We were gonna change the world...what happened?

Lol I would probably just say "dependent on each other" rather than interdependent. However, my way uses more letters, just not in one word

 

I was working on a fishing boat. One morning we were listening to the weather radio. The guy on the radio from the national weather service announced they were expecting "a copious amount of rain." My boss looked at me and asked "Do you suppose he means a fuckin' shitload." I damn near pissed myself. I often prefer plain spoken (alot of small words) over Pretentious (one big word). Usually plain spoken is more verbose but more direct.


Peace Out,
Rev J

 

I agree that older is not necessarily wiser, and sometimes I wonder if it's not the other way around, like as we get older and more entrenched in the game, we lose sight of what's important and real.

Ironically, the most effective spiritual leaders are often those who are not public figures, and are not influenced by their egos, but rather everyday people who are humble and quiet, carrying out their personal philosophies in their actions, not words. Ideally, we're all spiritual leaders in our own right, part of a collective consciousness in which we're all equal, no one better than anyone else, yet everyone learns from each other.

As for changing the world, we can work on sustainable living at home, like growing our own food and using less resources, but the biggest impact will come from influencing how corporations and public facilities conduct themselves.

 

Well Mellow, I think the fact that we are having this conversation is proof that the Hippies did change the world. 20 years ago we didn't have discussions about sustainability. Fifty years ago there wasn't even the word sustainability. Recycling, what the fuck is that?

Granted there was no word for Organic Agriculture because that was the way food was grown. Shameless plug go to google and type in Stone Soup Institute. It is a school in Maine for sustainable living that my dad runs.

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

I haven't done anything remotely productive... but I've talked a lot of shit about what should be done.

Earned and earned.

 

The Reverand's on to something I've been harping about for a while now, namely that we are changing the world, and it's not just hippies either. Sustainability and organic living have gone main stream because we know we're fucked if we don't. Besides, it's good karma.

Obviously it's better to live sustainably, but the very fact we're thinking about it and talking about it means we're making progress. Actions take time and patience, and begin with vision, which we now have. Furthermore, every bit helps. So maybe you can't be totally independent, but you can grow some vegetables, or start using hand tools instead of power tools for smaller jobs, which really isn't that big of a sacrifice when you think about it.

Sustainability leads to freedom, freedom to do what we want because we're independent. Freedom to reject the corporate world that is killing us both physically and spiritually, and is only about taking, not giving back to the community that serves it. The worse the corporate world gets, the more attractive the alternative.

I found stone-soup-institute.org, interesting.

 

Thanks. I know that this is splitting hairs but to me organic/sustainable agriculture, buying fair trade produce and cotton doing smaller jobs with hand tools etc. isn't independence it is interdependence. Usually when we do those smaller jobs with hand tools we call our friends and neighbors to help us we depend on them to help us do the job. Then when they need help they call us. When we farm organically we depend on the earth for the food and nourishment and the earth depends on us to put back what we have taken from it etc.

I believe that independance is the most destructive illusion that humans have been lead to believe. I say that because when we believe that we are independent we cease to see the concequences of our actions. I love to use food to illustrate this point. If you buy your food think about all of the people that you depend upon from the person who planted the food, to the people that picked the food, to the people that put the food on the truck, to the truck driver who brought it to the factory, to the people at the factory that processed it, to the other truck driver who brought it to the warehouse etc. That is alot of pieces in the chain that depend on each other. That Macrocosm is a direct reflection of the Microcosm.

When I hear people talk about Barbie Dolls being made by 12 year olds in China for $0.12 an hour while telling people to boycott them. My half joke response is "Who am I to deny a 12 year old kid in China a living?" All of our actions have consequences. Even by making that "independent" decision you are effecting a whole chain of events in somebody elses life. And somebody elses decisions set in motion a chain of events that will eventually effect your life. It's alot like the Butterfly theorum "A Butterfly flaps its wings in China and changes the storm patterns over New York for 6 months." We are the same way on a larger scale.

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

Agreed. By "independence" I was thinking more in terms of self sufficiency and independence from corporate culture than from each other, but you're right, we depend on each other, we can't do everything for ourselves, not efficiently. We're also social beings, we need each other to survive both physically and psychologically, but in today's impersonal industrialized culture we're so coddled by the convenience of technology it's easy to become isolated and alienated by replacing real inter-personal interaction with the convenience of the Internet. It's also easier for people to commit crimes when they can do so in anonymity, not so much the case when local business owners see their customers face to face.

This is not to say that technology or corporations are all bad. The Internet provides us with information in real time, and as you point out the 12 year old in China who makes $0.12 an hour may be enjoying a better quality of life than they would without that job, as does the American living in poverty who can only afford the products of that cheap labor. It comes down to the extent to which you buy into this culture. If you're content to live a simple lifestyle with less, do more for yourself, and buy locally, you'll find yourself more empowered, and less dependent on the corporate entities that deplete your spirit.

 

I've just recently seen 2 movies that are filled with this kind of wisdom from 2 drastically different perspectives:
The first was called "Smoke Signals" it was based on the book "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Boxing in Heaven" by Sherman Alexie (I hope I spelled that right). In one of the scenes one of the charachters mothers is talking about making Frybread and she said, "Some people say I make the best frybread but I don't make it alone. My mother taught me the recipe. I made it for people and if they said it needed less flower I used less flower. If they said it needed to cook longer I would cook it longer. We cannot do anything by ourselves."

The other is "9". 9 is hard to explain on paper/the internet because it is so rich in metaphor about interdependance, the evils of war, rampant technology without spirit, fascism etc...

The world is changing. I'm a cynical optimist so I'd like to think it's for the better. Once the Greedheads have nothing leaft to exploit it will implode. It is doing so slowly but surely. Say what you want about the Bush Administration but they slowly aided and abetted the downfall. As the economic disasters that were set up started in motion I didn't panic I just said "Burn Baby Burn, I'll go get hot dogs" maybe some of the big guys I owe money to will go under.

There is an order that the universe wants and can get very ruthless to get. You don't need to torch the SUV dealership it will go bankrupt. I think that the real revolution is being forced upon us. As we are losing money we can't buy those luxury items that keep the upper end of the economy afloat and it crashes down. As the price of oil rises the auto manufacturers are forced to either adapt with hybrids and more fuel efficient cars or go tit's up. As people lose their jobs and can't afford to pay the big guys at the top the top will crumble and true trickle down will occur. You are achieving independance from the big guys and don't have to make a concous effort.

Nature abhors a vacuum and as the top crumbles, as the exploitive dissappear, as the powers that be are forced to shift something new will take it's place. That to me is the true revolution. Not a bullet will be shot. Not a drop of blood will need to be spilled. That is your legacy.

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

You got it, only it's already happening. What the Greedheads don't seem to understand is they need us to survive. Without someone to buy the crap they're peddling, they're nothing, their power is gone.

I am cautiously optimistic. I like to think things will get better, and they will, but if you look at history, this is a cycle. It's happened before, it'll happen again, the rise and fall of empires.

By independence I also mean self actualization, we need to spend less energy trying to fix the symptoms, and instead look at the causes. For example, you can cure sickness with medicine, but if the body is infirm, it may only be a temporary solution. Instead take steps to make the body healthy, by changing one's life style.

 

Just remember not to remind the Greedheads that they need us to buy their crap. Think globally act locally. Fuck the major corperations that have been raping everyone and everything available.

Part of the problem is that most major advertising agencys have Psychologists on staff helping them develop more effective ad campaigns. And the generation before mine is still in the crosshairs. Come on Just For Men hair coloring has a product called "Touch of Grey".

The bad news is The Greedheads are even hijacking the counterculture. The good news is they drank their own Koolaid. All we have to do is sit back and wait. Culture Jamming is also a good thing. Check out Adbusters. The paper Magazine is about $10 but they have no corprate sponsors to placate.

I am a cynical optimist. I believe that people will eventually do the right thing because it suits them.

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

The Greedheads are doing what they've always done, giving us the illusion that we are the problem, not them. Their tactic is to rob us blind while pitting us against each other, a good example being the tea parties. The cost of social programs is a drop in the bucket compared to the bailouts and the illegal wars, yet they want us to believe we need to do away with these programs to reduce the national debt, meanwhile milking the government tit for what it's worth. They take more and more of the pie, leaving us to fight over what remains, but they can only get away with this for so long. This will back fire the way it always does, as more and more people see it for what it is, and reject the corporate plutocracy that can only survive with subjects to exploit. Why dedicate your loyalty to the corporate world when your loyalty is rewarded with layoffs and IRAs that lose value, when scum bags like Madoff made off with the loot? Why invest in the world's largest Ponzi scheme that is the stock market?

It pains me to hear the republican rhetoric of deregulation when we've seen the destructive result time and time again. The great depression, the s&l scandal of the '80's, and now this. Deregulation obviously only benefits a select few while reeking havoc on the rest of us. What more proof do you need?

We're living in an age that is similar to the hippie generation of the late '60's, though it manifests itself differently. With government corruption that transfers wealth from the majority to a wealthy minority that needs it least, and illegal wars that exploit our military for private interests, it's no wonder the counter culture is growing. After serving my country for eight years, I busted my ass all these years only to see my standard of living decline over the past decade, and I've been out of work for four months now. I have no problem taking unemployment benefits from a government that has betrayed me, so I might as well make the best of it, persue my hobbies, expand my consciousness, and get stoned, right?

 

Leadership is the problem. Most leaders have good intentions of helping their constituency and changing the system until they get in there and realize how fucked up everything is, how little influence they really have over the system. Fight for the people and the corporate interests that got you there will oust you. You gotta be a little self centered to wanna be a leader to begin with, so it's no surprise politicians get corrupted over time, which is why we've got term limits on political offices like the presidency.

Anarchism? The idea seems pretty damn attractive in theory, but we've seen what people do without rules and accountability. They screw each other, so it's obvious human nature cannot govern itself on a large scale. It can work in a small community, so the best you can do is find a group of like minded folks like yourself and collectively reject the system as much as possible.

 

I saw an interview with Dennis Hopper on the Bonus Features of "Easy Rider". He pointed out the problem with most of the communes he visited was that there were usually one or two men on power trips running the place with about 4 or 5 overworked women and a buttload of kids.

I believe that you can have communitys or collectives that work outside of mainstream societies. For it to work you have to come up with a set of rules that works for your situation. It helps if there is more than one building for housing on the premeces. Generally if you find enough land to do this the locals will be suspicious of you. I like the Urban equivalant. Almost like a network of safe houses. Everybody has their own space and their own unique things that they can do to help the rest. Maybe have one person who can fix things, another who can grow things etc. When you need each others services you call on each other. Each person has their own network of contacts and can barter goods and services with the rest.

I have seen this work with musicians and bands. Where one person has people skills and time so he books gigs and contacts other bands. One person in another band is a contact person they make arrangements to "Trade Gigs" i.e I'll open for you at this show if you open for me at this other show. Tell each other which club owners/bookers are on the up and up etc.

I think this type of thing can work outside the music business too.

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

I've observed the same with communes, you gotta be careful. I've heard the most important factor in making a commune work is having rules clearly defined up front, and ensuring everyone has the same vision of what they mean. When someone gets on a power trip, you've got what we have now, on a smaller scale. Everyone's gotta go into it with a sense of selflessness, bringing to the table a unique set of skills and services. It sucks if you have too many cooks in the kitchen. My friends who are in the music business are kinda like a commune, which is a great analogy of how a commune can succeed, because they're all experts at playing their instruments, yet they have the same vision of their goal, which is their music.

 

I'm in the Music industry myself. I'm a bassplayer and I intern in a recording studio. I'd like to start an "Artist Friendly" independant record company someday. If any other buisness ran like the music buisness they would be brought up on extortion charges.

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

Believe me, you have.

I'm fourteen, and up until a few months ago hippies had been presented to me as a bunch of old crazies and I started to look into them kind of as a novelty interest. But then I realised what they were all about, and discovered that I fitted the hippie profile perfectly. I guess I've always been a hippie at heart, but learning about what your generation did and what they stood for has changed my life. It's changed the way I think, what I value, and helped me expand my mind and soul and put my priorities in order. It's made life more colourful, more exuberant, and more full of promise than I ever imagined life could be.

And, more than anything, other people are catching on in the same way: your generation inspired change then, and it continues to inspire change now. Never stop believing.

eace: <3

 

The Bush's happened

 

All you think the rest of America is fucked up? Come to Polk County, Florida home of the stupid rednecks and guess who is our governor...Bush! I can not wait to get out of this fucked up shit hole. Living here has got me soooo depressed I can barely get up in the morning. I resent my grandmother for bringing our family to this god forsaken place.

 

You guys paved the way for women's rights, black's rights, gay rights, environmentalism, cooperation in the world and less war between nations. I'm sure there's more.