The “New Age” in Old Age!

My good friend, Lloyd Agte, has been trying to encourage me to write an article about how we “old geezers” who experienced the birth of the New Age are viewing those experiences today.  In our correspondence I have been sharing how what I am reading in Ernest Callenbach’s book, Ecotopia, corresponds to many of the principles that were the basis of the Whole Life Learning Center, (WLLC) the non-profit wholistic education and counseling center I founded in 1973 in Denver, Colorado.

Mr. Callenbach recently passed on, perhaps to Ecotopia in the great beyond!  Just before he passed he left on his computer a last article on an America in decline.  I posted a link to the article on my Facebook page at the time.[1]  It seemed like every news feed of any importance at all was also posting that article.  It definitely was getting the attention of so many of us who are profoundly frustrated with the direction the policies and functions (or lack thereof) of government are headed.  As I am reading the book I am re-identifying with the principles and functions those of us involved with WLLC shared.  Ecotopia was about the hypothetical secession of Washington, Oregon and Northern California from the rest of the United States and forming a “stable state” society.  The United States was becoming more and more polluted and more focused toward profits than concern for what was happening to Mother Earth.

Of course, any utopian society would probably not work.  Interestingly, that is precisely how the story unfolds in the book.  A reporter from the states visits Ecotopia presumably to write an expose’ of how it wasn’t working, only to discover day by day how it actually WAS working!  (Personal note:  I think each of us at one time or another has thought about what a utopian society would be like, and maybe even wished we could be part of developing such a society.) 

One of the activities many of us in the New Age Movement seriously considered at the time was the development of wholistic communities.  Some looked for land in the Colorado Mountains.  One group, from the Denver Free University, with which I was also involved, charted out an area just east of downtown Denver and began to plan buying up a number of contiguous blocks of homes, closing alleys between homes, taking down fences and making community gathering places with grass instead of asphalt.  With my realtor’s license I managed to handle the purchase of one piece of property for a young couple.

Here I include a comment from Lloyd on his perception of New Age and community.

“As to New Age and communal living. I see the New Age ‘children’ (which I define as those under 40 at the time and most in mid-twenties to mid-thirties--if my sense of the demographics of the times is accurate), and there was no real provision in their utopian dreams of caring for old people and especially there were no dreams of themselves ever becoming old.  In fact, one function of the New Age was to preserve youth forever (‘May you be forever young,’ Dylan sang). So the utopian communes had no built-in provision for aging or caring for the aged.  There was a lot of reaction in the hippie movement growing out of the late 'sixties to the selfish individualism that was becoming rampant following the U.S. global dominance following WWII.  Now, it seems, nearly all have capitulated to it and capitalist indulgence for self-pleasure seems to the many to be the pinnacle of achievement.”

I have flirted with the idea of community a few times since the heady days in Colorado, but the more I believe in the values that could be realized, the more I feel that perhaps my time for that has passed.  In my aging process, particularly in these latter years where I have lived alone, I have developed my own living rituals.  I realize how difficult it would now be to make the changes anyone would have to make were I to seek to live in a communal life style.  That is not to say that I do not believe there is a wonderful opportunity within that life style for growth and a satisfying sense of productivity and well-being.  I believe I could support such a community even if I could not live in it.

In 2007 when Barack Obama was running for President I strongly felt there was light at the end of the treacherous tunnel of the Bush/Cheney years, which led us into deep debt and depression, losses of life and limbs in useless wars, and a general malaise bereft of hope for many of us.  Unfortunately, in Obama’s successful election there immediately was the beginning of entrenchment of many who could not accept his win.  So continued the downward spiral economically and socially that were the results of the prior years of calculated neglect of prudent financial and social policy.  We now find our country in the midst of chaotic divisiveness where there are no winners, regardless of who gets elected.  The two party system is now in complete disarray and dysfunction.

You say I am simply exaggerating the problem?  That things will work out, because “they always do”?  Maybe.  I just do not see that view out my window on the country.  In defense of your possible questions, I admit to having moved away from the philosophy of life that I was brought up with, that I studied in seminary and afterward, and by which I always sought to live.  I still believe in what I once knew to be true for me, but clearly I am too frustrated to work on it for now.  And I am aware of what that means for me.

Another comment from Lloyd:

“ . . . a large part of the mission of the New Age, at least as I experienced it, was to get beyond all these manufactured, induced desires, beyond the false-self created by advertising and the market as god and to get to the true self and true inner desires coupled with an inner morality and a principled ethics.  It was a moral and spiritual compass in a time of empire over-reach and a massive human sacrifice for an expanding capitalist market. It's not so close to home now.  We can get our sanitized news about twenty people killed by an unmanned drone and not even blink.”

So what is the bottom line when it comes to “New Age” thinking and living as one ages?  Same as it ever was.  Principles and philosophies are only as good as their practice.  If I do not practice the values that have always been important to me, I will not enjoy the benefits that they offer.  Even when enthusiasm wanes and frustration sets in, the ideals are still as true as they ever were.  So, for me at this particular moment I may see in a “glass darkly.”  But, when the light dawns again, when faith is restored by my desire to believe, I will see clearly and once again enjoy the fruits of my practice.

 

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[1]  http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175538/  

Does Anything Really Make A Difference Anymore?

One of the network channels offers a weekly news item on their program dedicated to persons who are making a difference in our sometimes-discouraging world of affairs.  This effort to show bright spots in what is often a shadowy world of indifference and self-centeredness is certainly needed.  When one news story after another can make one feel that there is little reason to be hopeful, little cause for celebrating our apparent successes, it is not difficult to understand why so many people are angry, disillusioned or just plain don’t care anymore!

I find myself slipping into that mood at times.  After the tragic years of the Bush/Cheney administration and the long-lasting destruction caused by their narrow-minded aggressive tendencies, it will be generations before we overcome the devastating effects of their so-called leadership.  Today, we need only look at the ruining of the environment in the Gulf of Mexico, the loss of livelihood of family businesses built over generations, the death of untold numbers of fish, fowl, mammals and other life forms to realize that our country (its politicians and business leaders) have abandoned the principles that made this country what it was on its way to becoming.  I say on its way to becoming because we had only begun to realize the limitless capacity of our citizens to invent, build and deploy imaginative ideas and products for the benefit of humankind.

I am not a Tea Party person nor am I a sympathizer with most of what I see them display through their thoughtless accusations and actions. Really, some of these people must be from another planet!  That we as a nation have come to the point where our mutual anger and frustration has taken on the psuedo leadership of dropout dysfunctionaries as Sarah Palin and the discredited John McCain only shows how far from understanding our democracy and its founding documents we have come.

I cannot even begin to put into words my disgust about the priorities our Congressional members have determined to be important.  What I can say is that they are clearly based on greed and avarice. The money that controls our representatives and senators has become so much a part of their function that they can in no way continue to represent the people.  They clearly are in bed with their financiers.  Look at the literal bed-hopping of the Minerals Management Agency office in Denver, responsible for granting licenses and policing the oil companies.  And, again, look at the Gulf disaster. It is government policy and lack of enforcement of big business that has largely been responsible for the chaos we are currently facing.

Even in the face of these catastrophes the Republicans maintain their belief that business does not need regulation.  It needs to be left free to market action.  This belief that business will self-control is an impossible dream when the unimaginable amounts of money to be gained are on the table, up for grabs for those who don’t give a damn about people or country! Don’t begin to disregard my comments as simply the rant of an unhappy Democrat.  I am NOT a Democrat either.  Neither of the two parties offers policies or purposes that are compatible with my own. 

What I am in favor of is the real grass roots efforts of those who are free of party dictates.  I believe wholesale change in government is necessary—Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court.  Consistent with this concept is my belief in the need for a Constitutional Convention, the purpose of which is to re-evaluate the relationship of that document to the desires and priorities of we the people.  The world we live in is a vastly different world than that of our forefathers.  Just as any business with an operational procedures manual must regularly update that document so that it represents current priorities and policies, so must our government review and update our Constitution where necessary.  It may not require any changes, but just reading it again should be a benefit.  I recently picked up a copy and read it thoroughly.  I keep it handy for when stupidity raises its ugly head so I can remind myself of what our founders really said, not what someone thought was in there.

The difficulty of bringing about change in our country today was clearly demonstrated following the last election.  A majority of people said they believed in the change Obama promised.  Unfortunately, we forgot that no one has the power to change anything where government is concerned.  I fully supported Obama and I was also swept up in the belief that here was a person who could really get it done!  Well, he couldn’t and he didn’t. Maybe his staff isn’t as good at managing government as it was in managing a campaign. It certainly does not help that the Republicans simply decided to withdraw from any role in governing.  Saying “No” was all they had to do to stop change in its tracks.  And of course we all know the Democrats are the original “bad news bears” whose way to handle differences of opinion is to form a circular firing squad.  OMG, is this not clearly apparent to the general public?  I guess not.  And because I see no real powerful leadership, I am deeply concerned.  I probably will not be around when the pillars of democracy tumble, as they surely will if nothing changes. 

So, why should I care?  Does anything really make a difference any more?  I have to find my own answer to this question, as each of you who have continued to read this far along in this essay will have to do. It is not my nature to be negative. However, I am so totally disgusted with the apparent hopelessness of the situation that I just do not have an answer.  I write.  That is something I know a little about.  I wish I were able to be eloquent enough, with opportunities sufficient to command an audience, that together we could begin to make the difference that will bring the true light of individual responsibility and strength of character to lead that is needed.

I am not going to give up.  I think I will have to give up listening to the news, however. 

OMG, This Would Be Funny If It Weren't So Damn Stupid!

For most of the time since Barack Obama was elected I have been having a good laugh at the loonies out there that cannot get over the fact that the nation overwhelmingly elected a black man to the highest office in the land. Instead they continue to foist upon us one of the wacko false fantasies such as his not being a citizen. Will they never stop coming out of the woodwork? These guys and gals remind me of backwoods hillbillies who are so isolated they still speak the “King’s English” as in they just got off the boat!

But now it is just too much. While network news programs don’t keep pushing these fantasy conspiracy theories about Obama, the cable networks can’t get by a single day without citing new or revised stories by the likes of Liz Cheney, Fox “News” personalities, Dr. Orly Taitz, DDS, the attorney defending Army Reserve Major Stephan Cook, who refused to re-deploy to Afghanistan because Obama is not legally our Commander In Chief because he was not born in the United States. ( She lost her first suit, but has since filed a second one. Oh, by the way “Dr” Taitz, DDS, is also an attorney and a real estate agent.) You should have seen John Stewart handle this one! Then there is Rep. Bill Posey, a freshman Republican from Florida. He is presenting a bill in Congress that will require anyone running for President be required to furnish a “legitimate” birth certificate. I’m not sure what will constitute a “legitimate” certificate, since they haven’t accepted that Barack Obama’s certificate is valid.

Warren Holstein, a satirist, in his Huffington Post article posted July 24, 2009 entitled: Liz Cheney: Birther of Crazier Conspiracies, list three things he identifies as Top 3 conspiracy theories. These are some of the crazier theories out there. I’m going to briefly list them here, but you can read his full article for yourself by clicking on the title.

Number 1 was the theory that Obama’s father was recruited to assist in the staged Apollo Moon Landing/walk in the desert somewhere.

Number 2 was that Obama was the third shooter on the grassy knoll from which Kennedy was shot. Never mind that Obama would have only been two years old and hardly could have handled the 6.5 MM caliber Carcano rifle.

Number 3 theorized that Obama is not only an alien, as in born in a foreign country, but also he is an alien, as in from outer space.

Puleeeze folks! Where do these loonies get this stuff? I think they are watching entirely too much science fiction TV.

Unfortunately, the bottom line in these conspiricies seems to be that there is still a significant radical section of the populace that just cannot accept that an African American has been elected to serve the nation. Bigotry and racist hate speech are still a problem in this country. I personally know people who consider themselves upstanding and unbiased who have severe blind spots when it comes to the color of a person’s skin and who are easily duped into believing the conspiracy theories that are circulating. They do not realize they are expressing bigotry or racism because they attach themselves to other theories, such as the birth certificate issue, which are not in themselves based in racism.

I do not expect this article to change anyone’s opinion. I guess I hope that those who read my blog are not counted among those reported on here. In any case, I could not restrain myself any longer. It is simply too scary to think of what can happen when some one or some group takes it upon themselves to take care of the problem by doing something stupid. We have seen this before too many times in our short history as a nation. I pray daily that wisdom and love will prevail in the minds and hearts of all of us and that we will see through personality to the spiritual core reality that abides within each of us, and that if allowed, will emerge to heal our differences and bless our nation.