Growing Up

Growing Up: Maturation for a Nation and a Planet

by C. Jenny Walbridge

In my post-menopausal years, I am understanding what I see to be the psychological stages of humans.  We need to move into a more mature phase to globalize better—to meet our future head-on.  The popular American ideas that a) people must all be entrepreneurs b) all people must move to a city to live c) any people should not be paid a decent wage or d) people should not receive healthcare are immature and nonsensical.  Plus, people should stop being fearful of others or other groups getting more, benefiting—why not instead be happy about it?  And what happened to the values of honor and shame in the U. S?  Meanwhile, Chinese and Japanese have that capability of working together as one—“wa.”  Maybe we could use that here.  Also, folks should quit being fearful of change, myself included.  My website subtitle, foolsfortheydonottakethelongview…, is evidence of my silly self, who realizes that it makes me, in the long run, a fool too because I’m insulting people!  Sorry, other fools!  

There are some interesting issues with which the U. S. needs to deal now: can public officials lie? is one.  Then there is, what is our attitude towards international engagement?—is it supposed to help our country or theirs, or what?  For example, why not intercede with Afghanistan to enlarge their market for pine nuts, a nutritional powerhouse they can grow more of there, instead of poppies for drugmaking?  Or, take a look at Guatemala: its biggest asset in my opinion being the textiles its women were producing until gangs took over running things—but the world needs its high-quality, colorful handmade clothes!  Likewise, the woolen products of Ecuadorian and Peruvian people, and the cotton ones of the Mexicans, are world treasures that I want to be around!    

Now, defense money should be put to better use, while the USA maintains our ideals and acts, humbly but enthusiastically, like a decent neighbor with a good conscience and optimism for all other countries, which are drawn together, as never before—by climate change.  There is work/play we have to do to progress (see Matriotic/Patriotic sections–“The Ages of Humanity and Our Future”).  I have here some guidelines, projects I’ve thought up over the years to get us in the right frame of mind for the future, my own “united therapeutics:”  

For USA: 

Environmental concerns:

  1. If I were President, air pollution would be my first concern—how can air and water pollution exist in our advanced nation?  And yet they do, at this time—scandalous!
  2. Creative ways to mitigate the harmful effects of people on nature, our home. For example, plant trees and bushes that absorb pollutants!
  3. More non-car travel spaces to shift away from carbon-based travel options
  4. Etc.

Educational concerns:

  1. Education for police (required) and neighbors on being a good neighbor, including de-escalation and conflict resolution techniques, broadcast on internet and free TV, for everyone to see and take part in.
  2. Ministers of Movement to increase joy for workers by analyzing movements required for jobs and educating/ cooperating to make them healthier, to see on internet & free TV
  3. Seyed’s idea: government gives cars to all high school graduates so they can get jobs, or $10,000 vouchers.  The cars are American, built here and are specially designed by U. S.makers to be highly gas efficient; i. e. updated Mustangs or Jeeps; they will compete with Japanese cars.
  4. Childcare by parents and/or workers subsidized by workplace, leave for new babies as generous as Iran’s (one year, with ability to get job back after leave)
  5. Education free for all 
  6. Rehauling of prison system to decrease prisoner population, provide real rehabilitation

Health concerns:

  1. No wars—they are too expensive, especially when veterans get the care they need, which they should
  2. Cheap produce (fresh fruits and veggies) for the poor, to fight malnutrition and create security from within, along with more nutrition research by the National Institutes of Health, including on natural medicines like herbs, and vitamin and minerals
  3. More focus on regenerative farming to preserve soil vitamin and mineral content, with an eye to future citizens of the world
  4. Repurposing underutilized housing stock for homes for people, building little homes
  5. My 66 Following Directions paintings of my psychological problems and those common to humanity for viewing, and my journey in talk therapy shared through writing & speaking, to inspire others to engage in talk therapy; also, to push for art therapy as a bigger part of communications and education 

General concerns and procedures:

  1. Voting using ranking system so that folks’ votes count, even if their first choice doesn’t win
  2. Medicine Wheel Collection of American traveling songs for Native American reparation
  3. World (photographic, changing) flag created, my flag poems (see Patriotic, Verse sections of my website) shared, world flag on Moon in 2024, see below
  4. More towns named Libertyville
  5. Microloans and support for small capitalism (entrepreneurial efforts), like in Iran where one can make a living selling snacks by the road

For Earth: The USA will work with you if you will play, too!:

  1. Proposal for Teamwork: Team Worldwide (see Welcome! section of site)
  2. In addition to STEAM jobs (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math), CLIMB employment values: Comedy, Love, Imagination, Movement, Balance
  3. Salary of the same amount for all world citizens
  4. Sea Emocean World Ocean Year, including Library of HumanKind (see Sea Emocean section of website)
  5. Benign birth control for women and men (see “Conception” in Feminist section of my website)
  6. Photographic globes distributed all over world
  7. Use of foot and hand symbolism in art- and music-making international efforts to celebrate the Earth and humans, evolving us into the next psychological stage of humanity
  8. Mate-finding prioritized—mass training of matchmakers, all citizens getting access to the inspirational 
  9. Therapeutic aid prioritized: physical, talk, dance and art therapists; all kinds of healers; social workers—all trained & working en masse, reporting to governments on the problems on the society and planetary level that need to be solved for happiness of citizens
  10. An American Recovery Team—using an Ecological Muse—for an International Synthesis (ARTEMIS), American-led compilation of healing experience, including prevention 
  11. Value the work of the United Nations (but end veto power), protect endangered cultures
  12. Engage youth and adults in learning about Earth’s peoples; value the learning of languages 
  13. World language (starting with the funniest expressions of each culture)

The first woman will land on the moon in 2024, if the Artemis mission goes as planned—hopefully bearing an Earth flag with her, and reading aloud my “Poem to New Glory”!  A world flag, produced by the U. S. acting in concert with the U. N., to be maintained on Earth and the Moon, would offer the U. S. a chance to formally lead the world in acting less rudely on the planetary stage, and more justly, getting back to our roots and our decent values.  We could focus on the pursuit of collective happiness, not just individual growth, acting sustainably for the good of all!  

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united planet of Earth—the lands and the seas, zany and fun, indivisible, with freedom and justice for all!