by Charly Mann

WARNING: The following story is not true. It is a myth but it may have allegorical significance.

There were once two great countries that bordered one another. Both had long histories of democratic government and capitalist economies. Each had recently elected intelligent and charismatic men to be their presidents, and each were experiencing the worst economic downturn in more than eighty years.

In the first country, Rainbowland, the new President introduced many benevolent sounding programs which he said would fix the country’s economic crisis. First, he said that even though the country had a huge national deficit, he would double or even triple it, if needed, to fix the economy. This meant that the national debt would soon be about $45,000 per citizen. The President said that most of this borrowed money would be used to bail out car companies, banks, and insurance companies that had been poorly run and were the primary cause of the country’s economic problems.

The other country was called Frankland, and its new leader faced the same economic problems as neighboring Rainbowland. This leader told his people that his economic rescue plan called for citizens to make fundamental ecomonic and personal changes in their own lives in order to solve the economic crisis. He said the best way for his country to grow economically was to get out of debt, and this meant the government had to spend far less and the people had to save much more. The first incentive under his plan would allow people to deduct money they saved or invested from their income taxes. Second, he said that the nation’s staggering numbers of babies born out of wedlock and single parent families were the primary cause for his nation's poverty. He said this group was costing the government $130 billion in federal assistance. His program would provide economic incentives for women to wait until they were married to have children and to discourage divorce. His plan would reward couples who took a 100-hour compatibility and marriage fundamentals course with a $1,000 tax credit each year that they stayed married. He also said men whose DNA proved they fathered a child out of wedlock would have to contribute 20% of their net pay to the care of the child for 22 years if they chose not to marry the mother.

Finally, the President of Frankland stated that spiraling health care costs were a leading cause of the nation's economic meltdown, because they made average labor costs much higher than the rest of the world. He said medical costs were now averaging $11,000 per citizen each year, and would soon be 20% of the nation's GDP. In order to curb this, his plan would provide incentives for people to live a healthy lifestyle. 75% of the nation's health care costs, he said, were used to provide care for people with heart disease, diabetes, prostate cancer, breast cancer and obesity. He stated that all of these diseases were largely preventable by eating a healthy diet and exercising properly. Each year, every citizen of Frankland over the age of seven would be required to take a physical and attend a one hour class on healthy eating and exercise. Citizens who kept their weight within 5% of the optimal range and scored well for their age on a physical fitness test would receive free health care. Citizens who failed these standards would be responsible for their health care, which could cost as much as $30,000 a year depending on how out of shape and obese they were.

The origin of this story is somewhat of a mystery. Is it a meaningless jumble of ideas or is it a perfect allegorical expression of certain current events?

I attended the 11th and 12th grade at Villa Park High School which is located in the very small town of Villa Park, California. Villa Park is next to the city of Orange, and residents of that town made up the majority of the school's student body.

This is Joe Quartucci the chemistry teacher at Villa Park High School in 1968. He was a brilliant and high affable instructor. His Chemistry class was the most challenging course I ever took in my life. Once I got an "A" in that class I knew I could do anything.

This is Gary Stokes an English teacher at Villa Park High School in 1968 . He was the most inspiring teacher I have ever had.

Villa Park is the most conservative town in California with 66% of its residents being registered Republicans, while only 17% are Democrats. When I was a student at Villa Park in 1968 I was probably the most liberal member of the student body. Today several people who know me well describe me as a Libertarian-Republican.

Here is my friend Michael Chorowicz from his senior photo at Villa Park High School in 1968. Michael had a great car, and often drove me into Los Angles in the evenings to enjoy the delights of the new counter-culture. Michael's father owned a great men's clothing store at South Coast Plaza.

This is Jeff Succop (Jeffrey Paul Succop). He was probably my best friend at Villa Park High School in 1968. He was President of the Math Club that year also. Jeff never took off his dark glasses, and was probably the first American to think Eric Clapton was God. He and I often drove into Los Angles in the evening.  He had an immaculate yellow 1967 Camero. In 1971 Jeff and I drove from Villa Park to North Carolina, where I was living, in less than 36 hours.

In 1968 the terms Hippie and Flower Power were being ascribed to the people and philosophy of the new counter culture which was being established in the Haight Ashbury area of San Francisco and parts of the Sunset Strip and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angles. But long-hair and any thought of making love and not war seemed a million miles away from Villa Park High School. I was enchanted by this alternative generation, and regularly spent time on the Sunset Strip, or on Fairfax Avenue with my fiends Jeff Succop and Michael Chorowitz, who both had cars and would regularly go with me to where the people with strange clothes and the men with hair down to their shoulders hung out. We even occasionally skipped school to do this during the day.

This is Linda Hunter (Linda June Hunter) my girlfriend  at Villa Park High School for a brief time in 1968. As I recall she was from Enid, Oklahoma. She was one of the sweetest people I have ever known and  always effervescent.

Here is Peter Finkel, another friend at Villa Park High School in 1968. He was President of the Science Club in 1968, and was the second smartest student enrolled at the school that year.

The evening I graduated from Villa Park High School I took the bus to Berkeley with my then girlfriend and classmate Linda Hunter. I do not know what I was planning to do there, but after a couple of days Linda's father found out where we were, and justifiably angry brought us both back to Orange. I then then left California to attend the University of North Carolina, and followed that with a 35 plus year career in the music business, while Linda went on to attend the University of California at Irvine.

This is your truly, Charles Mann (Charly Mann), at Villa Park High School in 1969

Tal Ranal, above, was a foreign exchange student from Israel at Villa Park High School in 1968. He and I were friends, even though we often had political arguments. 

I never did become a Hippie, or ever inhaled any pot, but I did grow my hair long and had a beard for several years, and was very involved in the anti-war movement in my college years.

This is the Villa Park High School Literary magazine The Muse from 1968 which I was the editor of. I had a friend of mine do the cover and several other pieces of art in the publication. If you were to look closely you would find some text in his art that the Administration at Villa Park High School found highly objectionable , but did not dsiscover until the magazine had been printed and distributed.  

So the years have passed and now 42 years with just a tad  nostalgia I offer this small tribute to Villa Park High School's Class of 1968 featuring some of the people who meant the most to me then.

Peter Young (Peter David Young) was probably the smartest person ever to attend Villa Park High School. Peter may have become the real-life incarnation of "Doc" Brown, the mad inventor, in the Back to the Future movies.

Peter rarely said anything that was not original, and though you detected a bit of whimsy in his style, you knew from his face that his brain was usually pondering something else far deeper as he talked to you. 

On the afternoon of October 7th, 1967  I decided to write down a bit of his style during a 60 second conversation he was having with another student.  During that brief time he uttered the following phrases as he was making his point.

"It is best that you examine the size of the foot before you put it in your mouth."

"Students should be hysterical 3/4 of the time."

"Save your words for deserving causes."

"The penalty for suicide should be death."

"Always keep one spoon for spooning, or you will run out of spoons."

Charly (Charles) Mann is still active in the music buiness. He also has several websites as hobbies including:
www.chapelhillmemories.com

informzoo.com

by Kathryn Mann

All of the world’s great religions share the belief that our purpose in life is to work for salvation through compassion and spiritual awareness. This means we should always live by the Golden Rule. All of the great teachers of the major religions including Buddha, Jesus, Moses, and Mohammad emphasized it is not what you say you believe that will lead to divine enlightenment, but how you act. This means a truly spiritual person lives their life differently from everyone else. However in today’s world I do not see much evidence of this. People instead focus their lives on the idea that they can find a bit of heaven on earth by attaining contentment through a romantic relationship and/or their job. These are two beautiful ideals, but they require hard work, constant attention, talent, and good fortune. In our modern world jobs are rarely permanent and romantic love usually fades within a few years,

Most people spend much of their time focusing on their own problems, infected by the disease that ravages humanity; self-pity. Self-pity prevents us from spiritual and personal growth. It also makes us self-destructive and mentally unbalanced. We have become obsessed by the belief that whatever goes wrong in our lives is somebody else’s fault. As a result the majority of people are hopelessly discouraged from working hard or being ethical, since life will never be fair.

The truth is your destiny is in your hands. How you make it in this world, for the most part, depends more on what you do than whether people like or dislike you. Discipline, hard work, ethical behavior, and most importantly enthusiasm are the ingredients for getting the most out of life. Be determined to do the best you can in your job and your personal life. If you are attracted to taking responsibility for your life, you will derive great joy and satisfaction from almost everything you do. Finally, the best cure for self-pity is to stop thinking about yourself and instead do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

The world is too dangerous for anything but truth, and too small for anything but love.

William Sloan Coffin

by Charly Mann

What is the purpose of life? Most people rarely think about this question. Philosophers and theologians have offered a multitude of answers, but there is no simple answer from any of them. I think the best answer is that each person should find a purpose for his or her life that gives it meaning. To find a purpose we need to dedicate the first phase of our existence to finding something we are passionate about and will inspire us every day to do the best we can. In determining our purpose we should focus on something that fosters personal growth, compassion, and an awareness of the world around us. One of the most meaningful purposes one can have in life is helping others improve their lives.

As humans we are not naturally wired to have a meaningful life. While it might seem natural that we would always strive to act in our best interests, we can observe how much harm we actually cause ourselves. Look at how many of us allow ourselves to become obese, abuse drugs and alcohol, spend more money than we have, or stay in relationships that make us miserable. As humans we seem to actually be wired to act impulsively and respond more often to our physical needs than our rational ones. To have a meaningful life we must train ourselves to make choices that are best for our true self-interest.

The best way to gain control over our self-destructive tendencies is to reward ourselves with incentives for making good choices. For example lets say you believe you would feel better and eat less if you drank four eight ounce glasses of water a day. Give yourself $20 a day towards some toy or thing you want if you reach your goal. Everybody wants to change their bad habits, but we just let our inertia and lack of focus sabotage us. Financial incentives work exceptionally well to overcome our natural tendencies.

by Charly Mann

Every day of your life thousands of new cells called neurons are produced in the hippocampus of your brain. In modern adults, scientific research has found, almost all of these new neurons die because they are not put to work. The purpose of these new cells is to help us learn and remember new information and skills. The worst thing for your brain is being a couch potato and watching television. For most of human history people have had to use their brains to solve survival problems such as hunting, farming, and protecting oneself from human and animal threats. Today most of us are secure enough that these are no longer concerns. Our jobs and personal lives offer us challenges, but we still have much more time than our ancestors to relax and be passive. As a result we are far more susceptible to dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and cognitive decline.

We need to be actively engaged in exercising our brain. The more effort we put into learning the more of these new brain cells stay alive. This requires learning that requires deep thought, not a skill that is developed from repetition like mastering a sport or getting good at a video game. The harder something is to learn the better. Mental stimulation is what will ensure your new brain cells survive.