Sunday, February 05, 2006
Magical Thinking
In a recent encounter with a former hippie-era resident of the Marin Headlands here on the north side of the Golden Gate, she inquired if they still called it Magic Marin. I replied that I'd never heard the term, but that it was still a magical place of old-growth pine and redwood forests overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and that we, as relatively new residents, find the trout streams and general abundance of wildlife a special blessing considering we live a mere 14 miles from San Francisco.
Which got me to thinking about a more recent form of magical thinking without the ingestion of entheogens that seems to have taken hold among otherwise sane people. And that is the notion of free-market environmentalism (an oxymoron if ever I've heard one) espoused by former liberals attracted to the monetary payoff of Republican values who have difficulty coming to grips with the real world consequences of such policy under the dubiously lucid administrations of Reagan, Bush, and Bush.
Seeing how this absurd concept is promulgated by almost normal people as well as the morons in the White House and criminals in industries that gave us such free-market marvels as Love Canal and Three Mile Island, I can only assume that this delusional phenomena is some form of perverted magical thinking along the lines of trickle-down economics and faith-based public health. I mean, looking at the evidence all around us of the ravages of the market, where the sacred is extinguished and the wild commodified by commerce run amok, how can anyone in their right mind still believe such nonsense?
Alas, when one has locked into a mindset of denial--especially while filling one's pockets with ill-gotten gains--I guess one can fall for just about anything. Fortunately for us here in this relatively benign environment, the awe and mystery of life--even without psychoactive assistance--still holds something magical in store.
Which got me to thinking about a more recent form of magical thinking without the ingestion of entheogens that seems to have taken hold among otherwise sane people. And that is the notion of free-market environmentalism (an oxymoron if ever I've heard one) espoused by former liberals attracted to the monetary payoff of Republican values who have difficulty coming to grips with the real world consequences of such policy under the dubiously lucid administrations of Reagan, Bush, and Bush.
Seeing how this absurd concept is promulgated by almost normal people as well as the morons in the White House and criminals in industries that gave us such free-market marvels as Love Canal and Three Mile Island, I can only assume that this delusional phenomena is some form of perverted magical thinking along the lines of trickle-down economics and faith-based public health. I mean, looking at the evidence all around us of the ravages of the market, where the sacred is extinguished and the wild commodified by commerce run amok, how can anyone in their right mind still believe such nonsense?
Alas, when one has locked into a mindset of denial--especially while filling one's pockets with ill-gotten gains--I guess one can fall for just about anything. Fortunately for us here in this relatively benign environment, the awe and mystery of life--even without psychoactive assistance--still holds something magical in store.
