Wild Wild Country

rasāsvāda wrote:(the original series name i was intending to watch is forensic files)

I ended up watching all 6 episodes of it. A must watch. I was forever conflicted whether to commend her chutzpah, agree with their logic, wonder how it would have turned out if they were wiser and not so much in your face so soon, and most importantly, cringe at her criminality.

Looks like initially they were just brazen but followed the laws. After being bombed and pushed a lot, they turned criminal. But it's hard to tell if they would have turned criminal regardless, and if the gut instincts of the locals was right about them.

At the same time, having watched the republican politics here for so long, this is yet another view into that small town white conservative Christian republican, and their super low tolerance for anything that doesn't align with them. How they would brag about say, owning a gun, but if you acquired more guns than them, they would cry how your intentions are no good. How they would complain about others bending laws, but would do the same things with a great sense of self righteousness. They will first try to see if you are breaking the law, but if you are not, they begin raising the questions if you are still right... At the same time, you do feel for them once things went out of hands.

All in all, they were evenly matched it seems, and maybe that's why the name wild wild country.

side note on how while these people fought so much in the US, they had to flee India. makes you again be in awe of the power of Indira Gandhi all over again (whether it's good or bad). I wonder if Osho would have moved back to India in 1985 if she was still alive.

silvermani wrote:Anand Sheela is dynamite! She is still energetic and zestful. Ballsy lady, obviously unpalatable to American sensibilities. Rajneesh barely lived 3-4 years after she left. About her and the org's in your face style - that was their calling card and USP. You live by the sword, you die by the sword as well. I wonder how the org amassed huge amounts of wealth. Was it all via donations from rich westerners, or was someone using the org as a front to launder cash, move drugs around, etc? Unlike the Georgetown cult and David Koresh's cult, Rajneeshis didn't seem to be a doom and gloom cult. They were just continuing the free love theme of the 60s. If the leader and his core group were white, I think the group may have survived much longer.