Hence, for instance, drug addiction. Nobody notices there is a
problem until after addiction has set in

Yet, they cannot handle simple algebra. Just who getsta decide
what intelligence is? Urban hippies didnt appreciate the subtle
complexity of agrarian life, their gardens were not nearly as
productive as they were led to believe, and they didnt believe
how much work it really was to farm organically.

"Life in a Medieval Village" was taken from the 13th century
court records of an English Midlands hamlet that was so out of
the way that none of the armies sweeping across the country had
noticed it. Here again, the complexity of the economic system
surprises modern urbanites. Its not the same daily rat race year
in, year out; some tasks, hauling firewood or water, are daily,
but most of the day's work depends on the season.

And whereas hippie communes had long meetings about what needed
to be done, in the Medieval village, everyone already knew cause
they'd all been raised doing it.

However, ever since the Hippies, there's been some young people
aware that the system was not sustainable, and looking for a new
way to organize life. And recently, the Iraq war has had much the
same effect on them the Vietnam war had, sharpening the awareness
of the exploitation needed to support the American way of life,
and the rising costs to control a smaller portion of the global
resource base.

One diff now is that whereas the Hippie communes were started by
charismatic male leaders, such as Steve Gaston ("The Farm" is an
ongoing operation still), today the leadership is female; witch
covens avoid the notorious disasters of personality cults; the
disasters at Jonestown, Waco, and Hale Bopp come to mind.

Another diff now is the email effect, where those interested can
exchange ideas and experience far beyond those they meet in their
own local communities. Whether the electronic media meetings they
now have will result in more realistic expectations and practical
ways of coping as they try to re-establish village life remains to
be seen. But done right, the payoff is enormous.

Archaeology, anthropology, sociology, neurology, brain biochemisty,
and psychology have revealed a lot about what hominids were like
in the past, what we are like now, and what will or wont work in
the decades since the Hippie communes failed. And whereas before
a young man could make a good living and support a family, today,
that social model is far less promising; costs have risen, but not
incomes. So, young women are networking with older women who have
the assets to help them raise their kids. This looks like ancient
witches managing tribal resource bases.

The women are already forming good old girl networks to help find
jobs, housing, childcare, etc, and all that remains is to setup
the profitable enterprises themselves that own the real estate to
eliminate the high costs of male management and commissions.

Good post, old bean, I enjoyed reading it.
Thanx, I've been lucky. Mostly, my points were to the neohippies I

That was sterling, Day. Thanks.
Welcome. I can only hope there is time for us to work out some

Mike Russell wrote:
That was sterling, Day. Thanks.
Welcome. I can only hope there is time for us to work out some
alternative social model before the corruption of the one we have
results in systemic collapse.

I dont think we can rely on the media for a true estimate of how
dangerous the situation is, and dont know where to get more true
and relevant data.