on 8/30/06 4:56 PM, L B Shriver at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Fairfield's Future
Over the past several years, I have engaged in countless conversations about the state of
Fairfield and its prospects for the future. I have generally taken the position that Fairfield's
best years are yet to come. A few years ago, most of the people I engaged on this topic
were surprised by my position and only a few agreed. Within the past year, however, I
would say that the majority agree: Fairfield's best years are yet to come.
Fairfield has a unique mix of businesses and industries. The only weakness there is that
the economic base is not currently strong enough to support more people who would like
to be living here but can't afford it.
Nevertheless, the infrastructure here is good and the local government is forward-looking,
The entrepreneurial environment is outstanding.
In what some would regard as a worst case scenario, we must consider the possibility that
the university might tank. Although on one level that would be a loss, no one knows what
might follow in its wake, including many fresh possibilities that none of us have
considered.
On the other hand, the university has shown some signs of life lately. Aside from the
physical transformation of the campus, it has attracted some talented people. There are
signs here and there of the tide finally turning. Too early to say how far this will go, but if
the university has its own little renaissance, the rest of the community will benefit as well.
It is my contention that either way˜with or without a viable TM organization˜Fairfield will
thrive.
I admit there is a bit of a paradox here that is uncomfortable for some people to address.
It is simply this:
Without Maharishi this community would never have been created, and the opportunities
and quality of life found here would never have come into existence. On the other, the
days are long gone where one could legitimately say that Fairfield is Maharishi's town. It
has evolved into something more complex and diverse, and in my view it is this
evolutionary development toward diversity that gives the community its viability.
The judgement that this diversity is damaging to the community is both an anachronism
and a source of continuing bad feeling within the community. In fact, this judgement itself
is perhaps the biggest single barrier to the community's progress, at least on the spiritual
level.
There are signs lately that this judgmentalism is softening within the university. Of course,
there is no lack of judgments being held in the community south of the university, either.
The difference is that the TMO has the capability to enforce some of its judgments,
therefore signs of progress there bode well for all of us.
This is why I am optimistic about the future of the community. One way or another, the
most spiritually regressive aspects of the community consciousness will be purged. There
is nothing especially magic or unexpected about this; when something goes as far as it
can go in one direction, the pendulum, as they say, swings the other way.
L B S
--
Rick Archer
SearchSummit
1108 South B Street
Fairfield, IA 52556
Phone: 641-472-9336
Fax: 815-572-5842
Skype: Rick_Archer
http://searchsummit.com
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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