I hear you sister; it's like that here in suburbia where I live and the church keeps my generation busy with "good works," while the world rocks with injustice and the madness of war. And the pastor says we have no place marching in the streets, but should leave it up to our elected officials in Washington to bring this war to an end, but all I want to do is follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, that radical that upset the status quo.

The last sentence is so true. Too many Americans are overfed. Not just the shit they eat but also the bullshit they swallow. Student 'activists' who would agree to belong to an officially sanctioned campus group obviously come from the overfed camp. They can do things to make themselves feel better without taking any risks that might actually rock the boat enough to get someone or something thrown overboard. My advice to any young activist out there today: you won't change our system by joining it.
Hoa binh

Activism has been co-opted to fall inline with what the University donors-read: corporate donors want from their pool of hirable automatons. If the voices do not meet the standards set by university rules, then the donors threaten to withdraw said funding. The state no longer funds the majority of university programs.

I think that following WW2, the influx of more people having access to higher education led to the civil uprisings in the 60s and 70s. Just like the deregs of the government starting w/ Reagan, and public knowledge and outrage over the criminal activities of Nixon, our government working with the CEOs of this country decided to never let this happen again. Clinton's impeachment was a farce, meant to make sure that most Americans would consider any future acts like this just as laughable. Look at how protestors are portrayed in the media, they are given almost the same smear job as 9/11 'truthers' (my apologies to this group, I support you)

They can't blatantly prevent people from their college degrees but they can damn well make sure that what the students learn and how they operationalize it does not change the status quo.

Most if the students I knew in school knew that what was happening was wrong, but the control was so tight that many students feared for their ability to stay in school, a loss of financial aid, or denial of any good paying job if found out they were busted for drawing outside the lines.

Blowing our minds had that effect. Their WOD had their desired effect--uniformity.

This is the near-end result of the disillusionment with the government-subverted protest movements begun in the 1960s. They went from protesting to "working within the system," and to "thinking globally, acting locally," to now just the appearance of action – enough to discourage everyone. The problem is that there is no overarching political cause, of the sort that Communism claimed to provide, along which to envision and interlock dissent. The closest thing is that tired, ambiguous perennial fiction, Jesus – whose supporters provide soft support to the right wing and no logical or scientific political vision.

So what's the answer? Is there an answer? Will anyone care? Will anyone change? We're screwed. That's it. Nobody protests any longer because nobody feels they can change anything or that its worth changing anything. Kids don't give a shit because they aren't able to see anything they do causing change. We have also been pushed into a mindset that says if its not done quickly, its not worth doing. Kids don't want to put in the effort to something if they don't immediately see results. Politicians count on the fact that they can prevent meaningful change and make sure each successive generation wants to change things even less than the one before. We're screwed because no one's proposed answer is actually going to change anything. Its a fantasy to think that the scales will fall from the eyes of youth, its too late and fascism is on its way.

Symbols and cognitive viability of what it means to be a human being entail recognition of one's spirituality and integrity in cultural terms. The scope of our 'culture' achieves uniformity in a variety of ways. Some that come to mind:
- conflation of spiritual seeking with abrogation of basic tenets eg. as found in how the 10 commandments are used - thou shalt not kill, etc. as used by religious power brokers promoting war
- conflation of an economic history of genocide and usury with 'democracy'
- conflation of fear with security claimed to be available only through further abrogation of the above
- the assertion that peace is a goal and not a journey on a path. All successful peace movements - 'satyagraha' Gandhi, King, Solidarnosc in Poland studied the essential quotidian aspects of respect and love of all human beings.

"Externalized" identity according to a system that hides the truth, truncates history and deems any theology other than its own to be valid denies the normative scope of that theology and might be worth taking up in threshing sessions. What was quaintly referred to as 'consciousness raising' back in the 60s.

Howard Zinn did not publish A Peoples History of the United States until 1980.

In the 60-70s the radical (meaning root) reading was of denied texts in a politically charged period. Today it would seem that the 'root'includes the theological in that conflation of religion with politics by the executive branch is conflated yet again at a secondary level with ersatz allusions to the separation of church and state.

How do these students define 'conscience' and development of same?

Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone 1919:
"both morals and sound policy require that the state should not violate the conscience of the individual. All our history gives confirmation to the view that liberty of conscience has a moral and social value which makes it worthy of preservation at the hands of the state. So deep in its significance and vital, indeed, is it to the integrity of man's moral and spiritual nature that nothing short of the self-preservation of the state should warrant its violation; and it may well be questioned whether the state which preserves its life by a settled policy of violation of the conscience of the individual will not in fact ultimately lose it by the process." Stone, The Conscientious Objector, 21 Col. Univ. Q. 253, 269 (1919).

SIOUXROSE----thanks so much for shedding so much Light on the past and the current state of affairs from your considerable grasp of planetary influences.

Would just expand some on the idea of personal response to these challenges posed by the celestial bodies. My understanding is that whether it be an individual chart, or the chart of any larger entity, the influence of the planets' movements and aspects works as a set of influences, some more compelling than others, to catalyze growth/lessons/change.

I see these over arching influences as setting up all the plotline of our current story. What matters is that in spite of all these pressures, for lack of a better word, exerted by the planets, we still have free will and can act within broader context or react to them as we choose. It really is up to us what we want to do in the face of these powerful influences.

For example, we know that the medium of TV can have a grest deal of influence, if we choose to let it, by watching. And while we may choose to throw ours out and shrug off that influence, many around us will not make the same conscious effort to mitigate its effects on them. Thus our interpretation of "reality" may seem entirely different.

I think that while the planets make it harder to resist the tendencies they bring to the surface, it still is possible to say, " Violence seems to be celebrated all around me, still I choose the path of peace."

What I'm saying badly is that I see the planets giving us a context in which to operate, but what we do with that,can be very unique experience.

Nonetheless, they surely do make it interesting and instructive for any soul having a human experience. Definitely providing the atmosphere or setting we require to make our own, and hopefully others' transformational journeys.

"The academy, in general, encourages specialization, intellectualization, civility — not exactly the key ingredients for effective social action. Students are surrounded by professors reminiscing about the glory days of youth activism, when groups like Students for a Democratic Society, the Weather Underground, and the Black Panther Party really ignited social change. But the professors don't seem to make the connection that none of these were school-sanctioned organizations."

Ms. Martin needs to read Ward Churchill's "Pacifism as Pathology", which feeds directly into the problem of institutionalized "protest".

Those of us who contribute to online forums should ask whether the medium doesn't supplant the message wholly: how can the spirit that says "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered" be fuelled by a medium in which everything and everyone is trackable?

Astrology anyone? The 3 outer planets hold very long orbits and therefore remain in specific signs for longer durations. The signs, a model that acts like a cosmic mandala, emanates specific lessons (or themes) from the marquis of our shared heavens. During the l970's several key outer planets moved through Sagittarius. This sign, 9th on the great dial, is related to knowledge as based on free thought and what ensues from a cross-pollination of cultures. I am grateful for having attended university in the l970's when it WAS a liberal education! Courses in comparative religion, in studying the perspective of various ethnicities, etc.

Orwell probably knew someone into astrology for his choice of the title l984. Why? That is THE year that Neptune, the planet of illusion & deception entered Capricorn, the sign of government and its orthodox systems of maintaining power and control. Neptune stayed in Capricorn until l998. (14 years in each sign is part of its orbital pattern.) Government collusion with big business combined with the growth of cable TV's use by the evangelical Christian movement, led to strange bed fellows (sometimes literally).

Saturn, (a/k/a Kronos) is the keeper of the hourglass in myth, and pours out the cycles of our lives. Saturn "rules" Capricorn, and Neptune "rules" Pisces. While Saturn crossed Pisces (the kingdom of Neptune's dominion), Neptune crossed Capricorn (the kingdom of Saturn's dominion). In astrology we refer to this interchange as a "mutual reception" and this was a particularly insidious one. It took place in the early l990's when in my view, GREED was given a facelift, and religion used concepts like "prosperity" to advance the agenda we see in vogue today, that favorable to the neocons and the Grover Norquist school of rendering social programs impotent.

When I see the outer planets heading towards Capricorn I shudder. Pluto, with the orbit of 248 years enters Capricorn this January. Pluto, signature of the phoenix rising from ashes, is also associated with nuclear power, massive unrest (and potential violence), and powers that first cause entire breakdown as a venue for eventual rebirth. This Pluto position will OPPOSE the U.S. sun (Cancer/July 4) which also will oppose our dear Bush's sun. The portent is one of incredible privations, much breakdown of society, inherent power struggles... indeed all the things we commentators speak about here in this forum. It's as if the infrastructure has already been put in place, while the full use of it not yet deployed. WE ask about Blackwater's secret prisons, about laws blurring the lines between political activism and purported terrorism; watch as the check-balances to the ingenious government system designed by the Founders is disabled. Cry out in horror as Habeas Corpus goes the way of the vanishing waters. As our "representatives" just assume their roles in some kind of amoral Kabuki theater. Watch as the treasury is bled to reward war profiteers while children go sick, and local reps ask for patience as their funds dry up for realistic, necessary programs. ETC.

There will be HUGE conflicts between the signs of Aries (war, small militias, rights of angry individuals), Cancer (family values, values of the established elite families), Libra (true ideals of social justice, the ways and means to negotiate fair agreements) and Capricorn (power of state used to repress "radical" elements).

In a sense, in spite of our efforts, these celestial trends were waiting in the wings, gathering momentum. A great many prophecies speak of these times as ones in which each soul will be tested, must determine which master--love (which includes concerns for others, the greater good) or fear (all about self protection) s/he serves. It's mostly about what's in our hearts and how we live our lives... although it's plausible populations will be culled by war, deprivation and war... the SOUL is inviolate and takes with it what it learned, and gains through its unselfish actions. Those who act in alliance with the Light can never know how their efforts have lent benefit to others. And as some have noted (Aymon, Star of the Sea, Uncommon Dreams) we ARE assisted by forces we cannot recognize through our mundane senses. As we celebrate what we feel grateful for this Thanksgiving, may we devise ways to spread greater justice, joy, freedom and bounty around. It may take a decade or more to realize this ideal... liberty lost is not easily regained. Savor the moments...

Gerat article. Thanks for posting. Yes, universities are teaching kids the pragmatics of protest so that they become emasculated.

My perspective is that of a baby boomer who has been active in antiwar and environmental struggles for much of the last three decades, and wonders why the young have been so disappointing. I do see some signs of a resurgence, that generation Y will be more alive than generation X. Why was my generation about one hundred times more active than today's? I see three main things:
1) the draft. There's nothing like knowing that uour own ass, or that of any male you care about--could be shipped off to some foreign hell to fight and perhaps die in a senseless war, to radicalize people.
2) the economy. The young are much more anxious about their economic prospects, and thus more easily controllled, more afraid to step out of line, than we were. Hell, we hitchhiked around with a few bucks in our pocket, took crap jobs for a couple of weeks for a stake and then moved on--we sneered at our peers who dressed for success. But this was easier to do then--those crap jobs at $1.85/hour paid better than today's $6/hour ones.
3) probably the most important--we were naive. We were lied to about the glorious democratic country we came from, so when we found out that negroes were being treated unfairly in the South, for example, we marched right on down there to straighten things out. Today's youth had cynicism with their mother's milk; they were never seriously told that they should expect justice, and they have seen precious few victories. It's hard to make personal sacrifices for peace, or justice, or reduction in global warming, if you don't think there's a real chance of winning anything.
But the reason victories have been so rare is largely that a carefully laid plan thirty years in the making resulted in "their" people in all the key positions--judges, publishers, Congresspeople. Those thirty years have borne copious fruit the past ten years especially--but the worm is turning as it always does. The trouble is, the primary objective was always to further fatten the already rich, and that brings about trouble. When the gravy train is running with bells aringing, the dogs come running, and more dogs. Soon there are snarling dogs all over the train fighting over who got more, and the public gets quite an eyeful of the reality behind the "family values" of the conservatives. Thus, now is the time for a smart, strategic movement to change things. leadership could easily come from the young. Not those who have one eye on their resume--the best leaders must be those with a good sense of the world, and that lovely resume will be useless in the changed world bearing down on us, one of sharply constricted travel and survival-mode economics. Given the realities of oil peaking right about now, warfare in the Middle east about to surge out of control, and climate change getting scarier by the minute, you probably can't have a twentieth-century CAREER anyway, now can you?
I say this although my own college-going kids are busy carving lovely resumes...

Thanks, SIOUXROSE, for another dicussion on the astrologic view of our country`s condition. It certainly deserves as much thought as the baloney we are served by our government, or the hyocritical ideas of established religion, especially the fundamentalist types. I have been waiting for you to get wound up again to tell us things most of us do not know. There is more than one way to look at most situations, and we have a bad one.

I agree with the post outlining how campus and general protest has been subverted and passified. Owing also to a certain notion of "correctness" and "safety," protest has been neutered in this country. It's important to remember that the Black Panthers and Weather Underground were regarded as (and in some ways were, especially the WU) terrorist organizations. I'm aware of the nuances, but in today's world they most certainly would be regarded as terrorist, and almost certainly quashed violently. I would lay blame at the feet of apathetic youth, but really we live in an America where protest of any meaningful kind has become quite dangerous. If I become condescending, where do I cast the first stone? Perhaps at myself.
Those that have supressed protest have been careful to provide comfort at the same time. Unless you visit a predominantly Black and/or poor High School you simply aren't going to find the outrageous condition existing mid-century. (No draft, no "white only" signs, etc.) And if you DO go there you'll find morally and spiritually exhausted youth who are probably scoping out the military for a way out.
The bottom line is we've become a suppressed, fattened, scared and violent nation...with a happy face.

They are indoctrinated at an early age. By the time they get to college they are dedicated footsoldiers. All elements of the society play a part in the indoctrination. Media content authors, elementary school teachers, parents, relatives, and everyone they come in contact with echo the same message: the beast capital rules, the people submit.

The author forgets to mention the fact that MUCH OF TODAY'S "YOUTH" IS ADDICTED TO THE MTV BULLSHIT AND OTHER CORPORATE MEDIA BULLSHIT. To all youth, TURN OFF YOUR TELEVISION !

siuxrose and starofthesea: how do i become educated enough to grasp the astrological view that you have? i need a teacher.

but while i don't fully appreciate astrology, i do have a middling understanding of certain mystical concepts and quantum science.

it seems to me that the future holds infinite "emergent realities", some perhaps more probable than others, but none impossible. perhaps morality is dedicating our life and spiritual development to "calling forth" a better reality, even when the deck seems to be stacked against us. a choice between right and wrong is generally not difficult to make. what about choices when the distinction is not so clear?

maybe the youth of today aren't overfed, cynical consumers afraid to challenge power. maybe they are blinded by shades of grey, and the teachers among (surely siouxrose and starofthesea!) must help define those murky grays.

"When the world and I were young,
Just yesterday,
Live was such a simple game,
A child could play.
It was easy then to tell right from wrong.
Easy then to tell weak from strong.
When a man should stand and fight,
Or just go along.
But today there is no day or night
Today there is no dark or light.
Today there is no black or white,
Only shades of gray.
I remember when the answers seemed so clear
We had never lived with doubt or tasted fear.
It was easy then to tell truth from lies
Selling out from compromise
Who to love and who to hate,
The foolish from the wise.
But today there is no day or night
Today there is no dark or light.
Today there is no black or white,
Only shades of gray.
It was easy then to know what was fair
When to keep and when to share.
How much to protect your heart
And how much to care.
But today there is no day or night
Today there is no dark or light.
Today there is no black or white,
Only shades of gray."

"i am constantly awaiting a rebirth of wonder..."

KERNEL, STAR & ZIMMIE: I have to meet with a client, but will be back to respond later. "May the stars be with you..." Astrologer at large!

One of my teachers lectured, "God does not like surprises."

If you think about it, that's always been kind of true. After the fact we usually say, "well you could see that coming."

I'm glad were talking about the children being programed for the future. They are being deprived of the ability to reason abstractly. It's poo pooed. And pish shawed.

Here we generally try to demonstrate that in fact it can also be the other way around.

you see now I put this up there yesterday and didn't refresh, but before Siouxrose returns, I have developed an abstract reasoning test for teachers. The good one's I have known have been able to use it effectively as a method for helping people out in the day to day. It's kind of a parable, my first here on the site.

Give your young time traveler three choices. Two are obvious. Briefly, call them a door constructed of Gold and one made of Silver. But they might be constructed of any comparable material, say, Iron or Ore. And this is only abstract, dear readers, part of the parable. You will have to come up with the factual.

If they go through the one door, they reveal to you and to themselves that they are being an Ass. If they go through the other they are being a Fool. So it's a tough choice they have to think. Tell them if they pick unwisely they'll have the dickens of the time getting out if at all.

The third door is kind of an obscurity. Call it a rickety old poorly painted door, or a bead curtain, what have you. If they pick the right door they can go in and out as they please, but they will still have trouble because they will be thinking for themselves and might have trouble wanting to move.

The end of the thought here. If you can figure it out, you get an extra credit.

Owing to getting out for a few days, I had to review some previous thoughts. A couple days of post and discussions I kind of had to skim.

I learned that on leaving the discussion way back on Sunday that someone was going through the wrong door but someone else - not me - saw the error in abstract reasoning and was trying to tug them back.

The overall point being - the more the merrier. Me, I'll try to fight until the last millisecond because life has gently encouraged me to be patient.

got to kind of go.

I think that Ms. Martin should spend less time visiting private religious colleges and see what's going on at community colleges and state universities. It's wrong to claim that all young people are corralled into tame student "activism" groups. While that might be true of some students, there are plenty who are doing civil disobedience and advocating more radical positions. I work with kids who range from ages 13 to 18 and many of them have been arrested, beaten up by vigilantes, and suspended from school for their efforts on behalf of immigration reform and campaigns to save their neighborhood from gentrification. Of course, these are poor kids, many of whom will never make it to college, so they don't matter. But I'll bet some of the kids cutting ribbons or drawing up sanctioned slogans are more politically involved at the community level than Ms. Martin realizes. You know, something like: Meek college student by day, Anarchist by night. Those that say there isn't any real youth activism are being deeply disrespectful to the millions of kids who walked out of school during the immigration marches of '06, the students beaten in the recent police riots in LA, the teens sneaking anti-recruitment fliers into their schools, those involved in groups like the New SDS, The Brown Berets, etc. Just because your kids spend all their time trying to get into Harvard doesn't mean that there aren't kids out there putting their bodies on the line to make a difference.

What I've seen with this age group is the third point from mwildfire; students today don't protest "like they used to" because they believe that nobody is watching, and that powers that be (governments, corporations, etc) neither know nor care about their views. Consider what lessons a budding anti-war protester would take from the protests about invading Iraq: it's hard to imagine how they'd believe anything but that their voices are not being heard. From what I understand, that wasn't the case in the 60's.

Craig

Even though this is yesterday's article, I hope some day soon we can have more chance for discussion about youth, lower, middle, and upper. Key, I believe.

Discussions shouldn't preclude anyone.

ZIMMIE: If there is a university in your area or a cool downtown, check out used book stores for old astrology book titles. I was mostly self-taught. READ everything you can. Today computers do all the MATH for you. The American Federation of Astrologers offers courses and lists teachers. They also test for aptitude. Anyone can SAY they are a psychic or gifted, and there is a proliferation of such persons, now many charging upwards of $10 a minute. They prey on the broken-hearted. Astrology is a learned art that truly is a meta-science, its basis in sacred geometry.

STAR OF THE SEA: I have seen events come down EXACTLY as the logos portends. FEW can swim against that current. In Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi" he explains how fierce the astrological cycles are. I tried to get an answer from a Buddhist monk (they respect astrology) as to whether a tough time in a person's life, i.e. hard karma, is recognized in their religious view as also a time where astrological events mature to bring soul-wrenching events about.

I have concluded that life is like a cha cha. We dance a step forward, and fate responds; and vice versa. However, just as Jesus spoke of the Holy spirit, and many religions speak in terms of a "trinity," I think it's not only fate and free will, but the unexpected that ensues from their binary interactive field. Thus words like perturbation, mutation, serendipity, etc.

GEOFF: you need more doors (i.e. alternatives). Try 12?

ok now yer getting into string theory.

did you hear how in that theory it's there's maybe the 12 (possible) doors but if you change your perspective and pull yourself up and look down on it, well it turns back into 3 again? Like a hall of mirrors.

well, ok, not sure of the exact science. maybe it's five? you get kind of dizzy trying to hold onto those concepts.

anyway, here I have done and gone given YOU the three door quandry, and, well, I can't answer it even. point is for the sake of our abstract arguments, it's a relatively simple technique?

wait. no it's not that simple because of how few people, writers, thinkers I know are able to sustain it in their thoughts in public. Very few.

writing these blurbs is becoming more difficult and easier because of the work you do.

But I do want to get back to the children because I feel for their dilemma. And I've been with children from all walks and it's part of the same problem.

The 9/11 Truth movement is doing pretty well...

My kids always protest....it's neither courageous nor done from a position of wisdom or logic...but it is entertaining...