And the days go by | Nov. 16, 2004, 8:11 pm CET It certainly has been an interesting few days. Those occultations certainly brought a wave of change through our local subdimension of the cosmic physical plane. We are seeing it on the political level; we're feeling it on the personal level. It seems like the big deck in the sky is getting shuffled over and over again. But the spread has not been dealt. And some people think it's a poker game about to start. In the "what to do" department, I am becoming aware that most of the attention is being devoted politically. Looked at one way, that's sensible. We do have a political situation on our hands. But there is on a much deeper level the issue of community. Whatever we may think of corporate reality -- the malling of America, chain stores and restaurants taking over every function, and so on -- one thing that it's done is weaken the fabric of our society in a way that most people don't even notice. We don't notice because it's all so convenient. The introspective level of politics is community. Community puts people into situations wherein they must deal with one another and live with the delicate quality of life; community is the reality that we all support one another, or we all fall down. We are not struggling that much in the United States -- not materially, anyway, or rather, not most of us. There are plenty of people, though, who don't know how bad they have it, and how it is that all the resources and cash flow in their local economies have been sucked dry. What most people don't realize is that high unemployment is GOOD for business because it makes a cheap labor market. But that only goes so far, because these same people are their customers. Anyway -- community. It is interesting that I have to sit here in France and type these words to you alone; I cannot speak them to you in a meeting, or in a living room or on a college campus; not at the moment, anyway. We get to share some ideas, but we don't get to be together. If we had more contact with one another in situations that were not scripted (like most offices are), we could do some reality checking, we could identify one another's needs, and we could meet them. If you took 50 people and put them in a circle and everyone around the room took a turn and said what they need, I assure you that amongst the other 49 there would be someone who could meet that need with NO problem. Yeah, I have an extra modem. Yes, I can take care of your kids Saturday. Yes, you can come over to my house and watch movies. Yes, I have extra food. This is a primitive and highly effective kind of socialism. It has no limits, except what people will allow themselves to do. The trick is getting the 50 people together, and somebody saying, let's all go around the room and say what we really need the most. Not being ashamed to admit those needs. Most people are misers only when it comes to asking others for what they need. Personally, I would love some friends to have dinner with a few times a week. Oh and I don't eat wheat.