knowledge. I firmly believe that the future existence of the planet and human existence depends on how we handle this responsibility.

The remainder of the entries of this blog will be to examine and open for discussion ideas for exactly which knowledge should be included in the “right knowledge” that is taught to our children. Please, feel free to make suggestions and comments.