2150 A.D. by Thea Alexander

If only.

If only all humans WERE part of a giant, quasi-Buddist, semi-Christian all-knowing Macrocosm. If only all human souls had multiple lives to "evolve" back to that Paradise of Oneness. If only karma WERE real, and all actions in this world DID balance out in the end. If only you COULD achieve everything in your life with only sufficient desire and belief. If only people COULD achieve "Macro powers" like clairvoyance, telepathy, and psychokinesis. And, most of all, if only the seventies HAD seen the dawn of a new civilization, one bent on love, wisdom, and leadership that would eventually evolve into a semi-collectivist paradise in 2150, fixing all the planet's problems, providing optimal education for all, and helping souls advance in Macrocosmic awareness.

Or maybe not.

It's not challenging, especially for a rabid individualist and realist like me, to find flaws in this utopian novel, which follows a man named Jon Lake who wakes up in 2150 to an Eden of "Macrocosmic" awareness combined with semi-socialist living conditions, mixed in with a mystical addition of his "twin soul" and Macrocosmic "powers" like telepathy. It takes the traditional utopian formula (a modern person finds him/herself in the future and a sympathetic "guide" explains how the future has solved all social problems) and adds in a strangely alluring element of fantasy, philosophy, and life coaching.

If the word "fantasy" just scared you, keep reading: I, the ultimate anti-fantasy guru (the bookworm I am, I refuse to read Harry Potter) could handle it, and even enjoyed it. It never crossed the line. It bordered: scantily clad women, some overt sexuality, and a character named "Elgon," but I assure all fantasy-phobes that it's safe to cross. Overall, it read more like something drug addicts would have to read as part of their "rehabilitation," what with all the "don't-blame-others," "take-control-of-your-life," "you-are-greater-than-yourself" memes present throughout.

As with most of these sorts of books, the plot takes a backseat to the philosophy, and the writing could be better. The concepts though, are worth consideration, even if, like me, you don't really believe any of it at the end of the day. Thea manages to anger Communists, Capitalists, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, business leaders, civil rights workers, sociologists, and individualists, though not necessarily at the same places. She presents the idea of a futuristic "Macro" society that, like most utopias, is based heavily on collectivistic principles. The difference is that this was written in the seventies, not the sixties, so think less social justice and more New Age desperate optimism and mysticism. In fact, people fighting for "social justice" will probably be most angered: One of the most controversial parts of Thea's plot/philosophy (it's sometimes hard to tell where one ends and the other begins) is that all souls chose their own lives and sufferings. That poor black woman in the ghetto in D.C., subsisting on rice and Spam whose son was killed in the crossfire of gang violence? It's not injustice; there is no injustice from a Macro perspective. Her soul simply chose to incarnate in that body during that time, knowing all the horrible details but deciding that it would be a "learning experience" for her, so her next life could be better, moving her forward toward Macrocosmic Oneness, or "everything was was, is, and ever will be." In fact, getting angry at the government agencies, businesses, and elite that exploit only proves how "micro" you truly are, as being "Macro" means that you accept everything that is with love, as everything is chosen by individuals before incarnation and is perfect for them.

On the off chance all of this reminds you of Todd Gitlin's assertion that the sixties student movement fell apart because of just this sort of mysticism, you're right, and he may be, too. The publication date is 1976, when former disillusioned political radicals were seeking some sort of desperate escape, and, trust me, this is desperate. But in an age when Sixties ideas of rebellion, quasi-social justice advocacy, and "blame-big-business" have become institutionalized, Thea's ideas, once considered "conformist," are now paradoxically radical. Anger, Thea's characters assert, is the product of refusing to accept that everything in one's own life is one's own fault; after all, you chose your own life before you reincarnated from the last one. Blaming poverty on the poor isn't exactly in vogue today, but anyone who considers him or herself open-minded shouldn't be opposed to at least giving her mystical ideas a spin, just for fun.

Overall, Jon Lake was a likeable character, if not entirely believable. Thea manipulates the idea of reincarnation to twist the plot around a little. Especially interesting is hearing about Jon's past lives, and one of the best scenes in the book involves Jon making telepathic contact with a heart attack patient's subconscious mind in the twentieth century (when he falls asleep in 2150, he wakes up back in 1976, and vice versa). He now has the power to heal using psychokinesis, but he must first contact the person's subconscious mind to do this. To his surprise, the unconscious heart attack patient's subconscious mind recognizes JON'S mind from their shared existence in a previous life on Atlantis 50,000 years ago, when Jon had healed him. Now, however, the man's mind doesn't want to be healed--this time, the mind tells him, he's ready to "evolate" (a contraction of "evolve" and "graduate," basically meaning die), having learned everything he needed to in this life. Back in 2150, Jon recognizes that the patient's soul has reincarnated into the body of a young girl in that futuristic time.

In the end, you have to be ready to think to read this. The philosophy is, if you're open to it, somewhat applicable to your life today (e.g. you can accomplish anything with only sufficient desire and belief). Jon's foray onto "micro island" in the future provides a revealing comparison to our own world in 2008, unfortunately nowhere near Macrocosmic enlightenment. The plot delivers one final twist in the end that had a delicate beauty about it. I read over thirty books a year, so only the ones a little off the beaten track stick with me, and this will be one of them.

If you're looking for something other than cookie-cutter, Barnes and Noble "fiction" that's pumped out of novel mills every year, THIS IS IT. Enjoy.

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