I was born in the Soviet Union. In that country - and in Russia before that - poetry and philosophy were respected pursuits. I started writing poetry at age 10 and was recognized for it.
When I came to America, I found quite a contrary situation. Most people did not give a damn about such things as poetry and philosophy. There were some who did. They became teachers in arts and humanities. They imparted good values and good ideals to their students, who then went into the world and either were told to "grow out" of such ideals or kept them and got torn to shreds.
I took an oppositional stance to that state of affairs. I decided that it's not enough to practice poetry and philosophy. It was also necessary to counteract all the forces that militated against such things. I've done this in all sorts of ways, some better than others. Immature manifestations of things always are injurious; they get better as they mature.
I had a lady friend named Michelle who majored in philosophy at Harvard. She came away talking about how worthless their philosophy department was. She continued her interest in poetry and philosophy and became a widely accredited yoga teacher. While at Harvard she attempted to start a poetry club for people who wanted poetry in their lives. She was beautiful, brilliant and kind. She had a very painful life and died of malpractice at age 36.
It appears that there has been an effort to do away with true poetry and philosophy. Academic poetry has degenerated into cold cynical word-gamesmanship and vicious abuse against people whose poetry is actual poetry. And, given the experience of Michelle, there is not much to be said for contemporary academic philosophy either.
I went on the Net, where I saw many of the wrongful attitudes. I fought them, and of course there were many who hated me for it. There were others however who loved me for it; and I have had lasting relationships as a result and more lasting friendships.
Probably the biggest thing that took a hit in recent decades has been relationships. The wrongful attitudes came mainly from two directions. One was a vicious form of feminism that militated against love and beauty and taught its followers to be mean, nasty and paranoid. Another was wrongful trends in psychology that pathologized such things as passion, creativity and originality. I took it upon myself to fight these abominations. I have written a lot on the subject, and my thoughts on these and other issues can be found here.
From the experience of people who've had education in such things, I've learned that it is not enough to merely practice them. It is also necessary to defend oneself and others from those who are against them. It is necessary to confront all the forces in society that militate against poetry, arts and beauty and counteract their poisonous effect. It is necessary to confront wrongful beliefs and wrongful attitudes and stand strong against them. It is necessary to face all the ugliness that these people dish out and defeat it.
I've done a lot of intellectual heavy lifting on this matter. I got attacked in hideous ways by many. I accept this as part of the process. I hope that others find my work on this useful and likewise apply them against those who militate against them when they have interest in things such as poetry and philosophy. And I hope that poetry and philosophy become again poetry and philosophy and regain their rightful place in society.