[Klondike]

While I'm on my soapbox, I'd like to point out that I am somewhat apolitical (moderately liberal and yes, I do enjoy hippie nudity) but here is another story that kind of illustrates the cultural problems I talked about above. Years ago, some may recall, the Indian Guru Bhagwan Rashneesh settled in a little town in Eastern Oregon and invited all of his urban, hip followers to live with him. There was a lot of nudity on the Guru's compound. And the naked scorned the nearby ranchers and Oregonians that complained. It got pretty ugly, but what really irked me was the level of TOTAL disrespect that the Rashneeshes had for the locals they encountered. The locals were treated like flies to be swatted or laughed at. For a time, they bullied the entire county, threatened local officials, and the Bhagwan himself would not even lower himself to SPEAK to locals at all. It was totally beneath him. Now, I would never support that level of animosity coming from a group just looking for their little paradise and not wanting anyone else to get in their way. And I don't for a minute suggest that those in Boulder ever acted in the same manner as the Rashneeshees. But the point is to illustrate the cultural biases that separate us all, and how nudity can often act as a spark plug that ignites trouble and highlights racial, ethnic, and cultural differences and prejudices. In my own family background, there is a mix of country, urban, liberal, and conservative elements, so i can see both sides to the argument. And while I DON'T support the Boulder police for what they did last year (siding with the liberal there), I DID support the locals in their battle against the Rashneeshees (siding with the conservatives now) - locals who's only sin was that they happened to live in some distant Guru's vision of paradise.

Klondike