Saturday, October 31, 2009
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 1
schemes of partition - ravages of identity politics - new forms of communal relationships needed - divided spaces vs. open_spaces - the conflict of peoples and memories - resolution in division, partition vs. resolution in cooperation, harmony - the legacy of empire unforgiving (ie., the mid-east); the pathology of power vs. nationalism - the UK divide and quit policy resulted in communal struggle to partition - immemorial hatreds engendered; disharmony - selected, abridged national narratives; divergent stories from the same sources tend to block out one another; the investments made in each story, the costs and miseries; when considered one is verwhelmed and staggered; there is no way to contain all these many histories; construction of identities result in distortion; exterminating or coexisting is dependent on the degree of distortion -- the attempt to take one's mind from the world vs. thinking; to think is to ignore differences, to consider; must memory and identity exist to the concision of the other (the person; the society) - a serious effort to confront, to work through, to build a new consensus from and on it (the effort) -- reintegration vs. living off conflicts and division; secular civic struggles.
the importance of secular citizenship vs. fractionalist, falsifying, contradictory memories; determinants in the construction of identity, coherence, coexistence; a return - identity is a burden, an inhibitor; national consciousness must be converted into social consciousness - identity is something that must be gotten over - collective past and identity are the result of conscious reconstruction open to manipulation; roles redefined (creative reconstruction; narrow narratives) to justify present desires, dominance (a reinforcing role); national systems of history all teach that its history is the center of the world vs. the universality of humankind (an ideological construction of a form of education); diversity ignored; clash of definitions taking place all over the world; cultural difference are always unsettled, and always connected to arenas of power.
the importance of secular citizenship vs. fractionalist, falsifying, contradictory memories; determinants in the construction of identity, coherence, coexistence; a return - identity is a burden, an inhibitor; national consciousness must be converted into social consciousness - identity is something that must be gotten over - collective past and identity are the result of conscious reconstruction open to manipulation; roles redefined (creative reconstruction; narrow narratives) to justify present desires, dominance (a reinforcing role); national systems of history all teach that its history is the center of the world vs. the universality of humankind (an ideological construction of a form of education); diversity ignored; clash of definitions taking place all over the world; cultural difference are always unsettled, and always connected to arenas of power.
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 2
the role of geography is connected to ideologies; cognitive dissonance, irreconcilable differences; wildly differing memories - discrepancy in representations; felt separation, opposition (sense); existentialist dilemma - ethnic separations (pure states ??); partitions reproduce the conflicts they were intended to replace - human complexity; irreconcilable differences cannot be solved but there must be mediation, solution; reconciliation between different areas of experience; correspondences (categories) -- the notion of social territory; domain; materiality (share and contest) vs. the urgent need for a secular (non-religious; non-national; non-either/or) consciousness to assess the dogmas, the distorted logic's (the logic of false dichotomies; the -ism's) -- all human experience cannot be reduced to one geography and one identity (human history of migration and mixture not of settlement) -- we must accept to accentuate and highlight and deepen the collective experiences of the past; to see conflicts as differing communities of suffering; antagonisms must be illuminated; painful memories must be overcome; life must go on.
neo-liberalism, globalization vs. communal coexistence - corporate defense and security apparatus -- equitable and humane community is a task we all must be committed to vs. "I versus you"; the growing distinction between the "haves" and the "have not's"; the mythology of scarcity promulgated by the corporations; the problem is one of distribution, entitlement NOT scarcity -- education is paramount vs. the nationalist, the "I" - new ways of thinking needed (belonging, stability); the ebb and flow of historical currents vs. fixed communities - identities always overlap; a more fluid conception is needed vs. identity stubbornness; the world is interdependent; education must overcome NOT reinforce national identities (the corporate definition).
-- [Notes 1,2] [based on NPR, Alternative Radio, professor Edward Said, "Unresolved Geographies, Unresolved Landscapes", author of "Orientalism", and "The Pen and the Sword", Dec.99]
neo-liberalism, globalization vs. communal coexistence - corporate defense and security apparatus -- equitable and humane community is a task we all must be committed to vs. "I versus you"; the growing distinction between the "haves" and the "have not's"; the mythology of scarcity promulgated by the corporations; the problem is one of distribution, entitlement NOT scarcity -- education is paramount vs. the nationalist, the "I" - new ways of thinking needed (belonging, stability); the ebb and flow of historical currents vs. fixed communities - identities always overlap; a more fluid conception is needed vs. identity stubbornness; the world is interdependent; education must overcome NOT reinforce national identities (the corporate definition).
-- [Notes 1,2] [based on NPR, Alternative Radio, professor Edward Said, "Unresolved Geographies, Unresolved Landscapes", author of "Orientalism", and "The Pen and the Sword", Dec.99]
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 3
anarchist violence (ie., Seattle-WTO, Nov.99 and many examples since) alienates the mainstream population - we must provide an alternative, outflank the corporate society, surround it, engulf it, using "non-violent" education (Gospel preached) and example (witness); have I gone too far or have others not gone far enough ?? - we are what we are, but who determines what we are ?? - we have to go beyond the point that others will not go; we must move beyond the distinctions between our physical and spiritual existence, ie., "USURP" (United States Urban Revolutionary Project to take back America), "rev" up your politics (2nd American Revolution), a "living movement" of direct democracy [consensus]; civitas vs. the temporary SAGE accommodation with representative democracy (truly a contradiction in terms) - community kindred vs. SAGE society's kin_dread - citizen_steward vs. subject-consumer -- know_ledge; committing knowledge suicide; falling off the ledge, not wanting to know - rogation [question, prayer, entreaty; in ancient Rome a proposal of law to be passed or rejected by the people] vs. abrogation of responsibility; rogationist, rogationism (question all; the finding of answers; seeking truth)
-- the devil is in the details; we have institutionalized the devil in our non-consensual dogmatic organizations - the SAGE are of Abraham's seed physically but are of Satan's seed spiritually.
-- the devil is in the details; we have institutionalized the devil in our non-consensual dogmatic organizations - the SAGE are of Abraham's seed physically but are of Satan's seed spiritually.
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 4
Christ taught "living ideas" NOT dogma; a *living* faith; dogma is death; [G2198 zao, AV live, be alive, alive, quick, lively; 1) to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead) 2) to enjoy real life i.e. to have true life and worthy of the name; active, blessed, endless in the kingdom of God 3) to live i.e. pass life, in the manner of the living and acting; of mortals or character 4) living water, having vital power in itself and exerting the same upon the soul 5) metaph. to be in full vigor; to befresh, strong, efficient, as adj. active, powerful, efficacious]. -- the Gospel was built on a *sure foundation* (the OT, the group identity existent) and the communitarian message must be built on the same [as attempted in the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence (a reflection of the biblical ideals)]; we must see beyond our doubts; we must seek understanding; the "Logos" vs. the logo's [the corporate_logos (logo-type, a distinctive company signature, trademark, set of letters, or word, etc.); Logos n., Gr. Philos., reason, thought of as constituting the controlling principle of the universe and as being manifested by speech; 2 Christian Theol., the eternal thought or word of God, made incarnate in Jesus Christ].
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 5
1990s distrust, fear of government - anti-government streak, ie., Republican "contract with America", rise of militia groups -- inefficient "Continental Congress" 1-year terms, no judiciary ... we the people of the United States ... to form a more *perfect* union (not perfection, but one that has all its parts; efficiency but far from equal; legislature supreme -- the militia movement is not the minutemen (most underarmed, ready to desert) that has been romanticized - "... the right of men to bear arms" a military term (all the apparatus of war); the right of private ownership is a relatively modern interpretation - the Constitution is somewhat like the Bible; every new generation reinterprets to its own ends -- the ideal of a "citizen politician" was tried early on and left out of the constitution - in the Continental Congress there were one-year terms with a rotation of terms, with a limit - Madison argued for stability, institutional memory vs. term limits - there is a change of quantity in today's government, all around us; a regulatory role needed in a global world; it is more apparent today - a movement to disarm government even from its proper roles either by force or withdrawal - constitutional language misleading, loose, assumed, ie., the CIA is an unconstitutional body due to its secret funding (the constitution provides for the open reporting of all government funding). -- [NPR, Gary Wells author, "A Necessary Evil, A History of American Distrust of Government", Dec.99]
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 6
government is *NOT* a necessary evil - "citizen politician" does not mean a substitutional representative with term limits; each citizen a politician with a life term (stability; institutional memory) - "a people whose sole "political" function is to vote for delegates is no people at all; it is a "mass", an agglomeration of monads; politics, as distinguished from the social and statist, involves the re-embodiment of masses into richly articulated assemblies, the formation of a body politic in an arena of discourse, shared rationality, free expression, and radically democratic modes of decision-making; this process is interactive and self-formative" (-Murray Bookchin).
personal and group identity - manufacturers inventing personas (name brands, labels); choosing of pre-manufactured identities -- low-brow, middle-brow, high-brow, non-distinct no-brow (socially constructed boxes; confined within bounds; trying to "fit in") - cultural marketing; the language of clothes; categories *imposed* on us - taste as a marker of class; taste and choice levels; ladder between strata does not exist anymore - so far down on the bottom-level I can't afford myself vs. negating the ideal; high-society slumming it - the "clique" a social class all its own - social implications; awareness beyond oneself lacking -- the avant-garde [the leaders in new or unconventional movements, esp., in the arts; vanguard] absorbed into the mainstream; intellectual accessibility increasing -- new money trying to look like old money; nouveau-rich better than no-rich; visual tags replacing the auditory tags, the tone of richness; the class accents - the support of corporate slavers, oppression and misery around the world, indentured servitude; the fact of people of color especially, wearing these clothes, giving support to slavery, needs a rethink [ie. NIKE] !!
personal and group identity - manufacturers inventing personas (name brands, labels); choosing of pre-manufactured identities -- low-brow, middle-brow, high-brow, non-distinct no-brow (socially constructed boxes; confined within bounds; trying to "fit in") - cultural marketing; the language of clothes; categories *imposed* on us - taste as a marker of class; taste and choice levels; ladder between strata does not exist anymore - so far down on the bottom-level I can't afford myself vs. negating the ideal; high-society slumming it - the "clique" a social class all its own - social implications; awareness beyond oneself lacking -- the avant-garde [the leaders in new or unconventional movements, esp., in the arts; vanguard] absorbed into the mainstream; intellectual accessibility increasing -- new money trying to look like old money; nouveau-rich better than no-rich; visual tags replacing the auditory tags, the tone of richness; the class accents - the support of corporate slavers, oppression and misery around the world, indentured servitude; the fact of people of color especially, wearing these clothes, giving support to slavery, needs a rethink [ie. NIKE] !!
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 7
we have to go back to making our_own (clothes, food, community); a return to our *senses* vs. not a participant in society but a consumer of society - we have to return to participation; active_citizens; civitas - consuming is not a ladder to reach the top; class distinction - community must be made level; *all* made in the image and likeness of God vs. the cultural hierarchy -- reclaim yourself; take back what is rightfully yours (physically and spiritually); bring back meaning into your life and in the lives of those around you; those who *truly* make you who you are !! - our existence is God ordained; it is not something that has to be bought; we should not need a license to live [money]; our existence is a contribution freely given and distributed !! - our choices in the next few years will determine our children's future; the cumulative weight of *unshared* values, abilities, our social wealth will crush us in our pursuit of private desires, our incomprehensible selfishness (the corporate realm); a diminished, unnourished, ignored conscience will not support us, and our intellect and our society will follow; elevated beings reduced to a base existence, the loss of the spiritual - America must return to herself; the "mainstream" media is an open sewer; we have to return to the "streams of consciousness", the "rivers of truth"; the source is *America*, the *ideal* is enshrined in her people, the collective consciousness, the consciousness reflected in the constitution; diminished values mean a diminished America; we must live the "Sermon on the Mount", the ultimate strength, a society of the gift.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 8
we are not globalizing our civic culture, we are globalizing our commercial culture - earning our money to be a good consumers; when are we going to be good citizens? - America is a multicultural society; the question is not whether America can survive globalization, the question is can the world survive America [here defined as corporate America with it's small "g" god, the emmonic (emotion/money: the psychosis(-sys)), the SAGE usurpation; this is not the America enshrined in her people] - the result of America's role in globalizing is that the world is looking like a particular *kind* of America, a commercialized America defined by its "pop culture" -- the corporate claim that free-trade, open-markets, currency speculation, ideals proposed for the last 10 years = democracy; "market-democracy" or democratic markets, free-capitalism leads to democracy; the message to the world has been to look like America politically you must look like America commercially; the American *myth* -- capitalism works in many different political systems - democracy comes first, capitalism comes second; democracy provided foundations for capitalism, not the other way around (globalization) - 150 years prior to 1776 democracy was building to independence; it was not until after the Civil War [1860's] that free-market, corporate capitalism emerged - Russia today [no civil society] is taking a "capitalist cold-shower" without a democratic foundation, "mafiaocracy" is the result -- the *civil society* sector must be primary, the foundation; where we live; free-institutions, voluntary associations; where we learn citizenship, where we adjudicate interests, where we learn to be engaged, where we learn the art of liberty !!
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 9
a vibrant, robust life of community and associations; citizens joined together; the *Spirit of Liberty* is local - society loose, open, engaged - America is no longer engaged [where *trust* grows], neighbors no longer trust one another; common interest, play, worship is on the decline; social-capital is on the decline, institutions are on the decline; more individualism = we no longer share the same community -- in early America the economy was built into the *local* social economy, no big corporations, society was open and engaged; after the Civil War, oil was found / large corporations, economic sector / regulations and big government [the corporate economy]; post-WWII / present: era of big government, big business; civil society increasingly crushed; individuals now naked, no control over their own situations in the entertainment-corporate economy [civil society displaced, ie., sports now professional entertainment, bought-and-sold; common ideals lost] - America's identity split; in civil society we are citizens, in the corporate society we are consumers-customers-clients, we are no longer citizens; we now vote with our dollars, our consumer tastes, our private desires vs. our community needs, the needs to develop healthy culture - our private choices have community consequences - democracy is NOT just freedom to buy !!
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 10
private-consumer decisions vs. public-civic decisions; people doing and taking what they want -- in the 1930s we began to think the "state" will take care of us - our autonomy, responsibility destroyed - today the state cannot take care of anything, but now the "market" will take care of us -- privatization of everything including culture, education; selling ourselves to corporations; scientists mostly now working for private interests, patents, vs. the public interest - prisons increasingly in private hands; crime does pay -- we are only globalizing our markets, our corporations, our commercial culture; choice is only about "private" choice NOT public, civic choice - there are no international civic or political institutions only commercial, ie. WTO, the governing institutions -- the culture of "McWorld", the essence of *fast* not slow (ie., democracy, culture, art, education, relationships), the civilization of fast (taking everything out of the social culture, the slow) - the Mall as public-square; total-consumption ethic, no place to rest, slow-down; few restaurants but many food-courts (fast food) - commerce now becomes "needs" not just the manufacture of goods and services; we now have "new needs", ie., records/cd/dvd; new formats, new hardware, etc.
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 11
our important needs for community, religion, relationships, family get set aside; we have no time for the important needs; increasingly commerce creeps in everywhere, ie., the Internet; an encroachment; both the state and the market were to be facilitators but are now usurpers -- the decreasing of plurality of markets around the world; people are compound beings, growth and development only comes through the "slow" - our culture caters to the 12 year-old in all of us vs. the spiritually increased; we don't cater to the parts of us that we most admire, we cater to the most juvenile, base aspects - civilization and culture were designed to cater to the highest and best in us; slow and patience vs. the fast and easy (giving us what we want) -- America is exporting our trash, a cartoon existence; we are losing the best of our civilization; culture and play, religion and education; we learned to take one another seriously in the local neighborhood, where democracy was born; community - we need global civic institutions, people-to-people, neighbor-to-neighbor, people with shared interests, civic infrastructure, not around government but around our commonalities - we need to branch out to each other -- Europe is being built around the new "Euro" not around its people, a technocratic corporate entity NOT civic in nature; *civil society* (the third way, the third realm) must be exported, the America of civil rights, worker rights, democracy NOT the America of Disney and company. -- [Notes 8-11] [NPR, Alternative Radio, Benjamin Barber (Rutger's Univ.) "McWorld and the Free-Market Threat To Democracy", Univ. of Colorado at Boulder, Dec.99, with [inserts]]
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 12
corporate_eugenics; seeking to improve humanity by breeding from the fitter stocks - the denial of basic human needs and the belief that we can be everything we want to be (only if you fit within the narrow confines of the corporate definition) - social Darwinism, "the idea that in a laissez-faire capitalist economy the strong will out compete the weak, resulting in general improvement of the population, inspires political agendas today - in this view, the poor should not be aided in their struggle for existence so as not to upset the natural order" [Sci-American, "The End of Nature versus Nurture", Dec.99, p.98]; the danger from the extreme, the biological determinism of the Nazis and the social engineering of the Soviet Communists, to place the collective above the individual, have been widely accepted as failed, excised from the collective human consciousness; yet we now see human behavior determined by the emmonic [emotion/money psychosis(sys)], an economic incentive structure appealing to the worst in human nature, equating individuality as promoting the greater good; the ultimate in social engineering; massive indoctrination apparatus (the corporate media, advertising, education system, psychology, etc.); the SAGE have done the Nazis and Soviets proud, utilizing (and planning to utilize, ie., biological determinism) the most efficient machinations of their underlying selectionist ideology to place the new collective (corporations) above the individual -- any attempt to redefine humans can be carried only so far before a counter-movement will seek to balance cultural trends with evolved human inclinations.
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 13
making social revolution inevitably means being in society, making a concerted attempt to articulate society's discontents to itself [ministrant]; a comprehensive critique of society; through a process of small refusals and developing critique, the possibilities of further refusals, deepened critique and ultimately revolution may be increased; praxis; gradual refusal of participation in the state as well as the broader oppressive architecture of technology [John Connor] -- the real, ultimate value of our ideas will be in leading us to a better way of life, not what we think is a better way of life, or what we want to think is a better way of life, but what people everywhere can embrace as an existence which is happier, freer and simply more fulfilling; it is really important to think in terms of solutions, we see an existence that seems to offer so much more than what we have now, it is up to us to prove it and make it accessible both to ourselves and humanity [John Filiss] -- changing one's personal life, "everyday life", is ultimately the motivation for changing society, and changing society is ultimately the goal of propaganda, and one's personal life and attempts at changing society can serve as propaganda themselves; propaganda of the deed [Leif Fredrickson] -- anarchists are to some degree complicit with the system which oppresses, coerces and exploits them, in part, this is why anarchists want to abolish this system: in order to overcome this enforced complicity [John Moore].
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 14
we live in a world of contradictions; that's the nature of a society based on power and power relations - if we're to come to grips with transforming this world in a revolutionary anarchist fashion, then we'd better get used, not to living with those contradictions, but to striving with and against them, and make sure that we make the optimal use of our creative capacities to overcome them - the anarchist condition, in the world of power, is one of living out lives of creative contradiction; and,uncomfortable as it may feel, that creative contradiction, that tension, remains the source for all our insurgency [John Moore] -- we must strive to live in a manner consistent with our ideals, to escape the "double standard" of trying to live in this world without being a part of it - unfortunately, we do not live in a free world and therefore cannot simply act or live-out our beliefs as if we did; living in this nightmare involves compromises and contradictions, and there are some things we don't have much say over presently - this does not signal hypocrisy or lack of credibility, but rather, points out how completely and utterly dependent we have all become, how interwoven technology [the SAGE infrastructure] is throughout society to the point where *choice to live* has been all but deleted - the fight to have that choice restored (indeed to have it flourish) is fraught with paradox and inconsistency, and most of us wrestle with these dilemmas everyday in our own minds for each technology we decide to use [Jonathan Slyk].
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 15
most of society is not conscious of these inherent dilemmas, or if they are, feel helpless to do anything about it; most are not even aware that they have no choice and seem to agree with the choices made for them; people respond to affirmation not criticism; people must be made aware of these dilemmas within their ideational frameworks, of *their* contradictions and inequality within society; people must grow aware (from within, not from without, self-motivation) of their relationship with each other, to go past the edge of what they know about themselves and discover new aspects [strategic questioning]; we each must carry our own opinions in a way that does not interfere with dialogue, respect and co-creation of alternatives; the direction and energy for change is contained in the people involved in the situation, it must be brought up to the surface and helped to ripen, individually and collectively; we have access, we don't need external permission, we have our own permission [Jonathan Slyk] -- why should the amount of money in someone else's pocket determine the amount of freedom you should have, your access to the commons ?? - if you think one day I will have equal access as the monied, think again, it is a fixed game !! - the SAGE wield a tactical weapon [the "emmonic" (emotion and money wedded together)]; the many are deceived, only a few succeed - the "greed potential" determinant, how big are your dollars; small, medium, or big dollars; the emmonic measurement; what is your emmonic potential, quotient, share ?? - privileged information vs. the common information privilege.
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 16
eCommunity; telecommunity; community (pla)networks: progressive, libertarian, anarchic -- the "global-village" cannot exist within the "emmonic" [emotion/money as one (fear psychosys)] context, this is false community, another SAGE construct -- the community spirit does not exist within the *denomination of one*, the new individualism or the *self-help* movement in seeking spiritual meaning, neither in living vicariously through others; music, movies, soaps, sitcoms, etc. -- strung out trying to make ends meet; time to shorten the rope vs. working your way to the bottom; if our only motivation is private profit then there really is no hope; we must become "a society of the gift" - monetary success is not an indication of God's blessings; *real* wealth = community, family, etc., the blessings are from above; seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you; this is a *promise* from God !! - Psalms 50:23 Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth [his] conversation [H1870 1) way, road, distance, journey, manner 1a) road, way, path 1b) journey 1c) direction 1d) manner, habit, way 1e) of course of life 1f) of moral character] [aright] will I shew the salvation of God.
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 17
social renegade; (re)negation -- who am I when I am with others ?? - who are they when they are with me ?? - environmental feedback; how people react and interact with you; identity, habitus, etc. -- social morals, ethics quick and tasteless; the recipe of life forgotten -- situational ethics; who determines the situation ?? -- calm, collected, concise vs. argumentative, adversarial; we have to ignite the light in others, to provide the kindling needed, not snuff out any spark of interest by a big gust of wind; the light will remove the shadow of oppression -- we must become "David's" vs. Goliath, we must hit Goliath at his weakest point, between the eyes, the "seat of the intellect", the conscious support by society at large [veneration without comprehension]; the rock, the *living* rock, the Word of truth; the SAGE "Stone Kingdom" must be negated, sandblasted out-of-existence, we are the grains of sand [Jacob's pillow stone; stones; the *vision*]; let us reason together !! - contribute your intelligence, your gifts; we must begin to shape events, we must put a stop to events shaping us !! -- we must utilize co-intelligence, strategic questioning; the most appropriate place for us to be is in relationship with each other, acknowledging that you sense reality from your perspective and that a natural confluence in our relationship will bring us to an appropriate place which I, in true humility, don't yet fully know; the fact that you and I will have to rework it considerably to fit our own sensibilities does not contradict the approach; we must be sensitive to human diversity and the ramifications of that diversity [Tom Atlee].
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 18
no message form is perfect; we must continually reinitialize the data stream, we have to unplug, blank the screen -- the matrix -- it's the question that drives us, the looking, the seek; the answer will find us if we want it to; it is looking for us (God is seeking those who would worship Him) - we must morph - accept what you see, expect to wake up to the reality - there is something wrong with the world, the feeling, it is there, a splinter in your mind driving you mad - the question is, do you want to know ?? - the world pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth; the truth is that we are slaves, born into bondage, born into a prison that we cannot smell, taste or touch; a prison for our minds - time is always against us; we have to see the world for what it is NOW, we must react !! - the answers will come, we must go to the source; there is nothing we can say to explain it, it must be experienced; it is a *living* faith -- the construct, the "loading program", the pointing information; sub_versive, con_versant vs. SAGE authority; we are a singular consciousness at the moment fractured -- the matrix, the SAGE construct, image (the programmed reality) = control; we must reconstruct the fractured human puzzle, remake the matrix in God's image, our image -- adaptation, improvisation; adaptation is the key to survival; don't think you are, KNOW you are !! - free your mind, walk through the door; fear, doubt, disbelief has to be let go; make the jump, the leap of faith; your mind makes it real; a strategic question is often an unaskable question, it really challenges the values (and assumptions) that the whole issue rests on.
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 19
the matrix is a system, that system is the enemy; most are not ready to be unplugged; many are so inured [to make accustomed to something difficult, painful, etc., habituate], so hopelessly dependent on the system they will fight to the death to protect it; if you are not one of us then you are one of them; the SAGE operons = sentient programs, gatekeepers (everyone and no one); we have to stand, exist outside of their rules -- ignorance is NOT bliss, it is the denial of humanity; who we really are, our God given potential; the Family of God; the matrix cannot tell you who you are, it will deny you; it will deny you your existence !! -- pointing information, a guide to help you find the path; it can only show you the door, you have to walk through it -- only try to realize the truth, don't force the issue, you are the one who has to bend -- know thyself vs. blind faith; God sees all, we must strive to see also; God's many names are our names; our conduct must reflect the knowledge and wisdom given us; this is the EXIT from the matrix -- the matrix can be more real than reality to the many; once we are out we can never really be inserted again -- the beauty, the genius, the marvel of the matrix, yet reality defined by misery, suffering; doing our thinking for us, civilization coopted, the future perfect world is but a dream, never to be reached -- we can approach utopia, it is waiting for us; ZION, the New Jerusalem is a reality !! - it is our choice, only we can make the decision; our own internal logic the determinant; strategic questioning dialogue not adversarial debate; responsible collective inquiry, co-intelligence.
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 20
no one has ever done anything like this, that is why it will work -- it's all in the packaging -- mental strength; we have to believe to make it real; there is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path; we have to choose to be chosen; we must begin to believe, we must have faith; we must overcome the adversary: the alienated, privileged attitudes - feel the adversary, he is afraid; he does not want the world to see; he is afraid of us, of change; we are not here to tell you how it will end, but to tell you how it will begin; a world without the SAGE, a world of possibilities; we will show you a world without rules, and controls, a world without orders and boundaries; where we go from there is up to you, us; the mutually evocative and co-creative dynamic of reality, the way things evoke and shape each other, providing contexts, motivators, resources, history and meaning to each other; we all co-create our shared reality, not a world where you create your own reality; the insight that we are *extended selves* not just particular bodies or personalities, we will change each other; our potential is realized through infinite webs of interrelationships that are continually developing. -- [Notes 18-20] [based on The Matrix motion picture and Co-Intelligence, with inserts, blended]
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 21
the Bible is a "Book of Intelligence", the Word; the revealed knowledge of the Tree of Life, at the center of the Garden of Eden, the fertile mind; the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; Wisdom, the Knowledge of the Holy; Reason; the God Kind, Intell_Kind -- mental divergence, a substitute reality; a meticulously constructed fantasy world; constructed to erase the race, the potential -- the "Cassandra Complex" (Gr. myth, she was condemned to know the future, yet disbelieved when she told it); a self-inflicted agony, the agony of foreknowledge combined with the seeming impotence to do anything about it; either we are in control of our own minds or others will be !! -- life will be wonderful when the options aren't extra; we must begin a transfusion of the life blood of society; we must replace the SAGE blood; an INJECTION OF NEW LIFE !! - we must initiate the alternative; life cannot come from non-life.
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 22
Bohmian Dialogue: the late quantum physicist David Bohm observed that both quantum mechanics and mystical traditions suggest that our beliefs shape the realities we evoke - he further postulated that thought is largely a collective phenomenon, made possible only through culture and communication; human conversations arise out of and influence an ocean of cultural and transpersonal meanings in which we live our lives, and this process he called dialogue; most conversations, of course, lack the fluid, deeply connected quality suggested by this oceanic metaphor; they are more like ping-pong games, with participants hitting their very solid ideas and well-defended positions back and forth; such conversations are properly called discussions; "discussion," Bohm noted, derives from the same root word as "percussion" and "concussion," a root that connotes striking, shaking and hitting.
dialogue, in contrast, involves joining our thinking and feeling into a shared pool of meaning which continually flows and evolves, carrying us all into new, deeper levels of understanding none of us could have foreseen [LIFE]; through dialogue "a new kind of mind begins to come into being," observed Bohm, "based on the development of common meaning ... people are no longer primarily in opposition, nor can they be said to be interacting, rather they are participating in this pool of common meaning, which is capable of constant development and change" - Bohm's approach to dialogue involved participants working together to understand the assumptions underlying their individual and collective beliefs; collective reflection on these assumptions could reveal blind spots and incoherence's from which participants could then free themselves, leading to greater collective understanding and harmony; Bohm maintained that such collective learning increases our collective intelligence [Tom Atlee, Co-Intelligence].
dialogue, in contrast, involves joining our thinking and feeling into a shared pool of meaning which continually flows and evolves, carrying us all into new, deeper levels of understanding none of us could have foreseen [LIFE]; through dialogue "a new kind of mind begins to come into being," observed Bohm, "based on the development of common meaning ... people are no longer primarily in opposition, nor can they be said to be interacting, rather they are participating in this pool of common meaning, which is capable of constant development and change" - Bohm's approach to dialogue involved participants working together to understand the assumptions underlying their individual and collective beliefs; collective reflection on these assumptions could reveal blind spots and incoherence's from which participants could then free themselves, leading to greater collective understanding and harmony; Bohm maintained that such collective learning increases our collective intelligence [Tom Atlee, Co-Intelligence].
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 23
the Christian Faith is about dominion NOT domination, denomination; the anarchism which acts by means of persuasion, by the creation of small groups and networks, by example; denouncing falsehood and oppression, aiming at a true overturning of authority of all kinds as people at the bottom speak and organize themselves vs. the despair when the solidity of the system is seen, when impotence is felt face-to-face with an increasingly conformist society, or an increasingly powerful administration, or an invincible economic system (who can arrest multinationals?); and recourse to violence as a kind of cry of despair, an ultimate act by which an effort is made to give public expression to one's disagreement and hatred of the oppression; it is our present despair which is crying aloud; but it is also the confession for some, that there seems to be no other course of action and no reason to hope.
not using violence against those in power does not mean doing nothing; Christianity means a rejection of power and a fight against it; this was completely forgotten during the centuries of the alliance of throne and altar, the more so as the Pope became a head of state, and often acted more as such than as head of the church - the political game can produce no important changes in our society and we must radically refuse to take part in it; society is far too complex; interests and structures are far too closely integrated into one another; we cannot hope to modify them by the political path; the example of multinationals is enough to show this - in view of global economic solidarity it is impossible to change the economy of a country even when in power; those who say that a global revolution is needed if we are not simply to change the government are right.
not using violence against those in power does not mean doing nothing; Christianity means a rejection of power and a fight against it; this was completely forgotten during the centuries of the alliance of throne and altar, the more so as the Pope became a head of state, and often acted more as such than as head of the church - the political game can produce no important changes in our society and we must radically refuse to take part in it; society is far too complex; interests and structures are far too closely integrated into one another; we cannot hope to modify them by the political path; the example of multinationals is enough to show this - in view of global economic solidarity it is impossible to change the economy of a country even when in power; those who say that a global revolution is needed if we are not simply to change the government are right.
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 24
but does that mean that we are not to act at all, overwhelmed by the prospect?; this is what we constantly hear when we advance a radical thesis; as if the only mode of action were political! - anarchy first implies conscientious objection: to everything that constitutes our capitalist (or degenerate socialist) and imperialistic society; conscientious objection is objection not merely to military service but to all the demands and obligations imposed by our society: to taxes, to vaccination, to compulsory schooling, etc., we must unmask the ideological falsehoods of the many powers, and especially we must show that the famous theory of the rule of law which lulls the democracies is a lie from beginning to end; the state does not respect its own rules; we must distrust all its offerings; we must always remember that when it pays, it calls the tune.
an important point which must be emphasized is that there have to be many efforts along the lines suggested, ie., the objection to taxes: naturally, if individual taxpayers decide not to pay their taxes, or not to pay the proportion that is devoted to military expenditures, this is no problem for the state; they are arrested and sentenced; in a matter of this kind, many people have to act together; if six thousand or twenty thousand taxpayers decide upon this type of action, the state is put in an awkward position, especially if the media are brought in; but to make this possible there has to be lengthy preparation: campaigns, conferences, tracts, etc.; whenever such ventures are made, they need to be organized apart from the political, financial, administrative, and legal authorities and on a purely individual basis.
an important point which must be emphasized is that there have to be many efforts along the lines suggested, ie., the objection to taxes: naturally, if individual taxpayers decide not to pay their taxes, or not to pay the proportion that is devoted to military expenditures, this is no problem for the state; they are arrested and sentenced; in a matter of this kind, many people have to act together; if six thousand or twenty thousand taxpayers decide upon this type of action, the state is put in an awkward position, especially if the media are brought in; but to make this possible there has to be lengthy preparation: campaigns, conferences, tracts, etc.; whenever such ventures are made, they need to be organized apart from the political, financial, administrative, and legal authorities and on a purely individual basis.
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 25
we must recognize the need for an ideological diffusion of anarchist thinking; in the political vacuum of expediency anarchist thinking has its opportunity if it will modernize itself and draw support from existing embryonic groups such as the ecologists [yet the many ngo's are caught in the hierarchical trap themselves, in organization and solutions]; no society is possible among people who compete for power or who covet and find themselves coveting the same thing; an ideal anarchist society [in the strict definition of no organization, no hierarchy, and no authorities] can never be achieved; yet we have to remember that all power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely; this has been the experience of all millenarians and "cities of God," etc.; what seems just and possible is the creation of new institutions from the grass-roots level; the people can set up proper institutions [communitarian; direct democracy] which will in fact replace the authorities and powers that have to be destroyed; these are never to function in an authoritarian and hierarchical way but in a strictly democratic manner, and they would lead to federations, the federal bond being the only national bond [federated municipalities].
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 26
we must believe in the possibility of creating a new social model; the only thing is that we now have to begin afresh; the former attempts to achieve common rights, the unions, the labor halls, decentralization, the federative system, all are gone; the perverse use that has been made of them has destroyed them; the matter is all the more urgent because all our political forms are exhausted and practically nonexistent; our parliamentary and electoral system and our political parties are just as futile as dictatorships are intolerable - nothing is left; and this nothing is increasingly aggressive, totalitarian, and omnipresent - our experience today is the strange one of empty political institutions in which no one has any confidence any more, of a system of government which functions only in the interests of a political class, and at the same time of the almost infinite growth of power, authority, and social control which makes any one of our democracies a more authoritarian mechanism than the Napoleonic state.
this is the result of techniques; we cannot speak of a technocracy, for technicians are not formally in charge; nevertheless, all the power of government derives from techniques, and behind the scenes technicians provide the inspiration and make things possible - there is no point here in discussing what everybody knows, namely, the growth of the state, of bureaucracy, of propaganda (disguised under the name of publicity or information), of conformity, of an express policy of making us all producers and consumers, etc.; to this development there is strictly no reply; no one even puts questions; the churches have once again betrayed their mission, the political parties play outdated games - it is in these circumstances that anarchy is the only serious challenge, as the only means of achieving awareness, as the first active step; the more the power of the state and bureaucracy grows, the more the affirmation of anarchy is necessary as the sole and last defense of the individual, that is, of humanity - at the beginning of the 21st century, our giving up the illusion of control and paradoxically shouldering the burdens of responsibility and ambiguity, may be the beginning of our moral redemption and creative liberation [our challenge now is to follow the Word's example, who became the Lord God, Jesus the Christ, by giving up power, but not giving up responsibility]. -- [Notes 23-26] [based on Jacques Ellul, author "Anarchy from a Christian Standpoint" - Anarchist Library, with [inserts]]
this is the result of techniques; we cannot speak of a technocracy, for technicians are not formally in charge; nevertheless, all the power of government derives from techniques, and behind the scenes technicians provide the inspiration and make things possible - there is no point here in discussing what everybody knows, namely, the growth of the state, of bureaucracy, of propaganda (disguised under the name of publicity or information), of conformity, of an express policy of making us all producers and consumers, etc.; to this development there is strictly no reply; no one even puts questions; the churches have once again betrayed their mission, the political parties play outdated games - it is in these circumstances that anarchy is the only serious challenge, as the only means of achieving awareness, as the first active step; the more the power of the state and bureaucracy grows, the more the affirmation of anarchy is necessary as the sole and last defense of the individual, that is, of humanity - at the beginning of the 21st century, our giving up the illusion of control and paradoxically shouldering the burdens of responsibility and ambiguity, may be the beginning of our moral redemption and creative liberation [our challenge now is to follow the Word's example, who became the Lord God, Jesus the Christ, by giving up power, but not giving up responsibility]. -- [Notes 23-26] [based on Jacques Ellul, author "Anarchy from a Christian Standpoint" - Anarchist Library, with [inserts]]
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 27
the government plays by two rules: 1. you have to play by *their* rules 2. you *have* to play !! -- IT IS TIME TO CHANGE THE RULES !! -- alternative currencies not only implies means of exchange but also currency of thought and action !! - a society where deep meaning has no relation to deep pockets - in a virtuous cycle the more we learn the more we will be able to extrapolate, hypothesize and understand - multi-disciplinary; our ability to study, etc.; formed in my/our perspective; the question of consciousness; ignorance limits the imagination (the possible seems impossible) - our own common sense; heightened senses; do our interests, knowledge, heighten or lower our sensibilities (passive or active) ?? - people tend to place conclusions in other people's remarks instead of drawing conclusions from the remarks instead; we have to seek common_meaning; the sense of self-ownership, community-self -- there is an uneasy fit between the individual mind and the society in which it is embedded; small and large scale phenomena; confronting the self; introspection; what are our analytical techniques, ie., religion ??
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 28
"we've got what it takes to take what you've got" [IRS, Revenue Canada] -- corporations = absentee landlords; the filthy rich vs. the filthy poor; the hypocrisy of "social investing", finding the corporations responsible place in society, within the continuing context of a free-market economy; economic values vs. human values; we cannot reverence God if we can't reverence each other -- crimes against humanity; the historical debt; we may be through with the past but the past isn't through with us, the future will demand a reckoning - we have to disinvest from the SAGE construct; EXPATRIATION; the goal is not accommodation but disestablishment vs. sacrificing others to yourself (ourselves; personal gain at the expense of others; sin); corporate slavery; material goods; everything is connected to everything -- low-tech solution; whose responsibility is it (to make change, changes, etc.) ?? -- NSA = No Such Agency; law enforcement, the various agencies, etc., part of the team where you play your position; patriots for, and in defence of, the American cause; SAGE operons, yet most acting in good faith; caught within the oppression -- we never had control, that's the illusion, the deception !!
Unlocking The Authority From Within: Open_Notes 29
man gets in the way of God; faith = common -- the journey underground; rebels: a person who resists authority and control; a person who changes his mind; a radical disordering of the senses, to see things differently, to think differently, and to act in correspondence to this change of thought -- history is changed by dissent; civilization harbors rebels, those who struggle for possession of the future against conformist authority; taboos are broken, forbidden knowledge is received; the fringes of society gives us visionaries; rebels reject censorship and they open doors to new perceptions; the common thread is defiance vs. the narrow-minded face of rigidity - social rebellion; individual autonomy and freedom vs. hierarchies that corrupt - counterculture rebels; society's shadow; revolution is thought carried into action - Adam and Eve the first example of defiance of authority [a story of misdirected rebellion as pure anarchy was offered them, all possibilities yet they comprehended not; God does not represent authority, God represents participation, equality, service, love]; taboos once broken will forever change things; the *meek* [humility, strength of character, community] shall inherit [symbiosis with] the earth vs. unaligned individuals, the corporate; Jesus *is* a revolutionary and social outsider (virtue, reason, impulse vs. man's control) - pure consumption of goods is not enough; not a redesign of government but a repudiation inorder to understand and commune, to achieve the freedom of the dream. -- [based on documentary "Rebels: The Journey Underground", with [inserts]]
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
State of Our World: Open_Notes 1
global housekeeping; conscious responsibility for the health of our planet vs. globalization gone wrong: global misery, the elite in their bastions, anarchic parts of the world written off as no-go zones, poor regions enslaved, environmentally devastated regions hungry and thirsty; all this is happening now !! - the splitting of society [money as weapon; weaponized; global genocide in the name of corporate profit; democracy = corporate fascism, the apex of self-interest (path away from God), evil incarnate, the bottomless pit !!]
an intermediate term goal vs. a corporate sponsored world domination; the WTO is part of the global economic architecture 1973-1990s; part of the attempt to continue at an accelerated pace neo-liberalism, efficiency gains, rising productivity, trickle-down-benefits; considered inevitable; corporate sponsored globalization - WTO attempt to implement the MAI/capital liberalization - the Asian economic crisis summer 1997, escalated summer 1998; primarily caused by the changes in the global economy that allowed a vast pool of global wealth to wander the globe unfettered, settle and then leave at a moments notice; nothing has changed as a result of the crisis; the neo-liberalizers have resisted any changes, the prominent players [the SAGE], they continue to run the show, ie., Rubin, Greenspan & c., but internal critics, prominent economists are increasingly vocal; the world's economy is being held hostage to speculative wealth.
an intermediate term goal vs. a corporate sponsored world domination; the WTO is part of the global economic architecture 1973-1990s; part of the attempt to continue at an accelerated pace neo-liberalism, efficiency gains, rising productivity, trickle-down-benefits; considered inevitable; corporate sponsored globalization - WTO attempt to implement the MAI/capital liberalization - the Asian economic crisis summer 1997, escalated summer 1998; primarily caused by the changes in the global economy that allowed a vast pool of global wealth to wander the globe unfettered, settle and then leave at a moments notice; nothing has changed as a result of the crisis; the neo-liberalizers have resisted any changes, the prominent players [the SAGE], they continue to run the show, ie., Rubin, Greenspan & c., but internal critics, prominent economists are increasingly vocal; the world's economy is being held hostage to speculative wealth.
State of Our World: Open_Notes 2
immediate: the WTO must be put on hold - short term: a more effective system of macro-global stabilization (the global-growth rates of the neo-liberal period is 1/2 the growth-rate of the Bretton Woods period - intermediate term goals: we have to insist on changes that diminish global ineqality; requires no longer having trade according to free-market prices (distributes the benefits to the better-off economies); coordinated and set in "new" policies other than free-market, the terms of trade must be put at the top of the agenda with the NGO's, this includes international investment (free-market interest rates) -- we have focused on labor-environmental standards and this is problematic (the race to the bottom; the lowest common denominator); the new pretext for the advanced economies to disadvantage a 3rd world drive into the 1st world economies, the use of standards; there are no easy answers, there are many definitions of "standards" ie., wages, labor rights, safety, on-and-on; a new means of protectionism -- the answer is peasant agricultural producers (2-3B people) being replace by modern chemical agriculture (a human disaster and a long-term environmental disaster); the social cost is not being counted and it must inorder for this change to be stopped; this is not an efficiency gain !! - 3rd world peasants must be allowed to be self-sufficient: this must be an important priority for the NGO's, a new movement/long-run goal: we must replace the economics of competition-greed with equitable-cooperation, capitalism with socialism !!
we are better situated now to achieve this long-run goal vs. the 1970s effort of national governments; NGOs, federations of labor, environmental organizations, outraged citizens (increased education) these new constituencies, a grand-coalition (all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons) vs. the powers-that-be; a new sort of process, a conscious creation to nourish, cherish and build from; this new approach is our asset; we must address demands to the pressing needs, and avoid fractionalization. -- [Notes 1,2] [NPR, Alternative Radio, economist Robin Henell, "Beyond Seattle, What Is To Be Done?", Dec.99 address; author "Panic Rules", Z-magazine contributor, NPR Broadcast Jan.22.00, [with inserts]]
we are better situated now to achieve this long-run goal vs. the 1970s effort of national governments; NGOs, federations of labor, environmental organizations, outraged citizens (increased education) these new constituencies, a grand-coalition (all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons) vs. the powers-that-be; a new sort of process, a conscious creation to nourish, cherish and build from; this new approach is our asset; we must address demands to the pressing needs, and avoid fractionalization. -- [Notes 1,2] [NPR, Alternative Radio, economist Robin Henell, "Beyond Seattle, What Is To Be Done?", Dec.99 address; author "Panic Rules", Z-magazine contributor, NPR Broadcast Jan.22.00, [with inserts]]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 3
the corporate packageing of the public mind; the deep pockets to express themselves - corporate control of the media; the true levers of contemporary power - culture inc., information inequality -- 1870-80s the big eastern banks, milling companies, railroads were the malfactors of society, easily identified leading to the populist movement - 1900s giant conglomerates were plainly visible - US Steel Corporation, 1901 - 1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Law, substantial opposition / Clayton Anti-Trust Act, post-WWI opposition; 1930's New Deal / WWII -- in recent years there has been a deflection of public focus vs. the business corporation; the new menace is big government; this is a fantastic shift in malefactors - the early opposition was to protect the consumer against shoddy, dangerous goods, and working conditions -- now we have a new kind of factory, a factory of the mind [messages and images], producing the diet of the mind [in turn creating new working conditions] - entertainment, radio, TV, shopping malls; but where is the opposition to the goods that enter into our minds, our conditioning ??
State of Our World: Open_Notes 4
Time-Warner-CNN, Disney-ABC-Capital Cities, etc., these massive media mergers, where is the indignation, the opposition ?? Westinghouse-CBS, GE-RCA-NBC, Murdock-FOX, Southwestern Bell-Pacific Telesys, etc., the re-combination of what had been a separate media; Microsoft buying the world's art heritage, exclusive leases of photo's, paintings, etc. - the Telecommunications Bill structuring the future - no more controls - open to the "free market," the stamping ground of the "large scale" where "more competition" is the excuse released into the realm of the gullible public - concentrated wealth means concentration of power !! WE ARE TALKING ABOUT OUR MINDS, OUR OUTLOOKS, OUR CONSCIOUSNESS !!
our outlooks are coming less-and-less from our families, from our schools -- what we are seeing is the corporate control of the message and image "form" of society - chain newspapers, TV stations, publishers [the chaining, locking, restraining of the public mind]; owners claim separate editors, producers on each newspaper, station, have complete autonomy [this is in a very limited sense; autonomy within extremely tight boundaries], they all adhere to the system, they all obey the quarterly returns, the balance sheet as criterion - *institutionalized censorship* - safe programming, "crime, sports, weather" - serious issues are avoided ie., the standard of living, the level of income and inequality, etc., the full emphasis, the need to do something is missing - the arousal of the population, from their *image-coma* would destabilized this information-society [yet we do not have information] - media at the beck-and-call of the corporate fraternity.
our outlooks are coming less-and-less from our families, from our schools -- what we are seeing is the corporate control of the message and image "form" of society - chain newspapers, TV stations, publishers [the chaining, locking, restraining of the public mind]; owners claim separate editors, producers on each newspaper, station, have complete autonomy [this is in a very limited sense; autonomy within extremely tight boundaries], they all adhere to the system, they all obey the quarterly returns, the balance sheet as criterion - *institutionalized censorship* - safe programming, "crime, sports, weather" - serious issues are avoided ie., the standard of living, the level of income and inequality, etc., the full emphasis, the need to do something is missing - the arousal of the population, from their *image-coma* would destabilized this information-society [yet we do not have information] - media at the beck-and-call of the corporate fraternity.
State of Our World: Open_Notes 5
our culture is being auctioned off, sold - the radio spectrum has been auctioned for 10B$, a fraction of its worth; the patrimony of the population is being sold - it is now a *private holding* - the message-image symbolic environment: theme parks, shopping malls [they are all really the same; part of the chain(s)]; an homogenized atmosphere, limiting, stunting, the basic diet, menu, of what society has to offer; this is what gets reinforced; money-starved educational institutions bending to corporate deals - Mephistopheles enters [making a deal with the devil; Faust selling his soul for knowledge and power], advertising is increasingly reinforced throughout the social order - opposition results in corporate claims of first amendment rights [accepted by the courts] - the first amendment was for our defense against incursions into our expressions of free speech, but now money determines how free we are and what rights we have.
there have been many occasions over our history when many persons, groups have been able to oppose, ie., 1880-1900s populists, 1920s progressives, they had limited success but they had an input - nothing will succeed without an organized opposition - in the end it is us, our willingness to recognize that it is human beings that count, nothing else - don't rely on the corporations, [their promises, their corporate good will], rely on yourself, and those around you; demand accountability - many are locked into the corporate structure, we must provide an outlet to release these systemic captives; the pressure is building in our society, social upheaval is possible; concerns, doubts are being stirred; there is a silent massacre of our peoples hopes and dreams, of their future. -- [Notes 3-5] [NPR, Alternative Radio, professor-author Herbert Schiller, Jun.24.00; d. Jan.2000, author "Culture, Inc." and many other titles]
there have been many occasions over our history when many persons, groups have been able to oppose, ie., 1880-1900s populists, 1920s progressives, they had limited success but they had an input - nothing will succeed without an organized opposition - in the end it is us, our willingness to recognize that it is human beings that count, nothing else - don't rely on the corporations, [their promises, their corporate good will], rely on yourself, and those around you; demand accountability - many are locked into the corporate structure, we must provide an outlet to release these systemic captives; the pressure is building in our society, social upheaval is possible; concerns, doubts are being stirred; there is a silent massacre of our peoples hopes and dreams, of their future. -- [Notes 3-5] [NPR, Alternative Radio, professor-author Herbert Schiller, Jun.24.00; d. Jan.2000, author "Culture, Inc." and many other titles]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 6
"how the war is spun" is the real cause of victory !! - mercenary armies of the PR Industry - manipulation of opinion by TNCs - PR consultants: planning and strategy - entering the stream of public discourse [flooding] - PR-Advertising Industry 10B$/yr in the U.S. -- politics-PR-corporate power merged: corporate propaganda protecting corporate power from democracy !! -- understanding the mechanisms and motives of the group mind; engineering consent; an invisible government manipulating the public, democracy - pulling the wires that control the public mind, smoothing democracy, by a small elite -- Edward Bernays, c. WWI-1940s, the father of modern PR [nephew of Sigmund Freud, used Freudian insights into human behavior] -- PR managed perceptions to encourage participation and increase business - symbiotic complicity, PR-media; PR industry vnr's [video news release] shown every night on national news bdcst's; pre-written press releases published every day in np's - this is not journalism, news, this is *marketing madness*, dictating the content of the news we receive, consistent and steady deception !!
private, back door route of money, censorship vs. the public front door - the demise of journalism, a pre-authored media, early-90s 20 TNCs controlling 50% of everything we see and hear, and now almost 100% due to recent mergers - the ideals of journalism lost to the profits of propaganda - the political arm of PR; issues are now managed; triad team: 1. lobbyist 2. grass-root organizing [astro-turf organizer], orchestrated by Fortune 500 corporations [letters to the editor, letters to congress, phone calls, etc.] 3. public servants; media, publicity events; front groups - the public theatre, the theatre of the absurd, the *art of lying* par excellence - legitimate citizen campaigns overwhelmed by corporate funded opposition !! -- [NPR, Alternative Radio, "The PR Industry", talk by the Center for Media and Democracy, publisher of "PR Watch", Jul.22.00]
private, back door route of money, censorship vs. the public front door - the demise of journalism, a pre-authored media, early-90s 20 TNCs controlling 50% of everything we see and hear, and now almost 100% due to recent mergers - the ideals of journalism lost to the profits of propaganda - the political arm of PR; issues are now managed; triad team: 1. lobbyist 2. grass-root organizing [astro-turf organizer], orchestrated by Fortune 500 corporations [letters to the editor, letters to congress, phone calls, etc.] 3. public servants; media, publicity events; front groups - the public theatre, the theatre of the absurd, the *art of lying* par excellence - legitimate citizen campaigns overwhelmed by corporate funded opposition !! -- [NPR, Alternative Radio, "The PR Industry", talk by the Center for Media and Democracy, publisher of "PR Watch", Jul.22.00]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 7
we have to challenge the monopoly of the Republican and Democratic parties; we need a major progressive political movement in this country; willpower to show ourselves that we can succeed is the first step vs. corporate government -- a rising tide lifts all boats, but what we see today is a rising tide lifting all yachts - wealth [top 1% = bottom 90%] -- social infrastructure is crumbling within an expanding economy of rising profits; imagine what would happen in a recession or depression -- one step towards unionization and the company heads for the border; a new level of greed and power, and a grotesque distortion of a nation's promise; corporate costs being externalized upon society, making obscene profits and multi-million dollar executive salaries possible -- corporate speech [media monopolies] reaching millions, individual free-speech effectively censored, no reporting of citizen groups, etc. -- capitol hill "withering heights."
signing the dotted line is not a contractual meeting of the minds, it is a done deal in favor of the seller, no choice left, we accept it, we are corporate; fine-print contracts are binding arbitration's, we sign away our legal right to the courts if a dispute arises, if a damage occurs, corporate rights reign supreme - democracy restricted, constricted -- growing up corporate means we don't know what we own as a society, ie., the public airways, 1/3 of America [the public lands], our $4T pension pool [managed by the corporate, worker control is zero] - we own but do not control - taxpayer assets [incl. research developments given away, ie., the National Institute of Health] - our common gene pool being expropriated for enormous profit; the WTO and NAFTA rigged to make free-trade supreme, all other issues subordinate to trade, incl. human rights, food safety, environmental concerns, etc. - a rising tide subordinating our local, regional, and national rights. -- [NPR, Alternative Radio, consumer activist Ralph Nader, May.06.00]
scripted speeches, scripted conventions are no indication of a candidates character, ability; being a performer, reading a speech by teleprompter, written by a professional speech-writer makes a candidate an artificial, manufactured product NOT a representation of America's political-social aspirations - the resultant media analysis of the artificial-superficial speech results in superimposition of the script on the candidate [the political mask], performance [reading ability, emotions,mannerisms] equated with the scripted values, issues, policies [the art of political warfare; the posture], the manufactured image.
signing the dotted line is not a contractual meeting of the minds, it is a done deal in favor of the seller, no choice left, we accept it, we are corporate; fine-print contracts are binding arbitration's, we sign away our legal right to the courts if a dispute arises, if a damage occurs, corporate rights reign supreme - democracy restricted, constricted -- growing up corporate means we don't know what we own as a society, ie., the public airways, 1/3 of America [the public lands], our $4T pension pool [managed by the corporate, worker control is zero] - we own but do not control - taxpayer assets [incl. research developments given away, ie., the National Institute of Health] - our common gene pool being expropriated for enormous profit; the WTO and NAFTA rigged to make free-trade supreme, all other issues subordinate to trade, incl. human rights, food safety, environmental concerns, etc. - a rising tide subordinating our local, regional, and national rights. -- [NPR, Alternative Radio, consumer activist Ralph Nader, May.06.00]
scripted speeches, scripted conventions are no indication of a candidates character, ability; being a performer, reading a speech by teleprompter, written by a professional speech-writer makes a candidate an artificial, manufactured product NOT a representation of America's political-social aspirations - the resultant media analysis of the artificial-superficial speech results in superimposition of the script on the candidate [the political mask], performance [reading ability, emotions,mannerisms] equated with the scripted values, issues, policies [the art of political warfare; the posture], the manufactured image.
State of Our World: Open_Notes 8
a "national happiness index" is needed for America - everything is not ok when the economy is good -- "Redefining Progress" NGO -- Herbert Hoover idea [index], attempted resurrection by Mondale in the 1970s -- the social health of the nation, ie., unemployment, suicide, etc.; social health trend line different from the GDP trend line - social health declining or remaining stagnate -- economic indicators do not measure the quality of life, ie., health care coverage, housing, child poverty, hunger, wages, etc., vs. human material wellbeing, quality of health care, consumer items, etc.; material indicators of wellbeing -- money does not necessarily buy you happiness -- cultural indicators, crime rates falling, welfare case loads falling, smoking rates falling, etc. -- moral issue indicators, teenage pregnancy, divorce, etc. -- we must look beyond economic and business indicators; what is it important for us to measure ??
what falls within the purview of public policy, what indicator indices ?? - a sense of community is necessary for happiness -- a country needs more than just money -- we need to invest in our neighbors, engagement, trust, civility, sense of commitment, etc. -- absolute measures, relative measures, a satisfaction index -- we must differentiate between intrinsic and extrinsic happiness - a spiritual void exists in America -- a person's resources for happiness is a determinant -- inclusive family, volunteerism leads not just to happiness but joy -- base line for comparison importance; measures, etc., methodology, scenarios; is there a consensus amongst people about what makes them happy ?? - what indicators can capture social health ?? -- Jeremy Bentham (early 1800s) numerical index, an early attempt to measure happiness -- material needs must be fulfilled before spiritual, spatial needs, etc., and that is an indicator itself -- a richer political discourse is needed -- an ideal form must be approached (Plato), ie., happiness, that is the measure -- life was nasty, brutal and short for millennia - life is about *living*, what is "progress" ?? ** [not progress, regress, but an ingress, an entering into community] ** -- [NPR, Fordham Institute, Cato Institute, Jun.04.00, with [inserts]]
what falls within the purview of public policy, what indicator indices ?? - a sense of community is necessary for happiness -- a country needs more than just money -- we need to invest in our neighbors, engagement, trust, civility, sense of commitment, etc. -- absolute measures, relative measures, a satisfaction index -- we must differentiate between intrinsic and extrinsic happiness - a spiritual void exists in America -- a person's resources for happiness is a determinant -- inclusive family, volunteerism leads not just to happiness but joy -- base line for comparison importance; measures, etc., methodology, scenarios; is there a consensus amongst people about what makes them happy ?? - what indicators can capture social health ?? -- Jeremy Bentham (early 1800s) numerical index, an early attempt to measure happiness -- material needs must be fulfilled before spiritual, spatial needs, etc., and that is an indicator itself -- a richer political discourse is needed -- an ideal form must be approached (Plato), ie., happiness, that is the measure -- life was nasty, brutal and short for millennia - life is about *living*, what is "progress" ?? ** [not progress, regress, but an ingress, an entering into community] ** -- [NPR, Fordham Institute, Cato Institute, Jun.04.00, with [inserts]]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 9
media representations of women - the mixed messages vs. womanhood -- huge media sums spent to project a certain corporate image of women; containment - feminists stereotyped as fanatics, lesbians - the media has declared a post-feminist era -- feminism and femininity are not opposed -- the media is a double-edged sword for feminism; women's issues are covered yet feminism is still demonized; media representation of the "desirable woman" prevails; Vogue, Glamour, etc., both antagonize the mind and stroke desire(s) -- the "market of women", niche marketing (Segmented by age, tapping into rebellion) primary for the corporate; rebellion, expectations raised with the unforeseen outcome of increasing feminism (women matter economically, politically, etc.) - a political discourse (civil rights, Peace Corps, Equal Rights Amendment) opened up; women no longer empty vessels; gender divisions dissolved: 1960s "Beatlemania" (long hair; sexual desire); ABC seeks a younger woman audience, ie., Bewitched (Samantha saves the day; breaks out of the corseted life) an outlet for female desire, restlessness -- seeking to contain restlessness also feeds it -- the media claims to be a "mirror of society" only; the media is really a funhouse mirror, distortion repeated over-and-over, certain issues magnified, cultivated over time.
State of Our World: Open_Notes 10
the media tells us who and what is important - the media is an important part of peer culture - attitudes and opinions shaped; situations remote to most people moulded and accepted, ie., international events, affairs -- a narrow corporate ideal of the "woman image", ie., Barbie (instilling an image in the young); Disney "babes", ie., Ariel, [the Ariel Syndrome] old-fat-madeup Sea Witch grants Ariel legs in exchange for her voice (women must whisper; women talk too much; self-esteem, censorship) inorder to marry her love -- the art of catching a man: makeup; a non-fat, troubled food relationship; a very narrow corporate ideal is internalized by most young women; 33-23-33 the average measurements of models; 36-18-33 the measurements of Barbie; the average woman is 5'4", 132lbs., the average model is 5'9", 110lbs., only 05% of women can have these bodies - the artificial is deemed the ideal !! -- the media glamorizes sexual encounters; the governing sensual aspect of our lives; sexual relationships presented as a contest with a reward; sexual references in sitcoms, movies, etc., show young women who get rewarded and who does not, ie., Ali McBeal - the media-entertainment environment also includes much violence against women, victimization -- the masquerade of femininity; the gender ideology of America; women who say "no" are ridiculed, while the women who match the ideal are rewarded financially; the corporate "super-woman icon".
NIKE "Just Do It" (on the backs of Indonesian workers, mostly women) [consider that NIKE "swoosh" a whip-mark of the back of a slave] -- women must become aware of the ads that insult and demean women; we must teach others; opposing parties should be encouraged (opposed to the pose) - the media are *constructions*, they are made by someone - the word "feminism" must be reclaimed; feminism(s) are many, women must "talk back", women must resist -- male objectification is rising, males must resist vs. GI Joe, Coke ads, etc., the *media construction of gender* must be recognized and resisted !! -- [Notes 9,10] [NPR, Alternative Radio, feminist-professor of Media Studies, Univ. of Michigan, Susan Douglas, "Media Representations of Women", Aug.05.00, with [insert]]
NIKE "Just Do It" (on the backs of Indonesian workers, mostly women) [consider that NIKE "swoosh" a whip-mark of the back of a slave] -- women must become aware of the ads that insult and demean women; we must teach others; opposing parties should be encouraged (opposed to the pose) - the media are *constructions*, they are made by someone - the word "feminism" must be reclaimed; feminism(s) are many, women must "talk back", women must resist -- male objectification is rising, males must resist vs. GI Joe, Coke ads, etc., the *media construction of gender* must be recognized and resisted !! -- [Notes 9,10] [NPR, Alternative Radio, feminist-professor of Media Studies, Univ. of Michigan, Susan Douglas, "Media Representations of Women", Aug.05.00, with [insert]]
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
State of Our World: Open_Notes 11
the collapse of public confidence and hope in our abilities - a loss-collapse of the power of workers, citizens; the actualization of the strike and vote lost, organizational power [ie., employers depend on workers] - the regulatory framework now governed by the corporate; globalization has punctured the analysis that society has used in the past, popular power has been undermined !! -- capital mobility, heightened trade [these two dimensions of globalization braided together into an argument] against the labor movement, the strike power; world competition threat -- citizen power over the nation state also threatened [capital disinvestment threat] by the corporate vs. regulations [the neo-liberal argument] -- is this argument accurate ?? - structural, institutional power and actualization of that power is a difficult understanding vs. traditions, deference, laws - solidarity over divisions necessary, networks of communication, unified actions - structural leverage dependent on sacrifice [the strike].
working to make people recognize they have power is a struggle; overcoming the lack of unity, the divisions [nourished by employers; one group played against another]; the threat of replacement; the picket is a form of free speech - ** we must develop community alliances ** - we must develop repertoires of struggle, a world view [the employers do so also; vertical relations, oriented toward management vs. horizontal relations] -- state coercive force, to back employers against workers developed [large employer advantages built into American democracy, ie., the courts, labor law]; common law vs. strikes initiated -- democracy consists of a largely weak party system; government is not tightly integrated; penetration by monied, business interests; the 2-party system over time suppressed dissent; building majorities [building big-tent coalitions] cannot survive contentious issues in a conflict ridden society.
working to make people recognize they have power is a struggle; overcoming the lack of unity, the divisions [nourished by employers; one group played against another]; the threat of replacement; the picket is a form of free speech - ** we must develop community alliances ** - we must develop repertoires of struggle, a world view [the employers do so also; vertical relations, oriented toward management vs. horizontal relations] -- state coercive force, to back employers against workers developed [large employer advantages built into American democracy, ie., the courts, labor law]; common law vs. strikes initiated -- democracy consists of a largely weak party system; government is not tightly integrated; penetration by monied, business interests; the 2-party system over time suppressed dissent; building majorities [building big-tent coalitions] cannot survive contentious issues in a conflict ridden society.
State of Our World: Open_Notes 12
labor was weak in America until the 1930s - the collapse [social, government] led to mass labor, unemployed defiance - labor won legal rights for the first time [representation, protection for unions, income protection programs] - a "new compact" but with conditions vs. labor strategies [legal contracts; labor relation boards; employers collected the dues making labor responsible to business as well as their members] - much of the old repertoires of labor made illegal [boycotts, sympathy strikes, sit-down strikes (commandeering the plant, holding hostage the capital equipment of the plant)]; limitations on the power of workers, by law, government, has increased until now -- yet today lean production has actually increased the power of labor; capital is dependent on labor - an ideological campaign is being waged against this understanding, a "no interference" policy [neo-laissez faire] - union-busting has been a regular policy of corporations since the 1970s [back to the pre-1930s Pinkerton union-busting army], bowing to growing competitive pressures [two-tier contracts introduced vs. solidarity; productivity partnerships (vertical relationships)] - heightened exit threats, contracting out/in, welfare state cut-backs [UI, welfare, food-stamps, medicaid] threat; corporate advantage in maneuvering now exists - people are crippled by the old repertoires, the rules accepted by the internal oligarchies.
small-scale, new repertoires are now emerging, new strategies, solidarity reconstruction; extended chains of production increase worker control, coordinating strikes across plants, nations -- preparations for strikes (community relations), increasing minority participation, regional strikes, are building solidarity [worker-community alliances], wide-spread public apathy targeted [ie., WTO protests], democratic accountability, and the lack of the same, brought to the forefront -- formal organizational ties between unions in different countries being cultivated; new conditions being forged; the future is partly shaped by the unpredictable; domination has to be challenged !! -- [Notes 11,12] [NPR, Alternative Radio, "Labor in a Globalized Economy", author-professor Francis Fox Piven, Sep.02.00]
small-scale, new repertoires are now emerging, new strategies, solidarity reconstruction; extended chains of production increase worker control, coordinating strikes across plants, nations -- preparations for strikes (community relations), increasing minority participation, regional strikes, are building solidarity [worker-community alliances], wide-spread public apathy targeted [ie., WTO protests], democratic accountability, and the lack of the same, brought to the forefront -- formal organizational ties between unions in different countries being cultivated; new conditions being forged; the future is partly shaped by the unpredictable; domination has to be challenged !! -- [Notes 11,12] [NPR, Alternative Radio, "Labor in a Globalized Economy", author-professor Francis Fox Piven, Sep.02.00]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 13
human suffering, political upheaval, and ecological destruction is looming within the threat global warming - in the last 10 years science, in a wonderful display of the scientific method, has removed all doubt against global warming; it is FACT - the basic parameters of the earths biology and physics has been changed by man - the early signs of warming [we are about 25% of the way into the warming] are here: 1. rainfall and severe storms are increasing; a 20% change in a few decades [increased energy introduced into a system and expressed] 2. the very progress of the seasons has begun to change; on average spring arrives seven days sooner and winter arrives four days later in the northern hemisphere; vegetation zones moving 3. such shifts in climate and weather are triggering even more dangerous effects, ie., polar ice thickness decreasing; 40% in the last two decades; salinity in the oceans changed as a result; polar currents to the tropics being changed, the heat exchange; sea levels rising, warm water occupies more space than cold; population shifts, environmental refugees threatening.
the 1990s economic boom, an incantation, the enchantment [growth; more is better] of global commerce vs. alternatives, ie., reduction in the use of fossil fuels; spending less [standard of living]; our behavior, attitudes must change, ie., politics is what it is, etc. -- ["wealth-authority" must be challenged, made worthless, non-existent (nothing matters but money); we must wake up as the perils around us increase !! -- we must take a different path vs. the human nature argument (nourished and nurtured by the corporate)] - human nature is not one dimensional, more is not better [a world drained of its wonder, its relationship; impoverished]; it is *only us* out here [not someone else out there; we are the someone else]; the glory of God [the story of Job; God tours the universe, His creation - where were you when I did all this? - man is but a moment, yet we commit crimes against the future; we *preempt* the lives of our children; we commit crimes against the past, we are stewards, heirs of the past and future] -- Global Warming is the preeminent challenge of our day; massive damage looming - resistance to the conventional wisdom and pattern must increase, ie., better economics, applied wisdom [protests, simple living, withdrawal], etc., economic health vs. environmental health is *madness*, [only God can/will provide the HEALING] !! -- *our role in consumption* must cease [consumerism as religion] or we will; [we are consuming, sacrificing ourselves, our children on the false altar]; the question is not "who wants to be a millionaire?" but "who wants to be a human being?" -- [based on NPR, Alternative Radio, "Consumerism and Global Warming", Phil McKibben, author "Hope: Human and Wild" and "The End of Nature", Sep.09.00, [with inserts]]
the 1990s economic boom, an incantation, the enchantment [growth; more is better] of global commerce vs. alternatives, ie., reduction in the use of fossil fuels; spending less [standard of living]; our behavior, attitudes must change, ie., politics is what it is, etc. -- ["wealth-authority" must be challenged, made worthless, non-existent (nothing matters but money); we must wake up as the perils around us increase !! -- we must take a different path vs. the human nature argument (nourished and nurtured by the corporate)] - human nature is not one dimensional, more is not better [a world drained of its wonder, its relationship; impoverished]; it is *only us* out here [not someone else out there; we are the someone else]; the glory of God [the story of Job; God tours the universe, His creation - where were you when I did all this? - man is but a moment, yet we commit crimes against the future; we *preempt* the lives of our children; we commit crimes against the past, we are stewards, heirs of the past and future] -- Global Warming is the preeminent challenge of our day; massive damage looming - resistance to the conventional wisdom and pattern must increase, ie., better economics, applied wisdom [protests, simple living, withdrawal], etc., economic health vs. environmental health is *madness*, [only God can/will provide the HEALING] !! -- *our role in consumption* must cease [consumerism as religion] or we will; [we are consuming, sacrificing ourselves, our children on the false altar]; the question is not "who wants to be a millionaire?" but "who wants to be a human being?" -- [based on NPR, Alternative Radio, "Consumerism and Global Warming", Phil McKibben, author "Hope: Human and Wild" and "The End of Nature", Sep.09.00, [with inserts]]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 14
"the evil of two lessers" [Republicans, Democrats] - America must vote their hopes NOT their fears -- the invisible and ignored homeless must be made visible -- [corporate welfare is the ultimate blight on our landscape] -- merchants initially opposed the American revolution, they opposed anti-slavery, they opposed women/children (workers) rights, the agrarian reform movement [they only had their head, heart, feet; walking from farm to farm, person to person]; the industrial worker unions, the environmental movement vs. accumulated violence -- the corporate stand in the way of our basic human rights !! - the US is a republic run as a plutocracy NOT as a democracy !! - CEO's today claim [they don't earn] 416x an entry level worker, 1M$+/mo, 40-50T$/day; social values undermined [CEO's 12x in 1940, 40x in 1980] -- the White House is a corporate prison [golden hand-cuffs] !! - corporate power and abuse is the *singular issue* in politics today !! - deconcentration of corporate power is absolutely and fundamentally necessary for a free social environment; we have to regain and keep our right to voice, to speak !!
GREED is defined as INFINITY by the corporate !! [AGAPE LOVE is defined as ETERNITY by the God Family] -- our government kneels before corporate power; complex legal privileges, immunities given; the top 01% has built enormous wealth; DEMOCRACY SURRENDERED = 20% child poverty, 25% pre-school child poverty; workers making less money than 25 years ago; the richest 400 families each increased their wealth 1.2M$/day during the last 04 years; the top 01% are equal in wealth to the bottom 95% of Americans; 47M workers making less than 10$ hour, 1/2 minimum wage of 05$/hr; the US has some of the worst, most draconian laws against trade unions; public and corporate prisons increasing at an alarming rate; the US is 37th in the world in health care [universal health care anathema to the corporate; 47M Americans without any health care] -- solutions include: 1. public financing of public elections NOT the private financing of private campaigns; 2. we must unleash the power of trade unionism, the freedom of association vs. corporate power [ie., Taft-Hartly]; 3. we must increase legal means, force vs. corporate crime, immunity [our legal rights suppressed due to corporate wealth, power of litigation]; 4. a self-empowering *civic culture* must be developed; 5. a new mainstream progressive politics must be developed -- the inheritance of our children is at risk !!
the pursuit of justice is part of our pursuit of happiness - swallowing injustice [BITTER] is unAmerican - WE MUST PERFORM OUR CIVIC DUTIES !! vs. corporate imposition(s); the corporate is planning, imposing *our* future !! - "everything is for sale" is the corporate mantra - citizens "up against the odds" is an American tradition; a deeper and stronger democracy will produce a deeper and stronger economy vs. domination by fewer and fewer corporations; the corporate charter must be a mechanism for corporate responsibility as it was in the last century - a perpetuation of the [evil] systemic existent must be opposed !! -- [NPR, Alternative Radio, Ralph Nader, "Towards A Green White House", Sep.23.00, with [inserts]]
GREED is defined as INFINITY by the corporate !! [AGAPE LOVE is defined as ETERNITY by the God Family] -- our government kneels before corporate power; complex legal privileges, immunities given; the top 01% has built enormous wealth; DEMOCRACY SURRENDERED = 20% child poverty, 25% pre-school child poverty; workers making less money than 25 years ago; the richest 400 families each increased their wealth 1.2M$/day during the last 04 years; the top 01% are equal in wealth to the bottom 95% of Americans; 47M workers making less than 10$ hour, 1/2 minimum wage of 05$/hr; the US has some of the worst, most draconian laws against trade unions; public and corporate prisons increasing at an alarming rate; the US is 37th in the world in health care [universal health care anathema to the corporate; 47M Americans without any health care] -- solutions include: 1. public financing of public elections NOT the private financing of private campaigns; 2. we must unleash the power of trade unionism, the freedom of association vs. corporate power [ie., Taft-Hartly]; 3. we must increase legal means, force vs. corporate crime, immunity [our legal rights suppressed due to corporate wealth, power of litigation]; 4. a self-empowering *civic culture* must be developed; 5. a new mainstream progressive politics must be developed -- the inheritance of our children is at risk !!
the pursuit of justice is part of our pursuit of happiness - swallowing injustice [BITTER] is unAmerican - WE MUST PERFORM OUR CIVIC DUTIES !! vs. corporate imposition(s); the corporate is planning, imposing *our* future !! - "everything is for sale" is the corporate mantra - citizens "up against the odds" is an American tradition; a deeper and stronger democracy will produce a deeper and stronger economy vs. domination by fewer and fewer corporations; the corporate charter must be a mechanism for corporate responsibility as it was in the last century - a perpetuation of the [evil] systemic existent must be opposed !! -- [NPR, Alternative Radio, Ralph Nader, "Towards A Green White House", Sep.23.00, with [inserts]]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 15
the distorted lens of corporate media -- our children served up to these corporations - children's programming teamed up with McDonald's, Wendy's, etc., toys with their damaging food -- "playtime, snack time, tot time" marketing strategies combining non-profits (ie., PBS) with for-profit companies -- these are very serious issues -- PBS bowing to corporate pressures vs. underwriters (ie., unions, gay groups, environmental groups, etc.), in programming choices -- independent media are our only hope !! [the Internet is a corporate medium (a private corporate backbone), privatization of which is a threat to open, free, alternative, independent media; we must take back what is ours, we must protect what is ours] - the media giants are the lens through which we see the world, the "mainstream" view, the corporate portal -- the solution is ** all of us **, democracy from the bottom-up vs. manufactured consent !! -- true media is about challenging those in power not about continually lauding them !! - we must see beyond the corporate media claim of analysis not advocacy, we must see through another lens !! [HUMILITY is the lens of God's truth !!] -- [based on NPR, Alternative Radio, Amy Goodman, "Democracy Now", Dec.09.00, with [insert]]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 16
when interest rates go down, money becomes cheaper and stocks become attractive -- stock price is mostly disconnected from actual company value in the short-term; companies benefit only if they wish to sell more stock when prices are high for capital inflow -- 70-80% of daily volume is institutional trading; earnings growth over the long term drive stock prices; earnings have increased 56-fold in the past 50 years [on avg. earned 11% annually: S&P500], the market has increased 58-fold; stock prices fluctuate in the short-term -- rules-of-thumb are arbitrary; there are many strategies to buying-selling; long-term or short-term profit taking -- the stock market is almost purely emotion for many [the emmonic (emotion/money)] vs. studying companies [most companies get through difficulties; most take time to develop] - your *relationship* to stocks needs consideration; a long-term net-buyer of stocks [long-term holdings] perspective survives fluctuations, buying when prices are low; gradually you pull back from stock investments approaching retirement [time-frame, goals, differ for each individual] to avoid being forced to cash-in when prices are low -- short-term perspectives, the mentality, causes volatility in the market [day-traders; short-term profit taking; the gamble; options trading, etc.].
information, studying is most important - SEC rule changes [Fair Disclosure] has made investment information open to all [sorting insight from the noise is the trick, the skill needed, the *discernment*] -- "greedy" or "clever" is the question !! -- direct stock purchase plans [dividend reinvestment] is the best for minimum investments, ie., 100$ per month, etc., look for no fee, no load funds; take a long-term perspective, benefits compounding over time building on the strength of US companies, ie., index funds [broad diversification; low-cost, average 1.6 basis-points, as opposed to 20 basis-points for some investment strategies] - long-term stock appreciation depends on corporate profits. -- [NPR, All Things Considered, "The Financial Markets", interview The Motley Fool, Jan.03.01, with [inserts]]
information, studying is most important - SEC rule changes [Fair Disclosure] has made investment information open to all [sorting insight from the noise is the trick, the skill needed, the *discernment*] -- "greedy" or "clever" is the question !! -- direct stock purchase plans [dividend reinvestment] is the best for minimum investments, ie., 100$ per month, etc., look for no fee, no load funds; take a long-term perspective, benefits compounding over time building on the strength of US companies, ie., index funds [broad diversification; low-cost, average 1.6 basis-points, as opposed to 20 basis-points for some investment strategies] - long-term stock appreciation depends on corporate profits. -- [NPR, All Things Considered, "The Financial Markets", interview The Motley Fool, Jan.03.01, with [inserts]]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 17
we have to turn our lights on if we are to see where we are headed in this darkened world [God is light; it is His light that we need (our headlights)] -- GNP, our Grosser National Product, nothing is more gross than environmental destruction on a massive scale that makes the GNP possible - everyone knows there are limits on this growth but no one has the answer; a *cost* -benefit analysis of growth is necessary !! - a market economy does not tell us the truth; massive subsidies are employed [corporate welfare], ie., energy costs, transportation, etc. -- 1. the corporate structure has the rights of a person but there was *no conscience* put into that person; legal *responsibility* to society and the environment must be mandated [corporatus (to make into a body; consciousness): Corporatio/Communitas/Christianitas: private community, public community, fellowship community, the Family of God: evil/human/Holy SPIRIT CONSCIENCE/ entitas; entity (being, existence)] 2. massive waste must be avoided; performance standards, criteria must be established 3. we must enter an era of ** restoration ** - we must *think new*, we must support and extend that support for new possibilities - we must rebuild our life-support system that we are destroying; ** human symbiosis is needed ** -- "back to the source" waste management [symbiotic waste as food], ie., Sony TV back to Sony, GM car back to GM, etc., corporate responsibility for its lasting manufacturing impact -- opportunities for the restoration of our 3-billion year-old life-systemic are endless !! -- [based on NPR, Alternative Radio, David Brower, environmentalist, d. Nov.05.00 at 88 years, founder of Earth Island Institute; "Visions of the Environmental Movement", Jan.13.01, [with inserts]]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 18
the pervasive contamination of humanity and the environment - endocrine disruptor's, chemical contamination of our bodies - legacy of contamination being passed on to our children ie., breast feeding, placenta cross-over -- 1940s reports about DDT contamination, 1962 Rachel Carson "Silent Spring" warning - toxic chemicals = cancer - 1996 "Our Stolen Future", what are the consequences?, a continuance of "Silent Spring" - we have to move our thinking beyond cancer and embrace new concepts ie., the endocrine disruption concerns, etc. - these are unifying themes beyond cancer (still a major concern, but not the only one) -- so-called "normal" background levels must be a new focus; chemical messengers tricking (mimicry) the messages (wrong instructions; hormones), not the genome itself (as in mutations) - pre-natal life is most vulnerable; timing is just as important as the dose (cancer, deformities, gender development, etc.), ** disrupted development **.
many plastics are biologically active, they leach contaminates, ie., polycarbonates (baby bottles, can linings, etc.) leeches Phenol A (brain function harm); inert chemicals used with pesticides are estrogenic (salmon fry development arrested; male sea otter contamination) -- learning disabilities, attention deficit linked to organic pollutants -- a global phase-out must be implemented; DDT is still being used around the world; these chemicals are being deposited all over the earth, especially the arctic -- fertility, immune function in humans and animals is in direct threat -- chemical-by-chemical study and censure is impossible -- metabolites used against insects ie., juvenile hormone mimics are not regulated; they are a direct threat to humanity (all invertebrates) - pesticides in our diet are also a direct threat -- classes of chemicals must be banned collectively; precautionary principle (if you suspect something is bad, do not use it; corporate proof requires dead bodies) -- ** human health and potential is being threatened ** -- the EPA is not protecting us; no one is in control; present protection is an illusion !! - OUR BODY CHEMISTRY IS BEING CHANGED !!
the greatest hazards are to the unborn !! - persistent hazards are carried in animal fat, ie., cheese, meats, and plastics - hormone systems are extremely complex, ie., soy formula for male infants may interfere with hormonal messages [estrogen questions] -- infant brain and behavior development impacted by a mother's contamination levels before birth and during breast feeding; mechanistic impairment; thyroid disruptor's, impairment (ADD; thyroid receptor(s) not receptive may be one cause) - the corporate "great global experiment" must cease !! -- [NPR, Alternative Radio, science journalist Diane Dumanosky, co-author "Our Stolen Future", Nov.18.00]
many plastics are biologically active, they leach contaminates, ie., polycarbonates (baby bottles, can linings, etc.) leeches Phenol A (brain function harm); inert chemicals used with pesticides are estrogenic (salmon fry development arrested; male sea otter contamination) -- learning disabilities, attention deficit linked to organic pollutants -- a global phase-out must be implemented; DDT is still being used around the world; these chemicals are being deposited all over the earth, especially the arctic -- fertility, immune function in humans and animals is in direct threat -- chemical-by-chemical study and censure is impossible -- metabolites used against insects ie., juvenile hormone mimics are not regulated; they are a direct threat to humanity (all invertebrates) - pesticides in our diet are also a direct threat -- classes of chemicals must be banned collectively; precautionary principle (if you suspect something is bad, do not use it; corporate proof requires dead bodies) -- ** human health and potential is being threatened ** -- the EPA is not protecting us; no one is in control; present protection is an illusion !! - OUR BODY CHEMISTRY IS BEING CHANGED !!
the greatest hazards are to the unborn !! - persistent hazards are carried in animal fat, ie., cheese, meats, and plastics - hormone systems are extremely complex, ie., soy formula for male infants may interfere with hormonal messages [estrogen questions] -- infant brain and behavior development impacted by a mother's contamination levels before birth and during breast feeding; mechanistic impairment; thyroid disruptor's, impairment (ADD; thyroid receptor(s) not receptive may be one cause) - the corporate "great global experiment" must cease !! -- [NPR, Alternative Radio, science journalist Diane Dumanosky, co-author "Our Stolen Future", Nov.18.00]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 19
a recession scenario looming in the US, a moderate correction with a longer-lasting effect on the stock market, but the economy with weather well with nothing more than a slowdown [profits lower on capital investments] in consumer spending and capital investment with some increase in unemployment -- the crisis of 1997-1999 weakened the banking systems of the emerging nations and Japan [still undergoing recession] -- Soros claims he made an analytical mistake in 1997 by not recognizing that the Federal Reserve would act, which it did, it responded, so his prophesied collapse did not happen -- Soros Fund (est. 1969) a "Hedge Fund" [manager rewarded by his performance not by the amount of money he manages; high risk, high reward] -- totally free markets [market fundamentalism] are *not* suited to making collective choices [for collective needs; public law and order]; markets cannot take care of social justice issues, they create wealth, but, allocation is a political process -- markets are unstable, financial markets are unstable by nature, they need institutions to maintain stability - this goes against the prevailing theory that markets gravitate toward equilibrium - markets attempt to predict the future, but in effect, determine the future [SAGE CONTROL] - the insistence on equilibrium is mistaken - there is a lack of international institutions in the global economy.
derivatives, a synthetic instrument [ie., an option to buy a currency; a stock index], are dangerous if there are too many people on one side of a transaction, pushing in one direction, becoming unbalanced - the unbalance must be watched, and this is not being done -- the international banking system is threatened; political instability, ie., China's repressive regime, Russia's "robber capitalism" [the battle in Russia was lost because the west did not do enough to ensure that monies got to the people and the scientists, where it was needed, the IMF failed] -- "global public goods" on a grant basis must be implemented, ie., free public education -- the US must abandon the "war on drugs" and implement programs vs. "harm damage," ie., legal and prison reforms, needle exchange programs, social justice reforms, etc. -- the "Tobin Tax' [-Tobin, Noble Prize Economics] an excise tax on international currency speculations is a move in the right direction. -- [NPR, Talk of the Nation, interview George Soros (70), retired Chmn. Soros Fund Management, Open Society Foundation; author "Open Society, Reforming Global Capitalism"; "The Crisis of Global Capitalism", Jan.22.01, with [insert]]
derivatives, a synthetic instrument [ie., an option to buy a currency; a stock index], are dangerous if there are too many people on one side of a transaction, pushing in one direction, becoming unbalanced - the unbalance must be watched, and this is not being done -- the international banking system is threatened; political instability, ie., China's repressive regime, Russia's "robber capitalism" [the battle in Russia was lost because the west did not do enough to ensure that monies got to the people and the scientists, where it was needed, the IMF failed] -- "global public goods" on a grant basis must be implemented, ie., free public education -- the US must abandon the "war on drugs" and implement programs vs. "harm damage," ie., legal and prison reforms, needle exchange programs, social justice reforms, etc. -- the "Tobin Tax' [-Tobin, Noble Prize Economics] an excise tax on international currency speculations is a move in the right direction. -- [NPR, Talk of the Nation, interview George Soros (70), retired Chmn. Soros Fund Management, Open Society Foundation; author "Open Society, Reforming Global Capitalism"; "The Crisis of Global Capitalism", Jan.22.01, with [insert]]
Monday, October 26, 2009
State of Our World: Open_Notes 20
beyond capitalism to ecological rationalism -- each society has its own way of relating to nature, its own [historical] patterns, including diseases, ie., nutritional stress; each has its own pattern of knowledge and ignorance -- military preeminence combined with economic decline leads to military intervention to ensure economic preeminence, ie., WTO, etc. -- systems theory sees a network of interacting processes; the boundaries of study disciplines must be crossed to understand -- homeostasis [why things are the way they are]; self-regulating processes at work [negative feedbacks] - a society is an eco-social mode of production and reproduction; systems of justifications produced to expand [ie., white man's burden; convert the heathen; manifest destiny; maintenance of freedom, etc.] - knowledge is now a commodity, and treated, used just as any product is !! [GOD IS KNOWLEDGE; GOSPEL AS PRODUCT] -- AN ECO-SOCIAL DISTRESS SYNDROME, a malaise permeating humanity - corporate utility, profit motives - ** abuse of rights creates conflict, not resolving the abuses ** [the corporate are to blame, not the ones rejecting them !!]
a massive waste of human capacity; the ability of each of us to think and contribute is severely limited; much of the intellectual capacity of humanity is wasted - the range to exercise ingenuity is restricted, institutionalized, copyrighted: UNDERMINED HUMANITY !! - much of what happens in our lives is a side-effect of the economy !! - natural disasters are magnified by our living situations ie., living on flood plains, on the sides of volcano's, crowded slums, etc. - "good for the economy" results in a loss of capacity to deal with disaster; inequality, the basic disempowerment of the people; constitutionalized mechanisms to nullify the rights of the people guaranteed by the same constitution - debate has been replaced by the purchase of public-relations.
a massive waste of human capacity; the ability of each of us to think and contribute is severely limited; much of the intellectual capacity of humanity is wasted - the range to exercise ingenuity is restricted, institutionalized, copyrighted: UNDERMINED HUMANITY !! - much of what happens in our lives is a side-effect of the economy !! - natural disasters are magnified by our living situations ie., living on flood plains, on the sides of volcano's, crowded slums, etc. - "good for the economy" results in a loss of capacity to deal with disaster; inequality, the basic disempowerment of the people; constitutionalized mechanisms to nullify the rights of the people guaranteed by the same constitution - debate has been replaced by the purchase of public-relations.
State of Our World: Open_Notes 21
wealth under capitalism = capital, private ownership, unlimited accumulation - expansion imperative built in [the economy doing fine, its only the people who are doing poorly]; rapid turnover urge, paper investment preferred; no equilibrium with nature - expansion 1. taking 2. new markets [the creation of need (or effective demand)] - with production surplus, production is used to create demand [the invention of new needs] - the commodity(-ies) penetrate all levels of life; all becomes commodity including life [basic needs; DNA, etc.]; all become marketable !! - NO RELATIONSHIP TO HUMAN WELL-BEING - the "logic" of commodity penetrates all thinking [a reduction to commodification; no value unless monied value]; the commodity form itself determines a capitalist society's relationship with nature, including self-validations [needs, wants] -- no one questions products made, whether these are socially-needed products, ie., military goods, chemicals, etc., no one questions the relationship of worker-to-product [the logic of indifference; the alienation from the job] - the marketing of labor power undermines our relationship with nature and with each other !!
maximization of profit vs. sustainability [the ecological outlook] - increase of consumption does not equal an increase in the quality of life; life sharply delimited into roles -- we must think of things in our *whole* lives [our social engagement; FAMILY of GOD]; we must redesign work to make it worker-friendly -- the costs of capitalism are externalized and then the costs are denied [the impact] - ecological diversity, the demands of nature must be emphasized, not capitalist demands -- interfering in profit-taking, the boundaries of protests [challenging the logic of the capitalistic system] are limited by the systemic; it will protect itself even unto ecocide !! -- fragmentation of knowledge makes all this possible; [life is a right NOT a privilege to be commodified]; production is justified only if it is people-friendly, ie., agro-ecology vs. corporate-chemical farms - we must challenge the pathways of development and the logic of the systemic itself - we must mobilize [and apply] the vast collective intelligence of humanity !! -- [Notes 20,21] [NPR, Alternative Radio, ecologist Richard Levens, "The Ecology of Capitalism", Jan.27.01, [with inserts]]
maximization of profit vs. sustainability [the ecological outlook] - increase of consumption does not equal an increase in the quality of life; life sharply delimited into roles -- we must think of things in our *whole* lives [our social engagement; FAMILY of GOD]; we must redesign work to make it worker-friendly -- the costs of capitalism are externalized and then the costs are denied [the impact] - ecological diversity, the demands of nature must be emphasized, not capitalist demands -- interfering in profit-taking, the boundaries of protests [challenging the logic of the capitalistic system] are limited by the systemic; it will protect itself even unto ecocide !! -- fragmentation of knowledge makes all this possible; [life is a right NOT a privilege to be commodified]; production is justified only if it is people-friendly, ie., agro-ecology vs. corporate-chemical farms - we must challenge the pathways of development and the logic of the systemic itself - we must mobilize [and apply] the vast collective intelligence of humanity !! -- [Notes 20,21] [NPR, Alternative Radio, ecologist Richard Levens, "The Ecology of Capitalism", Jan.27.01, [with inserts]]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 22
a prisonized landscape, an alternative reality in the global economy - in Australia 1-2% of population aboriginal, yet 30% of the prison population [many young women in prison due to heroin] - the "racial dimension" -- the descendants of the convicts [Australian penal colony] are now proud of their history [convict pride], yet there is no attempt to understand the aboriginal plight today, the poverty and crime - deconstruction of the criminalization of poverty [most of the crimes petty theft, etc.] but not applying that to the situation today [historical amnesia] -- in America's prisons 50% are black, 17% Latino, Native Americans have the highest per capita rate; what is it like living in a society with almost 2M people in prison ?? - how did it happen ?? - how did this totalitarian regime take place ?? - the 1980s Thatcher/Reagan "War on Drugs" and the lifting of corporate regulations [the new global market], the deindustrialization of the US economy has resulted in poverty for many in the US - the homeless, the prison population, those who have given up looking for work are not counted in the unemployment numbers; as the welfare state was being dismantled in the US-UK [social disestablishment] a corresponding increase in the number of women entering prison rose, who were forced into illegal economies - the IMF-World Bank is demanding massive structural adjustments in the Third World and the impact will be enormous !!
State of Our World: Open_Notes 23
public education is deteriorating vs. the privatization of Health Care, the privatization of Public Education and the privatization of Punishment [Prisons as industry; profits enormous] - death penalty executions are now routine in the US; Texas and Florida [the Bush brothers] have the highest number of executions and prisoners, with Affirmative Action attacked in both -- we must think of the role we all play in society, the consent we give either implicitly or complicity; we do not question what we see in the media, we assume it is all facts, the statistics - what is the role of racism here ?? - the talk is all about Race Relations, but not about structural racism, the way the cards are stacked against people of color - the racially explicit laws have been removed from the books, but equality before the law is fiction - "formal equality" does not take into account *forced poverty* [and enforced] and the implications - formal equality at the level of the law conceals much !!
State of Our World: Open_Notes 24
we must begin to think of history in more complex ways instead of focusing only on Black History, etc., we are all connected !! -- many women are in prison on conspiracy charges because of their partners being convicted of drug crimes, who in many instances bargain and deal sentence reductions for information, while the innocent women have no information to trade and do the maximum sentence - THESE ARE DRACONIAN LAWS, "three-strikes and you are out" is misapplied in most cases [this is EVIL !!] - we must understand these events; we must think of the future of history, where we are going, what we are able to do to change the coming history !! - we must become activists, we must become involved, we must change the ideas which surround us !! - being an activist means to be active, including mentally active, seeking answers, thinking critically, not giving your consent [without your intent]; we have a vital role(s) to play, a responsibility for the future [and for ourselves] !! -- [Notes 22-24] [NPR, Alternative Radio, black social activist, author and teacher, Univ of Calif., Santa Cruz, Angela Davis, "What will you say in 2030?" Feb.03.01]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 25
today racism with a new lexicon takes on new forms and shapes - the critical subtext of public policy is racism - the Reagan-1980s white-backlash against racism, almost a second post-reconstruction movement [ie., charges of black racism and reverse discrimination against whites were calculated to give comfort] - playing the race card; labor issues [displaced, reflected hostility vs. the worker, not the oppressor; the same systemic use as with slavery] - maximization of profits by minimizing costs [the strategy of divide and exploit]; "Jim Crow Laws" imposed after the populist upheaval [whites joined with blacks] vs. the corporate power-structure in the south [some white leaders sold out; material incentives, differential wages]; racism is a system of privileges - inter-generational deficits of privilege - the American revolution was a battle for democracy, but for the few; the struggle survives today; THERE WAS/IS NO COMMON TABLE !! -- the use of the police to repress and contain the people is widely apparent with Blacks and Hispanics; the corruption of relationships within society [the legal system; the prison/jail-industrial complex]; the militarization of the police [SWAT] - we are caged, yet are expected not to protest !! - people of color are the wrong complexion to get the protection - prisons are an economic option in hard-hit communities, and the increasing use of prison labor by corporations is gaining acceptance - the counterattack on the few gains of the 1960-70s social-justice movement is growing [ie., demonizing welfare mothers, etc.] !! - public-policy created the crisis; the underlying systemic created the ghetto-gangs, the hatred, and then the systemic comes to police the problems, the results engendered !!
State of Our World: Open_Notes 26
where do we move from here; how do we move forward ?? - issues, interim strategies to rally around: 1. we must struggle hard to oppose the madness of the justice system; 2 environmental racism; 3. public education [educational tracking; segregation]; 4. a domestic "Marshall Plan" is needed; community development in all spheres - we must perfect the imperfect American union !!-- a world that is earth-centered and people-centered [GOD CENTERED]; human rights [beyond civil rights] expressed worldwide must be our focus; how dare we call ourselves civilized, how dare we call ourselves human - sustainable development; the contradictions impose too great a price !! - MLK organizing a poor peoples "Economic Bill of Rights" was the reason he was killed; MLK recognized a Human-Rights struggle not just a Civil-Rights struggle; a radical revolution of values needed; MLK challenged the very *nature* of the American nation; the edifice which produces the evil must be restructured -** we must create a new covenant for a new society ** [THE KINGDOM OF GOD]; WE MUST HAVE THE VISION, THE SENSE WHERE WE ARE GOING; ALL THE DAMAGE MUST BE REPAIRED !! -- we are the beneficiaries of this evil systemic; ingrained policies and practises must be erased; grievances must be addressed - WE MUST BE CLEAR IN OUR VISION !! - THOSE OPPRESSED MUST UNDERSTAND THE OPPRESSION OF OTHERS !! - too few people have far, far, too much !! - reparations is a growing cry; those money-LESS, land-LESS, hope-LESS, etc., "reparation" means the REPAIR OF DAMAGE - PEOPLE MUST BE MADE WHOLE AGAIN !! - TRUE REFORM AND REVOLUTION IS MADE ON *HOPE, VISION, COURAGE* !! - we must FORCE the agenda [THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION] !! - we must recognize, and know those who have gone before us, our collective ancestry [physically and spiritually]; the vision, valor and dedication exemplified, must be remembered, honored !! -- [Notes 25,26] [based on NPR, Alternative Radio, black civil-rights activist Ron Daniels, director, The Center for Constitutional Rights, "The Color Line in the 21st Century", Feb.17.01, [with INSERTS]]
State of Our World: Open_Notes 27
the terrorists of Palestine, the Zionists, became to be called in the mid-1940s, "freedom fighters" - Menachem Begin "wanted posters" -- Arafat called by the great sage's of journalism, "chief terrorist", and now a "statesman" seeking peace -- in 1985 the Mujaheddin visited Reagan in the White House, and he claimed them "the moral equivalent of our Founding Father's" and now Bin Laden, terrorist enemy #1, a Mujaheddin -- the matter of terrorism is complicated - the terrorist of yesterday is the hero of today - the constant changing images; inconsistency evades definition, terrorism is defined in emotion not intelligence; SAGE-establishment quasi-definitions: 1. a modern barbarism 2. a form of political violence 3. a threat to western civilization4. a menace to western moral values -- definitions presuppose an analysis, some norms of consistency; the absence of definition does not prevent globalization, and the use of violence, with no geographical limits to counter "terrorism" -- the claims of power are not only global but omniscient -- causation denied by the SAGE -- the moral revulsion is selective, official disapproval, ie., the Contras, [manufactured consent, the media] - the media aids the dominant view of terrorism - the SAGE approach excludes from consideration the terror of "friendly" governments, ie., Pinochet, etc.
1:100,000 the ratio of terrorist groups to state terrorism in violence; the dominant groups receive the attention by the media - historical terrorism overlooked, ie., the North American genocide vs. the "Indians" - only when a "Custer" is killed is the genocide brought to attention, but then only in sympathy to the perpetrators -- What is terrorism ?? - we have to define it !!Websters: terror is an intense, overpowering fear, the use terrorizing methods of governing, or resisting governments; coercive violence, violence used illegally, extra-constitutional force; motivation [just, unjust] is left out of the definition; motives differ !! -- 5 types of Terror: 1 state 2. religious, sacred 3. crime, mafia 4. pathological, sick 5. political terror,oppositional terror, private terror - these options can converge, convergence -- the SAGE-media concentrate on those who cause the highest cost to them, the political; 2nd highest cost is religious terror; crime next, next pathology - state terrorism mostly unreported, complicit causation unexamined.
1:100,000 the ratio of terrorist groups to state terrorism in violence; the dominant groups receive the attention by the media - historical terrorism overlooked, ie., the North American genocide vs. the "Indians" - only when a "Custer" is killed is the genocide brought to attention, but then only in sympathy to the perpetrators -- What is terrorism ?? - we have to define it !!Websters: terror is an intense, overpowering fear, the use terrorizing methods of governing, or resisting governments; coercive violence, violence used illegally, extra-constitutional force; motivation [just, unjust] is left out of the definition; motives differ !! -- 5 types of Terror: 1 state 2. religious, sacred 3. crime, mafia 4. pathological, sick 5. political terror,oppositional terror, private terror - these options can converge, convergence -- the SAGE-media concentrate on those who cause the highest cost to them, the political; 2nd highest cost is religious terror; crime next, next pathology - state terrorism mostly unreported, complicit causation unexamined.
State of Our World: Open_Notes 28
the political terrorist: 1. the need to be heard, a minority acts 2. mix of anger and helplessness produces an urge to strike out; retribution, justice 3. victims into terrorists; a battered people strike back; state terror breeds collective terror, ie., the "Irgun", the "Stern", holocaust, occupation causation, strike vs. external targets 5. an example is a bad thing, example spreads, ie., aircraft hijackings; state government terror are large examples 6. lack or absence of revolutionary ideology; revolutionary terror socially limited, selective -- private political terrorism increasing due to modern technology [weapons-communications], a new politics becomes possible -- political minds rooted in the past and modern times producing new realities.
prevention: 1. avoid extremes of double standards; a superpower can not promote terror in one place and condemn it in another 2. do not condone the terror of your allies 3. avoid covert operations and low-intensity warfare [breeding ground of terror and the drug trade] 4. focus on causation, help ameliorate causes 5. do not seek military solutions; political solutions must be sought; innocent victims always result from military options 6. help reinforce and strengthen the framework of international law; enforce the United Nations, the International Code of Justice.
Jihad [to struggle] revived by American help in the 1980s vs. the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan; US$, CIA encouragement to fight the "evil empire", Bin Laden an early recruit and recruiter [Saudi multi-millionaire], 1990 "Gulf War" US Forces in Saudi Arabia remained after victory, Bin Laden demanded removal of foreign occupation, ie., same cause as Afghanistan; the"tribal code of ethics" friend or enemy dependent on "keeping your word"; the US loyal friend has broken his word, therefore now an enemy -- covert operations have an incalculable cost. -- [Notes 27,28] [based on NPR, Alternative Radio, Ekbal Amad, d. May.99, author "Confronting Empire", discussion: "Terrorism, Theirs and Ours", Jul.29.00, with additions (SAGE)]
prevention: 1. avoid extremes of double standards; a superpower can not promote terror in one place and condemn it in another 2. do not condone the terror of your allies 3. avoid covert operations and low-intensity warfare [breeding ground of terror and the drug trade] 4. focus on causation, help ameliorate causes 5. do not seek military solutions; political solutions must be sought; innocent victims always result from military options 6. help reinforce and strengthen the framework of international law; enforce the United Nations, the International Code of Justice.
Jihad [to struggle] revived by American help in the 1980s vs. the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan; US$, CIA encouragement to fight the "evil empire", Bin Laden an early recruit and recruiter [Saudi multi-millionaire], 1990 "Gulf War" US Forces in Saudi Arabia remained after victory, Bin Laden demanded removal of foreign occupation, ie., same cause as Afghanistan; the"tribal code of ethics" friend or enemy dependent on "keeping your word"; the US loyal friend has broken his word, therefore now an enemy -- covert operations have an incalculable cost. -- [Notes 27,28] [based on NPR, Alternative Radio, Ekbal Amad, d. May.99, author "Confronting Empire", discussion: "Terrorism, Theirs and Ours", Jul.29.00, with additions (SAGE)]
