Page 8 RAIN November/December 1984 change should be instant, painless, and nonreversible. While seeking out opportunities for cooperation, a dialectical view of struggle is also needed. Indeed, those who ostensibly share your views may not necessarily be cooperative, and your greatest struggle may be with such "movement killers." 14 , (d) Intellect and Spirit. Jn trying to escape from what is seen as too much rationality in modern society, an excuse is often provided for anti-intellectualism in the name of the neglected "right brain." We need a more rational rationality, not less rationality. (e) Critics and Lovers. As pointed out by John W. Gardner, we should avoid the extremes of unloving critics and uncritical lovers. 15 Another way to consider more productive behavior is to note the ti::aits of Abraham Maslow~s self-actualizing people, whi~h include: fighting untruths, not needing to be loved by everyone, enjoying greater efficiency and being effective, looking at facts courageously, and avoiding illusions. 16 (3) c·et the New Age Act Together (to Some Degree). The pervasive condition that must be faced fS the fact that we live in an age of infoglut. Another book, journal,· conference, or newsletter about peace, healing, or environmentalism will not necessarily help people·, and might simply add to the pervasive problem of information overload and fragmentation. The transformational message must be recognized as "the world.-crisis solution with a hundred names"-green revolution, human s'cale, person-centered society, human economy~ vconserver society, solar age, meta-industrial alternative, Gandhism, .and so on. As long as this message is fractured 'into a hundred or so labelings, The Transformation, or whatever, will continue to be stillborn. (4) ... and Take It 011 the Road. Talking to the converted is sufficient for a religious organization, although even - religions seek converts. If we are serious about a genuine transformation of values and perceptions, the world must know that desirable and practical alternatives exist. Despite the great volume of New Age literature, "the world-crisis solution with a hundred names" still remains invisible to mainstream culture, or is readily dismissed as "small is beautiful" romanticism. New Age literature is seldom reviewed in mainstream periodicals. It seldom enters textbooks or political campaigns. The old ways of thinking are still very much in power: (a) One-dimensional, flat-earth politics, restricting all possibilities to "the" left-right political spectrum of liberals and conservatives, still prevails in our political analysis. (b) One-eyed eco·nomics, ignoring the informal or household economy, continues to define "the" economy. . (c) One-directional social.evolution, involving more economic growth and a service society, continues to be the only definition of progress. 17 (d) One-time education, assuming that an individual has completed learning upon leaving school or college, continues to inhibit adults from discovering ignorance anq learning needs. The Sandbox Syndrom~ is a set of behaviors guaranteed to keep an individual or an organization in a childjsh state of innocence, content with building sand castles, instead of real-life structures. To improve on these paradigms in power, there must be widespread and genuine debate and discussion, rather ' than smug isolation and loose talk of paradigm change. (5) Aim High and Don't Shoot Your Foot. There is a frequent tendency to underestimate the transformational task, while overestimating the progress that has been made. This is complicated by the use of images and ideas that are intellectually lauda~le but politically inept: for example, a "no-growth society," in contrast to the more attractive notion of a human-growth society. Western science is another illustration: rather than rejecting it, and creating an easy target for the charge of being antiscience, a better,strategy would advocate a more scientific science-a superior world science that incorporates various scientific traditions. 18 This advice is for th.e counteragent, who would seek to promote an actual transformation. But the task is difficult. The agent, who embraces the Way of the Sandbox, follows the path of least resistance. Both the agent and the counteragent are at work. Who will win? Probably the agent. Still, the counteragent may-prevail-the slender hope fhatprompts this essay. Whom do you want to win? D D ·
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