Showing posts with label spirituality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spirituality. Show all posts

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Monday, December 16, 2019

Superheroes, Star Wars movies and aviation culture in the 20th century



The fighters have been a focal point of admiration for every generation, in their lives and deaths. Their qualities were focused on a single character who was exemplary to the public and the savior, and received a mythical character. A particularly revered hero is a super-omnipotent superhero with superhuman powers. The superheroes have undergone a transformation process throughout history, created because they belonged to the popular culture of their time, which had a characteristic emphasis, and used the technological means at its disposal. The characters of ancient superheroes, from the Bible and Greek mythology, became knights on horses in medieval societies. The early heroes of the early twentieth century were aviation pioneers and fighter pilots. Superheroes in the colorful comic booklets were very popular in the United States during the interwar period. After World War II, with the development of space flights, and at the same time as television viewing, the superheroes were identified with the first spacecraft pilots, such as Gagarin and Armstrong. In the early 2000s, the superheroes underwent another transformation, with the development of computing technologies, and now appear mainly in Marvel films. As reality became more complex, the need for archetypes became more important. Cinema, as a multidisciplinary and multidimensional medium, is a place where most of the myth appears, as both cinema and myth appeal to as broad a common denominator as possible.

The periodic transition between different types of characters is not sharp, and there is an overlap between them, as well as sub-genres that are characteristic of the interim periods and situations where no clear superhero characterization has taken place, or when a different characterization is needed. For example, in the 1930s, dictatorial political leaders, such as Hitler and Stalin, enjoyed a superhero image. Following the political crises in the 1960s in the United States, during and after the Vietnam War, superheroes such as Rambo, who were more human and represented personal and social protest, appeared on the movie screen. At the other end of the arc of superheroes are the simple real men who survived unbelievable hardships, led by Holocaust survivors. The survival motif is central to popular culture, but only dozens of films have been made about real survival journeys, as opposed to the countless works of fiction. Much research has been done on Holocaust survivors, but their image has not yet been created as superheroes. Their personal stories blended into the overall myth of Holocaust and Revival of Israel.

The "Star Wars" film series is based on the pattern of superheroes in the stories of mythology, as developed by Professor Campbell, the renowned expert on myth theory. "Star Wars" may be his most well-known legacy left behind. Within this film series, nine sequels have emerged, which are the canon of the series as a feature epic. The first movie in the series came out in 1977, and the last one in the end of 2019. It's about 40 years, then. The series gained unprecedented popularity. It was defined as redefining cinema, as it created an imaginary universe full of details. It has acquired millions of fans on the level of religious believers, and is recognized in almost every home across the globe. Some claim it have changed the world. It is an escapist replacement for the complexity of the race to space, which is one of the characteristics of modern life and central in every country.


The nine-movie canon consists of three trilogies, which represent the parts of the human soul and its evolution, according to Id, Ego, Super Ego. The Disney-owned franchise company also develops it through spin-off films, unique complexes at Disneyworld sites, and as a merchandise that includes computer games, books, comic books, clothing and toys. In this way, the brand reaches every soul in the way that is most appropriate, according to the latest branding and marketing approaches.

Professor Joseph Campbell has been a major source of inspiration for the series creator, George Lucas, and they also formed a personal friendship. Campbell's main book is "The Hero with Thousand Faces ." This book presents the defining characteristics of the superhero figure, who are kept behind many embodiments in different cultures and eras. The Star Wars movie series is entirely based on this theory. The films include a gallery of typical archetypal mythological characters, such as the superhero character, the mentor, the distressed maid, the trickster, the evil hero, the omnipotent magician, and the like. At the same time, the superhero in the series is going on a journey, known in terminology as "The Hero's Journey". This journey includes many stages of development, which are well characterized by the stories of superheroes of all cultures.

Because in much of the twentieth century, the superhero character was identified with pioneer pilots of airplanes and spaceships, two of the star heroes of "Star Wars," Han Solo; the trickster who is Luke Skywalker's faithful friend, and his son Ben, who became an evil hero by the name of Kylo Ran and the successor of Darth and Wader, are of central importance. The importance of the transformations undergone by Han and Ben Solo is also linked to the importance of the dream of flying to the development of the soul. Aviation ability has been identified, from the dawn of humanity, as a characteristic of gods. Han's "Millenium Falcon" spacecraft is the fastest in the galaxy, and it is the object most identified with the series, with the exception of Luke Skywalker's Light Sword. Harrison Ford, who plays Han Solo in the series, is a superstar of Hollywood, and portrayed another superhero character created by George Lucas, Indiana Jones.


Filmmaker Hans Bertram created several aviation films in Nazi Germany. During World War I, some of the most successful fighter pilots were soon promoted to become communicated icons of valor, warriors who donned the national spirit of the war. This was particularly evident in Germany, in the form of the Flying Circus pilots and their commander Richthofen. They became national icons, with a prominent presence in film and print, and in all circles of society. Between the two world wars, aviation films were constantly reinforced, helping to shape contemporary thinking about aviation development. Aviation achievements envisioned a new, stronger and more disciplined German Reich capable of dealing with multiple industrial claims and joining the twentieth-century imperial competition. The memory of World War I was built through the myth of the war experience, which legitimized it by changing the real-life picture. The main image engraved in the collective memory of this war, to this day, is that of the gallant fighter pilot. The distinct symbol of totalitarian and mythical modernism in Nazi Germany was the airplane. Not the airplane per se, but its connections, not the pilot per se but the concepts it entails, were the focus of attention. They served as a means of liberating revolutionary burdens of the past.

In Nazi Germany, the superheroes of American comic booklets were not popular, nor were other superheroes of this style. The Nazis saw themselves as a supreme race, according to the "Superman" model designed by Nietzsche, their official philosopher. The popular superheroes were characters from German folklore and history, such as in Richard Wagner's operas, and from the aviation world, whose heroes were considered to embody the "Suprmman". Bertram was among them. He was part of the famous Pilots Gallery, with Charles Lindberg at the top, who became superheroes in the world media. In 1927, Lindberg crossed the Atlantic alone by airplane. On his return he was honored as king, and millions came to a parade in his honor in New York.

In May 1932 Hans Bertram set out with a friend from Germany to a flight around the world. They had a forced landing in a desert in Australia, and undergone a two-month survival journey, with extensive media coverage on the search for them. He returned to Germany in April 1933, after a year of great upheaval in Germany as well, during which the Nazis came to power. He wrote his story in a book, which became a bestseller with seven million copies in Nazi Germany. He then moved on to writing screenplays and directing films. The story of his survival journey in Australia overlaps with the mythical ''Hero Journey'' that NAzi Germany needed at that time. This is in light of its plot, its exposure in the media, and its connection to the motifs of ''survival'' "superman" adopted by the Nazi regime. Bertram is probably the only pilot in Nazi Germany to have completed a "Hero's Journey," and who has written a non war-propaganda book on the subject. His most famous film is "The Baptism of Fire," a full-length documentary from 1940 about the campaign in Poland, which was characterized by devastating German bombings from the air.


The images of aviation and pilots on television and cinema in the State of Israel involve the military dependence on the air force, which created here the myth of the "best air force in the world". This myth is also rooted in Israel's relations with the United States, which include American popular culture. Therefore, it is interesting to see how major television events, such as the first flight to the moon or the crash of the Columbia Space Shuttle, and ''Star War'' movies, have affected Israeli society. At the same time, it is interesting to review the films that deal with the Israeli Air Force and their impact.

Air transport has become central today. The issue is complicated, in part because, unlike maritime and land transportation, which are the cradle of civilization, aviation is a new dimension. Important, capital-intensive development projects in aviation may shape the fate of a nation. But they are largely startups, which have a very high percentage of failure. Two examples of this are the attempt to land the Israeli spacecraft "Genesis" on the moon, and the development of the "Lavi" aircraft.

The need for heroes in the aviation field is motivated, besides the race for space and the race to develop new aircraft, also by the need to develop the infrastructure of airports, which have become civilization centers due to the airports cities around them. The airports of cities have replaced the maritime port cities, which until recently were the centers of the human race.The "Terminal" theme is well-developed in the Star Wars series. Its many forms, together with the gallery of figures appearing in it, present an alternative order to the constant chaos experienced by passengers today. This chaos, resulting from the routine of the experience, runs counter to the flight aura that existed until World War II.

Another important connection between superhero films and modern-day reality is that these films, in many cases, show sections of a world on the verge of destruction, usually as a result of the invention of new weapons by the forces of evil. The Holocaust worldview in these films overlaps with the  Jewish Holocaust survivors worldview, whose world was also destroyed. The good ending in these films, when usually the good people beat the bad guys, is a therapeutic move. The general destruction worldview is also close to everyday reality, as politicians regularly warn of a disaster that could result from enemy attacks, usually from the air. That is why every citizen takes to himself the images of the imminent destruction, as seen in the superhero films, for the promotion of his personal affairs. Those who have experienced the devastation to the truth, such as the Holocaust survivors, are usually left behind in the race to fulfill their dreams.

The main negative aspect of the development of air power is the many wars that have been decided by it, such as the Vietnam War and the Yom Kippur War. In addition, airborne terrorism has become an integral part of daily life. Its climax was in the attack on the Twin Towers in New York in September 2001. We are witnessing it today in cyber threats, the incessant rocket launches toward Israel, and the passengers and baggage checks before flights. Serious aerial accidents are an integral part of reality, from the era of early aviation to the present.

One of the results of the importance of aviation to human existence in all strata is that the discourse on aviation has become an unconscious part of everyday discourse and is difficult to isolate. Therefore, it is important to see if the awareness to the issue in Israel does not diminish the understanding of the relationship between the Holocaust and aviation. This connection was expressed by the fact that senior Nazi pilots, who were crowned superheroes, played a major part in the final solution planning. A multifaceted aviation culture is evolving nowadays, in the face of the reality imposed on us like a mountain. The Star Wars series does not provide a complete set of tools for understanding the world of flying and aviation, but the complexity it presents is certainly a progression, as opposed to the stalwart approach to the topic so far in popular culture.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Map of the human figure of the Holy Land


Anthropomorphism is one of the most characteristic traits of humankind. It is the provision of human qualities and appearances to inanimate objects and animals. It is very common in world cultures as a means of expression. The great popularity of it rests on the fact that the human body is a central focus of attention in human society. This principle is used on a daily basis in the framework of all known religious beliefs. Anthropomorphism in the modern world is also required, in order to improve the connection between the machine and the person. The human body is a miniature world in which the outside world is reflected and vice versa. Anthropomorphism is greatly aided by the brain's ability to perceive vague stimuli as familiar and meaningful, especially in its vigorous activity in recognizing human faces.
Maps are powerful means of transmitting messages using cultural symbols. Many ancient maps represented a visual essence of knowledge combined with the worldview of their creators. Although modern scientific mapping uses sophisticated means of measurement, accurate maps also represent an interpretive and tendentious perspective. At the same time, there is a historic collaboration between medical professionals and artists in order to illustrate the anatomy by the most graphic and artistic methods, even at the expense of pure scientific description.
Anthropomorphic maps, in which the surface is described as a human figure, exist since the dawn of history. These maps offer a reflection of the personal and collective identity of the human body. These maps were created in a lengthy procreation process. The landscape is not exactly the character of man. A complex transformation process is required to make geography a human portrait. But this is possible because there is constant dialogue between man and landscape, as a process of refined dynamic and image in action.
Early Anthropomorphic maps are the Zodiac maps identified with the entire universe and the maps of the inhabited world of antiquity and the Middle Ages. What gradually evolved in modern times are Anthropomorphic maps of countries and continents, which are based on an imaginary identification of the surface with the human face and body. Atlases of these maps were very successful until the twentieth century. Nowadays, political cartoons are sometimes shaped as humanized maps and they are important geopolitical tools.
The concept of 'the image of God' is of great importance in Judaism, but the image of man is not connected to the Land of Israel. This is despite the fact that in the Bible it is written that God, the people of Israel, and the Land of Israel are one entity. This definition determined the fate of the Jewish people, because in contrast to the clear concreteity of the people and the laws, the boundaries of the land remained vague and undefined.
The map of the Holy Land as a human figure, created by Avinoam Amizen, is a revolutionary description of the geography of greater Israel. The map is the result of research in time and space, body and mind. The human form includes the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as a human face, the Negev Heights as a neck, and the Sinai Peninsula as a torso. Completing the picture are Edom mountains as the hair and Lebanon mountains as the rays of an angel.
In the process of creating the map, the landscape was examined by many photographs and maps in relation to human, anatomical and artistic, figures. The level of correlation between the regions of the earth and the human body is incomparably greater than that found in any other anthropomorphic map. This is the level of correlation that calls for a scientific examination of the relationship' as a physical reality with a unique relief, engraved in the soul and elevating it.













Wednesday, October 04, 2017

Star of David on Paris ✫ Sacred geometry

Cisterian abbeys have been put on patterns in the eleventh and twelfth century. They are all "Star of David" stars that are obtained by tracing lines between different abbey sites.
Nobody knows how it has been done so precisely.
Information comes from Michel Christian Soulier in his book "La Divine Rose-Croix"
Music by nichecom.com

















Monday, September 25, 2017

Pareidolia


Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon in which the mind responds to a stimulus, usually an image or a sound, by perceiving a familiar pattern where none exists.
Common examples are perceived images of animals, faces, or objects in cloud formations, the Man in the Moon, the Moon rabbit, hidden messages within recorded music played in reverse or at higher- or lower-than-normal speeds, and hearing indistinct voices in random noise such as that produced by air conditioners or fans.
Contents
Pareidolia can cause people to interpret random images, or patterns of light and shadow, as faces. A study found that objects perceived as faces evoke an early activation of the fusiform face area at a time and location similar to that evoked by faces, whereas other common objects do not evoke such activation. This activation is similar to a slightly faster time that is seen for images of real faces.
Cognitive processes are activated by the "face-like" object, which alert the observer to both the emotional state and identity of the subject, even before the conscious mind begins to process or even receive the information. This robust and subtle capability is hypothesized to be the result of eons of natural selection favoring people most able to quickly identify the mental state, for example, of threatening people, thus providing the individual an opportunity to flee or attack pre-emptively. In other words, processing this information subcortically — therefore subconsciously — before it is passed on to the rest of the brain for detailed processing accelerates judgment and decision making when a fast reaction is needed.
Pareidolia can be considered a subcategory of Apophenia, unmotivated seeing of connections accompanied by a specific feeling of abnormal meaningfulness, Eearly stages of delusional thought, over-interpretations of actual sensory perceptions, as opposed to hallucinations. Apophenia has come to imply a universal human tendency to seek patterns in random information, such as gambling.

Rocks may come to mimic recognizable forms through the random processes of formation, weathering and erosion. Most often, the size scale of the rock is larger than the object it resembles, such as a cliff profile resembling a human face. Well-meaning people with a new interest in fossils can pick up chert nodules, concretions or pebbles resembling bones, skulls, turtle shells, dinosaur eggs, etc., in both size and shape.

The Rorschach inkblot test uses pareidolia in an attempt to gain insight into a person's mental state. The Rorschach is a projective test, as it intentionally elicits the thoughts or feelings of respondents that are "projected" onto the ambiguous inkblot images. Projection in this instance is a form of "directed pareidolia".

In his notebooks, Leonardo da Vinci wrote of pareidolia as a device for painters, writing, "If you look at any walls spotted with various stains or with a mixture of different kinds of stones, if you are about to invent some scene you will be able to see in it a resemblance to various different landscapes adorned with mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, plains, wide valleys, and various groups of hills. You will also be able to see divers combats and figures in quick movement, and strange expressions of faces, and outlandish costumes, and an infinite number of things which you can then reduce into separate and well conceived forms."

There have been many instances of perceptions of religious imagery and themes, especially the faces of religious figures, in ordinary phenomena. Many involve images of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the word Allah, or other religious phenomena.
Publicity surrounding sightings of religious figures and other surprising images in ordinary objects has spawned a market for such items on online auctions like eBay. One famous instance was a grilled cheese sandwich with the face of the Virgin Mary.

Pareidolia also arises in computer vision, specifically in image recognition programs, which can spuriously detect features. In the case of an artificial neural network, higher-level features correspond to more recognizable features, and enhancing these features brings out what the computer sees. These reflect the training set of images that the network has "seen" previously. Striking visuals can be produced in this way, notably in the DeepDream software, which falsely detects and then exaggerates features such as eyes and faces in any image.

Electronic voice phenomena (EVP) has been described as auditory pareidolia. Allegations of backmasking in popular music, in which a listener claims a message has been recorded backward onto a track meant to be played forward, have also been described as auditory pareidolia. A psychologist invented an algorithm for producing phantom words and phrases with the sounds coming from two stereo loudspeakers, with one to the listener's left and the other to his right. Each loudspeaker produces a phrase consisting of two words or syllables. The same sequence is presented repeatedly through both loudspeakers; however, they are offset in time so that one when the first sound is coming from the speaker on the left, the second sound is coming from the speaker on the right, and vice versa. After listening for a while, phantom words and phrases suddenly emerge, and these often appear to reflect what is on the listener's mind, and they transform perceptually into different words and phrases as the sequence continues.

Various European ancient divination practices involved the interpretation of shadows cast by objects. For example, in molybdomancy, a random shape produced by pouring molten tin into cold water is interpreted by the shadow it casts in candlelight.[citation needed]

A shadow person, also known as a shadow figure, shadow being or black mass, is often attributed to pareidolia. It is the perception of a patch of shadow as a living, humanoid figure, particularly as interpreted by believers in the paranormal or supernatural as the presence of a spirit or other entity.

Pareidolia is also what some skeptics believe causes people to believe that they have seen ghosts.











Saturday, September 16, 2017

Sacred and Magical Places

An Exploration of Their Mysterious Powers 

What is the actual nature of the sacred sites? How can we explain the extraordinary - and often miraculous - phenomena that occur at them?
Hundreds of millions of pilgrims journey to these power places each year. The momentum of both religious tradition and modern tourism is commonly suggested to explain this astonishing movement of people. 
Yet much more is going on than mere religious custom or vacation travel. How do we account for the enormous popularity of these places? What makes them sacred, and what do people hope to gain from their visits to the sites?












Sunday, November 16, 2014

Islamic law is structured for political expansion

In religious Islam there is a built in system of political expansion, as part of the 'Sharia' [The full set of Islamic laws]. This political expansion result from the demographic spread of believers.

Judaism gave up the missionary role. Christianity and Buddhism are religions of faith alone, and they do not try to enforce their laws on the other and in everyday life.

In contrast to Christianity and Buddhism, Judaism and Islam are both dogmatic religions which pretend to give a religious answer to every facet of life.
But unlike the Jews, who wherever they were in exile dreamed only of the Holy Land as the realization of all their political aspirations, the aims of every Muslim who emigrated from his muslim state is to establish the Islamic state wherever he resides. This wish is fulfilled in implicit regulated process, step by step in a pre-programmed method, using specific set of religous laws known as the 'Dawa', together with the apparent desire to spread the Islamic faith.

What are the implications of this conclusion on the daily lives of Israeli citizens?
The answer is: a 'dog eat dog'.


Islam in Europe
From the article: "You shall inherit the continent of Europe: built-in Muslim ideology or reality of life?" 
By: Leah Kinberg, Moshe Dayan Center. 
The author describes very well the subject but lacks the conclusion: The direct political significance of the set of religous laws used by the muslim immigrants, referred to as 'Dawa', is an organized conspiracy striving to establish an Islamic state wherever they come.

"... The rationale underlying the Muslims to non-Muslim migration commandments, imposed as an act on migrants as representatives of religion, is to be role models and instill in their hosts the will to convert to Islam. That make the social phenomenon of migration a tool of preaching and proselytizing for Islam, or 'Dawa'. 'Dawa' is displayed as a duty incumbent on every Muslim who lives in a non-Muslim country and its purposes are to rally the ranks of the Muslim minority, mutual aid and preaching the way of behavior which can serve as an example and become a role model ... Just as Muslims will follow the Islamic 'Jihad' [religous conquering] as long as needed, that is as long as there are parts of a non-Muslim world, so the 'Hajra' [Imigration by all means] from the homeland will continue, accordingly the 'Dawa' [customs of immigrants] which justifies the 'Hajra' will not stop. This argument gives 'Dawa' dimensions which are not depended on time and place. As long as the world exists, it is commanding the Muslim believer to live according to the laws of his religion, to spread the religion, strengthen and expand, and thereby fulfill the most important aspect of the 'Jihad' ... Muslims living in Europe ... many of them born and raised in Europe ... all of them must represent the religion - A Muslim doctor in the hospital is merely representative of Islam, so are the engineer, the merchant, worker, student, they are all representatives of Islam ... Islam's way is through the dominant influencing of the 'Sharia' or by logging into politics - participation in elections and in fact in many cases both options go hand in hand ... "

Ariel Segal measures the 'blood pressure' in France. Europe knows that Jihad volunteers can return from their camps of rape and death in Syria and Iraq to enable continous terrorisim in the continent which tried to take them in. The groundwork for celebrations of Jihadism in France and other European countries was laid by intellectuals, who opened the door for terrorism through post-modern discourse and multi-culturalism.


Islam in China
The Muslim minority in China is of, according to research estimates, about 20 million people. The beginning of the Muslim presence in China was already in the 8th century AD, when Arab and Persian traders who sought to develop trade by sea routes round India, settled on the shores of the eastern ports of China. With the increase in trading volume, port communities were formed around the Moslim faith. Their people, while married to local women, sustained community life separate and distinct from the local language, religion and dress.
Mongol takeover of China in the 13th century led to an increase and expansion of the Muslim community. Mongols brought to China many Muslim soldiers from Western and Central Asia, as well as clerical and administrative personnel (engineers, architects, artisans and farmers), helping them with sustaining the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. Open borders for trade and economic wellness have led to many Muslims crossing the areas to the north and the south west of China, where you can find a large concentration of them today. Their connections to the Mongol conquerors, their privileges and isolated neighborhoods and the confrontation of the major Han population with the Muslim officialdom, contributed to foster feelings of hostility and hatred towards Muslims. Stories from that period depict the muslim as cruel, greedy and as aggressive, capable of any crime.
Fall of the Mongols in 1368 and rise of the Ming Dynasty is considered a glorious period in the history of China. Various scholars see this period as a kind of watershed for the Muslims. Voluntary isolation imposed by the rulers and the begining of pressures, Chinafication presures on the community, led many Chinese Muslims to change their names, use the local language for trade and speech and reduce differnet style of construction (including mosques) and clothing. Distinct identity began to take shape among the Muslim minority of Muslims known as 'Hui'. For the Hui people congregations in China the mosque was used far more then for prayer. The place was a religious school, social center, a local conflicts court, office, and sometimes even martial arts learning center.
The 'Sufi' movement began to be felt in China towards the end of the 17th century. In trade routes from Central Asia came to China Muslim clerics, most of them foreigners from Yemen and Bukhara and some Muslims who returned to China after studies and pilgrimage in cities of the Arabian peninsula. These charismatic personalities appeared soon in Muslim centers in China (Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Yunnan) and started to gather around them students and followers. During the 18th century many of the Hui joined them.
Followers of 'Sufi' movement had attributed its onset values to Prophet Muhammad who preached for them. Muhammad himself did not preach asceticism and the denial of aerial life in this world, but many traditions ascribed to him bans the follies of the world: drinking wine, silk garments and the use of gold and silver. Furthermore, the Qur'an called the believers not to sin, so as not to be punished on Judgment Day.
Sufi communities appearance and the formation of their orders sparked tensions with the Chinese government of Manchu dynasty. The connection of some of the Muslims to trade routes, as religous orders were used as part of the trading stations/hostels in addition to their religious activities, impeded supervision. The building block for such an order always begun with a charismatic religious leader, often of foreign origin, who when reached a Muslim demographic concentration began teaching Islam to a small group of students. It was a way to integrate into the local community and gain a broader group of believers. The larger the circle of believers became, they established a unique community, with an upgrade to a more institutionalized phase, including transition to the national level.
The circumstances of the emergence of the Sufi movement in China and its establishment largely conformed with the social and political conditions which were formed at the time of the Abbasid Caliphate. Therefore it relatively quickly adapted and transferred its organizational structure, operated in Central Asia, to the terms of the Chinese Empire. On the national level there were Sufis armed with a theoretical concept, terminology and techniques of leadership that were so lacking for the Hui. They have helped many of the Hui to consolidate confidence and unique identity, of independent Chinese-speaking Muslims against the Chinese attempt to make them Chinese Muslims.


Concepts to keep in mind
Sharia - Islamic law, which is the foundation of the Islamic state.
Jihad - struggle against the infidels commandments, which is an integral part of the Muslim faith.
Hijra - a substantial Muslim immigration, which is inevitable as a result of demographic growth.
Dawa - Code of Muslims laws abroad, which they must fulfill in full in any foreign country in which they settle.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Human Face and Dragon shapes of Europe

Below is a map of Europe in the form of humanized face:

Figure of Europe as a pumpkin head

The first conclusion that emerges from the map is that Russia and the countries bordering it must join the EU. Not only geographical connection, but also the human and economic reasons demand it. The current political structure in Russia is flexible and it can take this opportunity.
The Mediterranean is also a part of  Europe's humanized face and inevitable partner of the EU in the future.
The same applies to the entire Middle East, including Iran.

Another anthropomorphic idea, with a lesser degree of personification, but one that is more known and consistent with the suffering of the Jews in Europe, is of the continent is in the form of a dragon. Its head is the Iberianpeninsula, the body is the European plane from France to the Urals, the legs are the Italian and Greek peninsulas, and Scandinavia is the large tail. The British Isles, which are not shown here, are the flames bursting from the dragon's head. The Baltic Sea is a human figure who is riding facing backward on the Bull's back


Europe as a dragon

This expression in the form of mythological dragon correspond to the mythological legend of Europe and Zeus who, disguised as a bull, seduced the princess Europe in Crete. The Bull's shape and attributes are similar to that of the dragon. It is an uncontrollable monster and the only way to cope with it is to turn away quickly and outsmart it, as did the Minoans in Crete with their acrobatics on bulls, and as the Spaniards does in their bulls fights.
From the mating between Europe and Zeus was born Minus, the father of Minoan Crete culture, which is the cradle of European culture. The identity between the human name and the mathematical concept [-] is not accidental at all, given the mythological-anthropomorphic background described here.

Europe riding Zeus who seduces her disguised as a bull

Will the EU be a 'Dragon' which does not accept into its ranks Islamic states, or a 'Human Face' with more flexible ethnic expressions?
America will react to the strengthening of the European Union through ties between the states of North and South America, creating together a political and economic bloc.
China's reaction will be similar, in the form of ties with the countries of South, East, and Central Asia.

The fate of Israel in light of the strengthening EU can only be imagined. Will it be strengthen or weaken? Will it join the EU or stay away with people who dwells alone?

The Map of the Holy Land as a Human Figure can deal with any possible scenario.

See also: Human figure of the Baltic Sea

Friday, June 20, 2014

Aviation historian Richard Hallion

Richard Hallion is eminent historian of aviation and one of the founders and curaters of Air and Space Museum in Washington, which has the largest number of visitors in the world. Hallion wrote many books, among them "Taking Flight" which deals with the development of aviation from dawn to present. Hallion is among the few historians who thinks that the invention of the airplane is particularly important and determines that the airplane completely changed the face of reality. But Hallion does not attribute to the development of aviation the same importance granted to it in "Holocaust and Aviation", as the most influential factor in shaping modern history. The reason for this, among other things, is that he does not use the concepts of Aerial Awarness and Aerial Conciousness.

Central role in the overall approach of researcing the airplane phenomenon is the use of the terms Aerial Awarness and Aerial Conciousness.
The term Aerial Awarness was created by researchers to explain the initial enthusiasm of the American people for the flying machine. In addition historians began to use the term to describe the nation's interest, of groups or individuals, in any aviation related subject. The term originally referred to the flight enthusiasm of flying machines, but its use also refers to all the traditions and symbols that make up the approach to the subject and the diversified practices of it.
The term Aerial Conciousness means wise use of aerial propoganda to create a complete world view. In other words, this is a unique culture based on the concepts of aviation.

Hallion consequently does not use the term Aerial Dictatorship. In the first half of the twentieth century four dictatorships were established based on Aerial Conciousness: Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Soviet Union and Imperial Japan. In these countries the airplane was more than just a flying machine. While statesmen from Western powers saw the airplane only as key technology component and a measure of progress, dictatorships of aviation attributed to it also symbolism as the precursor to national pride.

Another important aviation historian, Peter Fritzsche, author of "Germany - a Nation of Pilots”, which parts of it are the basis of few chapters in “Holocaust and Aviation”, discusses the development of German Aerial Conciousness before the rise of the Nazis. He too sees aviation as very important phenomenon, but secondary to the complex social factors that have shaped the history of the 20th century. It may be that the book was a bold intellectual experience for him and he abandoned it as advancing in academic career.

Peter Fritzsche is missing the use of the term Flying Psychology, developed by the philosopher Gaston Bashelard. Aerial phenomenon provides general guidelines which are basic important psychological principles. Experiences of taking of, rising, height, lift, floating, hovering, depth, landing, sinking, fall and so on are the experiences that sum up the human mind above anything else. Nothing explain them but they explain everything. More simply, if a person wants to live and feel them and above all to compare them, he realizes that they have an initial quality and they are more natural than all the others.

Richard Hellion deals in the first part of his book with the dawn of flight dream in humanity, as a process of spiritual purification and scientific investigation. He describes flying legends in ancient cultures, the impact of birds on the Greek and Roman civilizations, the consciousness of the spiritual flight in early Christianity and Islam, and the insistence of individuals in the Middle Ages on aviation experiences with meager means. Then he moves to the beginning of the modern ages, with the invention of gunpowder that also led to the development of military use of rockets, and he ends with the description of the scientific conflicts in early industrial revolution era regarding the proper way by which one can bring a person into the sky.

The second part of Hellion's book is devoted to the invention of the balloon and airship. An important chapter deals with the 'Magnificent Year' of 1783 when the balloon was invented. First floated, in the same year and same city - Paris, balloons which soared by hot air or using hydrogen, in competition greatly resembling race into space of nowadays. Each of the inventions had advantages and disadvantages and they both together forever changed the face of society. Hellion describes the effect of the inventions of the balloon on Paris fashion, but he is not connecting the balloon to the French Revolution which began in 1789 and started one of the most important processes in human history which heralded the era of the modern democratic state. The Flying Psychology of Gaston Bashelard explains well how single technological invention was able to influence in such significant way French society and the whole world.

Hellion finishes his book, which deals primarily with the development of the aircraft at the beginning of the twentieth century with a major part devoted to the Wright Brothers, with an epilogue about the events of 11 September 2001, when a number of airliners that terrorists had kidnapped crashed on major buildings in the United States. The damage and the relative ease with which terrorists were able to act led to worsening security regulations, and a simultaneous decrease in the number of passengers in airplanes. Spectacular airplanes in the sky suddenly became scaring.

September 11, 2001 events are a direct continuation of the Nazi worldview. A similar concern was the head of the public agenda even before World War II. Stanley Baldwin, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the early 1930th said that the man in the street has to realize that there is no place where the strategic bomber is not able to get and it is better if the airplane had not been invented, but it is now mandatory to incorporate it in religious values.

Hellion states that like all technological inventions, whether the aircraft is good or bad depends on who use it and briefly reviews other periods in the 20th century when the airplane was described as precursor of human solidarity on the one hand, but was used as a weapon in destructive wars. He focuses on Nazi Germany and quotes the last lines from the diary of Joseph Goebbels, written in Hitler's bunker in Berlin shortly before their suicides, in which he wrote that the issue of helplessness against air superiority of Allied bombers which constantly bombarded German soil was repeated on and on in his last conversations with Hitler.

Hellion, like the rest of aviation historians, hardly applies in his book to the contribution of Nazi Germany to the development of modern aviation. Aviation achievements were the mainstay of the regime but they contradicted all his evil deeds. In addition, Hellion may wish to emphasize the contribution of his homeland to the development of aviation and space technologies. The process worked out by the Nazi political leadership, which combined the construction of the world's most sophisticated airplanes with the establishing the mechanism for genocides  of innocent folks, is described in detail in “Holocaust and Aviation” only. It was a process of trial and error of integrated ideology and technology, where the sense of Nazi racial superiority intensified together with their aerial superiority and their need of jenocides intensified as their air superiority declined.

The moral aspect which occurs as by itself let “Holocaust and Aviation” be a poetic and healing research for the soul, contrary to Holocaust studies of the academic establishment, which focuses on conventional explanations and therefore it is still a 'black hole' for them. Aviation is the cornerstone of Israel's security and this gap created social crisis that results in deep social fracture. Holocaust rememberance is incomplete.

The author of these lines grew up as a teenager in the 1960th and experienced the Yom Kippur War. It formed the stimulus for a mental turnaround that led to writing “Holocaust and Aviation” on the foundation of his parents' memories, who were holocaust survivors, memories which he recorded and edited. This multi-year process was done while watching the awakening of public interest in the Holocaust as the clear gap between everyday life of post-modern era to questions of history and future became obvious.

The Many international crises occurred after significant breakthrough in aviation development in the 20th century raise the question of what will be, in the foreseeable future, major developments in aviation. There are four different directions of development, each of which bestows on the other:
a. Space is gaining maximum public attention and the people of planet earth will gradually reach more meaningful and distant places through powerful missiles and large spaceships, mostly unmanned.
B. Automatic unmanned airplanes with elaborate guidance technology will replace mankind in the celestial wilderness. The drones rapidly replace manned military aircraft and the process has huge influence on civil aviation.
C. Personal aviation, in which each person will own an aircraft, will grow immensly in scope. Recreational aviation is very popular nowdays, after it become affordable and available to all. But the big push will be to bring important means of advanced propulsion and guidance to solve the range, navigation and landing problems in 3D reality.
D. Economic aviation using the floating principle, which takes advantage of the air cushion created between the airplane's wings and the ground when flying only a few feet above it, will replace traditional shipping routes and will bring development to remote sea shores.


Friday, December 13, 2013

Aviation and the 1960th

Spiritual flight is central symbol of the human spirit and freedom. Aviation, so important to national security, is a center of human interest and endeavor. Naturally, mechanical aviation is associated with spiritual flight. Aviation development allows short and sound historical commentary of modern times.

‘Sixties’ in popular culture is a term used to describe counterculture and social norms revolution in clothing, music, drugs, art, customs, emancipation of women and others, which characterized the decade from 1963 to 1974 or so, and has significant influence to these days. Conservatives condemned the decade as suffering from excess of extravagance, responsibility and social order decay, because of social taboos relaxation that occurred during the period.

Sixties have become synonymous in politics around the world with new, radical events and trends and political subversion. In Africa it was major period of radical political change and approximately 32 countries received their independence from colonial rule. Equal rights demands in the developed world, especially demonstrations of blacks in U.S. under leadership of Martin Luther King, changed the political map. In Middle East, Israel won the Six Day War of June 1967 with a quick and glorious victory over the enemies surrounding it.

More than any decade, 1960th will be remembered because of the permissive youth culture, developed mainly in Western developed world in North America and Europe as Hippie Subculture. It evolved together with the expansion of mass media but rejected it. Subculture activists, pacifist and anti-capitalist, rejected the values ​​of their parents' generation and spoke out against old sexual and social taboos, with marijuana and birth control pill at their hand. Rock bands and Pop art were pioneers of this culture. London was known as celebration capital excelled in Hippie culture of manners, style, music and art, all young and original.

The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, initiating a major cultural and political shift. Although Hippies also gathered in major cities across the U.S., Canada and Europe, San Francisco remained the epicenter of the social earthquake that would come to be known as the Hippie Revolution. The city became even more of a melting pot of politics, music, drugs for mind expansion, creativity, and the total lack of sexual and social inhibition than it already was. As the Hippie counterculture movement came farther and farther forward into public awareness, the activities centered therein became a defining moment of the 1960s, causing numerous 'ordinary citizens' to begin questioning everything and anything about them and their environment as a result. This unprecedented gathering of young people is often considered to have been a social experiment, because of all the alternative lifestyles which became more common. Woodstock Music Festival in August 1968 is considered to be the definitive nexus for the larger counterculture generation.

Some commentators see this period as end of classic cycle of ending of a rigid culture, unable to contain requirements for greater individual freedom of the younger generation, who freed themselves from social constraints of the previous age through extreme behaviour. However, this alone does not explain the mass nature of the phenomenon.

In the International relationship arena world peace has deteriorated considerably during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, which almost resulted in nuclear holocaust in 1962 and 1973. Establishment of Berlin Wall and Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia demonstrated the ongoing diplomatic rift between the two superpowers. Cold War was manifested in conventional military wars, specially in Vietnam and the Arab-Israeli conflict. It was manifested especially in technological arms race. Most of this arms race was of ballistic missiles with atomic warheads.

As part of military balance of terror the super powers were armed with thousands of missiles with nuclear warhead. This race lasted about thirty years, from the 1950th to the 1980th. It stopped after U.S.A and U.S.S.R signed agreements of partial dismantling of these weapons which a small percentage of them could destroy the whole world.

The arms race of the Cold War created hostility and cultural and social disconnect between the capitalist and communist blocks. The nuclear confrontation created a strange time for the individual too on both sides. World was controlled by a small number of politicians and generals, so none of ordinary citizens, everywhere, knew what will bring next day. Sense of logic was missing in world politics. Insanity of the arms race created suspicion among the youth in every corner on the planet. It created the post-modern, underlying despair and skepticism towards the establishment, with a need for relying only on self and search for alternative culture haven.

Arm race had a by product of civil race to space with a relatively small budget and using military technology. It began by sending the first satellite and first man into space by U.S.S.R and reached its climax in landing of the first man on the moon by U.S.A. In sharp contrast to the early Hippies culture, 1960th technological achievements were outstanding.

Missiles reached very important place in the media after World War II. The front place in the headlines was analogous to that of the airplanes before the war. Missiles had become the largest flame in the global campfire. Television was nicknamed Global Electronic Campfire, referring to the few available channels where all news and entertainments programs were broadcasted.

Subject of nuclear missiles is seemingly incomprehensible by ordinary citizens. In fact it is nothing but a modern form of the intense and irrational fire which is the basis of civilization, as Freud described. These are the instincts that are operating and simmering beneath civilization. Ballistic missiles are perceived in human consciousness as most dangerous weapon on one hand, but as exhilarating means of transportation to conquer space on the other. Ballistic missiles, as result of the terror balance they created with global armament, are paralyzing the spine with fear reflex. Paradoxically, through the powerful vertical flight to uncharted boundaries, they also free us from this fear.

In the 1950th fear of atomic missiles attack was in top of global agenda. In 1960th conquest of space, managed by the same rocket scientists, became gradually the most important issue.

In 1959, first cosmonauts and astronauts were chosen. Golden Age of the race to conquer space started. Short time intervals occurred between launching missiles of the parties, each of which represented a significant technological improvement over its predecessor. Each launch was more impressive. It was a race similar any race, vivid, fascinating, prestigious and with lots of followers. The Space Race was with stressed schedules, so countless rockets and satellites of both sides crashed. Biggest failures were that of the Soviets.

On 12 April 1961 Yuri Gagarin was launched into space and became first human who view whole planet earth. First American astronaut, Alan Shepard , was launched a month after Gagarin flight.

Experience of Gagarin and all cosmonauts and astronauts after him is holistic experience of united world, a result of a floating weightless in space, along with viewing beautiful planet earth, knowing that they are at the top of an advanced technology enterprise and eyes of the world are watching them. This holistic world view penetrate gradually to the international political arena.

Ecstasy gripped the Soviets after the landing and was used by their political leaders for expanding internal and international influence. Sending the first man into space created a global resonance. It was a tremendous blow to American prestige that forced president Kennedy to announce launch of a man to the moon within ten years. Kennedy turned to former Nazi rocket scientist Von Braun to formulate a plan that would put U.S.A back in first place. Von Braun wrote in reply that he believes it is possible to land on the moon before the Soviets. Kennedy made historic speech to the American people to devote themselves to achieving this goal by the end of the 1960th.

Second half of the 1960th were climax of the race to conquer space with the American program to land a man on the moon on top. American Apollo program began to take shape, while Gemini program progressed rapidly at the same time and pairs of astronauts were launched almost every two months in competition with the Soviets.

Koriolov, head of the Soviet space program, also received approval to fly to the moon, with rocket N-1, but with a limited budget. At the same time he designed the spacecraft to carry cosmonauts there. In 1969 N-1first launch failed in a huge explosion on the launch pad, thus ended the space race between the United States with secret decision of Soviet leaders to stop investing in it. It was fatal mistake of the Soviet leadership which preferred to invest instead in military missiles. Soviets opened the space race and led at first by a big margin. Not only they launched the first satellite, first animal and the first man, but also the first satellite to the Moon. They made the first spacewalk and created the first and very successful space station. All of this may have led to complacency sense down the road, which U.S. utilized to catch up.

Even today the achievements of the U.S.A does not overshadow those of the Soviets. Soviet experience in space was well expressed during the construction of the International Space Station. They recognized before the Americans the importance of the near space and operated large space station for decades. Their lessons were important for the construction of the ISS, of which the first component was launched in 1998 and it is in ongoing construction in 2013.

Half a billion people worldwide watched TV broadcasting launching Apollo -9. On 20 July 1969 Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. It was a small step for man, a giant leap for mankind. It took all of humanity to a new reality, seemingly magical.

Von Braun initiated another five successful manned flights to the Moon. The fact that the Nazi rocket scientists ran the space program of U.S.A added confusion for the younger generation, who could not tolerate it, together with the continuing arms race, regional conflicts and dictating media dominance.

1960th were the best example of the gap that existed between government aviation programs and personal spiritual flying experience. Although in this period mankind had reached the peak in mechanical flight, on Earth drug culture was developed with many young people engaged in it, looking in this way for their the personal flying experience. It could perhaps be concluded that Western countries civilization has reached maturity with the understanding that there is not allegedly a link between the spiritual flying experience and the fascinating flight of airplanes and spaceships. Large passenger airplanes became common in the 1960th and flight in them became dull as bus traveling. But the extensive drug culture for mind expansion shows rather that the youth felt frustrated as a result of the control of a small elite of all aviation and space technology, together with all economic, technological and cultural advantages it gave them.

Since all significant aviation and space operations were in exclusive control, political, social and economic elite concluded that they can create direct continuation of this situation through a strategy to create stable society. It was called Strategy of Desire. Psychological advertisement was main tool for distributing this strategy which was originally created by Freud’s nephew in the 1930th and adopted by totalitarian and democratic regimes as well. It is psychological conditioning where the material new product is not intended to provide just direct need, but also indirect psychological need. It create material surrounding to strengthen the self with consumer products that have ability to uncover hidden desires and give people sense of common identity with those around them. Most powerful people in the world were those who could read or even generate public opinion, in order to satisfy the masses by providing profitable products, through advertisements in the then few existing mass media channels.

But psychologists have discovered how difficult it is to understand and influence the internal structure of personality. They chased a ghost idea by which the human mind can be manipulated and influenced from outside by external factors. They found that humans are much more complex creatures. Application of childish psychoanalysis received sharp criticism for not answering fundamental problems and needs, such as  neglect of youth and creating problems of surplus products.

Emptiness created by artificial abundance resulted in emotional frustration. Humans have a wide range of emotional expressions that need a living space and should not be forced with normative consumerism. Source of evil is not internal conflict but society itself. This debate spilled over into violence in the 1960th. Resistance to mass consumer culture brought waves of protest, influenced by thinkers who opposed the theory of Freud as interpreted by the establishment. Student protest movements have been established, they tried to confront directly with the ruling establishment which shaped their lives not according to their will.

May 1968 events in France, birth place of modern aviation and French Revolution, were a volatile period of civil unrest punctuated by massive general strikes and the occupation of factories and universities across France. It was largest general strike ever attempted in France and first ever nation-wide wildcat general strike. In the height of its fervor, the unrest virtually brought the entire advanced capitalist economy of France to a dramatic halt. The events had a resounding impact on French society that would be felt for decades to come.

Events began with a series of student occupation protests, followed by strikes involving 11,000,000 workers, more than 22% of the total population of France at the time, for two continuous weeks and its impact was such that it almost caused the collapse of French President Charles de Gaulle's government. The movement was characterized by its spontaneous and de-centralized wildcat disposition. This created contrast and sometimes even conflict between itself and the establishment trade unions and workers parties.

Student occupations and wildcat general strikes initiated across France were met with forceful confrontation by university administrators and police. Tall de Gaulle administration's attempts to quell those strikes by police action only inflamed the situation further, leading to street battles with the police in the Latin Quarter, followed by the spread of general strikes and occupations throughout France. Protests reached such a point that government leaders feared civil war or revolution. Tall de Gaulle went to a French military base in Germany and after returning dissolved the National Assembly and called for new parliamentary elections for 23 June 1968. Violence evaporated almost as quickly as it arose. Workers went back to their jobs, and when elections were finally held in June, the Gaullist party emerged even stronger than before.

Uprising failed. As a result, young people began gradually thinking that if it is impossible to eliminate the mind police by eliminating corporations and the state, there should be a way to enter the mind and get rid in it of the control mechanism they implanted in it. This in purpose to create a new self and consequently a new society, by reaching full human potential through internal search. One of the dominant techniques designed to release the mind and teach the human being to be itself was the seminars of Werner Erhard. According to Erhard, the idea that every individual has a core of self is another way to limit personal freedom. In reality there is no fixed self. The purpose of his seminars was to expose the layers of personality up to the last and most internal ones, to find out that the nucleus is essentially meaningless. As humans shed all their personality layers to the last one, they found that what remains is an empty space.

Empty space is a great place to stand and an outstanding starting point to start from. Only from empty space it is possible to create originality and design life that are invented honestly. Be what you want to be. Without linking to it directly, Erhard's teachings have a direct connection to the conquest of space. One can compare the astronaut in white space suit, a tiny figure floating in outer space against the dark void, to the insights of personality’s internal empty space.

There are many similarities between 1960th to the 1930th. Fascism and Nazism were carried out by young people in a radical turn to the nationalist right, as a result of what they thought was irresponsible and decaying social order.

Futurism was dominant artistic and social movement that flourished in Italy at the first half of the 20th century and is significant to these days. It was largely Italian, but there were parallel movements also in Russia, England and many other countries. Futurism turned to the feelings of modern man with his experiencing of new means of mass production, electricity grid, radio, television, cinema, phones network, modern home appliances, advanced cars and highways, airplanes and fast food. These changes influenced all aspects of life and in this way altered the modes of expression of the poet and painter. Futurism expressed an intense loathing for all that is old, especially political and artistic tradition. Futurists admired speed, technology, youth and violence. They liked the car, airplane and the industrial city. All of these represented for them triumph of human technology over nature. Futurists artists were in most art fields, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, theater, film, fashion, literature, music, architecture and even gastronomy. Airplane became major player in the Futurist drama. Aerial paintings were at top of Futurist art achievements and typical of the final stage of Futurism development in the late 1930th and early 1940th.

There were many links between Nazism and Futurism. Love of the future and youth, love of modernization and technology, violence, nationalism, war and more. Hitler and other leaders of the Nazi movement started their ideological career in the spiritual associations 'Tula' and 'Vril'. These were just two of many cults for spiritual development, inspired by famous spiritualist figures from the 19th century. Tula was the cult were Hitler practiced his mental skills in his early stages. Berlin’s Vril and Munich’s Thule were interested in society and politics as well as with personal development and science. Members held concentration exercises, yoga and meditation. Head of the cults was professor Karl Haushofer, a retired general from World War I and a student of Japanese samurais, Tibetan shamans and famous Russian mystic Gurdjieff who was popular in the 1960th as well. Haushofer eventually became central pillar in the Nazi movement as professor of Geopolitics who conceived the notion of Living Space, was mentor of Mein Kampf and designer of Nazi’s international strategy and extreme form of eugenics policy.

In early 20th century use of intoxicant drugs, nowadays forbidden by law, was legal and common. There is a theory that one source of Hitler's mental distortion and that of many of his followers originates from drugs use, including hallucinogens. Hitler recognized the immense popularity of intoxicants in his time and his Nazi party offered colorful substitute for drug addiction which became another addiction for childish minds. Hitler was addicted to drugs, including amphetamines from his personal physician. They were originally used to calm tensions but they had huge impact on his fateful decisions. He acted under influence of euphoric feeling. During the war use of stimulants was common among front line fighters of German army with prescriptions from military doctors.

Feminism, sexual tolerance and equal rights were a major difference between 1930th and the 1960th. Futurist and Nazis believed that women's place is at home.

However, debate regarding Nazism and Holocaust in particular were deleted in 1960th from public agenda of the establishment and that of the Hippies as well. Rocket scientists did not like recalling their dark past and Hippies did not like the similarity between their youth subculture to that of the 1930th. Holocaust became a Black Hole in the public mind in the same fashion of black holes of deep space.

In 1960th long wild hair was very common among the youth. Long hair, flapping in the wind, is best expression of the air element in human body. The musical ‘Hair’ is one of most important cultural symbols of the 1960th. 'Hair' depict the short life of a rebellious young man, who is sent to Vietnam as a soldier and dies in the war.

As in the musical, the era of 1960th ended with defeat, in Vietnam and Yom Kippur wars, of United States and its Western allies.

Cold War continued after these wars, but the parties understood that the arms race is too dangerous and acted for arms reduction. Although at first defeated in the Domino game of international relationship, achievements of the Americans in the race to space, particularly manned missions to the moon and space shuttle launches, kept their political, social and technological advantage up to the 2010th. 

Cold war walls collapsed because of the revolution in sport aviation in the West during the 1980th. During this period the wind glider and and ultralight airplane were invented and became very popular among the youth due to their cheap cost. Private pilot liscence which was until those days very expansive to get, became affordable to the average youth and with it came immense creative energy input to society. Communist U.S.S.R was more oriented then the West toward regarding aviation as cultural trademark for society mobilization, but its dictatorial regime was indoctrinating and could not assimilate the free spirit needed for personal aviation.

Oigins of the world energy crisis, which effects even the economies of 2010th, are in Yom Kipur war of 1973. In retrospective the energy crisis can be described as a plan from outer space to take care of fragile planet earth ecology, in times when global heating is of great danger to it. High prices of oil force developing substitutes technologies of clean energy.

1960th ended with a crisis that strengthened the alternative cultures of the period in western democracies. Alternative culture became progressively central, through engaging topics such as environment, sustainability, self improvement, spirituality, religion, Holocaust, individual rights, cultural pluralism and more. these are nowadays in the core of Western culture.

Ex Hippies from California developed the personal computer as new form of self expression. Most international media and communication today is via the Internet which gradually replace the traditional newspaper, television and phone. Internet, with its infinite channels, symbolize the potential for personal aviation and spiritual flight experience for every human being.


Source:
Nazi Germany Aviation as Major Cause for the Holocaust