My accompanist from Oklahoma went to Germany and found it to be a heaven
compared to America's hell for artists. Frankly I didn't want to be
tempted. I'm connected to the land and my people here. The Arts have
been so difficult throughout the years that having a job and being able to
simply work as an artist tempted more than one American classmate of mine to
simply immigrate. I now talk to them on the internet as they are
comfortably retired.
I moved from my home reservation to New York. That was painful enough never
being able to visit there again for the same reason Picasso abandoned Spain
and Solzhenitsyn abandoned Russia. In the seventies the KKK had a surge
along with the militias in Oklahoma. I walked across the state and saw it
coming. I also saw how terrible it was for my parents as pensioners.
There were "developers" and "entrepreneurs" everywhere. If you want to
understand google Tom Coburn and you will the get the gist. Coburn is a
cousin by marriage. I've never met the man but his policies are the
current Oklahoma or rather the old bigoted Oklahoma that destroyed my home
for cash.
But the furthest I would go from my spirits was the Atlantic Ocean. I
tried Canada but people were liberal on the surface but hostile when I asked
questions about Indians. It's the same problem everywhere. Oklahoma was
invaded by Fundamentalist television preachers who provided the only serious
business in the state when the oil wells ran out. Tulsa is a fundamentalist
haven with an unbelievable number of churches.
They have attacked the traditional Indians through conversion of family
members. The Indian people are barely holding on given the aggressive
proselytization. Thousands of years of culture lost. They say that the
people are "lost" and need "saving" by Jesus but the results are that they
lose every spiritual part of themselves and become addicted to the market
and things. They weren't "lost" they were just harassed, abused and
constantly being stolen from by the dominant immigrant population in their
own state. Oklahoma means "home of the Indian" in Choctaw. It's a cruel
joke.
At least here in New York we have our traditions, our art to some degree and
our sacred grounds: however the natural gas companies are about to ruin
that. Europe took two very violent wars to get some semblance of unity and
yet it still can't grasp the idea of a circle of nations rather than
competitors. The Council type government seems beyond the pale for those
who are committed to small governments and massive markets.
Over here it's just bigger but the disease is a parasite in the gut of all
of the Western immigrants who are here. It's just a part of the flora and
fauna of their bowel but not mine.
Being tempted to move to Europe to work would then mean that I would be
forever in the midst of the attitudes that destroyed my family in the first
place. The attitudes that drove surplus human serfs to invade this country
and destroy 98 per cent of the population here. I chose not to be tempted
by the Art no matter how good it felt. I can forgive people but not the
attitudes that continue.
REH
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Christoph Reuss
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2010 6:17 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Futurework] Both schools are wrong
REH wrote:
> That's also the reason I never visited England.
I can understand why.
But why didn't you ever visit the European continent either?
Chris
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