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EGR/MB: background radiation
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clo-@panix.com
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Oct 11, 2005 12:22 PDT
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Valued Readers,
a clip from the latest Mystic
Bourgeoisie post. As usual, the value-added version is on the blog.
love & light,
RB
from <a
href="http://mysticbourgeoisie.blogspot.com/2005/10/survival-of-con-test-normative.html"
title="permanent link">survival of the con-test: normative narcissism
What Bauman describes so well
here is a crucial dimension of the ++ in
what I've been calling NewAge++. This zero-sum "heads I win tails you
lose" commitment to self-advancement at all costs is part of the
cultural background radiation that colors and shapes "spiritual"
lifestyles that, on the surface, look harmless, benign, even
compassionate. Below that surface, however, look for base axioms such
as an absolute fear and rejection of "<a
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=br_ss_hs/?field-keywords=beattie+codependency"
target="_blank">codependency" -- a contemporary twist (and it's
twisted indeed) on Emerson's old saw, <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0486277909/entropygradientr/ref_ase"
target="_blank">Self-Reliance. On the more "positive" side, look
for Ayn Randian apologias (often tacit, but no less fundamental) for <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451163931/entropygradientr/ref_ase"
target="_blank">The Virtue of Selfishness, and various
"self-esteem" tropes propagated by Rand's Selfishness
co-author, once-lover and cloying sycophant <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=br_ss_hs/?field-keywords=branden+self-esteem"
target="_blank">Nathaniel Brandon. Zero-sum, baby, you're on your
own. Trust no one. But don't worry, at least you're <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/156838338X/entropygradientr/ref_ase"
target="_blank">Playing It By Heart.
<a
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/156838338X/entropygradientr/ref_ase"
target="_blank"><img src="cid:part1.080101-@panix.com"
border="0" height="357" width="420">
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