Does a unified counter-culture exist?

It's interesting how fractured the modern counter-culture truly is. I mean, I suppose the Vietnam War and the draft were what truly united the various counter-cultural sub-sets of the baby boom generation, not to mention major civil rights violations. But where is our unifying force?

I mean, there are tons of people passionately against the status quo in some form or another, yet they fall into all these ideological groups that focus on one or two unique issues at the expense of a unified front to really bring about a new world. Nothing gets done b/c the army is scattered.

You've got us evolvers here talking about consciousness and psychedelics and yoga, hoping the world will just leap into some uber-krishna super-awareness and sing songs of healing and harmony together, apparently in 2012. (The gross generalization is on purpose, btw. ;) )

You've got the angry, enraged Alex Jones squad demanding 9/11 truth and a rebellion against the establishment, which is seen as a dark hand of conspiratorial doom by the rich elite.

You've got the right wingnuts forming a new tea party revolt because they don't like the role big government is playing in their lives and think Jesus is being left out of the discussion.

These are just a few but the general common thread is that all these groups are fed up with the status quo, the way things currently are. But b/c we're all behind these various veils of ideology, we don't really see the unifying force behind our discontent. Instead of rallying with the tea baggers, I stand back and criticize their anti-Obama racism and their staunch rejection of health reform. Meanwhile I'm sure they view me as a tree-hugging hippy liberal that doesn't care about the working man's plight or the commandments of God. The divisions we draw amongst ourselves can be endless, really.

But at the core, aren't we all asking for the same thing? Aren't we all hungry for some kind of real progress?

Folks, I gotta be honest, I don't think there is an evil secret cult of oligarchs plotting to enslave humanity. I'm also pretty confident that there won't be a magic reset button in 2012 or any other time when peace and justice will just magically flood across the land and the cosmic Christ (or the return of Jesus himself) will ride in on a white horse and make things all better for us.

It only happens if certain actions are taken. No one is holding us back but us.
Evolution doesn't just happen. It's a result of stimulus in the environment and the actions of a generation.

No change will come, no freedom will reign, no cosmic awareness will unfold until all of us, on all sides of these various ideologies (whether they be based on 2,000 year old manuscripts or 20 minute DMT trips) come together under a single cause and start ACTING accordingly.

You can't bring about the Rapture or the Great Shift by prayer alone. Yes, indeed let those good vibrations echo out across the land and all, I'm with you and I'll meditate next to you... but we also have to take some personal responsibility. Those guys in that group over there, they aren't crazy quacks or nutjobs. They're people. People who are just as angry and confused and scared as you. People who are just as idealistic as you. If they won't let down their guard to talk to you on open ground, then you need to let down yours.

That rich guy at the head of that big nasty corporation might believe in something besides money if you really asked him. But that would require humility and openness. Maybe setting down what you think you know.

And who needs those qualities in a Golden Age?
;)

Cheers, my friends. To a new kind of activism and idealism. One without any borders or divisions at all.