Driven By Desire

Anthony Signorelli judges me boring, hackneyed, shallow, and dishonest. If an exploration of the psychological and spiritual roots of modern suffering isn’t his cup of tea, exploring my website might be more inspiring for him, because it’s chock full of facts, analyses, and links to dozens of feisty practical activists. But I didn’t exaggerate the suffering caused by the global industrial economy, and Signorelli’s apparent fears that meditation and emotional work are passive and uncreative might be loosened a bit by spending some time, in an emotionally open state, in any of the shantytowns or toxic-waste dumps now plaguing the world, from Chernobyl, to Rio, to LA. He errs when he says I leave him little choice, or that I paralyze readers of The Sun; fortunately I have no such power. Paralysis and depression are not the only responses to suffering, and one’s emotional choices are never imposed by others. The interview simply explored one path to dismantling one’s own psychological blocks and projections as a necessary prerequisite for taking full and active responsibility for one’s life. Several other readers have since volunteered as interns with the Public Information Network, and they are neither passive nor unproductive. I wish Signorelli (and every reader of The Sun) joyfully dynamic and creative lives.