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 love,
 --carolyn
 

   This is a good involved question.  In theory, the communist utopia envisioned by Karl Marx was a vast improvement over the impoverished conditions prevelant in the industrialized world in the early 1900's.  Indeed in Russia and China, the systems that existed prior to communism were very exploitive of the people. 

    The problem lies in the practice of communism because failable humans must setup the system and enforce it.  The one thing that communism neglects to address is some of the most basic human traits including GREED (Capitalism certainly takes it into account).  What happens is those who attain power within the system get corrupted - this is the truism; "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely".  In all the communists systems that have appeared on the planet, each has had an all powerful dictator to run it.  So that means one person, and one person alone gets to decide what is best for the millions of people living in the system.  And since that one person is corrupted absolutely, everyone has to bow to that person's vision, whether they like it or not!  And the usual penalty for opposition is either exile or death.

    To make the communist system work, they must eliminate cultural, ethnic and religious differences.  We see how it's done today in Kosovo (Milosovich learned well as a communist).  It's been done in similar fashion in Russia and China.  Not a very good system, in my opinion.

     Hippies rejoice in our differences.  We respect and celebrate diversity, it's what makes life interesting.  Imagine if you went traveling, and everywhere it was the same.  The same dreary buildings, the same slogans on banners, the same language, the same mentality, the same laws, the same music for god's sake!  This is life under communism (yes I know capitalism puts McDonalds everywhere, but at least in France it's not a big mac, its a Royale).  Is this what we want our lives to be?  If this is the price of peace, I agree, it's far too high. 

    Once upon a time, the communist system in it's idealized form was an improvement.  But now that we've seen it's limitations, we can bid it farewell.  What we need is a new, better system, one that takes into account human nature, especially the need for self-actualization.  This system should encourage individuals to expand their minds and talents.  We have yet to do better than the ancient Greeks who gave us the radical form of government called democracy.

     Now that technology has enabled us to all communicate efficiently, to be well informed, and to easily express ourselves we have available the means to achieve something far greater than ever before.  We need only to organize this into a self-governing system, one that will totally replace the existing one.  It's already beginning, our only obstacle is removing from power those who place such a high value on it (power).  I hope it will be an evolution, not a revolution, that will accomplish these goals.

     In the meantime, wars over political, racial, ethnic, and religious differences will occur, perhaps even more frequently!  It's totally "natural" to remove competing genetic material, whether you're human or bacteria (sometimes it's hard to tell the difference).  That's the bottom line.  Each person protects his own DNA, first starting with himself, his family, his extended family, the group he identifies with, his ethnic, or religious group, then his nation.  It's completely instinctual. 

     What we need to do then, on an individual basis, one person at a time, is come to an understanding that our entire race is facing a mass extinction if we don't change our attitudes.  "Isms" and differences between people only keep us apart if we let them.  We must get beyond our FEARS or genetic bias, and realize that we are all the same.  We need to recognize our common inheritance, this planet, as being a sacred place and start showing it some respect (Communists seem unable to do this). 

     I believe it is possible for people to get beyond their differences and to display a higher morality that respects all life.  All it takes is a good example for people to see how easy it is to live in peace and harmony.  All it takes is a hippy.

-The Old Hippy

-Generation X

Let's set the record straight (if this is possible). You state that the
boys in Vietnam "were fighting for freedom". I ask you back - Whose
freedom? We were supposedly a free country then (as we are supposed to be
now). Vietnam was no immediate threat to any American. So they certainly
weren't fighting for our freedom. It was a situation similar to Kosovo, but
without the ethnic cleansing, which is our only justification for being
involved in that fiasco.

So if the young men sent to Vietnam to die, were sent to free the Vietnamese
people, what exactly were they being freed from? Yes, the North was
communist and wanted to take over the South, which was capitalist.  Communism might be a less efficient system than Capitalism, but is the difference worth dying for?  Were we justified in killing people because we have a better system???  Does might make us right? 

The truth is that it was US business interests that got us into the war and kept us there.
After the first few years of the war, the war itself became big business!
American corporations and investors were getting rich as the government
plowed every extra dollar into the war effort, at the expense of the social programs
of Johnson's Great Society.

It's amazing to me that you think that no one listened to the antiwar
effort. Not only did people listen, they got involved, even veterans
returning from Vietnam! We mobilized millions of people in the effort.
Although it took time, it did work! The big turnaround came when Lyndon
Johnson decided not to run for office again. His whole Vietnam policy was a
failure and he knew it. He was faced with running against the antiwar
candidates (just about all the other democrats) and instead decided to retire. If
the democrats had won that election, the war would have been over much
sooner. Instead Tricky Dick got elected, and with the whole
military/industrial complex supporting him, continued the war for many more
years. That's politics!

From the 1968 elections onward, the antiwar movement continued, but the opposition (read:
government) got violent. Witness Chicago during the Democratic Convention.
Kent State where 4 students were murdered by the National Guard. The war
came home, and we were lying bloodied and dying in the streets. And you
think we did nothing! It really makes me wonder what they are teaching you
in the schools these days? Have they rewritten history?

We have all learned some lessons about Vietnam. Why do you think we haven't
sent in ground troops in Kosovo. That's because the government is afraid of
public opinion! Before Vietnam most people supported whatever the
government's foreign policy was at the moment. Young men were eager to 
sign up to fight overseas. With the hippy and antiwar
movements we learned to "question authority". Before no one would think to
second guess our political and military leaders. After all they had
successfully guided us through WW II and the Korean wars where we were
victorious. A better question for you to ask is "Why did we go to Vietnam
and what did we accomplish there?" We need the answer because maybe then we
can figure out what the hell we're doing in Kosovo!

What blows my mind is the concept of sovereignity.  This means that every
government respects the rights of other governments to do whatever they
want to the people inside their borders with impunity.  Even though the leader
of a country can be a complete lunatic, we must respect that person and his
government's right to exist.  The ludicrious irony of this situation will come to 
a head when the US and Nato are forced to negotiate with the mass murderer
Milosovich over the future of Kosovo.

To me the real lesson is not to trust any government. They exist to serve
the rich and powerful in every country, including this one. A government
will defend itself against it's own people whether justified or not. When a
government kills it's own people without valid reason (like Kent State or
Kosovo - take your pick) it loses any credibility it has as a representative
of the people. So the real problem is the nature of government itself. We
need to either re-invent government as a tool of the people, using the 
empowering new technology at our disposal, or continue being cannon 
fodder for those special interests that our government owes favors to.

The revolution that was never finished must become the evolution that leads us
to a new beginning.

-The Old Hippy

I do think that it is unethical to capitalize on the success of a previous
event if it has nothing in common with it. Woodstock '69 was the original
Woodstock and everything else is just imitation. This new event is nowhere
near the original location. It doesn't have any of the originals playing
(so far). I don't get the connection.

Nevertheless it sounds like a good concert, and if enough people show up
with the right attitude it might capture some of the original's spirit, but
that would be where the similarity would end. I'm all for reviving the
spirit of Woodstock, but that was an event that happened in another time and
space and was sort of a watershed in the hippy movement. I really doubt
that anything could duplicate the feeling or the experience, marketing hype
notwithstanding.

I'd be more impressed by a new event, which billed itself as something
unique, that actually was able to bring people together in peace and
harmony. The closest thing happening to that this year is The Eclipse
Festival http://www.solipse.com on August 9-15, 1999 at Ozora, Hungary, near
Budapest.

Anyway if you're interested in Woodstock '99, check out:
http://members.AOL.com/Mary1NYS/Woodstock.html
for more info!

-The Old Hippy

I was a vegetarian, and practically vegan, for almost 6 years. During
this time, my health deteriorated rapidly, and I was in the hospital
many, many times. I even was pronounced dead for nearly one minute, the
last time around. My illness started when I got Epstein-Barr virus
followed by the resulting Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I already had
asthma, which became the large Achilles Heel after I got the virus. I
had become vegetarian because it seemed that eating meat would drag me
down. I would sleep for 3 hours after eating a taco, or chicken
burrito!

I was recently allergy tested, and found that I am allergic to beef,
shellfish, and chicken. 

Then I came across the Eat Right For Your (blood) Type diet, (by Dr.
Peter D'Adamo). He and his father have found that only Blood Type A's
should be vegetarians! Type O's can die if they don't eat meat, and
wheat can actually attack a Type O's heart! I am a Type AB, the rarest
form of blood, and newest (only 1000 years old!). I have been on the
diet for about a month, and am trying hard to eat the meat that he
recommends for my blood type: lamb, turkey and albacore tuna. 

I find it is harder on me emotionally, because I want to remain
vegetarian, but I am in poor health. When I have recently eaten the
meat, my body feels much better. I think this diet can help me to
greatly improve my health, and especially increase my fertility. We have
been trying for almost 10 months, without luck. I want to have one
child with my husband (we are newlyweds. I am 30, he is 42), and want
to raise her to be a true hippy-- a person who puts love, compassion and
peace above all else. 

Every time I eat meat, I say a prayer to the animal's soul, thanking it
for its sacrifice that I may live healthier. I also thank the Great
Spirit for the knowledge I have gained by finding this book that may
help me. I also only eat 4-6 ounces of meat 3 times a week. I don't
over do it, and I don't take more than what my body needs. 

My husband was vegetarian for 20 years also, and he found out he has to
eat beef, buffalo, and venison to get healthier. This has been hard on
him as well. However, his health (and possibly fertility) is also
improving. 

We eat animals that were raised on organic meals only, in the right way
(even cage free range free eggs). We don't buy from the evil cattle
rancher establishments, but from smaller farms where the cows were
raised healthier, with room to run, and don't get hormonal injections,
or antibiotics, etc. 

My biggest question and concern is: How do I get over judging myself on
this issue? I have advocated vegetarianism for years! How can I be a
hippy if I eat meat? (I suppose it is the same as taking drugs, it
isn't a requirement, but it helps!) How can I live another day to
protest the establishment and promote love and peace, if I am not eating
the right things to promote my own health? Isn't it more important that
I eat meat responsibly, get healthier, and stay alive to enjoy life, and
be a hippy in other ways? Also, isn't it true that we are all just made
up of atoms? Animals, flowers, vegetables, the air we breathe, is just
made up of the same stuff, the same particles, the mind-stuff of our
creator, the Divine Mother of all life. Since this is true, could there
be another spiritual way to look at eating meat? Also, maybe it is the
animal's karma to be eaten. Maybe in the cosmic scheme, an animal has
to sacrifice itself now so that it may evolve and advance spiritually
later? Maybe we are helping the animal if we have the right mindset? 

If you can offer me some wisdom, Dear Old Hippy, and perhaps some
consolation, I would be very grateful. 

Also, do you know of a natural way to increase fertility in men and
women? Children are so precious, and we want one very much!

Thank you very much for your wisdom and advice.

Peace,
A. Fox
deepsleep@slip.net

I applaud the degree of consciousness with which you are making your food
choices. We all need to be aware of the consequences of our decisions be
they what to eat or how to live. Each of us has an impact upon what happens
on this planet. As we mature we take more responsibility for our actions.
This leads us to the state you're in now, a moral dilemma.

I'm not familiar with this diet you're on. It sounds just like another fad
diet. I must say the biggest problem I've found with vegetarians (I
know a lot of them) is that some of them don't eat right. That is they
favor certain vegetables over everything else and don't get enough protein.
That could be your underlying problem and why you feel "good" when you eat
one of the meat items recommended.

If what was said in that book were true, then I guess all those vegetarians
in India (almost half the population I believe), and in Asia should really
be sick! In fact most are far healthier than Americans who eat meat daily,
especially those who favor fast food. They are healthier despite the lack
of refrigeration, lack of money for medical care, etc, etc. They are also
healthier because their lives require them to do a lot of physical labor.
Our couch potato society has turned us all soft and now we get "diseases"
like Epstein Barr and CFS. I use parenthesis since CFS has still to be
proven to have a specific vector that causes it. No offense, as I don't
know your particular situation. Perhaps you get lots of physical activity,
but not enough protein.

I admire your determination to find an ethical reason to eat meat, despite
the pleadings of your conscience. However I don't think you need to go to
such extremes to justify your actions. As a good friend of mine says "It's
just light going into light". That certainly is one way of looking at it.
Of course that friend had excellent health for the many years he was a
vegetarian. Then he started eating meat and immediately took sick and has
been sick on and off in the years since and continues to eat meat.

I too had the best health ever when I was a vegan. I only stopped because I
went traveling and it became difficult to find the protein sources I was
used to. The best sources for protein for vegetarians are the combination
of legumes and grains which form the complete amino acid chains (like beans
and rice together), Tofu and TVP (texturized vegetable protein from soybeans), and
dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt. Some vegetarians eat eggs as
well.

The other real important health tip I have is to take megadoses of vitamins
B complex and C. Together these help you when you get stressed. CFS seems
like a disease where your body is similar to a stressed state where all your
vitamins are depleted. If you haven't tried the vitamin therapy, give it a
try. I'm just guessing and I know a lot of research has been done in this
field without success, which leads me to believe they're looking in the
wrong places for the answers.

By the way, I am a type "O", and was never sick during the seven years when
I was a vegetarian and took megadoses of those vitamins (not even a
cold -unless I forgot to take the vitamins and got stressed).

If you've already tried what I recommend above, then I suggest you vary your
diet, and if tuna and chicken makes you feel better (physically), then go
for it. I'd avoid the lamb however. Fish is a relatively healthy protein
source without hormones (although tuna does have mercury). Chickens can be
OK if they're free range, and not produced in a factory (but you know this).

The only way I know to increase fertility reliably is to increase one's
level of physical activity. Of course if a person's lifestyle includes
things that decrease fertility they should stop doing those things (like
drinking and smoking). In other words whatever makes you healthier usually
makes you more fertile.

I wish you the best in your endeavor to get well consciously and to conceive
a baby.

Peace,
The Old Hippy

I feel Marijuana is my spiritual food. I discovered Marijuana's 
spiritual benefits in 1994 at age 22. It opened my mind up to deep ideas 
about the world, God, and love of the earth and humankind. All these ideas 
flowed with euphoria, as I grooved to great music, which MJ enhanced much 
greater! A couple of years ago I began to study books on different kind of 
drugs (their chemistry, effects, ect.). After studying PCP, I found that it can 
be laced into Marijuana, and this frightened me. Continuing to smoke MJ, I 
was able to control this fear thinking it was a one in a million chance it 
could happen to me ( that my MJ would be laced with PCP). About a year ago my 
fear worsened when my friend (who smokes quite often), told me he smoked a 
joint one night which dissociated him from his body and he saw angels, 
demons, and other terrifying things. even though he was told "Be careful with 
this joint," when it was given to him, he smoked it with his friend anyway. 
Lately, I have been afraid to try Marijuana thinking this may happen to me. 
Over the past few months I have tried meditation, and just positive thinking 
to try and stop this compulsive fear, yet it continues. I long to smoke again 
because I feel a strong spiritual need for it. If I did smoke a joint with a 
friend, and it was laced with PCP, after taking a hit or two (if it were 
laced) would I notice the difference, so I could stop smoking it right away? 
Would a few hits of a laced joint be enough to trigger a strong pcp trip where I would be dissociated, hallucinate, etc...?  Is there a way I can continue to smoke grass (which is always black market obtained) and feel comfortable that I can detect PCP before I take to many hits. Please help me 
with any other advice you can give. This is a strong fear of mine. I have 
been using hypnosis to try and find the source of this deep fear, it compares 
to death were I am removed from my surroundings and my body (very scary).
Yet, I can't go on allowing this to rob me of something that I feel is part 
of my religion (Marijuana). This may seem like a stupid question and it's 
embarrassing to me, nevertheless, I feel compelled (after about 1 year of 
worrying over this) to finally get some advice. 

With Peace,
Billy 
 

You do have a problem, Billy. Your paranoia probably stems from the deep lying
guilt you have at breaking the law. This paranoia is completely irrational.
Few people if any bother to lace a joint with PCP. PCP is usually snorted
like cocaine. How many people put cocaine in a joint??? It's a waste. The
only thing usually mixed in a joint is tobacco and that usually happens in
Europe.

What I don't understand is if you're so concerned why don't you just roll
your own joints! If someone gives you one and you're suspicious, you can
just tear it open, look at it and roll it up in a new paper. Is that so
hard? If you don't know what to look for, PCP is a white powder. It would
fall away from the cannabis. Of course really good cannabis does have white
resin on it, but careful examination would reveal that this is sticky stuff
not powder.

PCP does take a little while to come on, so if you did smoke some you might
not know it before you finish the joint. PCP is a very potent drug. It has
been used as animal tranquilizer (like for horses and elephants - the big
ones). So very little can get you very high. I suppose that street dealers
might think about cutting some inferior grass with some PCP to make it do
something. I don't recommend you buy any drugs from unknown street dealers.
That is a hard and fast rule we all learned back in the early 70s.

Another way for you to avoid this problem is smoke something that's been
smoked before. What I mean is if a friend has some grass they've already
tried and it's ok, what's wrong with trying it yourself? In theory, nobody
would ever sell you something dangerous. In the case you mentioned the
person was warned. If someone warned me I'd want to know why. What is
different about this joint. If it's just really strong stuff, I'd be real
happy to smoke it. If it's been adulterated, I'd want to know with what,
and I'd probably avoid it.

This reminds me of the old Paraquat scare back in the 70's. Rumors went
around that the marijuana coming from Mexico was sprayed with paraquat, a
defoliant made from dioxins which are linked to cancer. Everyone got so
paranoid about it, people actually stopped smoking. This coincided with the
health craze. Of course it was just the foes of decriminilization that
spread these rumors and then succeeded in getting marijuana laws tightened
again. If you just think about it, if the pot had been sprayed, it
certainly would have looked different, smelled different, and likely
wouldn't have been harvested in the first place since it would have been
defoliated!!!

Another sure fire way to know what you're smoking is to make friends with
someone who grows the stuff. Then you know what you're getting. Many
people grow their own, too. Of course we don't recommend you break the law
wherever you live. You really need to confront your fear as that is the
mind killer. If we live in fear we really aren't living!

Good luck!
The Old Hippy

A lot has happened since the summer of love in 1967.  Unfortunately, we can
never go back to those days.  There was a certain innocence with which we
entered that year of great change.  Today that innocence no longer exists -
especially now that children are afraid of what might happen in their own
schools.

The combination of events that flowed into the summer of '67 are unlikely to
be repeated again.  A postwar generation coming of age, draft age kids going
to a new war far away in Asia, the spiritually hollow affluence of the most
powerful nation on earth (worse now), the sudden mass production of a new psychedelic
drug, LSD, the opening up of several million minds to infinite
possibilities, the colorful emergence of a new subculture - hippies, the
words and music of a generation ready for change, the positive attitudes and
vibes and feeling of brotherhood, the growing awareness of eastern
philosophies completely at odds with the American consumerist mentality.

All this, combined with our youthful optimism contributed to a feeling that
we were the future, that we were going to completely change society into a
hippie utopia.  Of course we were naive.  Naive about our own limitations,
about the power structure of society, about how to organize ourselves.  And
then we were all on our own trips, too.  The drug scene took many of our
icons.  We learned the futility of fighting the system.  Those that did
ended up in jail or underground or dead.  There never was a cohesive
strategy.  Even though it was "them" vs. "us", we could never get "us" to
agree.

However, the lasting impact of the summer of love and the flower people has
been more subtle.  The memes (concepts) we promoted spread around the world
and have instilled themselves in the subconscious of the species.  These are
reflected in some of the famous sayings of the time:

"Make Love, Not War"
"Peace Now"
"Save the Planet"
"No Nukes!"
and many more.

The point is the collective unconsciousness of our species is still
absorbing and processing this information.  It creates a lot of cognitive
dissonance among us.  That is, we now "Question Authority" far more often,
we don't believe everything we hear, we think for ourselves, and we have
more of a conscience about what we do.

It is this conscience that seems to have jumped a generation and now appears
in young (neo) hippies.  The sad fact is that the world situation really hasn't
changed much.  The same power structure exists.  The need to respond to the
world situation is as great as ever.  In fact this is what has evolved over
the last three decades.  The media has shown us that the problems of our
planet are far more serious and long term than those of our neighborhood.
Our consciousness has expanded to where we now worry about people we've
never met in countries we've never been to.  This sensitivity is something
new to our species.  It belies the "us" and "them" notion with which our
governments like to brainwash us.  THERE IS ONLY "US"!  THIS IS OUR PLANET!
What we do will determine the future of the human race.  If we let hate and
fear rule the world, we are in for a catastrophic millenium.  It is YOUR
GENERATION, the new hippies who must spread the word about LOVE and PEACE
and the alternatives open to us.  Those who hate and fear see nothing but
hate and fear around them.  We must open their eyes as time is running out
for us.

I can see a new movement emerging if we have a single uniting cause.  I once
thought the marijuana movement might do it, but the $18 billion being spent
on the war on drugs is hard to counter.  I think what might do it is if
there is a draft to fight the war in Kosovo.  Then I think this draft age
group of 17-19 year olds will finally open their mouths before being sent to
die in some distant land just to help some aging military industrial
societies save face by destroying another military industrial society ruled
by a megalomanic.

One thing we have on our side now, which didn't exist in the '60s (in it's
present form) is the Internet!  Our ability to organize and communicate is
greatly enhanced, and once we coordinate our efforts we can become a truly
effective force in this society.  Hippyland is here to help facilitate this
goal, as are many other websites.  We await the cause, we await your call.

Peace,
The Old Hippy

as against war as i am, i sometimes 
feel it could be a good thing. and while i cannot justify killing 
other humans simply because they hold different beliefs, in the long 
run, could it be possible that war is helping to prolong the 
existence of the human race? 

i will attempt to explain what i mean. 
in all animals other than humans there are certain limitations set 
upon the species which limit the size of the population. these 
include but are not limited to disease, fighting and killing due to 
competition or need for food, and the size of the animals habitat. 
when one elk kills another when competing to win the right to mate 
with a certain female, or when a heard of caribou leave a sick member 
to die or be eaten by wolves we say "oh that is sad, but no big deal, 
it is natures way." but as humans we have found ways to cure 
diseases that should kill large amounts of people and we have created 
special programs to help those individuals who are not able to 
survive on their own. we have developed medicines and diets that 
allow us to survive many years longer than was ever possible. all of 
these "developments" ultimately increase the number of humans on 
this earth and there is only so much room for us to grow. we are 
already destroying the habitat of other animals so that we may 
continue to expand. i feel that inevitably the earth will be unable 
to support us any longer and something will happen to extinguish our 
existence. or at least cut our population by a huge proportion such 
as the bubonic plague did. perhaps war is the last natural way to
control our population? maybe peace (at least when thought of as 
stopping war) is more harmful to everyone than war itself? these are 
all questions with which i struggle and was just wondering if you 
have any insight which could shed a light on my confusion. 

one last thought. . . peace is a wonderful goal to work toward but everyone's 
definition of this should not simply mean 'no war.' it is much more 
important to be at peace with our individual selves and with the 
natural world than to end war. we have committed far greater crimes 
to our mother earth and our brother and sister animals than we do 
when we kill each other. at least in war the two sides know what 
they are getting into and have an understanding for what is going on 
and for the consequences. And to the Old Hippy, thank you for your 
time. I am sure everyone who writes to you is as appreciative as 
myself that there is someone out there to listen to our questions and 
provide guidance when we need it most.

Wow, what difficult questions!  You’ve obviously thought this out.  I wish more of us would think things through before we open our mouths.  I’ll try to answer these deep questions.

First concerning the draft and how to dodge it.  Thankfully, there isn’t one now and hopefully it won’t be necessary to force people against their will to travel long distances to kill people they don’t even know, or get killed themselves.  I wasn’t a draft dodger myself as I was in a lottery and got a lucky number, over 300.  Even though I was in school I would’ve been drafted if my number was lower.  There really was no escape from the Vietnam era draft in the early years, except to flee the country.  Many of our boys went to Canada.  I suppose many of them still live there! 

Since the draft was stopped, I believe it will take an act of Congress to restore it.  One can only hope that should they resort to that desperate measure they’ll use some common sense and not force people to serve against their will and conscience.  I know the armed services have had trouble in the last few years filling their quotas.  This could mean that they are understaffed for a prolonged conflict on a wide scale.  So this IS A POSSIBILITY!  It’s good that people are concerned about this because it can happen pretty fast.  One day you’re graduating high school looking forward to college and your future when a draft notice arrives and suddenly your future becomes much less certain.

I hope that in the event of another draft, everyone will get out and protest!  Don’t wait until YOUR NUMBER IS UP!  I believe if you feel it’s your duty to defend “your country” against Serbian aggression, then, hey, go for it.  It’s your life.  But if you don’t believe that killing others is the solution, then you must say it and SAY IT LOUD!

Now as far as other ways to help the situation.  There is always a need for volunteers to help get aid to the real victims of war.  Everything from picking up donations to delivering them in the field requires much time and energy.  I’m sure there are agencies in your area that are helping out the refugees.  In any war there are many ways to assist, and many ways to protest.  As we are seeing, much of the war is fought with propaganda, with each side trying to convince the public that they are right.  That is also how you protest. You organize, you go out in public, you provide information, and you make your feelings known! You march on picket lines, you sign petitions, you write your congressmen, you boycott, you rally, you get your friends to help.  That’s what it’s all about, that’s what it takes to sway public opinion and the political powers that be.  We’ve done it before, we can do it again. 

As far as the situation in Kosovo is concerned, it is a real mess.  At this time we are hearing reports of innocent Kosovo civilians being killed by an air attack on a convoy.  This is the tragedy of war.  The people who make war, whether they sit in the Pentagon or in some Palace in Bagdad or Belgrade are immune from it’s effects.  Our government respects the rights of dictators and mass murderers far more than the innocent people smashed by the war machine.  All in the name of sovereignty.   Makes you wonder just how much they’ll care about YOU when YOUR NUMBER IS UP, eh? 

It took the destruction of Europe to finally get to Hitler.  Do you think it will take any less to get to Milosovich?  Do you think he would stand down?  His power in Yugoslavia is absolute, and so he is absolutely corrupted.  Does this mean he would sooner see the destruction of his country and the death of all his countrymen before he would surrender?  Let’s hope we don’t have to find out!

So this leaves us with a moral dilemma of global proportions.  What have we learned since WWII and Vietnam that can help us with this situation?  During the beginning of WWII the U.S. sat on the sidelines being neutral, not wanting to get involved.  In the meantime, Hitler’s troops rolled over one country after another, inventing more efficient methods of “ethnic cleansing” along the way.  Eventually it got to the point where the U.S. finally felt threatened by the situation.  If we had acted earlier, how many MILLIONS of lives would have been saved?

In Vietnam, our government viewed the situation through the lens of the “domino theory” believing that once Vietnam became totally communist, the rest of Asia and the Pacific would follow, in a similar fashion to Eastern Europe.  Remember communism was at its peak in the 60s!  In this case with Serbia, it’s not an issue of ideology or economic theory.  It’s a clear case of ethnic and religious rivalry and greed.  In my opinion this irrational hatred is the most serious issue facing the world on the eve of a new millennia.

But these issues are human issues and have been present since man first killed man.  According to Eastern philosophy, the individuals involved, whether they have the power to declare war or are the first innocent victims, are fulfilling their karma.  To judge these people and their actions in any way draws you into their karmic energy.  If the world is a giant stage where we act our parts in some life or death drama then we must choose our role carefully.  For we are doomed to act the part over and over again until we get it right.  To get it right means that we treat others with love and respect, thereby freeing ourselves from the karmic burden and the cycle of reincarnation.

So to answer the last questions you posed, war is not a solution that automatically brings peace. Yet peace always comes when the war ends!  Taking sides in a war means that you are now involved karmically.  Calling for peace and helping your fellow man is the path of love and will bring about the best results. 

By asking these questions, I can see you are on the right path.  Your observations about man and the larger ecosystem reveal your insight into what lies behind Maya, the illusion. The natural forces at work are far beyond man’s comprehension.  They have provided us with a luxurious garden that provides far more than we need.  We will eventually pay for our lack of respect for this garden, and this time we might be exiled permanently.  If the planetary choice is between our species and the health of the planet, I wouldn’t bet against mother nature finding a way to “cleanse the human disease”.  By respecting your fellow man, regardless of his karmic situation, you improve life on the planet.  Indeed, showing this respect for all life and the planet itself is the only way we can make it through the next millennium.