Been around the world. Seventeen countries. A total of six months in Asia via three trips. Year in Europe. Lived for a year or more in California, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, New York, Georgia, Florida and traveled in 40 states of America..... and I was watching my pennies the whole time, so it's not like I was high-hatting it as an ugly American abroad or living the posh life here. Walked and walked and walked the local neighborhoods and markets everywhere. Learned a couple hundred words in each of many languages, lived in folks' homes, ate their food, worshiped with them in Buddhist temples and in the churches of Europe, and I've closed my eyes to meditate in public in diners and bus stations and on park benches and even in a tent next to a lake a mile from Maharishi in Seelisberg while surrounded by a herd of cows who seemed to like what I was, um, not-doing.
I don't have an especial tee shirt for all the above, but one thing I did get out of it was that America is THE PLACE for personal freedoms of the sort that is missing in virtually every country. While in Spain, I authored and published a small book and I had to get permission (forms filled out and stamps purchased and samples given to some "decider" from the government) to authorize my printer to do the job for me. I dared not criticize Spain, see? In Taiwan, I saw the cops beating up the vendors and soldiers on guard every mile of every major highway. In Indonesia I traveled along a road for miles and miles with hundreds of thousands of people living on the roadsides in huts next to a canal that was both toilet and drinking water. I saw families living their whole lives on a patch of sidewalk where they "owned" about six parking spots and would watch your car for you while you parked it there -- for fifteen cents a day. There's dirt roads in downtown Jakarta. I saw grown men hunched over fencing wires all in a heap -- pounding the wires straight so that they could be resold. I saw ten year old girls selling flowers in the middle of traffic. Barbershops are places where you get a hand job in Asia, and every wife is expected to accept this. And on and on I can list the tragedies and twisted allowances of each culture that are seen, yes, in America too. It's a wash -- they've got their shit and we've got ours. We've got red-necks and they've got fundamentalists. We've got every sort of preacher on any stump, and they've got state religions, political philosophies backed up by guns, warlords and kings and corrupt to the core businesspersons. No stone can be thrown by anyone at any country. To me, being an American has been a life long intent of dwelling upon and recognizing the deeper dynamics of humanity, the common ground we share with virtually anyone anywhere, and my profit is that I feel like a true world citizen and only see my "fellow citizens" no matter the language, beliefs or local mores. I have loved so many with whom I only had but a few words of their language in which to express my feelings. After all my trips, coming home to America was bittersweet knowing of our crappola, but it was coming HOME. It wasn't about seeing family again, it was about putting a single foot on this soil from which I'd sprung. I love America for that which it stands, and I cry when so many fall so short of this mindset that the whole world wants for itself too -- freedom here is sweeter than any other freedom of other cultures -- I'm hardwired to assert this, yes, but intuitively, it seems true. And, if the world crumbles and all the paranoia turns out to have been 20/20, we can be sure that America will be blamed and that the unwashed everywhere will take it out on whatever American they can get their hands on. If an Israeli bulldozer can slowly grind a young woman into the mud, it's not a stretch to imagine Barry being targeted by the local crazies when 80% of the world is eating grass, shoe leather, and Soylent Green. Have fun OVER THERE Barry -- it may not last much longer. As for my imaginary friend, God, I am on record here espousing the impersonal God, the Absolute, as an infinitely subtle structure of existence that saturates by a spiritual hegemony every dynamic of consciousness and that it MIGHT be possible that one or more religions have the skinny on how to purify one's resonance with that ground-state's axioms and that doing such brings ease to living. Show of hands . . . anyone here envious of Barry's ex-pat life? Anyone here think his job security is firm? Anyone here think he's not going to high-tail it HOME when push comes to shove? Edg --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_re...@...> wrote: > > Ya know that Edg has reached the bottom of his > already-small intellectual barrel when he has to > try the "shame the ex-pat for running away from > his country" routine. :-) > > Anyone who still identifies with nationalism and > thinks of themselves in terms of loyalty to the > patch of dirt they were born on and the glory of > staying on it deserves the life they get. Others > travel, and identify only with what travels with > them -- their selves and the Self. > > If one were to treat their pronouncements as some > kind of rule or truism, then Edg Duveyoung and > Judy Stein and Willytex -- the ones who have so > often repeated this tired old misplaced jealousy > of those who got the hell out of Dodge represent > with their lives and the way they walk *their* > walk the "happiness karma" of nationalism and > "staying put" in one's country of birth. You do > the math. > > Mark Twain said, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, > bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." I wouldn't go so > far as to say "fatal," but it sure can put a dent > in the armor of prejudice, bigotry, and narrow- > mindedness in my opinion. Others feel that they > should stay at home and polish their armor. Again, > use your assessment of their own happiness levels > to judge the effectiveness of their stay-at-home > philosophy. > > As input for those of the Edg-Judy-Willytex School > of Just Stay Put And Glory In Being American as an > excuse for why they're too lazy to see the rest of > the world and experience what it might be like to > live there, I pass along the information that the > Americans who actually *do* travel are regarded > these days by people in the rest of the world as > a curious anomaly, and one worthy of interest and > potential friendship. It is so rare to see a real, > live American living in so many places in the world > that the presence of one indicates that this is > someone who has chose to Find Out For Himself > rather than sit at home in front of the TV and the > computer and claim that they know what the elephant > of the world is like by feeling the screen. > > "Six wise, blind elephants were discussing what humans > were like. Failing to agree, they decided to determine > what humans were like by direct experience. The first > wise, blind elephant felt the human, and declared, > 'Humans are flat.' The other wise, blind elephants, > after similarly feeling the human, agreed." :-) > > Edg, you'd do better to stick to trying to demonize > me as an unrepentant sexual predator than as a cowardly > American ex-pat. More people in the world mindlessly > agree that the former is evil these days than the latter, > which is actually regarded as an indicator of sanity. :-) > > Or, you could be honest for once and try to diss me for > what is really causing the bug up your ass -- the fact > that I laugh at the imaginary friend you call God, and > at you for still needing one at your age. > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > Judy, if Barry gets to rail about me "projecting," and asserting that it > > must be my broken personality that does so, then, hey, goose/gander time, > > sez moi -- if Barry's "walk/talk law" is upheld then he's projecting HIS > > own criticism of himself. > > > > Byron Katie time. Cue snare drum. > > > > And ain't it just the truest thing about him -- that he cannot be held to > > any talk if it requires him to walk it? > > > > Onliest walking he ever has done is away from his country, his gurus, his > > cultural values, his integrity, his sense of decency, his birth karma (ran > > away from the goal/challenge of being a life supporting American,) and > > let's not forget his familial roots. > > > > Edg > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_reply@> > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > I have written before on the difference between talking > > > > the talk of one's spiritual path and walking the walk of > > > > it. And yes, as some have said, I have written about it > > > > enough that they claim to find it boring. I think that a > > > > larger reason than "boring" for the people saying this > > > > might be "I couldn't find a way to refute it the first > > > > time and I can't find one now, so I'm going to call it > > > > 'boring' in hopes that he'll stop saying it." :-) > > > > > > Actually, I called your raps (not just this one by any > > > means) "repetitious," not "boring." Interesting that > > > you felt you needed to escalate the criticism, but I > > > guess "repetitious" didn't work so well with your > > > fantasy about the "larger reason" for the criticism. > > > > > > The whole point of "repetitious," of course, is that > > > your trademark "raps" have been *repeatedly refuted*. > > > You keep bringing them back, in slightly different > > > clothing, in the hope that this time they'll pass > > > muster. > > > > > > Sorry, Charlie. The new outfit for the "rap" in > > > question suffers from the same poor workmanship in > > > its current iteration as all the other times you've > > > inflicted it on us. > > > > > > The question is, why on earth did you think you were > > > the only one aware of the difference between "talking > > > the talk and walking the walk"? It's a *cliche*, Barry. > > > It was a cliche long before you ever attempted to > > > preach it here. And it doesn't get any more original > > > or insightful with repetition. > > > > > >
