JOURNAL FOR 2150 AD
by
Tam Zelig
2150 AD came out first in 1971 by Thea Alexander. It is a rather unusual style and setting since it follows the dual life of a
man living in 1976 and simultaneously in 2150. The premise is that his spirit has been brought to 2150 while the 1976 body is
dreaming. The spirit or astral body is given a duplicate body to inhabit. The conflict is that this character must learn and
achieve certain powers and abilities in 2150 in order to remain there, and there are many enticing reasons for our protagonist
to want to do this.
Jon Lake is the protagonist who is working on his doctorate in behavioral psychology along with his roommate and best
friend Karl Johnson. Jon lost his leg and promising athletic career in Vietnam while Karl lost an eye but managed to carry Jon
to safety. Jon's 2150 body is restored to a better than new state. He has trouble at first convincing Karl, but before long Jon
is able to demonstrate the new powers he is learning about while dreaming in his waking state.
A few other unusual conventions to mention are that time passes differently in the dream state so that Jon can spend weeks in
2150 while only one night has passes in 1976. The other interesting technique is the use of a computer called C.I. that gives
Jon any information he asks for. We find out most of what we know about this future communal society in this way.
Alexander then adds an appendix full of information for those that want details. This way she can carry the story along
smoothly but still provide the background information to those who want it. This is a great technique that may help solve the
problem I was working on in relation to my own writing about community.
The overall philosophy espoused in 2150 is called Macro Philosophy. Apparently when Thea first wrote the novel, she had a
group in Arizona that discussed this philosophy in depth, but I have tried to locate any remnants of it unsuccessfully
.
What Alexander does successfully is something that I found missing in many of my readings on Utopia. She shows structure
and organization in a positive light. In response to Jon's criticism of the regimentation and lack of freedom, his guide and soul
mate Lea responds: "You mean freedom to feel separate from and better than others. Freedom to be selfish and to put your
own welfare above that of others. Freedom to compete, to fight, to destroy others. Freedom to pollute by overconsuming
and overpopulating and by refusing to cooperate.... For man to survive on this planet he had to learn to cooperate which
meant giving up his micro freedoms" (43-44). The trade off that Lea points out is exchanging micro freedoms for macro
freedoms like freedom from fear, disease, hunger, loneliness, crippling frustrations, and self-hate. Could I have a show of
hands for those who would be willing to exchange one for the other, especially if one of the prices was not giving up your
personal identity? Class dismissed.
As a work of fiction, there are areas that weaken the story line. I get the feeling at times that Alexander's motivation was to
try and make this appealing to those who would want to buy the movie rights by adding in some gratuitous violence. The
sexuality of the book is also prominent but works more naturally most of the time, and I am not certain that the ending works.
But the overall philosophy presented and the power of a communally driven society expresses many of the same thoughts and
ideals that I would. So let's look at the highlights.
Perhaps the first major philosophy presented regarding the macro philosophy is that of health and longevity. As you learn and
progress in macro philosophy it is possible to remain in your physical body indefinitely free of disease and imperfections;
however, "Our goal is to free ourselves completely from the limited low-vibration, physical existence" (42). This is achieved
with desire and belief which we will discuss later
.
The next philosophy is one that I must admit I still struggle with. In principle, I think it makes a whole lot of sense, but I have
trouble accepting it in reality. I know that Lea would simply point out to me that it is part of my limited micro training. This is
the concept of "free love." Lea explains to Jon's objection that he is to live with another woman besides herself for awhile that
"Love is determined by the level of one's awareness. With a micro level of awareness love is a neurotic dependency
relationship characterized by jealous possessiveness" (45). There is also introduced a concept here that I have personally
thought about. The idea that every soul has a unique vibration or tone and those similar tones would tend to reincarnate
together and also make the best sex partners. So even though indiscriminate sexual relations is not prohibited, it is generally
avoided in favor of only relating to one whose vibration is similar to your own. A soul mate would be one whose vibration is
identical to your own. This is such a complex problem and Thea spends a good deal of time with it. The bottom line seems to
be that when you try to forbid and hide something, it becomes an object of lust, I must be the only one to have it. When
something is free and open, it becomes an object of beauty and appreciation. One example given in the book is art, "then
Joyce explained with the analogy that admiring a painting was very different from wanting to take it home, hide it away where
no one else could see it, and keep it all to yourself" (89). The issue of homosexuality was also discussed. It was explained
that while it is not forbidden, there is a much lower incidence of it in 2150. This is attributed to three factors. One is the
elimination of social factors that caused it, i.e. loneliness, unfulfilled needs, and the myth that only homosexuals enjoy the touch
of someone of the same sex. Two is the recognition that souls incarnate in both sexes and when a predominately female soul
incarnates as a male, etc. Three is that with evolvement eventually comes androgyny. OK, let's move on.
Other philosophies that don't need much elaboration include a study and recognition of past lives, telepathy as a preferred
form of communication, the elimination of meat from diet. As a matter of fact, except as an excuse to come together for the
evening meal, they have pretty much eliminated food entirely preferring instead the quick reliability of a nutrient pill. Another
philosophy espoused is that of Karma. This one also needs very little explanation, but she has such good quotes in here that I
feel I must record them. "Thoughts are things, you know, and they are just as important as actions. The way you think makes
you what you are and profoundly influences the world around you" (56). "It is understood that you, and only you, are
responsible for your life and what it holds" (57). "People forget their past lives because they don't want to remember their
ugly, selfish actions which would humble their pride and make it impossible for them to feel superior to others. Pride is
possible only when we forget our past failures. However, he who forgets his past is doomed to repeat it" (57).
Let's next look at the Macro philosophy of Education. The core of formal education is Personal Evolution. It is defined as "a
learning relationship between a tutor with a larger viewpoint or life perspective, and a student with a smaller perspective who
wanted a larger one" (91). Formal education begins at birth or even before and continues until 30. This is divided into 10
three-year periods or triads. Birthdays are always the transition day. The older children teach the younger children. Children
0-6 have elders in the over 21 group. From 6-15 the elder brother and sister comes from the 15-30 groups. At 15 vocational
training begins. And the 18-30 group are attended to by brothers and sisters in the over 30 group. This permits the older
students to teach the younger. What a concept. We learn best by teaching so we have students teaching what they've learned.
This of course would be too logical a concept to use in our "enlightened" society. But just imagine this happening in our school
system with the side effect of creating a sense of responsibility for self and others. The danger here is that this would mean
less frustration and violence in our schools and therefore less discipline and less babysitting and less paperwork and
bureaucracy which would probably mean less physical and mental illnesses and therefore we might need less administrators,
teachers, police, lawyers, doctors, psychologists, gang leaders. OK, it's probably a bad idea.
Notice that in the first two triads, ages 0-6, the older brothers and sisters have been chosen from the over 21 group rather
than a closer age group. This makes perfect sense since this is the most critical learning period, and you would want to more
carefully select these teachers. These teacher-parents also rotate in four hour shifts to be able to spend both sleeping and
waking time with their charges. Yes Virginia, this does mean that the very tough to accept concept of parentless children is a
part of this Utopia. Even if you do not accept that convention, there are compromises I could propose that would enable
parents to be available to their children's development as desired. Consider the many successful stories about past and
present cultures who recognize that no child has only one set of parents responsible for the raising and training of that child.
Beginning with the third triad each is assigned a P.E. tutor. "All students experience at least 5 hours of P.E. tutoring per week.
This time is devoted to learning to understand self/others/ the macrocosm and your relationship to them. Learning to
responsibly create your life experiences, accept them as chosen by you and you only; learning to identify the lessons within
each experience then applying them to your daily life; learning to take the risks necessary to grow; and learning to accept
everything as absolutely perfect for its time and place are some of the areas of concentration during the Personal Evolution
tutoring. Computers are also used as instructors and providers of factual data and information. This tutor is available 24 hours
a day.
There are many other great thoughts expressed in this book, but I will close with what I feel is the basis for all advancement in
2150 or in our world today. This concept begins with a discussion on prayer. "Prayer, as consciously used in your time, was
actually an intense pleading for something that the person actually felt that he didn't deserve to have, or was afraid he would
not get. Since our predominant thoughts materialize to become our reality, people usually don't get what they consciously pray
for because their predominant thought is that they don't and won't have it" (102). Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the quest
for truth, for the Holy Grail, for The Tree of Life, for all that we want or dream is based here. Alexander points out that all
thoughts express a desire for something. This is desire and our desires are all-powerful because they come from a mind that is
linked with the most powerful mind in the Universe. As Alexander points out through her wisest character in the book, Rana,
"Prayers are constantly and unfailingly answered. We just don't always like the answer" (103). It is not a problem of good
versus evil or positive versus negative either. As Rana points out, "You can't have positive without negative any more than you
can have up without down, or success without failure" (103). We must view everything as one and be in total acceptance of
it. This is like the Hasidic story that tells of a young Rabbi who wanted to be admitted to a school of mystics. He only had to
answer one question honestly to be allowed admittance. "Do you feel the same about being praised as being condemned?"
The young Rabbi had to answer honestly that he, of course, felt much better about being praised. At that the interviewer told
him that he was not yet ready to enter the school. He must first recognize that praise and condemnation are both tools of the
ego and equally unimportant. Alexander points out that if it takes 10,000 failures to learn something, the sooner you get past
the 9,999th failure the sooner you will achieve success. So in essence there is no failure, only steps to success. Success is
always inevitable. And now all of this culminates in the final formula that Alexander has given us to achieve our goals. "You
need to remember that there are two necessary factors in all learning: sufficient desire and sufficient belief" (104). As Star
War's Yoda said, "There is no try. Either do or do not." May the force of our personal power be with us all.
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