Neo-Tribalism And The New Reality

In the sixties, many of us heard a song about the Age of Aquarius. It truly is the dawning of a new age, but what exactly are we talking about? To understand the ages, we first need to explain the procession of the equinoxes. Every 2150 years or so, the solstice moves through an age. The procession of the equinoxes slowly moves backward through the astrological signs. Each of these mega-time periods constitutes an age. The birth of Moses brought us into the age of Aries, that is why the ram's horn is still a part of jewish faith and rituals. The birth of "Christ" was the beginning of the current age, the age of Pices (that's what the fish is about). Now for those of us that are familiar with polychronic time, what I am about to say next makes perfect sense. Those less familiar with "native time", or "Indian time" may have a harder time following this. Just as the sun standstill (solstice) or the full moon energy lasts for several days, so too at the boundaries of these great ages, there are times of flux where the energies mix and match, ebb and flow, allowing the change to come and the old ways to fall away.

In our ordinary, mudane, world view, we get to the end of a (Julian calendar) year and throw away one calendar and then, just put up a new one. This year I felt out of sorts because I didn't see a single television show that had the theme, This Was The Year That Was...around the time that we change out the calendar, several things happen. Many of us make resolutions, we feel that there is a better us waiting out there somewhere and we resolve to go off in search of it. Some, reflect on the joys and sorrows that came and went in the passed year. Still, others look to family and friends for their annual infusion of cheer and cameradiere. Most of us do a combination of all of ther above. Likewise, in the hundred or so years around the end of one age and the beginning of the next, there are serious upheavals, new ways of reconing with our world view and new resolutions made that lead to better ways of living. Most of the strides that humanity has made in the past age have come with terrible costs. It is tuly now or never when it comes to trying to find new ways of behaving that will be sustainable if humanity is to make it through the next age.

I certainly will not be around to see the dawning of the next age, but seven generations down the line, my children's children's children will be looking at the world in the midst of another great upheaval wondering how they made it through the trials of hteir own day. With luck,and insight and great creativity, I think that we have a fighting chance at coming together under a new banner, that of world citizens and find our way into the new age with relatively little trauma and a minimum of growing pains.
anyone familiar with my writings knows of my utter dissapointment with the prevailing belief that humans are inherently greedy, self-centered and "brutish". Science has now proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that children are magnanamous, compassionate and giving, until they face hostility, neglect or abuse. Is it any wonder that we developed a whole philosophy on the concept of dog eat dog logic? Allowing ourselves to act terribly without fear of repraisal because, we say, we are "hard wired" to be brutish is something that I have had very little tolerance for my entire life. Abject poverty and lack of moral character are only correlated statistically because the higher classes just put on a better game face while they lie about their experiences and behaviors.

Another thing that many of us still hold on to from the past, that needs to find it's way to our cultural dust bin is the notion of Calvinists that bad people, making bad choices because of questionable morals is at the heart of why we have lower classes in ther first place. I grew up priveleged, and I know it. I was a poor white male and I was able to do far more than almost all of my friends who were either women or minorities. Now that the white male is becoming a threatened sub-group, they may soon find out the hard way what minorities have known for centuries. Much of what the old way of doing things led to was perpetration of lies, deciet and haterd that has flowed through generations like a blinding poison that cripples the majority for the beneift of a few.

Neo-tribalism is alive in the slow foods movement, foodies from all over the world are now concerned about where their food comes from and the quality of life that their farmers enjoy. It is alive in the environmental movement, where concerned individuals want to increase the quality of life for all people by saving resources and energy so that others can have a more sustainable life while they meet their own needs with less consumptive behavior. Tribes are forming around shared ideals, new ways of studying the world around us, new ways of thinking and the many new ways that we choose to communicate and interact. In these times it is not enough to weild a sword over some serf's head and tell them what part they are to play in the unfolding of your world. Mutual respect and cooperative action may be the difference between success and failure. I have always been curious about several religious sects who dissolve their affiliations with approximately half of their community whenever the community grows to about three hundred individuals. The new tribes will most surely organize along similar lines. It is hard to get away with anything in a community of 150-300. Anyone who has lived in a small town knows that. as we usher in The Age Of Aquarius, let us take time to consider well, both those things that make life, and living it, worthwhile and those that bring anguish and lack to the majority of our population. All things must pass, as George Harrison once said, let us choose which will be the first to go!

Kennedy Memories

In forming an opinion about JFK, much of my awareness is governed by mediated perceptions after his death. My parents never mentioned what a President is until he was gone. A toddler, I saw a man crying on television, he was saying that the President had been shot. I went to get my mother. I remember that I was still afraid of the cold air return vent in the hall, so I got down on hands and knees and went across it from the living room to the kitchen to get my mom. Even though I was just walking at the time, I remember the mourning like it was yesterday. No one around me was untouched by the tragedy and grief of loss. I have learned over my lifetime that as I was born, the Cuban Missile Crisis unfolded, terrorizing my mom and dosing her fetus with cataclysm-response hormones. Flight is ruled out during birth and in one's layette, so the fight response is required, but you are with only yourself, so who to fight? Yes, one self. Fight your fears, sense of loss, separation and anxiety. Fight it all, on terrain within one self. Existential I will admit, but real and true for anyone who has done it. One's opinion may differ, but the media heraldry has skewed our perception of Kennedy's Presidency toward the mythic.

Presidential scholars may rate him near the middle of the pack when it comes to performance, but except in rare cases, the values JFK stood for took a severe hit on the day of his passing. Youth and optimism did not re-enter politics until two generations later. The social justice movement that seemed alive and growing in the early to mid sixties calcified and ran aground, stagnating until it was subverted by the end of the welfare state. Only recently have we turned our faces again to the light. In terms of infusing a nation with a sense of mission to their fellow inhabitants of Starship Earth, no one stands out in modern history until Obama.

We all stand to gain when we build on a common moral ground. As much as some relished John F. Kennedy's death, they were the same sorts of folks who seek to gain from outdated competitive models. In relishing one another, and our innate capacities, giving from a place of plenty, capital loses it's importance. What more effective nail in Capitalism's coffin, than peace, love and understanding. The good old boys club is alive and well, don't fool yourself. Vigilante justice is just what the doctor ordered for political obfuscation. The Us/Them divide is surely smaller than the television reports. Our troubles are not caused by people flooding across our borders, or "drugs" that grow naturally and have the power to heal. We blame convicted pedophiles for actions that they may not take, but ignore the vast majority of child molestations, ignore where our food comes from but get angry when food borne disease breaks out. While pointing the finger at everyone else, we can easily neglect ourselves. This is what Kennedy excelled at, reminding our citizens that through cooperation and sharing a sense of purpose, we could create miracles.

I wish that we could point out the fallacy of lack to all those who claim that "nature's way" is competition for scarce resources. My own experience has taught me the exact opposite. Where nature thrives, a profusion of life breaks out like you can't imagine. Literally billions of organisms can reside in a cup of soil. Sharing is the rule rather than the exception in these systems. Successful human endeavors often reflect this co-operative spirit rather than a competitive one. Miracle can happen and often do, but what is required is for folks to again realize that we are inextricably dependent on one another and our success. We are all responsible for the cohesion of natural systems. We are most richly rewarded for being stewards of the planet, which can allow it to support each and every one of us.

Make Miracles Happen!