Unconventional ‘wisdom’ lands in Meyerhoff

Monday, April 22, 1996

Galactic candidate for president urges reform of Earth’s money
systemBy Michael Angell

Daily Bruin Contributor

"Surely some great revelation is at hand!

Surely the second coming is at hand.!"

­ W.B. Yeats "The Second Coming"

No sooner are these words spoken when a vision of a Cosmic
Channel from Galactica descends upon the green plains of Meyerhoff
Park, his great black horn proclaiming to the lost children of the
Disneyland to come …

Disneyland?

Indeed, this is one of the many ideas that the Utopian Synthesis
Party plans to institute if they come to power in the 1996
elections. The party’s founder, Allen Noonan, recently announced
his write-in candidacy for President of the United States.

Noonan, who renamed himself Allen Michael, proclaims himself "an
incarnate space being." His party set up an information desk in
Meyerhoff Park last Friday to inform students about his
multi-pronged approach to the world’s problems.

Noonan claimed that one of the main problems facing the country
is the current monetary system. A sort of New-Age militia member,
Noonan advocated what he calls a "Christian economic system."

"If you read the Bible, it calls for the holding of all things
in common," Noonan claimed. "The buying and selling system means
people are under an usury system."

Usury, or loaning money at interest, is Noonan’s main target, as
he believes that the Founding Fathers left Europe in order to
escape such a system. According to Noonan, the Constitution
establishes the government’s right to print money freely.
Consequently, Noonan believes that the Free Cash Flow theory of
economics would produce spectacular results.

"The whole idea was that the government would print its own
money and it wouldn’t need taxes, and the value of the money would
be regulated because all things will be built on one high
standard," Noonan explained. "We would have no debt because we
could keep printing money and putting it into circulation as the
economy expands."

And Noonan is not alone in his beliefs. Proof? He brought out
his three-person political staff to address the assembled throng of
two.

"We have to let go of usury money," maintained campaign
spokeswoman Del Rainer. "People have been programmed in a
getting-for-self system. Usury money has taken the place of Free
Cash Flow money which was guaranteed by the Constitution Article 1
Section 8 Paragraph 5. Let’s get rid of money and share all things
in common."

Rainer has been a member of Noonan’s One World Commune for 28
years "after having recognized that Allen was truly a channel of
higher thought."

Belden Gelff, a Utopian Synthesis Member, explained that Noonan
has been sent to earth from another planet to address the world’s
ills.

And where do his solutions come from?

"He writes through automatic writing from Galactica," Gelff
claimed. "Today we’ll have some unusual channeling from Allen."

Like Rainer, Gelff has a long history with the "fully empowered
representative of the Galactic Space Command." In 1967, Gelff and
Noonan opened a natural food restaurant on Haight-Ashbury in San
Francisco. Under the shade of a tree, Gelff fondly remembered those
times.

"We met musicians from all over the world," Gelff recalled. "We
had more fun there. It was a happening everyday. People used to go
to the park and play music. And Allen use to go around with a bull
horn and speak to people. It gives me great pleasure to reenact the
spirit of the 60s."

However, the hackey-sack players who usually congregate around
Meyerhoff Park were largely uninterested in this spiritual
forbear.

But not all of Noonan’s words sounded the loving spirit of the
60s. For instance, Noonan believed that WWII was won by the wrong
side.

"Germany and Adolph Hitler were headed toward socializing the
whole world, making the world a place for people by doing away with
private property," Noonan said. "And that was what was going on in
the Soviet Union. There were these two great forces socializing the
world, and it should been socialized."

But Noonan did not advocate another World War. Instead he
believed that youth should participate in worldwide draft-dodging
by calling themselves "universal soldiers."

Still, the future does not look bright to Noonan, who predicted
a global catastrophe.

"In this last war that’s coming up, it’s called Armageddon,"
Noonan warned. "You can see the crux of it between the Palestinians
and Israel."

Despite such controversial stances, only one student stood up to
Noonan. At one point, the candidate asserted that the rings of
Saturn were caused by the crust blowing off the planet. Ryan
Holmes, a fourth-year astrophysics student, challenged Noonan’s
theory.

"I think you have a false understanding of physics," Holmes
said. "Saturn never had a crust to blow off."

Noonan’s only response: "Well, it could be … Why not?"

As he deferred the question to one of his learned counselors,
Noonan addressed the third member of his audience, a video
camera.

"Hello, here we are at UCLA with our utopian synthesis party,"
Noonan chimed. "And we’re trying to give a talk but we’re not very
successful.

"The world as a great Disneyland park," Noonan continued. "We’ll
institute God’s 30-30 plan. Half of all the people in the world
would work in the park for 30 days, while the other half would
enjoy themselves. After 30 days , people would switch. That means
everyone would have free use of the planet," he concluded.

"Now why don’t the people start that kind of system of sharing?"
he surmised. "We would no longer have any more wars, no more crime,
disease, poverty or death."

JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin

Write-in presidential candidate Allen Michael addresses
listeners on Friday.