POSTED BY DASSI SEPT 11 2007
This is about Chris Butler political strategies
Quote
I gave over a year of my life to the “Independents for Godly Government”. It was not a “Hare Krishna” party. It was Chris Butler’s brainchild. He micro-managed every piece of it, approved every flier, every door to door script and groomed every candidate. Candidates were hand-picked based on their ethnicity, looks, and the fact that they were locals. We all knew politics to be corrupt. We were environmentalists, anti-abortion (based on the belief that the spirit soul enters the body at conception is a life), and against any kind of exploitation of others, including animals. We wanted to return to a more native and traditional Hawaii. We wanted less technology and were inspired by economist E. F. Schumacher’s “Small is Beautiful”. We were idealists that wanted to spread “Aloha Aina”, love of the land. We imagined bringing “Vrindavan” (the idealized farming communities in the Krishna legends) to Hawaii. We imagined closing down the slaughterhouses and bringing down the high rises in Honolulu. We imagined clean beaches, solar and wind-powered houses, organic farms. We wanted to stop the commercialism and exploitation of Hawaii by the tourist industry. We worked long and hard hours for the campaigns. We used all our expertise and talents. We imagined we were serving God.
What we never imagined is that we were all pawns in the hands of a man who really was just out for his own delusions and self interests. We never imagined our guru riding around in jets with a woman who was the “offering” of her husband. We never imagined all the donations going to the luxurious lifestyle of a couple of petulant and childish adults pretending to be spiritual masters. We never imagined that the corruption we fought against would become the modus operandi of our master. We were dangerously naïve.
During this first campaign in the 1970’s, men and women were housed in separate apartments. Usually, we slept in sleeping bags on the floor. Living with a bunch of hormonal chicks was no pic-nic. But we thought we were doing the right thing. We’d wake up and chant our rounds as we loaded up in trucks and vans to have an early morning kirtans in a public park. Sid of course was never there and we were forbidden to reveal he was involved or even if we were Hari Bol peeps. The cook would lay out all the food for the day on blankets on the grass. We had yogurt and fruit in the morning and some piss poor lunch of some tofu burger thing. We would work morning till night. We ate a nondescript dinner and passed out till morning. I missed dinner one time because my ride forgot to pick me up. When I finally found my way home by bus, the guys in charge gave me sh*t.
This is about Chris Butler political strategies
Quote
I gave over a year of my life to the “Independents for Godly Government”. It was not a “Hare Krishna” party. It was Chris Butler’s brainchild. He micro-managed every piece of it, approved every flier, every door to door script and groomed every candidate. Candidates were hand-picked based on their ethnicity, looks, and the fact that they were locals. We all knew politics to be corrupt. We were environmentalists, anti-abortion (based on the belief that the spirit soul enters the body at conception is a life), and against any kind of exploitation of others, including animals. We wanted to return to a more native and traditional Hawaii. We wanted less technology and were inspired by economist E. F. Schumacher’s “Small is Beautiful”. We were idealists that wanted to spread “Aloha Aina”, love of the land. We imagined bringing “Vrindavan” (the idealized farming communities in the Krishna legends) to Hawaii. We imagined closing down the slaughterhouses and bringing down the high rises in Honolulu. We imagined clean beaches, solar and wind-powered houses, organic farms. We wanted to stop the commercialism and exploitation of Hawaii by the tourist industry. We worked long and hard hours for the campaigns. We used all our expertise and talents. We imagined we were serving God.
What we never imagined is that we were all pawns in the hands of a man who really was just out for his own delusions and self interests. We never imagined our guru riding around in jets with a woman who was the “offering” of her husband. We never imagined all the donations going to the luxurious lifestyle of a couple of petulant and childish adults pretending to be spiritual masters. We never imagined that the corruption we fought against would become the modus operandi of our master. We were dangerously naïve.
During this first campaign in the 1970’s, men and women were housed in separate apartments. Usually, we slept in sleeping bags on the floor. Living with a bunch of hormonal chicks was no pic-nic. But we thought we were doing the right thing. We’d wake up and chant our rounds as we loaded up in trucks and vans to have an early morning kirtans in a public park. Sid of course was never there and we were forbidden to reveal he was involved or even if we were Hari Bol peeps. The cook would lay out all the food for the day on blankets on the grass. We had yogurt and fruit in the morning and some piss poor lunch of some tofu burger thing. We would work morning till night. We ate a nondescript dinner and passed out till morning. I missed dinner one time because my ride forgot to pick me up. When I finally found my way home by bus, the guys in charge gave me sh*t.