The Thunder Burke Meets Himself

Here I was 'cartooned' during my CBC phase. 'Burke in a gilded cage,' hells bells - it was worse than that. But I escaped the cage to bring you other news...

Now, I'd like to talk to you about a powerful communication symbol - the Thunderbird- one of our greatest communication symbols. Originally he may have been an owl. But he evolved into an eagle with a human body, migrating with the Asian tribes who came to North America. Here he assumed the familiar form made famous by the west coast totem poles.

The Thunderbird also migrated westward to become the eagle of Rome, Germany, Mexico and the United States, among others. Look at an American coin and you'll see the lightning in his claws. He's a Thunderbird.

So - the Caucasians finally reached the west coast of North America - ending the great westward migration. Were they surprised to find their beloved Thunderbird symbol already established by the Native People? Something of profound importance had happened--the era of human expansion over the surface of the earth was over. The Thunderbird met himself. Exploration of one dimension was ended and now - the human race goes into new dimensions---outer and inner space.

Outer space is essentially physical but inner space is an exploration of the spirit and the essence of life itself.

Where do we go? Into space and into ourselves!

These are the last frontiers.

Thanks for visiting - I look forward to your comments.

New Age of Discovery

Humankind now enters a 'New Oceanic Age.'

Like the great navigators of the Elizabethan Age, we sail into unknown waters...into the Ocean of Space, the Ocean of Electricity, the Ocean of the Mind. Previously we were land-locked and arrogant, confident that all would be revealed through logic. Now, humbly, but with far more power, we venture into other dimensions knowing there is no end to the voyage. Mysteries will always remain. Now we are told there is no Ultimate Truth. We will probably never understand even the basics of physics. How atomic particles can move forward and backward in time. How parallel lines can meet.

It is a strange anomaly that these mysteries emerge at a time when human knowledge is exploding. Perhaps it's fitting that we voyage into the Unknown just as the early explorers did. After all, ignorance is a pre-requisite for learning. As one quester put it," my ignorance is my expertise." So, in ignorance we blast off into ultimate mystery. The human community bursting outward, into the mysteries of space and science, the arts and global business.

It's a kind of daring unknown since the days of Drake, Hawkins, Shakespeare and Newton who were all contemporaries. So, " All hands on deck, we're heading to sea! Look alive there!"

It's a New Age of Discovery.

Breakthrough and the Great Pattern

Today's crisis comes into better focus if we recognize that it is remarkably like four which occurred in the past. A solution then seems to emerge.

It all began some two million years ago when our ancestors in Africa were driven from the forest by global warming. These small creatures, only four feet tall, were vulnerable and it seems likely they developed 'shout communication' to warn one another and to alert others when new sources of food were found.

The next great advance was made when Cro-Magnons developed true speech. The previously dominant Neanderthals had vocal chords but there is no evidence they used them for speech.Writing then became the driving force leading to the evolution of towns, cities, and empires such as those of Egypt and Persia.

The next great advance occurred when Greeks and Jews developed alphabets creating a new way of thinking. The printing press then spread this way of thinking across Europe leading to the evolution of today's western nations and to democracy, mass education, and all the essentials of western society.

Now, in the Electronic Age, we make the greatest, fastest, and most dangerous advance of all. In particular, we see the essential features of 'printing press' society thrown into crisis. \

Nations and democracy are in transition. Meanwhile, new forms seem to be evolving in China and elsewhere in Asia, India, and perhaps Islam. A new age, and new thinking, are clearly evolving in the electronic age which is transforming the world but English-speaking peoples retain nations, politics, and thinking essentially unchanged in 300 years.

Will English-Speakers Survive? The danger faced by English-speaking nations comes into sharper focus when you realize that no leading nation made the transition from one communications system to the next. Can English-speaking nations be the first? Can Americans change the very essence of the governmental system they have been taught to believe is almost sacred?

Canadians are in a better position as we make changes to accommodate French-speaking Quebec and grant greater powers to provinces and native peoples.The economy has declined, however, and the education system in many respects is static. And of course, looming above it all is the grim realization that, if the US goes down, Canada's fate is dark.

More About a North American Community

OK, the lets think about how it might be structured.

Would there be a continental administration, a constitution, big buildings, and the trappings of sovereignty?

No! The new system would be based on electronic communication and which favors de-centralization so it would seem simpler, cheaper, and more effective to have it based on regional councils. These might be made up of delegates from existing state and provincial legislatures, who would, in turn, send delegates to a central body.

I suggest that the central body, for historic reasons, might be called the Continental Congress. Some Canadians might object to that name as too ‘American’ but it would be appropriate.

The Continental Congress could be a ‘moveable Feast,’ traveling the continent rather than being established in one place inside a gigantic building with a huge staff. By meeting in various centers, like the original Congress of the United States and the first Parliament of Canada, the delegates would come to know the continent and dialogue with its people. By keeping numbers small, they would be able to use existing facilities in national, state and provincial capitals.

When not in session, electronic communication would permit them to keep in touch and attend day-today work.

National legislators, bureaucrats, and media people, of course, will fear loss of power and I can see negative stories coming out of Washington and Ottawa. Regional counterparts, however, will see a whole new chariot ride.