Revolutionary Love conference - third installment

Although this is the third installment, I am still writing about the second day and I have decided that I can only deal with highlights.

Edgar Villanueva, who was paired with Barry Segal, talked about the power of money.  Segal is a philanthropist, but wasn't that interesting to me.  His talk was pretty traditional.   Villanueva is an indigenous person working in philanthropy and has written a book called Decolonizing Wealth.   He didn't say how he got involved with philanthropy, so I am not sure.  He did talk about his very modest childhood and how he grew up as the son of a single mother who worked three shifts.  She worked at the Department of Motor Vehicles and then 2 shifts working in people's homes as a nursing assistant.  Villanueva would tagged along and so got to go into fancy homes.  On Saturdays and Sundays, his mother worked on outreach for the church and made sure kids got to church on the bus.  She would say that helping kids was her "medicine.  He also talked about, when indigenous people want to get to know you, they ask "who are your people?"  In other words, who do you associate with...not just who you are.  Another idea he put forth was that money is not the root of all evil, it is the love of money that is the root of all evil.  As we have seen in these coronavirus times, some people do value money more than human life.  He explained why he talks about decolonization.  According to his thinking, when societies conquer civilizations, they take resources and leave.  However, when they colonize, they stay and exploit the society.  He put forth the premise that wealth in America today was built through colonialism.  To him, decolonization means that which has been stolen is returned.  There was a lot and some pretty radical ideas, in my view.  But he definitely gave me something to think about.

Another impressive speaker on day 2 was Rabbi Michael Lerner.  His book (it seems like they all have a book) is actually called Revolutionary Love.    He portrayed Revolutionary Love as love for everyone and acceptance that we are interdependent.  It is a little complicated, but he proposes that the capitalism we have come to accept and that we are told is "efficient, rational and productive" is not.  To him, a culture that is "efficient, radical and productive" would actually be based on love and caring.  For those who think this is a great idea, but unrealistic, he has encouraging words.  Major social changes have resulted from people who were told their ideas were unrealistic but persisted.  He had harsh words for the liberals and progressives who portray themselves as being on a higher level than others..  What we need, he says, is REAL caring for people who seek meaning and purpose in their lives.  He says selfishness is learned and is not human nature.  There was more, but these were the highlights for me.  I guess you can see why I found him an inspiring voice.