this is why I became a member of my local Ethical Humanists Society during last year

Ethical Humanists Society. TOTALLY going to look that up.

Thanks.

Raised my kids there. Always recommend them to liberals of a certain cast of mind.

Tnx!

Peter Neufeld, co-founder of The Innocence Project was one of our speakers in the spring.

We have solstice celebrations, a Darwin Day celebration as well as many other opportunities for social action and interaction with other members.

Will check them out. There must be a chapter here in the Twin Cities.

you are not alone

I also feel amazingly alone in this culture and this life, and need to fiind others like me. My challenges are perhaps different than yours, but I totally get the place your OP is coming from, and at least on the points you made there, I'm sure you're not alone at all, I certainly agree with them.

I've never read any Terrence McKenna books, but I've heard him speak a number of times, on radio broadcasts, I used to record them. I share some of his exploratory background, though he was much farther out there than I ever went. Amazing mind, and either fearless or he had the ability to still move forward in circumstances that merited great fear.

I ended up living in a small town where McKenna used to live, just coincidentally, or not, but didn't know it till a few years ago. Sorry don't mean to make this about me, I don't often see McKenna mentioned here though, and he is one of the more fascinating people I ever learned about, so happy to see someone here bring him up.

If you find your tribe I will check it out to see if I belong there, mostly an outsider type though. Best of luck in your search.

I've always been an outsider, too, but simultaneously have always believed we're all, truly, in this together.

Weird.

Nice to "meet" you.

I am 75 tears old and I can remember when people used to be civil to one another. I still get upset when I see and read some of the language that is now acceptable in public discourse. I still remember the line from the movie Boy's Town; "He ain't heavy, he's my brother." What ever happened to the "Universal Brotherhood of man? When I look back I can see how much progress has been made on so many issues, but now it seems every accomplishnent I was proud of and believed in is in danger of being dismantled piece by piece.

"...now it seems every accomplishment I was proud of and believed in is in danger of being dismantled piece by piece."

That is VERY disheartening, to say the least.

Dismantling America piece by piece. Every day some new assault on everything I was raised to believe in. I don't feel that way anymore.

I remember just sobbing at the beginning of Michael Moores movie Fahrenheit 9-11, not exactly because of the terrible tragedy of that one day, but because of the years of American self-destruction (torture, wars, police state, killing hope) that occurred in the years afterward.

There comment on one of the replies to your post about a 20+ year pld who never experienced a real civil society is very telling. The libertarian mind set has damaged our society tremendously. We have to get creative in fighting it. This is a start.

Seriously...it REALLY has been a pervasive, insidious influence.



Recognizing it is the first step, right? Yeah, this is a start.

Unfortunately, it seems like it DOES have to be a competition.

Here in 2015 we are at the end of 23 years of Democratic leadership following the Clinton model - to focus on race, gender, and sexual orientation and to put economics at the back of the bus.

I will not pretend that this has not happened, and I will not pretend to be happy about it. I have been against it from the start, and I continue to be against it, to fight against it for all I am worth.

Often it feels like there is no one like me, which leads me to my closing, not to read too much into it, except that I was reminded of a song I love.

We rarely agree 100% on anything, hfojvt, so this is no surprise.

I will only say that I do not understand why, as a society, we can't focus on ALL three of those issues -- and there are obviously myriad aspects of each of those issues which must be faced and worked on.

People are passionate about issues for different reasons and will usually gravitate toward one or two because they are most comfortable there -- for any number of reasons...life experience, perspective, etc.

Even if we don't personally choose to become fully engaged in one particular issue, WE CAN AT LEAST SUPPORT IT and not diminish it or tear it down to have our chosen issue heard.

We should never tell anyone fighting for equal opportunities and an equal voice to shut up and sit down.

I don't see economic justice as taking a back seat at all. It's right there in the mix.

I think a lot of people are just uncomfortable because the other voices are getting louder and demanding to be seen and heard, too. They had better get used to it because people aren't going to take any of this shit lying down any more.

And I, for one, support all movements working toward a more just, sustainable, caring world.

When I ran for Congress in 2010, my stump speech was 3 simple points.
1. We are in a George W. Bush recession
2. Reaganomics has failed
3. Unless you are in the top 5%, this Republican incumbent is NOT representing you.

Do we agree 100% on those three points?

We do seem to have a perhaps fundamental disagreement on the necessity for 100% agreement.

For example, crazily enough, my computer tells me that pi is equal to 3.1415926535897932384626433832795

Some people insist on 100% agreement. Every digit must be precise, or we have to have an argument. Somebody who says 3.141593 simply must be set straight.

Of course, I am likely to be the nitpicker. Except that I think we can have these disagreements and still be friends. Others seem less tolerant of disagreements. And right there, that very intolerance is simply NOT, however pure and righteous they think their cause is, their own anger, their own intolerance, is NOT making this a "more caring world".

As for "supporting all movements". Well, for one thing, I am not sure what all these movements are. For another, it is not possible to do all things. If I have, say $1,440 to donate to various causes, then I am not providing much support if I decide to support 1,000 causes. Each cause gets $1.44. Every little bit helps, I suppose, but supporting 100 causes would help each of the causes more than supporting 1,000 would.

I used $1,440 because that is how many minutes there are in a day. There are only so many of them. Spent time focusing on one issue and that means you are not spending time on other issues. Society can do any number of things, since there are millions of us in this society, but the public agenda tends to be limited, and my observation is that economic issues HAVE, they simply have taken a back seat to other issues.

And I am not going to take that excrement lying down either.

LOL

You're absolutely right: We don't need to agree 100% on anything...or everything.

Yeah...it's the nitpicker part that does make me cringe -- but that's because of my personality type. My issue, not yours.

I feel the whole tolerance/intolerance thing is, like most things, quite subjective. Really murky waters there, so I know what you mean about the righteousness and intolerance.

As for "supporting all movements," I agree with what you said. My only point was that we don't need to diminish or denigrate other issues simply because we only want ours heard. I still feel economic issues are the main plank -- that issue is applicable to the vast majority of people and is intertwined in the other issues I mentioned, like racial and gender issues.

Indeed.

Cool. Thanks for chiming in.

They're into stepping on someone's neck and shooting them in the face because that's how they roll.

Overcoming THAT in order to fund a library for after school activities is where we are at in this country.

Yep, I know some DUers may remember (and roll their eyes at me bringing it up again), but I was mocked and dissed (along with other great organizations, like unions) on Glenn Beck's TV and radio show when he was with Fox. And it was precisely because of my dedication to compassion, collaboration and The Common Good.

You're right: Too many view it as a weakness.

Somehow your quote reminded me of this one from Fred Rogers special episode for parents after 9-11:
"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day, especially in times of "disaster," I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world."

You are not alone.

Don't let the haters get you down. There's millions who agree, they just don't get noticed like the nay-sayers and pot-stirrers do!

I'm used to it from the right, but the last couple of months have made me feel I'm in the Twilight Zone. Bizarre.



Nice to know I'm not alone after all.

"'Star Trek' Fan Film Recruits Real-Life Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016130564




edit to add: Star Trek was about those three items you list.

Trekkie, here.

I recently found another like me online. Hoping to meet with them soon.

Best of luck in your endeavors, OGR. Let me know if you ever start anything and you'd like to have me around.

So glad you found another you.

I definitely will touch base...hopefully sooner than later, since it seems I/we are not alone after all.

K & R for the Saturday morning crowd.