SBC # 542 A Sense of History: Looking for America Does it Matter? An ‘Open Mic’ West County–Wide Conversation W/AUDIO HOMEWORK – Simon & Garfunkel

Dear Friends of Science Buzz Cafe,
April 12, 2025
Greetings!

Our presenter, Charles Ostman, PhD is UNAVAILABLE for this Monday’s SBC event (4/14/25) at HopMonk ‘Abbey’. The show will still go on as an ‘Open-Mic’ COMMUNITY-WIDE Conversation, a History Buzz Cafe, the founding of America and what does it mean now? What is the federalist principle and how can it help frame the current political and economic situation to enhance our understanding in an open and civilized dialogue. Come share your view – your thoughts and feelings. There will be a short ‘Prelude to the founding of America’ presentation to get us going. Oh, and there are audio homework assignments below (links) for those who wish to explore.

And by the way, SBC # 543 is in two weeks at HopMonk ‘Abbey’ Monday night April 28th and will feature Karen Frindell Teuscher, PhD, chemistry professor at SRJC. She will talk about the mysteries of color and the chemistry behind perception and the various ways color appear and arise. Better colors through knowledge of chemistry!

The Swiss experience of self governance and confederacy had a considerable influence on the personalities that founded America and were part of the debate on the form and adoption of the U. S. Constitution. Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry were in favor of the Swiss Confederacy that was decentralized, varied and with every citizen having the right to bare arms and without a standing militia. Hamilton and Adams were critical of the Swiss constitution for being too weak lacking of a strong central government or a standing army.

Below please find a few paragraphs about the significance of developing a ’sense of history’ and the sister republics. Also, there is some audio homework for Monday night’s ‘Looking for America’ west county wide conversation. And lastly, there is the two page flyer for SBC # 542 this Monday night 6 PM at the HopMonk ‘Abbey’ stage.

Hope to see you there, adding your three cents (inflation ya know).

Daniel Osmer, ?Host SBC

“No other country on earth represents the whole of humanity the way America does.” 1

“Developing in the West of Europe is that which tends toward the emancipation of the personality, that which seeks to overcome nationality and attain to the universally-human.” 2

“The population is not united by common blood. Through it flows the blood of many nations and races. It must recognize its talents, possibilities, and its mission within the whole of humanity.” 3

The Federalist Principle
Sister Federal Republics: America (1776) & Switzerland (1291)

“True federalism consists neither only in the union of the cantons (or states), nor only in their complete autonomy. It consists in the continuously adjusted balance between the autonomy of the regions and their union. It consists in the perpetual combination of these two opposing yet mutually reinforcing forces. This is perfectly expressed in the motto of Switzerland, a motto both paradoxical and dialectical: “One for all and all for one.” 1947 Address by Swiss American Denis de Rougemont

Excerpt from the 1947 formal address by Swiss American
Denis de Rougemont describing the ‘Federalist Attitude’
as understood during the American Revolution.

“We are here because we know that the human being is doubly responsible: on the one hand as concerns his own unique vocation, and on the other hand as concerns the community in which their vocation is carried out. To individualists, we remind them that they cannot realize themselves to the full without being engaged at the same time in the social complex. And to collectivists, we remind them that social gains are nothing if they fail to make each individual freer in the exercise of their vocation. The individual is therefore both free and responsible, both autonomous and united. We live in the tension between these two poles, the particular and the general, between two indissoluble loves: the one owed to oneself and to the one owed to fellow human beings. The individual that lives in this tension, in creative debate, in permanent dialogue, is the Person.”

“It is with the dust of civically irresponsible
individuals that dictators make their cement.”

1) A pure individual, free but not responsible, corresponds to a democracy that tends towards anarchy, leading into disorder that always paves the way for tyranny.

2) The pure political soldier, fully committed but not free, corresponds to totalitarianism.

3) The pure Person, both free and responsible,
and living in the tension between autonomy and solidarity, corresponds to federalism.

“We will see federalists who seek to create and strengthen a union, and federalists concerned primarily to safeguard the rights of each nation against the encroachments of central government. And we will constantly have to remind both parties that true federalism is found in neither of these tendencies as such, but in their mutually agreed coexistence, in their dialogue, their fruitful tension.”

“In my view, the intimate dynamic of federalist thought is best compared to a rhythm, breathing, a perpetual alternation between diastole and systole.”

1 Jacob Needleman, “The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders” June 2, 2002, San Francisco, CA. USA.
2 Rudolf Steiner, “From Symptom to Reality in Modern History”, 1918 October 3 – 18 Dornach, Switzerland.
3 Carl Stegmann, “The Other America” 1997 Fair Oaks, CA. USA.

BRINGING SCIENCE, ECONOMICS & BEAUTY BACK INTO CULTURE …
(707) 292-5281
daniel@economicbuzzcafe.com • www.sciencebuzzcafe.org
Discover the Citizen Within and Widen Your Horizon!

A Special Message – A Sense of History

A Sense of History
America and Switzerland have a history of striving for and developing a federation, confederation, or republic that aims for self-governance and equal justice in the form of mutual agreements. In each case, success was dependent upon the ability to be victorious on the battlefield, which in turn, was dependent upon success in the fields of finance and diplomacy. America and Switzerland can be seen as the twins of federalism, the federalist attitude as described by Swiss-American Denis de Rougemont. While America tends toward the centralized side of federalism, Switzerland is known for its local, more decentralized approach. Yet, both America and Switzerland are considered a type of federal constitutional republic.

Sister Republics: America (1776) & Switzerland (1291)
The teaching of history, including the stories of ancient civilizations and diverse cultures, in the right way, awakens new faculties and perceptions that can act as a ‘humanizing force’ in life – engendering a love of the earth and of humanity generally. Between nature and the geology of the living earth on the one side and a developing human history and culture on the other side lies the breadth and depth of human activity and economic life that need to be understood and consciously organized. How is a stable, equitable, and self-governing republic to be created and where does one start? Can a large and expanding nation be a genuine republic or smaller entities confederate into something larger? Is there a way for a nation to hold the power of a large state yet maintain flexibility without infringing upon individual liberties?
These were the questions that the “Revolutionary Generation” that created and founded America asked themselves as they looked for guidance and inspiration from the greatest thinkers of the past – from indigenous cultures and ‘enlightenment thinkers’ to ancient civilizations. The revolutionary generation of that time was not limited to the ‘founding fathers and mothers” of America, but extended to include very adept individuals from all over Europe that were dedicated to the “Idea” of America. These idealists, financiers, and soldiers all contributed to the funding effort and fought in battle for it. The idea of America attracted the rest of the world to its cause.
D. O.

SBC # 542 America the Beautiful
AUDIO HOMEWORK –
Click on the Links Below!

1) America, where are you now? – 1969
John Kay, Steppenwolf
Don’t you care about your sons and daughters?

2) America – 1968
Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel
They’ve all come to look for America!

3) This Land Is Your Land – 1940
Woody Guthrie
This land is made for you and me.

4) America the Beautiful – 1893
Katharine Lee Bates (Singer, Ray Charles)
Crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea