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SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  6/4/26
DESCRIPTION:Larry Yes & his Radical Positivity installation \n  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n\n  \nThe day will come when we all agree  \nthat we should live in harmony  \nand we will know and we will see  \nhow we’re all connected. We’re all family. \nAll the people\, the plants\, the animals\, the birds\, the seas. \n  \n—from the song “Live in Harmony” on the album “Everyone on This Planet Is Family” by Larry Yes \n  \nJune 4\, 2026 \n  \nKen Margolis gave me a copy of the Spring 2026 issue of “Emergency Horse\,” which contained an article by David Turnbull on the Republic of Užupis. Užupis is a “micro-nation” or “artistic republic\,” occupying about two and-a-half square miles in the center of Vilnius\, which I’m sure you know is the capital of Lithuania. Ken and I both fully endorse the Constitution of Užupis which\, when translated into English\, reads: \n  \n\nEveryone has the right to live by the River Vilnelė\, and the River Vilnelė has the right to flow by everyone.\nEveryone has the right to hot water\, heating in winter and a tiled roof.\nEveryone has the right to die\, but this is not an obligation.\nEveryone has the right to make mistakes.\nEveryone has the right to be unique.\nEveryone has the right to love.\nEveryone has the right not to be loved\, but not necessarily.\nEveryone has the right to be undistinguished and unknown.\nEveryone has the right to be idle.\nEveryone has the right to love and take care of the cat.\nEveryone has the right to look after the dog until one of them dies.\nA dog has the right to be a dog.\nA cat is not obliged to love its owner\, but must help in time of need.\nSometimes everyone has the right to be unaware of their duties.\nEveryone has the right to be in doubt\, but this is not an obligation.\nEveryone has the right to be happy.\nEveryone has the right to be unhappy.\nEveryone has the right to be silent.\nEveryone has the right to have faith.\nNo one has the right to violence.\nEveryone has the right to appreciate their unimportance.\nNo one has the right to have a design on eternity.\nEveryone has the right to understand.\nEveryone has the right to understand nothing.\nEveryone has the right to be of any nationality.\nEveryone has the right to celebrate or not celebrate their birthday.\nEveryone shall remember their name.\nEveryone may share what they possess.\nNo one can share what they do not possess.\nEveryone has the right to have brothers\, sisters and parents.\nEveryone may be independent.\nEveryone is responsible for their freedom.\nEveryone has the right to cry.\nEveryone has the right to be misunderstood.\nNo one has the right to make another person guilty.\nEveryone has the right to be individual.\nEveryone has the right to have no rights.\nEveryone has the right to not to be afraid.\nDo not defeat\nDo not fight back\nDo not surrender\n\n* \n  \nThe Constitution of Užupis reminded me of Eduardo Galeano’s “The Right to Dream.” Eduardo Galeano is author of the astonishing\, beautiful\, heartbreaking and inspiring 3- volume history of Latin America\, Memory of Fire. \n  \nThe Right to Dream \n  \nIn 1948 and again in 1976\, the United Nations proclaimed long lists of human rights\, but the immense majority of humanity enjoys only the rights to see\, hear and remain silent. Suppose we start by exercising the never-proclaimed right to dream? Suppose we rave a bit? Let’s set our sights beyond the abominations of today to divine another possible world: \n  \nthe air shall be cleansed of all poisons except those born of human fears and human passions; \nin the streets\, cars shall be run over by dogs; \npeople shall not be driven by cars\, or programmed by computers\, or bought by supermarkets\, or watched by televisions; \nthe TV set shall no longer be the most important member of the family and shall be treated like an iron or a washing machine; \npeople shall work for a living instead of living for work; \nwritten into law shall be the crime of stupidity\, committed by those who live to have or to win\, instead of living just to live like the bird that sings without knowing it and the child who plays unaware that he or she is playing; \nin no country shall young men who refuse to go to war go to jail\, rather only those who want to make war; \neconomists shall not measure living standards by consumption levels or the quality of life by the quantity of things; \ncooks shall not believe that lobsters love to be boiled alive; \nhistorians shall not believe that countries love to be invaded; \npoliticians shall not believe that the poor love to eat promises; \nearnestness shall no longer be a virtue\, and no-one shall be taken seriously who can’t make fun of himself; \ndeath and money shall lose their magical powers\, and neither demise nor fortune shall make a virtuous gentleman of a rat; \nno-one shall be considered a hero or a fool for doing what he believes is right instead of what serves him best; \nthe world shall wage war not on the poor but rather on poverty\, and the arms industry shall have no alternative but to declare bankruptcy; \nfood shall not be a commodity nor shall communications be a business\, because food and communication are human rights; \nno-one shall die of hunger\, because no-one shall die of overeating; \nstreet children shall not be treated like garbage\, because there shall be no street children; \nrich kids shall not be treated like gold\, because there shall be no rich kids; \neducation shall not be the privilege of those who can pay; \nthe police shall not be the curse of those who cannot pay; \njustice and liberty\, Siamese twins condemned to live apart\, shall meet again and be reunited\, back to back; \na woman\, a black woman\, shall be president of Brazil\, and another black woman shall be president of the United States; an Indian woman shall govern Guatemala and another Peru; \nin Argentina\, the crazy women of the Plaza de Mayo shall be held up as examples of mental health because they refused to forget in a time of obligatory amnesia; \nthe Church\, holy mother\, shall correct the typos on the tablet of Moses and the Sixth Commandment shall dictate the celebration of the body; \nthe Church shall also proclaim another commandment\, the one God forgot: You shall love nature\, to which you belong; \nclothed with forests shall be the deserts of the world and of the soul; \nthe despairing shall be paired and the lost shall be found\, for they are the ones who despaired and lost their way from so much lonely seeking; \nwe shall be compatriots and contemporaries for all who have a yearning for justice and beauty\, no matter where they were born or where they lived\, because the borders of geography and time shall cease to exist; \nperfection shall remain the boring privilege of the gods\, while in our bungling\, messy world every night shall be lived as if it were the last and every day as if it were the first. \n  \n—Eduardo Galeano (born: September 3\, 1940; died: April 13\, 2015) \n* \n  \nEduardo Galeano’s “The Right to Dream” reminded me of Larry Yes’ song “Live in Harmony” and I thought I might include the lyrics in this issue\, but then I wondered if I had already done that in a previous issue. I had. I found it by going to the Open Road website\, clicking on EVENTS\, and typing in “Live in Harmony.” In the 2025 June issue—exactly one year ago—you can find the lyrics to two of Larry’s songs\, “Live in Harmony” and “Free: Everyone on This Planet is Family.” In that same issue\, there are more inspiring words from Nick Swift\, Dustin Jamison\, Rocky Hutchinson\, Ken Margolis and Jude Russell. (Since that time\, both Rocky and Dustin have gotten out of prison. Hooray!!!) Here’s a link to that issue: \n  \nhttps://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-6-5-25/ \n  \nThe whimsy in these lists—“A dog has a right to be a dog” and “in the streets\, cars shall be run over by dogs”—reminds me of the whimsy of Borges’ Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge\, an “ancient Chinese encyclopedia\,” where animals are divided into the following categories:  \n  \na) those that belong to the Emperor \nb) embalmed ones \nc) those that are trained \nd) suckling pigs \ne) sirens (or mermaids) \nf) fabulous ones \ng) stray dogs \nh) those included in the present classification \ni) those that tremble as if they were mad \nj) innumerable ones \nk) those drawn with a very fine camelhair brush \nl) others \nm) those that have just broken a flower vase \nn) those that from a long way off look like flies \n  \n—Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) \n* \n  \n…which\, by a mysterious alchemy in my brain\, reminds me of… \n  \nOde to things \n  \nI have a crazy\, \ncrazy love of things. \nI like pliers\, \nand scissors.  \nI love \ncups\,  \nrings\, \nand bowls –  \nnot to speak\, or course\, \nof hats. \nI love \nall things\, \nnot just \nthe grandest\,  \nalso \nthe  \ninfinite- \nly \nsmall –  \nthimbles\,  \nspurs\, \nplates\, \nand flower vases. \n  \nOh yes\, \nthe planet  \nis sublime! \nIt’s full of pipes \nweaving \nhand-held \nthrough tobacco smoke\, \nand keys \nand salt shakers –  \neverything\, \nI mean\, \nthat is made  \nby the hand of man\, every little thing:  \nshapely shoes\, \nand fabric\, \nand each new \nbloodless birth \nof gold\, \neyeglasses \ncarpenter’s nails\, \nbrushes\, \nclocks\, compasses\,  \ncoins\, and the so-soft \nsoftness of chairs. \n  \nMankind has  \nbuilt  \noh so many \nperfect \nthings! \nBuilt them of wool \nand of wood\,  \nof glass and \nof rope:  \nremarkable \ntables\,  \nships\, and stairways. \n  \nI love \nall \nthings\, \nnot because they are \npassionate \nor sweet-smelling \nbut because\, \nI don’t know\, \nbecause \nthis ocean is yours\, \nand mine;  \nthese buttons \nand wheels \nand little \nforgotten \ntreasures\, \nfans upon \nwhose feathers \nlove has scattered \nits blossoms\, \nglasses\, knives and \nscissors –  \nall bear \nthe trace \nof someone’s fingers \non their handle or surface\, \nthe trace of a distant hand \nlost \nin the depths of forgetfulness. \n  \nI pause in houses\, \nstreets and  \nelevators \ntouching things\, \nidentifying objects \nthat I secretly covet;  \nthis one because it rings\, \nthat one because  \nit’s as soft \nas the softness of a woman’s hip\, \nthat one there for its deep-sea color\, \nand that one for its velvet feel. \n  \nO irrevocable  \nriver \nof things:  \nno one can say \nthat I loved \nonly \nfish\,  \nor the plants of the jungle and the field\,  \nthat I loved \nonly \nthose things that leap and climb\, desire\, and survive. \nIt’s not true:  \nmany things conspired \nto tell me the whole story. \nNot only did they touch me\, \nor my hand touched them:  \nthey were \nso close \nthat they were a part \nof my being\, \nthey were so alive with me \nthat they lived half my life \nand will die half my death. \n  \n—Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) \n 
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-6-4-26/
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