Ben wrote:
> While I applaud how well alternative medicine has done in the last 10 years,
> I'm afraid that quite a few of the holistic practitioners I've met up with
> are almost as tied to profit as the medical doctors.
[..]
>
> I'd be interested to hear what others have to say on this subject.  Perhaps
> I'm a little out of line, or too cynical, or both.  But my gut feeling tells
> me that many holistic practitioners are following in the footsteps of the
> pill-pushing western medicine.  For the time being, I have traded my massage
> therapy for yoga, which I can do at my own leisure, without someone pushing
> their pills down my throat.

I think it partly boils down to trying to make a living in our
modern capitialistic era. Look at Viktoras, with his Survival
book claiming that we needed to move back to living off of
the land, the communal love will get us by, setting aside land
in Costa Rica, etc. I don't think that he made a very good living
out of simply lecturing, and his first attempts at his own health
resorts (excluding Hippocrates) were apparently less than successful.
Now, he appears to be doing well promoting blue green algae and
enzymes - he now has a concrete product to make a buck on, his
equivalent to the quick fix "pill". Yet, he is still soliciting
funding for his newest health resort venture. Dick Gregory, who used to
be a big promoter of raw vegan foods and fasting, has toned his
message down to recommending cooked vegetarian foods last I heard,
and has been promoting his "Bahamian Diet" products as well,
a far cry from what he preached in his leave the cooking to Mother
Nature book, and his introductions in other raw food books.
T.C Fry financial escipades have been made well known - how many
of his periodic publications have folded, how many of his ventures
have failed financially.  Victoria Bidwell apparently stuggled for
years trying to sell books and magazines on Shelton and NH, before
turning to Cell Tech to make a living as yet another Blue Green Algae
marketer. Even Rev. Malkmus promotes Barley Green supplements and
sells appliances like juicers, I believe.

My point is that it appears to be hard to make a living simply lecturing
and selling books on alternative living and diets in this capitialistic
society without resorting to time proven capitialistic gimmicks. At
least in the US, consumption of specific products and convience services
appears to be a more compelling economic force than intangible lessions
and advice on living. I would guess that very few have been able to make
a reasonable living trying to improve the lives of others without some
form of concrete marketing materials.

I've heard the saying that you should do what you want in life,
and the money will follow. Although it sounds good, I'm not
convinced that it holds true for a great number in this day
and time in the long run. Yeah, call me cynical too. At times,
I would like to throw my computer through a window, move to
a paradise in the tropics, and live off the land for the rest
of my days, but the track record of those who have advocated/
attempted this appears dismall to me at best.

Regards,

David
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