What a great take on the stark difference between manipulated humanity and the actual world of a group of boys who apparently did not grow up under the total influence of propaganda! Kind of like the ancient war between good versus evil.
Thank you, you are so welcome. Isn't it remarkable what can be achieved, forming friendships that have lasted a lifetime. I am so glad you enjoyed it, the idea being to strengthen our faith in humanity and remind ourselves of the lovely people we truly are.
I was amazed that I had never heard of this before! I read the Flies story in class as did my daughter (hubby doesn’t remember). I also tried to click on the link to buy the more hopeful book, from your shop, but it didn’t work. I will try again later.📚
I know, isn't it fabulous! I was completely inspired and wanted to share with everyone. Thank you for letting me know about the link and for buying from my shop. I will edit the post and here it is for you: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10310/9781408898956
I wish I could agree that humans would behave admirably in conditions of extreme hardship, but I don't have that view. It has nothing to do with the writings of a book of fiction. It has much to do with my experience of living 66 years on this Earth.
Under a socio-economic system that encourages competition, exploitation and domination, leading to wars, destruction of habitats and famines, it is hard to see humans as other than what we are--Dangerous Animals.
Yes, we learned to become this way. It is not our natural selves. But we humans have been living this way, in.our unnatural state, for almost 200 years. Far removed from Nature, and despite the early promises of technology, distant from each other. And tech will encourage a greater distancing.
This is not everyone, but there is a general trend that is making all of this normal. The few that have an awareness of this distancing from Nature and each other and the resulting loss of Humanity have no real power to change the trajectory.
If I sound hopeless, I am not. I think it will be Nature that will make a course correction, and not Humans.
I think the original values of the Tongan islander community also had a lot to do with the set point the boys could rely on as a foundation for teamwork and community-minded Natural Law…this is how many of us are now raising our children even here in America with gentle and attachment parenting, consensus and egalitarian talking circles, fun schooling and Natural Law principles …to unravel the systems based on exploitation, we can begin with raising new generations of children with ancient communal values of cooperation on a local level and grow from there
Thank you for sharing this, Marcelle, it is music to my ears. It turns out to be a great example we can follow as well as the children. I love 'gentle attachment parenting, consensus and egalitarian talking circles, fun schooling and Natural Law principles.' This is so beautiful and blends with work I am doing behind the scenes to convert my late Dad's work on 'motivational cultural values' into a model for young people. I absolutely agree that we must build our new way from the ground up as 'beings' in Nature and as an integral part of Mother Earth. Exciting times!
I so agree, we are all learning and awakening to the power within us one way or another. The more of us who choose to do our own thing with love, kindness and a sense of responsiblity, the more the pendulum swings back into balance.
Sue! You've written the essay I had intended to write, and done it BEAUTIFULLY. I watched the Tongan castaway video when it aired on YouTube three years ago and was floored by it -- in fact, I believe it was part of my awakening to a world of lies.
Thanks for bringing awareness to just one of the many examples of propaganda in the arts,(and for graciously, unknowingly crossing off part of my To Do list)! 😂
Thank you so much, Mary, this means the world to me. Like you, I was so moved by the Tongan Castaway story and saw it as a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how the most beautiful and truthful writings and discoveries have been shunned, hidden or diminished in some way. This story should have made front page news and taught in schools instead of the fantasy fear-mongering version! Blessings to those boys for showing the world what can be done and for still being friends after all this time. My heart!
Worth the read! I believe it! I think of Lifetime movies I watched back in the day. I didn’t fall for the intent to divide men and women. I was happily married, raising my children and had a career.My husband and I just naturally worked together as a team as did each of our parents. Modeling for children is a very powerful tool.
Thank you for sharing and delighted you enjoyed the real story. You are absolutey right, parents do know best and we learn so much more by working as a team which is so rewarding and fulfilling for everyone involved. I love what these boys did together in that frightening situation, away from home for so long with only their wits to sustain them. It shows what can be done and fills my heart with joy that they are still such firm friends today.
Thank you so much for this! I have always thought Lord of the Flies was a propaganda piece, possibly not intentionally, but it promotes a view of human nature that supports and justifies the systems we live in, confirms that competition and isolation from each other are natural, and causes despair if not self-loathing that we are such a horrible species. I am so delighted to hear about the 6 Tongan boys whose experience validates my own view of what human nature really is and how resourceful people are when confronted with dire circumstances. They created a beautiful, supportive, life-honoring culture all by themselves! I just love it.
It reminds me of what happened in Argentina in 2001 or 2002, when the IMF required "structural adjustment" which included closing the banks so no one could get their money, and people took to the streets. At first they protested, and drove 2 or 3 new governments out, but then they started to organize themselves to provide the govt services that were not being provided anymore--schools, health clinics, trash pickup, even restarting abandoned factories to produce goods. It didn't last, but was an example, like the Tongan boys, of how people turn to each other, not away from each other, when tough times come. That's what we really are, not the utterly selfish, mean, greedy, cruel beings that Lord of the Flies depicts and the news seems to show.
It is my absolute pleasure, Betsy, thank you too. I was delighted to learn about such a story in Rutger's book, Humankind, which has many other examples of human kindness which I have written about in another post. It was the pact they made to each other in the boat, and the system they put in place to address arguments (which they knew were bound to occur), coming together every night to remember their loved ones and sing, and to make sure their life-force, the fire, was never allowed to go out. They took the responsibility to work as a team, sharing tasks with no top-down leadership. I love your Argentina story which is quite fabulous. I actually believe this is what we are gradually coming together to do now. Building our own caring communities from the ground up and co-creating the world we want to see in harmony with Nature and our fellow humans across this beautiful planet Earth. The pendulum is swinging back into balance and these lovely stories can help us realise what we can achieve together.
My joy, Marcelle. To know you are teaching these precepts and supporting children to be able to follow their own truth and the love in their hearts is just so wonderful, I have no words. God bless and thank you too.
There is a genetic anomaly. Survival gene or more that plays a role to fight. Been there to protect the tribe . Incidents like the the Donner Pass and Andean plane crash where cannibalism raises heads brings to the surface this anomaly. A strong leader chosen by a few with self interest does not make good choices for the group. Rare it appears for a leader(s) to see might does not make right. There probably is much more to debate.
I think the lack of top-down leadership is exactly why it worked. The boys very intelligently applied Natural Law (or equity) to their situation perhaps without realising it. It started by making a pact to each other in the boat when they realised how far they had drifted. They made an oath to not argue and to look after each other. They agreed that if there was an argument, the boys involved would be sent to opposite ends of the island to cool off and think about what had happened. Then they would come back to the group and make friends so that everyone was happy again and motivated. They worked out who was good at what and shared all the tasks with every main task always being carried out by more than one boy in case anything went wrong. The second pact was to never let the fire go out no matter what - a group responsibility that worked from day one - something we can all learn from, especially today.
What a great take on the stark difference between manipulated humanity and the actual world of a group of boys who apparently did not grow up under the total influence of propaganda! Kind of like the ancient war between good versus evil.
God bless you.🙏
Thank you, you are so welcome. Isn't it remarkable what can be achieved, forming friendships that have lasted a lifetime. I am so glad you enjoyed it, the idea being to strengthen our faith in humanity and remind ourselves of the lovely people we truly are.
I was amazed that I had never heard of this before! I read the Flies story in class as did my daughter (hubby doesn’t remember). I also tried to click on the link to buy the more hopeful book, from your shop, but it didn’t work. I will try again later.📚
I know, isn't it fabulous! I was completely inspired and wanted to share with everyone. Thank you for letting me know about the link and for buying from my shop. I will edit the post and here it is for you: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10310/9781408898956
Sue,
I wish I could agree that humans would behave admirably in conditions of extreme hardship, but I don't have that view. It has nothing to do with the writings of a book of fiction. It has much to do with my experience of living 66 years on this Earth.
Under a socio-economic system that encourages competition, exploitation and domination, leading to wars, destruction of habitats and famines, it is hard to see humans as other than what we are--Dangerous Animals.
Yes, we learned to become this way. It is not our natural selves. But we humans have been living this way, in.our unnatural state, for almost 200 years. Far removed from Nature, and despite the early promises of technology, distant from each other. And tech will encourage a greater distancing.
This is not everyone, but there is a general trend that is making all of this normal. The few that have an awareness of this distancing from Nature and each other and the resulting loss of Humanity have no real power to change the trajectory.
If I sound hopeless, I am not. I think it will be Nature that will make a course correction, and not Humans.
I think the original values of the Tongan islander community also had a lot to do with the set point the boys could rely on as a foundation for teamwork and community-minded Natural Law…this is how many of us are now raising our children even here in America with gentle and attachment parenting, consensus and egalitarian talking circles, fun schooling and Natural Law principles …to unravel the systems based on exploitation, we can begin with raising new generations of children with ancient communal values of cooperation on a local level and grow from there
Thank you for sharing this, Marcelle, it is music to my ears. It turns out to be a great example we can follow as well as the children. I love 'gentle attachment parenting, consensus and egalitarian talking circles, fun schooling and Natural Law principles.' This is so beautiful and blends with work I am doing behind the scenes to convert my late Dad's work on 'motivational cultural values' into a model for young people. I absolutely agree that we must build our new way from the ground up as 'beings' in Nature and as an integral part of Mother Earth. Exciting times!
It's a good start. What was learned by Humans can be unlearned with new thinking, one that places Humans as one part of Nature and not central to it.
I so agree, we are all learning and awakening to the power within us one way or another. The more of us who choose to do our own thing with love, kindness and a sense of responsiblity, the more the pendulum swings back into balance.
Sue! You've written the essay I had intended to write, and done it BEAUTIFULLY. I watched the Tongan castaway video when it aired on YouTube three years ago and was floored by it -- in fact, I believe it was part of my awakening to a world of lies.
Thanks for bringing awareness to just one of the many examples of propaganda in the arts,(and for graciously, unknowingly crossing off part of my To Do list)! 😂
Thank you so much, Mary, this means the world to me. Like you, I was so moved by the Tongan Castaway story and saw it as a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how the most beautiful and truthful writings and discoveries have been shunned, hidden or diminished in some way. This story should have made front page news and taught in schools instead of the fantasy fear-mongering version! Blessings to those boys for showing the world what can be done and for still being friends after all this time. My heart!
Couldn't agree more. Especially "My heart!" 🥰
Worth the read! I believe it! I think of Lifetime movies I watched back in the day. I didn’t fall for the intent to divide men and women. I was happily married, raising my children and had a career.My husband and I just naturally worked together as a team as did each of our parents. Modeling for children is a very powerful tool.
Thank you for sharing and delighted you enjoyed the real story. You are absolutey right, parents do know best and we learn so much more by working as a team which is so rewarding and fulfilling for everyone involved. I love what these boys did together in that frightening situation, away from home for so long with only their wits to sustain them. It shows what can be done and fills my heart with joy that they are still such firm friends today.
Thank you so much for this! I have always thought Lord of the Flies was a propaganda piece, possibly not intentionally, but it promotes a view of human nature that supports and justifies the systems we live in, confirms that competition and isolation from each other are natural, and causes despair if not self-loathing that we are such a horrible species. I am so delighted to hear about the 6 Tongan boys whose experience validates my own view of what human nature really is and how resourceful people are when confronted with dire circumstances. They created a beautiful, supportive, life-honoring culture all by themselves! I just love it.
It reminds me of what happened in Argentina in 2001 or 2002, when the IMF required "structural adjustment" which included closing the banks so no one could get their money, and people took to the streets. At first they protested, and drove 2 or 3 new governments out, but then they started to organize themselves to provide the govt services that were not being provided anymore--schools, health clinics, trash pickup, even restarting abandoned factories to produce goods. It didn't last, but was an example, like the Tongan boys, of how people turn to each other, not away from each other, when tough times come. That's what we really are, not the utterly selfish, mean, greedy, cruel beings that Lord of the Flies depicts and the news seems to show.
It is my absolute pleasure, Betsy, thank you too. I was delighted to learn about such a story in Rutger's book, Humankind, which has many other examples of human kindness which I have written about in another post. It was the pact they made to each other in the boat, and the system they put in place to address arguments (which they knew were bound to occur), coming together every night to remember their loved ones and sing, and to make sure their life-force, the fire, was never allowed to go out. They took the responsibility to work as a team, sharing tasks with no top-down leadership. I love your Argentina story which is quite fabulous. I actually believe this is what we are gradually coming together to do now. Building our own caring communities from the ground up and co-creating the world we want to see in harmony with Nature and our fellow humans across this beautiful planet Earth. The pendulum is swinging back into balance and these lovely stories can help us realise what we can achieve together.
It is so!
Thank you so much for providing evidence for what I have been saying for many years…if led by our hearts, the Love is always bigger than the ego
My joy, Marcelle. To know you are teaching these precepts and supporting children to be able to follow their own truth and the love in their hearts is just so wonderful, I have no words. God bless and thank you too.
There is a genetic anomaly. Survival gene or more that plays a role to fight. Been there to protect the tribe . Incidents like the the Donner Pass and Andean plane crash where cannibalism raises heads brings to the surface this anomaly. A strong leader chosen by a few with self interest does not make good choices for the group. Rare it appears for a leader(s) to see might does not make right. There probably is much more to debate.
I think the lack of top-down leadership is exactly why it worked. The boys very intelligently applied Natural Law (or equity) to their situation perhaps without realising it. It started by making a pact to each other in the boat when they realised how far they had drifted. They made an oath to not argue and to look after each other. They agreed that if there was an argument, the boys involved would be sent to opposite ends of the island to cool off and think about what had happened. Then they would come back to the group and make friends so that everyone was happy again and motivated. They worked out who was good at what and shared all the tasks with every main task always being carried out by more than one boy in case anything went wrong. The second pact was to never let the fire go out no matter what - a group responsibility that worked from day one - something we can all learn from, especially today.