Jane - I was with you until this last paragraph, which sounds like a vote for the blind leading-the-blind. Having spent far more time than I wished I had in communal situations, I vote for "everyone think for themselves while following practical charismatic leaders." Psychologist/bodhisatva Ken Wilber provides some pretty strong spiritual evolution models that explain why it is to our advantage to work with individuals who are at least one rung up the ladder of evolution from where we are. His ideas are worth checking out. Otherwise, in many ways, we are trying to solve problems with the same minds that created them. Throw out government advice, sure (but the smart money will use it in a discerning fashion), but I'm cleaving to Rudolf Steiner and the several teachers that his ideas have inspired. I'm not ashamed of knowing less than someone else, in fact, am slow enough to look at almost everyone as a teacher. Aside from this, I'm all for organizing at the local level and think that, ideally, CSA is a route to redemption.Certainly, there is going to be bad compost tea along with the good stuff. Just like farmers. If people would stop looking for a magic bullet (compost tea) or 'the great man' (Steiner, the gov't, whomever) to save them, and look to themselves and their own community & work on their spiritual development along with other kinds of development, perhaps we'd get somewhere.
Allan Balliett
who is currently atoning for delivering the CSA concept to swines
