Up In Arms

   It's a classic phrase that, at least here in the U.S., traditionally signals someone being at wits end or exasperated, frustrated enough that it breaks one's demeanor and makes them angry enough to protest or in some cases, to go a step further.  One would think that the meaning of "up in arms" would be somewhat literal, a time when it caused you to throw your arms in the air and to let them do the "talking."  But today's world is changing and one only has to think what comes to mind when you hear the word "arms."  Is it still a part of your body or is it part of a word cut off, as in arm-aments, a word which classically has been defined as "the process of equipping military forces for war."  Without growing too depressing, the latter came to mind when Bloomberg Businessweek ran this short tagline for an article: You thought the threat of nuclear war was history?  Better think again.  Hard.  Treaties are ending between the U.S. and Russia, the India-Pakistan debate is reheating (both have nuclear weapons), North Korea, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran?  Who else has them (or admits to having them) and more importantly, who will use them?  It's out of our hands and yet it does indeed make you want to throw up your arms and just yell STOP.

   What was unfortunate was that for some this frustration has led to violence, creating the emergence of a white-ISIS as historian Kathleen Belew implied on PBS saying that we should stop using the terms "alt-right" and "white supremist" as they soften the violence, and that these shootings and movements around the world are quite controlled and in many ways show similar patterns to those of a terrorist cell; as she termed it, it should be called what it is...white power.   What happened in New Zealand has opened new questions as to how such terrorists are able to obtain permits and licenses for guns in that country (PBS reported that one in four people own a firearm in New Zealand although the shooter in this recent mosque shooting was Australian).  If you've never been to New Zealand, you should go.  It is one of the most beautiful and peaceful countries I have ever visited, its dazzling scenery easily topped by the friendliness of its people.  And New Zealand is also the last place I would picture as having a population that would even want to own guns (the country still bans any nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed vessel from entering its ports).  The Mayor Lianne Dalziel of Christchurch (the city where the shootings took place) summed it up best for waiting reporters: It is a act of cowardice he has performed.  I guess there are no words to describe the revulsion I feel for the propaganda he wanted to bring to us.  I will not give voice to this propaganda.  His voice is the voice of hate.  I'm very shocked that it has happened here, but I'm shocked it has happened in New Zealand.  The reason we have been targeted is because...we are a safe city and a safe country.  This sort of extremism is not something we have seen here.  He came here.  He came here with hate in his heart.  He came here to perform this act of terrorism.  Perhaps what is even more shocking than the shootings themselves is that as quickly as the live-streams and posted videos were taken down by both Facebook and Reddit, the sites couldn't keep up with the number of people who had already copied and were re-sending the posts...methods used by terrorists cells in other parts of the world.  Here in the U.S. such shootings have almost become so common that they are given little more than a passing glance, a sigh of "another shooting" when it appears on the news; after all there have already been mass shootings and deaths in our elementary schools and high schools, our shopping malls and nightclubs, and of course our churches and temples, and to date, almost nothing has been done other than to see an increase in concealed weapon permits in many states (there's even a movement to eliminate the permits altogether).  The wild, wild, West redux...

   Rolling Stone interviewed several of the newly-elected female Democrats in its recent issue, including Ilhan Omar, a Muslim refugee who came to the U.S. in 1995 after fleeing the war in Somalia.  Her feelings after 9/11?: You were afraid as an American and you were mourning, (but) you were seen now as a suspect...It didn't matter if you were a new citizen or if you'd been here all your life, there was a feeling like your existence here could be temporary.  And when asked about the Saudi-backed news outlets now attacking both her and her fellow Muslim colleague (the also newly-elected Rashida Tlaib) she answered:  Our presence terrifies them.  These are  totalitarian regimes that have retained their power and influence in the West by setting themselves up as the gatekeepers and the ushers of peace for the Muslim community.  They are threatened, really, by Muslims who have now come to Congress who have the roots and understanding of the problems and can speak to solutions that do not involve them.  Teacher of the Year and teen mom, newly-elected Jahana Hayes, said this about the anger she's witnessing in Congress: Adults deal with anger differently -- that's the most valuable lesson I learned from working with teenagers.  I would never allow my students to treat each other the way that I've seen some of our elected officials behave.  I would never allow kids to say some of the things that are being said on social media.  They would be disciplined.  And finally newly-elected Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who voice her view on the changing of the guard as younger (she's 29) people enter Congress: One of the things that I bring to the table is a visceral understanding that people under 40 have been shaped by an entirely different set of events.  We've literally grown up in different Americas.  They were shaped by a Cold War America, a post-World War II America; and we are an Iraq War America, a 9/11 America, a hyper-capitalism-has-never-worked-for-us, Great Recession America.  People are used to talking about millennials as if we're teenagers.  We're in our thirties now.  We're raising kids and getting married and having families, and we have mortgages and student-loan debt...It's (Congress) a problem of representation.  We don't have enough intergenerational representation.  We largely have one generation.  That's not to say that one generation should be out of power, it's that others should be here as well.

   Davos founder and Executive Chair of the World Economic Summit, Klaus Schwab (now 80) was asked of his impressions of this changing world in a TIME interview: We are faced with tremendous change, but change has to be shaped -- and it can be shaped by human beings, by policymakers, by the people.  I would call the phase we are in innovative destruction, or perhaps destructive innovation.  When you focus on the destructive part, it can make you pessimistic.  What we try to do is see the innovative part...a capability to cope with change.  Those who feel overwhelmed by the changes which are happening can look for simple solutions to very complex issues.  And so-called populists tend to say, Look, we have the solution -- which is to retreat to a good old world, which, in reality, doesn't exist anymore.  Author James Meek expressed a similar sentiment in the London Review of Books some months ago, implying that many of those wanting Brexit longed for a past that no longer existed, a Britain long-gone and likely never to return.     

   Long ago there was an episode of Twilight Zone where a neighborhood saw strange things happen, lights going on and off in their homes and cars starting unexpectedly.  Then came a child's rumor of an alien among them, one which looked like them and was out to change their world.  Then the paranoia began and suspicions began to mount.  Neighbor began turning against neighbor and before long, a person was accidentally shot...or was he?  Was the shooter actually the alien trying to not be exposed, the others wondered as they soon turned against him.  (spoiler alert)  Pan back and as things get out of hand, an alien observer says upon leaving: "[humans] pick the most dangerous enemy they can find and it's themselves.  All we need do is sit back -- and watch."  The original version of The Day the Earth Stood Still expressed much the same sentiment, the alien visitor telling Earth that it could fight all it wanted to and do whatever harm it wanted to on Earth; but the moment they brought it further into space then they would be destroyed; "Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We will be waiting for your answer."   

    It was Mark Twain who was quoted as saying: Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.  Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.  And so enter Charles Huang, host of DIY Destinations where the show's goals are: To create a free crowd funded travel series; Take fear out of traveling; Make travel accessible; Inspire our audience to go far and explore the magnificent planet; To creating connections with new people and culture; To develop and support new talents through paid internship opportunities .  His quirky, sometimes rough videos are student and budget oriented; but his travel series is a refreshing break from the mass-produced and slickly-promoted travel shows.  Here is an almost raw look with fresh eyes at the locals of an area, the grittiness of a city and sometimes even the candid reaction of a boring town square at night.  But mainly you hear each show begin with his mantra: We are fortunate to live in a small world with so much beauty, so many cultures, and so much diversity.  The world waits for no one and it is up to each of us to discover its magnificent destinations.  

   The tragedy of the shootings in New Zealand reveals that there is an anger brewing inside a small portion of our society and unfortunately within that minority is a group that believes power and force and violence are ways to prevent change; some do it with rifles and guns, others are engaged with nuclear weapons.  Charles Huang is another option, a young and energetic majority seeking to follow the advice of Mark Twain and to go out and to actually meet people...everywhere.  As he is so fond of saying, "If I can do it, you can do it!  When 80-year old Klaus Straub was asked about how we can prepare for the coming changes of the next revolution, he replied that it would: ...create a world where we have less need for labor, and where production can be robotized to a large extent.  So the question we need to answer is, What is the purpose of life?  Up until now we defined our purpose of life by production and by consumption.  Perhaps now, we move from that narrative to one of sharing and caring.  You can see the first signs already.  When I talk to young people, they don't dream of owning the big villa.  They depend much less on consumption.  It will be this generation that will force companies to follow suit.  

   The Beatles once sang: We all want to change the world...You say you got a real solution; We'd all love to see the plan.  You ask me for a contribution; We're all doing what we can.  But if you want money for people with minds that hate; All I can tell is brother you have to wait.  Change is good, change is inevitable, but change is something for each of us to decide individually.  Do we fight against it or do we embrace it?  Do we face that decision alone or do we force others into accepting what we believe?  And most importantly, do we seek to change ourselves?  Inwardly or outwardly?  Open or closed?  And peacefully or selfishly?