What if Gaia were Red State?

It occurred to me the other day listening to Darkness Radio and some nice woman was prattling on about essential oils, Tibetan chants, UFOs and something called the Holy Grail Vortex Invocation, that New Agers assume Gaia is a leftie and they are in tune with "her." What an interesting assumption! It's not unlike the claims the left ridicules when the right wingers claim god is on "our" side. I picture that god as a kind of wrathful Jehovah-Zeus, a tribal god who takes sides in petty human disputes over land and philosophies. Fast forward to the modern concept of Gaia. She's a hippie, like people only if they act more like primitives (sustainable farming et al) but dislikes the whole notion of advanced civilization. By taking hallucinogenic drugs "she" provides (see the whole 2012 disaster school) "we" can see her intentions (basically treating us like a virus except maybe the really really cool ones) and get in tune with them. This New Age Gaia can clearly be wrathful like the gods of old (many natural disasters are attributed to the Revenge of Gaia), targeting primarily Western Man's hubris to use her resources to create a virtual Tower of Babel (G-20 + Internet). Western "man" should be punished.
That's when it occurred to me what if god were Red State? The easy answer would be "he" would be Jehovah or Zeus as mentioned above. But it's also possible he's more a prankster or loki, someone who doesn't care so much about the OUTCOME (quasi-sustainable hobbit-like communities as in Zardoz) as in making sure he's entertained in the process. If Red State Gaia was a local tribal god, it would make sense that there were many competing tribal gods fighting up there in the ethers. Not impossible. But if he were a 'god of earth' then he'd have to rise above partisanship (doing a better job of it than the hippie-loving Gaia), but what would he be about? What would be his theme?
EXCERPT FROM CORMAC MCCARTHY'S BLOOD MERIDIAN:
"It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner. That is the way it was and will be. That way and not some other way. ...My trade? Certainly. What is my trade? War. War is your trade. Is it not? And it ain't yours? Mine too. Very much so. What about all them notebooks and bones and stuff? All other trades are contained in that of war. Is that why war endures? No. It endures because young men love it and old men love it in them. Those that fought, those that did not. That's your notion. The judge smiled. Men are born for games. Nothing else. Every child knows that play is nobler than work. He knows too that the worth or merit of a game ..."
To the Judge (main character of Blood Meridian) God is war, god loves war, god loves bloodshed. God is not about "morals" or goodness, but blood. Blood shedding, blood giving life.
I can see why someone would hope that the New Age goddess is Gaia. This other one is too fucking scary!

Creative Parents Love their Kids to Death

I met these people tonight. Upscale, creative, living in exurbia. Love their kids. To death. They sent their two girls to an arts high school, then the older one to an expensive art school. She graduated last year. I saw her art online. It's not bad. Whatever that means. Can't find any work (duh) and moved home. Works as a waitress now. Thinking about moving to Brooklyn or Santa Fe. I had the strangest feeling, watching her parents. They seemed stunned. Why? That their willingness to spend on education and "creativity" yielded nothing for their daughter? We (creative parents) like to think we are doing the best thing we can for our kids when we encourage "creativity." We encourage them to write and paint and make music, we accept how little influence they get from their teachers that there is a world "out there" that doesn't have "openings" for creative young people. Not that creativity isn't important. It's needed everyone. Business needs it, even government needs it. But there are not "jobs" for artists and writers and filmmakers. Even when they get "practical" (web design, illustration) they are positioning themselves for nothing. Why is this so?
One thought is that it's a by-product of the decline in religion. We have substituted creativity for religion (the best that is in all of us, honed as it exits). That's part of it. But here's the awful thought. If we really loved our children as passionately as we THINK we love our children, why would we do this to them? Why wouldn't we prepare them better for "the world out there"? Is it our own delusion that they can break through the odds? Or is it a kind of (yes, boomer) selfishness. We like the idea of being parents that encourage creativity. Teaching kids the world is hard is no fun. And thankless. When we delude ourselves by spending all this money (you see we care, we spend money!) aren't we really setting them up for disappointment? The big crash. Sure we can blame it on the economy (recession), whatever. But it's been true before the recession; the recession just makes it more visible because the crap jobs they can get are worse than the ones they could get before. Entry level positions in firms they don't want to work for but will end up working for. Benefits, et al.
It's sad really to wonder if we really love our children as much as we think we do. Maybe we're lazier and more self indulgent than we want to see.
Ouch.