I began to study Aesthetic Realism, the philosophy founded by Eli Siegel, in 1968.  It was the education that met--exceeded--my deepest hopes. Over the years, I saw the immense benefit Aesthetic Realism brought to those who studied it seriously. I also saw the enormous, real pain that resulted from the refusal of the press to report on Aesthetic Realism fairly and seriously. I saw there was a boycott by the press--an agreement not to write about it honestly.  One instance of this boycott, led by the New York Times, under Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, is the interview listed below, "Is a Person An Aesthetic Situation?" which the Times might easily have published but did not.  By 1977, I had seen this boycott end and ruin lives. And there were millions of others I did not know, but knew that, like me, they were longing for an understanding, an explanation, of why they didn't like themselves, and how they could. Aesthetic Realism is that knowledge.  My passionate feeling about this found the following expression in 1977.

Sapphics on the Press Boycott of Aesthetic Realism

Silence can kill: Sulzberger you are guilty!
You are one man, holding back hope for millions.
Stop the boycott--too many people suffer,
People have died, too.

 

Silence goes on! See what the press is doing!

Horrors each day; everyone is a victim.

Something can change agony into seeing:
Give it a fair chance!

What have we seen? Sulzberger ask us questions!

What have we seen, learning from Eli Siegel?—
Art and our lives: truthfully comprehended!
How can you kill truth?

We have learned why beauty has so much meaning.

Art is good sense: Opposites are the reason;
Beauty is this: Opposites reconciled, and
This is what we want.
 
Why does this thought satisfy our perception?
We have good minds: critical, thinking people,
We have looked hard, studying isn't easy—
Not with a boycott.

Silence must end!  There is a way of seeing

People yearn for: Knowledge that makes one kinder,
Justice can be beautiful self-enhancement:
Let it be known now!

Karen Van Outryve

1977