[whitecrow]

Originally Posted by rustanddust

:') thank you for your positivity....its just increasingly difficult for me to 'see' a way here. I'm told that we have to pull together, work together, as human beings, as a whole, spread love, etc etc and all that. but...

Oh yeah, I get it. But you're young...the questions you ask are good ones. You aren't the first to ask them.

Originally Posted by rustanddust

this social conditioning and brainwashing goes deep...there are still people out there who think women are less intelligent, walking pieces of T&A....who buy into rigidly defined gender roles and believe they are real, and punish those who cross them. who think gay/lesbian/bi/queer people deserve no rights and are below heterosexual people. who think racism doesn't exist anymore. who think black people are lesser beings because they are black.

You're right. You're right about all of that. But I'm here to tell you that those differences are not as deep as you may think. You may just have to take my word for it right now, but it's the truth...not that there won't be trouble, but it'll be less than you think.

And as for those prejudices...how many women dress and act right into that caricature? They know it's stupid. They do it anyway. How many guys know in their hearts that women are their equals and more...but find themselves unable to realize what they've been denying themselves and women too? How many gays flaunt their differences, playing into every redneck's bad joke? How many blacks find it easier to pass, to jive, to be a playa, rather than buckle down and rise to their true potential? Those paradigms affect us all, and they are two-way streets. Rednecks may be stupid and proud of it, but that does not mean they are "bad" people. Some are. Some aren't. Same goes for every other group. EVERY group.

Originally Posted by rustanddust

there is a lot of hatred, a lot of old, deep and dangerous things here, and it will not be suppressed nor will it just go away. not any time soon.

Then we must do our part to ensure the future will be better in that respect. People have willingly given their lives for this cause.

Originally Posted by rustanddust

these things are so deeply imprinted that we don't even realize that exists in our consciousness. or, well, the straight, white, middle-class male won't. just laying over a thin veneer of "love will solve everrrrrything!" is not going to work.

So, would you agree there's a lot of work to do? Good work, wouldn't you say? Worth living for, maybe worth dying for...I'm focused on the living part. Come on, join us! You know you want to...you wouldn't be here otherwise.

Originally Posted by rustanddust

even among the membership here--from the poll, mostly male(and probably white and straight) there is so much dissent...clashing egos....how in the hell is this going to work out? everything thinks they are right. anyone who disagrees is wrong...

C'mon, you know how it works. You've seen those nature shows on cable. You've seen the young bucks. Let 'em. It's their job. I was a young buck. And wasn't I just talking about how women and others all buy into the paradigm that's built for them...we all need to break out of that, but it's a process not an event.

Originally Posted by rustanddust

will it take a disaster? will it take a disruption in our easy, middle class, 1st world standard of living to push something foward? will it take a famine, a tsunami, a hurricane, a plague, an alien invasion? or will even that not be enough?

Yes, yes, of course. But it's more than that. There really is a vibrational change occurring, and it's affecting everything. In some ways young men are ill-equipped to handle this, partly because it's mystical, partly because it's not sports. Men are surprisingly fragile in our culture, degrading and aging easily when they fall short of their inner potential. Mostly, I think the new consciousness is bringing the Sacred Feminine back to the forefront after a couple thousand years of patriarchy, and it's gonna take some time for some fellas to take it all in.

Relax, guys. It's a good thing. Rustanddust is gonna bring her special energy along with other goddesses that I'm sure will be drawn to the cybercity. Let's just make sure we're worthy, ok?

Originally Posted by rustanddust

this whole thing is going to be "solved", one way or another....the earth will change and our lives with it, completely. I just hope its the people....us....who do the solving....not "something(one?) else....

Ya know, that's occurred to me, too. There WILL be peace.

Either we will learn to live peacefully, which means equitably and with love for all; or we will all die. Either way, there will be peace. I know how I'd like to get there.