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Note: For more information on Mr. Carllinsky's relentless smears and attacks directed against the work of Wilhelm Reich, and against James DeMeo, see the articles here and here.
by James DeMeo, Ph.D.
Director of Research
Orgone Biophysical Research Laboratory
Greensprings, PO Box 1148, Ashland, Oregon 97520 USA
E-mail to: info(at)orgonelab.org
(Click or copy into your email program and insert the "@" symbol)
Copyright 1996, All Rights Reserved by James DeMeo
Introduction
Recently, an unpublished article was circulated in the USA and Europe,
firstly by postal mails, and later on the global computer Internet, titled
"Orgonomy Peddlers, Cloudbusting, and the Environment", written by Mr. Joel
Carlinsky. The article purported to "expose facts" about the field
research of myself and several other workers in orgonomy, coming to very
negative and harsh conclusions. This "Response..." will:
I. Address the specific charges and assertions the author made in
the "Orgonomy Peddlers..." article, and establish what the facts actually
are.
II. Briefly recount the author's own history of destructive
attacks against Reich and various workers in orgonomy.
III. Discuss and expose what Reich called the emotional plague
mechanisms apparent in his conduct, and in the conduct of those who acted
as "helpers" in the wider distribution of the smear materials.
I. Falsehoods in the "Orgonomy Peddlers..." Article
The article starts by taking points of warning from Reich's own
writings and then amplifies upon Reich's concerns about the misuse and
distortion of his work. The author writes: "Reich... spoke of harm done to
the cause of freedom by irresponsible Freedom Peddlers, and warned about
the possibility that his own work would be similarly usurped by Orgonomy
Peddlers who would use it in harmful ways." He then complains that
contemporary supporters of Reich's work are apparently ignoring this
warning, and he compresses a string of derogatory terms to describe those
who are "reckless and irresponsible", "incompetent", "misguided",
"harmful", etc., causing "serious ecological damage" in their alleged
"efforts to prove Reich right". He clarifies: the article is "not directed
at Reich and his theories, but only at the actions of certain present-day
Reichians...". This clarification is important, because in the past this
same author has in fact made similar criticisms and attacks against Wilhelm
Reich's work - and all of orgonomy - this is well documented in Part II
below. The "Orgonomy Peddlers..." article will, the author informs us, be
directed only against some of Reich's followers, "in the name of Reich".
The author of "Orgonomy Peddlers..." then presents a series of
accusations against "Dr. James DeMeo and his associates" who have an
"obsessive compulsion to convert unbelievers", to "prove Reich right", that
we are "doing a great deal of harm to the environment and to innocent
members of the public as well as hurting the long-term prospects for
serious investigation of Reich's discoveries by ill-conceived cloudbursting
operations conducted without proper ecological knowledge or concern for the
environment". Following that statement, he asserts we have created
"devastation to ecosystems and [caused] the deaths of numerous people due
to storms, floods and freezing weather". Etc.
No evidence is initially presented for these highly-compacted and
serious accusations, but he attempts to build a case in the following
pages. He also asserts we have some kind of driven "need to gather
statistics". While there is factually no given evidence for any such
"need", surely in the course of my work, some good statistical data have
been gathered which provide strong support for Reich's discoveries, that
the accumulator and cloudbuster actually function as Reich reported. Is
this somehow damaging? The author reveals a concern here, that Reich's
work might actually be supported through scholarly, scientific methods.
DeMeo's 1989 Experiments in Arizona:
The author of "Orgonomy Peddlers..." criticizes my 1989 experiments
in Arizona, undertaken as an attempt to confirm the desert-greening
capabilities of the cloudbuster. He misrepresents many facts about my
work, and Reich's work prior work in Arizona. He falsely asserts we
started the work in March, but in fact the work started in May, a fact
clearly stated in all published accounts of that work.("Orop Arizona 1989"
Special Report, Orgone Biophysical Research Lab, 1991; p.10. Experiments
also reported in "Journal of Orgonomy", 23(2):271-272 Nov. 1989;
24(1):111-124 May 1990, and 24(2):252-258 Nov. 1990; and "Pulse of the
Planet", 3:82-92 Summer 1991) It is asserted our work created
out-of-season rains, and that this created severe ecological damages. Let's
look at those claims more closely.
What about the ecological effects of unseasonal rains in drylands?
Is this really a problem? As a generality, the answer is no. It is a
well-known fact of climatology that as the total yearly quantity of
rainfall declines, with shorter "rainy seasons", rainfall variability
increases. This means, the drier the environment, the more difficult it is
to predict when rains will fall. In the driest of environments, such as in
the Sahara, Namib, Gobi and Atacama deserts, years will pass without any
rains, decades in some cases. Then suddenly, and without any firm seasonal
characteristic, a lot of rain will fall in a few days. This gives rise to
sheet-flooding across open desert areas, collection of runoff in arroyos,
wadis and depressions, water erosion of upslope landforms, followed by
pooling and groundwater recharge. Life in such areas is very well adapted
to long periods of drought, punctuated by heavy and saturating,
unpredictable rains. Burrowing animals which have adapted to those
environments survive by not making their nests directly in the path where
water erosion is most likely to occur, and it is a misrepresentation to
claim that heavy rains in desert regions will have any major disruptive or
destructive effect upon native plants and animals.
When such desert rains occur, local plants blossom with tremendous
displays of flowering and fruiting, and from this comes a burst of insect
and animal life as well. In a few isolated spots constituting a tiny
percentage of surface area, water erosion may indeed flood a few burrows
and erode away some plants. But generally, generous rainfall, even
torrential rainfall, is a real blessing to dryland areas. One only has to
go to a desert region a few weeks after a good saturating rainfall to see
the benefits to native, desert life. The pooling of water in drylands from
heavy rains and runoff is what in fact feeds the waterholes, oases and
groundwater, upon which desert flora and fauna are dependent. But what
does this lesson in bio-climatology have to do with our work in Arizona, or
the wild charges in "Orgonomy Peddlers..."' that my work created big
damages? Let's look again.
As given in all the published accounts describing the 1989 Arizona
experiments, our operating cloudbuster was sited in a deep desert-basin
region between Blythe, California and Yuma, Arizona, on the Colorado River.
This area gets the lowest yearly rainfall of almost any place in the USA,
except for nearby Death Valley. Rainfall at that particular spot is
infrequent, even during the "rainy season". More typically, natural rains
fall on the surrounding mountain areas, and not on the dry and parched
valley floor. During the planning stages for my Arizona work, an intensive
and detailed review was made of all published papers by Reich regarding his
1954-55 experiments. My 1989 work was therefore undertaken with a full
appreciation of the methodology and discoveries worked out by Reich, as
reported in his own journals and in "Contact With Space" (CWS) (W. Reich:
"Contact with Space", Core Pilot Press, New York, 1957), and so it was
possible to build upon his prior findings. While Reich required weeks and
months of work to isolate some of the causal mechanisms standing as a
barrier to rains in the desert Southwest, I had his writings available to
point the way. Our operation site was selected with Reich's writings in
CWS in mind. Based upon his writings, and my prior work with the
cloudbuster, I did not anticipate any big rain across the desert areas, but
only a statistical increase in rains following the natural patterns for the
given seasons.
For example: Following our first operation, in May of 1989, I
wrote: "Crisp, cool, sparkling conditions persisted over the Arizona/New
Mexico region for weeks, bringing widespread rains in the surrounding
mountains." ("Orop AZ, Special Report", ibid, p.11) From our operations
site we saw the incredible changes in the atmosphere, the widespread
clearing of dor conditions and so forth, but little or no rain fell on the
lower-elevations of the hyper-arid desert basin. The same was true in the
later June 1989 operation, when a storm "dropped abundant precipitation on
the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains" ("Orop AZ, Special Report", ibid,
p.13). The above two cloudbusting operations, of May and June 1989,
occurred during the time when rains would by nature be anticipated only in
the high mountains surrounding the dryland basins of the Southwest, and
that natural pattern was in fact what occurred, amplified somewhat by the
cloudbusting. There was no "unnatural" quality to it.
During the July, August and September operations, however, the
natural summertime "monsoon" season of the desert Southwest was occurring,
and at those times, the valley floors also received good rainfall after our
operations. Those rains also followed the natural patterns. The charge
that our team worked to produce rains in opposition to the natural pattern
is groundless.
The author of "Orgonomy Peddlers..." also accuses us of creating a
5x increase in rains "for the area", but does not clarify. He gets the
basic information from our own published Report ("Orop AZ, Special Report",
ibid, p. 15), but misrepresents it. That 5x increase was in fact isolated
to a very small territory, of around 100 miles diameter, in the area near
Blythe and Yuma, and reflected rainfall conditions between June-August
1989, a three-month period. As this region rarely gets rain, it is an
example of the previously-mentioned condition, of high rainfall
variability. Natural rains in the area, when they do occur, often produce
similar 2x, 3x, or 5x the average, given the fact that it rains so
infrequently. Most years, the area receives well below 50% or even 25% of
normal. The 5x increase we witnessed was a very isolated and temporary
rainfall increase which the author misrepresents as being something much
more dramatic and widespread. And where was the ecological damage claimed
in "Orgonomy Peddlers..."? The author asserts there was damage, but
provides no evidence whatsoever, and in fact contradicts what is commonly
known by climatologists and biologists studying drylands.
I was there, studied the landscape and atmosphere, and gathered the
data. There was no ecological damage. The 1989 Arizona experiments are
written up, documented and published for anybody to see, with charts, maps
and rainfall data.
Reich's 1954-1955 Experiments in Arizona:
Here, the author of "Orgonomy Peddlers..." further misrepresents my
work and Reich's work. He informs us that Reich spent 5 months in the
desert southwest, surveying the desert daily. Then, by way of a false
contrast, he portrays me as a "weekend scientist", who drives into the
desert once a week, and pays no attention to pre-existing natural
conditions and cycles, saying that I am not a good observer of the
landscape and atmosphere, etc. What are the facts?
Prior to undertaking any cloudbusting work in the arid southwest, I
spent at least three summers engaged in extended, months-long field work in
the area, studying the flora, fauna, climate, landforms, history and social
conditions of the region, and was assistant instructor of a University of
Kansas Field Geography course in the region one summer. Part of my doctoral research was
undertaken in the Sonoran/Chihuahuan/Mojave drylands, close to Reich's
Tucson base of operations. In 1987 and 1988, I explored the area again,
looking for a place to work and live, but later decided to move to
California. In 1988, a preliminary cloudbusting expedition was undertaken,
which appears to have been successful in ending the historically-extreme
Midwestern Drought, an expedition which proved many of my own prior
hypotheses about the transport of dor from the Pacific Ocean into the
desert Southwest, and from there, into the Midwest.(J. DeMeo: "CORE Report
#20: Breaking the Drought Barriers in the SW and NW USA", J. Orgonomy,
23(1):97-125; "Orop AZ, Special Report", ibid., p.17) While living in
California, I again undertook explorations of the same dryland areas
discussed by Reich. Regarding the 1989 Arizona experiments, extensive
planning for each expedition was required, and this included a full review
of satellite images and climatological reports, something Reich did not
have available for his work. In fact my field work in the drylands, prior
to undertaking the actual cloudbusting work, was far more extensive than
what Reich had undertaken prior to his work. The portrayal of me and the
research team as being incompetent "weekend visitors" is false.
The author of "Orgonomy Peddlers..." also makes big
misrepresentations of Reich's findings, as given in CWS. He asserts:
"Reich succeeded in obtaining a lush growth of grass without a drop of rain
having fallen. That's Right! Reich, according to his own report, did not
create rain in the desert and did not want to! In fact, he explicitly says
that rain would have made it impossible to obtain the increase in plant
growth he did obtain, since it would have drown the developing vegetation.
Reich's goal, in which he was successful only after 5 months of patient
daily labor, was not to make rain..." Quite a sweeping statement, but is
it true? What did Reich really do in Arizona in 1954-55, and write in CWS?
Reich moved to Tucson in late 1954, and his first cloudbusting
operations were undertaken in late October and early November. Within a
week or two, according to his report in CWS (p.158-159), he does in fact
report grasses growing in nearby regions, "without a drop of rain".
However, this was only in the first week or two of his work. Reich did not
state, so flatly, that he "did not want" rain to fall, or that rain was
undesirable. He only stated that a slow increase in atmospheric moisture
was best. On this, I have no disagreement. What about the rest of the
time that Reich worked in Arizona? In CWS, there are in fact numerous
reports of good rains, even heavy rains being reported by Reich after his
cloudbusting work, and in most cases he was enthusiastic about it. Some
examples:
CWS, p.167: "...it was raining at 13:30 hrs. in western Arizona.
Showers were expected in Tucson during the coming night. It rained heavy
all over the west coast, strongest in the southern parts..."
CWS, p.204-205: Chapter titled: "January Oranur Rains", "January
1955 was the month during which it rained repeated and abundantly in the
southwestern USA, due to our operations. ... The Oranur rain on the 3rd,
6th, and 7th of January was rich and gently continued all through the
night. There were deep water puddles in the streets. The soil was well
soaked. There was snow on Mt. Catalina. There were floods in Mexicali.
Two thousand families had lived in ever-dry river beds and now had to be
evacuated."
I purposefully include this note by Reich, about the floods in
Mexicali, to de-mystify him as some kind of "perfect, god-like" cloudbuster
operator. He was human, unable to foresee every possible consequence, and
in this instance, in spite of only gentle rains, there was some flooding in
areas where people should never have been allowed to build. This kind of
flooding is predictable for drylands whenever rains occur, and is not just
the consequence of "cloudbusting". No city planner should ever allow
people to live or build homes in such low-lying topography, but in fact,
people do so, often in spite of the best advice from hydrologists. It is
one of the factual, difficult dilemmas faced by every cloudbuster operator,
and is one of the main reasons why Reich, myself, and others always have
the goal that rains should be produced in as gentle a manner as possible.
Reich also discusses "rich rains" and "good rains" in other places in CWS
(for example, p.226-228, 246-247, 250). Unfortunately, neither Reich's
position, nor my position, is accurately or fairly represented in "Orgonomy
Peddlers...".
The author also substitutes the term "developing vegetation" for
Reich's more specific and quite different ideas about "proto-vegetation"
(similar to bions). Reich's ideas on proto-vegetation are controversial,
linked with his findings on pre-atomic chemistry and to my knowledge not
yet substantiated by other researchers; but it was only this new phenomena
which he believe would be washed away and destroyed if rains came down too
quickly. For example:
CWS, p.183: "Dec. 10th was a beautiful DOR-free morning. It had
rained the night before in the southern Tucson region for two hours with
0.33 inches of gentle Oranur rain. I was worried the rain may have drowned
the proto-vegetation. Rain, good for already germinating vegetation, meant
death by drowning to Orene. Moisture at a distance was the necessary
condition for the primal, proto-vegetation."
The Language and Methods of Cloudbusting:
The author of "Orgonomy Peddlers..." claims that I use the
"rain-making", "weather-modification" language of the cloudseeders. In my
1979 University of Kansas Thesis on the cloudbuster, which was presented to
a group of very orthodox natural scientists, I did use the phrase "modify
the weather" on several occasions, but that was 17 years ago. Since that
date, in numerous articles on the question, I have completely abandoned
such terminology. Years ago I first openly and publicly encouraged others
in this work to stop using such terms:
"The atmosphere does not suffer from a 'lack of cloudbusting', but
rather from too much interference by humans for self-serving purposes.
Reich articulated this concern in the context of atmospheric
self-regulation, and everyone following his precepts uses the cloudbuster
only in times of real drought emergency, and not as something to
'supplement' the weather on an on-going basis. I am always suspicious of
people who speak about cloudbusting with great excitement, as if they were
speaking of a carnival ride." (J. DeMeo, Letter to the Editor, Acres, USA,
July 1990, p.40-41)
"Over the years there has been a tendency for cloudbusting to be
called 'orgonomic weather modification', and other terms which imply that
the primary function of cloudbusting is to change the weather in a
specified manner, to make the weather do this, or do that. The Editor of
Pulse (DeMeo) wishes to suggest this terminology be henceforth dropped
completely from the lexicon of orgonomy. Reich's impetus in the
development of the cloudbuster was not to 'modify' or 'make' anything -
rather, it was to restore the lost property of atmospheric pulsation.
Cloudbusting is a technique to remove obstacles in the way of natural
atmospheric functioning, to restore the lost principle of atmospheric
self-regulation. The context is similar to the goal of Reich's therapy, to
help the individual function in a more free, self-regulated manner. When
armor or atmospheric stagnation sets in, one might attempt to assist or
help nature to function as it would normally, had not the armor or
atmospheric stagnation developed." (J. DeMeo, "Cloudbusting is Not 'Weather
Modification'", Pulse of the Planet #4, 1993, p.116).
From the above, it should be clear that the words and concepts
attributed to me in "Orgonomy Peddlers..." are false. The author portrays
me as having deviated from the central tenets and functional emphasis of
Reich - atmospheric self-regulation and the expressive language of the
living - by using my own words and emphasis.
The author then borrows an analogy made by Reich in CWS (p.213),
about how the cloudbuster should be used, the difference between a dictator
and a guide, that the cloudbuster must not be used in a "dictatorial"
forced manner. Reich's point is true as can be. But there is no truth
whatsoever to the attribution made that my work represents a deviation from
this important principle. My institute, the Orgone Biophysical Research
Lab, does not have, for example, anything which would qualify as
"promotional material", and he attributes several phrases to me which
clearly require a context for interpretation. For example, "greening the
world's deserts", or "turning barren deserts into lush pastures". I do not
recall where, if ever, making these comments, but even if I did, there is
no truth whatsoever to the next assertion in the article. Building upon
those phrases, the author launches into an essay on the problems of cattle
grazing and land-degradation from overgrazing, as if I were being paid by
the Cattlemen's Association, or otherwise desiring to turn all desert lands
into pastures for cattle. This is patently absurd. Even if this were
possible by cloudbusting, I would be against it. At best, it does appear
possible to halt the spreading of the world's deserts, and thereby to
restore some ecological balance to a situation which has been degrading for
some 6,000 years.(J. DeMeo: "The Origins and Diffusion of Patrism in
Saharasia, c.4000 BCE: Evidence for a Worldwide, Climate-Linked
Geographical Pattern in Human Behavior", World Futures, 30:247-271, 1991;
also in Pulse of the Planet 3:3-16, 1991.) But even this is not certain,
and I have always emphasized the need for the preservation of forests and
grasslands, the halting of atomic energy and nuclear bomb tests, the
control of air-pollution, and the control of overpopulation of humans and
cattle herding as the only real way to halt the spreading of deserts.
Cloudbusting is only a temporary help, not a "miracle cure" for the world's
ills. Our journal, Pulse of the Planet, and my other published articles on
the subject repeatedly maintain an emphasis upon these points.
DeMeo's 1992-1993 Experiments in Namibia, Africa:
The author of "Orgonomy Peddlers..." asserts there is a drought in
Namibia every 3-4 years, and that there is an important biogeological dust
transport from southern Africa to the adjacent oceans and Brazil. In these
assertions there is partial truth, and partial exaggeration.
However, both assertions are completely irrelevant to the Namibia
cloudbusting experiments. Namibia encompasses two major desert areas, the
western parts of the Kalahari Desert, and the Namib Desert, which one might
view as the dry core of southern Africa. The Namib is one of the driest
places on the planet, and during our cloudbusting work there, we never
desired or attempted to bring rains to the Namib. Dust transport from the
Namib, whatever its true nature, surely was not significantly affected by
the rains which followed our work. Namibia continues to have a
well-pronounced dry season, which is quite dusty.
At the time when our expeditions were first organized, the entire
nation of Namibia had suffered from a 10-year drought, with diminished
rainfalls over a vast area. According to local farmers, only 20 or 30
years previously, areas of the Namib which were completely barren and
hardpan had previously been covered in knee-high prairie grass. Our team
visited a number of abandoned farms, lying on the fringes of the Namib. It
was not the product of overgrazing, but rather, a measured decline in
rainfall, which appears to have started at the time when one of the world's
largest open-pit uranium mines was developed at the edge of the Namib
Desert. That desert was in a dramatic state of over-expansion, with oranur
conditions predominating, and it was drying up the surrounding countryside.
For the three or four years prior to our work, the drought had become more
acute, affecting southern Africa with severe drought, and famine was
inevitable within months. Millions of lives were at risk. Wildlife was
already dying. We visited the Etosha Wildlife Refuge in northern Namibia,
and did not see a single living elephant during the several days we were
there, the populations of all wildlife having been reduced to very low
levels from drought and lack of vegetation, and lack of drinking water
(most of the smaller streams and water-holes were completely dried up). It
was an ecological catastrophe happening before our eyes. It was very
fortunate our research team was there at that critical moment. Our
efforts, which required many months of preparations and field work under
difficult conditions, appear to have ended that drought, through careful
application of the original principles and findings of Reich.
This author would denigrate our work in Namibia, about which only a
few details have been published (J. DeMeo: "Orop Namibia 1992-1993", Pulse
of the Planet 4:115, 1993) with some blatantly false and malicious claims:
"DeMeo has caused irreparable harm to the global environment. He simply
doesn't know - or doesn't care - anything about ecology". What a
heartbreak, that the world might learn about our important work in Africa
in this distorted manner!
Cloudbusting in California
Here, it was asserted that the CORE Network "extended the rainy
season by a month one year and 6 weeks another year". I do not recall ever
making such a comment. Even if it were true, rainy seasons in California
do not start or stop like clockwork, and frequently begin or end weeks off
the average. There also is significant difference in the average length of
the rainy season for the northern part of the state, versus the southern
part. The author of "Orgonomy Peddlers..." makes this accusation as a
prelude to another undocumented claim, that cloudbusting work was
responsible for the deaths of "a significant percentage of baby birds" in
the area around Pt. Reyes. Again, this is so vague and undocumented it
cannot be responded to.
DeMeo's 1991-1992 Cloudbusting in Israel
The author of "Orgonomy Peddlers..." asserts he has documentation
showing "numerous deaths in the region as a result of catastrophic weather"
caused by a field expedition I led to Israel in 1991-1992. How does he
reach such an alarming conclusion? There are no details. Let's review the
facts of this particular field work.
Nearly every natural weather change and strong storm claims some
lives, due to speeding cars on slick roads, or in those cases where rains
are heavy, people gambling with their lives by wading or driving through
swollen streams or rivers, swimming or surfing in heavy ocean swells and
such. Property and lives are also occasionally lost when city planners and
developers build homes or roads in dry river beds or depressions, which in
drylands can often fill with water. In the USA and Europe, there are now
increases in surface runoff and flooding associated with urban sprawl,
river and stream channelization, deforestation and related siltation of
drainage basins, such that a given quantity of rains will produce higher
river levels than in years past, when there were fewer people, more trees,
and more natural riverine landscapes. In mountain areas, deforestation and
increases in unhealthy trees, with decayed root structures, has led to an
increase in avalanches from lower slopes in areas where formerly they were
infrequent.
By contrast, drought and famine take a much greater toll. Forests
dry up and burn, farmlands wither away, animal herds are decimated,
economies collapse, and in regions of marginal subsistence living, famine
can kill millions, or drive entire nations to war over water resources (as
has been the case on many occasions in North Africa and the Middle East).
Catastrophic forest fires can also be triggered by drought, and wildlife is
decimated well before humans will starve, as humans dominate water and food
supplies.
It therefore poses a real dilemma, of when cloudbusting should be
done, and not done. If you do something, some people might be harmed. If
you do nothing - especially where a drought situation turns from mild to
severe - a major catastrophe might well occur, decimating all life,
ecological stability, and economic well-being. It is proper and right that
these questions are raised, but not through the misrepresentations given in
the "Orgonomy Peddlers..." article.
For the record, I have been privileged to participate in three
working groups of dedicated workers, one in Germany, one in Greece, and one
in the USA (J. Orgonomy, 26(2):237-247, 1992; Pulse of the Planet
3:111-115, 1991 & 4:114, 1993), with a mix of professionals and
non-professionals holding expertise in medical, therapeutic, environmental,
and atmospheric science, and years or decades of experience in orgonomy.
These issues, of when and how to undertake cloudbusting operations, are
foremost on the minds of everyone involved, and sometimes are the subject
of very pointed discussions. Whatever problems may remain in the matter of
cloudbusting, the portrayal of this work as proceeding without the input
and oversight of workers with different fields of expertise, is patently
false.
The work undertaken in Israel was followed by strong storms, and
exceeded rainfall records in many places. (J. DeMeo: "Orop Israel
1991-1992, Special Report", Orgone Biophysical Research Lab, 1992; also in
J. Orgonomy, 26(2):248-265, 1992; Pulse of the Planet 4:92-98, 1993) The
results were in fact dramatic and beyond that which was anticipated. But
it is clear that other factors were involved in the excessively high
rainfall quantities which were observed at different times. Firstly, our
work was undertaken over a 10-day period in late November 1991, at the
start of the normal rainy period, after which nothing more was done to
encourage rains. The goal was to remove the dor-barrier, on the assumption
that natural rains would then resume as the season got started. This is,
in fact, what happened. However, we did not fully anticipate that the
Israeli government would be engaging in intensive, non-stop cloudseeding
efforts from both aircraft and dozens of ground-based cloudseeding
generators, during nearly every storm-cycle which occurred during their
rainy season. Public outcry finally put an end to the cloudseeding, after
which the quantities of rainfall dramatically declined to near normal
levels. ("Orop Israel, Special Report", ibid, p.49-52)
The work in Israel was undertaken at the height of a three-year
drought, when reservoirs were at record-low levels across the eastern
Mediterranean. Recall that 1991 was before the peace talks between Arafat
and Rabin, and before the Jordanians had made peace with Israel. There was
much war-talk in the newspapers about who owned how much of the remaining
water supplies of the Jordan and Littani Rivers. We were asked to go to
Israel, and try the cloudbuster, to see if a social catastrophe could be
avoided. It required working at the edge of the Negev Desert, during a
parching drought under already-dry conditions, at a time when social
tensions were high. It was difficult and deadly serious business.
The work was successful, thankfully, and natural rainfall was
restored to the entire region for that rainy season, and the years which
followed have not seen a return to drought conditions. It was pleasing to
note that subsequent analysis of traffic accidents for Israel revealed a
decline during the rainy period, given that drivers slowed down for the
more difficult rainy and wet driving conditions. Under the more typical
dorish dry conditions, both Israeli and Arab drivers are crazy and
aggressive, speeding down roads and highways, and so the highway death toll
was higher during the dry period before cloudbusting operations.
Similarly, the agricultural productivity for the entire region surged
upward in the months after the rains, given the washing away of years of
accumulated soil salts and groundwater recharge. There were reports of old
withered orchards on the desert fringes, abandoned years ago due to lack of
water, suddenly sprouting leaves, blossoms and plump fruit.
Peace talks have since developed between the region's adversaries,
something which I cannot imagine would have been possible had not the
water-resource issue been resolved by an end to the drought conditions.
The protocols and results of that work were published years ago in summary
articles in the Journal of Orgonomy and Pulse of the Planet, with a longer
and more detailed Special Report available from OBRL, the latter of which
openly discussed problems which occurred due to excessive rains in some
areas. (citations given above) Nothing was hidden. The documents have been
available for years to anybody with the interest to investigate the
subject. The author of "Orgonomy Peddlers..." has not made a rational
evaluation of this particular work; his portrayal is unsubstantiated and
irresponsible.
Field Work of Nagy and Schleining in the Pacific Northwest
"Orgonomy Peddlers..." also attacks the work of Dr. Stephen Nagy
and Mr. John Schleining, for cloudbusting work they undertook in Oregon.
As was the case with desert ecology, the article also makes a distorted
portrayal of the issue of fire-suppression in the Pacific Northwest. There
are several factors which have been decimating trees in the Northwest. The
first is overcutting of trees for commercial lumbering (deforestation).
Two other major reasons are drought-related: insect damage and forest
fires.
With good rains and soil moisture, trees produce an
abundance of sap. This sap-abundance allows the trees to push out and
destroy burrowing insects, which during drought years can imbed themselves
under the bark and eventually kill entire stands of trees. With more dead
and dying trees, and dry understory, the danger of forest fires is
amplified. Forest fires were particularly acute in the Northwest forests
over the last decade, amplified by arson. Lightning strikes are a primary
method for ignition of forest fires, and lightning is amplified when storms
push inland from the Pacific Ocean under drought conditions. When this
happens, there is little rain and much lightning, as the storms cannot
easily break through the dorish haze-layer which characterizes drought. As
stormclouds ride up and over the dor-layer, the orgone in them is highly
irritated, and reacts in an "angry" manner, with large static potentials
building up as the energy is pushed towards stasis. The "Orgonomy
Peddlers..." article criticizes Nagy and Schleining for having done
something helpful, to slow down or stop forest fires, and describes their
work as "blatant disruption". This is an inaccurate and false portrayal.
There is an important issue about the long-term consequences of
fire suppression, which can lead to a build-up of combustible materials in
the lower story of the forest, and from there to forest fires of a
catastrophic dimension. The reader may recall the 1989 fire at Yellowstone
Park which turned catastrophic when the National Park Service applied the
ideas of "natural burning" in as blind and dogmatic a manner as they
previously did regarding "fire suppression". In the Pacific Northwest, a
number of those catastrophic fires had occurred over the last decade, and
this is precisely why Schleining and Nagy were prompted to do something
constructive and helpful about the situation.
As to the article's accusation that they worked outside of the
normal rainy season, there is nothing I know of which suggests forests
suffer when occasional unseasonal rains occur, and the Pacific Northwest
has rains in many areas which continue throughout the summer, though with a
diminished frequency and quantity. I cannot comment about this allegation
without a citation to the actual article, such that the facts and context
can be reviewed. Another error in the article: Nagy and Schleining did not
ever work together as a team, but rather in different areas on different
operations. In his criticism on this issue of forests, the article makes
even more gargantuan leaps of logic, that the suppression of lightning and
increases in rains following cloudbusting is somehow going to affect the
nitrogen balance in the atmosphere and soils. The evidence is clear that
the forests were suffering from overcutting, insect damage, insufficient
water and forest fires, and not from any imagined "insufficient nitrogen".
The section concludes with a final malicious misrepresentation: "...this
application of the cloudbuster, far from benefiting the environment,
amounts to mere vandalism of Oregon's forests".
Ecology and Government Control
The "Orgonomy Peddlers..." article is ended with several pages
emphasizing needed oversight of cloudbusting by some kind of outside
authority. He mentions the National Environmental Policy Act and the use
of Environmental Impact Statements, the Endangered Species Act, and
Wilderness Act, etc. These laws are all important, and have a rational
place in society. Whether or not they are applicable to the question of
cosmic orgone engineering is open to debate. There are many important
issues here. But are these laws discussed in a rational way?
The author writes "The authorities, of course, make no effort to
enforce such laws in the case of cloudbusting because they regard it as
ineffective. It is extremely hypocritical to take advantage of their
disbelief to violate laws with impunity while simultaneously denouncing
them for their refusal to believe in the cloudbuster's effectiveness."
These loaded sentences contain several false assertions, and hide a bit of
the author's history. First, neither I nor any of my associates have never
made any blanket condemnation of "authority". I, we, openly criticize and
hold responsible specific persons and/or organizations for the specific
things they do. Like the FDA for burning Reich's books, and the Skeptics
groups for publishing smear articles against Reich. I do in fact believe
that there are authorities, even authorities in government, and have only
minor criticisms of the government organizations dealing with environmental
issues, none of which has anything to do with cloudbusting. Secondly,
neither I nor my associates "violate laws with impunity". This accusation
is based upon nothing of fact.
The hidden "author history" I refer to, is the fact that that
author of this article, Mr. Joel Carlinsky, has for many years been writing
articles portraying Reich as a madman, and cloudbusting as "fraudulent
rainmaking" (again, documentation given below). He has repeatedly attacked
the scientific basis of Reich's work, including cloudbusting and my own
corroborating work as well, often in letters and documents sent to various
governmental authorities, feeding whatever pre-existing suspicions and
prejudices they had about Reich and orgonomy. If cloudbusting and other
aspects of Reich's work (ie, the accumulator) are considered madness by
government bureaucrats, you can thank Mr. Carlinsky and friends for helping
to create such a social atmosphere. My own efforts have always been in the
opposite direction, to bring Reich's work out into the open, in a legal and
legitimate way, for open use and discussion and application by both
professionals and ordinary people. For the record, for many years I kept
the NOAA Atmospheric Programs Office informed of all cloudbusting
operations, until the time came when I discovered they were ignoring and
discarding the documentation I had been sending to them, and additionally
spreading disinformation about my work to third parties.
Is the Author's Behavior Relevant?
The author of "Orgonomy Peddlers..." closes his article with a
preemptive attempt to evade the significance of, and responsibility for his
own past writings and conduct: "In the past, Dr. DeMeo and his friends have
responded to criticisms by name-calling and personal attacks on the alleged
motivations, affiliations, character, psychiatric condition, lifestyle,
criminal history, and previous publications of the critic, all of which are
totally irrelevant." Totally irrelevant, indeed! They are very much
relevant, insofar as they demonstrate an ongoing pattern of behavior. This
pattern has continued right up into the present, without any hint of
change. Let's take a look at what the author has been doing and writing.
His past behavior is consistent with his current actions.
II. History of Joel Carlinsky's Attacks and Smears
For around 20 years Mr. Carlinsky has written numerous articles,
flyers, and letters focused upon the subject of orgonomy, but none of them
constitute substantive work or research on the subject. His writes things
which attack and distort Reich's life and work, and the science of
orgonomy, and also acts as informer to "skeptics groups" and other
organizations which have similarly attacked orgonomy. (Ie., CSICOP:
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal;
publisher of "Skeptical Inquirer" magazine and central organizing
"skeptics" group, with a long history of attacking Reich and orgonomy) He
is successful also in portraying himself as a "friend of Reich", a position
which he abuses solely for the purpose of attacking those few research
scientists who are doing substantive work in orgonomy and replicating
Reich's controversial findings. In either role, the common functioning
principle of his conduct is to attack the substantive basis of research
verifying and supporting Reich's findings: depending upon the audience, he
shifts from attacking Reich, to attacking only Reich's contemporary
followers. Below is presented a very abbreviated sample from a longer
12-page listing, of some of his activities. Observe the oscillation between
"Carlinsky the skeptic" and "Carlinsky the Reichian", and the constant
turning of fact, truth, and events upside-down:
* April 1981: Carlinsky convicted for burglary of the Wilhelm Reich
Museum. ("WR Museum Newsletter", Fall 1980)
* May 1988: Carlinsky assists Alice Earl to write an article for
Peer Advocate Newsletter, a psychiatric-reform group: "Who or What, Pray
Tell, is the So-Called 'College' of Orgonomy!?", which criticizes the
American College of Orgonomy (ACO), and portrays all of orgonomy as
madness. "crackpot doctors living in their make-believe world of
DOR-busters (DOR = Deadly Orgonomic Radiation) and other psychiatric
fantasies."
* Summer 1988: Carlinsky assists Martin Gardner with his article in
Skeptical Inquirer (Vol.13, p.26-30, 1988) "Reich the Rainmaker: The Orgone
Obsession", which portrays all of Reich's work and orgonomy as fraud,
medical quackery and madness, with a specific focus upon myself and the
ACO. Gardner identifies Carlinsky as "someone" who sent him articles, and
Carlinsky later admitted to me that he helped Gardner. Around that same
time, an Iowa skeptics group printed a derogatory article "Professor at UNI
Supports Orgone Energy for Drought Relief". (ISRAP Newsletter, Vol.2, No.3,
Summer 1988, p.1-2.) I was then teaching at University of Northern Iowa.
* Sept. 1989: Article in "Animals' Agenda" magazine (p.20-21)
discusses the arrest of Earth First! founder Dave Foreman, on charges of
conspiracy to damage power lines serving an Arizona nuclear power plant.
The article reported a $2 million FBI disinformation campaign aimed at
Earth First!, with inflammatory letters, etc., and the identification of
two possible FBI agents provocateur, one of whom was "Joel Karlinski"(sic).
The article reported: "Karlinski approached at least two Animals' Agenda
readers at [an Earth First!] seminar, trying to recruit people to help him
'take out every nuclear power reactor on the east coast' in a plot
strikingly similar to the one revealed in Arizona. Karlinski also
solicited interest in other illegal activities that could have injured
people, and was rebuked by... Foreman. Some time later, Karlinski told
Earth First! newspaper editor John Davis that he was...duped. He has not
been heard from since."
* 14 May 1990: Carlinsky writes an unsolicited letter to me, saying
he has reported me to IRS, postal inspectors, FAA, environmental groups,
and other organizations for "your clumsy, incompetent, irresponsible misuse
of the cloudbuster for your egotistical megalomaniacal self-agrandizing
obcession (sic) of vindicating Reich... " etc. "You must be stopped."
Many similar letters follow over the years.
* Fall 1990, "New York Skeptic", newsletter of the New York Area
Skeptics (CSICOP affiliate), publishes Carlinsky's article "Orgonomy in New
Jersey". The article attacks the ACO, me, Reich and orgonomy: "In short,
thousands of people are being victimized by orgonomists. Medical quackery
and fraudulent rain-making machines are only part of it. I urge
investigation and exposure to whatever degree possible. Contact me for
more information."
* 19 Aug. 1990: Carlinsky writes an unsolicited confessional letter
to me, stating: "On April 3, 1974 I conducted an operation which triggered
an unprecidented (sic) rash of tornados across the mid-west, destroying the
town of Xenia, Ohio and killing 330 people. I then sent Dr. Blasband an
extortion note demanding $50,000 ransom to not do it again. He wrote a
letter to NOAA warning them about my 'criminal intent' and an article in
the Journal of Orgonomy which refered to me as 'dangerously mad'.
Unfortunately, events in my personal life made it impossible to carry out
the threat. In the 1970s I attempted to wipe out Boston with a downtown
oranur reaction... In Australia I caused a storm which devastated
Queensland's sugarcane harvest and sank several ships. I am quite proud of
my record in orgonomy. You see, my goals really are different from yours."
* 30 Aug. 1990: Carlinsky writes a short note to James DeMeo:
"Thought you'd like to know what I've been you (sic) to lately." Enclosed
with the note is a shocking front-page newspaper article from the Chicago
Sun-Times (20 Aug. 1990): "Winds of Fury: Joliet area tornadoes kill 20,
injure 300".
* 23 March 1991, Carlinsky plagiarized part of my OROP Arizona
report and claimed it as his own work, for his own "Blue Sky" cloudbusting
company, adding his own fund-raising cover letter. He writes to me: "Thank
you very much for your help in establishing my credibility." One person
subsequently wrote to me: "he [Carlinsky] sent me a prospectus for his
company... which outlines his theories and business plans... I do not
understand why you could not work together when there is so much to be done
in this critically important area?"
* May 1991: Carlinsky provided materials on cloudbusting to T. J.
Henderson, head of Atmospherics Incorporated (one of the world's largest
cloudseeding companies) and former editor of the Journal of Weather
Modification (published by the Weather Modification Association).
Henderson presented a paper on "The Orgone Question" to a closed executive
session at the Annual Conference of the Weather Modification Association,
in Fresno, California. Based upon Carlinsky's materials, Henderson charged
"DeMeo is not qualified with respect to scientific issues", but backed down
when I openly confronted him and the Association officers about the matter.
California was then spending millions to fund cloudseeders, whose business
had increased during the prolonged drought.
* Dec. 1991: Carlinsky fabricates a fake book cover and mails it
around: "The Emperor's New Clothes: The College of Orgonomy and the Cult
of Wilhelm Reich, by Joel Carlinsky and Richard Morrock, Prometheus Press."
Prometheus Books (a real company affiliated with the CSICOP organization)
later denies any such forthcoming
publication, but an article by Richard Morrock does shortly appear
thereafter attacking Reich, orgonomy, and the ACO specifically, in the
Skeptical Inquirer. Interestingly, I then receive an unsolicited letter
from CSICOP, the parent organization for Skeptical Inquirer, denying any
association with Joel Carlinsky, or responsibility for any of his
activities.
* Early 1994: Carlinsky sends smear letters attacking and
distorting my work to the American Association for the Advancement of
Science (AAAS), at the same time I am organizing a major Symposia on
"Wilhelm Reich's Discoveries: A Scientific Re-Appraisal", which will bring
together a dozen scientists to speak about their work corroborating Reich.
The smear letters are then abused by an academic member of the San Diego
Skeptics Society, who is also on the AAAS review committee. Pre-existing
prejudices against Reich are amplified into a major controversy. The
Symposia is cancelled.
* Summer 1994: Joel Carlinsky and Richard Morrock write articles
for "Skeptic" magazine (Vol.2, No.3, 1994). Carlinsky's article, titled
"Epigones of Orgonomy: The Incredible History of Wilhelm Reich and his
Followers" (p.90-92), subjects orgone energy, orgone therapy, the
cloudbuster and orgonomy to sarcastic ridicule. His article made
widespread misrepresentations of people's work, and attacked the ACO, CORE
Network, Flatland Books, German orgonomy groups, and portrayed Reich as
paranoid. Morrock's article,"Pseudo-Psychotherapy: UFOs, Cloudbusters,
Conspiracies and Paranoia in Wilhelm Reich's Psychotherapy".(p.93-95), also
sarcastically attacked the very basis of Reich's sex-economic and orgone
biophysics.
* Mid-1995: Carlinsky assists the author of a book attacking
natural healing methods, by a major publisher, with disinformation about
Reich's biophysical work. The book carries a derogatory entry: "Reich
blood test: Pseudodiagnostic component of orgonomic medicine, the
brainchild of...Reich." The entry misinforms the reader that medical
orgonomists apply orgone-charged water to patients, and use the orgone
field meter and vacor tube for "pseudodiagnosis." Carlinsky writes to me,
with a copy of the book entry, saying: "Jim, several authors in the medical
field are now aware of me as a consultant on orgonomy... I thought you
would like to see this sample... Hopefully it will be read by the F.D.A."
* Mid-late 1995: Carlinsky posts an announcement on the Global
Internet: "Cloudbuster for Sale"
* Late 1995: Carlinsky publishes an article in a pornographic
magazine, "EDIOS: The primary forum of sexual-expression. Everyone has the
right to be heard!" The article is titled "Orgone Therapy and Mind
Control: Right-Wing Cult or CIA Front?" It portrays Reich as genius, but
all his modern advocates and followers are cultists or CIA agents. Aside
from the craziness of the article itself, it associates Reich's name and
work with sleazy pornography.
* Jan. 1996: Carlinsky writes another article "(Or)gone but not
forgotten: The legacy of Wilhelm Reich lives on in his modern followers".
This article, which appears to have been published in a skeptics newsletter
(Carlinsky sent me an unsolicited xerox which did not reproduce the
source), speaks about "Wilhelm Reich's dubious legacy". It also attacks me
for my cloudbusting work, and describes my institute as a "New Age Cult",
with me as an orgonomic "Rajneesh" lording over a collection of Reich
devotees.
* Jan. 1996: Carlinsky circulates "Orgonomy Peddlers, Cloudbusting
and the Environment" in the postal mails, and with help from others, has it
posted on the global Internet.
Throughout this period, well in addition to the above events and
activities, Carlinsky continued to send unsolicited libelous hate-mail,
some containing serious threats, to me, members of my family, my friends,
my work associates, universities where I taught and to editors who
published my articles. Nobody took the materials seriously, for they were
so obviously transparent as hate-mail, but I was forced to contact the
police on several occasions, to insure the safety of my home. Here is a
characteristic ranting quote from one letter sent to a professional member
of the OBRL Advisory Board: "Due to DeMeo's persistent attacks on wildlife
and natural ecosystems with the Reich Cloudbuster I must regard any person
or group that associates with him or provides him a platform as an enemy of
earth to be dealt with accordingly... !"
The above points and quotes surely must speak for themselves. My file of
unsolicited Carlinsky materials is now about a foot thick, filled with more
material than I can easily summarize.
III. The Emotional Plague, and Those Who Assist It
Mechanism of the Emotional Plague
This entire incident is a good example of what Reich called the
emotional plague, whereby the truth is turned upside-down and the most
destructive elements of neurotic behavior are embraced by at least a few
eagerly susceptible people. The emotional plague character, or pestilent
character, lives for the willful deception of the truth, but masquerades
their activities as "sympathetic criticism", "revelation" of scandal,
"anti-authoritarianism", "free speech", etc. Their real intent, however,
is to misrepresent and destroy that which is more alive and freely-moving
than themselves. The pestilent character can only succeed in this mission
when others help to spread the poison, or when others quietly sit back and
say or do nothing in the face of plague behavior. Some of the plague's
major weapons against life are gossip and innuendo, usually of a sexual
nature, but not always so. But they must select an emotionally-charged
issue to be successful. The pestilent character knows that it takes a
little bit of truth to catch the interest of the gossip-hungry listener, to
which is added some scandal or "dangerous revelation" whereupon anxiety and
suspicion are created in the listener about some third party. When done in
a group setting, the pestilent character can easily mobilize the latent
anger of the group, and direct it towards the third party, who is blamed
for all kinds of things. Usually, this third party is some innocent victim
whose only crime is to have inadvertently provoked the immobilized
structure of the pestilent character.
A person can be an actual functioning plague character who is
almost completely blocked genitally. Their energy level is quite high, but
due to the blocking are thwarted in their efforts to engage in fulfilling
and productive work. More commonly, an individual can be more emotionally
mobile, but nevertheless susceptible to temporary infections or flare-ups
of plague behavior. It is basically a matter of emotional health, not a
term of derision, and should be viewed similar to having the flu or other
epidemic disease. One can be temporarily infected, and get over it. Or
one can be more deeply infected, constantly infecting others with poisonous
ways of emotional living. Generally, plague characters surround themselves
with others who are more mobile, capable of actually doing some kind of
work, but who are effectively recruited in their work to the goals and
directions of the central plague character. There are many social
expressions of organized emotional plague, the largest of which are found
in organized religion and political movements. But expressions can also
appear in much smaller group settings. That is what has in fact occurred
in the present instance.
Here are a few additional points about the emotional plague,
originally described by Reich.
1) The stated motivations for the actions of the plague are never
the real motivations. Usually, the real motivation is 180-degrees opposite
to what is stated.
2) No lie is too big for the plague, and the big lie is most
effective when concealed under a layer of half-truths.
3) The plague attacks that which give it the most excitement. Like
the Grand Inquisitors of the Medieval Church, celibate anti-sex priests
all, who tortured and butchered millions of women throughout Europe. Or
the contemporary preacher, who thumps the bible with outrage at the thought
of young people sleeping together.
4) The plague wants to kill and destroy that which it cannot
possibly have for itself, or that which it desires to be, but cannot.
How does the plague accomplish its task? Usually by introducing
itself into already-established working situations, and then by introducing
slander and gossip which creates turmoil and division. The pestilent
character firstly does what is necessary to remove the more functional and
independent individuals within its circle of influence. Later, they work
their way into positions of power and political authority over the work of
others, from where they have an advantage point for an even greater and
more widespread destructive influence.
Let's quote Reich, whose descriptions of the plague are so germane
to this instance one would think he had written these paragraphs with
forethought of this particular situation:
"The pestilent character... uses underhanded slander and defamation
in his fight against life and truth. He finds for his well-hidden actions
a perfect setting, all ready to be misused and distorted. He does not have
to build any new organization to achieve his ends. All he needs to do is
to use the existing channels for his underhanded poisoning of public
affairs.
"...the pestilent character enters the public scene as the
representative of irrationalism, slander, underhandedness, character
assassination, gossip and all other actions which are summarily called
Emotional Plague. We know already that the emotional plague has nothing
constructive to offer, serves no purpose, and that it satisfies no basic
human needs, except those of the emotionally sick. Unfortunately, due to
the prevailing biopathic structure of man in general, the emotional plague
reigns over the public scene and has succeeded, in its organized form, in
bringing human society to the brink of the abyss. ...
"The first thing to note is the way the pestilent character
interlopes himself and integrates his irrational activity with the rational
set-up: It is what the pioneer, the public at large, and the social
administrator have in common with the pestilent character. ...
"The pestilent character is usually a very active, mobile emotional
structure; his mobility, however, is short-circuited, as it were, in such a
manner that all splendid ideas and good intentions somehow evaporate before
they can concentrate enough to produce lasting results. This is a serious
work disturbance which gains importance through the fact that the pestilent
character most likely will turn out to be an "abortive genius". ...
"If, now, such a character joins a peaceful, hard-working group of
people, ... his inner frustrations will sooner or later drive him to do
underhanded mischief. ...
"A little slander, well placed, excellently formulated, will,
without great effort, kill many an important truth right away in its
infancy or it will deprive it of social effectiveness if it had the
strength to mature under such social pathology. The public will not act or
render any help to the truth. It will remain "sitting" silently and watch
helplessly or even gloatingly any crucifixion of innocent souls. ...
"How could such ridiculous nuisance get into this world, in the
first place, and how could it, undisturbed, devastate human organizations
of work and peace for ages?
"However tough such problems may be to solve, we cannot ever expect
to even start solving them unless we free ourselves from the nuisance
interference with serious human work exerted by the pestilent character. It
is necessary to first achieve a certain amount of safety in doing the job
of finding answers to questions of living life."
(W. Reich:"Truth Versus Modju", Orgone Energy Bulletin, 4:162-170, July 1952; also see section on "Emotional Plague" in: W. Reich: Selected Writings, Farrar, Straus &
Giroux, 1973, p.467-513; W. Reich, Character Analysis, Farrar, Straus &
Giroux, 1961, p.504-539. W. Reich, The Murder of Christ, Farrar, Straus &
Giroux, 1971.)
"Freedom of speech and press are usually and unconsciously being
misinterpreted in the sense that irrationalism should have the same freedom
of expression as rationalism, and that the lie should have the same freedom
of speech as the truth. This misconception of freedom has led the European
world [of c.1940] into the disaster because the present human character
structure is more afraid of the truth than of the lie, and more inclined to
irrational than to rational reactions. If real peace and democracy should
have a chance of growth, I believe, a thorough distinction between rational
and irrational, truthful and deceitful human action and expression should
be made, and that freedom of speech should not be granted to fascist lie
and irrationalism, wherever and by whomever it is expressed." (W. Reich,
letter to R. Baldwin of the American Civil Liberties Union, 26 July 1948,
from "Red Thread of a Conspiracy")
To paraphrase Reich: Why does the Big Lie have so many supporters
and hungry listeners, carried forward as in a big parade, while the Truth
must come limping behind, on crutches, panting with it tongue out!
The Present Situation on the Global Internet
Some weeks ago, I received a long posting (e-mail letter) from Mr.
Jamerling Ogg informing me that he had received an article in the mails
from Carlinsky on "Orgonomy Peddlers...", and that he had decided to post
the article on his Internet Web Page, which is known as the Public
Orgonomic Research Exchange (PORE). That action would have made
Carlinsky's article readily available around the world, as if posted on a
bulletin board which could be read from any computer terminal connected to
the Internet, on a permanent basis, allowing it to be repeatedly copied and
spread. Mr. Ogg sent me a copy of the article, along with his own attached
"editorial" wherein he actually repeated and amplified many of Carlinsky's
more serious accusations, but without any supporting evidence. I was
totally shocked by this, as Ogg already had been given documentation about
Carlinsky's personal history. Unfortunately, Ogg did not appear concerned
about the misrepresentations in the article, or how the Internet posting
would affect me personally, or the effects it might have upon my work. Ogg
acknowledged that Carlinsky was a self-confessed liar, that he had not
himself read most of my own writings on these subjects, that many of the
points in the "Orgonomy Peddlers..." article were false, but he announced
to me, incredibly, that he would post it on his web site anyway.
I strongly objected, did not want to spend time writing a detailed
rebuttal, and quite legitimately warned him, to protect myself and work
from blatant libel and character assassination. When several friends came
to my defense, he finally reconsidered and backed down. By that time,
however, so much good will and openness had been given to Mr. Carlinsky,
that a third party posted his materials on the Orgonomy Mailing List (OML),
a computer-linked global Internet discussion group, and probably have since
been circulated through the global Internet even more widely. Afterward, a
few others on the OML began to make extended positive commentary about
Carlinsky's assertions and charges, amplifying them irresponsibly, adding
in other malicious opinions, and so forth. It was an awful spectacle, what
Reich called an "emotional chain-reaction". Only then did I write this
necessary rebuttal.
[Since around 1997, a new web page has appeared at Geocities, wherein all the Carlinsky smears and the most venemous of the attack letters posted on the OML, are gathered together in a special selection -- the source codes, keywords list and formatting for this page are identical to what formerly existed on a special "anti-DeMeo" page at PORE, so Mr. Ogg appears to be responsible, hiding his role. See the Note of Caution About "PORE" for more details. The "Orgonomy Peddlers..." article also was posted at the KeelyNet web site, with an enthusiastic endorsement by organizers Chuck Henderson and Jerry Decker, who also were fully informed about Carlinsky's past attacks against orgonomy and the followers of Reich. Mr. Carlinsky openly endorses PORE at the bottom of this posted version, in apparent thanks for the assistance offered to him by Mr. Ogg.]
Closure
I will not waste further time responding to any additional smears,
nor in any "talky-talk" chit-chat about this material now circulating
through the Internet. If the reader has not the time and energy to devote
to finding and reading thoroughly all the pertinent publications on this
issue, publications which are absolutely essential for the formation of an
opinion, then I surely do not have the time for the impossible task of
"educating" the uneducable.
A new web site is now developed for my Institute, the Orgone
Biophysical Research Laboratory, which will present a lot of information
for those who are unfamiliar with my work and publications. In the
meantime, any reader wanting to obtain copies of my writings and
publications can get a listing of the pertinent literature by sending their
mailing address. Materials will then be sent by postal mails. Most of my
experimental desert-greening operations have been written up in published
protocols, and these are available for purchase and objective review. Our
research journal, "Pulse of the Planet" (four issues since 1989), contains
some of the most exciting new material and information verifying,
supporting and extending Reich's discoveries. My book "The Orgone
Accumulator Handbook" has become more widely read and translated into
different languages, with other new books devoted to Reich and orgonomy
(confirming and supporting his findings) recently taken up by major
publishers. Our new Research and Educational Center in Ashland, Oregon
will present this year four new public Seminars on the subject of Reich's
work, with guest lectures by professionals with decades of dedication and
experience in orgonomy. All these publications and public events are
available for any serious person to review and attend (though provocateurs
will not be tolerated!). It is very pleasing to see this work develop and
expand, without major publicity and no propaganda whatsoever. Interest in
Reich's work is slowly but steadily growing, like the slow steady growth of
an Oak tree. Now, this is the real reason why there are so many malicious
attacks against Reich's work, and my work.
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