What now? Civility.

One of the main messages that Radical Right politics has promulgated is that the only people worthy of the good things in life are entrepreneurs, and of them only the successful ones. The joke goes, I think, that we have no poor people in the United States, we only have temporarily frustrated millionaires. The ideal of the self-made business success story pervades our media and culture, our language, our though patterns, and our very conceptions of reality – what we believe is even possible. Many New Age belief systems elevate financial success as a sign of being spiritually evolved, universities require academics to market their work, and we tend to feel personal guilt and low self-worth when we are not making ends meet. In the 19^th century, bankruptcy was often accompanied by suicide. The woman who jumped to her death in Spain recently, simply because she lost her home, may be a specter of the same thinking.

The irony, at least in the realm of political leadership, is that many of the men preaching entrepreneurship as an ideal are not entrepreneurs themselves. Their daddies, or their granddaddies, were. When public policy punishes the financially unsuccessful or unambitious through cutting social safety nets, gutting education, stripping legal protections and funneling more and more poor folks into prisons, the men creating and pushing these policies are, at best, basing their decisions on an abstract ideology their fathers taught them from anecdotal experience, at worst transferring their own fears of inadequacy onto society’s most vulnerable. It’s like the kid who gets beaten by his father at home, then goes to school and beats up the littlest kid on the playground.

It’s bullying, on a systemic level.

There are many of us who are simply not entrepreneurs. Some of us are scholars, some are spiritual seekers and contemplatives, some are artists, some are healers, nurses, public servants, gardeners, gifted ditch diggers and visionary educators. We do the things we do because the doing makes us feel alive. And all of these gifts are valuable to the greater society. Speaking as an artist, contemplative and scholar, every minute I spend trying to market my work feels like it’s draining my lifeblood. But I will work passionately, twenty-four/seven, if I’m allowed to simply do what I’m put on this earth to do.  

A truly civil society allows all of its members to express their gifts, without necessarily having to also market those gifts as products and services. In our world the way it is, it’s a nice marriage when an artist finds an entrepreneurially inclined person to market his work. But an artist’s very survival shouldn’t depend on being able to find an agent. When we have to scramble to find patrons to take us under their wings and agents to slay our dragons, we’re looking at feudalism again. It’s the same when a contemplative needs to buy into a specific religious doctrine simply to have a monastery in which to be supported to pray, or when a scholar has to work herself to death as an academic bureaucrat just to do the research she values.

So far, our Liberal-democratic system of governance has been constantly developing and evolving so that the gifts of all can in fact be expressed with minimal distraction. The reason we haven’t bought pure communism is that we acknowledge entrepreneurial people, and the majority of us feel these folks should be allowed to express their gift and be rewarded for it to some degree. And the reason we haven’t bought pure free-market capitalism is that we value the gifts of non-entrepreneurs, and that we also acknowledge we have a moral imperative as a society to provide for the basic needs of all, even those whose gifts we don’t recognize yet. The constant push-pull of conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats, has kept this system in a state of equilibrium that has allowed the ship of state to move forward, and democracy to continue its painfully slow growth process.

The ship has leaned so far to the right lately it has almost capsized, in the U.S. and all over the world, because of flaws in our system that have allowed certain greedy interests to shape policy to their own financial benefit. The democratic revolutions in the Middle East, the protests against austerity in Europe, and the recent Democratic victories in the United States are all indicators that we may, thankfully, be able to lean our ships of state back to the left a little bit, and that humanity is not buying the laissez-faire capitalist ideology. But the ship is taking in water, people are falling overboard, and the moneyed interests are not going to give up yet.

I’m feeling hopeful right now, though. I think one thing the U.S. elections showed us is that more money does not exactly correlate to more votes. Yes, I’m sure it had a lot of sway; things would no doubt be a lot “bluer” if corporate giants didn’t own all of the mainstream news media and possess unlimited campaign spending power. But we still got Barack Obama back in office, and more Democrats in Congress than we might have hoped for. I think it actually turned a lot of people off to be constantly bombarded by negative political ads on TV, and that many of those in the middle politically chose to go with the party that was displaying decency, humor, compassion, and moral and social responsibility, and was finally showing the huevos to stand up for gay, women’s, and immigrants’ rights.

I find it especially exciting that here in Arizona, we are electing to Congress Kirsten Sinema, who wrote a book on how to work with people we disagree with (she should know, as a Democrat who cut her teeth in Arizona’s ultra-conservative legislature), and Ron Barber, who founded the Fund for Civility, Respect and Understanding as a positive response to being brutally shot by an armed gunman in the January 8^th, 2011 shootings. The Fund for Civility is dedicated to working on issues of bullying and access to mental health resources, among other projects. It’s poetic that these people who have experienced some of the worst of what a violent, selfish, and irresponsible ideology can produce, and who have responded with love, patience and creativity, are going to Congress to represent us.

These times have been incredibly divisive, and I think that’s one reason many of us came away from Tuesday’s elections not exactly ebullient - we were simply exhausted from the stupidity and excess of overfunded campaigns, and from having to fight like hell just to hold on to things we thought were our birthright – decency, fairness, equality, justice, the possibility of peace… Right now we are a country divided, and that is the greatest danger to our democracy – much greater than leaning too far to the right or left. We have a lot of nasty policy to clean up over the next few years, and crises to be averted and fixed, but more than that we need, on a cultural level, to reclaim our civility. Barack Obama has been a model of the commitment to civility. We have a few more models in Congress now. And we can each contribute in our own way to making this a more civil society, where everyone’s worldview is respected and where every person has the political and social space in which to self-actuate. In every moment, we can choose to interact with each other in a way that does no harm. We can commit to living by the Golden Rule. To be compassionate is, in fact, a political act. The only cure for hate is Love. It's up to every one of us. 

A New Choice: Does More Money Equal More Votes?

We’re winning. 

I think we all know that we can’t solve our problems merely by throwing money at them, or more pointedly, that more money does not necessarily equal more solution. Ironically, it has been the strong suit of old-school conservatives to point this out, ideally helping keep government programs and bureaus streamlined, efficient, and accountable. I say ironically – because the new-school neo-conservatives running the GOP are throwing money at their campaign like there’s no tomorrow. (Well, there obviously is no tomorrow in the Radical Right’s worldview, for example – its pathological lack of responsibility toward our planet’s environment and future generations.) I think it’s a promising sign, actually.

It means that their usual fight-or-flight mentality (which in its low-grade, day-to-day state merely keeps them unimaginative yet calculating,) is in full panic mode. They’re being just plain stupid now. Like the Chimera when she realizes Odysseus just isn’t falling for it. Or Mystique when the Wolverine has bested her.

The “omney yan” yard signs should be the first clue that something is out of balance. Have you seen them? So poorly designed that the “R”s are almost invisible. Maybe the campaign couldn't find a single graphic designer with an ounce of imagination who would work with them. Or perhaps some clever graphic artist sabotaged the logo by underdesigning it, and still brought home a good paycheck. (Kudos, if some artist pulled that one off!) The Republican Party can probably afford to dust every street corner in the nation with these yucky signs. But does more yuckiness mean more votes? 

The coup de grace, though, is the new spate of Republican ads on YouTube. Now, I’m not sure of the exact demographic that tunes in to YouTube, but I’m guessing it’s one that is generally more informed, creative, engaged, critical, and interactive than the one vegging out in front of The Tube at prime time. In other words, the Far Right is probably not going to find a large fertile field for its narrow, selfish platform here. On top of that, the ads they’re running are the obnoxious kind that can’t be turned off after a few seconds. I guess this type of ad costs more money. So of course they can afford it. And the ads are bad! The color schemes, the editing, the writing… just plain bad art, funded by people whose aesthetic sense is blinded by fear-based ideology. 

So what they’re doing is using their superior spending power to create an ugly and obnoxious presence on YouTube that will probably turn people already unsympathetic to their agenda even more strongly against them. Spend away, boys! Keep those big bucks rolling in to populist online information hubs! We can endure your ugly ads for another month, I suppose.

My hope is, of course, that this annoyance will get young YouTube watchers to actually vote.

What’s really exciting about this phenomenon, though, is that it’s a harbinger of a potential sea change in consciousness. The less it feels the need to hide behind a mask of average American values, the more the Extreme Right is showing us all what it truly is and who is behind it. It’s the same way the villain in an epic adventure takes off his disguise for the final confrontation, when he’s sure that he’s winning. It’s a sign of overconfidence and narrow vision. (For those who feel my references to fictional stories weaken my argument, remember that our mythologies are a reflection of real processes in our psyches. And our institutions are a macrocosm of ourselves. Or so Socrates implies.)

We may be coming to a point in time where the majority of voting-enabled Americans will be presented with a fresh new choice. And God knows they’ve been longing for one. The choice is no longer between two fairly reasonable political ideologies. As well, it is not between two puppets spouting differing policy stances but still in the pockets of corporate power - the "lesser of two evils." Please get over these old scripts; one is antiquated and erroneous and the other is debilitating to the spirit. 

The choice we have before us is between beauty and ugliness. Between love, music, creativity, intelligence, responsibility, care, compassion, diversity, fertility, aliveness, sexiness, and humor, and a pale, fearful, monochrome worldview that negates all of these. We are coming to a time where our survival as a democratic state may actually depend on the electorate going with their gut. The Right no longer feels accountable to factual truth. Yes, that’s another sign of pathological thinking and moral bankruptcy, but maybe there is a bright side; when facts become so clouded and inaccessible that rational choice becomes difficult, it forces one to go with feelings and intuition. (It’s the whole point of a Zen koan to confound the logical brain, hence opening the doors of the mind for spontaneous wisdom.) The overworked, underpaid, malnourished, ill-informed, frustrated majority of Americans with no time to research the issues is going to have to decide, on feeling, whether to go with those guys who are beating us over the head with excessive, ugly, divisive, negative ads, or the ones who can’t afford as much airtime. Since the life-affirming doesn’t get much voice in the mainstream, the average American may have to gamble on the ones not making as much noise, may have to step into The Unknown.

Yes, I’m talking about the Big Shift here. Most of those still reading this have done some sort of inner work that required them to step outside of their comfort zone for the sake of their souls, whether through mainstream therapy or through spiritual work. In the lives of most adults there comes a point where, for the sake of health, survival, or merely happiness, we are faced with a choice to let go of old destructive behaviors and beliefs. This process always requires surrender to feeling and intuition. I think we as a nation are coming to the same place in our collective story. (Remember Plato? The larger is a reflection of the smaller, and vice-versa.)

Will we make the step? It’s anybody’s guess. I think something else is being challenged, too. Our faith. It’s a sad side effect of critical thinking that it can lead to a pessimistic outlook on the future of humanity, or at least for America. So the challenge for critical thinkers is to stay positive, trust that one way or another we’re going to be ok, and remember that there is a younger generation of people not so hardened by disappointment; they’re the ones who got Obama into the White House in the first place, against all odds, purely on innocent faith and youthful energy. Remember that. Remember that the way Christians remember that “Pharaoh’s army got drowned in the Red Sea,” or the way Jews remember the Menorah candles staying lit. Try some faith. You don’t have to be religious.

What can we do on the ground? Encourage voting. Vote. It’s not just about the Presidency – we need a Congress that can work with Obama or we will suffer four more years of struggle and stagnation. We can’t afford that. And we need state governments that will not waste our time and resources bucking national policy based on localized bigotry. Work for progressive congressional candidates in swing districts. There’s one near you, no doubt, worth a few hours’ drive if necessary - here's a good place to find out: House races: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/house/2012_elections_house_map.html 
Senate Races: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/senate/2012_elections_senate_map.html

The Deep Sacred Night

The Deep Sacred Night

Fall has always felt like a sacred time in my life. I guess it’s a favorite here in Tucson, when the blowtorch of summer is turned down a notch and it’s actually pleasant to be outdoors, and we all come out of hibernation. Overlay that with the more general cultural mythical undertones of the harvest, reaping, the death necessary for Spring’s rebirth, and it’s a recipe for magic. For me, the All Souls Procession is a perfect expression of this mystical time. Spring also has its giddy form of sanctity in the Sonoran desert: the Yaqui Easter ceremonies, the intoxicating smell of orange blossoms, the ethereal green of brand-new mesquite leaves…

A new deeply sacred season has been added to my own liturgy. Maybe other Tucsonans are feeling it too. For personal reasons, it begins for me in early December, and will probably go through the end of January. I’m not sure yet, because this is year one.

On December 7th of 2010, a very sweet and beloved member of my circle of friends, Marta, was killed in a mindless auto accident by a young man who ran a red light to avoid an encounter with the police. As happens with these freak tragedies, a whole community of people was thrust into a period of emotional rawness, the questioning of reality that goes with shock, a search for meaning, speculation on how such a stupid tragedy could have been avoided, the contemplation of mortality and life’s value – all culminating in a strong desire to keep Marta’s joyful spirit alive somehow in ourselves and in the world. What we experienced is also known as the Mystery.

In poetic terms, a period of grief and loss is a time when the veil between the worlds is thin. Whether you believe in a life beyond or not, pragmatically grief is a time when these reflections and feelings can give us a deeper experience of aliveness, catalyze inner growth, and inspire creative responses that actually do keep a person’s legacy (or spirit) alive in the world – immortal. So when I refer to the veil between the worlds, I’m talking about more than the abstract or faith-based idea of an afterlife. I’m talking about (for lack of better words for it) the veil between what is here now and what is possible. The Mystery is a quantum moment.

The key to the Mystery is in our hearts. There’s no “answer” to it – there’s only the feeling of it.

Almost exactly a month later, on January 8th, the entire Tucson community was thrown into grief over another freakishly violent tragedy, perpetrated by another scared young man (this one profoundly disturbed). That it was an attack on a member of the U.S. Congress made the story personal all over the country, and the world.

I think we all get a little emotionally worn down and stressed out by the holidays. At a time of the yearly cycle (here in the Northern Hemisphere) when our mammalian instinct is probably leaning toward slowing down, fattening up, reducing productivity, sleeping, reflecting and relaxing, we are instead thrown by our culture into a juggling act of obligations, expectations, expenses and social engagements, all stitched together by the complex emotional web of intrigue that our families and materialist culture have normalized for us from birth. Even if one can avoid it in one’s own practices (such as choosing not to give presents, or staying home from holiday parties) one would have to hang out in an isolation tank for two months not to bump up against the general feeling. Of course, enmeshed with all of this are moments of joy, familiarity and comfort in spending time with loved ones, some we only see only once a year – it can be such a loving time of year too.

The holidays we celebrate around the winter solstice come between the death/harvest holidays of fall and the rebirth holidays of spring. Because we can’t celebrate the rebirth yet – plants are dormant – we celebrate the return of the light in the midst of a long, dark night. Whatever our spiritual tradition, or whatever shape the story takes, the light is generally tenuous, vulnerable and even tiny, and the night is fearsome and consuming. It takes a miracle. It’s also kind of an abstract concept compared to the drama of the first freeze of fall or the first green buds of spring – the solar cycle is so slow and subtle we barely notice the days getting longer at solstice. It is a tiny change. But as the days go on we see that it’s really getting lighter. The seeds in the ground, and the branches of the trees, in their own slow, slow, way, are sensing the change.

Maybe I’m just feeling the spirit of this season more deeply than before. Again, Tucson doesn’t exactly fit the temperate-zone mythologies we’re taught as children; our growing season is year-round for a lot of plants. Fall and spring are less dramatic here. Though it’s interesting that last year we had an exceptionally hard freeze that killed and traumatized a lot of our frost-sensitive plants, and this winter has been chillier than normal too. Maybe we’re learning a new holiday.

Last year, after the shootings, people in Tucson were all in a daze to varying degrees – trying to get through our day-to-day activities and wondering why we couldn’t even tie our shoes. The grief hit us all. For those of us who were able to slow down, take some time off, reflect, or simply take moments to be conscious of the profound thing that had just happened in our community, it was a time of great creativity and healing. The shrines are a beautiful example of the immediate creative response. Since then, there has been an explosion of creativity and activity on all levels: Gabby’s office has been flooded with art, writing, and music (as I’m sure the loved ones of the other victims and survivors have); Ron Barber and family created the Fund for Civility, Understanding and Respect; Members of Congress chose to cross the aisle for the State of the Union Address and tone down violent rhetoric; and many people have stepped out to become civically involved, or use their artistic skills in new ways. There are too many examples to name. You’re probably one of them!

This is the definition of a sacred time, I think. Holy Days. A time when we can reflect on the bigger picture, and the potential each of us has to be bigger and brighter, and the better world we can create, and are creating. I’m not saying this in some Polyanna, abstract way – the night is long, dark and scary. People are hurting. It’s by looking into that darkness, acknowledging it, humbling ourselves before it, and feeling all of the feelings of this grief that we touch the Mystery, and bring the light back.

Please be kind to yourselves and each other, and know that things are going to be a little strange, and our hearts a little raw, for the next few weeks.

I’d love to hear other people’s experiences and reflections on this time.