Did you happen to watch any coverage of the 2011 Little League World Series?
I was fascinated with the event this year and I watched several games. My interest level was elevated higher than usual because I have an eight year old son who has really become passionate about baseball and I coached his little league team. I also played baseball at the collegiate level and was fortunate to play in the College World Series many…many years ago. But I lost interest in the game until recently.
I was so impressed with the level of play these pre-teen kids put on display. I was particularly impressed with the Japanese team. These kids pound for pound were by far the smallest team, but man could they play. I couldn’t believe how disciplined, knowledgeable, and passionate they were about the game. Japan had one superstar, but he was a humble leader amongst a group of kids that played like a team with a purpose. These kids confirmed two thoughts I have developed in recent years.
First, children can learn and progress so much faster than we can imagine. If we provide the right environment the sky is the limit. I am by no means an expert to define what the “right” environment would look like, but I am certain that such an environment would be different from the one we have created for them today. Well, back to baseball. 
The Japanese coach was very controversial in Japan because his style was very different from past coaches. He instilled all the discipline and hard work expected from a Japanese coach, but he brought something new – a smile. And that smile was contagious and spread like fire throughout the entire team. These kids played amazing baseball and they smiled and had fun. They didn’t win the final game but they held nothing back and had no reason to be ashamed.
Second, these kids played as a team with passion and purpose for free. What? Yes, these little men put all their energy into a purpose with passion and not one of them made a single buck. I am sorry, but now I have to get a little philosophical. If little men can reach such a peak performance without earning a buck, why then can’t man in general achieve the same goal? Why can’t we define great visions and purposes that inspire passion and teamwork without sticks and carrots? 
These little men didn’t need money to work together to achieve something remarkable. These little men simply used their energy to make it happen. We can have a better world if we really want it. All it would require is our energy and great visions. We don’t need money, loans, and financial institutions. All we need is our brains, energy, and visions.
Contemplating The Human Direction 
That was wonderful to read , you ask why mankind cannot approach the world in the same manner as these smiling happy little men ? The answer sad but true is …………… the grow up they get older and they change! I wish , like you it could change. willowxx
Thanks for dropping in:) I could be wrong, but I think the transition from youth to early adulthood or the “real world” is where they are in fact forced to change. And this is my point which I will address in due time. In fact, the conditioning for that transition is already in place starting with early education. Our education system is created to prepare them for that transition or “real world” rather than creating an educational environment that develops our children to be something more. I have categorized this under “Money”…and if you have time…might want to give “The Human World without Money, Debt, and Financial Institutions” a read. It is a bit long so I don’t blame you for not reading it:) .
Relating to this post and “The Human World Without Money, Debt, and Financial Institutions”–I’d be interested to hear your take on the Wall Street protests In New York that are now spreading to cities all over the U.S. and even abroad in Europe.
I will take a looksie…but I fear they may not know what they want…they just know things are fucked up.
What’s important is that it is initiating a dialogue, in the end a “movement” within an otherwise immobile situation. In any case, they know what they don’t want–and that is a starting point. When there is a complete stalemate, then sometimes the whole thing has to be taken off the board. I think that point has been reached. No doubt there are clowns and thugs among them–but so are there in the established institutions. Bottom line: something has got to give. A threshold has been reached and crossed. This thing is going to gain momentum and likely explode. It will interesting to watch it all unfold. In my city the supportive protest is Thursday. It is a liberal city, so I expect big numbers to turn out and likely there will be conflicts with the police. Such conflicts actually foment the unrest. I predict this movement will grow in strength this Autumn, quiet down in the Winter, and then reappear with more vigor and numbers next Spring and Summer. We will see some ugly shit go down, similar to what happened in Greece and London. The Police will kill some protesters at some point, and the shit will hit the fan. A new political party will likely rise out of the ashes and redefine the political landscape. All of this of course is happening just before the next big election. I wouldn’t even rule out a full scale revolution at this point. The way the ruling elite are so out of touch with the reality of the common people is reminiscent of the French Revolution. Observe the way the movement is being mocked by the wealthy elite and their media mouthpieces (O’Reilly’s recent piece that is on You Tube for example)–it’s a lot like “let them eat cake”. That shit can end up biting you in the ass and before you know it your head is rolling down the street and your genitals are being carried around for public display on the end of a pike.
I came to the same conclusion while responding to a freshly pressed artcile that you directed me to which displayed pictures of the movement in New York. They may not know what they want…but they certainly don’t want this:)
If the economy continues to stall and even fall into a downward spiral…indeed we will see this movement blossom. I dropped in on the sister protest here in my relatively liberal city and plan to drop by this weekend to look into in more detail and talk to some folks involved.
Thanks for dropping in Dragon…I always enjoy your well thought out comments.
I started out thinking, I know nothing about Little League, therefore I shall not understand this one, and the pointers…so I continued reading, (as you do ) and as I read, I realised where the road was leading. and I cheered, for the ones who are amateurs, for the ones compete for the joy of the game…not keeping their eye on the financial prize, just joy at taking part and mayhap winning, gotta win ;cos it human nature…but what’s more important is the energy and involvement, the taking part… Life’s lesson… xPenx
‘n told ya I was a bad typist. ‘cos it’s ….. a case in point.. please forgive.. xx
Exactly…and the point is…we could all be amateurs and achieve more than what we are under-achieveing today…this post is connected to my first long post “The Human World without Money, Debt, and Financial Institutions”. Thanks for dropping in Poet.
Not necessarily a big fan of MM, yet here he really seems to hit the bull’s-eye.
I agree…I don’t really like the guy…he has made millions by just taking a position…but he is dead on in this case.