I liked the New Age movement in the early 70's. It was then about asking questions: What role, say, do unresolved emotions and beliefs play in our sickness? Which foods provide better health? Are there hands-on techniques for helping bodies with pain and dysfunction? How much disease is caused by doctors and dubious pharmeceuticals? Like that.

Then, by the mid-80's, New Age Fascism rose up: Scads and scads of people making pronouncements. Once folks KNEW they knew the truth, and began scolding others, things got all squirrely.

Lots of it happened for profit, books, speaking tours, etc. PBS fundraisers aire some of the most hilarious claptrap: Dr. (Asshat) Wayne Dyer, who gets a new incarnation every time the wind blows; the "I'm Juicy" speaker (don't ask), etc.

But there are still sane helpers out there to help with uncovering emotional junk that has a stuck in place; the good ones don't impose their values on you, just lead you to self-discovery, which allows more choice about how we then behave.

I think if we are not angry part of the time, it's because we aren't paying attention, or are so afraid of conflict that we live in repressed denial. But at the same time, continuous rage is not sustainable, to either the health of our bodies or our souls.

A few bloggers here at TPM only have rage. My next-door-neighbor is like that: absolutely everything pisses him off. I know him and his history well, I know some of the causes. By now he is 63, a bachelor and almost-hermit. He is alone so much that he never gets his rough edges filed off by social interaction; by now he frankly Scares the Horses. He's constructed his own version of the world, and almost always agrees with himself!

I'm trying to say that he filters everything he sees through a clouded lens of anger by now, so his hatreds and paranoia grow and grow. By now he believes he can communicate with the wildlife on our neighborhood hill...

I don't know your writing well enough to know if you are always pissed, or just pissed about issues, and let loose. If it's the former, pay attention to that. But if the latter, Have At It. Righteous anger can really be an avenue of power and activism. It's a big reason why so many tea party people got on the street. The Left needs to borrow some of it, as long as we leave the Crazy at home.

(By the way, you left out Jim Hightower; he can do him some rant pretty darned GOOD!)

It all started at a Kerry fundraiser I attended when, after a solid bit of some damn good political discussion which we now label and stigmatize as "ranting" so as to degrade any justified show of emotion and passion whatsoever, a woman dressed in a big swirly skirt and a head scarf shoved her business card in my hand and told me I "don't have to live with my anger."

Let me quietly and respectfully offer a slightly different point of view--Not New Age--Old Age. Pre-boomer by some definitions.

A Discussion is composed of two actions.
One is talking.
One is listening.
One does these alternately, and in listening really listens, and in talking addresses directly what the other person actually said, insisting on the same behavior from the other person in the discussion. When it doesn't happen, the appropriate thing to do is walk away and spend one's time more productively.

I've had some pretty good discussions with Obey, when I've read what he said carefully and responded as well as I knew how. There are others I've simply walked away from, having better things to do with my time.

If someone gets in my face, yells as loud as they can, cares not a whit for what I have to say, plows right on to their next talking point as if I said nothing at all...end of discussion.

I ascribe to good old John Milton:

Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making

Having said that I would probably walk away from the lady with the swirly skirt after politely refusing her business card--or after dumping it in the recycle pit if she flounced away to continue to distribute her advertising to somebody else. It's my job to manage my anger, not hers. I manage it as best I can, in whatever way furthers my cause--knowing it may be a mighty tool to keep me motivated but at the same time a not very effective tool for achieving my objectives.

These people are extremely dangerous and have killed, yes killed, the Democrat Party and the Progressive Movement.

The New Agers as far as I can tell, are old Baby Boomer hippies that went from drugs,
narcissism and some incidental social change to just straight old narcissism. The "N" in New Age stands for NARCISSISM.

Boy you got that right. I am so sick and tired of these holier than thou, self righteous, politically correct pseudo-progressives - I could just puke.

Phil Ochs was right. "Liberals - 10 degrees left of center when times are good, 10 degrees right of center when it effects them personally."

C

It could be prescription drugs or organic food and organic furniture etc.

Of course coal is organic.

Some energy is lost in the passing decades, on an individual basis. Hard to do a 15 min mile and I actually did a marathon in 3.5 hours...ha

Then I am stuck with the paradigm of Network:

I'M MAD AS HELL AND I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE.

Ok, then we need some screaming leaders at these rallies. I mean real rallies where the first speakers get up and prep everybody. Drown out the right wing bigots. When they do a pledge of allegiance, every body is led in song....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYKY2lpxMg8

This is the reason my TPM bio reads:

Original brand Hippie, gently aging. Caution: DO NOT POKE WITH STICK. Hippie may appear to be asleep/dead/stoned, but don't count on it.

The New Agers are just so phony and absolutely no fun at all. You can poke em with a stick all day long and you barely get em to squeak.

BTW, I do remember looking around in 1974 and wondering where everyone went. So, I shrugged my shoulders and carried on, eventually giving birth and raising two very fine progressive socialists, much to the chagrin of their pappy. heh heh heh.

Sorry. If I am not into the New Age movement then there is a damn good possibility I have no idea what the "Coue method" is and I bet there are a hundred more all meant to make sure I go inward and not outward, focus on myself, and sit on my cushion all day where I might come to some healthy realization about something but in my teeny ass little life span, it isn't going to matter to the world.

What is going to matter to the world after I am gone? Anything at all that I did?

Let me ask you this.

Thanks to all for your excellent posts.

Dt

One might consider you a glutton for...

but I am honored by all. Truly honored.

Thank you

Dt