http://transitioncalifornia.ning.com/profiles/blogs/taking-shorter-showers-doesnt
Derrick makes some good points, but I wonder how he/you think that suddenly "we" can have some huge impact on the corporate institutions which control & govern planet earth?
I see "harm reduction," localization, DIY agriculture, and similar measures as valid & necessary.. even if only as some acts we can all partake in.. WHILE we are networking, searching for inspiration within ourselves & others, taking on the reality that drastic change MUST occur if "the masses" of humanity are to survive the probable attempts at thinning the herd.
I don't see the value of the strawman argument with self-extinction juxtaposed against some posited lack of sufficiently vigorous action against "industrial economy." In fact, as "an activist and the author of many books" I would suggest to him that he consider some editorship prior to firing off such an ill conceived and poorly executed paragraph =:-\
Since as he says, the corporate masters of the means of production and of the dollar .. have come to view "us" (and to depend on us) as "consumers" What better way (absent armed revolution) have we than to consume less of their products; grow our own food, harvest rainwater, quit taking showers altogether maybe .. though if we ALL stop eating factory farmed meat that alone would solve domestic "water shortage" -not to mention cutting down on "swine flu" and "bird flu" vectors.
Derrick seems to put faith in political process, where I see politics as the tail wagged by the corporation$$$.
Corporations have endless $ to pervert political process; (have we not just been witness to the abundant largess which the corps lavished on themselves via their elected (purchased) representatives ?) They have endless candidates to build-up & throw away as desired.
Our POWER .. our VOTE .. is "to spend or not to spend." That is the question.
By giving support (purchasing) only "least harm" products from the "most local" and "most green" and most "worker friendly" (etc) businesses .. I believe we do far more than we could spending 3hours every day trying to get some brilliant new Obama campaign promise energy bill passed, only to have corporate$$ cram a rider into it pulling its teeth in terms of dirty coal & oil.
In addition to voting with our money for the above local & "least harm" choices, we may also begin to get it together to make "our money" ... OURS. Local economies, with local currency will be able to circulate that local currency MANY times moreso than with FRNs ([non]Federal [no]Reserves Notes) which are the epitome of capitalist oppression blood money... every time you spend one of these bloodbucks you're buying into the megacorp military industrial endless war machine.
"Salvation" of the masses of humanity seem to me likely only in the event of some altogether likely quantum technological leap, which MIGHT be already stashed in some corporate vault, having been bought up as a patent likely to lead to unwanted ultra-high-tech solar cells (for instance) which can be made into slightly expensive house-paint in order to have off-the-grid homes.
It might be more fruitful to encourage patent repudiation (the corps will call it piracy) than to waste too much time getting bogged down in the naive hopes that "we the people" might re-take the political process from its current owners (absent armed revolution.)
If enough sharp minds were to tackle Tesla tech, there is another one-single-thing which could make global warming & coal/oil/nukes/etc go bye-bye in the figurative wink of an eye.
Funny, the mention of ENDCIV, given my bit of disagreement here plus the fact that I wrote some stuff about NEWCIV around 11yrs ago with some online friends..
http://holistiq.com/ncf/ncf01.html
warm wishes,
david hartley
www.holistiq.com
www.KarmaClinic.org
www.GratefulMindandBody.com
I.T. support www.cafegratitude.com
friends/singer/songwiters Makepeace bros: "Hero" http://twitc.com/P7nIongd
Derrick makes some good points, but I wonder how he/you think that suddenly "we" can have some huge impact on the corporate institutions which control & govern planet earth?
I see "harm reduction," localization, DIY agriculture, and similar measures as valid & necessary.. even if only as some acts we can all partake in.. WHILE we are networking, searching for inspiration within ourselves & others, taking on the reality that drastic change MUST occur if "the masses" of humanity are to survive the probable attempts at thinning the herd.
I don't see the value of the strawman argument with self-extinction juxtaposed against some posited lack of sufficiently vigorous action against "industrial economy." In fact, as "an activist and the author of many books" I would suggest to him that he consider some editorship prior to firing off such an ill conceived and poorly executed paragraph =:-\
Since as he says, the corporate masters of the means of production and of the dollar .. have come to view "us" (and to depend on us) as "consumers" What better way (absent armed revolution) have we than to consume less of their products; grow our own food, harvest rainwater, quit taking showers altogether maybe .. though if we ALL stop eating factory farmed meat that alone would solve domestic "water shortage" -not to mention cutting down on "swine flu" and "bird flu" vectors.
Derrick seems to put faith in political process, where I see politics as the tail wagged by the corporation$$$.
Corporations have endless $ to pervert political process; (have we not just been witness to the abundant largess which the corps lavished on themselves via their elected (purchased) representatives ?) They have endless candidates to build-up & throw away as desired.
Our POWER .. our VOTE .. is "to spend or not to spend." That is the question.
By giving support (purchasing) only "least harm" products from the "most local" and "most green" and most "worker friendly" (etc) businesses .. I believe we do far more than we could spending 3hours every day trying to get some brilliant new Obama campaign promise energy bill passed, only to have corporate$$ cram a rider into it pulling its teeth in terms of dirty coal & oil.
In addition to voting with our money for the above local & "least harm" choices, we may also begin to get it together to make "our money" ... OURS. Local economies, with local currency will be able to circulate that local currency MANY times moreso than with FRNs ([non]Federal [no]Reserves Notes) which are the epitome of capitalist oppression blood money... every time you spend one of these bloodbucks you're buying into the megacorp military industrial endless war machine.
"Salvation" of the masses of humanity seem to me likely only in the event of some altogether likely quantum technological leap, which MIGHT be already stashed in some corporate vault, having been bought up as a patent likely to lead to unwanted ultra-high-tech solar cells (for instance) which can be made into slightly expensive house-paint in order to have off-the-grid homes.
It might be more fruitful to encourage patent repudiation (the corps will call it piracy) than to waste too much time getting bogged down in the naive hopes that "we the people" might re-take the political process from its current owners (absent armed revolution.)
If enough sharp minds were to tackle Tesla tech, there is another one-single-thing which could make global warming & coal/oil/nukes/etc go bye-bye in the figurative wink of an eye.
Funny, the mention of ENDCIV, given my bit of disagreement here plus the fact that I wrote some stuff about NEWCIV around 11yrs ago with some online friends..
http://holistiq.com/ncf/ncf01.html
warm wishes,
david hartley
www.holistiq.com
www.KarmaClinic.org
www.GratefulMindandBody.com
I.T. support www.cafegratitude.com
friends/singer/songwiters Makepeace bros: "Hero" http://twitc.com/P7nIongd
Labels: beef, bird flu, economy, factory farm, local currency, local economy, politics, pork, swine, swine flu, water shortage
posted by david hartley, holistiq.com @ 9:41 AM
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