Boomer (Chapter 2)

As I was walking down the sidewalk one summer day to the local suburban Post Office outside of Phildelphia, I beheld an amazing sight…. a large card table set up on the side walk. Home made signs of poster board were attached to the sides. Books and pamphlets on the tables.

But what did the signs say? One sign was saying something about the SDI (The Strategic Defense Initiative) and the other sign said something about AIDS!!! The same group taking on both of these issues! In the late 80's - and still today - it's rare to see a connection between issues of this intensity and diversity.

But just to rewind briefly; today, in 2006 - I know for certain that everyone reading this knows something about AIDS. But I’m not so sure that everyone knows what the SDI is… even after I wrote down (above) what the words mean. For those of you who do, I hope you will allow me to explain to those who may not know.

The SDI is something that anyone politically active in 1985 or anyone concerned about national defense issues would know about. Those born more recently… (ie, you are not a boomer) may not. The SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) was a policy that Ronald Reagan announced in 1986 (?) that shocked many. I, for one, had to wonder…. what is this? Even though I was definitely against weapons build up; this caught my attention. Was Ronald Reagan actually a serious thinker and did he know anything about science?

The SDI was certainly in the news, everywhere. The idea was that the United States would embark on a strategic mission, almost like Kennedy’s Man on the Moon Mission, to make Nuclear weapons obsolete - through laser technologies that could annihilate a nuclear bomb in mid air, (above the atmosphere), where it would explode without consequence to the planet.

I didn't know what to think, but I had to admit, I’d rather have the bomb neutralized in the stratosphere than to know it was up there, and about to come down, (possibly on my half of the globe) within minutes. This was so different, but how much time and energy would be needed to achieve this laser defense system? I also had to grapple with the fact that this was not a “back to nature” answer!! I saw myself as potentially in a tug of war, being pulled by both sides. For once, I refrained from coming to any conclusion. I watched and waited and decided to give it some time before making any judgment.

Meanwhile, AIDS was a very different issue. It was clear to me that the “rock, drug, sex lifestyle was unraveling fast. The entry of AIDS onto the landscape brought an omininous “natural monster” into the environmental picture. What the hell was emerging here?

I thought most of these serious contagious diseases had disappeared for good. And now some new sort of sexually transmitted disease - that kills people – has come out of Africa and is now in the U.S? There went another bubble concerning the beauty of nature in all it’s wanton wildness; uncontrolled and unregulated… that bubble was popping on several sides, in my mind.

As AIDS made the reality of Africa painfully clear, within a matter of a year or two in my mind, the muddy waters of the village rivers, the bugs, the starvation and the disease started to replace the natural beauty. Africa was no longer the place I wished to explore it’s incomparable earthly whiles. Funny how reality checks can happen so quickly.

And so what did I have before me, but a literature table with two people standing next to it, reaching out to me; wanting me to stop and talk. And I did.

What did we talk about? We talked about neither AIDS or the SDI. I looked down at the books, and all I can remember talking about that day was how the United States can (and should be) a leader in using technology for purposes that truly are needed and serve people… such as irrigating the Sahara Desert, in the same way we turned a dessert in Southern California into a bread basket.

There was a man and a young women both in their late 30's manning the table. I was standing before someone I later knew was “Bernie".

As it turned out, Bernie was from South Philadelphia, a working class, Italian neighborhood. He was employed, as a tradesman in business, and devoted one day a week to “coming out and deploying” with full time members of the LaRouche organization, like his partner that day, Terese.

I still remember looking at him through his glasses. Intelligent eyes. He was a quiet person, not a salesman type, and as we talked, I could sense his concern for these issues, yet there was gentleness about him. He was not pushy at all by nature, yet here he was, out on the streets at a lit table, presenting these profound ideas to me.

Terese, a full time organizer, became the person that I can say (twenty years later) that I connected the most deeply with on the level of friendship and as a mentor. She was from the MidWest, originally, but had been in Philadelphia, for years. She was originally Catholic, and still considered herself Catholic though much more from the tradition of Catholism that harkens to the Rennaissance - or the idea that every man and woman has a divine spark within them. She has always been a student of philosophy, and I could talk to Terese, any time, for hours, (though she she rarely has the time to speak for close to that) so it only happens in spirit. But we always manage to take a little time, here and there – whenever we can, and there is always so much to talk about.

Anyway, I inquisitively asked… “What’s all this?” Bernie showed me maps, printed in their publications, of the kind of projects that could be done in Africa, and I remember thinking… “Yes”. If we did this kind of thing with technology, this would be such a different story. They were not talking about sending food over to a village, or even about teaching them how to fish (in polluted waters) but about using our knowledge and capabilities in a big way, to clean the waters and turn dry land into fruitful land... which I knew was the only real answer.

Lyndon LaRouche and The Boomers

I am a Boomer.

Do you know what a “Boomer” is? A baby-boomer; yes. But quite a bit more elaborate, more intricate, more complex than the simple concept of a post WWII birth.

Ask someone in the LaRouche organization. They know exactly what a boomer is, including most all the quirky ripples emanating from the pebble as it splashes into the lake. Mr. LaRouche, or “Lyn” as he (Lyndon LaRouche) is known, affectionately, within and around the organization developed the concept and coined the term, as it is used.

A “Boomer” is someone, yes, born in that appropriate era, but more so, someone who has the un-erasable marks and scars left on their character; effects coming from the demoralization of the U.S population, as a whole, by the abrupt 180 degree change that happened in this country after FDR died.

I have heard that the play “The Big Knife” by Cifford Odets addresses it, poetically, of course. Last year, my daughter, age 13, read the play and thought it was profound. I should read it. Robert Beltram, (one of the principle actors of the original Star Trek series) has been working with “the organization” and brought this play to Lyn’s attention. Maybe writing this book will somehow make me get around to reading this play, as I have wanted to do. This world is so amazing, and there are always more things that I want to do, than I can seem to find the time to do.

But now, it’s time go back in time. The year is 1985. I was 30 years old, a portrait artist and professional freelancer in the advertising industry. I was also an environmentalist, and struggling to make sense of how my work benefits the world, and works in harmony with my belief that nature is pure and beautiful, and that pollution is a terrible thing. I am not alone.

It seems that many in and around that hippy generation (ie. baby-boomers) ended up embracing the trees and the flowers. And who could argue that pollution that causes cancer, blinds people, etc. etc. is not a good thing. The battle lines seemed pretty clear. Clean water, fresh air, green grass, khaki pants, and long hair versus commercial sludge, dead fish, parking lots, smoke stacks and billboards in the farm fields. Yuck!

Or at least it did at first.

But after a few years of exploration, I realized that there were some pretty big contradictions almost everywhere I looked.

We can fly down to the Caribean and explore the natural beauty of the islands… away from the luxury hotels. The charming dilapidated shacks. Yes, I took pictures. Wouldn’t they look nice in some hip restaurant in Philadelphia or San Francisco? They would make people aware of the profound simple beauty of being so close to nature…. so close to nature that you have no running water or electricity. Do you see the hypocrisy yet? I imagine you probably do. But remember… this was 1985. Hindsight is always, as you know.

And even back then, I was starting to smell some unpleasant odors in the cupboard of my philosophical closet. I realized that part of the reason that these dilapidated shacks with semi-wild, fragrant flowers abounding outside were so very appealing to me, just may have been that I could leave the island anytime I wished. Yes, the flowers looked pretty from the outside, and even the peeling paint on the worn wood had it’s unequaled charm, but what was life really like, on the inside?

I can say from experience, that it’s fun to live in a teepee, for a few days, weeks, or for those who really want to jump into the illusion…maybe even a few years. But isn’t it nice to know that you are not stuck there for the rest of your life? In fact, for most of us in the civilized world who have had various “back to nature” episodes in our lives, I don’t think we can really even comprehend what it would really mean, if we were really stuck… like so many of the people in the islands, or in Central and South American, or in Africa, or even Russia and parts of Central Asia... let alone New Orleans.

While we are fighting to wave the flag of beauty over these impoverished lives, the vast majority of those who have no passport out would switch places in a heartbeat, and never look back, except maybe with a wish to try and help others to do the same. Meanwhile, while our homes may be graced with some of the accoutrements of our back to nature philosophy… if we had the option to change places, and be stuck for the rest of our lives without running water, electricity, cars and grocery stores… would we even seriously consider walking through that door? I doubt there would be many serious takers. So, it was starting to smell fishy to me, back in 1985.

...to be continued

Stephen Colbert as Rabelais

Talk about funny! This is hysterical! ... if you are a little bit upset about what is going on with our country, and our leadership in world affairs.

To give a little background: Every year there is a very fancy event in Washington D.C called "The White House Correspondents' Dinner". This is where important politicos (including the President of the United States) and the members of the Press who cover the day to day hoopla emerging from The White House and Congress, all get together to enjoy a black tie dinner and an annual "Roasting of the President". All in good fun... except for one little anomaly that happened at this year's event on Sunday night... Stephen Colbert.

This brave comedian (in my opininion, along with many, many others who are calling him a heroe) used searing comedy as a sword and shield to crack open Humpty Dumpty. :) Some people are saying Bush will never be the same. I have read that he was exercising non-stop for over a day after the event in an attempt at anger management.

Though the magnitude of the event is being pretty much blacked-out from the press, apparently it has back-fired because sooooooo many are linking to it and applauding on the internet :)

Click on the C-Span link below and you can open it and view it there! Enjoy!
http://www.c-span.org/
Hopefully it will be available for a while :)

Here's another great site, where you can write Stephen Colbert a thank you. However the video links didn't work for me, and the Democracy Now link is NOT the full transcript. The C-Span link (above) also has Colbert's video application for White House Press Secretay, which ended Colbert's skit.
http://thankyoustephencolbert.org/

One Man Hour

Economics is the study (unfortunately, not usually at the level of a science yet . . . though it could be) of what countries and civilizations do (and have done) with regard to utilizing their time and energies, and how this can either create various levels of abundance, or poverty and oppression. The key is that some forms of activity are more productive that others. One man hour is not one man hour.

One horse power is one horse power. Though some horses may be stronger than others, basically there is not a potential for an exponential difference in the power of one horse vs. the power of another horse (assuming they both have similar food, exercise and lodgings). And the same for every living creature - except mankind.

Why? Because mankind can (through his understanding) either harness or not harness the power of the universe. Man invents the wheel. We term it an invention - and understandably so. But what this inventor is actually doing is understanding and harnessing the laws of the universe - and multiplying his powers. This enables mankind to do what no other animal can do - create wealth.

What is wealth? Coming soon.
Roz

The Complex Domain

Hi All,
and welcome. I hope this will be a place where we can discuss ideas freely.

Roz