On Jan 21, 2007, at 10:20 AM, ancient5 wrote: > But there were some odd things that we couldn't figure out - some that > we weren't sure we understood and some that seemed vaguely sinister. > If anyone could spend a moment answering some of our question, we'd > appreciate it. I apologize if these questions offend - if they do, > it's ignorance not intention. And if we just didn't see things right, > feel free to be blunt. > > 1. Where does the name "Invincible America" come from? It reminded > us of a slogan that might be used by a neo-fascist group -- rather > scary. Is it an effort to tap into the national, post-9/11 paranoia > for marketing purposes? Does the name reflect that there is some > nationalist splinter group?
Hi Ancient, I'll try to answer some of your questions. Hopefully you'll get some others. The TMO has always had a neo-fascist streak, as you noticed. Don't forget, India has used the caste system for thousands of years as a way of maintaining power for the elite few, while everyone else starved. The TMO is loosely based on that model. > 2. Is the TM movement attracting new people at the same rate as it > did in the past? Haha, good one. That's a joke, right? > We noticed that most of the people we saw were older > than all of us - late 50s or 60s? > In Revelations we saw a family with > a couple kids and two college age kids, but everyone else seemed to be > much older. On the trails, we saw a number of folks, but again, they > were generally older. Vibrant and healthy but over 50. Well, Ancient, considering your screen name that's a funny observation. But to answer your question, most of the kids I know, including my own, have little to do with the TMO or even TM unless their parents insist on it. > > 3. We didn't see any political bumper stickers. Is that a conscious > choice? I have no idea--I have one on my car. Many of the people in town are very politically aware, as far as I can tell. > > 4. In Revelations, it seemed that most of the people were single. How do you know that? They may just have been there without their spouses or SOs. > Do people move to Fairfield after their spouses die? Yes, it's part of the town motto--"Fairfield, the place to come after your spouse kicks off! Trust us, you won't be sorry!" Heck of a marketing tool. > Is there something > about TM that makes more people stay single? Tough to say, but considering how some of the people most involved in the TMO have usually looked and acted--about as appealing as a wet rug--I wouldn't be surprised. > 4.None of the women we met had short hair. I plead guilty, I don't either. > We are accustomed to > seeing fairly short hair on at least a few women. Similarly, we > noticed no piercings or anything that might say "hippie." You have to go to Ottumwa for that (about 25 miles due west). There's a couple of tattoo parlors there. > > 5. Is there one gold dome for women and one for men? Yes, both vastly underused as the TMOh as become progressively more weird and people have gained more confidence in leading their own lives independent of the weirdness. As a result many have gotten banned. > > 6. Shouldn't someone paint and repair the gold domes? Yep, and the rest of the campus as well. > > 7. There were signs on the door of one of the domes stressing the > importance of turning up on time so security could be maintained - or > something like that. Why is security in the domes such a big concern? Because of al the gang warfare in FF. When the Jets and the Sharks want to take a breather, they come here to chill out. > > 8. Should Vedic style houses be painted a shade of maize? The only > Vedic-style house we saw that wasn't was near the trailhead east of > the domes. It was kind of slate/blue. Why? They're trying to get a golden color without going to the expense of using gold leaf, I would guess. > > 9. Do people who live out in Vedic City drive back and forth to town > and MUM or do they bus or bicycle? Neither--they fly on their magic carpets. > 10. Is Utopia City owned by MUM or a TMer? It was originally owned by the Zimmerman family who then gave it to MUM, I'm pretty sure. > > 11. Has the movement changed? Is someone other than the Maharishi > really in charge these days? Who knows? The party line is that he is. > We ask because some of the things we saw > seemed out of what we had conceived as the character of TM. Notably, > the "Invincible" slogan and the Maharishi Enlightenment Center store > in Iowa City. The Center seemed to be a rather typical mall store, > selling stuff using the Maharishi and TM as the store's "story." The > message seemed to be "buy this and be enlightened." Rather like Eddie > Bauer once used the rugged outdoors as its story - "but this and be a > wilderness woman." It made us wonder whether the movement's > leadership has changed. > > 12. How do new people in Fairfield meet one another? In our > community, people often connect through their children's schools or > sports, etc. If a large part of the Fairfield community is past that > stage, how does the community integrate new people? > > 13. Are there a significant number of non-TM kids who go to the > Maharishi school? No, and most of the TM kids are in the public schools as well. Many cycle back and forth from year to year, as their parents get the idea that their kids aren't really getting educated there but can't seem to break the habit. > > 14. Who gets to ride in the white stretch limo? Probably one of the rajas (ie people who paid the TMO a million bucks, supposedly, and now get to wear a gold crown and ride in limos.) > > Whew. That's a lot of questions. I know that many of these questions > will appear to be stupid and may even offend. They are not intended > to be either. > > Thanks. >
