Kelly Carlin

Host

The Sixties & the Lessons for Today

Nov 13, 2013·168 visitors

howard bloom

Cohost

Stage· 583 messages

Nov 13, 2013

Kelly Tawks with prolific author, visionary and culture shaper Howard Bloom about such questions as, "are there lessons in the sexual revolution and the drug culture? How about adventure? Does it have a role to play in modern society?nnJoin us for a lively conversation about the past and how it can shape the future.

Kelly Carlin · 2:00 AM

Hey Everyone! Welcome to the Tawk.

howard bloom · 2:00 AM

welcome in spades

howard bloom · 2:00 AM

and aces

Kelly Carlin · 2:00 AM

Nice to have you here Howard, and all those who are hanging out with us.

howard bloom · 2:00 AM

with a few hearty hearts

howard bloom · 2:00 AM

Kelly Carlin · 2:01 AM

Shall we play some poker? lol

howard bloom · 2:01 AM

thanks, kelly:)

Kelly Carlin · 2:01 AM

hi Kelley and howard

howard bloom · 2:01 AM

hi, rick.

Kelly Carlin · 2:01 AM

So Howard, thank you for being here.

howard bloom · 2:01 AM

lthanks, and kelly, you have me thinking.

Kelly Carlin · 2:01 AM

I love when you think!

howard bloom · 2:02 AM

in the old days one would say that we are coming to you live from the paramount theater

howard bloom · 2:02 AM

in beautiful gas gulch tennessee

howard bloom · 2:02 AM

but where are we coming to you from today?

howard bloom · 2:02 AM

the great cyberether

howard bloom · 2:02 AM

the invisible territory in which computers

Kelly Carlin · 2:02 AM

The great Cyberether...

howard bloom · 2:02 AM

whisper strange nothings to each other and

howard bloom · 2:02 AM

do not share their mutinous rumblings with us

Kelly Carlin · 2:02 AM

Yes. We are no where and everywhere at the same time.

howard bloom · 2:02 AM

mere mortal beings

howard bloom · 2:03 AM

LOL :))

howard bloom · 2:03 AM

what a friggin amazement!

howard bloom · 2:03 AM

ok, enough of me, back over to you, kelly

Kelly Carlin · 2:03 AM

It truly is. We are living inside Arthur C. Clarke's mind.

howard bloom · 2:03 AM

however I'd like to tell the audience

howard bloom · 2:03 AM

that you, kelly, have been saving my life for something like

howard bloom · 2:03 AM

two years now

howard bloom · 2:04 AM

humor and thought bubble up from a baseline

howard bloom · 2:04 AM

of self-doubt

howard bloom · 2:04 AM

thoreau said that the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation

howard bloom · 2:04 AM

and he was right about roughly 80% of us

howard bloom · 2:04 AM

we sometimes wake up in the morning feeling of no value to a soul

howard bloom · 2:04 AM

then, once we get our momentum

howard bloom · 2:05 AM

we forget we ever felt that way

howard bloom · 2:05 AM

it would be embarrassing to realize how often it happens

howard bloom · 2:05 AM

so we paper if over in our consciousness

Kelly Carlin · 2:05 AM

Well, if I have aided in you being able to live from the other 20% it is my honor. You are a GIFT.

howard bloom · 2:05 AM

humor and deep thought are ways we fight our ways out of it

howard bloom · 2:05 AM

Kelly Carlin · 2:05 AM

And you have BOTH of those!

howard bloom · 2:05 AM

you aid me a lot

howard bloom · 2:06 AM

you reassure me on those dark days :)

Kelly Carlin · 2:06 AM

My pleasure. As do you, I. Your ability to see the BIG picture feeds my soul.

howard bloom · 2:06 AM

kelly is only in touch roughly once in six months

howard bloom · 2:06 AM

but each touching base lasts half a year

howard bloom · 2:06 AM

thanks, Kelly :)

howard bloom · 2:07 AM

so we have a soul transfusion going on :)

Kelly Carlin · 2:07 AM

You are welcome. Let's jump into your newest adventure....

howard bloom · 2:07 AM

i have hyperactive typing fingers

Kelly Carlin · 2:07 AM

actually, it was an OLD adventure that you are recalling these days - the Sixties!

howard bloom · 2:07 AM

yup :)

Kelly Carlin · 2:07 AM

I like that you type fast.

howard bloom · 2:07 AM

my new book How I Accidentally Started the Sixties

Kelly Carlin · 2:07 AM

Yes. LOVE the title.

howard bloom · 2:07 AM

actually the first book i ever wrote

howard bloom · 2:07 AM

in 1995

Kelly Carlin · 2:08 AM

So, the question is...did you start the 60s?

howard bloom · 2:08 AM

alas, i seem to have had a part in it

howard bloom · 2:08 AM

a big part

Kelly Carlin · 2:08 AM

and if you did, my dad thanks you...lol

howard bloom · 2:08 AM

LOL

Kelly Carlin · 2:08 AM

we need to blame someone

howard bloom · 2:08 AM

it was an accident

howard bloom · 2:08 AM

i was looking for the beatniks

Kelly Carlin · 2:08 AM

Aha!

howard bloom · 2:08 AM

but they had disappeared

howard bloom · 2:08 AM

i thought they might like me

howard bloom · 2:08 AM

no one else did

Kelly Carlin · 2:08 AM

lol

howard bloom · 2:09 AM

i was looking for a batch of sympaticos

howard bloom · 2:09 AM

i had run into them one summer on cape cod

howard bloom · 2:09 AM

thus terrifying my father

howard bloom · 2:09 AM

who had taken us to the cape at great expense for a vacation

howard bloom · 2:09 AM

and, kelly, they DID like me

Kelly Carlin · 2:10 AM

Berets....cigarettes...poetry - what's a nice Jew like you doing with THEM? I can hear him now...

howard bloom · 2:10 AM

the put me at the center of a discussion group of amazing adults in an art gallery

howard bloom · 2:10 AM

LOL

Kelly Carlin · 2:10 AM

they really liked you!

howard bloom · 2:10 AM

we talked art and philosophy

howard bloom · 2:10 AM

i was 16

Kelly Carlin · 2:10 AM

Yes, Howard is the Sally Field of the Beats...

howard bloom · 2:10 AM

it was heaven

Kelly Carlin · 2:10 AM

Nothing is better than FINALLY being seen and heard.

Kelly Carlin · 2:10 AM

So essential to life.

howard bloom · 2:10 AM

but when i dropped out of college in portland orgegon and hitchhiked to california to find them

howard bloom · 2:10 AM

they were gon

howard bloom · 2:11 AM

poof

howard bloom · 2:11 AM

no more

Kelly Carlin · 2:11 AM

hmmmm.

howard bloom · 2:11 AM

so i was stuck

howard bloom · 2:11 AM

becoming an accidental catalyst for something new

howard bloom · 2:11 AM

very accidental

howard bloom · 2:11 AM

yup, rick

Kelly Carlin · 2:12 AM

What attracted you to the Beats?

howard bloom · 2:12 AM

they had made a wonderful fuss over me simply by taking me seriously and taking me in

howard bloom · 2:12 AM

well, i was growing up in buffalo, ny

howard bloom · 2:12 AM

and there was almost no one i could relate to

howard bloom · 2:12 AM

and very few who wanted to have anything to do with me

howard bloom · 2:12 AM

but i read time magazine from cover to cover every week

Kelly Carlin · 2:12 AM

An outsider just like them.

howard bloom · 2:12 AM

from roughly the age of twelve

howard bloom · 2:12 AM

yes

howard bloom · 2:13 AM

and henry luce

howard bloom · 2:13 AM

the man who invented time and life magazine

howard bloom · 2:13 AM

had a formula

howard bloom · 2:13 AM

he addressed his magazine, time

howard bloom · 2:13 AM

to the commuter coming into nyc from connecticut

howard bloom · 2:13 AM

by train

howard bloom · 2:13 AM

packed in with a sardine tin of other commuters

howard bloom · 2:13 AM

all wearing gray flanner suits

howard bloom · 2:14 AM

who needed to be told what news events, films, books, and plays

howard bloom · 2:14 AM

they needed to babble about that week

howard bloom · 2:14 AM

to seem smart

Kelly Carlin · 2:14 AM

Yes...

howard bloom · 2:14 AM

but these poor men, and in those days they were all men

howard bloom · 2:14 AM

were sexually repressed

howard bloom · 2:14 AM

i mean, you know marriage

howard bloom · 2:14 AM

a wild romance

Kelly Carlin · 2:14 AM

Ah, the 50s

howard bloom · 2:15 AM

you can't wait to get into each others blouses and pants

howard bloom · 2:15 AM

then three years later

howard bloom · 2:15 AM

you are lucky if you have sex twice a year

Kelly Carlin · 2:15 AM

lol

howard bloom · 2:15 AM

so henry luce, time's founder, needed to give these poor men sex

howard bloom · 2:15 AM

but reading about sex was beneath contempt

howard bloom · 2:15 AM

so he had to package the sex as somethiing you

howard bloom · 2:16 AM

could conveniently look down upon

howard bloom · 2:16 AM

frown upon

howard bloom · 2:16 AM

castigate

howard bloom · 2:16 AM

and rejects

howard bloom · 2:16 AM

his solution?

Kelly Carlin · 2:16 AM

....drum roll

howard bloom · 2:16 AM

talk about sex in a subculture these execs from connecticuyt

howard bloom · 2:16 AM

could despise

howard bloom · 2:16 AM

in other words, find a bohemian subculture

howard bloom · 2:16 AM

then market it

howard bloom · 2:16 AM

give it a nsme

howard bloom · 2:17 AM

give society a sexual whipping boy

howard bloom · 2:17 AM

so it could imagine punishing a transgressor

Kelly Carlin · 2:17 AM

So you are saying that Madison Ave./Publishing created the 60s to entertain the masses?

howard bloom · 2:17 AM

while secretlly obsessing about guess what?

Kelly Carlin · 2:17 AM

To give them a way to feel superior?

howard bloom · 2:17 AM

sort of, kelly

howard bloom · 2:17 AM

luce found an existing movement

howard bloom · 2:18 AM

alan ginsberg, gregory corso, jack kerouac

howard bloom · 2:18 AM

the movement was real

Kelly Carlin · 2:18 AM

But don't you think that this is what all cultures do to the "new"?

howard bloom · 2:18 AM

but henry gave it its name

howard bloom · 2:18 AM

the "beatniks"

Kelly Carlin · 2:18 AM

The thing that is on the edge and opposite of the status quo?

howard bloom · 2:18 AM

yes, all big cultures seek a subculture they can brand as demonic

Kelly Carlin · 2:18 AM

Yes.

howard bloom · 2:18 AM

it's the way cultural bonding goes

howard bloom · 2:19 AM

can I tell you a story about rats?

Kelly Carlin · 2:19 AM

We always need a "black" for our "white"

howard bloom · 2:19 AM

if my tying fingers don't wear out

Kelly Carlin · 2:19 AM

yes! do tell.

howard bloom · 2:19 AM

this is a true test of your spelling skills

Kelly Carlin · 2:19 AM

lol

Kelly Carlin · 2:19 AM

and we are forgiving. And you can take your time.

howard bloom · 2:19 AM

ok, it was back in the crease between the 40s and

howard bloom · 2:19 AM

the 50s

howard bloom · 2:19 AM

some guys at yale had come up with the frustration aggression

howard bloom · 2:20 AM

hypothesis that plays a big role in

howard bloom · 2:20 AM

the lucifer principle, my first book

howard bloom · 2:20 AM

they'd discovered that if you punish a rat

howard bloom · 2:20 AM

he will take his pain out on another rat smaller

howard bloom · 2:20 AM

than he is

howard bloom · 2:20 AM

and beat the bejeezus out of him

howard bloom · 2:20 AM

for god knows what reason

Kelly Carlin · 2:21 AM

Oh, this doesn't end well...

howard bloom · 2:21 AM

an experimenter decided to try something novel

howard bloom · 2:21 AM

instead o putting just one rat on an electrified grid that would sizzle its feet

Kelly Carlin · 2:21 AM

eek

howard bloom · 2:21 AM

the popular way to torture rats alll over the civilized world

Kelly Carlin · 2:21 AM

I think that's a mouse, Rick. lol

howard bloom · 2:21 AM

he put 7 rats on an electrified grid

howard bloom · 2:22 AM

and turned on the juice

howard bloom · 2:22 AM

guess what happened?

howard bloom · 2:22 AM

something that had no name in those days

howard bloom · 2:22 AM

today it's called quorum sensing

Kelly Carlin · 2:22 AM

Hmmm.

howard bloom · 2:22 AM

the rats immediately felt out which rat was the weakest

Kelly Carlin · 2:22 AM

Ah...yes. Of course.

howard bloom · 2:22 AM

bonded together into a group of the six strongest

Kelly Carlin · 2:22 AM

Wow.

howard bloom · 2:23 AM

and those six bullies beat the wack out

howard bloom · 2:23 AM

of the weakest rat

howard bloom · 2:23 AM

apparently

Kelly Carlin · 2:23 AM

I told you it wasn't going to end well.

howard bloom · 2:23 AM

scapegoating helps groups bond together

howard bloom · 2:23 AM

i was a scapegoat as a kid

howard bloom · 2:23 AM

and henry luce had built a scapegoat for all of america

Kelly Carlin · 2:23 AM

And that is why, folks, MSM is so loathsome these days... lol

howard bloom · 2:23 AM

which meant that every single issue

howard bloom · 2:24 AM

52 issues a year

Kelly Carlin · 2:24 AM

Yes! And yet....that group of people became a force of nature...

howard bloom · 2:24 AM

of time magazine had to have at least one beatniks story

howard bloom · 2:24 AM

and there i was in buffalo

howard bloom · 2:24 AM

reading time from cover to cover

howard bloom · 2:24 AM

and tying with my best friend in the annual competition sponsored by time in every high school

Kelly Carlin · 2:25 AM

So in a way, it back fired, you were attracted to those you were supposed to loathe.

howard bloom · 2:25 AM

to determine who knew the most about international and national news

howard bloom · 2:25 AM

yes :)

howard bloom · 2:25 AM

that's how subcultures work

howard bloom · 2:25 AM

they divvy up slots

howard bloom · 2:25 AM

and give options to us that may well offer the slot that

howard bloom · 2:25 AM

resonates to our frequency

howard bloom · 2:26 AM

that's one reason big societies have been so

howard bloom · 2:26 AM

much more successful on this planet

howard bloom · 2:26 AM

than small societies

howard bloom · 2:26 AM

big societies offer more slots

howard bloom · 2:26 AM

more subcultures

Kelly Carlin · 2:26 AM

Interesting....So, what are some of the attributes of that era that emerged in our culture for the 1st time, and had a permanent effect on us?

howard bloom · 2:26 AM

in which our peculiarities can be amplified

howard bloom · 2:26 AM

and harnessed for the common good

howard bloom · 2:26 AM

the youth culture

howard bloom · 2:27 AM

there had been no such thing

howard bloom · 2:27 AM

literally

howard bloom · 2:27 AM

in roughly 1968 youth cullture got its name

howard bloom · 2:27 AM

psychedia

Kelly Carlin · 2:27 AM

Wow. So no one was paying any attention to the youth and their tastes before then?

howard bloom · 2:27 AM

the whole concept that you could get a life experience

howard bloom · 2:27 AM

out of drugs

howard bloom · 2:27 AM

no, youth was not allowed to count

howard bloom · 2:27 AM

it did not have its own social niche

howard bloom · 2:28 AM

it was not given a slot as a subculture of its own

Kelly Carlin · 2:28 AM

yes. It changed my dad's life. Literally. He became the man he is known as b/c of acid in 1969.

howard bloom · 2:28 AM

the history of a lot of this is in the lucifer principle

howard bloom · 2:28 AM

but the phrases for teenage and adolscence

howard bloom · 2:28 AM

were invented in roughly the 1920s

Kelly Carlin · 2:28 AM

★ Spotlighted from Scott Sherwood

“much bigger undergrounds too”

howard bloom · 2:28 AM

the rituals of adolescence were invented back them

howard bloom · 2:29 AM

or recognized by society

howard bloom · 2:29 AM

things like dating and making out

howard bloom · 2:29 AM

and as parent became more affluent

howard bloom · 2:29 AM

they gave kids allowances

howard bloom · 2:29 AM

in 1969 the publishing and advertising biz

Kelly Carlin · 2:29 AM

yes, because adolescent rituals are very important in other cultures. But we don't really have official ones in ours.

howard bloom · 2:29 AM

woke up to the facts that kids were a market

howard bloom · 2:29 AM

they could be spenders

Kelly Carlin · 2:30 AM

And now they are the ONLY market!

howard bloom · 2:30 AM

i was in the offices of the guys who put out the first publications for madison ave

howard bloom · 2:30 AM

on how to market to this new thing

howard bloom · 2:30 AM

the "youth culture"

Kelly Carlin · 2:30 AM

we know the children are our cash cow

howard bloom · 2:30 AM

you're right, kelly

howard bloom · 2:31 AM

we are missing rituals for some very vital things

howard bloom · 2:31 AM

when our hormones begin to surge

howard bloom · 2:31 AM

we have bar mitzvahs and confirmations

howard bloom · 2:31 AM

but the entry into sexual behavior

Kelly Carlin · 2:31 AM

So, Howard - it seems like this had become out of control now...like there are NO ADULTS in the culture...we cowtow to this market so much.

Kelly Carlin · 2:31 AM

Where are the grown ups?

howard bloom · 2:31 AM

the feat of putting your arm around the seat next to you at a movie theater with the girl you're dsting

howard bloom · 2:31 AM

is still huge

Kelly Carlin · 2:32 AM

lol

howard bloom · 2:32 AM

hmmmmmm

howard bloom · 2:32 AM

good question

howard bloom · 2:32 AM

really we are all over the place

howard bloom · 2:32 AM

obsessive parents

howard bloom · 2:32 AM

giving their kids the education that will give them access to harvard at three

howard bloom · 2:32 AM

i see this in my neighborhood

howard bloom · 2:32 AM

a kid i love who isnt talking yet

howard bloom · 2:33 AM

his parents agonized getting him into the school that would get him to oxford someday

Kelly Carlin · 2:33 AM

OY. I mean are they the Koch bothers cynically raping the planet and democracy for their bak accounts - it seems like these are adolescents out of control - no future planning...

howard bloom · 2:33 AM

the koch brothers, i need to study them someday

Kelly Carlin · 2:33 AM

★ Spotlighted from Ellen November

“The adults are being peddled pills by the big pharma co's.”

Kelly Carlin · 2:33 AM

yes you do!

howard bloom · 2:33 AM

kelly those guys are trying to buy off people like me

howard bloom · 2:34 AM

they sponsor all the good science on tv :)

howard bloom · 2:34 AM

yes, the pill biz is big

Kelly Carlin · 2:34 AM

So...back to what the 60s spawned...

howard bloom · 2:34 AM

but, ellen, it saved my life

howard bloom · 2:34 AM

in fact, it's saved my life several times

Kelly Carlin · 2:34 AM

yes, it can help.

Kelly Carlin · 2:34 AM

★ Spotlighted from Ellen November

“saving lives is good”

howard bloom · 2:35 AM

by odds, i should have been dead 54 years ago

howard bloom · 2:35 AM

but that is a long story

howard bloom · 2:35 AM

however it's major

Kelly Carlin · 2:35 AM

So, there are some things that the 60s allowed us to live into...

howard bloom · 2:35 AM

but growing up in buffalo

howard bloom · 2:35 AM

had one advantage

howard bloom · 2:35 AM

canada

howard bloom · 2:35 AM

yes, the sixties gave us permission

Kelly Carlin · 2:35 AM

like more equality for people in minorities

Kelly Carlin · 2:35 AM

yes permission!

howard bloom · 2:35 AM

to expand our perceptions

howard bloom · 2:35 AM

to expand our brains

howard bloom · 2:36 AM

and it gave us the pill and

howard bloom · 2:36 AM

permission to have sex as whatever sex is for each of us

howard bloom · 2:36 AM

for me it's become a spiritual expression of the highest kind...at least in a way

Kelly Carlin · 2:36 AM

But in some ways it also left us with no healthy boundaries...

howard bloom · 2:36 AM

the 60s gave us the doors of perception

howard bloom · 2:37 AM

up until then, we were ruled by alcohol

howard bloom · 2:37 AM

and tobacco

Kelly Carlin · 2:37 AM

★ Spotlighted from Blake Ian

“Im sorry I missed so much of this! I love the sixties and I love lessons! Catching up now... There's Tawking happening here”

howard bloom · 2:37 AM

and no associated rituals telling us that these things could "expand our consciousness"

howard bloom · 2:37 AM

hi, ian :)

Kelly Carlin · 2:37 AM

But, you can't expand forever Howard. At some point you need to acknowledge the limits too.

howard bloom · 2:37 AM

and, yes, you are so ABSOLUTELY

howard bloom · 2:38 AM

right kelly, life is a matter of balance

howard bloom · 2:38 AM

balancing opposites

howard bloom · 2:38 AM

and you saw what lack of boundaries

howard bloom · 2:38 AM

can do in your own growing up years

Kelly Carlin · 2:38 AM

And it seems that the Baby Boomer generation has not learned this...but will...aging and death.

howard bloom · 2:38 AM

damn, death

howard bloom · 2:38 AM

i hate it

Kelly Carlin · 2:38 AM

Fuck death.

howard bloom · 2:38 AM

it's a very good reason to want to kick nature in the shins

howard bloom · 2:38 AM

exactly :)

Kelly Carlin · 2:38 AM

lol

howard bloom · 2:39 AM

but we won't get into gripes against nature tonight

Kelly Carlin · 2:39 AM

So here we are on a planet that can't give all that we want...

howard bloom · 2:39 AM

they are not in How I Accidentally Started the Sixties

howard bloom · 2:39 AM

yes, and that's a huge advantage

howard bloom · 2:39 AM

because the same nature that gave us death

howard bloom · 2:39 AM

gave us the ability to want

howard bloom · 2:39 AM

to desire

howard bloom · 2:39 AM

to dream

Kelly Carlin · 2:39 AM

yes...

howard bloom · 2:39 AM

to dream of things tha never were

howard bloom · 2:39 AM

and ask why not?

howard bloom · 2:39 AM

and that is the greatest gift

howard bloom · 2:40 AM

nature could have ever provided

howard bloom · 2:40 AM

because she put us here

howard bloom · 2:40 AM

to change her

howard bloom · 2:40 AM

to upgrade her

howard bloom · 2:40 AM

to remake her

howard bloom · 2:40 AM

by following our desires

howard bloom · 2:40 AM

and instantiating our dreams

Kelly Carlin · 2:40 AM

Yes! Innovation! Discovery!

howard bloom · 2:40 AM

wow, my typing fingers are wearing out

howard bloom · 2:40 AM

but this is a terrific something

Kelly Carlin · 2:41 AM

But, I worry Howard. I worry that sometimes we will not be able to innovate our way out of this mess.

Kelly Carlin · 2:41 AM

I worry that we have spent all our good ideas.

howard bloom · 2:41 AM

you are helping me pull together a lot of thoughts i haven't had a chance to yoke together before

Kelly Carlin · 2:41 AM

That people are infighting so much that we won't focus on the need to find solutions...

howard bloom · 2:41 AM

not at all, kelly

howard bloom · 2:41 AM

just look at the things that have been invented in the last 20 years

howard bloom · 2:41 AM

popularization of the internet, the world wide web, google

Kelly Carlin · 2:41 AM

That we are more worried about Kim Kardashian than about the water we will drink in 20 years.

howard bloom · 2:42 AM

wikipedia, facebook, tawkers

howard bloom · 2:42 AM

roger simon the economist

howard bloom · 2:42 AM

the guy who went toe to toe with paul ehrlich over the population bomb

howard bloom · 2:42 AM

pointed out something very important

howard bloom · 2:42 AM

the more people we have

howard bloom · 2:42 AM

the more minds we have

howard bloom · 2:42 AM

the more minds we have

howard bloom · 2:42 AM

the more creativity froths and boils

howard bloom · 2:43 AM

go to china

Kelly Carlin · 2:43 AM

Of course...

Kelly Carlin · 2:43 AM

I see that.

howard bloom · 2:43 AM

and you won't see any of our gloom

howard bloom · 2:43 AM

all you will see is the exhilaration of a nation that sees itself at the beginning

howard bloom · 2:43 AM

not the end

howard bloom · 2:43 AM

india, too

Kelly Carlin · 2:43 AM

So, our fears about climate change, water shortage, refugees, wars are all the same fears we've always had?

howard bloom · 2:43 AM

but we are the ones making the new frontiers they dream of in asia

howard bloom · 2:43 AM

and we have to once again

howard bloom · 2:44 AM

take possession of our dreams

Kelly Carlin · 2:44 AM

And that we will turn a corner before it is all too late?

howard bloom · 2:44 AM

take possession of our right to fantasize a future

howard bloom · 2:44 AM

and to make it

howard bloom · 2:44 AM

exuberantly

Kelly Carlin · 2:44 AM

it feels so damn hopeless...

howard bloom · 2:44 AM

with exhilaration

Kelly Carlin · 2:44 AM

Oh, I know what I want to ask you!

howard bloom · 2:44 AM

ok :)

howard bloom · 2:45 AM

awaiting question

howard bloom · 2:45 AM

but while youre at it

Kelly Carlin · 2:45 AM

What do you make of all this End of the World stories in our culture....Zombie movies...and all of that...it seems we are inundated with these scenarios...what are we REALLY preparing for?

howard bloom · 2:45 AM

we are talking ourselves into armageddon

Kelly Carlin · 2:46 AM

I see it as archetypal

howard bloom · 2:46 AM

we went dystopian with our future fiction in, of all eras,

howard bloom · 2:46 AM

the 1960s

Kelly Carlin · 2:46 AM

Or are we talking ourselves OUT of it?

howard bloom · 2:46 AM

and 50 years of dystopian dreaming

Kelly Carlin · 2:46 AM

★ Spotlighted from Scott Sherwood

“They are all scare tatics”

howard bloom · 2:46 AM

is taking its toll

howard bloom · 2:46 AM

the only way to avoid catastrophe

howard bloom · 2:46 AM

is to build the next level of opportunity

howard bloom · 2:47 AM

like building that vast real estate known as cyberspace from 1970

howard bloom · 2:47 AM

when darpa kicked it off

howard bloom · 2:47 AM

to today

Kelly Carlin · 2:47 AM

A common goal and/or a common threat always leads to coalescence

howard bloom · 2:47 AM

we next that next great landscape

howard bloom · 2:47 AM

john, alas

howard bloom · 2:47 AM

the research indicates that it's not dreams that unite us

Kelly Carlin · 2:47 AM

So. some will sign on for the end...and some of us will sign on for THE BEGINNING...

howard bloom · 2:47 AM

but threats

howard bloom · 2:48 AM

yes, and john, kelly, is another comic :)

howard bloom · 2:48 AM

and we DO have to learn to coalesce around dreams

howard bloom · 2:48 AM

and to turn the hardships of achieving them

howard bloom · 2:48 AM

into our enemy

howard bloom · 2:48 AM

do you know who was brilliant at that?

howard bloom · 2:48 AM

though he had a lot of help

Kelly Carlin · 2:48 AM

Who?

Kelly Carlin · 2:48 AM

That's it!

howard bloom · 2:48 AM

from the ussr and sputnik

howard bloom · 2:49 AM

jfk

Kelly Carlin · 2:49 AM

Hmmm.

Kelly Carlin · 2:49 AM

And they killed him.

howard bloom · 2:49 AM

when he said, we go to the moon

howard bloom · 2:49 AM

not because it is easy

howard bloom · 2:49 AM

but because it is hard

howard bloom · 2:49 AM

he turned a dream into a challenge

Kelly Carlin · 2:49 AM

So where is our Kennedy? Where are the Grown ups?

howard bloom · 2:49 AM

a battle against difficulty

Kelly Carlin · 2:49 AM

Are we to all become the Kennedy for each other now?

howard bloom · 2:49 AM

i'm trying my best from my tiny, tiny platform

Kelly Carlin · 2:49 AM

★ Spotlighted from Scott Sherwood

“good quote”

howard bloom · 2:50 AM

and you know i manage to reach the white house and

Kelly Carlin · 2:50 AM

And jfk put a deadline on the challenge

howard bloom · 2:50 AM

people like the 11th president of india

howard bloom · 2:50 AM

from time to time

Kelly Carlin · 2:50 AM

Thank god! Someone is listening to you Howard!

howard bloom · 2:50 AM

but i am a squeak in a pip

howard bloom · 2:50 AM

however we all need to squeek

howard bloom · 2:50 AM

as loud as we can

howard bloom · 2:50 AM

god,

howard bloom · 2:50 AM

this conversation keeps coming back to mice :)

Kelly Carlin · 2:51 AM

lol

Kelly Carlin · 2:51 AM

lol

howard bloom · 2:51 AM

i was never able

howard bloom · 2:51 AM

to identify with mickey or minnie

Kelly Carlin · 2:51 AM

So, what can the 60s give us now that we so desperately need? There was such a feeling of purpose and hope back then.

Kelly Carlin · 2:51 AM

Donald?

howard bloom · 2:51 AM

we have to reoepen the floodgate

howard bloom · 2:51 AM

of positive fantasy

Kelly Carlin · 2:51 AM

Donald is a duck Rick. We are on mice.

howard bloom · 2:52 AM

we have to realize that dreaming wildly

Kelly Carlin · 2:52 AM

Positive fantasy!

howard bloom · 2:52 AM

then making it come true is our obligation and our

Kelly Carlin · 2:52 AM

★ Spotlighted from Scott Sherwood

“It gave us a feeling of being one with humanity”

howard bloom · 2:52 AM

birthright in the west

howard bloom · 2:52 AM

yes, here in the usa

Kelly Carlin · 2:52 AM

Our birthright...the American Dream...

howard bloom · 2:52 AM

and we have to open ourselves up to a simple fact

howard bloom · 2:52 AM

no resource on this planet

Kelly Carlin · 2:52 AM

without the picket fence.

howard bloom · 2:52 AM

was ever given by nature

howard bloom · 2:52 AM

every resource has been invented

howard bloom · 2:52 AM

from hostile stuff

howard bloom · 2:53 AM

it is our job to stop the dream that we are running out of resources

howard bloom · 2:53 AM

and go back to imagining

howard bloom · 2:53 AM

then working our fucking asses off to achieve our dreams

Kelly Carlin · 2:53 AM

So it is the friction of the times meeting the vision of the future that creates possibility....I'm making the T-shirts!

howard bloom · 2:53 AM

resources are invented, not given

Kelly Carlin · 2:53 AM

I love this.

howard bloom · 2:53 AM

and it is our job to invent the next resource base

Kelly Carlin · 2:54 AM

Resources are invented, not given.

howard bloom · 2:54 AM

that is how this friggin planet got oxygen

howard bloom · 2:54 AM

oxygen was NOT a part of our atmosphere

howard bloom · 2:54 AM

under the tender loving care of mother nature

howard bloom · 2:54 AM

oxygen was manufactured

howard bloom · 2:54 AM

by living things

howard bloom · 2:54 AM

cyanobacteria

howard bloom · 2:54 AM

and when it first polluted the atmosphere

Kelly Carlin · 2:54 AM

Ah...the Secular Genesis Machine!!!!

howard bloom · 2:54 AM

roughly 2 billion years ago

howard bloom · 2:55 AM

it was toxic

howard bloom · 2:55 AM

it was a deadly poison

Kelly Carlin · 2:55 AM

★ Spotlighted from Scott Sherwood

“Wrong thinking, we need to make our resorces last!”

howard bloom · 2:55 AM

but we invented a way to use it

howard bloom · 2:55 AM

and that way

howard bloom · 2:55 AM

transformed the planet

howard bloom · 2:55 AM

gave it plants and animals

howard bloom · 2:55 AM

gave us the nature we weep for and agonize over and worship

Kelly Carlin · 2:55 AM

Scott - yes, it is controversial...but just take in the whole thought...

howard bloom · 2:55 AM

but that nature was violently unnatural

howard bloom · 2:56 AM

once upon a time

howard bloom · 2:56 AM

nature puts us here NOT to tend the status quo

howard bloom · 2:56 AM

nature HATES an equilibrium

howard bloom · 2:56 AM

nature puts us here

howard bloom · 2:56 AM

to reinvent her

howard bloom · 2:56 AM

to remake her

howard bloom · 2:56 AM

to upgrade her

howard bloom · 2:56 AM

and we need to absorb that lesson

howard bloom · 2:56 AM

or we will be unnatural

howard bloom · 2:57 AM

and we will be flushed away

Kelly Carlin · 2:57 AM

But, there is a chance, dear Howard, that this human species with this big brain is only a small step in the evolution of this big Secular Genesis machine, yes?

Kelly Carlin · 2:57 AM

Yes.

howard bloom · 2:57 AM

ok, enough of ranting at you :)

Kelly Carlin · 2:57 AM

we were typing the same thought at the same time!

howard bloom · 2:57 AM

we hare exactly that, kelley

howard bloom · 2:57 AM

one small step

howard bloom · 2:57 AM

sorry, my typing fingers are a bit burned out

Kelly Carlin · 2:57 AM

We are one small step. My EGO HATES THAT.

howard bloom · 2:57 AM

but we are on a roll

howard bloom · 2:58 AM

yes, someday we will be replaced

howard bloom · 2:58 AM

but perhaps not

howard bloom · 2:58 AM

think of this

howard bloom · 2:58 AM

3.85 billion years ago

Kelly Carlin · 2:58 AM

So...yes we are on a roll....let's make a date to come back here in two weeks and keep this conversation rolling then?

howard bloom · 2:58 AM

the first life forms sprang up on this poisoned and appalling earth, a rock of incessant disaster

howard bloom · 2:59 AM

they had cells and apparently dna

howard bloom · 2:59 AM

we too have cells and dna

Kelly Carlin · 2:59 AM

a rock of incessant disaster...

Kelly Carlin · 2:59 AM

lol I love that.

howard bloom · 2:59 AM

those inherited things are us

howard bloom · 2:59 AM

then came bacteria, our first ancestors

howard bloom · 2:59 AM

today, we are doing our best to outrace bacterai

howard bloom · 2:59 AM

but did the bacteria ever disappear?

howard bloom · 3:00 AM

no, not a bit

howard bloom · 3:00 AM

they are probably thousands of times more abundant now

howard bloom · 3:00 AM

than at the beginning

howard bloom · 3:00 AM

perhaps trillions of times more abundant

Kelly Carlin · 3:00 AM

Hey folks...I highly suggest Howard's book Genius of the Beast if you want to learn more about his take on evolution...the Secular Genesis Machine...it is AMAZING stuff.

howard bloom · 3:00 AM

look, they have invented high rise transport machines

Kelly Carlin · 3:00 AM

us!

howard bloom · 3:01 AM

that actually go out and autonomously gather food to feed them

howard bloom · 3:01 AM

yes, us

howard bloom · 3:01 AM

so there is a chance that if we play our cards right

howard bloom · 3:01 AM

if we recognize that nature's way is not stasis

howard bloom · 3:01 AM

nature's way is change

howard bloom · 3:01 AM

radical, big time change

howard bloom · 3:01 AM

and that nature has put us here as change agents

howard bloom · 3:01 AM

if we recognize all that

Kelly Carlin · 3:02 AM

So, the 60s did teach us something important about this very thing! Go with the FLOW. Be the Change.

howard bloom · 3:02 AM

there is a chance that some high rise convenience machine

howard bloom · 3:02 AM

will find us a necessity 3.85 billion years from

howard bloom · 3:02 AM

now the way we find the bacteria in our gut

howard bloom · 3:02 AM

that digest our food for us and make our vitamin b and vitamin k

howard bloom · 3:02 AM

a necessity :)

Kelly Carlin · 3:03 AM

Wow. That is both hopeful and disturbing in the same moment.

howard bloom · 3:03 AM

you got it, kelly :)

howard bloom · 3:03 AM

be the change you want to see

howard bloom · 3:03 AM

isn't that ghandi?

Kelly Carlin · 3:03 AM

So Howard. Do you want to do this again in two weeks? More talk about the 60s, evolution, innovation?

howard bloom · 3:03 AM

but first, take possession of your wishes, your dreams and fantasies

Kelly Carlin · 3:03 AM

yes, that is gandhi.

howard bloom · 3:03 AM

realize that they do no DESECRATE nature

howard bloom · 3:03 AM

they are nature come alive in you

howard bloom · 3:04 AM

you are nature's dream machine

Kelly Carlin · 3:04 AM

burp.

howard bloom · 3:04 AM

and if you work at it with all your waking hours

howard bloom · 3:04 AM

seven days a week

howard bloom · 3:04 AM

if you have persistence

howard bloom · 3:04 AM

you can make the dreams that nature has built you to concieve

howard bloom · 3:04 AM

come alive where it counts

howard bloom · 3:04 AM

in reality

Kelly Carlin · 3:04 AM

YOU ARE NATURE'S DREAM MACHINE. Do you have that people? Those are our marching orders from the universe!

Kelly Carlin · 3:05 AM

Howard. we are out of time.

howard bloom · 3:05 AM

do we have any questions?

howard bloom · 3:05 AM

from the audience?

Kelly Carlin · 3:05 AM

Thank you.

Kelly Carlin · 3:05 AM

Audience?

howard bloom · 3:05 AM

ummmm, all these wonderful people in the column on the right.

Kelly Carlin · 3:05 AM

I was including them as we went.

howard bloom · 3:06 AM

ahhhhh

Kelly Carlin · 3:06 AM

I think they are pondering.

Kelly Carlin · 3:06 AM

Would you like to join me in two weeks and continue?

howard bloom · 3:06 AM

my fingers are tuckered out and you, you wonderful person, have pulled a sermon out of me. :)

howard bloom · 3:06 AM

my favorite thing

howard bloom · 3:06 AM

a rant with purpose :)

Kelly Carlin · 3:06 AM

More TAWKING about all of this?

Kelly Carlin · 3:06 AM

And I love when you rant. AMEN.

howard bloom · 3:06 AM

yes, yes, yes. :)

Kelly Carlin · 3:06 AM

Very entertaining - thank you both

Kelly Carlin · 3:06 AM

★ Spotlighted from Ian Poole

“I would ponder but I think the sleep monster is trying to sneak up on me”

Kelly Carlin · 3:06 AM

just trying to keep up

howard bloom · 3:07 AM

rick, yes, it necessitates a lot of scrolling up, alas :)

Kelly Carlin · 3:07 AM

Let's make a date to return....it'll be the Howard and Kelly Dream Machine show...

howard bloom · 3:07 AM

gotcha

Kelly Carlin · 3:07 AM

So many GREAT quotes from tonight!

howard bloom · 3:07 AM

Kelly Carlin · 3:08 AM

Howard, thank you for your time and for exhausting your fingers!

howard bloom · 3:08 AM

thank you all for coming :)

howard bloom · 3:08 AM

it means a lot

howard bloom · 3:08 AM

you give us energy :)

Kelly Carlin · 3:08 AM

Thank you lovely people in the Forum for chatting with us!

Kelly Carlin · 3:08 AM

yes - you feed the dream....

howard bloom · 3:08 AM

night, kelly :) :)

Kelly Carlin · 3:08 AM

Good night Howard!

Kelly Carlin · 3:08 AM

Good night all!

Kelly Carlin · 3:08 AM

Dream BIG!!!!!!!!!

Kelly Carlin · 3:21 AM

★ Spotlighted from DON VODKI

“good nite and thanks for sharing your wisdom =)”

Kelly Carlin · 3:21 AM

★ Spotlighted from Heidi Bauer

“Soul enriching. Thank you!”

Forum · 81

Forum· 81 comments

168 visitors

Tawkers AdminNov 13, 2013, 12:27 AM

Welcome to the Forum! To get involved, click "Who's Here" and then FOLLOW people.

Tawkers AdminNov 13, 2013, 12:27 AM

Once 25 people gather in the audience, a comment needs at least one LIKE to become visible to the two Hosts and anyone not following them. So LIKE the comments you want everyone to see!

Ellen NovemberNov 13, 2013, 1:27 AM

I'm a little early but I'm here.

DON VODKINov 13, 2013, 1:48 AM

howard is my favorite youtuber!

DON VODKINov 13, 2013, 1:51 AM

well... TJ Kirk of course

DON VODKINov 13, 2013, 1:53 AM

and several others in spanish

DON VODKINov 13, 2013, 1:56 AM

Howard, you rule!

Jake MacLeanNov 13, 2013, 1:56 AM

testing 123

Jake MacLeanNov 13, 2013, 1:57 AM

hello!

DON VODKINov 13, 2013, 1:57 AM

hello from Colombia =)

Jake MacLeanNov 13, 2013, 1:58 AM

Greetings from the UK :)

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 1:58 AM

Hi everyone!

Jake MacLeanNov 13, 2013, 1:59 AM

Hey!

Ellen NovemberNov 13, 2013, 1:59 AM

which prison would that be?

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:00 AM

hello

Henry HarrisNov 13, 2013, 2:01 AM

Greetings

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:01 AM

I love poker

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:02 AM

old days are never forgoten

DON VODKINov 13, 2013, 2:02 AM

never ever!

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:03 AM

with funny machines in front of us

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:04 AM

congradulations

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:05 AM

no drinks, only dubes

Ellen NovemberNov 13, 2013, 2:08 AM

I'm not deaf but this thing is really great for deaf people

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:09 AM

keep looking

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:12 AM

hey I resemble that remark

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:13 AM

join the club

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:14 AM

OMG

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:16 AM

High Times?

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:17 AM

Ellen NovemberNov 13, 2013, 2:17 AM

Mad Magazine

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:18 AM

Still is

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:18 AM

Whatever it may be

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:19 AM

please

Ian PooleNov 13, 2013, 2:23 AM

The Grid. A digital frontier... My bad. Wrong grid.

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:27 AM★ Spotlighted

much bigger undergrounds too

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:27 AM

hippies

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:28 AM

It changed all of our lives

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:29 AM

but 9unavailable

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:30 AM

if they weren't so fricking rebellious

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:31 AM

That is why the Legalization movement is so appealing to millions

Ellen NovemberNov 13, 2013, 2:32 AM★ Spotlighted

The adults are being peddled pills by the big pharma co's.

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:33 AM

People who think that way are truly lost

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:34 AM

Those Koch's are /will ruin our contry

Ellen NovemberNov 13, 2013, 2:34 AM★ Spotlighted

saving lives is good

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:35 AM

Join the club

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:35 AM

Try growing up in Beverly Hills

Blake IanNov 13, 2013, 2:36 AM★ Spotlighted

Im sorry I missed so much of this! I love the sixties and I love lessons! Catching up now... There's Tawking happening here

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:36 AM

Bravo!

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:36 AM

It scucked

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:37 AM

BH was no where to raise kids

Blake IanNov 13, 2013, 2:38 AM

I am in the middle of The Doors of Perception! It is explaining so much to me about the LSD I did when I was 13... The effects it had on me then, and has continued to have on me. Both positive and negative

Blake IanNov 13, 2013, 2:39 AM

Link to Doors of Perception for those who feel like "Stealing this book!" http://www.maps.org/books/HuxleyA1954TheDoorsOfPerception.pdf

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:39 AM

Did you know being a baby boomer is a "Risk Factor" for HCV, Hep C Virus

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:41 AM

Try it one handed

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:41 AM

Yoke away howard

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:42 AM

Not me Kelly, I could give a shit about what that lame does

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:44 AM

no, I don't think so

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:45 AM

it will be too late if this continues

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:46 AM★ Spotlighted

They are all scare tatics

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:46 AM

to keep us afraid

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:46 AM

and dependant on the Gov.

Ellen NovemberNov 13, 2013, 2:46 AM

which archetype Kelly?

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:47 AM

The opertunity is here now! The Legalization of Gods medicine, Marijuana

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:49 AM

Agreed

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:49 AM★ Spotlighted

good quote

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:49 AM

Here but silent, and afraid

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:50 AM

I do!

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:51 AM

As loud as my little voice can

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:52 AM★ Spotlighted

It gave us a feeling of being one with humanity

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:52 AM

lolol

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:54 AM★ Spotlighted

Wrong thinking, we need to make our resorces last!

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:55 AM

we all know that what is your point?

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:56 AM

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 2:59 AM

we are almost done here, thanks for the invite Kelly, it was stimulating to say the least

Ian PooleNov 13, 2013, 3:00 AM

Activiaaaaaaaaaaa

Scott SherwoodNov 13, 2013, 3:02 AM

Good bye everyone. Have a great night!

Ian PooleNov 13, 2013, 3:06 AM★ Spotlighted

I would ponder but I think the sleep monster is trying to sneak up on me

Ian PooleNov 13, 2013, 3:08 AM

haha sounds like a doctor who special

Heidi BauerNov 13, 2013, 3:08 AM★ Spotlighted

Soul enriching. Thank you!

DON VODKINov 13, 2013, 3:10 AM★ Spotlighted

good nite and thanks for sharing your wisdom =)

Moussab DhaidNov 13, 2013, 4:33 PM

Peace