Before Christ was around the Greeks were amusing themselves with steam powered machines. They even had vending machines selling offerings to worshipers. The Romans were using carts that were guided by the equivilant of rails. If the power holders had supported Technological progress at that time what would the standard of living have become with such a rapid delivery system? In the 20th century we had the where-with-all to create a way of life that wasn't centered on petroleum. Patents were often bought to stop the progress to more efficient machines and cleaner energy. I believe greed is a major factor in the retardation of good progress and paradoxically the reason that progress is under indictment. Now that we have become more desperate to get out from under oil, no longer swaggering from the gas pumps, we are willing to make the changes that were possible 40 or 50 years ago. I would not give up on progress, but money should not be the deciding factor in every change. There may still be hope for us. But we do have some catching up to do in the healthier direction.

Posted on Wednesday 09 of July, 2008 [03:19:47 UTC]

The End of Something

Yeah I admit it, I'm working on a theme. Some may tie it to the end of the world kind of thing seeing as 2012 is upon us. But this assumption takes a shortsighted view. Instead I think humans reach points in history where they have surpassed their capacity. This happened at the turn of the XIVth century in Europe where too many people had too many children (or the Little Ice Age began to limit crop growth). Then at 1308Uranus-0-Neptune1478 near 1308 Europe's denuded forests could not provide enough wood for warmth, too much rain over too many summers caused crops to fail and gradually the general populace found that their collective immune systems could no longer fight off disease. These circumstances--along with generally poor hygiene enabled conditions that brought on Black Death.
Modern medicine likely has moved us beyond this set of circumstances, but as Erin noted in her last blog we seem to have "progressed" past a point of control and comfort. We may be approaching "peak oil". Food shortages have lead to riots across the globe. And despite popular North American opinion, this author thinks we the climate changes for the worst. At the very least we seem to be headed toward an economic crisis. No matter what, we have reached a point beyond our control. So what do we do?

Paying Attention

We have no one to blame but ourselves. Somehow, we thought science, or progress or industry would solve our problems. But this not an exercise in Blame Game; accusations do not help solve the problem. Instead, we need to begin asking the right questions. We herald increased longevity, but neglect to ponder how we will help those that live longer. As Erin mentioned, productivity increases, but we do not account for jobs no longer needed. None of the answers will come easily, but seeking a definitive answer misses the point. Instead, we must begin asking more difficult questions.

Posted on Monday 07 of July, 2008 [04:33:15 UTC]

We had gonorrhea and syphyllis, cured them and got herpes and HIV. HIV is treatable at a similar cost to buying a good used car every month. Gonorrhea is now resistant to penicillin. We have new and improved ways to sterilize our environment and the germs evolve to resist them. We have antibiotics that are not biodegradable enabling even more germs to get stronger. We constantly 'thin the herd' and the stronger reproduce. Economically we have machines doing more work. We used to have serfs and slaves working the land whether for a Duke, Baron, or Lord of some kind. Progress saw the rise of the middle class then continued until the supply of labor greatly exceeded the need. Now most jobs are part time to cut the cost of benefits (cost of labor). Human progress is way way behind the progress of Science.

Posted on Monday 07 of July, 2008 [01:14:44 UTC]

A recent AP article opines:

Everything seemingly is spinning out of control

Ok. I know gas prices keep skyrocketing. Food prices rise with them. I think global warming is the greatest problem we face. I am certain a list of issues would write itself. But how does anyone really know how bad, bad is? How do we answer the question? And is what we now experience extraordinary, or part of how life will be?
These are the questions that I thought up so far.

How Bad is Bad?

How Do I Know It's Bad?

Is it Bad Everywhere?

---

And Then There's This

My curiosity as an astrologer/historian constantly returns to asking how people see things collectively. In the United States, if polls relay a true picture, the American feels their country heads in the wrong direction. But how do we know for sure? Plus, the US holds only a small portion of the world's population. Since, part of my work here includes comparing where do we compare our perceptions to those who lived in other times.

Like I Need More To Do

Sorry, I don't have an immediate answer since I have already collected a many thoughts on this topic. At least I know where to start: the USA-centric media. (At least, I think there is proclivity).

Posted on Sunday 22 of June, 2008 [10:33:10 UTC]

I am working on a chapter for my upcoming book Measuring History via the Outer Planets: A Primer. The piece 1929 and 2010 compares our time to 1929 for many reasons. I highlight some of my coverage below.

Why Compare 1929 to 2010

Many similarities to 1929 arise regularly in today's press, particularly because of the USA's economic slowdown. Besides more home foreclosures since the depression, the US savings rate is similarly at the low levels. A seemingly permanent federal deficit accompanies a dollar at half its values than in the last few years. No one, including governments worldwide, knows for certain when this condition will end, how deep it goes and what actions to take. These doubts alone justify any look to the past to gain bearings.

Outer Planet Similarities

From this publication's perspective and that of Measuring History a compelling reason for comparison arises from the similarity between an outer planet configuration currently moving into position and one found between 1929 and 1934. Though, no one time in history can ever be exactly the same, the outer planet similarities and those on the ground prove close enough to provide fertile commentary. This exercise again demonstrates how to synchronize history to outer planet activity. Without trying to hard, 1929 and 2010 2010 ties not only to 1929 but to other years of signal importance such as 1848, 1905 1917 as well as the 1960s, a time great change still fresh in our minds. In the end we also grab glimpses of the future in a way no other historical method offers.

1929

The Outer Planet key to comparison comes with the similarity in the diagram and the one posted below. This configuration, a t-square occurs commonly but only a few times a century in outer planet only charts. Since this many planets arriving at quadrate alignments in a short period almost always points to a turning point, we should not be surprised that the time surrounding the 1930s proved to be one. Seeing how 1929 and 2010 share similarities, I would be surprised if we do not recognize this period as one when the history books are written.

2010?

The Results

The period around 1929 and 2010 share similarities but also differ quite a bit. The fact that the same three planets Saturn, Uranus and Pluto means that outer planet waves are exactly the same. But in the midst of learning how the configurations differ between 1929 and 2010, also leads us show how both years connect to one another. We do this by learning the Saturn-Pluto, Saturn-Uranus and Uranus-Pluto waves connect to our vanishing past and imminent future. By discerning the common threads that tie all three waves together we can sew together a vision that both makes sense and replenishes itself.

Posted on Friday 20 of June, 2008 [00:24:23 UTC]

The Really Big Picture

Events of our time keep pointing back to the 1960s. Big on the news stage has been the US elections which through the primaries featured a black man and the first woman to run for president. Race and women's rights have returned to the stage bringing up how the largest economy on the planet moves beyond the racist struggles of its past. We also recognize the shadows of Vietnam in Iraq. With the environment we see how the embryonic efforts of that decade have matured with ecological positions on corporate boards. We obviously live in a different times but many wounds and opportunity from that time remain open through our time as we have seen in many ways.
Despite how much each side tried in the Democratic Party contest, gender and race eclipsed policy. Factors in the November contest include whether women who felt wronged by Ms. Clinton's treatment during the race will forget their pain and vote for Obama. For Obama to win he has to hope a coalition of young, black and college-educated voters will be enough to overcome those who would never vote outside of their race. The US heals, but wounds remain.

Outer Planet Picture

Three planets in quadrate alignment during the mid-sixties move into another one during 2010, close enough for it to concern us in 2008. Their relationships to one another both then and now offer important clues.

Saturn opposite Uranus

The charts soon to be listed below compare 1965 to 2010. In common we find Saturn opposite Uranus. Previous oppositions between these two appeared around 1918, 1874, 1828 and 1782. A review shows these times as a bit unstable. For instance 1874 falls near the Panic of 1873 that troubled the US and much of Europe. We should expect polarization when the quadrate alignments of Saturn-Uranus wave enter the picture.

Uranus-Pluto: Then and Now

The two planets seen next to one another conjunct in the 1965 chart appear in different positions relative to one another. Specifically, Uranus moved 90 relative to Pluto. In the 2010 wave model Uranus moved to the bottom of the trough. Metaphorically, we see a change of direction here, but one that happens relative to a known point. As we saw at the introduction the known point begins with the 1960s and all the baggage we carry with us from that decade. For a longer perspective we need consider the entire 1965Uranus-Pluto2101 wave's duration. For reference study 1849Uranus-Pluto1964. There we see how tthe feminist and civil rights movements had roots in the women's and abolitionist ones of the movements of the 1840s.

Next Steps

I have barely scratched the surface. Think of many issues that fester from the 60s. Here's a list:

• Seven Day War
• Cultural Revolution--China
• Republican 'Southern Strategy
• Protest Movements
• Environmentalism
• Gay Rights
• African Independence
• Cold War

Now project these issues forward and put your thoughts about them in the back of your mind. After a while the connections should begin to make more sense. Keep in mind that the list above can hardly be called comprehensive. Don't be afraid to add your own or send ideas to by commenting on this article.
Yet, even with this we are fare from down. We have yet to mention the 270 relationship between Saturn and Pluto that ties in 1981Saturn-Pluto2018 that connects to us to Reagan Republicans, the mujuhadien and the fall of Sovietism.
If you had not already guessed the chart for 2010 reflects issues we deal with now. If you are guessing when the uncertainty we face now will end, keep this chart in mind and know that it stays "active" for at least a year beyond 2010. Though I do not expect this time to be as tumultuous as the 60s, I do expect fundamental social change that alters the direction of history. For further research compare this time to the late 1920s/early 1930s when the same three planets met in a similar pattern.

Posted on Saturday 07 of June, 2008 [23:24:11 UTC]

Before getting on the internet a few months ago my last electronic chat was tracking Smokey's 20. 10-4 good buddy?Before getting this computer my last experience with computers was, after 6 credits of data processing, getting fed up with a pre Macintosh Apple in the 80s. I hated computers, I couldn't do a thing. Teachers tried to explain all the hardware and my eyes glazed over.
     After getting my computer 3 months ago I found that anything I need to know is almost a point and click away. I have made friends all over the world. I have a bonza mate in Australia that I know better than my next door neighbor. I can hablar con otros amigos en Espana. I have friends all over the US and Canada, some in Europe( one is visiting here in a week),and one in China. I was one of the first in the United States to know about the earthquake, God bless them.
     This internet has made the world a much smaller place. We are closer to our far away neighbors. I hope we don't let it cost us closer relationships though. Ever sit in a restaurant while your companion was stuck on a cell phone? Progress can be a good thing if it doesn't own us.

Posted on Friday 06 of June, 2008 [04:32:36 UTC]

What is Progress?

This is one of those simple questions that has no simple answer. One of the answers immediately dovetails into the next posting. How We Got Here a clue to where we head.

Carrying Capacity

We should know that the idea of progress only arrived recently in the human experience. Throughout human history the opposite applied: humans shunned progress as a waste of resources. Rote, following the established path or method got one ahead; being experimental, taking risks put one in peril, let alone helped a man advance. Carrying capacity seldom rewarded societies the luxury of extra supplies that one could use to test assumptions. Few beyond the elite classes could held jobs not tied to the land. We should not criticize them. They had neither the will or the way to expect progress. Now the opposite is true.

What We Expect

Now almost the entire globe worships at altar of progress. We went to the moon, why can't we...? We expect to live longer, go faster, have more choices. If things do not change we ask if something has gone wrong. Even if we cannot afford the latest and greatest, we want to know that new developments are available. There may not be a cure now but maybe there will be someday.

The Problem With Expectations

For a while we seemed to beat carrying capacity limitations, but progress presents new issues we have trouble facing. Increasing longevity means a growing need to care for the elderly. It also means that carrying capacity must grow to feed people for eighty years or more. Under present conditions feeding the planet requires a massive import/export matrix. Few countries can feed their citizens using their own land.
On the corporate front, companies must constantly remain profitable or risk dying or being taken over. This drives them to search for the cheapest labor, The debate over whether this practice ultimately serves us or harms us appears in other places (or may be covered here), but the no one should expect that situation to change any time soon. Progress does not allow us to turn back the clock.

The Answer?

So does "What is Progress" really have answer? Is bringing the planet to the edge of it's carry capacity really progress? Does putting every company on the treadmill of presenting quarterly profit really progress? Is it progress to increase life-span, but not really have a way to ensure security at advanced ages? Is it progress to force the planet into climate change?
We have no answers, because we have not really asked the questions. I think a new step in progress comes when we find a way to ask them.

Posted on Friday 06 of June, 2008 [04:14:35 UTC]

State of Progress

Many world events now make us question what progress is. Over the next few months we will explore what progress means to us now; what outer planet measurements indicate about it; how it got to be what it is; and where progress may take us.

Religion and Oil

As a preview, my work has lead me to believe that the issues we face with progress are similar to what Europe faced with religion during the 1399Neptune-Pluto1892 wave. Obviously religion seems totally disparate to oil and environmental concerns, but once one sees that progress now is as deeply ingrained as religion was then, the analogy becomes very clear and useful.

Our Relationship with Progress

What progress means to us proves a complex topic, not easily dispatched in a few paragraphs. Expect a few articles spread out over the next few months. How we got to where we are has many rooted cause and no easy solutions. It will be interesting to see the readers’ response these articles generate.

Posted on Thursday 05 of June, 2008 [00:51:24 UTC]

Partially as a preview and reminder I am posting a few snippets of upcoming topics:

• The US election: Hillary is a Scorpio, Barack is a Sagittarius. Both fit the mold.
• Cosmos & Psyche is great book and a frustrating read. This genre is gaining traction.
• The period from 1882-1918 contains extreme outer planet complexities that closely mirror the history of the period.
• 2012 is upon us but 2010 may be the more interesting year.

If I can turn my brain off these topics should hold us through the end of 2009. I doubt my brain turns off.

Posted on Thursday 05 of June, 2008 [00:47:21 UTC]