poem

You call them up
And they don't answer
Instead they have
A beautiful voice
On a tape
Give you directions
For one or two or three
Finally
If you're lucky
You can press "O"
And speak to a human
Being who can give you another tape on which to leave your beautiful voice
To be called back at their convenience, if at all.

Then and only then
Can you offer them help,
Perhaps volunteering
With people in need.
Instead of thanking you with glee
They probably will
Put you through
A rigorous
Application process
Lasting from weeks to months
Then they'll act like they're doing you a favor
If they let you spend still more time
Than you already have applying
Time worth $25/hour in a workplace,
Actually talking to and helping a little,
People in need whom they control and keep from being helped,
Like an iron gate
Around a city
Filled with beggars.

Tlacotlalpan

A house
Maids, 18 and 14 years old
Senora, elderly effusive owner
Talks and talks
Residents run away when she starts; but do so secretively, so as not to offend the
Woman who gives out favors
Lets some girls have own room for months
While others crunch in two at a time
Doors locked at night with chain and padlock
Inside, can't get out.
But little chance of fire
Mexican cement construction with French frills in
Colonia Roma
Tlacotlalpan Street
Girls from small towns
In big city putting on aires
Maids from Northern parched lands
No rain, no rain
No "chiles" to pick this year
The "padre," friend of the Senora, got them their jobs this year
Low pay or no pay
Maybe just room and board
Only Sundays off
And evenings after dishes washed
But Sundays, can't go out unless Senora with them
Such a burden for "Poor" Senora
Too busy to go
Girls must be protected from young men.
Padre entrusted them to her responsibility.
Older sister already flirting with boy working at bakery
Going for fresh bakery every day on the table.
Goes alone
Senora doesn't know about boy.
Maids would love to go to little park down beyond Viaducto on a Sunday but almost never g go anywhere.
"Poor things," Senora gives special permission for them to go with resident, "la americana"
La americana acts like a friend of theirs
Even though
Completely different level of
Education and economics
Treats them like equals
Talking to them as they serve dinner
"She must not be used to servants. It must be different in the United states,"
The Senora notices her unusual table manners.
American visits with maids after dinner
Other residents very friendly to American
At first
Many questions
Center of attention
For a whole meal
Then nothing
Treating her as non-existant
Never initiating conversation with her again
But Senora very friendly to American
Making American nervous\
Too friendly
American new at Unicersity
Going for Masters
Once a week
Very little contact
With other potential new friends
Lonely
Except for maids
Has nice room
All alone
But not responding to Senora's gushing friendliness
Afraid of Senora's advances
Soon a new girl, moves in with her
Of Arabic descent
Haughty
Hangs underwear in communal shower
Makes big deal about American's shower
Insists on schedule for showers
At night
Wakes American up,slapping her hands suddenly when American snores

Who iknows Sali must have made loud noise; no other way would she have awakened.
Sali tries to smoke American out
Senora knows about illegal smoking
But afraid to lose a resident
No confrontation about it
New resident ostensibly plays up to Senora
Tone of voice
Offering outing on a Sunday
Senora falls for it
Now American in new room
SEnora's favorite has room to herself.
A little older than other girls, Sali prides herself in managing the Senora.
Medical student
Bright pleasant withoujt aires
Letting American borrow her typewriter
Next day
Typing and typing
Not knowing she's using up casette
Senora questions her
American, being American, thinks,
"What business is it of hers"?
Realizes later nature of casette
Upsetting med student
How to fix it?
American buying her not one, but several new casettes
Med student doesn't show particular appreciation.
But what does she think?
Another resident
Banco Serfin teller
Tells American at breakfast that she took a "Palmeada" of American's soap and hoped American didn't mind.
American assured her she didn't.
And "take some whenever you want"The girl nevcer took another "palmeada"
But advised American on a good way to meet a boy friend.
Could go downtown to museum and talk to someone there and get to know him.
American never did.
Young man
Indian features
Studying medicine at UNAM
Friendly to American, looking for a department,
Helpful
But really looiking for a chance to tell her off, being an American

Brings up politics
But American's left wing
So can
't get anywhere
Starts calling her every day
Talks to Senora when American out
About American
Senora "has no friends"
Next outing
Chapultepec
Young man insinuates "has no friends" into conversation
Insults American very diplomatically
Still "friends"
Out again
At a train station
Opens fire with a barrage of semi political insults
Aimed at American
On stage of metro platform
In front of waiting passengers
American singing along
Servants 14 and 18 singing
Have booklet with words to popular songs sold at bookstand near bus stop
American singing along
Her first chance to sing a song in years
They singd "Estoy enamorado de un "fan."
Asking what a "fan" is
They can't tell her
Later finding out from someone else
Same as English
The singer is in love with a fan.
18 year old eating chele peppers
In kitche
In spite of fact that they cause her stomach aches.
Wanting to go home
Girls saying
Senora told them
To leave her alone with all that work would be a mortal sin.
Sign in Senora's window soliciting servant
But not hiring any of the many women who come for interviews
Senora going to church
Servants too
And American too
American tells girls it's not a mortal sin to leave.
Planning escape
Hiding cardboard boxes of packed clothes
American checking on travel to San Luis Potosi
First, train
Lines too long
Lots of travellors
Before Easter
Then, buses
Which Station?
San Lorenzo or Transportes del Norte?
During Senora's usual long Sunday conversation with friends
Three sneaking out side foor
Coming around to front with cardboard boxes
Crossing past living room conversation
Ducking under witdows
Refusing a couple cabs 'cause too much
Hailing small cheaper one
American paying
Big station
Must wait afternoon and all night for bus
Fear of being found out
Get situated
18 year old almost immediately finding a young man talk to
No sign of fear
Back home
All is dark
In dining room
Time for "merienda": small evening meal
Whispers
"Girls left"
"I can't believe they had the nerve."
Senora "I'm responsible for them. Anything could happen to them on the road. They could be murdered. There are hold ups all the time on that route."
American listening in own room
Worrying
Could what she says be true?
Senora: "You'll just have to get your own tea and rolls."
Senora:But someone wrote this note for them because I know they can't write My cousin is an investigator. Maybe he can help."
American thinking" "After all this time the Senora doesn't even know she can write"?
Later American lets them know she helped them.
Next day
Brother of young university friend
"You don't have to worry.
People travel that route in buses all the time. She must have been trying to scare you."

Addictive Culture in Politics

Addictive Culture in Politics

Introduction

Addictive culture takes place when persons favor their own needs over, and at the expense of the common good. In the political sphere, leaders favor their own interests. Through this, addictive syndromes are created within organic systems. These syndromes evolve through phases and reproduce themselves in a multiplier effect. Eventually, if allowed to continue, these addictive syndromes lead to the death of complex organic systems.
Addictive political culture often includes the use of rewards and punishments in any of their myriad forms: e.g. tax breaks, "encouragement," war, etc. Rewards and punishments are manipulation by means of any stimuli given to encourage certain actions as opposed to other actions.

As I see it, these rewards and punishments are often a basic part of addictive culture, which invades authentic organic cultures. Addictive cultures are not organic, because their activity is not derived naturally from reality but is contrived and derived from the manipulation of reality. Addictive culture is a syndrome made up of a geometric progression of activities, which eats away at organic culture, and if allowed, eventually devastates it.
Using a medical metaphor, we can diagnose this syndrome through recognition of symptoms. Some of them are: manipulation, imbalance, polarization, integration and disintegration, uniformity, misplaced priorities, exponential growth of the syndrome, evolving forms, escalation toward death, loss of freedom and equality, disrespect for most complex level, illusion, disconnected feedback, and denial.

Addictive Versus Organic Culture
In this paper, I will describe a phenomenon which can be noticed taking place in many different contexts including world politics. It follows a pattern much like one a biological phenomenon might follow, but this is a social and/or political phenomenon. I call it "addictive culture."
Addictive culture can be followed step-by-step. We can start with:
application of artificial incentives to organic systems, causing:
imbalances because parts receive new stimuli while other parts pay for it and so have less of what they need, causing: polarization, separation between parts of the systems which becomes:
disintegration of related parts of the systems and forced integration between unrelated parts.
Since there was an interdependence in 4relationships within the original system to get needs met, more imbalances in regard to needs now occur, causing: Compulsive tendencies by those with seriously unmet needs, to use manipulative means to gain false substitutes of the real satisfaction of them. If they use manipulative means (apply artificial incentives, step 1) the vicious circular phenomenon continues. The following example is meant to demonstrate the steps of an addictive culture:

Let’s say, a new country was created in the 1500s by process of buying off the leaders when feasible in order to get more land, and war against the inhabitants when the leaders were not accepting bribes (step 1); an imbalance in land would develop between the groups (step 2); a rift would be created between the new settlers and the original inhabitants (step 3). As the new inhabitants attained more and more land through artificial incentives and/or war, the original inhabitants’ order would disintegrate more and more while the new nation would become more and more integrated (step 4) Imbalances would increase as some had too much land and the riches it could bring, and the others not enough to sustain the barest of necessities (step 5). Those with too much land and riches would have an extreme need for trustworthy friends, rather than those who were jealous, angry, and/or violent, or who might use them for their riches, etc. And the original inhabitants would, of course, have an extreme need for land. These extreme needs on both sides would lead to a tendency for more use of manipulation in orfer to get quick fixes and the illusion of having their needs met (step 6). And so the addictive culture would continue in its repetitive cycle.

Symptoms
Addictive culture is a syndrome and, as in disease, there are stages in its development. When a syndrome is diagnosed by a doctor, he recognizes symptoms, whether they are in the beginning stages or in the later stages. Here also, a practitioner can recognize addictive culture by seeing one or two stages of it without necessarily seeing all the stages. He knows in theory what can happen without seeing every part of it played out. Also, there may be variations in symptoms depending upon the context and depending upon its evolution.

I will follow a stage-by-stage process to give a general overview of this phenomenon, and give examples to show more concretely the type of activity I am referring to. Each example given is meant to show a symptom of addictive culture. But some of the cases given may exemplify more than one addictive symptom.

PART I.
Manipulation
Rewards and punishments, in all their subtle and not so subtle forms, are basic to much of addictive culture. Manipulation or violence is used by individuals to gain ends, which are not their real needs but compulsions. Some of these means are: incentives, favoritism, artificial conditioning, stimuli, rewards, positive reinforcement, threats of violence, assassinations, or even war or torture. Depending upon the circumstances, more or less desperate means may be used.

Example of Manipulation in Addictive Culture 1: If U.S. oil interests want a pipeline built through Afghanistan, but those ruling Afghanistan refuse to agree to any kind of deal, U.S. leaders could force action through war. Afghan leaders would tend to be afraid of disobeying U.S. leaders’ requests due to threat of war. Other countries also might be threatened if the United States actually went to war because the United States could turn against them also if they did not acquiesce to American interests.

The first example involved negative manipulation (war) while the second displays positive manipulation, such as grants.

Manipulation Example 2: If a new product which has problems of its own, is developed and promoted through manipulative means such as: grants for its development, and tax breaks for both producers and consumers, when no grants or tax breaks are given for its competitors, the older products, or for most other products, in general; if funds are raised in city, state, and United States legislatures for only the new product’s use in public institutions such as schools, offices, etc; if schools that teach courses in its use are subsidized; and, if those who take courses in its use are given grants or loans. These means would be manipulative promotion of the new product.

Integration and Disintegration
Another phenomenon in this addictive culture is non-organic or forced integration and disintegration. Through the use of manipulation, new alliances are made and old ones disintegrate. In organic culture integration or disintegration is slow and can be planned for.

Integration and Disintegration Example 1: If the United States offers the Israelis and the Palestinians economic stimuli for their coming to an agreement of some kind, an agreement might be achieved. But, meanwhile, certain Israeli and Palestinian groups would become alienated from their own leadership. Disintegration would take place within, while closer unity would take place without. The stimuli for peace would not work, because real peace comes through real understanding and is given freely; it cannot be manipulated by economic stimuli.
One way toward peace between Israelis and Palestinians in a non-compulsive setting would be through communication between them about needs and how each can help the other without hurting themselves, or , where necessary, making certain less satisfying compromises. All this discussion would proceed without any threat of force.

The first example has to do with the disintegration which takes place within a country when integration between it and another country is forced on them by a third country by stimuli. People from certain groups become alienated from those making agreements with the enemy country for money. In the second example, the countries become disintegrated when the corporate world and those in it are divided from the poor who reap none of the economic benefits of integration and who, in fact, pay for it through unemployment, lost benefits, higher prices, and loss in natural resources.

Integration and Disintegration Example 2:
Forced integration can take place among countries in regard to trade. International financial institutions may offer loans with special low interest to those companies in the third world which sell products outside the borders of the countries in which their factories are located. Those that only sell locally would not be offered them; certain loans would be offered only to those companies that expanded outside their own borders; in certain areas, companies that enjoy favorable exchange rates would also be allowed special low tariffs or free entry of products into certain areas and local legal requirements could be specially lowered for international companies. Major dissention from within a country going through these changes could be handled by demotions, firings, disappearances, assassinations, etc.

The negative effects of this forced integration cannot be easily categorized. They follow convoluted paths in the exponential growth of addictive culture. Local companies may not be able to compete with all the favoritism and shut down, leaving many people unemployed, having little other choice but to seek employment at the new, favored, international companies. This could mean movement of populations from their family-based small towns, negatively affecting the community and society. Also, people may have little choice but to buy the products of international companies, now that other companies shut down. And funds, which were invested in large local companies, are likely to be transferred to international corporations. To facilitate trucks carrying merchandise, special modern expensive highways in third world nations leading to ports and international borders may be carved through mountains, deserts, forests, etc. This would affect the environment negatively, in addition to the probable irretrievable economic losses. The two or more countries would become progressively more integrated by these forceful artificial methods; but many organic, social, and environmental systems would disintegrate.

Uniformity
An increase in uniformity takes place in addictive culture. That which is rewarded increases, while diverse unrewarded forms gradually disappear.

Uniformity Example 1:
If business and housing development is stimulated by tax breaks, subsidization, loans, grants, or the like, leading to expanding development, other organic surroundings languish and disappear. Farmland becomes increasingly scarce and, with it, many diverse organic forms.
In the first example, development is artificially stimulated. In the next, computers are stimulated. In each case, there is a loss in other diverse forms which are crowded out within their respective systems. The first takes place in the countryside and the second, within the given business systems.

Uniformity Example 2:
If local, state, and federal government artificially stimulate the use of modern technologies in various and sundry ways, then soon all you would see and hear about would be modern technologies. Typewriter companies would go out of business; a person might not be hired, say, to work in an art museum with an M.A. in art history unless he knew computers. A junior college teacher who knew something about computers might not teach in his own M.A. field but might only be assigned computer classes. Many things would fall by the wayside because of modern technologies.

Polarization
Favoritism tends to artificially polarize and separate parts of systems. Favored parts go in one direction and disfavored, in another. In organic culture, systems maintain their organic integrity.
Polarization Example 1: If recent legal immigrants who are single and refugees, are favored with higher General Assistance checks, than the rest of single recipients. Say the immigrants receive $200 per month while the others receive $175. as these others become aware of the difference, resentment sets in toward the newcomers. The newcomers are also given first places on waiting lists for public housing. Resentment grows and is acted out toward the newcomers through unpleasant facial expressions, swearing, aggression, etc. So the newcomers tend to avoid the others. Eventually, the antagonism becomes a well-known fact within and outside the now polarized groups.

The first example takes place within an economically disadvantaged segment of the community. The next example takes place within the whole community.

Polarization Example 2:
A modern society could be artificially segregated according to ages, and therefore, companies could market to these convenient segments of the economy. The segregation would be advanced by favoring people in various ways according to their age, e.g. subsidizing elderly, favoring younger people in hiring, excluding people from social events because of their age, etc.

Syndromes within Systems
Addictive cultures are syndromes within organic systems. They feed off of the organic systems and grow within them, destroying them.

Syndromes within Systems Example 1:
Modern industries come into a traditional area, and they are favored with the best land, water, use of natural resources, and the best workers. They are alienated from the rest of the area and, at the same time, they depend on the resources of the rest of the area. Little by little, the modern way of life, the favored way, will increase and pervade much of the area. This is a syndrome pervading the organic systems.

In the first example, favoritism toward new industries starts syndromes which damage the overall system. In the next example, favoritism toward cars begins similar destructive syndromes.

Syndromes within Systems Example 2:
If cars are favored over mass transit by massive public spending for extra streets, roads, and highways with the latest technology and constant repairs, immense amounts of land are lost for agriculture. The funds used on road technology are lost for any of society’s pressing needs: health care, education, environmental protection, etc. If car use is favored with special up-to-the-minute reports on all media, radio, and TV stations about driving conditions, this expensive airtime would not be used for society’s need for serious information. Asphalt parking lot land would not be used for parks with trees providing needed shade and flood control. If parking structures where each individual space costs $10,000 to construct are approved, they would not be used for low cost housing for the homeless. Besides this, if cars are favored over mass transit, air is more polluted, cities are dirtier, and more warming of the earth takes place. Favoritism towards cars (and oil) contributes to the destruction of social and environmental systems.

Imbalance
Imbalance is another phenomenon in addictive culture. Needs of some persons are not satisfied but exacerbated because excessive resources are taken at accelerating rates by other persons without a need for them. These other persons have real needs which are not being satisfied because of their addictive intake of what they do not need.

Imbalance Example 1:
If companies are given incentives by government, there may be a disproportionate amount of their product produced. The company does not have to depend on real demand when subsidized. So there can be an overproduction, and imbalance between need (demand) and number of products (supply).
People do not always need that much of a given product. However, if more addictive culture continued to grow, advertising campaigns, for example, would convince consumers to purchase the product that they do not need. The government might also lend extra support for the use of the product. These forces would cause more imbalances.
In the first example, society does not address the community’s needs, and instead, resources are exhausted on unneeded products.
In the next example, farmers are encouraged to overuse water while the future need for water is being ignored.

Imbalance Example 2:
If a county generously subsidizes the price of water for farmers in order to get them to buy land and do farming in the area, many farmers may take up the offer; the area may become heavily agricultural; but water may be highly overused, adding to potential drought conditions. It may be difficult to withdraw the water subsidy later on, due to powerful lobbying of so many dependent farmers. As a result, drought conditions would probably increase. The real need of the county is not farming when it ruins the ecological balance. The real deeper need of the farmers is not water but, at a more complex level, ecological balance and the social wellbeing of the overall community. In holistic culture, a county’s overall balance would be maintained by equal treatment without any special favoritism for any particular sector.. Then one sector might still grow organically more than another. But adjustments could be made more easily because the growth would be limited by real needs in other sectors. For example, if a society demands more food, higher food prices in a fair economy would naturally encourage more production of food. And more food for the poor can be accomplished by redistribution rather than favoritism.


PART II.
Complexity of Organisms
An organism can be simple or made up of systems, each of which interacts with the other systems to make up the organism. A larger entity than an organism can be made up of organisms, some of which have systems within them. These larger entities are composed of organisms interacting with each other, just as the systems within the organisms do. Here we can see that the most complex entity is the one made up of organisms, some of which, in turn are made up of systems. Meeting the needs of this entity as a whole is more important than those of some organisms within it if there is a conflict, because the organisms within it are less important than the whole.

Misplaced Priority
If less complex organisms or systems are favored over the more complex of which they are a part by resources from the more complex, we have addictive culture.

Misplaced Priority Example 1:
If a company from Milwaukee, Wisconsin is given a big tax break by the city of Houston for relocating there, the company is participating with Houston leaders in addictive culture because the company is given priority over the more complex communities and environments in which it functions.

Misplaced Priority Example 2:
If manufacturers of computers are given local, state, and federal subsidies, incentives and tax breaks, the cost of computerization may be lowered. Companies and stores may computerize their functions, thereby saving money. But the public at large pays the price of their "savings" by the subsidization, and in the subsequent layoffs.
In the third example, cars are given priority over people, who are much more complex. Both function within the same overall community.

Misplaced Priority Example 3:
If parking spaces are sold for $45,000 in a community where there is not enough money to help homeless people, then cars are given priority over people.
In order to keep organic culture from being infested by addictive culture, use of violence and bribes should be avoided. For example, special loans would not be given to institutions or countries that did what big business wanted. Computer use would not be stimulated. Cities would not be favored over agriculture through subsidization, nor vice versa.

If there were no addictive culture, student loans would not be called for. If war, corporate tax breaks, etc. did not exist there would be much more money available for education, health care, and other basic necessities of the more complex community. College tuition could be much lower for everyone.

Exponential Growth of Problems
In the addictive syndrome, at first, unnoticeable chain reactions begin taking place. Eventually, through exponential growth, they arrive at enormous proportions. Organic culture develops more evenly, taking the whole unit into account, and so progress is slower but more satisfying and balanced than the "progress" of addictive culture.

Exponential Growth Example 1:
If a third world farmer would get a loan (stimulus) to buy a tractor from a U.S. corporation, he would have to start buying gasoline, which he did not need for his oxen. He would also have to buy parts when the tractor broke down. He would have to raise more produce in order to pay back his loan. Let’s say his high production exhausts the land too quickly. So he has to begin buying fertilizer, and eventually his soil becomes more and more depleted. He has to buy an expensive truck to get the produce to a larger, more distant market. The truck uses more gasoline. Grain or vegetable prices may have gone down since production would have risen when other farmers were given loans for tractors the same way he was. For more marketable vegetables he may also start buying seed, which cannot be gotten from last year’s crop. It must be bought each year. When the loan on the tractor comes due, he may not be able to pay it because of all the interconnected costs and obstacles along the way. Meanwhile, his old simple lifestyle, where costs were low, work load was low, worry was low, has disappeared. He has no choice now but to deal with the bankers in regard to his default, perhaps eventually losing his farm. A large international corporation may buy his farm and other farms around him, thereby introducing more sweeping changes, with corporate agriculture. This addictive culture is an outgrowth of the original impetus, (the loan, a stimulus), originating in the corporate governmental culture.

The first example had to do with favoritism for a certain product sold to farmers and the subsequent growing repercussions. When stimuli are offered, the laws of natural supply and demand are overruled. There’s no need for any particular demand for tractors. The fact that loans were being offered for them was enough to bring the farmers out.
The second example has to do with favoritism toward cities over countryside. In both cases, the results expanded out of control.

Exponential Growth Example 2:
If a third world nation with an agricultural base subsidizes industry and services in the city with funds from excess agricultural earnings, cities may seem to flourish at first; then they may grow enormously with the many problems associated with huge growing cities. As years go by, agricultural production may decrease; peasants may become more and more impoverished; and some may have to leave farms; many may go to the overcrowded cities. Eventually, this urbanization would lead to a huge imbalance between city and countryside causing massive damage to social and ecological systems.

Evolving Forms
Addictive culture infests one system at a time. When it has ruined one, it goes on to the next, changing techniques and forms according to the system in which it finds itself.

Evolving Forms Example 1:
The excessive interests of new settlers could motivate them to forcibly and/or through manipulation take over the areas they arrived in. As years go on and their populations grow, they may expand into new areas forcibly. When finally dominating the whole continent, they may begin to take other off-shore areas. Eventually they may find it convenient just to dominate in trade with, say, the backing of a domineering army, over other areas by buying raw materials at low prices and selling back, expensive finished products. Then, due to a changing context, they may change their methods, setting up factories in other nations, hiring cheap foreign labor, and sending finished products back home, with a special deal to avoid import taxes.

Escalation toward Death
Addictive culture involves syndromes within organic systems. These syndromes feed off the organic systems, causing eventual death to some. The syndromes, sometimes by using the latest technological advances, expand at an escalating rate toward new and healthy systems.
The last example illustrated how settlers’ forms of domination and destruction evolved over a period of years until finally their descendents’ domination and destruction was on a totally more massive scale and world-wide. The next example demonstrates how a lack of interest in the more complex system leads to even more destruction eventually up to the point where even the settlers’ descendents will finally also be threatened with death.

Escalation toward Death Example: If corporations, with their own profits as the motive, operate in northern U.S. areas until the areas no longer have resources: At this point, they are offered special treatment by a southwestern U.S. city or state and they accept and move south; eventually the resources in the southwestern area are used up and they move farther south where they are given special deals by Mexican officials; eventually when Mexican resources are used up, they go farther south to South America, each time leaving behind blighted inner cities with chemical spills, broken down or burned out buildings, asphalt covered parking lots; and , with advanced technologies, the destruction of natural resources, such as deforestation, which takes place each time at a faster pace.

Loss of Freedom and Equality
Favoritism, a phenomenon in conditional addictive culture, leads to loss of freedom and equality. A person does not feel as free to do what he wants if he is going to be rewarded, (i.e. favored), for certain actions and/or punished for others. And, those who are rewarded are not treated equally to those who are not. And so there is the loss of freedom and equality. On a large scale, this develops into class systems in societies where certain groups are looked down upon and treated accordingly.

Loss of Freedom and Equality Example 1:
Scientific and technological activity can be stimulated by paying scientific researchers and professors more than philosophy or history professors and researchers. This, in turn, would cause an inequality in status and affect the social interactions between the various levels. Students would feel more pressure and less freedom in deciding what to study. Favoritism here diminishes equality of status and freedom of choice.

We can see the lack of freedom in the first example for those trying to decide their careers. Also, we see the constant reward and punishment of those in their respective careers, leading to segmentation and class systems. In the next example, we see the loss of freedom even for those who are rewarded by extreme wealth.

Loss of Freedom and Equality Example 2:
Within circles made extremely wealthy by addictive culture, there could be a great lack of person security and so a constant use of security guards, etc. and therefore, a lack of freedom to come and go as they please. Someone with extreme wealth who felt fearful because of it could share some of the wealth with the poor and thereby become more secure. The more wealth he got rid of, the less fear he might feel.

Disrespect for Most Complex Level
As the addictive systems progress, real needs increase due to the destruction caused in the pursuit of obsessions rather than authentic needs. Needs are authentic only when the most complex organic systems involved are respected.

Disrespect for Most Complex Level Example:
If a new seed for robust crops is invented and favored, and everyone begins using it in India, seed companies may be very successful and scientists may earn a good living. But there may be a new need for fertilizer because the new products are so robust they use up more of the nutrients in the soil, perhaps a new need for irrigation because the plants take so much water, and perhaps a need for more money now if this new of seed cannot be salvaged from last year’s crops and must be purchased. Eventually, there may also be a need for a special, expensive seed repository for the old varieties of seed, that used to be used, which now are in danger of extinction. Those involved in the introduction of this new seed should have respected more complex natural and human cycles already in place.

In the example above, those involved in the invention of the new seed may be under the illusion that all is well—that negative repercussions in the more complex context, farming, are minor. The next example under "Illusion" involves more obvious mass delusion in situations where loans as incentives are being given out.

Loans are often a type of incentive or stimulus but not necessarily always. Some loans may just even out the playing field from the indirect effect of favoritism on the unfavored. Also, the question of favoritism may be how high the interest rate is or even whether the loans are to be paid back.


PART III.
Psychological factors play a role in the maintenance and growth of addictive culture.

Illusion
Illusion is another symptom of addictive culture. Early stages in addictive transactions involve the creation of illusions that needs are being satisfies. Because the real needs are not satisfied, the transactions are repeated addictively.

Illusion Example 1:
When companies receive big incentives in the form of loans, there is an illusion of well-being. In fact, the illusion could pervade whole business communities. Reality can actually grow worse because of the illusion, which misleads persons from taking remedial actions. When loans come due, companies may be bankrupt.

The next example is more subtle. People generally have an exaggerated respect for computerization.. Some may face reality, especially when negative aspects affect them personally.

Illusion Example 2:
If major incentives, such as tax breaks, loans, or grants, are built into both state and federal law for computers, at first, as companies get started with the added support, an illusion is created in which computers seem much better and less expensive than older forms of procedure and communication. The cost of development and of the huge changeover from older ways, including the cost of learning new operations and the cost in waste is not noticed. Also, computer repairs and the difficulty of always needing to be near a computer when working, for example, are not noticed. Nor do we realize the huge costs of viruses, identity theft, and other security and privacy issues.

In obsession-free culture, there would be more time for decision making about whether new inventions would satisfy real needs or not. There would be time to balance the cost to the whole system against the benefit to parts of the system. The security and other costs of computers would have been thoroughly analyzed before their massive imposition on society.

Illusion Example 3:
If people in the U.S. are brainwashed by politicians’ and the media’s illusion of finding security in a military build-up, there could be a huge increase in an already huge military budget, which was not was not working. Otherwise, there would already have been security; addictive military spending would place. Weapons’ manufacturers would gain economically, but real security would not be found.

Also, if third world nations’ leaders buy into the illusion of finding security in a military build-up, they may spend more on Lockheed weapons, for instance. However, it would be addictive and not address the real need for security. Regional arms races might begin. Other needs of society would be neglected due to lack of funds.

In non-addictive political culture, leaders would become aware of the needs of other countries and could try to help through good, open, non-threatening communication. They could communicate their own needs with hope of a mutual response. Their relationship would be as equals. Help would be given freely without conditions. ("Security" by violent means—war, or the threat of war—is an intrusion by addictive political culture.) As authentic cultures are developed, needs are really satisfied; illusions of satisfaction are not created unless addictive syndromes enter in.

The Addiction Analogy
Addictive culture takes place in many different contexts. (Many are interconnected.) A vivid illustration and analogy for addictive political culture is the process of drug addiction.
Persons with extreme unmet needs, ultimately for love, may accept and try drugs to satisfy them. The illusion that drugs satisfy their needs kicks in immediately. But then comes the hangover when it is clear that the needs have not been satisfied. An escalating amount of drugs is taken as the needs become more and more acute, not having been satisfied over time and as addicts’ weakened body systems are less and less able to respond to the drug. The addicts also use progressively more of their own time and attention for drugs, leaving aside other interests and also serious commitments. And they use more and more money, which they may steal from their families; since they cannot easily maintain a job while spending progressively more energy on maintaining their habit. This stealing tends to put a rift between them and their families. They become separated from their families, leaving their families with fewer of their needs met. More imbalance comes about to the intake of drugs because of the increased unmet needs. Disintegration of families takes place. But the addict is integrated in to the network of addicts, where the illusion exists that his needs are being met. Society at large pays for his habit in lost and stolen goods, lost lives through drug related murders, lost contributions of work, etc. of the addicts themselves. The addicts have a kind of single minded uni-dimentional way of living. They seek only drugs or what can lead them to drugs. The joys of life are wasted on them.
Addicts are integrated into hierarchy, so there is no equality. And there is no freedom because they are so enslaved to the pursuit of drugs. They also often would have no freedom to go against what they are told from above, (dealers), or to quit drugs, without fear of death.
As more and more needs are unmet in communities due to more intake of drugs, more and more people from them begin falling into the allure of drugs. There is a vicious circle and a chain reaction. The drug networks experience exponential growth. As they grow, the resources of society become more and more scarce. The drug networks experience use up resources in one community at a time, before going to a new one and repeating the pattern, but certain aspects change according to the new context. The change may be from cocaine to heroine, etc.
The drug networks; workings are secretive and so, cut off from the communities at large. They continue to create the illusion of meeting needs and thereby promote drug intake. Those whose authentic needs are met may not be tempted by them. Some who seeds are seriously unsatisfied may fall into other compulsions, such as over-eating.

Drug addicts do not take into account the holistic processes needed in order to get a feeling of well-being. The feeling from drugs is extrinsic to the needs of whole processes. The system is manipulated to get a feeling of well-being regardless of real needs.

These processes of addiction are analogous to certain processes within economic, political, and social systems and are based in the same root cause. Unmet real needs of the whole are ignored while illusionary needs of parts are addressed.

Disconnected Illusionary Feedback
Illusionary disconnected feedback is another dimension of addictive culture. The feedback which comes from artificial incentives is not organically connected. In organic culture, the only feedback would be that which organically results from the action itself. Authentic organically connected feedback could be given in non-manipulative exchanges or communication.

Disconnected Illusionary Feedback Example 1:
U.S. representatives may exchange votes for subsidies (artificial positive feedback) for certain private industries in each other’s areas, while ignoring authentic needs of the whole community, such as health care.
In organic culture, authentic feedback for private industry, etc. would depend on its own day-to-day production, sales, etc., not on special help from the government. Private industry would not be favored at the expense of the whole, unless its well-being served the needs of the whole.

In the first Disconnected Feedback Example, the subsidies have nothing to do with most of the needs of the country. And they make the industries look more successful than they really are. In the next example, the stadium makes the county look successful when actually many of its needs are not being met.

Disconnected Feedback Example 2:
If Milwaukee County officials okay a new "state of the arts" stadium for the Brewers to be paid for by county residents after being voted down in a referendum. This stadium could make the county look like a big success, (Illusionary feedback). At about the same time, the Milwaukee County Hospital was declared bankrupt and closed, thus revealing the county’s lack of success.
In non-addictive culture, the authentic negative feedback, i.e. the referendum, would be honored. Needs of the whole unit would be given priority over the illusionary "need" for a new, expensive stadium.

In non-addictive political culture, feedback is organically connected the the activity of the system. (For example, companies prosper when they really meet the demands of consumer, not because they are subsidized.)

Denial
Those involved in addictive political culture have many varied ways of denying there is any problem.
In the following examples, people respond to critical problems as if everything were normal and/or make excuses instead of admitting and confronting the systemic problem.

Denial Example 1:
If four soldiers come back from war in Afghanistan and kill their wives, and military leaders respond that maybe the couples had problems before the war, and the stress of combat just brought them to a head. And if other wives complain to military leaders about the macho killing mentality of their spouses, and the leaders respond that they do not know, and that they never heard of such a problem.

Denial Example 2:
If someone points out the connection between overuse of cars and global warming, and the person responds, "People must have cars to go to work. And if they have several children they cannot take the bus to shop for food."

Denial Example 3:
An article could be written pointing out the connection between the use of plutonium in weapons and subsequent high increases in cancer rates in the population of the country where the war took place. Such an article and information could be ignored, and if ever confronted with the information, "experts" could make excuses.

The alternative to addictive culture is organic culture. Organic culture is the system in which addictive culture takes place. Organic culture is what addictive culture takes advantage of. Without it, addictive culture cannot exist.

Organic culture is everything that is left when addictive culture is not present. Environments and communities throughout the world are all organic, expect for the invasion of addictive culture. A country’s leader who communicates without using threats or offers of gifts to get his way is practicing organic political culture. In general, the absence of non-organic (i.e. artificial), threats, violence, or bribes allows organic political culture to evolve.

Authentic communication, as opposed to manipulation takes place in organic culture; also, freedom, equality, organic integration and disintegration; authentic needs and not illusions are satisfied in organic culture. Authentic needs are those whose satisfaction does not outweigh the satisfaction of the needs of the whole.

In organic culture, supply and demand are balanced because real needs are respected; needs are not artificially created. And obsessions are not considered needs. Evolution in organic culture occurs naturally according to the survival of those systems which really meet needs.
An example of organic political culture would be two countries that would get together and simply discuss grievances without threats or bribes, and without interference from a third country’s bribes.

It is difficult to find examples of organic political culture on the international level since there is so much militarism and manipulation through loans on that level.

We can return to the analogy of addiction to explain organic political culture. Trying to describe what organic political culture is would be like trying to explain how a person who’s not addicted would act. There are so many possibilities of how a person who is not addicted would act that we would not know where to begin. So it is with organic political culture.

In non-addictive political culture, activity is done to meet equally the needs of all persons without anyone acting as if his needs are more important than anyone else’s.

In non-addictive political culture, trade would be conducted in such a way that it would be of benefit to the whole community or communities involved. Complicated manipulative schemes bringing economic gain to only certain parts of communities at the expense of the rest of the communities, would not exist.

In order to work toward an organic political culture to replace an addictive political culture there would have to be resistant non-cooperation with the addictive political culture. But the resistance would have to be done with goodwill toward those who practice addictive political culture. The reason they practice addictive political culture is that they have extreme unmet needs; addictive political culture is what gives them the illusion of having their needs met . For example, the feeling of power, giving the illusion of love, could be attained through controlling loans for the expansion of "free" trade.

Very addictive people are actively involved in promoting addictive political culture. These people have deep unmet needs.

There is a spiritual solution to the conundrum we are in. In organic political culture, when people seek the good of the whole community, it is love.. People exchange resources to meet needs within the community. This could be information, services, or goods depending upon what is needed.

If some people within a community start putting artificial conditions on meeting needs, addictive culture creeps in. It tends to grow and grow, causing contortions to develop within the community. The world community also needs the practice of organic culture.

1967

At Tilden High School in Chicago's inner city a teacher as young as the sun rise, was disappointed.

She had decided to use the song, "La Bamba," in her class. It was as popular as "Stop in the Name of Love" at the time. She thought it would be a great way to teach Spanish since the students loved singing and dancing. Some even danced out of class, without music. She memorized the words as she listened to it on the radio.

But in class it was as different a situation as Hitler from Martin Luther King. After she started singing, Paul Green, who was as authentic as sands in the Sahara and as cool as a presidential candidate, said, "You ain't got what it takes." It hurt her inside.

The Ledge

When I was a little girl, I used to put "the baby" up on the ledge in front of our house. I would never let her fall, even if someone offered me a chocolate Ziegler's Bar. She was my sister. But one day the Golden Guernsey milk man, who alternated days with the Borden's milk man, told me not to let her fall or he'd give me a licking. I didn't like what he said, including the word "licking." That day I hid from him behind the tree. And I continued avoiding or hiding from him for some time. I'd keep track of the days. When the Borden man came I felt free as a breeze. One day at lunch I hid under the table. My mother talked about me and questioned me about it later. One time i hid in the clothes shoot. I heard the milk man in the back talking to my mother as seriously as a doctor discussing cancer. He would not be delivering milk to us any longer. My mother said it was too bad, but I was only too glad. My mother had told me he was very nice and he felt bad I was always running away from him. But I was incapable of empathizing with him at that time. But I got along fine with my little sister.

poetry

Country wedding in
Hills
People coming from church
in Mexico City
Arriving in a bus as dark as deep depths
No gifts
Bride and groom serving
"Mole" made by mother
Worked all night
Music
New guests
Join in dancing
As uninvited as scare crows
And as welcomed as the sun



First bank
"No," says the banker

Second bank
Marble floors
Mahogany desks
Smell of perfume
Clerks looking like television "novela" actresses
Lines of customers
"We don't cash these traveler's checks."
"How will I pay my rent"?
"You can go next door,"
says banker ignoring tears in customer's face



School Scene

A college campus
Clusters of students out in the sun
Talk talking
Books and notebooks in their bags
Steps like a pyramid
Leading
up from the
jungle wilds below of
cactus plants and drooping
trees with leaves withered by acid rain
Cold school buildings and rooms
Warm sun
Flowers outside
Concrete slabs to sit on
Students speaking in Spanish
One says,
"Let's stick it to her,"
New but with graying hair
the American feels cold around her heart.
Understanding what's said
She gropes for a retort.
She does a search
of her brain
and comes up with nothing.
The moment freezes in her memory.



Rain

Heavenly clouds
With wind through the trees.
Darkness surrounds
me and puddles abound.
When it's raining without rain
It's like love without pain.

1977

The baby needed milk. And the only one who could help was Janice's great aunt, Maria. She was the only one getting an SSI check. So ironically the whole family was as nice as a best friend to her now.

But this was an emergency. Janice didn't like to take advantage of people. She'd never play up[ to Aunt Maria. But what other way was there? She saw none.

She called her mother. Ring-ring. No answer. Had she gone to work? Did she work on Thursdays? Janice could never keep her part time schedule at that restaurant straight. Her mother would have been like a general, glad to tell her whether or not to ask Aunt Maria.

Maria, with no children, was as painfully shy as a little girl in front of a lion. She'd never been married. But she lived right near plenty of family, nieces and nephews, grand nieces, brothers and a sister. They were all on Albany St. in Chicago. It was a nice street especially when the sun was shining.

Janice knew now she'd made a mistake. In fact she'd made many mistakes. In high school she didn't study. What was the name of that one teacher who kept pushing her to study? She wouldn't let go. And Janice never wanted to. That was Ms. Longstrom. Wasn't it? Now Janice saw it as differently as if she'd passed over into another dimension. If she'd studied she could have worked like Marcos, the nerd, who studied. He was working at the drug store at the cash register. And he'd been there a long time. Now she admired that. But Janice couldn't even make change. She was even afraid to look for a job.

She'd seen "West Side Story." And she'd seen kids reliving it not too far from her neighborhood- a couple blocks away. She'd thought it was such a beautiful movie. But now with her baby suffering she saw the reality was not nearly so beautiful. It was true she'd been as attracted to Papo as a magnet to metal. And he was Puerto Rican all the way. He even had the accent. But talk about irresponsible? Like a baby he never came around except for fun. A couple of blocks away, in fact in the whole area, there were gang fights. Young beautiful boys were getting shot all the time. Their young beautiful girl friends were home in apartments with soft carpets and velvet covered chairs caring for their babies. The Kings' headquarters two blocks away looked like a bombed out building after World War II. The real West Side Story was sad as the mothers who lost their sons.

Her mother's part time job wasn't enough, of course. Janice felt like crying. Why didn't anyone explain that to her when she was in school? She felt miserable. And the baby was beginning to whimper. Pretty soon she'd be crying. The food stamps just weren't enough for a whole month of food.

She could call her caseworker, Ms. Roman. But Janice didn't want to overdo it. Last month she'd called and gotten an emergency voucher. And Ms. Roman, who was as nice as a saint, said she was going to put her on the W.I.C. Program. What happened to the W.I.C. program? She could call and ask.

"Hello"?

"Is this Ms. Roman"?

"No. She's in the field. Please call back tomorrow."

Now Janice could get a plan together. She'd ask Maria just for a loan. And she'd pay it back when she got her next check. And it would come out all right because she'd get milk as free as a vacation island from the W.I.C. Program.

Janice left her house smiling as she started walking to Maria's apartment.

La Cultura Politica Adicta y Un Mundo Disfuncional

Introduccion

2ndo parafo--La cultura adicta existe cuando personas favorecen lo que satisface sus necesidades antes y al costo de las de las comunidades completas. En cuanto a la politica, los lideres favorecen sus intereses. Por todo esto, se crean sindromos dentro de los sistemas organicos. Estos sindromos se evolucionan por faces y se reproducen con el efecto multiplicador.

La cultura adicta politica a menudo usa premios y castigos en sin fin de formas: por ejemplo perdon de impuestos, la guerra, "estimuli" y demas. Los premios y castigos son manipulaciones por estimulos que animan a los personas hacia ciertas acciones y les desaniman en cuanto a otras.

Como lo veo yo, los premios y castigos son a menudo una parte basica de la cultura obsesiva, que invade la autentica cultura organica. Las culturas obsesivas no son organicas porque su actividad no se deriva naturalmente de la realidad sino son ingeniadas socialmente, y derivadas de la manipulacion de la realidad muchas veces por los premios y castigos artificiales. La cultura obsesiva es un sindromo hecho de una progresion geometrica de actividades, las cuales abusan de la cultura organica, y, si se permite continuar, con el tiempo la destruyen.

Si usamos una metafora medica, podemos diagnosticar el problema reconociendo las sintomas. Algunos son: la manipulacion, el desequilibrio, la polarizacion, la integracion y desintegracion, la uniformidad, las prioridades mal ubicadas, el crecimiento exponencial, formas que se evolucionan, la escalacion hacia la muerte, perdida de la libertad y de la igualdad, falta de respecto hacia el nivel mas complejo, el espejismo, la retroalimentacion desligada, y el niego.

La Adiccion en Contra de la Cultura Organica

En este trabajo describire un fenomeno que se puede ver tomar lugar en varios contextos incluso la politica mundial. Sigue un diseno bastante parecido a uno que podria seguir un fenomeno biologico, menos que este es un fenomeno social y/o politico. Lo llamo "la cultura adicta."

Uso "organico" en el contexto de comunidad para significar los acuerdos hechos libremente en los que no se usa el condicionamiento artificial y manipulador.

Se puede mirar la cultura adicta paso por paso. Podemos empezar con:
1) dar los incentivos artificiales a los sistemas organicos, lo que causa
2) falta de equilibrio porque partes reciben nuevos estimulos mientras otras partes lo pagan y asi tienen menos de lo que necesitan, lo que causa
3) la polarizacion, la separacion entre partes de los sistemas, lo que llega a ser:
4) la desintegracion de las partes relacionadas y la integracion forzada entre las partes no relacionadas.
5) Por depender de las relaciones dentro del sistema original para la satisfaccion de las necesidades, mas desequilibrios occurren aqui, lo que causa:
6) tendencias compulsivas en personas con grandes necesidades no satisfechas, hacia el uso de formas manipuladoras para ganar falsos espejismos que substituyen por la satisfaccion verdadera de las necesidades. Si usan formas manipuladoras (aplican incentivos artificiales, paso #1) el fenomeno circular vicioso continua. Se usa el ejemplo siguiente para demostrar los pasos de una cultura adicta.

Vamos a decir que se creyo ...; se desarrollaria un desequilibrio en de territorio entre los grupos(paso 2); se crearia una division entre los nuevos colonos y los habitantes originales(paso 3). Mientras los nuevos colonos consiguieron cada vez mas territorio por el uso de soborno y/o la guerra, el orden de los habitantes originales se desintegraria cada vez mas mientras la nueva nacion se integraria cada vez mas(paso 4). Se aumentarian los desequilibrios mientras algunostendrian demasiado territorio y las riquesas que se conllevaria, y los demas no tendrian suficiente para satisfacer las necesidades mas minimas(paso 5). Los Los de los demasiado territorios y riquezas tendrian una necesidad muy grande de amistades sumamente confiables, y no de los envidiosos, enojados, y/o violentos, o de los que serian capaces de usarlos por sus riquezas y demas. Y los habitantes originales , como no, tendrian una necesidad extremosa de territorio. Estas necesidades extremosas de los dos lados llevarian a una tendencia al uso aumentado de la manipulacion para obtener el arreglo rapido y facil y el espejismo de tener satisfechas sus necesidades (paso 6) Aso la cultura adicta se repetiria en su ciclo repetitivo.

Sintomas

La cultura adicta es un sindrome y, como con las enfermedades, hay etapas de su desarrollo. Cuando un doctor diagnostica un sindrome, ve las sintomas, sean las del principio o de una etapa mas avanzada. Tambien aqui un profesionnal puede notar la cultura adicta viendo una o dos de sus sintomas sin ver necesariamente todas las sintomas. Sabe teoricamente lo que puede pasar sin ver cada parte desarrollarse frente a sus ojos. Tambien puede haber variacion de las sintomas segun los contextos y su evolucion.

Parte I

La Manipulacion

Los premios y castigos en todas sus formas sutiles y no tan sutiles, son a menudo un elemento importante de la cultura adicta. Los individuos usan las manipulaciones o la violencia para ganar objetivos los cuales no son necesidades reales sino compulsiones. Algunas de estas medias son: incentivos, favoritismo, condicionamiento artificial, los estimulos, premios, reforzamiento positivo, las amenazas, los asesinatos, o hasta la guerra o la tortura. Segun las circunstancias se puede usar metodos mas o menos desesperados.

Exemplo de la Manipulacion en la Cultura Adicta: Si accionistas, lideres, y duenos americanos de petroleo quieren que se construyan una linea de tubos para el petroleo por Afghanistan, pero los que mandan en Afghanistan rehusan hacer ningun acuerdo, los americanos podrian esforzar la accion por via de la guerra. Los lideres tenderian a desobedecer lo que piden los lideres americanos debido a la amenaza de guerra. Otros paises tambien pueden sentirse amenazados si Estados Unidos realmente empieza una guerra, porque E.U. podria hacer lo mismo en contra de ello tambien si no se los dieran por su lado.

El primer ejemplo contiene la manipulacion negativa (la guerra) mientras que el segundo demuestra la manipulacion positiva, tal como las concesiones.

Ejemplo de la Manipulacion 2: Si se desarrolla y se promueva un producto nuevo que tiene problemas de por si, por medios manipulativos tales como: concesiones para su desarrollo y rebajas en los impuestos, mientras que no se conceden beneficios para sus competidores, los de los productos anteriores; si los lideres de las ciudades, los estados, y los Estados Unidos pasan legislacion para pagar solamente el uso del nuevo producto en instituciones publicas como escuelas, oficinas y demas; si se subsidian las escuelas que ensenan clases sobre su uso; y, si se dan becas y prestamos a los que toman clases en su uso. Estos medios serian una promocion manipulativa del nuevo producto.


La integracion y la desintegracion

Otro fenomeno de esta cultura adicta es la integracion y desintegracion no-organica o forzada. Se hacen nuevas alianzas y las de antes se desintegran por el uso de la manipulacion. En la cultura organica la integracion y la desintegracion son despacios
y pueden ser planeadas.

Integracion y Desintegracion Exemplo 1: Si Estados Unidos ofrece estimulos economicos a los israelis y los palestinos si llegan a un acuerdo de algun tipo, es posible que lleguen. Pero mientras tanto ciertos grupos de Israelis y Palestinos se pondrian desafectados con el liderazgo suyo. La desintegracion se tomaria lugar adentro mientras que habria mas unidad afuera. Los estimulos para la paz no servirian porque la paz verdadera se hace con el entendimiento real y la paz se da gratis; no se puede hacer manipulando con estimulos economicos. Una vision holista acepta la paz como una bien para toda la region.

Tal vez una forma no cmpulsiva hacia la paz entre Israelis y palestinos seria por via de la comunicacion sobre las necesidades de cada lado y sobre como se podrian ayudar entre ellos sin hacerse dano a si mismos, o, cuando necesario, aceptar un punto entremedio en el que se quedan menos satisvechos los dos. Todo este discurso se procederia sin amenazas de fuerza.

El primer ejemplo tiene que ver con la desintegracion que toma lugar dentro de un pais cuando otro pais esfuerza con estimulos la integracion del mismo con tercer pais. Personas de ciertos grupos dentro del primer pais se ponen enajenanados de los que hacen los acuerdos con el pais enemigo por dinero. En el segundo ejemplo, los paises se desintegran cuando el mundo corporativo y las personas dentro del mismo se separan de los pobres quienes no reciben ningunos de los beneficios economicos de la integracion y quienes, de hecho, lo pagan con el desempleo, perdida de beneficios, y demas, precios mas altos, y menos recursos naturales.

La Integracion y la Desintegracion Exemplo 2: La integracion esforsada puede tomar lugar entre paises en cuanto al intercambio. Instituciones financieras internacionales pueden ofrecer prestamos de muy bajo interes especial a companias del tercer mundo que venden productos fuera de los paises en los que se localizan. No se les ofrecerian a los que venden solamente localmente; se ofrecerian ciertos prestamos solamente a las companias que se engrandecerian mas alla de sus fronteras; dentro de ciertas areas, se ofreceria bajas tarifas especiales o la entrada gratis a ciertas areas a las companias con "favorable exchange rates" y se podria bajar especialmente los requisitos legales locales para companias internacionales. Es posible que se traten a las personas que no estan de acuerdo con el nuevo regimen , con cambios negativos en su trabajo, despedidos, desapariciones, asesinatos, y demas.
No se puede categorizar facilmente los efectos negativos de esta integracion esforzada. Los efectos toman formas convolutadas del crecimiento exponencial de esta cultura adicta. Es posible que las companias locales se cierren no pudiendo competir con tanto favoretismo, asi dejando muchos sin trabajo y sin otro alternativo menos que buscar trabajo en las companias nuevas favorecidas internacionales. Esto podria implicar el movimiento de poblaciones desde los pueblitos basados en las familias, asi afectando negativamente las comunidades y la sociedad. Tambien la gente puede no tener otra alternativa mas que comprar los productos de companias internacionales cuando las demas companias se han cerrado. Y lo mas probable es que fondos, antes invertidos en companias locales grandes, se trasladen a corporaciones internacionales. Para facilitar a los "trailers" que llevan mercancia, es probable que se construyan por las montanas, desiertos, bosques y demas dentro de paises del tercer mundo, carreteras caras modernas especiales dirijiendose hacia los puertos y fronteras internacionales. Esto danaria al medio ambiente ademas de las perdidas economicas no rectificables. Los dos o mas paises se integrarian cada vez mas con estos metodos artificiales forzados, pero muchos sistemas sociales, organicos, y del medio ambiente se desintegrarian.

La Uniformidad

Con la cultura adicta hay un aumento en la uniformidad. Lo que se premia se aumenta, mientras que formas que no se premia se desaparecen paulatinamente.
Ejemplo de la Uniformidad 1: Si se estimula el desarrollo de los negocios y el alojamiento con el perdon de impuestos, con subsidios, prestamos subvenciones, y asi, conllevando a la expansion del desarrollo, , el medio ambiente organico alrededor se desanima y se desaparece. Se escasean terrenos para la agricultura y, por lomismo muchas formas organicas diversas.
En el primer ejmemplo, el desarrollo se estimula artificialmente. En el segundo, se estimulan los computadores. En cada caso hay una perdida de otras formas diversas, las que so excluidos dentro de sus sistemas respectivos. El primero toma lugar en el campo y el segundo dentro de los sistemas de negocios dados.

Ejemplo de la Uniformidad 2: Si el gobierno federal, del estado, y local estimularia artificialmente el uso de las tecnologias modernas de varias maneras, dewspues de poco todo lo que verias y ose4ria las tecnologias modernas. Las companias de maquinas de escribir se cerrarian; no se daria trabajo, por ejemplo, en un museo de arte, a una persona con maestria en la historia de arte al maenos que si supiera manejar computadores. Un maestro de colegio que sabria algo sobre los computadores tal vez no ensenaria en su campo de maestria, sino solamente se le asignarian las clases de computadores. Muchas cosas se caerian por el camino por las tecnologias modernas.
La Polarizascion

El favoritismo tiende a polarizar y a dividir artificialmente partes de los sistemas. Las partes favorecidas toman una direccion y las no favorecidas toman otra. Dentro de la cultura organica, los sistemas mantienen su integridad organica.
Ejemplo de la Polarizacion 1: Si se favorecen a los inmigrantes legales, recien llegados, y solteros, con cheques mas grandes de la Asistencia General que los demas recipientes solteros. Digamos que los inmigrantes reciben $200 por mes mientras que los demas reciben $175. Mientras estos se dan cuenta de la diferencia, el resentimiento se forma hacia los recien llegados. Estos tambien son primeros en las listas para el alojamiento publico. El resentimiento crece y se demuestra hacia los recien llegados con expreciones faciales desagradables, con maldiciones, agresiones, y demas. Asi los recien llegados tienden a alejarse de los otros. Eventualmente la antipatia llega a ser un hecho bien conocido dentro y fuera de los grupos ya polarizados.
El primer ejemplo toma lugar dentro de un segmento de la comunidad desventajada economicamente. El segundo ejemplo toma lugar dondequiera dentro de la comunidad completa.

Ejemplo de la Polarizacion 2: Una sociedad moderna podria ser segregada artificial mente segun las edades, y por lo mismo, las companias podrian hacer mercados especiales de estos segmentos convenientes de la economia. La segregacion avanzaria con el favoritismo de varias formas segun su edad, por ejemplo el subsidio para los mayores, favoritismo en cuanto al trabajo para los jovenes, excluyendo a personas de eventos sociales por su edad, y demas.

Sindromos Dentro de los Sistemas

Las culturas adictas son sindromos dentro de los sistemas organicas. Se sostienen de y crecen dentro de los sistemas organicas, mientras destruyendolos.

Sindromos Dentro de Sistemas Exemplo 1: Industrias modernas entran en una area tradicional y se les favorecen con las mejores tierras, agua, el uso de los recursos naturales, y los mejores trabajadores. Son separados del resto de la area y, a la vez, dependen de los recursos del resto de la area. Poco a poco su forma moderna, la forma favorecida, se extiende y penetra una gran parte de la area. Esto es un sindromo penetrando los sistemas organicos.
En el primer caso sindoromos que danan al sistema completo empiezan por el favoritismo hacia las nuevas industrias. En el segundo ejemplo otros sindromos destructivos similares empiezan por el favoritismo hacia los carros.

Sindromos dentro de Sistemas 2: Si se favorecen a los carros sobre el transito publico gastando en calles, caminos, y carreterras con la tecnologia ultima y las reparaciones constantes, se pierden cantidades de terrenos de la agricultura. Se pierde fondos que deben usar para las necesidades mas exigentes de la sociedad como: la salud, la educacion, la proteccion del medio ambiente, y demas, cuando son usados por la tecnologia de los caminos. Si se favorece el uso de los carros con los reportajes especiales al minuto por estaciones del radio y la television sobre las condiciones del trafico y demas para los que manejan, se pierde este tiempo caro sobre las medias de comunicacion, lo que se hubiera usado mejor para la necesidad de la sociedad de informacion seria. Se perderia tierras usandolas para sitios de estacionamiento de asfalto. Esas tierras hubieran podido servir para parques con arboles que darian sombra y ayudarian para el control de las inundaciones. Si se aprueben unas estructuras de estacionamiento donde la construccion de cada sitio vale $10,000, no se usarian para casas economicas para los desalojados. Aparte de esto, si se favorecen los carros sobre el transito publico, el aire es mas contaminado, las ciudades mas sucias, y hay mas calentamiento del planeta. El favoritismo (hacia los carros y el petroleo) contribuiria a la destruccion del los sistemas sociales y del medio ambiente.

El Desequibrio Ejemplo 1: Si el gobierno da incentivos a companias, puede haber una cantidad desproporcional de productos hechos. La companias no tienen que depender de la demanda real cuando se les dan subsidios. Asi puede haber una sobre-produccion y un desequilibrio entre la necesidad (demanda) y el numero de productos (surtido).

La gente no siempre necesita tanto de un producto dado. Sin embargo,si sigue desarrollandose la cultura adicta, habrian campanas de anuncios que convencerian a los consumidores que compraran un producto que no necesitan. Podria ser que el gobierno daria extra apollo para el uso del producto..Estas fuerzas causarian mas desequilibrios.
En el primer ejemplo, el gobierno no se preocupa de las necesidades de la comunidad, y en vez de eso, se explotan los recursos para productos que no se necesitan.
En el segundo ejamplo se animan a los agricultores a usar demas agua mientras que se ignora la necesidad del agua para el futuro.
El Desequilibrio Ejemplo 2: Si en un condado se dan subsidios generosamente bajando el precio del agua para agricultores para que compren mas terrenos y siembren en la area, es posible que muchos agricultores acepten el plan; la area puede llegar a tener mucha agricultura pero posiblemente sobreusandose el agua, empujandose hacia condiciones de sequia. Puede ser dificil parar el subsidio mas tarde debido a fuerte "Lobbying" por parte de tantos agricultores dependientes. Por lo tanto probablemente se engrandecerian las condiciones de sequia. La necesidad real del condado no es la agricultura cuando arruina el equilibrio ecologico, sino el bien estar social y el equibrio ecologico.
En la cultura holista el bienestar general de un condado no se mantendria estimulando especialmente a un solo sector. Un sector puede crecer organicamente mas que otro. Pero se podria nivelar mas facilmente porque se limitaria el crecimiento con las necesidades organicas
de otros sectores.
Si una sociedad demanda mas comida, el aumento de preciosse animaria un aumento en la produccion de la comida en una economia justa. Y se puede aumentar la cantidad de comida para los pobres con la redistribucion en vez del favoritismo.

Parte II

Organismos mas y Otros Menos Complejos

Un organismo puede ser sencillo o hecho de sistemas, cada uno de los cuales actuando con los demas sistemas para hacer el organismo. Una entidad mayor que un organismo puede ser hecho de organismos, algunos de los cuales tienen sistemas dentro de ellos. Estas entidades mayores se componen de organismos que se interactuan, asi como hacen los sistemas dentro de los orgfanismos. Aqui podemos ver que las entidades mas complejas son hechas de organismos, algunos de los cuales a su vez son hechos de sistemas. Es mas importante satisfacer las necesidades de estas entidades en su estado completo que cumplir con las de algunos organismos adentro si hay un conflicto, porque los organismos adentro son de menos importancia que la entidad completa.

Prioridades mal Ubicadas

Si se favorecen organismos menos complejos sobre los mas complejos con recursos de los mas complejos, de los que son una parte, tenemos la cultura adicta.

Ejemplo 1 de Las Prioridades mal Ubicadas:
Si la ciudad de Houston le ofrece a una compania de Milwaukee un gran beneficio en cuanto a impuestos si se relocaliza alli, si acepta, la compania participa con los lideres de Houston en la cultura adicta porque se da la prioridad a la compania sobre una comunidad mas compleja, Milwaukee, en la que funciona.

Prioridad mal Ubicada Ejemplo 2:
Si se dan a los que fabrican los computadores, subvenciones, incentivos, y exenciones de los impuestos, puede ser que se baje el precio de los computadores. Las companias y tiendas pueden ahorrar usando computadores. Pero el publico en general paga el precio de su ahorro, y de la perdida de trabalos que resulta del cambio a computadores.
En el tercer ejemplo se da la prioridad a carros y sus duenos sobre la sociedad que es mucho mas compleja.

Ejemplo 3 de Las Prioridades mal Ubicadas:
Cuando se vende un sitio de estacionamiento por $45,000 en una comunidad donde el dinero no se da para ayudar a la gente sin hogares, se ponen a los carros adelante de la gente.

Para que la cultura organica se mantengqa libre de la cultura adicta se debe evitar la violencia y el soborno. Por ejemplo, no se darian prestamos especiales a las instituciones o los paises que hacen lo que quieren los politicos. No se estimularia el uso de los computadores. No se favorecerian a las ciudades con las subvenciones, sobre la agricultura, ni al reves.

Si no existiera la cultura adicta no se necesitarian los prestamos para los estudiantes. Si no existiera la guerra ni el trato especial para las corporaciones habria muchos fondos extras para la educacion, la salud, y otras necesidades basicas de la comunidad mas compleja. Las matriculas de las universidades podrian ser mas bajas para todos.

El Crecimiento Multiplicador de los Problemas:
En el dindrome adicto al principio se toman lugar poco a poco, reacciones en cadena. Como pasa el tiempo, por el crecimiento multipliicador, los resultados de las reaciones son enormes. La cultura organica, porque se toma en cuenta la unidad completa, se desarrolla en una forma mas nivelada. Y asi el progreso es mas lento pero satisface mas y es mas equilibrada que el "Progreso" de la cultura adicta compulsiva.

El Crecimiento Multiplicador Ejemplo 1:

Si un agricultor mexicano compraria con un prestamo americano, (un estimulo), un tractor de una corporacion americana, tendria que empezar a comprar petroleo, lo que no necesitaba para sus bueyes. Tambien tendria que comprar nuevas fracciones cuando se quebrara. Tendria que sembrar mas para repagar su prestamo. Imaginamos que su alta produccion maltratara el suelo, y asi tendria que empezar a comprar el fertilizante quimico y como pasaria el tiempo, el suelo iria de mal en peor. Tendria que comprar una camioneta cara para llevar la coaecha a un mercado mayor y mas l La camioneta usa mas petroleo. El precio de los vegetales o granos puede haber bajado porque los demas agricultores han comprado tractores tambien. Para vegetales que se venden mas rapido es posible que empieza a comprar semilla del tipo que no se puede obtener de la cosecha del ano anterior. Se tiene que comprar cada ano. Cuando el prestamo para el tractor se vence, es posible que no puede pagarlo por todos los coatos y problemas intermediarios. Mientras tanto su forma de vida sencilla de antes donde los gastos eran bajos, se trabajaba poco, y habia pocas preocupaciones, ha desaparecido. No hay otra ahora mas que enfrentarse con los banqueros sobre el prestamo no pagado, y tal vez eventualmente perder hasta la finca. Puede pasar que una corporacion grande compre su su finca y otras en sus alrededores, asi introduciendo cambios mayores con la agricultura corporativa. Esta cultura adicta es lo que crecio del impetu original, (el prestamo, un estimulo), de la cultura corporativa gubernamental.

el primer ejemplo tenia que ver con el favoritismo hacia cierto producto que se vendio a los agricultores y los resultados que repercuten y crecen. Cuando se ofrecen estimulos se deniegan las reglas naturales de la oferta y la demanda. No habia necesidad de una demanda de tractores. El hecho de que se ofrecian prestamos era suficiente para que llegaran los agricultores.


el segundo ejemplo tiene que ver con el favoritismo hacia la ciudad sobre el campo. Enlos dos cosos los resultados llegaron a estar fuera de control.

Ejemplo 2 del Crecimiento Multiplicador:
Si un pais terc4ermundista con base en la agricultura subvenciona la industria y servicios de la ciudad con fondos del superavit de las ganancias agricolas, puede aparecer que las ciudades florecen al principio; luego pueden crecer a ser inmensos con cantidad de problemas asociados con el crecimiento enorme. Como van llos anos la produccion agricola puede bajarse; puede que los campesinos se pongan cada vez mas desdichados; y que algunos tengan que dejar el campo; y que muchos vayan a las ciudades sobrepobladas. Eventualmente esta urbanizacion llevaria a un desequilibrio enorme entre la ciudad y el campo causando dano muy grande a los sistemas ecologicos y sociales.

Formas que Evolucionan

La cultura adicta envenena un sistema a la vez. Cundo lo ha arruinado sigue al proximo, usando otras tecnicas y formas segun el contexto donde se ha llegado.

Ejemplo 1 de las Formas que Evolucionan:

Los intereses excesivos de los imigrantes o nuevos colonos podria motivarlos a tomar las tierras dondee llegaron por la fuerza o con el soborno. Como van los anos, con el crecimiento de su poblacion, puede ser que pasen a nuevas tierras y las tomen por la fuerza. Cuando finalmente dominan todo el continente pueden empezar a tomar otras areas. Eventualmente pueden descubrir que les convenga solamente dominar en el intercambio, con tal vez el apoyo de un ejercito dominante, sobre las otras areas comprando materias primas y volviendo a los mismos sitios productos elaborados y caros. Entonces, debido a un contexto que cambia, quizas cambian en sus metodos, arreglando nuevas fabricas en otras naciones, ocupando a mano de obra barata, mandando los productos elaborados a su nacion otra vez con una rebaja especial de las aranceles.

Aceleracion Hacia la Muerte

La cultura adicta se hace de sindromos dentro de los sistemas organicos. Estos sindromos se construyen de los sistemas organicos causando la muerte a algunos sistemas eventualmente. Los sindromos a veces, usando la tecnologia ultima, se engrandecen a una velocidad cada vez mas alta hacia sistemas nuevos y sanos. El ultimo ejemplo nos demostro como se evolucionaron las formas de dominacion y destruccion de los forasteros por una temporada de anos hasta que por fin la dominacion y destruccion de sus decendientes llegara a una escala totalmente mas masiva y por todo el mundo. El proximo ejemplo demuesta como conlleva aun mas destreuccion una falta de interes en el sistema mas compleja. Eventualmente llega al punto donde hasta los mismos descendientes de los forasteros finalmente sean amenazados con la muerte.

Ejemplo de la Escalacion Hacia la Muerte:

Si las corporaciones con sus ganancias como motivo, operan en areas del norte de E.U. hasta que esas areas ya no tienen recursos:oh

Marvel

Marvel was as hungry as a pigeon. That was because she'd been eating up until yesterday noon. Yesterday was when she used up the last of her money. She paid her rent. Now she needed to find some food. She walked down Damen. She thought about her situation. Rent paid, but no food. What was she going to do for the rest of the month? And how would she pay next month's rent?

She was as determined as an arrow not to fall into ways as easy as a dark cloud you can fall through, of getting money. So far she'd succeeded. But she could see how a person could be squeezed into a corner.

In fact, she looked up. She hadn't been alert. Someone was flirting with her from a passing car.

She was 50 and as good looking as a leopard. She knew it, and that she looked more like 40 and she knew women were still beautiful at 40, just one year more than 39. But she of course had ignored the young black man in the beat up car who'd complimented her.

But, oh no, he was coming around again like a broken record to bother her. It might not be as safe as she thought. She carefully observed her surroundings. There wasn't much traffic or people. This could be as dangerous as a heart attack. She remembered then that it was the 4th of July and people weren't travelling to work or going anywhere.

He was stopping his car and getting out. She decided to cross the street as defensively as a bird sitting on a crocodile, although she wasn't going that way. She hoped he wouldn't follow. But there he was behind her like a shark. So she kept walking in the street on the side where cars had to go around her a little to avoid her. The day was as overcast as he was shady which didn't add to her safety. Just because she was light skinned didn't mean she had to put up with this man, she thought. Luckily he didn't try anything and finally he was gone.

The food pantry didn't open 'til 10 a.m. It was only 8:30. But she was on her way. But, come to think of it, would they be as open as the freeway was to cars, on July 4th? What would she do if they weren't? She thought of her daughter, then her mother. In fact she'd turn around and go to her daughter's first.

It would take a few days of fasting to lose her appetite she thought. Now she was as hungry as a bear after hibernating all winter. She got to her daughter, Dana's, third floor apartment in the same project Marvel lived in.

She was disappointed in how Dana had turned out. Dana was mean like the giant in "Jack and the Bean Stalk." Where'd that come from? She'd tried to teach her just the opposite through the years.

Marvel thought she did know, though, where it came from. When Dana was only one year old Marvel had left her with that awful babysitter. One day when Marvel had come to pick her up she'd found her screaming in a puddle of water in diapers as wet as the oceans; and wasn't that the same day her sitter's 8 year old son had Dana's bottle in his mouth and was drinking all her milk? That must have been why she was screaming.

"I should never have left her with that sitter," she thought . "But I didn't have anywhere else to leave her. Mother was sick and needed an operation. But I shouldn't have left her there no matter what, even if I lost my job."

Marvel knocked on the door, then tried it. It was open. So she went in. Her daughter's two little children were crawling around the kitchen which looked like a storm had come through. The older one ran up to Marvel and threw her arms around her legs, "Hi Grandma"!

"Hi Charlotte. How are you behaving? And Nana, how are you"? she said reaching over to the baby.

Then she greeted her daughter and said, "Do you have anything to eat? I'm hungry."

"You can have that bread. That's all I've got right now. We're short ourselves."

She took the piece of stone like bread figuring it was better than nothing and left, this time, for her mother's apartment in the same project on the 7th floor. She'd have to walk up. Of course the elevators from a by gone day were in ruins. And even when they worked she wouldn't take them. They could entrap people with gang members at any time. Her mother hardly left her apartment. She was a prisoner in a tower.

Marvel hoped there'd be some food at her mother's apartment. Three of her brothers usually stayed at her mother's for lack of a better place. She had another brother and two sisters who were relatively successful. They had moved to Oak Park and had children in college. But these three, her younger brothers, had had a lot of trouble making a "go" of it. They'd get a job, lose it, be without a purpose for a while, then get another little job- never anything permanent, never any adequate wages. But because of their stick-to-itiveness none of them had gotten into trouble. And they sometimes volunteered to help the kids at the social center. They all still loved basketball and felt they were a good influence when they played with the kids.

Her brothers might have eaten all the food, she thought. But she knew her mother would share anything she had with her. She was wonderfully good hearted. She empathized with Marvel and had the attitude of--What's mine is yours.

"Hi, Mother. Is there anything to eat"?

"Yes. Look in the refrigerator. Do you feel like meat and potatoes? There's some from yesterday."

"Yes. I didn't eat much yesterday. And I've got nothing left in my house. I'm hungry. So this'll be just fine."

Marvel warmed it up for herself and sat down to eat. Her mother came over to talk to her.

"So how's everything"?

"Well I used up all my money. I don't know how I'm going to eat all month or pay the rent next month. I paid this month's yesterday."

Her mother started shutting her eyes and pulling back.

"Don't tell me any more."

Marvel knew it was raising her mother's blood pressure. She could only stand to hear good news.
'It wasn't that Marvel was uneducated. She typed well and she had experience as a programmer analyst. But there were no jobs. The last time she'd gone to apply as a temp there'd been nothing. And that was 5 years ago when the economy was much better.

Now she was rushing out to try to get to the food pantry by 10 a.m. She'd soon be hungry again.

The pantry was at All Saints Church in the basement. A line that looked as long as a telephone wire curved around the edge of the church. It must be open today. She saw women with children in line. "That must be like facing death," she thought.

She waited a long time in line and spoke to the people near her. A mother held the hand of her four year old daughter who looked like she was in danger of disappearing she was so pale and thin. Marvel asked, "It's open. Isn't it"?

"Yes. Thank the Lord," said the rather expressionless woman.

"Do they give everybody a bag the way they used to'?

"Well, everyone I've ever seen. But they ask you questions ya know."

"Oh yes. I know that. But I've never seen them turn anyone away. Have you"?

"No. Never. I've been coming ever since it opened about 10 years ago."

"You have? Is this your only daughter"?

"Yes. I was with my mother 10 years ago. But she moved down South. And now I'm with my daughter."
\
"You live in the projects. Don't you? I think I've seen you there."

"Yes. You live there'?

"Yes."

"Do you have any children"?

"Only one daughter, like you. But she's grown."

They stopped talking. The woman behind Marvel asked the other woman, "You say you've been coming here a while"?

"Yes."

"Do you know that guy working here"?

"Not really."

"He's kind of fresh. Isn't he"?

"He never bothered me. But I've heard someone complaining about him."

Eventually she got to the front of the line. She went over to the cubicle where the man took information on her- name, address, where she last worked and when. He said she could get a box of food but couldn't come back for another two weeks for more.

"Would you like to work here'? he asked after a while. "$6.00 an hour. You'd be asking questions like me."

"Sure," said Marvel, "Who wouldn't"? But then the way he looked at her scared her. And then he took her back to an area where the food was and no people and started asking if he could come over to her apartment. She said-no- and he said then there's no job.

When she got home with her food it was 1:00 p.m. She was hungry and was going to make some macaroni and cheese. But she knew she should look for a job even though it was as hard as walking backwards up a mountain. She said to herself, "Seek and you shall find," as it said in the gospel, and she had often found it to be as true as the sky is blue. But there was little or no work near her home. She would be able to look at a temp agency downtown. But she'd have to wait 'til tomorrow since it would take a long time to get downtown. She was glad she could have her macaroni and didn't have to look 'til tomorrow. She could relax the rest of the day.

The next morning she was up with the garbage trucks, getting as ready as a death row prisoner before a lethal injection. She had no bus fare. The only way she might get downtown was if she could hitch a ride with Sam, her neighbor cab driver. She looked out to see if she could see his cab parked outside somewhere. There it was. He was home. He sometimes went downtown looking for customers and would take her with him. But if he got a customer she'd have to go all the way to wherever first before continuing back downtown and so on if there'd be more customers. Sometimes it took her 4 hours to get downtown. The better his luck was, the worse hers was, and vice versa. But she knew she must "Seek and you shall find."

She left her apartment and ran down to Sam's apartment. His wife looked out at the window.

"Do you think I could get a ride downtown from Sam"? Marvel asked.

Daisy answered, "I suppose so if he ever gets out of here. What do you need to go downtown for"?

"I need a job."

"And you think you'll get one there"?

"It's worth a try. Isn't it"?

"I don't know if it's worth it any more."

"It costs so much to look."

Sam came out and soon Marvel was in the front seat of the cab going downtown. After a couple hours she was downtown right near the building she wanted to get to. Now where was it? She knew it was on Jackson- but how far West? She got out of the cab not knowing how she'd return with no money in her pocket. And she started walking West, passing lots of people. She was sure it was on the South side of Jackson. But she didn't see anything that looked like it for three blocks. She decided to walk one more block, and if she didn't see it, she didn't know what she was going to do. She walked another block and didn't see it anywhere. Then the idea occurred to her that maybe it was East of State. She walked back and there it was- shining like a star in front of her.

She ascended on the elevator after checking the floor for the employment agency whose name she recognized only when seeing it on the list.

Up like a roller coaster on the 14th floor she looked for the door that said Kent Temporaries. When she got there she went through the usual routines: application; typing, computer, math, and reading tests. After taking the tests she knew she'd done as well an expert. Then the interview. She spoke to the man in charge. She thought his name might be Kent.

"Miss Johnson, I'll put your name on the list. You'll probably be called on average once a week. There's so little work and we want to divide it up so everyone on the list can get something. The pay is usually about $12.00 an hour."

She made the calculations in her head and realized she thought she could live on that. Thank heavens she still had "el cheapo" rent. A few months back she had been tempted to move into an apartment that was as pretty as a puppy, but unsubsidized. Now she was glad she hadn't.

She had been working at the Board of Education. But when they got new computer programs she was displaced along with 50 other employees. That was eight months ago.

"I accept," she told Mr. Kent, "But I'm so broke I won't even be able to make it to my first assignment because I don't have bus fare."

"I could give you a forward on your first pay," He offered.

"O.K.," she said.

He called his secretary, "Would you make out a check to help Miss Johnson out to be deducted from her first pay for" -- and he paused, "$50.00."

Then Marvel had to say, "I don't even have bus fare home and I need cash for that."

Out of his pocket he got the money, $1.50.

She took the "el" home with a smile on her face and the sun was shining. The world looked so beautiful.















































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