The Law of Attraction and Politics
Who has seen the movie "The Secret"?
I don't consider the secret in the movie The Secret to be a secret at all. Norman Vincent Peale came out with The Power of Positive Thinking decades ago for one thing. And I think there have been many others who have followed suit.
But I do think it is a good movie and one that covers a real and important topic.
The insight is, for those who havn't grasped it yet (I'm 45 and just grasped it fully so don't worry if you havn't,) that thoughts become things. That our thinking determines our future. And if our thinking is negative, our future will be negative. Athletes use the Law of Attraction when they visualize their future to be successful - when they visualize themselves running their race or playing their game successfully. If we live our future in the present so to speak, the way we wish it to be, it may very well turn out that way according the law of attraction. If we relish on a troublesome past or present reality, we get more of the same in the future.
I took some seminars at Landmark Education 10 years ago as well and they in part taught the same thing in a round about way. What I learned in the seminars combined with a studious watching and re-watching (even taking notes) of The Secret has allowed me to grasp the insight. I intend to try it out personally.
But what of the ramifications for politics? Criticizing political opponents comes with the territory with politics. Lowering approval ratings by focusing on the negative seems a common sense approach. And I think even in light of the Law of Attraction such things are a good idea - up to a certain point.
Should there be a point where discussion transforms into the positive? Where should that point be? To what extent should the negative be dismissed? Is the Law of Attraction a real law of science? Do we perpetuate a war by focusing a lot of discussion on a war? (In the movie one commentator says that to be anti war you have to be pro peace for example, not anti war.)
What of the perceived "Democrats don't have any strategy of their own" issue - would shifting to the positive have an effect on that perception of our Party? Are we too busy shining spotlights on our opposition's mistakes to the point where we end up not communicating our version of the future?
I am as positive as anyone I know, but before you get much more into Peale, please remember that the upper limit of the gospel of privatized piety involves the false premise that wealth [or name any "positive"] is a sign of divine approbation. Such misleadings helped Bush hookwink a goodly segment of American people. The undoing of that falsity must undergird corrective preaching, or there is no double-edge to the sword of truth.
Thanks for your post, Shift,
Tish
August 4, 2007 11:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the comment. I don't read Peale. I just know about his book and perhaps he was the first to cover positive thinking.
Modern thought on positive thinking might actually threaten rather than condone religious folks because they say the positive results come from the Universe not God.
Although to some people like myself the two are one and the same. But wealth only comes from asking for wealth and anyone from any background can ask for a positive (including wealthy) future.
I see what you mean though. Does it work for starving Ethiopians? Probably not. But according to the theory it would even for such disadvantaged folks.
In America a lower income person could benefit from the Law of Attraction. They may not have the same access to capital. But they can make changes to align themselves better with what opportunities are available. Much harder for the Ethiopian of course.
August 5, 2007 11:44 PM | Reply | Permalink