I understand the feeling of anger and sorrow that can come from realizing that people who had an ethical position (seemingly) that drew you into a political movement and then, were shown to have had a different agenda --- one that was only recognized long after the fact. But that didn't negate the social issues and values basic to the concepts involved. Those were, and still are, often valuable after the shock and disillusionment fades and settles with the dust of the explosion that, yes, did cause hurt, but actually opened my/your/our eyes to various realities. Rick, this is a good thread topic. I, for one, have thought about and resented some of these very issues over the years.

As I've said before, it's terribly sad that the "babies" that were (and are) extremely positive aspects of Socialism, got tossed into the gutter with the washwater of Communism when that ism was blown apart in recent years. The enemy was not the various humane aspects of some proven socialist concepts. Rather, I feel that it is totalitarian repression, a lack of any human rights and the various murderous practices that are the actual enemy of any thinking person.

I was hurt to find out that hidden agendas existed for people who I admired so very much. Still, many lessons I learned from those folks were worth learning and are now, I hope, positve aspects of the person I have become.

(That said, I now have a difficult time looking seriously at the work of Joseph Campbell. Some things hurt too much, on a visceral level, for me to overlook them. Parting with one's illusions is not painless I have found.)

Love,

Art Thieme