On Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:15:23 EST, "Mike the Elder" <zer### [at] wyanorg>
wrote:

>I date back to roughly the same period (My "20s" spanned the late 70s and early
>80s) Except for the fact that I skipped the drug scene, (I've always believed
>that the "Powers That Be" allow easy access to drugs because they help to keep
>the poor and powerless poor and powerless.) 

I know what you mean, "Bread and Circuses". If that is what you mean. In the UK
we use the class system. I just found that my smoke stopped me from drinking.
Not a bad thing in alcohol sodden Glasgow.

>I was pretty much in the same
>socio-political boat.  What has changed for me is that my sense of time scale
>has greatly expanded (an enlightened global society is NOT just around the
>corner) and the scale at which I work for positive change has become much more
>local and personal.  The problem with "mass" social movements is that they tend
>to be a mile wide and an inch deep.  For us young naive folks who believed that
>the world was about to change, it came as a rude surprise that the great
>majority of those who proclaimed a commitment to the Counter Culture were only
>following a fashion trend in a lemming-like manner and would soon devolve into
>yuppie scum when the fashion changed. 

Not a truer word spoken.

>As I became more familiar with other
>cultures and their histories, (something I HAD to do outside of the context of
>the U.S. education system) I became aware that this phenomenon was old news to
>many of the world's peoples. An old Zen saying reflects my change in
>perspective rather well:
>
>"Wanting to reform the world without discovering your true self is like trying
>to cover the whole world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones
>and thorns. It is simpler to wear shoes."

That seems a bit long winded. I prefer the American one I read in peanuts. "You
can't fight city hall" :)

>One can also help others who are willing to make and wear their own "shoes".

That is what life boils down to. The young have to make their own mistakes but
you can try to help them not make the big mistakes. Omm :)
Or as the EE said Ohmmm!


>
>Best Regards,
>Mike C.
>

Regards
	Stephen

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