Dear Friend and Reader:
I’VE BEEN SPENDING this last week after election night trying to catch up on some rest. As many of you who have been blogging with me this past week know, I feel as though I’ve been processing this year’s campaign through my immune system. I was working out the stress of accumulated worry over whether or not we would have the same old, or would we be bidding farewell to that phase in our history and moving on to a new chapter.
In an op-ed called “Goodbye to All That” Atlantic Monthly’s conservative columnist Andrew Sullivan wrote in what would be a ringing endorsement of Barack Obama, that his candidacy (and now his presidency) signalled the possibility of the long-awaited end of partisan politics and the culture wars born from the 1960s and the Vietnam War era. He said:
At its best, the Obama candidacy is about ending a war—not so much the war in Iraq, which now has a moВmentum that will propel the occupation into the next decade—but the war within America that has prevailed since Vietnam and that shows dangerous signs of intensifying, a nonviolent civil war that has crippled America at the very time the world needs it most. It is a war about war—and about culture and about religion and about race. And in that war, Obama—and Obama alone—offers the possibility of a truce.
As a member of the latter half of the Boomer generation, I was in eighth grade when Richard Nixon beat Vice-President Hubert Humphrey for the Presidency, elected on the premise of ending the Vietnam war started by the Democrats. His election ushered in the new era of post-Kennedy Republican conservatism — strong on foreign policy and moderately generous in social programs popular in the sixties. At the time, George H.W. Bush was Congressman for the state of Texas, and Ronald Reagan completed his first year as governor of California.
The Vietnam era ushered in the Nixon-Reagan-Bush brand of conservatism, bringing us almost half a century of Republican rule in the White House, which finally ended, at least for the Bushes, last Tuesday night. It completed itself not only with the landslide electoral vote victory for Barack Obama as President, but also with the losses of John E. Sununu, Republican Senator of New Hampshire, son of former George H. W. Bush’s White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu, and North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole, wife of former Senator Robert Dole.
This will be the first time since 1952 that neither a Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Dole or anyone from that school of conservatism will be in the White House or the Capitol Building, ending a long chapter of power in Washington D.C. It was with that generational group, most of them “made” through World War II, that most of the 1960s culture wars were waged between the forces of the Establishment and the counter-culture. But with their passing, and Obama’s win, is this really as Sullivan suggests the end of the culture wars that sprung from the Vietnam Era? I think not.
Even as Obama prepares to ascend to the Presidency, we’re reminded all too painfully from the reactions at republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s rallies of the dark heart of racism that still exists in this country. California’s Proposition 8, which denies same-sex couples the right to marry is another form of that dark repression, trying to contain the fruits of the civil rights and the feminist movement to end sexism which started in the 1960s and flowered in the 70s. As a heterosexual woman, I am reminded that this initiative, like all the others I have watched in my lifetime, says “only procreative sex between married heterosexuals matters to the state.” Roe v. Wade remains a cultural and social lightning rod as Obama eyes Supreme Court appointments.
In Cosmos and Psyche, Richard Tarnas said that even as we pass through historic cycles of revolution, repression, conservatism and rebellion as well as the reaction to these cycles, these phases don’t just end. We all carry within us the marks of those phases of time. We are now in the center of the gears called Saturn and Pluto, turning like the largest wheels on the clock, with Uranus coming intermittently to trip these wheels to a slightly different trajectory, moving the machine of the cosmos ever forward by the fuel of dynamic tension. In fact, here is a money quote from Tarnas’ book:
Saturn-Pluto alignment periods are also characterized by displays of personal and collective determination, unbending will, courage and sacrifice; by intensely focused silent strenuous effort in the face of danger and death, by a deepening capacity for moral discernment born from experience and suffering and by transformation and forging of enduring structures, whether material, political or psychological.
Though I am enamored of Sullivan’s sentiments in “Goodbye to All That,” in my heart of hearts, I know we’re in for a longer battle than that which started from post-Vietnam polarization. We’re in a struggle between forces that want to maintain the stability of conservative ideals rooted in the past versus those who see and feel the need for cultural, sexual, racial, environmental and economic breakthrough. It’s the battle between the imperial and the egalitarian, and a war between the morally certain and the spiritually unbound.
In order for us to evolve, to move the machinery of humankind and the world we live in forward, the operational word is and must be forward, in spite of each upset. Forward, instead of every attempt to scream, bully, shout and create ballot initiatives to stop the movement of human evolution. Forward. For some, there has been a “goodbye” to the racial and cultural expectations we fought against so hard in the 1960s and 70s. For others, the struggle remains for women to safeguard their self-determination for their bodies, and for equal rights for human beings of all gender persuasions to pursue their happiness and security openly within society.
Even though a setback like Proposition 8 coming on the heels of an historic Obama victory makes us see that “Goodbye” might be premature, and we look warily at the battles ahead of us, we are marching through time with even more determination, more tools and less likelihood of wanting to stay stuffed in closets or shouted down by bullies on talk radio and threatened by bombing at family planning clinics. Because we have tools like the internet to organize resistance. Because we’ve got time, we carry the fight inside us as we move through the generations. And because we’ve got us, joined by love, we’ve got this promise of one day, seeing the fruits of the transformation and the forging of a new evolved structure of being for humanity, which waits for our willingness to claim it in our sights.
Rest period is over. Gotta move. It’s time.
Forward.
Yours and truly,
Fe Bongolan from San Francisco
Gosh, you make me feel like a happy person.
People are living longer, so far. So we employ a bunch of old fossils in our government. Now age can mean wisdom, but it can also mean rigid old curmudgeons.
I am jazzed about this younger generation thing. Was Dean (what was his first name, you know the yahoo guy) the one behind the dems superb internet campaign? I believe so. He perfected the strategy he used when he ran for office. Haven’t been to Obama’s site but a youngster (if you are a what I term a youngster, it is a compliment, you guys did good) told me that you have to give an email address when you go there and then you are on their mailing list and are given regular updates. Anyway, how about the generation with Pluto in Scorpio. This is where it is happening. Does this forecast anything for the future?
The Pluto in Libra just ran around in circles playing computer games? We couldn’t figure them out so we started labelling them with letters of the alphabet. The alphabet kids. (You are what you are, no offense, I just don’t get it, generationally speaking. Fill me in.) Maybe they are just the transition generation. Let er fall? I don’t really know. But I think these Scorpionic Plutonians are gonna kick ass. And what wonder will we find when them Saggies hit the age of responsibility. Am I the only one whose little people are extremely observant and intuitive?
Now I was relieved when Obama got the gig. I felt relieved of responsibility. And then I listened to Prairie Home Companion on Sunday (for some reason I dusted off my radio) and Keilor was talking about the same feeling. Turning it over to the younger generation. What resulted was one of the most creative shows I have ever heard him do. The Leonine Plutonians burst out of the cage with a creative intensity that brought tears of joy.
I thought back to the writing on this site. Don’t ask me who, I’m still getting to know you folks. Who was it that woke up with pulsating thighs, a Virgoan Plutonian. Maybe, maybe not. But for a few brief moments, it all seemed to make sense.
I guess my question to you is something like this. You are astrologers. Is there a way to understand how we and those before us have manifested in the world through astrological placements? If it is Plutonian waves or Neptunian or whatever, how do these natal energies affect the generations. And how do our lives play into that? A side note: psychology tells us that children’s values are shaped between the ages of 9 and 11.
The family before you did what they did, but you learned from it. You made a choice. Your choice is different. And your children’s choices may be different from yours. You don’t want to go back. Support evolution. It’s the best we can do.
I’m too positive tonite. Time to pack up and go to town hall for a meeting. That should take me down at least a couple of notches. Yahoooooooooooooooo
You are students of astrology? When you look at astrology what
jlo:
The original question was:
“As survivors of this generational continuum based on actual large-scale war and long-term global tensions, what scars are we bringing into the millennium that could impede our progress?”
You hit this one straight up at the top of your post, bypassing the analysis. Kudos:
“I think we have to manage the “this is what happened”. This is also where we are “confused” (misled) by our powers that be. If history repeats itself, it’s only because we allow that type of behavior.”
The past is a scar. History, if written fully and studied well, could allow us a fact-based break between habitual motion-action-reaction and on to thinking outside the box.
I think we have to manage the “this is what happened”. This is also where we are “confused” (misled) by our powers that be. If history repeats itself, it’s only because we allow that type of behavior. We’re all intelligent enough to see how this world is turning out, and intelligent enough to discover a different pathway. This definitely extends into our personal realms but,… it’s enough on the planet to talk shit about!
We’re bringing some trump cards here, the Tower and Art ring some bells for me. So many more reads I wouldn’t offer…. It comes down to each of us, where do we see ourselves? Will we rise above that which has come before? Is what we’re meant to be etched in the stones that we carry? (The ones that sink us to our graves?)
These times are about living, life, love…. Truly, they are! The more we share, the better off we are! We all have something inside of us that won’t allow us the privelege to display our beings to the masses… we must let that go! We have to engage the capacity of being our own individuals!
I think I slightly missed the query Fe! (Head down while smiling slyly!)
Love and Peace,
Jere
jlo:
Your comments raises an interesting point about moving past the time of the generations built by World Wars. In fact, we’re getting close to the passing of the generations built by the Cold Wars. These wars were the signature of the 20th century.
So where does that leave us?
As survivors of this generational continuum based on actual large-scale war and long-term global tensions, what scars are we bringing into the millennium that could impede our progress?
I’ve gotten to the point where I need no job, stacked fourth house, and a mom (whom I stopped calling mom at mid teen years, she’s “Jen” now, a real person, a friend.), and I’m cool with where our relationship has traversed. I will eventually at some point have to find my own reality but, as long as she’s here, I’ll kick it with her, and except the reality that both of us have to share. That doesn’t mean I’ll adhere to her reality, it only means I will listen, as much as she’ll disclose, and I’ll do my best to rectify/set in straights the FEELINGS she has felt, is feeling.
I feel like the parent to my parents, they were very young, my dad a product of Viet Nam (25th infantry, draftee, Tet offensive, … they got their asses kicked!). My father, Nicolai never came to grips with what transpired in his life. He had some hard hits and he reflected that down on his offspring. I’ve had to work through,not only my own B.S., but that of ancestry past! That, and a Grand father who Navied up to wwII, along with the rest of his family (which is a story in itself!?!) The history is rich. Viewing this, I have to say…… do what it is you see to do. Be you. DON’T EVER THINK YOU OWE!!!!!!
Be Love if you can manage it, or just be!…..
Lovingly, Jere
jlo:
Agreed. Simple acts of kindness create energy towards forward movement. Enough of us doing that is an immense fuel.
Bkoehler and jlo:
Its highly possible that the entire world could succumb to the dark side, but I have alot of faith in humanity, simply because I’ve seen enough dark side to last me this human iteration.
Sometimes I feel as though my job here is to bear witness. Compassionate witness to everything that is happening to us. I feel it in the friends that I have and with what interests me. Needless to say when Eric called me to do this here at PW, I never imagined how difficult and absolutely compelling it would become.
One day, when the time is right, I’ll share the rest of my story and what I do. In the meantime, I feel a natural groove, being here. Its a soul home for me. And to share history of the world and the country with like spirits is always replenishing.
The fruits last only as long as we give the tree attention, nurturance, and, love. Luckily there’s an “underground” of compassion. Those who will set themselves to the task of sharing, awareness, and general Love. To those, I profess a deep appreciation that will only be known in our soul,…
For all those, who’ve stood fastidious, reckoning beyond this existence…. Your part has been dually noted and, contributed to the exorcism of ineptitude within our societies.
We are here to learn as much as to act, and teach. We have the capacity to pull this universe forward, as long as we are aware of *all* the “differences” between individual perception, and to work toward an equanimitous future.
(So much more to say but,… “steps” is where we’re at!)
Love all,
Jere
As someone who remembers when there were no TV’s in my neighbors’ homes, and then in the 50’s when there were, we all watched “I Love Lucy” because there were only 3 channels to choose from, and Walter Cronkite, because he was just the most honest and intelligent person alive. Well, we’ve come a long way baby. In those days, I think even the grown-ups believed the images we were fed as to how Americans lived, dressed and behaved. There were NO images of mis-behaving, and certainly no scripts that would offend the middle-class (white) parents who watched with their children.
This week I saw on Monday night, “Boston Legal” movingly dramatize the abortion controversy; on Tuesday morning, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” quoted (not sure who) saying “fuck it” with much enthusiasm. This afternoon, the CNN anchor described how a young (probably Mexican, I didn’t catch the first part) boy was beaten beyond belief by a gang of another race, describing it as a hate crime. Then he dramatically described how he was brutally sodomized, and how many, many operations the (as he called him) kid had to go through to repair him. Then very seriously, the anchor looked at the camera and told us that the boy had committed suicide.
I’ve seen the fruits of transformation over time and this is a small example of how far we have come. Although not always pretty, we do evolve and consciousness expands. Only with determined grit on the part of people like Fe and many of the PW contributers, notably Eric Francis, can we continue to add successes, seemingly small at the time, so that “the new evolved structure of being for humanity” will be one day be a reality.