50 Issues and Still Open to the Ecstatic Possibilities by Peter Moore

We started Alternatives in 1997 from a curiosity I had. As a co-founder of Breitenbush Hot Springs Community in the ’70’s, I watched it grow from an isolated work camp in the wilderness to a retreat & conference center with worldwide reach. Programs ranged from spiritual retreats to public policy advances, to self-actualization, artistic expression, holistic health, ecological sustainability, and more. People who came to Breitenbush were interested in everything, and their enthusiasm guided Breitenbush’s development. Who were these people?

In the mid-1990s, I read an article by Paul Ray, a sociologist researching the development of the most consequential social evolution of our era, the emergence of the “Cultural Creatives”. Ray named them that because they are already creating a new culture. He described them as both inner directed and social activists, numbering well over 50 million Americans—people who care deeply about ecology and sustainable energy, organic and local, peace and social justice—but also about authenticity, self-actualization, spirituality and relationships. Strangely, most feel oddly isolated in society. If they only knew how large their numbers are, and how promising their creativity is—if they could get past their isolation and interact with each other in economic and organized ways, many good things might follow.

Paul Ray’s description of Cultural Creatives coincided with my experience witnessing the emergent holistic scene at Breitenbush in the ’70s and ’80s. I decided to test his theory.