A New Intellectualism Will Illuminate The World

This poem below is dedicated to all those who aspire to live integrity, critical enquiry, environmental sustainability, to mitigate social harm and discord. This is sent to those who ‘walk the talk’ and choose to make a real difference to the world. I am one of those people and perhaps you are too.

This poem was inspired and it is my call to all alumni, students and the broader community to think and critically enquire into the state of the world and how ethical each of us truly are. I encourage people to speak their truth and never give up on it. For truth is ‘to know yourself and be true’. That is what I have learned.

I dedicate this to La Trobe University where in 2002 I spent the happiest year of my life and in particular to Dr. Tom Weber who was a real example for me of intellectualism and compassion. He was a teacher truly dedicated to his subject and well informed. He was the convenor of the Peace Studies Program. A refreshing divergence from politics. He showed me the wisdom of Gandhi and instilled within me a dedication to nonviolence that is unshakable. Through Gandhi I learned to speak the truth with love, no matter the suffering I have gone through, to remember to just keep asserting truth to assist others to question themselves and importantly, to question myself. It was there that I learned mediation and the importance of resolving conflict, that we are all equal and that all problems can be solved when both parties are willing. I learned that conflict was misunderstanding and that people grow in empowerment and understanding when they face problems with courage and openness. Our world barely knows of this type of peace making, but I can assure you it is one of the paths to peace for those who truly wish to experience a better world.

ALUMNI MUST ILLUMINATE THE WORLD

I am a student of peace,
For peace I must study,
Alumni must illuminate a real future for students,
To ruminate truth from falsehood,
Authenticity from pretence,
Ethics from unremarkable mission statements,
To stand for principles over profit,
As the new curricula of a new age,
Where freedom of speech is not tokenism,
But enshrined in a Bill of Rights,
To Advance Australia Fair.

Students demand to be educated as intellectuals
rather than academics,
To study in balanced conditions rather than exhaustion,
To enter dialogue, discourse, debate to challenge unquestioned ideas,
To expand infinite possibilities and challenge with courage,
To be worthy of a place in world forums,
Representing with honour world class universities,
That are a class above the status quo
of business-as-usual.

Universities are places of great antiquity,
That advance inquiry into human ethics, philosophy and higher knowledge,
In service of expanding our civilization’s true interests,
Without corporate interference,
Within democratic discourse,
Paid for by the people for the people,
Outside the users pay of elitism.
That is self serving and narrow,
Closing off avenues to real learning,
For the leaders of tomorrow,
Must know how to lead in-principle.

Our civilization is dying,
Our values are sliding,
For the higher moral ground is usurped,
By governance without conscience or ethics,
By corporate interests funding research for profit,
By power parading as privilege,
When the real authority is to ‘Know thyself and to thine own self be true’,
For this is the Louvre indeed the master-peace,
Upon which the greatest leaders weave the social fabric,
Providing a higher platform from which all can speak,
An Agora of equality where all are heard with respect,
Rather than the chosen few,
With gelled hair and sharp business suits,
Career politicians being seen to be,
The new managerialism keeps the classes apart,
As executives are paid more than teachers,
As teachers must provide value for money,
And students are indebted for life,
For the only prize that matters is future students,
As furthering education, learning and intellectualism are the lies,
Peddled as marketing to position the world’s top universities,
As revenue streams are the only schools,
For fools who do not question,
Why the titanic is sinking.

The new intellectualism is illumination,
Managerialism is discarded for principled leadership,
Life becomes the modus operandi of real study,
Integrating higher ideas, ideals with experience,
An enlightenment that no longer suffers fools,
As denial is swept aside in the face of truthful inquiries,
That seek harmony as the goal rather than profit motives,
A harmonic convergence of world communities are the new motifs,
That will lead nation states into a re-new-able epoch,
Where sustainability is not a buzz word but put into action,
Food outlets sell healthy organic food,
No waste materials are permitted,
All lighting is solar or wind generated,
All decisions are participatory and inclusive,
As this is the real foundation stone of our common future,
A lantern that lights the new path,
For self reflection is the wisdom that in-forms,
For we must think differently as never before,
As economic and ecological collapse is imminent,
And this is the pink elephant in the room,
That business-as-usual denies,
For the real climate is changing,
And it is time to act
now.