WITH THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IN THE WORLD, PEOPLE ALL OVER TURN THEIR MINDS TO THOUGHTS OF UNCERTAINTY, SPECULATION ABOUT THE FUTURE, WORK, LOSS OF WORK, AFFLUENCE AND ITS ABSENCE.
AFFLUENCE COMES AN GOES. IT IS A REPRESENTATION OF ENERGY, AN EPHEMERAL SUBSTANCE. IN OUR PRESENT DAY CULTURE AFFLUENCE IS OVERRATED.
THIS CRISIS IS DUE TO PREVALENT VALUES. THE PREVAILING VALUES HOLD THE SEED FOR THE SYSTEMS COLLAPSE AND EVENTUAL DEMISE. WEALTH IS PUT IN THE SERVICE OF TRIVIALITY AND EXCESS, AND THUS LOOSES VALUE. CONSUMER SOCIETY IS CHARACTERIZED BY AN EXCESS OF SUPERFLUOUS ITEMS. SUPERFLUOUS ITEMS ARE SUPERFLUOUS...NOT NEEDED, AN ILLUSION, DOOMED TO BE REJECTED, TO BECOME WHAT THEY ARE: OBSOLETE.
WEALTH, IN ANY CASE, MERELY BECOMES AN AMPLIFIER OF THE VALUES AND ATTRIBUTES OF CHARACTER PEOPLE PROFESS. IF THE IDEA HELD BY INDIVIDUALS CONCERNING WEALTH IS ERRATIC, THEN THE ENERGY SET IN MOTION BY WEALTH IN THE HANDS OF SUCH INDIVIDUALS IS ALSO ERRATIC, MISPLACED.
ENLIGHTENED MINDS ALL OVER THE WORLD KNOW THIS: THE GRANOLA PEOPLE, THE PROGRESSIVES, THE HUMANISTS, THE
THOUGHTFUL ONES, THE COMPASSIONATE ONES, THOSE WHO CARRY WITHIN THEIR MINDS AND HEARTS THE CONVICTION THAT BEINGS ARE
INTRINSICALLY VALUABLE IN LIGHT OF THEIR INTELLIGENCE AND
DEPTH, AND NOT IN LIGHT OF POSSESSIONS....ALL THESE PEOPLE KNOW HOW SUPERFLUOUS MONEY CAN BE, AND HOW EASY IT IS TO WASTE IN A CULTURE BASED ON WASTE, ADDICTION AND TRIVIALITY.
IN THIS STATE OF THINGS, A POOR SINGLE MOTHER WILL WORK AT THE CORNER SUPERMARKET FOR A WHOLE DAY, THEN PURCHASE A VIDEO GAME FOR HER DAUGHTER. IN THIS VIDEO GAME THE CHILD GETS TO KILL HUNDREDS OF ALIENS IN ONE SITTING. THEN THE YOUNG GIRL WILL TURN ON THE TELEVISION AND SEE IMAGES OF MORE ALIENS BEING MURDERED BY THE ADULTS IN HER SOCIETY, IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY. AFTER THESE DELICACIES, MOTHER CAN OPEN A CAN OF AWFUL COOKED PASTA WITH MEATBALLS, AND THEN BRING THE DAY TO A CLOSE WITH A CAN OF CAFFEINE FREE DIET COKE.
YET, ALL THESE ARE MANIFESTATIONS OF THAT IMPERSONAL FORCE CALLED AFFLUENCE, SO VALUED IN THE PRESENT-DAY WORLD. SO RESCUED BY GOVERMENT, SO SUSTAINED BY THE PRESIDENT, SO URGENTLY SUSTAINED IN PLACE FOR THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE.
AFFLUENCE, THEN, COULD VERY WELL BE QUESTIONED AS A SOCIAL VALUE. WHY UPHOLD IT IF THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES: FUNCTIONALITY, SUSTAINABILITY?.
THE SAME WORKING MOTHER, ENLIGHTENED, CAN GO OUT AND PURCHASE THE NECESSARY TOOLS AND SEEDS TO PLANT A GARDEN. THE CHILD WILL WORK UNDER THE SUN, IN COMMUNION WITH AIR, SUN, WATER, THE MOIST EARTH. SHE WILL WITNESS THE GROWTH OF HER EFFORTS, AND RECEIVE THE FRUIT. THIS FRUIT WILL PROVIDE A COMMON GROWND WITH ALL PEOPLES OF THE EARTH, THOSE WHO HAVE VIDEO GAMES AND THOSE WHO DO NOT.
IS ENLIGHTMENT, THEN, NOT AN ASSET?AFFLUENCE COMES AN GOES. IT IS A REPRESENTATION OF ENERGY, AN EPHEMERAL SUBSTANCE. IN OUR PRESENT DAY CULTURE AFFLUENCE IS OVERRATED.
THIS CRISIS IS DUE TO PREVALENT VALUES. THE PREVAILING VALUES HOLD THE SEED FOR THE SYSTEMS COLLAPSE AND EVENTUAL DEMISE. WEALTH IS PUT IN THE SERVICE OF TRIVIALITY AND EXCESS, AND THUS LOOSES VALUE. CONSUMER SOCIETY IS CHARACTERIZED BY AN EXCESS OF SUPERFLUOUS ITEMS. SUPERFLUOUS ITEMS ARE SUPERFLUOUS...NOT NEEDED, AN ILLUSION, DOOMED TO BE REJECTED, TO BECOME WHAT THEY ARE: OBSOLETE.
WEALTH, IN ANY CASE, MERELY BECOMES AN AMPLIFIER OF THE VALUES AND ATTRIBUTES OF CHARACTER PEOPLE PROFESS. IF THE IDEA HELD BY INDIVIDUALS CONCERNING WEALTH IS ERRATIC, THEN THE ENERGY SET IN MOTION BY WEALTH IN THE HANDS OF SUCH INDIVIDUALS IS ALSO ERRATIC, MISPLACED.
ENLIGHTENED MINDS ALL OVER THE WORLD KNOW THIS: THE GRANOLA PEOPLE, THE PROGRESSIVES, THE HUMANISTS, THE
THOUGHTFUL ONES, THE COMPASSIONATE ONES, THOSE WHO CARRY WITHIN THEIR MINDS AND HEARTS THE CONVICTION THAT BEINGS ARE
INTRINSICALLY VALUABLE IN LIGHT OF THEIR INTELLIGENCE AND
DEPTH, AND NOT IN LIGHT OF POSSESSIONS....ALL THESE PEOPLE KNOW HOW SUPERFLUOUS MONEY CAN BE, AND HOW EASY IT IS TO WASTE IN A CULTURE BASED ON WASTE, ADDICTION AND TRIVIALITY.
IN THIS STATE OF THINGS, A POOR SINGLE MOTHER WILL WORK AT THE CORNER SUPERMARKET FOR A WHOLE DAY, THEN PURCHASE A VIDEO GAME FOR HER DAUGHTER. IN THIS VIDEO GAME THE CHILD GETS TO KILL HUNDREDS OF ALIENS IN ONE SITTING. THEN THE YOUNG GIRL WILL TURN ON THE TELEVISION AND SEE IMAGES OF MORE ALIENS BEING MURDERED BY THE ADULTS IN HER SOCIETY, IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY. AFTER THESE DELICACIES, MOTHER CAN OPEN A CAN OF AWFUL COOKED PASTA WITH MEATBALLS, AND THEN BRING THE DAY TO A CLOSE WITH A CAN OF CAFFEINE FREE DIET COKE.
YET, ALL THESE ARE MANIFESTATIONS OF THAT IMPERSONAL FORCE CALLED AFFLUENCE, SO VALUED IN THE PRESENT-DAY WORLD. SO RESCUED BY GOVERMENT, SO SUSTAINED BY THE PRESIDENT, SO URGENTLY SUSTAINED IN PLACE FOR THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE.
AFFLUENCE, THEN, COULD VERY WELL BE QUESTIONED AS A SOCIAL VALUE. WHY UPHOLD IT IF THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES: FUNCTIONALITY, SUSTAINABILITY?.
THE SAME WORKING MOTHER, ENLIGHTENED, CAN GO OUT AND PURCHASE THE NECESSARY TOOLS AND SEEDS TO PLANT A GARDEN. THE CHILD WILL WORK UNDER THE SUN, IN COMMUNION WITH AIR, SUN, WATER, THE MOIST EARTH. SHE WILL WITNESS THE GROWTH OF HER EFFORTS, AND RECEIVE THE FRUIT. THIS FRUIT WILL PROVIDE A COMMON GROWND WITH ALL PEOPLES OF THE EARTH, THOSE WHO HAVE VIDEO GAMES AND THOSE WHO DO NOT.
IS THE LIGHT OF IDEAS NOT A HIGHER
FORM OF AFFLUENCE?
WHAT IS AFFLUENCE?
IS IT NOT FUNCTIONALITY?
IS AFFLUENCE NOT A LIFE WELL LIVED,
THE CHOICES WE MAKE?
WE MUST ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
PUT THE RIGHT QUESTIONS IN CIRCULATION
AND BRING ABOUT CHANGE.
IF A PERSON IS ELEVATED AND IDEALISTIC, GENEROUS, INTELLIGENT, AND INTENT ON USING WEALTH IN AN EFFECTIVE WAY, THEN MONEY BECOMES A FORCE BACKING THOSE QUALITIES, BOTH IN HERSELF AS IN THOSE AROUND HER. IN THE PRESENT ORDER MONEY BUYS INFLUENCE. THE CONSCIOUS AND EDUCATED INDIVIDUAL WILL PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR DEVELOPMENT (NOT MERE FUNDING) BOTH FOR HERSELF AND FOR THOSE AROUND HER. AFFLUENCE CAN BE A SHARED CONCEPT, RATHER THAN A CONDITION OF DOMINATION AND POWER OVER OTHERS. IT CAN BE A SOCIAL INSTITUTION, A SOCIAL CONTRACT, A SHARED CONCEPT OF VALUE. DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY.
CLEAR CONCEPTS AND OBJECTIVES MARK INTELLIGENT MINDS, EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF AFFLUENCE.
CREATIVITY IS WEALTH, LAND IS WEALTH, NATURE IS PROVIDENCE. RADIANT HEALTH AND VIGOROUS BODIES AND MINDS ARE WEALTH, IDEAS AND EDUCATION ARE WEALTH, UNITY IS WEALTH, SHARED PROGRESS IS WEALTH, CONTEMPLATION AND ENJOYMENT OF NATURE ARE WEALTH AND COMMON GOOD. COMMON GOOD IS WEALTH.
A CONSCIOUS INDIVIDUAL, AN ENLIGHTENED ONE, ONE WHO REMAINS FREE, WHO AVOIDS COMPROMISING HIS FREEDOM, WILL TAKE A SEASON OF LOW FUNDING AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXERCISES PATIENCE, CONTEMPLATION, TO READ BOOKS, TO REFLECT, TO MEDITATE, TO ENJOY A PERIOD OF CLOSENESS TO WHAT IS ESSENTIAL, WALKS, FRIENDSHIPS, SHARING, BEAUTIFYING ONE'S SURROUNDINGS, AND FOR A RETURN TO SIMPLICITY, TO VALUING OTHER THINGS, SUCH AS A MORE CONSCIOUS BREATHING AND GREATER INNER PEACE. HE CAN DEPEND ON OTHERS. NO PROBLEM. THEY CAN DEPEND ON HIM AS WELL, HE IS FREE TO WORK, FREE TO THINK, FREE TO BE A FRIEND. ARE THESE NOT ASSETS? IS MAN
NOT CAPABLE OF VALUING PURE BEING? IS MAN NOT CAPABLE OF ENJOYING SIMPLY EXISTING?, SIMPLY LOVING?
THE WORLD IS OVERPOPULATED AND HUMAN SUBSISTENCE ENDANGERED. PEOPLE VENTURE INTO THE GREAT RESPONSIBILITY AND TASK OF BRINGING OTHERS INTO THE WORLD. WE START OUT IN LIFE AS DEPENDANT BEINGS, AND THEN PLUNGE INTO THE IRRATIONAL BELIEF THAT WE CAN AND SHOULD BECOME INDEPENDANT. A FUTILE IDEA. WE DEPEND ON EARTH, WE DEPEND ON EFFORT, WE DEPEND ON ITELLIGENCE, WE DEPEND ON OTHERS. IT IS ABSURD TO THINK OTHERWISE.
WE TAKE LITTLE TIME TO QUESTION
WE MAKE THE WRONG CHOICES
WE ASK THE WRONG QUESTIONS.
TRUTH SETS US FREE BECAUSE IT MARKS THE CORRECT PATH FOR ACTION. TRUTH REVEALS OUR COMMITMENT, AND OUR NATURE. PRESENTLY, IT IS A POPULATION OF UNCERTAIN AND DUBIOUS INDIVIDUAL FREEDOMS THAT THE SOCIAL ORDER CLAIMS TO PROTECT. A SOCIETY LIKE THIS SHOULD REMAIN CONSCIOUS OF ITS FRAIL RELATIONSHIP TO FREEDOM, AND SAFEGUARD THE ESSENTIAL NEEDS OF ITS MEMBERS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF PEACE. IF IT DOES NOT, IT FAILS AS A SOCIETY.
ONLY FREEDOM IS FREEDOM.
IN TIMES OF CRISIS A SUPERFICIAL AND IRRESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUAL WILL SEE ONLY POVERTY AND HIS FEAR OF IT. FIXATION ON LOSS AND SCARCITY WILL OBLITERATE ALL OTHER POSSIBILITIES, SUCH AS USING MIND CREATIVELY, PURSUING AN EXPANSION OF VALUES, FINDING ALTERNATIVES, DEVELOPING ACCEPTANCE, AND GENERALLY SPENDING THE RECESSION SEASON PROFITABLY.
IF AN INDIVIDUAL IS SHALLOW, THEN HIS SPENDING IS SHALLOW AND
DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY INFLUENCES OTHERS WHO ARE SHALLOW. THIS CHAIN OF INFLUENCE MAKES THE MATRIX OF SHALLOW MATERIALISM STRONGER. CAPITALIST SOCIETY MAKES A COMMITMENT TO A PROFIT-CENTERED MATRIX AND THEN CHANTS THE GLORIES OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY. WHAT ARE FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN A STATE OF ENSLAVEMENT?
THE "LUXURIES" OFFERED TO THE CONSUMER, HOWEVER ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE THESE MAY BE, ARE AN EXCESS. TO WEAR CLOTHES AND TO APPEAR BEAUTIFUL MAY BE IN ESSENCE A HARMLESS AND PLEASANT OBJECTIVE, BUT TO WEAR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS AT A TIME ON ONE'S BODY AND PATRONIZE ESTABLISHMENTS DEDICATED TO THE IDEA OF LUXURY AND BEAUTY (AS ACCESSORIES OF SUCCESS AND WEALTH), WHILE MILLIONS AROUND US SUFFER IN LACK OF EVEN THE MOST ESSENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR NOURISHMENT OF BODY OR MIND, THEN LUXURY IS ALMOST PURE CRUELTY.
MONEY EASILY AMPLIFIES CRUELTY, IT RAISES THE VOLUME AND THE BRIGHTNESS OF EGOTISM AND SEPARATISM TO HIGH HEAVEN, LIKE NOTHING ELSE.
CAN BE MADE TO SERVE PURPOSES
CONTRARY TO CRUELTY.
AFFLUENCE CAN BE MADE INTO A POSITIVE FORCE. IT IS IMPORTANT TO LIVE WITH RESPONSIBILITY. ONLY THOUGHT AND RASON CAN BETTER DIRECT OUR ENERGY, DIRECT THEM EFFECTIVELY TOWARDS THE GOALS OF SATISFACTION, ACHIEVEMENT, PEACE, PROGRESS AND HAPPINESS. COMPASSION AND GENEROSITY ARE INDISPENSABLE.
A GREEN CULTURAL REVOLUTION IS A BRIGHT IDEA FOR THE FUTURE ON MANY ACCOUNTS.
IT REQUIRES A VERITABLE ENLIGHTENMENT, ON A VASTER SCALE THAN ANY PREVIOUS CULTURAL REVOLUTIONS IN RECORDED HISTORY (RENAISSANCE, THE ENLIGHTENMENT, CLASS CENTERED REVOLUTIONS OF THE INDUSTRIAL ERA, CONSCIOUSNESS MOVEMENT OF THE 60'S AND EARLY 70'S).
THE NEW REVOLUTION AND ENLIGHTENMENT MUST BE GLOBAL AND ENCOMPASS ALL SPECIES AND THEIR INTERCONNECTION. IT WILL REPRESENT A REAL CHALLENGE TO A NEW WORLD CULTURE. THE NEW CULTURE WILL BE ONE OF RESPONSIBILITY AT INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE LEVELS, OR IT WILL NOT BE.
SHARING OF POWER AND AFFLUENCE ARE REQUISITES FOR THE NEW CULTURE TO EMERGE, IN VERY MUCH THE SAME WAY THAT THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS IN THE EMERGING POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC BLOCKS AID THE DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR POORER MEMBERS (I.E. PORTUGAL, SPAIN, IRELAND IN RECENT EUROPEAN MERGING)
RESOURCEFULNESS IN ALL AREAS OF LIFE IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE REQUIRED CULTURAL CHANGE. MANY ARE THE THINGS REQUIRED FOR THE ENLIGHTENED SOCIETY OF THE FUTURE, THE FUTURE UTOPIA WITHOUT WHICH WE ARE LOST. THAT UTOPIA MUST RISE, OR WE ARE LEFT WITH NOTHING TO ASPIRE FOR.
WE MUST FOR THE MOMENT PURSUE CHANGE, NEW MODELS, NEW RESPONSABILITY.
RECYCLING
PERMACULTURE
RECYCLING OF PLASTICS
USED CLOTHES
LESS CHEMICALS
ORGANIC PRODUCE
CLEANER AIR, LAND AND WATER
A CRITICAL EDUCATION
LOWER-IMPACT SOLUTIONS TO HUMAN NEEDS
BETTER POLITICS
BETTER POLITICAL EDUCATION
EDUCATION IN NECESSARY ACTIVISM
ACTIVISM
BETTER NORMS FOR CONSTRUCTION
BETTER INTERACION WITH SPACE
BETTER INTEGRATION OF NATURAL FLORA
CONSERVATION OF SPECIES
USE OF NATIVE SPECIES IN PUBLIC GARDENS
BETTER ENERGY POLICIES AND SOLUTIONS,
FREE PUBLIC TRANSPORT
SOLAR ENERGY ON A MASSIVE SCALE
WIND AND WATER GENERATED ENERGY
GEOTHERMIC ENERGY
EDUCATION
MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT
GLOBAL UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE
PHASING OUT OF NATIONAL BORDERS
WORLD UNITY
EQUALITY OF ALL RACES AND CREEDS
MEANINGFUL SOCIETY
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