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Crisis
or
Transformation ?
1. The "crisis"
view:
Filling
a bottomless keg
The
Internet is brimming with know-it-alls attempting to explain the
financial crisis in words, cartoon and sometimes song. And most of the
explanations are more tangled than the mess itself. So when a friend
sent us this animated video, the thesis project of Art Center student
Jonathan Jarvis, we were impressed by its simple, concise audio/video
explanation. Yes, an art student does a better job of explicating the
financial crisis than most of the mainstream news and financial press
coverage we've seen. Maybe Paul Krugman should take up painting?
Watch
this cute video: The
Crisis of Credit Visualized
2. The Transformation view:
caterpillar
chrysalis
butterfly
When
a caterpillar
nears its transformation time, it begins to eat
ravenously, consuming everything in sight. (It is interesting to note
that individuals are often called “consumers” and one of the largest
manufacturers of heavy construction machinery is called “Caterpillar,
Inc.”). The caterpillar body then becomes heavy, outgrowing its own
skin 3,000 times, until it is too bloated to move. Attaching to a
branch
(upside down, we might add, where everything is turned on its
head)
it forms a chrysalis—an
enclosing shell that limits the
caterpillar’s
freedom for the duration of the transformation. Within
the chrysalis a
miracle occurs. Tiny cells, called “imaginal cells,”
begin to appear.
These cells are wholly different from caterpillar
cells, carrying different
information, vibrating to a different
frequency–the frequency of the
emerging butterfy. At first, the
caterpillar’s immune system perceives
these new cells as enemies, and
attacks them, much as new ideas are
called radical, and viciously
denounced by the powers now holding
center stage. But the imaginal
cells are not deterred. They continue to
appear, increasing in numbers
until the new cells are numerous
enough to organize into clumps. When
enough cells have formed to
make structures along the new
organizational lines, the caterpillar’s
immune system is overwhelmed.
The cells of the original body then
become a nutritious soup for the
growth of the butterfy.
When the
butterfy is ready to hatch, the
chrysalis becomes transparent (much as
the Internet is making many
hidden actions transparent). The need for
restriction has been
outgrown, yet the struggle toward freedom is part
of the process. Were
the chrysalis opened too soon, the butterfy
would die. As the butterfy
emerges, it fills its wings with liquid, (a
“right wing” and a “left
wing,” we might note), and then flies away to
dance among the
flowers...
The cultural transformation from love of power to the power of
Love is the drama of our time.
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