“Lying under an acacia tree with the sounds of dawn around … I became more aware of the basic miracle of life. Not life as applied humanly to man alone, but life as diversified by God on earth with superhuman wisdom — forms as evolved by several million centuries of selection and environment. I realized that if I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes.” — Charles Lindbergh
Craving Social Change
The number of adult citizens, students and organizations that are today criticizing our Western way of life, particularly the U.S.A. mode of life, is rapidly increasing. The “system” –as it has come to be called — is rejected by such groups as the Hippies, Beats and youthful expatriates that choose flight without remedy. The system is rejected with some political savvy by most student groups that one would be tempted to lump together under the catch-all rubric of The New Left. It is rejected by a composite of intellectually gifted, knowledgeable and socially concerned scholars, some of which are associated with such periodicals as Dissent and Liberation. It is scorned in its own economic terms by Robert Theobald, Ben Seligman and other professional economists; by scholarly social critics, like Michael Harrington and Paul Goodman; or by historians like H. Stuart Hughes and Staughton Lynd. And almost all who repudiate the system are disgusted with its crass materialism, outraged over its moral indifference, and overwhelmed with the myopic and immature uses to which money and leisure are put by those who have both.
There is little doubt that ours is a sick society, if we examine the themes most Americans live by. Nor is there any way of changing the system by violent revolution. In the industrially advanced countries of the West, revolution has almost become a “romantic” notion. The institutions and processes of the system; that is, its components, are too deeply interdependent for revolution in the classical sense to have any relevance. The system can be changed rapidly and effectively, of course, by such imaginative measures as Arthur Waskow has described. It can be changed piecemeal — with what results remain to be seen — by quasi-Establishment intellectuals such as Moynihan and Keyserling, if their ideas are given a proper tryout. But most reformist proposals are too moderate and slow to produce radical change or dislocations.
While it is difficult to change the system drastically, it is not difficult to swim against the stream of its prevailing ideas. In a sense this was done by Stuart Hughes. Individuals can develop novel ideas, which, once diffused to others, create nodes of spiritual resistance to the prevailing themes of our culture. Groups can form which experiment with new modes of communal life — developing social styles that give the lie to the alleged necessity of our suburban nightmares or the civic spoliation caused by realtors, organizations can expose various types of social pathologies produced by industrial shortsightedness, and by the disastrous domination of what Veblen and Simmel have called “pecuniary canons of judgment.” Some groups may choose to educate the public about the poisons in our food or the pollution of our air and water.
Still other groups may try to awaken citizens to a sense of the possibilities for personal development, self-actualization and social improvement. Some groups seek to do this in religious terms which are to be expressed in action. Others seek the same objectives in purely secular terms that arouse our often latent sense of justice. Books are written to open the eyes of the social zombies of our time and prompt many of the living dead to change their way of life. Periodicals are published which penetrate more deeply into the causes of many of our social pathologies and much of our spiritual malaise.
All of these modes of rejection of the system may be undramatic and limited in scope, but they can prove to be highly fruitful socially and culturally. Once they catch on, the system begins to lose its staying power. If healthy, new-type communities prove successful, they can become widely known pilot models that create discontent with our present crazy forms of urbanization.
Maslow’s Eupsychian Network
The psychologist, Abraham H. Maslow, has coined the term, “Eupsychian,” to apply to all individuals, ideas, movements, organizations, institutions, communities, books and periodicals, which strive to keep alive a sense of personal and social health, which tend to foster communal and spiritual values that enable men to realize their fullest potentialities, and which attempt to produce those social conditions and relationships which maximize the creative energies of man. Maslow has drawn up a list of Eupsychian groups, organizations and journals and distributed it — in the form of a mimeographed circular — to many American scholars. He refers to the 59 items on the list as “The Eupsychian Network” and he explains his use of the phrase this way:
“This is a mailing list of groups, organizations or journals that I made up for my own convenience. I call it the Eupsychian Network because they are all interested in helping the individual grow toward fuller humanness, and in helping the society grow toward synergy and health, and in helping all societies and all peoples move toward becoming one world and one species. This list can be called a network because their memberships overlap considerably and because they more or less share the humanistic and transhumanistic outlook on life. I feel they should know each other’s work better than they now do. I’ve included only the ones I have something to do with, or know something about, so obviously this list reflects my tastes and interests …”
Expanding the Network
Maslow’s Eupsychian Network is an excellent list. It is, however, somewhat top-heavy with groups, organizations and periodicals in psychology and psychiatry. It does not, unfortunately, list a single experimental community. It contains fewer socially radical, religious groups than it should, considering the substantial number of them to be found throughout the world today. It does not mention any important source books for novel, anti-system social reconstruction or descriptions of successful community experiments in such reconstruction. In an effort to remove some of the limitations of The Eupsychian Network, I have, myself, drawn up a list of equally important items of a Eupsychian nature. For readers interested in the forms which small islands of defiance can take, when rejecting the pathologies of the present system, this new list will — I am sure — prove both valuable and interesting.
I have called my list, Eupsychian Network II, and, I believe, a knowledge of these relatively unknown forms of rejection of our system should be more widespread. Merely to be familiar with some of the symposia literature of repudiation — such as has been published by Perrucci and Pilisuk, Lindenfeld, or Howe — is not enough. It still leaves the reader facing a vital, inner gap in relating to others. Merely to steep oneself in literature — such as the work of Gettleman and Mermelstein or Minogue — provides a running account of the failures of liberalism, only deepens the feeling of emptiness. Nor will a spiritual justification for civil disobedience, such as was so fully espoused by Tolstoy, eliminate the long loneliness which faces most intense critics and rejecters of our social system.
The battle to improve the condition of man will take quite some time. The prospect of realizing a sane society and one that cannot be called sick, will demand many preliminary skirmishes. Most of us will have to be involved, in one way or another, with the main struggles on a national and international level. In the meantime, however, there are islands of Eupsychian understanding to which we can occasionally retreat and to which we can relate ourselves Drawing strength from these, we can emerge time and again to fight the main battles more vigorously. Some of these sustaining islands, I feel certain, will be found to be part of Eupsychian Network II.
Eupsychian Network Part II
1. Centre House. 10A Airlie Gardens, Kensington, London, W.8. England. Preoccupied with a large number of Eupsychian activities. Literature obtainable from address above. World-wide, very important, and under the leadership of Christopher Hills. Christopher Hills, active, creative and forward looking and the author of several books, has organized some of the Eupsychian activities listed below.
2. Demintry. A plan for establishing cooperative ownership and democratic integration of industry. Write to Christopher Hills.
3. Conscious Nuclear Evolution. The concern of a group devoted to the ideas and practices of such figures as Gurajieff, Sri Aurobindo, Yogananda, Walter Russell, Ouspensky, Alice Bailey, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the Danish mystic, Martinus, the medium and mystic, Liebie Pugh, et al. Write to Christopher Hills.
4. Princethorne Monastery Community. An attempt in England to establish a unique Eupsychian community. Write Christopher Hills.
5. The New Age Group, The New Order Group, and the New Age Centre. All devoted to various types of new institutions, new foundations and new communities — all hoping to take advantage of cybernation to release man from labor bondage so that he can strive for paideim, creativity and self-naturalization. Write to Christopher Hills.
6. Commission for Research Into the Creative Faculties of Men. This title is self-explanatory. The group, however, is also concerned with religion, cosmic consciousness and experimentation with consciousness-expanding techniques. Write to Christopher Hills.
7. World Cultural Centre. Plans for this are being developed by Christopher Hills.
8. Fellowship of Creative Universal Service (FOCUS). This is a Eupsychian Network being developed by Christopher Hills on a worldwide basis.
9. The Layman. 4, Euston Place, Leamington, England. Part of “The Open Church of Christ.” Devoted to making use of the ideas of Eupsychian groups, practising these ideas and disseminating information on them.
10. Professor Oliver L. Reiser. The Department of Philosophy of the University of Pittsburgh. Active all his life with Eupsychian concerns. Author of numerous books along these lines, creator of, and participant in, numerous related projects. Write to him for a list of Eupsychian activities and organizations you may not have heard of.
11. World Union International Centre. Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry — 2 India. Publishes the periodical, World Union. Devoted to the movement for unity and peace through spiritual and scientific development.
12. Various Religious Groups and Movements. World Congress of Faiths, World Fellowship of Religions, Universal Religious Alliance, Creative Living Conference (London, May 1965), Joint Conference of Esoteric and Spiritual Groups (Londin, June 1963).
13. John Rodale, Emmaus, Pennsylvania, publishes Rodale Books, Inc., and the journal, Prevention. Deals chiefly with all the evidence for the many ways in which man is poisoning and destroying his own ecology. His book, Our Poisoned Earth and Sky, is a must for Eupsychians.
14. Periodicals edited by the younger generation. e.g., Our Generation Against Nuclear War, New University Thought, et al.
15. The Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, D.C. One of the most important of Eupsychian Organizations. Members are or have been: Paul Goodman, Donald Michael, Christopher Jencks, Arthur Waskow, etc.
16. The Magazine Is About Schools. Publication launched by a radical group in education (Canada). Its editor is Robert Davis. It is published at P.O. Box 876, Terminal ‘A’ – Toronto 1-929-3252.
17. Rochdale College, Toronto, Canada. An experimental institution which rejects modern mass society and meaningless, anti-eupsychian, modern education. It opened in Toronto in 1967. It is housed in a new building with room for 850 residents. For a discussion of its purposes, read the following: “Getting to Rochdale,” 69-94, by Dennis Lee. In The University Game (edited by Howard Adelman and Dennis Lee). Toronto: Anansi, 1968. 178 pp.
18. The New Left. Many, though not all, student and adult groups which reject the pathology of the free-enterprise system and wish to see a drastic, system change. The Eupsychian attitudes to which I refer, were shown in the Port Huron Statement, by Tom Hayden.
19. The Correspondent. This publication is concerned with critical dialogue and research on home and foreign affairs. It is issued at Emerson Hall, 324, Harvard University. Editors who are or have been active with the journal include David Riesman, H. Stuart Hughes, Roger Hagan and A. J. Musto.
20. School of Living. Lane’s End Homestead, Brookville, Ohio, 45309. Mildred J. Loomis, Director. This organization was correctly mentioned in Dr. Maslow’s mimeographed circular, as an organization that was founded by Ralph Borsodi. However, it frequently gathers together in National Congresses about two dozen other organizations, most of which are devoted to Eupsychian activities and objectives. The names and addresses of these organizations can be obtained from Mildred Loomis. In this way the available literature from each organization can then be obtained.
21. The Green Revolution. A journal which describes itself as intended for homesteaders, on-to-the-landers, and do-it-yourselfers. Published by the School of Living, Mildred J. Loomis, Editor.
22. The Journal of Human Relations, Don Werkheiser, Editor. This journal largely reflects a decentralist outlook and ideals. A number of the members of its editorial board have been long-time decentralists.
23. Social Science Institute, Harborside, Maine. This is the vehicle set up by Helen and Scott Nearing (Socialists) for dealing with criticism of the anti-Eupsychian aspects of American life and for defining through publications and actual communal experiments, the nature of a Eupsychian Community.
24. Twin Oaks Community, Louisa, Virginia 23093. An experimental community near Louisa, Virginia trying to define a Eupsychian mode of existence by adopting some of Skinner’s ideas. Write to “Rudy”. This community publishes a journal called The Leaves of Twin Oaks.
25. Planned Communities. Individuals and groups all over the world, that are setting up planned communities or experiments in intentional communities. They are listed in a column called Contact Corner in the journal, The Green Revolution, edited by Mildred J. Loomis of the School of Living.
26. A Way Out. Very interesting and very important Eupsychian periodical, published by the School of Living, Mildred Loomis, Editor.
27. Heathcote School of Living Center. Heathcote Road, Freeland, Maryland, 21053. Describes its general purposes as follows: “to associate a selected group of teachers, artists, craftsmen and students in a demonstration of what decentralized, self-sufficient living in the country can contribute to redressing the economic and psychological insecurities of our centralized, industrialized world.”
28. Green Valley School, Monastery Road, Box 606, Orange City, Florida, 32763. Established by the Religious Order of Humanitas, George von Hilsheimer, General Superintendent. Devoted to a Eupsychian, democratic and humanistic education. One of the most honest and needed of Eupsychian ventures. Has a Division, Humanitas Systems, providing consultation on important educational problems.
29. Is There a Science of Behavior? Orange City, Florida: Humanitas Curriculum, 1967, 1968, 121 pp. A book by George von Hilsheimer. This book lists the names of a number of social and educational experimental groups which are, in almost every sense, part of The Eupsychian Network. The book, itself, is tops and should be read by all Eupsychians. It is a wonderful critique of anti-Eupsychian absurdities in contemporary psychology and education.
30. The International Foundation for Independence (IFI). Concerned with the development of ethical economic institutions regarding land and money. Developed by Ralph Borsodi of Exeter, New Hampshire. An attempt to apply the ideas of the IFI is being made by J.P. Narayan of India. For an account of the work of Narayan, write to Ralph Borsodi, Exeter, New Hampshire. J.P. Narayan is director of the Gandhian Institute in India and is deeply involved in famine relief there.
31. Mitraniketan, Kerala State, India. A Eupsychian experiment in community in India, which is so fascinating that the best way to do it justice is to write to Dr. Arthur E. Morgan, c/o Community Service, Inc., Box 243, Yellow Springs Ohio, 45387. Dr. Morgan will provide literature on the community. He issues such literature from time to time.
32. Dr. Arthur E. Morgan (address given above). The work of this distinguished thinker and planner, with respect to the establishment of Eupsychian communities, should be better known. Dr. Morgan’s ideas will be found in many of his books. The following volumes are only a small sample of his inspiring work: 1. The Small Community, Foundation of Democratic Life (Harper, 1942); 2. Nowhere Was Somewhere. How History Makes Utopias and How Utopias Make History (University of North Carolina Press, 1946); 3. Search for Purpose, (Antioch Press, 1955); 4. The Community of the Future and the Future of Community. (Community Service, Inc., 1957.) Dr. Arthur E. Morgan was a former president of Antioch College and the First Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
33. International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, Norway. This organization is interested in examining and presenting various ideas as to how world peace can be ensured. It edits The Journal of Peace Research, Johan Galtung, Editor. This journal, itself, is published under the auspices of The International Peace Research Association, Groningen, Netherlands. The journal is supported by organizations in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.
34. Mapka — A New Economy. This word, pronounced “mop-ka,” is from the first letter of the major words of the Esperanto phrase which means “Unlimited Business for Peace and Plenty.” This phrase, in Esperanto, is “Mallina Afero per Paco Abundo.” Its purpose is described as follows. “Mapka aims to earn all those who associate in it a good income according to their ability, effort and responsibility; and to work toward proper, honest and limited government that does not offer privileges to anyone.” Mapka is now operating in San Bias, Panama. Write to Bill Manning, 113 Sanger, New Braunfels, Texas, 78103.
35. Communitarian Colonies. One of these, Boimondau, was described by Eric Fromm in The Sane Society. The bible on these colonies is Claire Huchet Bishop’s, All Things Common (Harper, 1950).
36. “Drop City” in Southern Colorado. This is a group of about twenty-five artists, musicians, writers and others — who have constructed their own houses, significantly out of “junk-auto” metal but employing sophisticated geometrical forms and building techniques. Their economy is a “free” one based almost entirely on locally produced food, and various ways of tapping in to the reject materials and discarded materials of the local city — thus functioning as a kind of recycling and reuse unit — a “closed-cycle” economy, such as is envisaged for the more scientific and prestigious “Experimental City” which has been described by Athelstan Spilhaus. The leading figure behind Drop City is Peter Douthit. The latter also started another experimental community, called Libre. Libre is based upon a much sharper, theoretical program than Drop City. For information on Drop City and Libre, write to John McHale, Southern Illinois University.
37. Religion In Education Foundation, Dr. J. Randolph Sasnett, Executive Director, 475 South Oakland Avenue, Pasadena, California, 91106. This agency is concerned with promoting all the available research and writings on the place of religion (really, the “religious impulse”) in higher education. It organizes national colloquia for scholars fairly frequently. Its concept of religion is humanistic and existentialist in nature. It has sponsored the work of Viktor Frankl and other distinguished figures. In fact, it brought Viktor Frankl to this country for a season of lectures and workshops. Dr. Harold Case, President Emeritus of Boston University, is particularly interested in this organization.
38. Ralph Borsodi. A distinguished American writer whose lifelong work has been devoted to the establishment of Eupsychian communities. See his books, This Ugly Civilization, Flight From The City, The Education Of The Whole Man, and many others. His address is Exeter, New Hampshire, Street Address, if necessary, can be obtained from Mildred J. Loomis of the School Of Living.
39. Go Ahead and Live, Mildred J. Loomis Editor. A book which is a very important collection of individual essays by authors who have experimented with Eupsychian objectives, both of an individual and of a community nature. It also deals extensively with Eupsychian ideas.
40. Helen and Scott Nearing. Their books, Man’s Search for the Good Life, Living the Good Life, Economics for the Power Age, USA Today and many others, are “musts” for Eupsychians. Living the Good Life contains one of the best Eupsychian bibliographies extant. Man’s Search for the Good Life contains a Bibliography of the works of Scott Nearing from 1908 through 1954.
41. Psychosynthesis: A Manual of Principles and Techniques by Roberto Assagioli, M.D. This book is a genuine contribution to Eupsychian ideas. For further information write to Psychosynthesis Research Foundation. Address was given in Dr. Maslow’s original circular.
42. Journal of Existentialism (Robert Meister, Editor): Existential Psychiatry (Dr. Jordan Scher, M.D., Editor); and Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry (Adrian Van Kaam, Editor). All of these journals explicitly adopt the viewpoint of existentialism in psychiatry, psychology, the social sciences and the humanities. Many of the papers included in them, however, also deal with Eupsychian ideas and movements.
43. The Economists the Sociologists and the Social Critics. A number of distinguished economists are developing plans for a cybernated society which is to be safeguarded for Eupsychian relationships. Others — economists and non-economists — are dealing with the economic and social pathologies of Western communities, particularly that of the United States. Their works should be read by partisans of Eupsychian thinking and action. Among the American writers in this direction are the following: Raymond Bauer, Bertram Gross, Robert Theobald, Michael Harrington, Donald Michael Arthur Waskow, Paul Goodman, Daniel Moynihan, Leon H. Keyserling Louis Kelso, Garth L. Mangum, Eric Hoffer, John McHale, Seymour Melman, C.E. Ayres, Lewis Mumford, Robert Heilbronner, Hannah Arendt, and many others. Among the European writers in this direction are the following: Jacques Ellul Kurt W. Marek, Friedrich Juenger, Arthur Koestler, Ortega y Gasset, Fritz Baade, and many, many others.
44. The Catholic Worker, edited by Dorothy Day, Editorial communications: Box 33, Tivoli, New York, 12583. Subscriptions: 175 Chrystie Street, New York, New York 10002. Devoted to interpreting the Christian faith in relation to contemporary secular issues and to support, by action, the many Eupsychian struggles and causes which it reports in its pages. I cannot recommend this fine paper and its wonderful leader, Dorothy Day, too highly. An annual subscription to this paper costs only a few cents. For an example of an outstanding, Eupsychian personality, the reader is urged to read Dorothy Day’s autobiography, The Long Loneliness, (Doubleday, 1959).
45. The World Tomorrow. This is a popular, worldwide radio program, held under the auspices of Herbert W. Armstrong. The content of Mr. Armstrong’s program generally consists of three parts: 1. Commentary on current events, social issues and likely conditions in the near future. 2. Efforts to show that some current and coming events are predicted in the Bible. 3. Arguments and data to question Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Neither the reader nor the writer will have any traffic with the last two objectives. But in dealing with the first objective mentioned, Mr. Armstrong usually does a superb, Eupsychian job of criticizing our sick society and exposing its moral rottenness. His program is worth listening to only for this reason. His solutions for eliminating the malaise of American society are sometimes in keeping with Eupsychian ideals, sometimes not. Mr. Armstrong publishes — in connection with his program — a magazine called the Plain Truth. This magazine is available gratis. Many of the articles are highly informative. A good number of them contain social criticism which is morally penetrating, often perceptive, and frequently quite in line with a Eupsychian outlook. In most cases Biblical commentary is woven into the articles. If one passes over this commentary, the articles still retain whatever virtues they possess. To address the Editor of The Plain Truth, write to him at P.O. Box 111, Pasadena, California, 91109. Most intellectuals will be repelled by The World Tomorrow, since it is intended for a conservative, grass-roots audience. I will probably be shot for mentioning that program here. If they are tolerant, however, whatever Eupsychian content is present, will be easily recognized.
46. The Futurologists. Studies and projections of the future are now very important and constitute a new interdisciplinary field. The design of the future (see Willis Harman “The Issues Behind the Issues,” Forum For Contact and Correspondence) is now recognized as a major, Eupsychian activity. The names now working in this field are legion and therefore cannot be listed separately. See the literature on The Commission on the Year 2000 and on Mankind 2000. Read the journal, The Futurist (published by the World Future Society, P.O. Box 19285, Twentieth Street Station, Washington, D.C., 20036). At the risk of appearing immodest, a recent paper of mine in this connection may be found helpful. “The Sociologist and the Study of the Future” (The American Sociologist, May 1968). A good deal of information along these lines is likewise found in my volume, Ventures in Social Interpretation (Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1968).
47. The Futurist. A journal published by the World Future Society (address given above.) The editors bring together studies of the future from individuals, organizations and institutions, scattered throughout the world. The journal devotes some of its space to scenarios of the Eupsychian possibilities which current scientific and technical developments, as well as innovations in social ideas, may help to bring about.
Final Notes
I sincerely hope that the information set forth above will prove of value to all those who are discontented with our sick society and who seek to locate modes of health within the system, which can galvanize their energies and interests. If it does this for a substantial number of readers, my purpose will have been served.
Editor’s note from 1971: The above article by Dr. Winthrop was originally written approximately two years ago. As excellent as it is, Dr. Winthrop now feels that increasingly rapid changes and recent developments in the decentralist-alternative life movement should be reflected by rather extensive additions to Eupsychian Network II. Unfortunately, we couldn’t fit a revised and expanded version of the article into this issue. Dr. Winthrop has requested, however, that we mention he is working on an addendum to this list of anti-establishment literature, communities, and more. This additional section will include listings on Portola Institute; Whole Earth Catalog; Auroville, the world’s first decentralized, planetary city and Auroville’s journal, Equals One. Bookchin’s book, Anarchos , will be listed as will Mother and Values in an Age of Confrontation, produced under the auspices of the Religion In Education Foundation.
Dr. Winthrop is also very grieved to report that Dr. A. Maslow — who published the original Eupsychian Network and with whom Dr. Winthrop has worked closely — suffered a fatal heart attack on Monday, June 8, 1970.