Art Barker & the Beginning of the SEED

[Robin Martin]

GREAT!! I believe in "whatever it takes".  I have to add though, my MOM was INSTRUMENTAL in helping me get in.  She eventually became my best friend and I lost her in '80.  She volunteered for the sandwich making the taxi driving...all while working a full time job.  Anyway, too personal but I'm glad you got it together!

[Robin Martin]

OK - bottom line...Are you where you need to be?

Anyone out there...do you feel "you've arrived" or are you still searching?

[Somejoker]

Im not quite what you mean by that, it is a little cryptical. But if you mean am I happy...yes.

My life isn't perfect but it is much better than most. I have endured a long ardeous journey and the negativity the Seed had on me early in life was just another obstacle to overcome.  

I did it, and I overcame every other obstacle so far that has been put in my path.

I DID IT. Not some dangerous peronality cult disquised as a drug rehab, not my family, no one but me.  I put the credit of my success, and my failures, soley on my back.

[Robin Martin]

Understood... thanks for the chats - signing off for this day.  

I bid you peace../

[Anonymous]

I have spent 30 years trying to understand the massive internal conflicts in my brain.  I have just fucking relaized what that place did to me.  Iwas an innocent 14 year old girl and was turned into a self-loathing human being. Never good enough for anything.  I have busted my ass over theyears to accomodate such massive feelings of inadequacy. You can't take children (which most of us were) and tell them reapeatedly that they are full of shit and worthless and gooing to die unless they submit and not expect to turn out fucking zombies.

On the outside, I am set. Have a law degree, an LLM in tax law and a successful law practice here in S. Fla.  Internally, I just now realizing how much damage these poeple did to me, my brother and my friends.  We were in Ft. Lauderale off SR 84 in 1973 through 1974.  I have been a cult victim all my life.  What a gift to finally understand that I was the victim.  I am so sorry for the pain I caused others during my internment.  Thanks so much for the forum.

[Antigen]

On 2004-10-26 21:12:00, Robin Martin wrote:

"OK - bottom line...Are you where you need to be?



Anyone out there...do you feel "you've arrived" or are you still searching?"

Every time I've ever felt that I'd "arrived", I've gotten my ears pinned back. So I'm just enjoying the trip.

I look at it this way. I was born a fighter, after a long line of fighters. If it hadn't been the Program, I might have chosen some other cause. God knows there are plenty to choose from!

But this is my primary dharma, to borrow a term, simply because of my own personal experience. The philosophy and movement that has grown up around the drug war (of which The Program is just a small but potent slice) has a very dark side w/ which I'm well familiar. Like white slavery rings masqurading as charities of orphans, most good and kind people accept the Program as good and worthwhile w/o much scrutiny. I feel an obligation to share what I know and to encourage a little healthy scrutiny of this phenomena.

May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.
-- George Carlin

[Anonymous]

On 2004-05-03 10:01:00, Anonymous wrote:

"the first  house before SR84 was pretty much open house you came to meetings and enjoyed everyone, but when i came back in 73 to SR84 it was definitly 6 months of hell,  i was basically pretty much a street kid in those days, i did not have parents to force to to go. Art took me in unconditionally, never expecting any money, maybe because i was part of the earliest seed days. I actually signed myself in. It definitly was not easy sittting in those hard chairs from early in the morning till late at night, eating those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches  but i was so damaged that I needed that sort of boot camp to survice, some real love would have been better, but iIhad no other choices..I tried to escape several times when things got rough and even got away once, but I went home to my family situation and realized the seed was a better solution. When you sign yourslf into the seed it is the same as your parents signing you in, you can't leave until you complete the program. Everybody I knew outside the seed hated it., but whats that old saying, any love is better then no love at all..

The seed definitly set me on the right track, after a couple of years of being clean i went back out for another decade in california of all places. But I now have 18 years of sobriety
 and it was from the seed that was planted when i young, it all came back to me, well yes I was basically brainwashed., but with some very important steps, and some bad songs "ZIPPY DO DA ZIPPY DAY" I can look back and see the good in it all, It was an experience i will never forget. Art even asked me to join the staff and they were going to help me go to art school.  I turned him down, i guess i needed to make my own  way at the time.
Rchard"

This is one of the saddest things I've ever read.  Richard, please go back and re-read this.  "Any love is better than no love at all"???.  This explains so much.  I'm really glad that you were able to derive some good from your time there, I honestly am.  I hope you're able to look back now though and realize that it was indeed brainwashing and very damaging to most of us.  In your case, you made something good out of it and after hearing where you came from I'm not surprised that you mistook the quackery for love.  That's how they're set up.  All the love in the world.  Everyone talks about how they're welcomed with open arms, and they are.  But if you stray from the dogma then you are berated and verbally abused (and physically in so many cases) and then shunned from what has now become your "family".  That is NOT the unconditional love that you hear so much about in these groups.  That's EXTREMELY conditional.  Now, considering that you came out of what you say was an abusive household....think about this.  All of those who did NOT come from an abusive household.  The ones whose parents were scared into believing that what was, in most cases, normal adolescent behavior somehow meant that all these kids were going to die if they didn't sign up.  Those kids were subjected to daily verbal abuse.  The belittling and confrontation and the whole idea of "breaking us down" is abhorent.  Period.  Maybe because you didn't grow up with any kind of real love you mistook what Art did and the real thing.  THAT'S what makes this one of the saddest things I have ever read.

Please don't misunderstand me, I am really glad that you WERE able to sift some good out of there.  But for what I believe to be the majority, it was devastating.

[Antigen]

Here's an alternative that existed in Florida back in the early `70's that might have been a whole lot better than The Seed.

 http://www.amikids.org/Default.htm

But Art would never, ever tell you about it, would he?

It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
--Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President, author, scientist, architect, educator, and diplomat

[Anonymous]

Antigin. Are you sure that place wasn't a cult too. Maybe they made someone do too many pushups which caused them some permanent damage. Maybe they gave someone too close of a crew cut and now years later they can't get erect because of it.  Come on you know everything in this world is fake you can't believe in anyone or anything because their are cultic tones behind everything.  Beware of kindness and love for their are always ulterior motives behind everything. :scared:

[The Lizard King]

On 2004-11-10 09:18:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Antigin. "

If you're going to address her, you really should spell the name correctly...ANTIGEN. :roll:

[Anonymous]

Thanks Lizard King. You are right  :scared: I misspelled something.  You know haw stupid we cult people are.  It's kinda like we are southern or sumpin!

[GregFL]

Hey, if we are going to start correcting spelling, then it is going to be a full time job.

Easy there fella. And Lizard King, welcome to the forum.  Were you in the seed?

[Somejoker]

On 2004-11-10 09:18:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Antigin. Are you sure that place wasn't a cult too. Maybe they made someone do too many pushups which caused them some permanent damage. Maybe they gave someone too close of a crew cut and now years later they can't get erect because of it.  Come on you know everything in this world is fake you can't believe in anyone or anything because their are cultic tones behind everything.  Beware of kindness and love for their are always ulterior motives behind everything. :scared:    "

What exactly is your problem anyway Anon? You seem to always glee in sarcastically attacking people and post here constantly but won't even pick a user name. What are you up to now, 77 posts or so?

No need to hide behind that anon moniker, I know you are an ex staffer, but really none of that matters here. You want to discuss something go ahead, but your bitterness towards others hasn't gone unnoticed. No one else here really feels that way towards others and not towards you either.

BTW, I deleted your other direct attack on Ginger. I really served no purpose on this website.

Now if you got something intelligent to say, we are listening.

[Antigen]

Yeah, I wonder who you are and why you seem to have it in for me so much. What did I ever do to you?

Anyway, to answer your question, I'm not sure that AMI is a wonderful, faultless organization. I first became aware of them a few years ago when a couple of kids sentenced to the camp at Big Cypress killed a young counselor during an escape. So I don't give them an unreserved endorsement. I just note that they've been around for about 35 years and haven't generated the kind of bad press and longterm resentment that the Synanon based programs have.

As we're talking about someone for whom The Seed was better than anything else they knew, I think it's quite relavent to note that there have been better alternatives all along.

Homeschool is self regulating. The school board is not going to have illiterate useless people living in their homes forever if they don't have a working education policy.

--Sisterbluerose

[TheSeedIndeed]

I thought of Art Barker yesterday, and decided to google him. This forum was the first hit.  Amazing.    I was in the Cleveland Ohio  Seed, 1976 to 78. and remember well,  Ginger, Hank, Cookie and of course Art.  I also remember well the abandonment we felt when the Seed skipped town in the  middle of the night.  I remember wondering what deep dark secret there must be that a little negative press caused the org to turn tail and run. I remember showing up and finding the doors locked even though I was scheduled to spend the night and watch the phones. I remember at the time  we got no notification, and rumors were rampant amongst our northern clan.  

My own memories of the Seed on the whole are wholesome.  In the 25 years since, I have to admit the Seed did  me some good. The basic princepals, although I don't sing Zipidy-do-dah everyday now.  Maybe I should.

Ginger,  glad to hear you're well.  Had a major crush on you back then. - a combination of lust and respect.

Seed things that have helped me, -  do the right things and the right things will happen - learning empathy towards others -  the need to make amends..

I still carry these things with me everyday.  I can't say the Seed saved my life,  but it did change the course of my life for sure.

Thanks for the memories,
Steve in Cleveland