Americans Never ‘Got’ the Human Potential Movement — to Our Great Detriment

Growing up in the 1960s and 70s, I experienced the flowering of both the Civil Rights movement and the human potential movement. In many ways, it was a heady, exciting time to be alive. Our human potential and our future both seemed boundless and full of promise. Yes, for a while — several decades — it sure seemed that way.

But then, it all started to erode and fall apart. And the saddest part was that this erosion and collapse were quite intentional. They were part of a long-term, manufactured scheme to revile and undermine “personal growth” and the very concepts of social and psychological healing.

Worse, these efforts were SO successful that they ensured the slow, torturous decline and collapse of the US.

The Great Clampdown

I’m not so naive as to think that the human potential movement, alone, could have ‘saved’ us. But I DO think that it represented a potent, positive new direction that, along with the Civil Rights and women’s (and men’s!) liberation movements, could have shifted the US toward being a much more life-affirming and less destructive society.

Some Americans — a sizeable minority — rejoiced at these developments and profound social transformations … but a vast contingent found these changes extremely threatening, both economically and socially. Many Americans, in fact, hated these positive new directions, found them totally unacceptable, and vowed to oppose and overturn them.

And that’s exactly what happened over the past four decades, starting in the 1980s.

But the reality was that most Americans didn’t hate these changes enough to actively and passionately work against them. At least, not at first. (Hell, we even elected a Black president — twice!) But soon, a concerted media, publicity, and political campaign took shape, with the noxious goal of ridiculing, reviling, and destroying ALL of these positive movements.

It was truly a “grand conspiracy” (the Clintons always called it “a vast right-wing conspiracy”), yet because it was a loose-knit conspiracy of capitalists, Republicans, committed racists, anti-environmental groups, anti-abortion activists, and social conservatives in general, it was always hard to pin down who or what was leading the charge.

Unfortunately, they all had similar goals and utilized similar methods. It was a vast, lasting marriage of convenience, with the end goals being the preservation of the status quo and the complete annihilation of any and all groups pushing for major social changes.

A long history of broken promises

The problem was (and IS) that US society desperately needs massive, rapid change, if it is ever to live up to its founding ideals. The US has always been hobbled by a massive contradiction inherent in its Constitution and its structural and economic policies — namely, the vast tension between “freedom for all” vs. the long-term, habitual “freedom for some” that got enshrined in our uber-capitalist, wealth-oriented, racist, and classist society.

Ultimately, this vast tension boils down to the unresolved, ever-present inner conflict between selfishness and social sharing. To my mind, all human beings contain powerful seeds of both attitudes or “ways of being,” and the practical purpose of any (healthy) society should be to guide its citizens toward greater cooperation and social sharing.

That would be the sensible thing to do — the most practical, beneficial way to organize society. But that is NOT what the US was set up to do.

Instead, the US publicly praises such ideals and even includes them to a degree in its Constitution, but then turns around and refuses to fully support these ideals in practice. This innate contradiction at the heart of American society has produced endless pain and frustration for many millions of lower-class, non-White, and UNfree citizens. The anger and deep frustration engendered by America’s long list of broken promises and denied freedoms haunt and torture us.

We are truly a haunted, hurting nation.

The revenge of conservative “control freaks”

But then came the 60s — and the various liberation and healing movements mentioned above. For several decades, the US had a grand opportunity to reinvent itself and embrace its full potential — and this growing trend scared the hell out of the racists, misogynists, greed-heads, religious control freaks, and other hateful oppressor types. These folks are bound together by their common allegiance to selfishness, greed, and “conservative values,” and they are also bound together by their hatred of equality, equal opportunity, and economic and social sharing.

It’s hard to see these patterns clearly (since we’re trained from birth not to see or admit them). It’s even harder to take our socially-approved blinders off and keep them off. But once a person wakes up to what’s really going on in the “free” United States, it’s hard to unsee the horrors and dark UNfreedom that prevail almost everywhere.

And this “unfreedom” exists by design. The current, abhorrent reality that dominates in the US is the exact kind of society that the most selfish, greedy, and hateful among us want.

They don’t want an educated, aware citizenry that embraces change, growth, and healing. Therefore, the human potential movement had to be undermined and discredited.
They don’t want a society where all races and ethnic groups are equal — and equally powerful. Therefore, the Civil Rights movement and all trends and policies supporting full racial equality had to be challenged, opposed, and reversed.
They don’t want a society where men and women are truly equal and receive equal pay for equal work. Nor do they want a society where men and women are equal partners in either relationships or practical social power. Therefore, women’s liberation had to be mocked and weakened so misogyny could be empowered once again.
They don’t want, and won’t accept, any form of sex and sexual relating except heterosexuality. Thus, the growing acceptance and embrace of gay, lesbian, trans, or “other” relating in the US had to be vilified and stamped out.

. . .

These folks are true “social dinosaurs.” They are on their way out (sloowwlly), but they are hanging on by their fingernails … and their rigid, hateful beliefs. They don’t believe in ongoing, comprehensive social change and healing, nor in the possibility of deep personal healing, growth, and transformation. They are the ultimate cynics of the world.

They are actually deeply hopeless about humanity and “the human condition” (though they are quick to deny this), so their cynical attitude is “I’ll just focus on getting more for me and mine … since it’s all a bunch of crap anyway. Screw everyone else!”

The rising: active resistance is growing

It’s quite apparent to me that US “culture” and society have not come to grips with the enormity — the true meaning and intensity — of all our vicious backsliding. Many Americans simply don’t want to “share the wealth,” share society’s gifts and opportunities equally, or even have a true, equal partnership with another person. Many of us seek dominion and power over others, which can only lead to increasing conflict and aggression, and, of course, active resistance.

That’s the stage we’re now entering. The abandonment and near destruction of democratic ideals, the decline of labor unions, the rollback of civil rights laws and policies, and the rise of the “new misogyny” are all signs and symptoms of escalating power-over thinking and dangerous “might makes right” attitudes. And the overt oppression and suppression facing liberals, BIPOC, LGBTQ+ folks, and now women in general are spurring massive resentment and growing resistance.

These world-weary cynics and control freaks will stop at nothing to get their way, and the means don’t matter. Nor do morality, ethics, or human kindness. Or love. “Winning” (dominating) is everything.

. . .

Now they are firmly in control, having wrested our society and struggling democracy away from “we the people.” They have, in effect, murdered the true “American dream” and are busy hiding the evidence of their crimes against humanity behind loud, constant posturing. They hide behind their ongoing pretense that they are the true “saviors” of the US — and humanity.

But nothing could be further from the truth. They are dragging us backward, into a hellish, dark reality. And forward-thinking, responsible citizens must always remember this. Over the past four decades, we who embrace conscious growth, true racial and sexual equality, and economic equity have suffered many defeats and setbacks. It often appears that we have lost this battle, for good.

However, things only seem that way… for now. We can’t stay discouraged or, worse, just give up the struggle. In truth, the battle for the soul of humanity is still in its early phases — and the larger battles and widespread resistance are just beginning.

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This post was previously published on Soulfight.

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