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I can't believe it's been seven newsletters already. Time flies. This week's is composed of a few big chunks. It includes Spotlight On Books, Why I'm A Dork, Concept of the Week, and Musings.
"The only real 'you' is the one that comes and goes, manifests and withdraws itself eternally in and as every conscious being. For 'you' is the universe looking at itself from billions of points of view, points that come and go so that the vision is forever new..." -Alan Watts
Fact Of The Day (from Asimov's Book Of Facts):
When George Washington became president in 1789, a King ruled France, a Holy Roman Emperor ruled much of Europe, a czarina ruled Russia, a shogun ruled Japan, and an emperor ruled China. Of these, only the office of President remains.
Spotlight On Books..........And More Books
I have way too many books. I've got several rooms full of books, stacks of books, bookcases full of books. And the problems is, I want more.
I have been blessed with a mother who helps run a book sale at our local library. They sell books that are donated by people in town. In return for my labor lugging books around I grab all the books that interest me. And I've been doing it for about ten years. So I've had access to an endless supply of free books.
I haven't read all of these books, probably not even most of them. A lot of them I pick up because they're classics, or good reference books or something I should get to someday. And I get to them, slowly but surely. I like the idea of having a personal library, for me and for my kids someday. So I pick up everything interesting.
Now I'm facing the task of packing up and moving out of the house. I want to start off fresh in our apartment or wherever, with a minimum of 'stuff'. I don't own much stuff besides music and books, but I own an awful lot of books. So my plan is to only take a handful (figuratively) of books with me, and leave the rest at my parents' house until I have a place with room. The decision of what books to bring might be hard, but I can always go back and switch.
It'll be different, living somewhere not coated in books. But it will be a good respite, because I envision a house wallpapered in bookshelves. My ego might not like it, because it can't show everybody what a book nut I am. That's one of my vanities I suppose, that if you walk into my room you are struck by the fact that I love books. Now I'm going to have to find another way to show my love. Maybe I'll wallpaper the place in dust jackets!
Why I'm A Dork
I don't think that I know anyone under 30 who doesn't feel that consuming alcoholic beverages is an enjoyable pastime. Most apparently consider it their favorite hobby. To me, the fascination with alcohol is very infantile, but I don't expect to meet anyone who agrees with me. Sure, I've known people who condemned it for moral reasons, but they were just pricks. I don't think it's immoral, I just think it's lame.
This is the only topic in my newsletters so far that I've been nervous about. I feel insecure on this matter, mostly because I've never met anyone that agrees with me. That tend to put you in the minority!! Therefore all of my friends in this world, everyone whom I like and admire, disagree with me and therefore wouldn't like this article. But this newsletter is about expression, so what better place to voice my lone cry.
Sure, there are others who think that drinking till you puke is lame. They'll go along with me on that. But I think that drinking alcohol in most amounts is pretty lame. Actually, let me revise that. Drinking isn't lame, it's just unimportant. The attitude people bring into it is what irritates me. It's the idea of drinking being an activity, a reason for a social gathering, or the extent of your plans for the evening. People never call you up and ask you if you want to come over Friday and drink orange juice. Why would they? The act of drinking a liquid is such an incidental, inconsequential part of life. It's nothing more than a bodily function, but if you happen to be drinking alcohol it's suddenly a social event. Imagine if everything was like that. "What are we going to do Friday?" "Oh, I thought we'd go to a few bars and take a piss."
The fact that I've never seen keg parties sponsored by Poland Springs or Tropicana tells me that the reason people love alcohol is because of its mind-effecting properties. I'm sure they enjoy the tastes of the different drinks, but they could get the taste without including alcohol. What makes drinking alcohol different than drinking other tasty concoctions is that it generates its own good time. To me, that's the stupidest way of having fun that I can think of. It's the (not-so) adult form of sniffing glue. In other words, find something else to do.
What I hate is the way alcohol becomes such an integral part of our daily activities. I have a friend who was seriously outraged at the idea of a wedding with no alcohol. Most people wouldn't blow their top like him, but they certainly grumble about it. For god's sakes, it's a WEDDING! Who cares what people serve to drink? Would people be upset if you didn't serve milk? No, they'd get something else to drink. Because IT DOESN'T MATTER!!! Imagine what people would do if you took beer away from softball, or had a party without drinks. The way people react differently when the drink concerned is alcohol shows what lunacy is wrapped up in drinking. It's not as much addiction, as attachment. It's like if you didn't let a kid have dessert. To me, all this obsession with alcohol (not to mention coffee) is childish. It's like being in Junior High again. It's all about being cool and in a clique, while at the same time playing with what's taboo and dangerous.
I have the same reaction with "recreational" drugs, like pot. There are some people who use these types of substances maturely, and I wouldn't rule out the use of mind-expanding drugs. But I'd be leery to use them because I wouldn't want to be associated with the childish way most use drugs. The idea of expanding or changing your consciousness is a powerful one; sitting around and playing Nintendo while your consciousness is altered is a stupid one. This is another case of people sitting around with nothing better to do than sniff glue, and no better way to feel part of a group, and no legitimate way to feel different than society. Using such powerful substances for no apparent reason is rather infantile. I think Jewel said it best in "My Own Private God's Gift To Women" in this sarcastic line (spoken by the guy): "It's better than watching Star Trek after you smoke weed."
I can't explain to you how silly I find all this. To take something like alcohol or pot and make it into a way to seem cool and kill time makes me sick. Almost as sick as I feel whenever I listen to Neil Young sing After The Goldrush, and the whole crowd cheers when he sings "I felt like getting high." This is not a song to cheer to, the yells have nothing to do with the meaning of the song. It's just a bunch of Junior High kids cheering when someone says 'boner' in class. How risque, that he mentioned pot in a song. And I better yell along with everybody, so I can be associated with this oh-so-rebellious counter-culture. That scene perfectly embodies what I dislike about the Beavis-And-Butthead mentality around drugs and alcohol. Apparently there's a part of every Junior High kid that never grows up, and never feels part of the crowd, and never feels cool.
Now that I've irritated everyone by trashing their hobby, let me say that I, like every other human being on Earth, am a hypocrite. I don't spend my every moment being productive and healthy, and self-assured. There are a lot of ways to waste time, and a lot of ways to clamor after the crowd and I partake of as many of them as anyone else. But that doesn't make me any less right.
Concept Of The Week
One of the most thought-provoking things that we learned about when I was at Derbyshire Farm, was consensus decision-making. I had never heard of it, but this is the method by which many intentional communities govern. It's used in other areas also, but communities was our focus, so that is where we examined it.
Consensus decision originally arose from the Quakers. One of the Quakers' major beliefs is that there is a piece of the divine in every one of us. So when someone voices their opinion, no matter how many people disagree, that opinion must be considered because it could be coming from the divine. In other words, we can't discount other people's opinions just because the majority disagrees. Any person could be speaking from the Truth, so every voice must be heard.
From these beliefs came the idea of making decisions by consensus. Consensus is the truest form of Democracy. Rather than majority rule, consensus demands that everyone must agree with a decision. Any one person can stop a decision if they feel strongly enough. The group must then consider how they can alter the decision so that everyone approves. This theory of decision-making looks uncertain on paper, but it is being used right now around the world, and it works.
In practice, there are certain procedures used in consensus. There is a moderator who guides the discussion, and who tries to keep things productive and smooth. People can choose to abstain from the vote if they don't feel strongly enough about the issue to fight it. Any one person can keep the issue from passing, or they can choose to let it go. The key to the process is the revising of the decision. If there are people who don't agree, then they voice their objections. The group discusses how they can revise the decision so that everyone will accept it. There are no silent losers her, everyone must be satisfied before a decision is made. Not everyone will be happy with a decision, but they will at least be accepting of it.
This process creates a new form of democracy. Here everyone has a voice that counts. Here it isn't numbers that count, but good ideas. Inclusive ideas. People who disagree can't be done away with by votes or rules, they must be dealt with. It's a process that centers on human interaction. You can't treat others as numbers, you must deal with them as a person, and you must listen to their beliefs. It's more than a way to govern, it's a way to be a community.
Unfortunately, consensus decision isn't viable in every situation. Numbers are a problem, as everyone must have the ability to speak out. And people must feel that they're in a trusting atmosphere where they can speak out without being faced with ridicule or anger. But it is also a way to build such an atmosphere.
I'm not involved in any groups that make decisions by consensus, but the idea vibrates throughout my life. It suggests an alternate to the win-lose paradigm, in all aspects of life. WE can try to come to consensus with our loved ones, our bosses, or our ideals. We can try to make things satisfactory for everyone, rather than raising ourselves up on the fallen bodies of others. It's a new way of going about things.
Musings
My ideal life would be one where I never had to go outside in the winter. Not living somewhere where there is no winter; I like snow. I just don't want to have to go outside. I'd like to sit inside my house with a woodstove going, and look out the window at all the snow. It's never as warm as when it's cold outside. Curl up in a warm chair and read and write, think, listen to music. I could go out for a walk if I wanted to, but I wouldn't have to go anywhere. Nowhere at all.
"I think everybody ought to quit their job and do what they want to do. You've got one life. You've got, say, sixty-five years. How on earth can you blow forty-five years of that doing something you hate?" -from Working, by Studs Terkel
The End