EPCWEB The Art of Business and the Business of Art

February 2002: Message Of Love

Vol.2 No.2 · February 2002

Feature Article

February 2002

Eclectic Artists Publishing.

What’s So Funny ’bout…

Peace, Love and Understanding?

Sections within this article:

1. The Old World Order?
2. Intellectual Dishonesty
3. The Personal Quest For Truth
4. A Humanitarian Revolution
5. Summary & Conclusions

Humanity has enjoyed the fruits of civilization for more than 5,000 years… or so we love to tell ourselves. “We are not savages, like the Neanderthals or the primitive tribes of bushmen. We are educated, sophisticated, cultured, even technological!” However, this egotistical view begs the question: After all this time, after so many years of poets, philosophers, romantics, secular and religious leaders, soldiers and saviors, all touting the same dream, why are we still so far from acheiving and maintaining humanity’s oft-cited goals: Peace, Love and Understanding?

February, being the month of Saint Valentine (that 3rd century Christian martyr of Rome whose name has become the moniker for yet another Hallmark holiday beloved by florists, jewelry merchants and restauranteurs worldwide) is the perfect time to repeat the question posed to the current generations nearly 20 years ago by a then angry-young-man, Elvis Costello, in the form of song: “What’s So Funny ’bout Peace, Love and Understanding?” The answer isn’t funny at all: Sadly, it often seems that humanity is doomed to eternal failure, never realizing its cherished dreams.

But why? Why do PEACE. LOVE and UNDERSTANDING seem to elude us in spite of everything we have tried for five millenia?

The Old World Order?


The most convenient answer, the one trotted out faithfully throughout all time, is that “We” want peace, but the “The Other Guy” is a hateful, ignorant, war-monger. But another, far more challenging answer is this: Perhaps, contrary to placating public pronouncements, “Peace, Love & Understanding” have never been the goal. Indeed, there is quite a bit of powerful evidence supporting this distressing view.

First, for example, whenever mankind has been truly motivated to solve a problem it has succeeded stunningly, and usually in remarkably short order. Winter too cold? Humans harnessed fire. Heavy lifting, hunting and other difficult chores? Humananity invented the lever, spear and a dizzying array of other tools. Need to move peoples and goods from place to place? Mankind invented the wheel, domesticated horses, invented ships, trains, airplanes. The Manhattan Project took our knowledge of nuclear physics from nearly zero to horrendous reality during the course of ONE 8-year war. Kennedy gave us a dream of landing on the moon and less than a decade later we had been there and done that. The human genome project, identifying the entire multi-billion molecule sequence of the human DNA, a fete of truly mind-boggling proportions, was proposed in the 1980’s and completed by the end of the century! So if we really wanted Peace, Love & Understanding we should have achieved it hundreds or even thousands of years ago… certainly we would be enjoying it by now!

  
  

The second, more damning type of evidence is frighteningly mathematical: Our national and global economies are structured such that war makes money (and is therefore “rewarded”, mightily), while peace pays nothing (and is therefore effectively disincentivized at nearly every level). What is wrong with this picture? With everything we know (from the psychology of human behavior via reward and punishment systems, to the economics of profit motivation, to the institutional tendency to form everlasting bureaucracies) surely we can see that the very structure of our economy drives us toward the perpetuation of war while almost nothing drives us (especially the de-humanized institutional “us”) away from war. Therefore, what result would any psychologist, economist or logician expect from such a system? War, of course.

The third wave of evidence begins to devolve into a collection of skeptical, cynical, or (some might say) paranoid views about the selfish, greedy and evil nature of a small ruling class who prefer (profit and/or derive their power from) the fear and chaos which results from keeping the larger populations de-stabalized through various “divide-and-conquer” techniques. While it is ridiculous (in fact, unnecessary) to postulate that some coordinated plan by a small ruling class has kept us from achieving “Peace, Love and Understanding” throughout history, it is just as ridiculous to deny that there have always been a small number of power-crazy, money-hungry people doing their damnedest to become king-of-the-world. Of course, our leaders (who are elected and appointed to perpetuate the status quo) are quick to point to “The Other Guy” as the “evil-doers” who continue to destablize our world, so we never hear the much-needed mea culpa. Today, for example, antiquated energy policies, global militarization and transnational control of trade and economic policies create a very unstable and unsustainable world, all to the profit of a small number of treacherous and self-absorbed power-mongers. Who are these evil people? Well, they MUST be the leaders of OUR (‘Western’, ‘G-8’) economies since WE are the only Superpowers/Allies, and thus OUR LEADERS are the one who make the rules. So if the rules inherently promote war, and if war-mongering is evil, then these guys must be the ones who are evil. Of course, these folks would be overthrown in an instant if (1) Peace, Love and Understanding truly were an urgent goal of our humanity, and (2) our economies and societies were structured explicitly to remove all profits from war while heavily incentivizing peace.

This entire line of evidence points to a dark fact: There is a stark contrast between what we say we want and how we structure our world. Thus, as David Byrne sang for the 80’s band Talking Heads, “Same as it ever was!”

Intellectual Dishonesty


Many terms have been used to describe the mental processes of denial: “Lying to ourselves”, “Rationalization”, “Delusion”, “Repression”, and “Refusing to look in the mirror” are just a few of the common English expressions, although the concept has been well-used and abused worldwide for millenia. From the wife who refuses to see the clear evidence of her husband’s infidelity and parent who refuses to see his own alcoholism or his child’s drug addiction, to the mass complicity of common Nazi-era German citizens, humanity has a history of refusing to judge its beliefs and actions honestly. This types of thinking, or refusal to think, might be more properly labeled “Intellectual Dishonesty” since it is usually clear that we have the capacity and ability to properly analyze the facts and arrive at the correct conclusion, but for one or more reasons we choose to ignore certain facts or to twist our logic to ensure that we DO NOT arrive at a particular answer or solution.

Perhaps the most stark and infamous example is provided by the Ptolemic “scientists” who held sway over the cosmological model of the Western cultures for nearly 2,000 years. Despite the fact that their model was dead wrong, despite even the fact that their mathematical “proofs” and “logical assumptions” grew more tortured with every advance in observational technologies, this camp retained the staunch support of the ruling classes until the late 16th century, even jailing and torturing intellectually honesty observers for hundreds of years after mankind credited itself with “Enlightenment”. The reason is notably simple: Believing the Earth was at the center of a Universe which rotated around that Earth was crucial to the corollary beliefs that God had annointed both the clergy and the nobility as His specially-selected Earthly rulers… their privileged positions of power were divinely granted and therefore above rightful challenge. To admit that the Earth was not the center of the Universe around which all rotated was tantamount to admitting that God did not hold a special place in his heart for the Kings and the Priests. Thus, the entire power structure continuously reinforced and perpetuated a cosmological, political and religious belief system which was pure fantasy. Whether this was done consciously by any or all of the participants is largely irrelevant. What is relevant is the fact that, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, the world clung to a lie for 2,000 years.


But who is to say what is “truth” or a “lie”? How could we even know (in real time) when we are being Intellectually Dishonest as an individual or, especially, as an entire society? And, really, how often does Intellectual Dishonesty come into play in history, or how often does it have such a wide-spread, destructive or detouring effect on our humanity?

It is interesting to note that these are precisely the sorts of questions upon which the Intellectually Dishonest dwell to reinforce their otherwise untenable beliefs. First, the idea of “intellectual relativism” (“I’m OK, and you’re OK, so my beliefs are valid, and your beliefs are valid too!”) is a discredited, feel-good, pop-psychology form of Intellectual Dishonesty itself: Things are not true just because we believe them to be. Further, the processes for achieving “objective” knowledge, or at least a disciplined epistimology, have been well-known to science and philosophy for at least several hundred years, the “scientific methodology” is taught to every college level science student, and this method is the cornerstone of every technological advancement in the modern world.

So, we do know how to be intellectually honesty. But how do we know when we are not being honesty with ourselves? Simply ask this: “Do I seek or avoid information which undermines my beliefs?” If you avoid new information which threatens your existing beliefs you are almost certainly being Intellectually Dishonest.

That leaves us with the questions of (1) how often it occurs and (2) how deleterious it is. The short answers are “at present it occurs all the time” and “it is extraordinarily destructive to our humanity”. The evidence is abundant. To begin, our own governments admit that they employ “propaganda” purposefully to manipulate public thought, corporations routinely employ public relations and advertising firms to carefully craft an image or “need” in the public’s mind, and a significant number of studies by universities and watchdog organizations have demonstrated how the public is regularly sold a basket full of lies, half-truths and mis-information in an effort to “manufacture consent” of the masses (as the noted linguist Noam Chomsky has put it). In the end we also have the macroscopic evidence of our own mass contradictions: We believe the U.S. to be “the land of the free” while (in fact) the U.S. incarcerates a larger percentage of its population than any other nation; We believe the U.S. (and other Western democracies) want peace while we (with the blessing of our allies) continue to wage more wars than any other nation, continue to sell more weapons to than any other nation, and continue to spend more money on war than nearly ALL other nations combined. From our deteriorating educational systems to our sickly health care networks, from our money-corrupted “democratic” processes to the politcal superiority of transnational corporations, from our addiction to dwindling petroleum reserves to our denial of our nuclear waste problems, from our miniscule funding of Earth-crossing asteroid research to our mindless race into genetic engineering, our societies are presently brimming with Intellectual Dishonesty, and the destructive potential to our humanity is literally catastrophic.

The Personal Quest For Truth

Whether or not we become (or already ARE) the modern equivalent of Roman citizens contributing to the empire’s excesses and ultimate demise, Ptolemic adherents forestalling scientific discovery and jailing “non-believers”, German gentiles politely “ignoring” the rising fascism of neighborhood Nazis, or flag-waving ditto-heads rubber-stamping the unconstitutional directives of our “commander-in-chief” is a matter of CONSCIOUS CHOICE.

The quest for truth is an inherently personal journey, for no one can tell you what you “know in your heart to be true”. On the other hand, the process for becoming Intellectually Honest is not necessarily mystical, random or trite. The are concrete steps we can (and should) take to get there.

Open-Mindedness. The quest for truth must begin, proceed and end with the decision to retain an open mind and discover whatever there is to be discovered. But we must be careful since beginning with a preconception of what we think we will find becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Perspective. Successful indoctrination by others requires that our minds be conditioned to a pattern of belief and interpretation (a “worldview”) at an early age, before we have gained the perspective which would naturally provoke questioning disbelief. In the best of all worlds, we are able to avoid commitment to a particular worldview until we have a chance to reasonably study many or most major worldviews. However, in most societies, indoctrination begins very early. So, for most people, gaining perspective requires first that they consciously suspend whatever worldview they currently possess, and then undertake a study of as many other worldviews as possible. It is important at this point to studiously avoid giving preference to one view over another. Clearly, a broad and diverse education is immensely helpful in this regard.

Pattern Recognition. Through the process of open-minded study of an array of worldviews our minds are able to gather a large number of so-called “facts” (e.g., “Science has discovered this”, “God has promised that”, “History teaches us such”, “Your mother’s family was such”.) Since the human mind is so adept at recognizing (even creating) patterns from disparate bits of data, soon we will begin to develop a coherent worldview of your own. (Caution: This is where the real dangers begin and intellectual discipline is hereafter requisite!)

Hypothesis Testing. Once we begin to form our own worldview (as opposed to the one we were force-fed as children) we must begin to try to destroy it! As paradoxical (and inefficient) as this sounds, rigorously looking for flaws (holes, contradictions, twists) in our whole worldview, as well as within our individual beliefs (sometimes we might call these “facts”), is the most important ONGOING process for maintaining Intellectual Honesty. Each bit of data which can not be explained by our worldview, or which contradicts some belief(s) within our worldview, should force us to re-examine the validity of those views. Eventually this recurring process leads us to an epistimology: Knowing HOW we know what we claim to know. This includes knowing the limits of our understanding, knowing the unresolved paradoxes and flaws of our knowledge, and keeping a keen eye out for bits of data which might impact these boundaries. Interestingly, as our epistemology grows stronger, we become more rapidly able to “smell” kernels truth versus clever-sounding but ultimately vacuous bits of white noise.

Revision. One of the most courageous aspects of Intellectual Honesty is the ability and willingness to revise our worldview (sometime radically) in the face of evidence which renders it untenable. This is courageous because we invest so much of our personality in our worldview, and sometimes superficially minor issues unravel the very fabric of our knowledge, forcing a complete re-thinking of belief systems. (Imagine how profound it was for a Ptolemic, seeing apparently small “retrograde motions” of other planets, to consider that everything they knew about the universe, their religion and the basis of political system was wrong!) In discussion with others it is often helpful to allow ourselves to take on their point of view and make the very best arguments we can against our own worldview. Not only does this sharpen our intellectual honesty, but we can entertain ourselves by watching our adversaries’ puzzled amazement as we create better arguments (both to attack AND defend our original position) than they can.

Using these basic processes not only helps maintain Intellectual Honesty but also reveals the incredible web of truths and interconnections among the many disparate aspects of life. Thus, we learn how art communicates truth with a concision and generosity not available in common language. We find the subtle analogy of the poet’s rhyme, the musician’s rhythm, the dancers’ movement, the painters’ choice of palette and stroke, the sculptors’ form. The quest for truth is personal, but truth is universal.

A Humanitarian Revolution


Will we ever be able to grab that brass ring: A humanity structured to achieve and reinforce Peace, Love & Understanding?

Crass and embittered old men are fond of calling those who dare to dream such dreams naive, but consider the reality: Humanitarian ideals are a proper goal, they are NOT naive; while a fixation on the “reality” of money and power IS cynical. Thus we are back to the original question: If we truly want to attain Peace, Love & Understanding then why should we let such cynical people make the rules? Why do we accept, tolerate and perpetuate systems which work against our hopes and dreams?

Here is a worldview upon which a Humanitarian Revolution can (and ultimately will) be based:

1. Conscious transcendence of our antiquated (and now dysfunctional) biological urges such as greed, territoriality, possessiveness and limitless reproduction.

2. Conscious transcendence of our antiquated religious systems, particularly hierarchical organizations, dogmatic rituals, and violent gods, in favor of personal and introspective spirritual practices.

3. Conscious transcendence of our antiquated social and governmental structures, particularly centralized institutions, non-defensive military, and hierarchical organizations, all of which tend to promote bad results (i.e., war, consumption) while discouraging good results (i.e., peace, increased income and savings). Instead, we will favor flat, dynamic organizations which have inherent limits on their power and are always treated as inferior to actual human beings (i.e, unlike present corporate law).

4. Ethical and practical debate conducted far ahead of investment in and commercialization of new technologies, with a focus on sustainable and homeostatic product lifecycles.

5. Recognition of which industries are properly adapted to free-markets, as well as those which necessarily require regulation or citizen ownership, with proper feedback mechanisms appropriate to the inherent limits and risks of each structure.

6. Government and laws based upon a philosophy of “Liberty & Responsibility” which achieves dynamic control by balancing individual freedoms against the requisite personal responsibilities necessary to safeguard those freedoms.

Each aspect of this Humanitarian Revolution is constructed from basic, logical premises. All technologies, industries and social mechanisms required to implement and promulgate such a revolution are available and largely in place. Only a small group of cynical and greedy people stand in the way. Will we seize or squander the moment?

Summary & Conclusions


Achieving the humanity of our dreams, the humanity we have dreamed in fact for several millenia, a world of “Peace, Love & Understanding”, is not naive, and it is possible. Many of us are growing increasingly weary of the ignorant, greedy and violent attitudes of a small group of cynical and self-absorbed power-mongers. How long will we give them our explicit or even tacit support? How long will we justify our participation within a system we know to be corrupt and patently out-of-balance?

We need to re-structure our worldview, our institutions and our economic systems if we truly hope to create a better world. If we believe in the humanity we will leave to our offspring, then we must start working (hard!) to find a path to peace, love and understanding. Working toward that is perhaps the most worthy of all life’s pursuits.

It is also important to remember, regardless of what the propagandists and spin-doctors tell us, that it is our DUTY to criticize policies which will destroy our country, our humanity, or our world. It is not appropriate, as reactionary morons shout, to “pack up and leave the U.S.” if we disagree with our government. It’s our country (and world) too. If we love our country, if we love humanity, if we love the dream of “Peace, Love & Understanding” then we must stay and fight. We must act. Now!

It is also possible that humankind will simply suffer for all eternity due to our short lifespans and even shorter memories (especially our inability to grasp the lessons of history). Perhaps we are doomed to endlessly repeat the mistakes of every generation simply because we must all travel our own path through the cycles of life, the rampant hormones of impetuous youth, the indoctrination, ignorance and blind faith of unquestioning masses, the cynical acceptance of the world’s “realities” and our own relative powerlessness. Perhaps life is meant to be suffering.

Or perhaps the solutions have always been right before our eyes… if only we had the Intellectual Honesty to ask the tough questions and then re-adjust our worldview accordingly.

In the end the question remains the same: Do we really want Peace, Love & Understanding? Let’s hope so.

Thank you for your attention, interest and concern.

Copyright 2002 Eclectic Properties
Corporation. All rights reserved.
Alter-Nation and Alter-Nation.com are Trademarks and Servicemarks of Eclectic
Properties Corporation. Used here by kind permission.

Artwork of the Month

Artwork of the Month – February 2002

Works are selected for provocative visual, intellectual,
social and/or spiritual content.. Print versions
(suitable for home or office display), with or without professional mounting
and framing, may be available for order as indicated below each display.Eclectic Artists Publishing.

“New Gods At Play”


Available as 6″x9″ print suitable
for framing at $18 each
or professionally matted and framed at $75 each.
Order
Now!
Signed by the artist upon request.

About The Art

A popular side show of 19th century circuses was the “Strong Man” who could bend large bars of iron with his bare hands. A popular delusion of 20th century governments was the “Smart Man” who could bend the world to our ego’s own will. Deception in the name of profits is at the core of each of these freak shows, but the latter (unlike the former) poses a tremendous risk even for folks who do not buy into the circus. Throughout human history mankind has demonstrated its arrogance and foolishness by trying to “Play God”… as if we truly understood the intricate and delicate workings of the universe or even our planet’s own eco-systems. Modern science and modern government, each so impressed with itself, dare to proliferate petrochemicals, for private profit, before understanding the poisonous effects on our world; dare to unleash nuclear technologies, for private profit, before understanding how to deal with its wastes or control its destructive potential; dare to disseminate Franken-foods, for private profit, before understanding the interconnected genetics of life and disease. If we WERE ready to play god, we would know the answers to basic questions we have posed for hundreds of years, such as “What is gravity?”, and “What is ‘life’?”

The Digital Impressionist captures the stark contrast of the madmen’s insatiable lust and our world’s resultingly tragic position. It’s a dangerous place of faux control were the rulers intone: “Please do not park in the driveway”, for there are new gods at play, bending the world to our own will.

Copyright 2002 Eclectic Properties Corporation.
All rights reserved.

Poet's Park

Poem of the Month – February 2002

     
     
     
     
     
     

The Arrow

Draw back the bow
And so
Set the tension
The aim may be pure
But the end is in question
For as all should by now know
Skill and fortune owe
A large debt
Each to the other

The woodsman may donate a most splendid branch
The craftsman can hone this to a delicate lance
The tinker might work to ensure a fine edge
Even eagles may offer to endow the ends

Still whimsy unfolds
As the wind ebbs and flows
Compounding the curve
Of our vast Mother’s hold

Take aim with great care
But avoid hesitation
Too much time
May test
Our fear
Not our patience

Evoke inspiration
to steady the quiver
Hearts everywhere
Depend upon you
I pray
Dear cupid
Noble marksman
Let this arrow fly true

Copyright 1995 Dean DiSandro, published and administered by Eclectic Artists Publishing.

     
     
     
     
     
     

One Brave Soul


… and she’s falling all along the path now
The cracks
and crags
of human torment
gouging flesh away
in tiny increments

While he presses on
at first oblivious
and then with effort
Directed
Toward having and knowing
The good

and the evil
The separate lifetimes,
apart and alongside
from moment to moment

Then, just as salesmen would have it
he looks back
only briefly
and stops short,
again
in a rage
with false martyrdom
He returns…
but not quickly
lays her on his muscle firmly
struggles forward
slowly
but surely

Copyright 1987 Dean DiSandro, published and administered by Eclectic Artists Publishing.

     
     
     
     
     
     

Catharsis

It was a life packed with extreme misery
Though to a casual observer it didn’t seem that way
Perhaps

Fraught early on with insecurity
With doubt in others’ sincerity
With the ominous feeling that some startled grave-robbers
Discovered your not-yet-dead body
And returned you
Unwillingly
To a life more horrible than death !

That was, then, the challenge
To return and walk a-bit better
And tell whoever might listen of a better way and a brighter place
…in our lifetimes

To listen and hear of many different experiences
Which others had lived
To learn
Personally and vicariously
The knowledge of perhaps 2,000 men
In one lifetime
Not a renaissance man but a modern man
Truly progressive
Leading humanity into new understandings
Of survival
Within this part of a coolly detached universe

Very alive
But
Very detached

You can be really cool when you live more than 30 billion years
But when you only have 30 left
Or 60, or 15
Things get a little hotter

We burned white hot
Souls on fire
The fire still burns us
Consuming our energy
Searing our flesh
‘Til the pain comes through memories
And we just suffer
Knowing the love we have shared might one day be lost

I will always love you
I have always loved you

Does true love ever die ?
Ah, but we die
Some of us over and over
With each bit of news
Which
When we are young
Removes our innocence
Dissolves the magic and fantasy of our neighborhood
Our universe
And, as we are older, kills us torturously
By revealing treasures in perilous circumstance
Setting us up as addicts
Frightened gamblers

All the while
Somber masses peer on skeptically
From their positions as servants-to-the-servants

It all seems quite silly
A perfect waste of time in an otherwise perfectible harmony
Can anybody hear me?

Now I sound like a zealot
Which is the last thing I want to be
I do not care to bludgeon anyone
into blindly accepting my beliefs
Or acting as though they do just to please me
But I do wish to forcefully put forth my views
And all associated support

In hope that I might encounter brief moments of detached inspection
And introspection
And someday
Agreement in significant numbers

But you do not agree
Nor even fane interest

If I am honest with myself I see no resolution
Unless one of our spirits is broken
And what kind of monster would wish that on another?

So I must leave you…

No more battles yielding only losers…
And I must help you
To have a happy life
And achieve your dreams too
In each way that I can
If you will allow me

And if you are honest
What do you see ?

After so many years of effort
Let us at least hold on to our love
And our fondest memories
And our friendship

Yet, this will not happen until we accept our sad reality
Move to end our torments
Feel all of our feelings
Seek relief through catharsis
And suddenly awake

Amongst grave-robbers
Who are startled

And scramble like the thieves they so often are

Only this time they were giving
And sometimes we must be takers

So we take our lives back
Accepting the challenge
To walk a-bit better

I have always loved you
I will always love you.

Copyright 1992 Dean DiSandro, published and administered by Eclectic Artists Publishing.

About The Poetry


Ah yes, red February, the month of Love! These poems offer three contrasting views of love… The first at a hopeful beginning, the second at a point of dutiful struggle, the last at a tormented parting. With each revealing, in its turn, the complexities of a single heart, what calculus must be applied to understand the interaction of two?

 
Copyright 2002 Eclectic Properties Corporation.
All rights reserved.
Alter-Nation and Alter-Nation.com are Trademarks and Servicemarks of Eclectic
Properties Corporation.
Used here by kind permission.            
 

Steal a Song

February 2002

JOIN NOW!     And be
sure to purchase Alter-Nation’s latest CD, Change
the System!. You can also use these links to contact Rockin R Records regarding
recording your music or Eclectic Artists Publishing regarding publishing your songs.

Bending The World


Download & Play MP3 music file

Tonight, once again, I’m thinking
Question the sky, repeating
“What gives the planet powers?
Winds, earthquakes and showers…
Which grows and which devours…
Cycles that spiral through the ages.”

“How can we tell what matters?
Science – A looking glass which flatters?
Tries to discern the patterns
for bending the world unto our own will.”

Wrong answer!

Inanimate god…
smarter than we are…
clever technologies…
the cure or disease?

“Who gave these people power…
which grows uncontrolled like cancer?
Arrogantly…
bending the world unto their own will!”

Faux control!

Winter makes us want a light to shine to find an honest man
Then day becomes the night, the night turns day…
all wrong and right we obfuscate,
as Merlin’s power to fascinate replaces truth,
‘til we are blind.

Religion doesn’t know, with modern miracles, what to say…
as “Third Waves” sweep the innocent away!
Blind profits drive technology without an ethical debate…
New gods at play!

Winter makes us want a light to shine to find an honest man
Then day becomes the night, the night turns day…
all wrong and right we obfuscate,
as Merlin’s power to fascinate replaces truth,
‘til we are blind.

What science doesn’t know of ancient wisdom it obviates
as “Third Waves” sweep the innocent away!
Corruption drives the juggernaut of ignorance without debate…
New gods at play!

Just wake up!

Lyrics copyright 2000 Dean DiSandro.
All rights reserved. Used here by kind permission.

About The Song

Some people think that technology can solve everything. But profit-driven technology never delivers on its promises… we just keep opening one “pandora’s box” after another. Our science races far ahead of our ethics, our humanity, even our ability to comprehend. Only our egos allow us to “play God”… for our under-developed intellects, undeveloped ethics, corrupted institutions and abysmal history certainly do not indicate our readiness, muchless holiness. Why is there never enough time or money to thoroughly understand the risks and costs of what we want to do, but always much more of each needed to try to fix the problems our haste creates. What do we really know about petrochemical poisons? Nuclear wastes? The genetics of engineered life? The juggernaut of the military industrial economy? Is the world becoming increasingly safe or increasingly dangerous? What’s wrong with this picture? How many times will we repeat the same sorts of mistakes? Will we ever learn? Will we someday pray, “Forgive us.. we know NOT what we do”? Instead, right now, let’s JUST WAKE UP!… Then immediately stop the madness.

Buy Alter-Nation’s Change
the System! double-disk, multimedia CD now

Copyright 2002 Eclectic Properties
Corporation. All rights reserved.
Alter-Nation and Alter-Nation.com are Trademarks and Servicemarks of Eclectic
Properties Corporation. Used here by kind permission.

AlterMedia

February 2002

This may be a book, a video program,
an audio program, a lecturer, poet, show or other touring artist, or any other
form of communication which is entertaining, enrichingandeducational.click here
to join now. Have an Alter-Media recommendation?Eclectic Artists Publishing. If your
suggestion is published you will receive ONE Alter-Nation Hour to be used at your
discretion.

The Princess Bride

An ‘Instant Classic’ by Rob Reiner

( Musical Bonus: Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue” )


Alter-Nation is about nothing if it is not about love! So this month we are delight to recommend a video about romance, passion, bravery, loyalty, dedication, selflessness, good folks triumphing over evil ones, and other things which might seem “inconTHeivable” in the 21st century: Rob Reiner’s “instant classic”, The Princess Bride.

Reiner (“All In The Family”‘s original liberal foil to Archie Bunker, aka “Meathead”) has often won hearts, awards and big box office cash with hits such as “Sleepless in Seattle”, “When Harry Met Sally”, and “Stand By Me”, as well as deep cult success with his ‘rockumentary’ “Spinal Tap”. But “The Princess Bride” is that rare “once in a career” kind of film (now on video) — one which can be viewed with delight again and again, by ages 1 – 100!

It’s one of those not-to-be-forgotten classics which provides the audience with an array of re-usable insider vernacular: From the loving deferral (“As you wish!”), to the smirk (“I am NOT left handed!), the husband to wife taunt (“I’m not listening!”) to the flabbergasted, (“InconTHeivable!”) and even the mild refutation (“This word, ‘inconceivable’, I do not think it means what you think it means”).

The cast includes wonderful cameos by Billy Crystal, Peter Falk, Carol Cane, and stellar performances Wallace Shawn, (opera singer) Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest, Chris Sarandon, the dashing Cary Elwes, the gorgeous Robin Wright (in her film debut)… even (pro-wrestler) Andres The Giant, plus music by Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits). This is NOT a video to be rented… this is a MUST in your multimedia library!

Now be sure to tell your friends, Alter-Nation is NOT just overt makes-me-mad politics… sometimes it is love, comedy and happy-endings.

MUSICAL TIP OF THE MONTH

Miles Davis: “Kind of Blue”

  


Stroll into a New York jazz club in 1958, just before you are supposed to perform for a live recording, drop some roughly sketched chord structures in front of your bandmates (which they have never seen before this moment!) and take out your trumpet.

Pop quiz: What do you end up with?

Answer: If you are Miles Davis (with an absolutely all-star jazz ensemble around you) you end up with possibly the most acclaimed, widely played and timeless albums ever produced — “Kind of Blue”.

Recorded over two nights, this spontaneous gem demonstrates the communal magic unique to music (and its close kin, dance). Musical jams are perhaps the nearest humanity ever comes to the willful production of synchronicity, mental telepathy or maybe just “group think”. “Kind of Blue” is astounding testimony to this wonderous mystery of nature and the human mind.

Hypnotic, soulful, inspiring, relaxing, provocative. The perfect music for candlelight dining, snuggling in front of a roaring fire, winding down after a long day (or week), taking a long bath, laying on the grass and starring up at the stars, licking your wounds or getting out of a funk, or even sitting in a pitch black room contemplating all things — of this world or any other. For any lover of music, and especially lovers, “Kind of Blue” is the epitome of the recording industry’s longtime marketing mantra: “Your best entertainment value”.


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