I recently watched this 4 part interview with Gerald Celente on King World News. Gerald Celente is a trends analyst, who is well respected for having predicted many incidents accurately (economic collapses, housing bubbles, terrorist panics, etc.) He publishes the Trends Research Journal, in which he analyzes many trends, for example, religious, economic, political, agricultural, scientific, social, pharmaceutical, etc.
In this interview, Celente discusses a range of topics such as the need for a resurgence of small business, equal opportunity, actual capitalism, as opposed to the current system of continually bailing out the "too big to fails," which therefore prevents capitalism from correcting itself and existing as it is truly supposed to. This is equivalent to the merging of state and corporate power, aka Fascism. Big corporations have legal advantages left and right and in the end, as we can see with the Freddie Mac and Fannie May example, they are not at all solvent but due to the fact that they have become SO big, the government and federal reserve sees their failure as a possible detriment to our economy and therefore gives trillions of tax payers dollars to them in attempts to "save the economy." This is not the capitalist ideology of allowing equal competition and collapse of failed businesses and advancement of success. It is so important to realize that this method is not at all going to "save the economy." Providing money to insolvent corporations is merely going to continue the faltering system and cause a more violent end in the future. There is going to be a collapse of America soon and the people at the top will try to do everything in their power to continue the system of profiteering. Celente equates those top business and Wall street men to "junkies," "money junkies." The unemployment rate is up to around 19-22% now, reaching pre-Great Depression numbers. America's class gap is now the widest of the industrialized nations. He gives more details about this and other issues, some of which take a bit of context, but a lot of it is readily digestible and worth considering.
1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNiAAiSMu9Y
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mwFwEkYZVs
3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEtqPBEpt5M
4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS6UApZHsW8
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
GMO implications
This is a video I watched a couple weeks ago about the consequences of genetically modified foods which really took over in the 1990's. It is really incredible how, since that time, numerous health conditions have escalated at high speed. Definitely an informative video about the subject.
http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-08-26/fat-america.html
http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-08-26/fat-america.html
Check the source
This is just another great example of corporate funding to distract the public. BP is funding an environmental program for public schools in California. In this video, they discuss "green-washing" where deliberate attempts are made to advertise "good environmental policies," by companies that are clearly not concerned with environmental outcomes, but profits. It should be obvious that no research can be trusted if it is being funded by corporations with agendas.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/10/why_is_oil_giant_bp_helping
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/10/why_is_oil_giant_bp_helping
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Exchange value
I had an incredible day at work yesterday. I would like to preface my experience with a thought. I recently finished the book by Wendell Berry titled, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture. I would like to write much more about this book later, but for now I will highlight one idea that I am using to think about daily life and the future. I am conceiving of a world that functions not on competition, as it does in this society to the fullest extent, but on cooperation. This may seem like a very simple or possibly idyllic and Utopian concept at first glance. However, you can really delve into this very deeply upon further reflection. It takes a minute to recognize the true and complete saturation of competition into every level of our society, from the individual to the Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, corporate giants and the government.
The ideal of society is very clearly, more, more, more. As individuals, no matter how much we wish our lives, interests, goals and self worth to be separate from our money, we are judged and judge ourselves based upon the ideal of self-sufficiency. Directly, this correlates to, among other things, our savings account. We grow up monetarily dependent upon our parents. We go to college, in middle class and up range of people generally, to specialize and to gain a career which will earn us monetary security and a "worthy" position we are proud of. There is rarely a time when a person on this path willingly decides to do without income for some time, because there are always more "needs" (a new dishwasher, new carpeting, stereo, etc.) and more expensive things to be had (car, television, house, couch, family requiring food, children wanting further education, phones, etc). The goal is an unreachable one, gain more money and higher status until you can no more or until you have built enough security to retire. It is beyond most of us, that this is a cultural assumption, not a given. There is a way to be centered upon the idea of enough as opposed to ever more.
Entangled in the principle of enough is the value of community and not self sufficiency, but acknowledging and respecting our mutual dependences. Our dependencies on each other, on the land, plants, animals, sun, and entire surrounding community. Instead of recognizing these direct, supportive and mutually beneficial relationships around us, we are increasingly separated from our Connection. The word "dependence" in this time and place, carries negative connotations. We don't want to be "dependent" on anyone or anything, which is a direct contradiction to life. The irony here? As our society's aims guide us away from our healthy connections with people and the land, the goal of ever more, which has led to the creation of corporate giants who want to make the most profit with the cheapest labor, create for us a slew of new dependencies governed by them. We are dependent upon pharmaceutical creations with almost half the people you know on some kind of prescription; upon our closest, biggest grocery store, which is dependent upon the petro-chemical industry to create cheapened food products meant to last as long as possible, which leads to monocultures, which are dependent upon ever more chemical fertilizers, which requires synthesis in labs, which requires energy and waste, and on and on the list of dependencies goes. And don't forget about possibly the single biggest, overarching dependence on the limited resource of petroleum. Even ignoring every other aspect of cultural dependence, this one should be evident to all. Every single aspect of every single industry and life here and now is dependent upon this diminishing resource. You can ignore my assertions that society needs to shift from values of competition to cooperation, but you cannot ignore the fact that this society, if for no other reason than petroleum dependence (and there are actually so many more reasons than that), is at some point, going to have to be completely reformed. Not kind of, not just on the edges, but an utter, total and in an absolute core way, this society will change. It simply cannot be maintained on any level.
Back to my great day at work. The woman who supplies the co-op with our local, organic wheat flour, popcorn, flax and wheatberries came in Saturday evening to drop off some of those items. This was the second time I had met her. I liked her the first time I met her, because we were able to have an engaging, though somewhat brief, conversation. Again, we got to chatting about basically everything I just wrote about above and more. When I asked if she would be open for volunteer help, she was, well, nearly ecstatic and that was what led us into our conversations about cooperation, community, connection, sustainability, diversification, the complexity of farming and the future of America and agriculture. She opened her arms to me, excited to teach and to see a young person understanding these issues of imminent importance. There are tons of projects going on at the her farm and it is a year round effort utilizing as many reusable energy sources and practices as possible. She offered me delicious meals that her friend (who was also with her and conversing with us) cooks regularly. And food of all sorts- walnuts, soybeans, wheat, corn, cajun red beans, pinto beans, black beans, and many other crops including fruits and vegetables. It seems that among a small group of close knit friends she has, they work together to provide for each other in various ways. Her friend has a quaint cottage overlooking a small lake, which she gladly offered for me to stay in as I pleased, with my friends too if anyone wanted to come with me. The lake is good for fishing and they are trying to incorporate that into their system of sustainable agriculture. I think we were both equally enthusiastic about the idea. I am happy to say I am starting to live what I believe in, with understanding Connection at the core.
Here is the link to the farm!
http://fieldsofagape.com/
Another non-monetary and exciting exchange I am partaking in is with a new friend from Mexico. We are both fascinated with languages. She is tutoring me in Spanish in exchange for being tutored by me in Japanese. We are meeting twice a week, once for Spanish and once for Japanese. It's a fantastic set up. She speaks English and Spanish, but has also studied 4 years of Latin, some Japanese (but apparently the teacher was horrible so we are starting from square one), and she can understand anything in French, Portuguese and Creole, though she says she has a more difficult time with the speaking aspect. Beyond this even, we are both fascinated by every tangent of language, every overlap between language, culture, philosophy, behavior, society and so on. She is considering starting a blog on these topics exactly and I very much hope that she does!
Life in Richmond is turning out to be quite rewarding indeed. It's all coming together...
The ideal of society is very clearly, more, more, more. As individuals, no matter how much we wish our lives, interests, goals and self worth to be separate from our money, we are judged and judge ourselves based upon the ideal of self-sufficiency. Directly, this correlates to, among other things, our savings account. We grow up monetarily dependent upon our parents. We go to college, in middle class and up range of people generally, to specialize and to gain a career which will earn us monetary security and a "worthy" position we are proud of. There is rarely a time when a person on this path willingly decides to do without income for some time, because there are always more "needs" (a new dishwasher, new carpeting, stereo, etc.) and more expensive things to be had (car, television, house, couch, family requiring food, children wanting further education, phones, etc). The goal is an unreachable one, gain more money and higher status until you can no more or until you have built enough security to retire. It is beyond most of us, that this is a cultural assumption, not a given. There is a way to be centered upon the idea of enough as opposed to ever more.
Entangled in the principle of enough is the value of community and not self sufficiency, but acknowledging and respecting our mutual dependences. Our dependencies on each other, on the land, plants, animals, sun, and entire surrounding community. Instead of recognizing these direct, supportive and mutually beneficial relationships around us, we are increasingly separated from our Connection. The word "dependence" in this time and place, carries negative connotations. We don't want to be "dependent" on anyone or anything, which is a direct contradiction to life. The irony here? As our society's aims guide us away from our healthy connections with people and the land, the goal of ever more, which has led to the creation of corporate giants who want to make the most profit with the cheapest labor, create for us a slew of new dependencies governed by them. We are dependent upon pharmaceutical creations with almost half the people you know on some kind of prescription; upon our closest, biggest grocery store, which is dependent upon the petro-chemical industry to create cheapened food products meant to last as long as possible, which leads to monocultures, which are dependent upon ever more chemical fertilizers, which requires synthesis in labs, which requires energy and waste, and on and on the list of dependencies goes. And don't forget about possibly the single biggest, overarching dependence on the limited resource of petroleum. Even ignoring every other aspect of cultural dependence, this one should be evident to all. Every single aspect of every single industry and life here and now is dependent upon this diminishing resource. You can ignore my assertions that society needs to shift from values of competition to cooperation, but you cannot ignore the fact that this society, if for no other reason than petroleum dependence (and there are actually so many more reasons than that), is at some point, going to have to be completely reformed. Not kind of, not just on the edges, but an utter, total and in an absolute core way, this society will change. It simply cannot be maintained on any level.
Back to my great day at work. The woman who supplies the co-op with our local, organic wheat flour, popcorn, flax and wheatberries came in Saturday evening to drop off some of those items. This was the second time I had met her. I liked her the first time I met her, because we were able to have an engaging, though somewhat brief, conversation. Again, we got to chatting about basically everything I just wrote about above and more. When I asked if she would be open for volunteer help, she was, well, nearly ecstatic and that was what led us into our conversations about cooperation, community, connection, sustainability, diversification, the complexity of farming and the future of America and agriculture. She opened her arms to me, excited to teach and to see a young person understanding these issues of imminent importance. There are tons of projects going on at the her farm and it is a year round effort utilizing as many reusable energy sources and practices as possible. She offered me delicious meals that her friend (who was also with her and conversing with us) cooks regularly. And food of all sorts- walnuts, soybeans, wheat, corn, cajun red beans, pinto beans, black beans, and many other crops including fruits and vegetables. It seems that among a small group of close knit friends she has, they work together to provide for each other in various ways. Her friend has a quaint cottage overlooking a small lake, which she gladly offered for me to stay in as I pleased, with my friends too if anyone wanted to come with me. The lake is good for fishing and they are trying to incorporate that into their system of sustainable agriculture. I think we were both equally enthusiastic about the idea. I am happy to say I am starting to live what I believe in, with understanding Connection at the core.
Here is the link to the farm!
http://fieldsofagape.com/
Another non-monetary and exciting exchange I am partaking in is with a new friend from Mexico. We are both fascinated with languages. She is tutoring me in Spanish in exchange for being tutored by me in Japanese. We are meeting twice a week, once for Spanish and once for Japanese. It's a fantastic set up. She speaks English and Spanish, but has also studied 4 years of Latin, some Japanese (but apparently the teacher was horrible so we are starting from square one), and she can understand anything in French, Portuguese and Creole, though she says she has a more difficult time with the speaking aspect. Beyond this even, we are both fascinated by every tangent of language, every overlap between language, culture, philosophy, behavior, society and so on. She is considering starting a blog on these topics exactly and I very much hope that she does!
Life in Richmond is turning out to be quite rewarding indeed. It's all coming together...
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Rethinking incessant growth
This article gives a good, clear picture of the reasons big businesses have become so powerful, the problems with it and what could actually function better in its place. The article covers the various industries, such as science, technology, agriculture, transportation, pharmaceutical, oil, banking, etc. He goes on to show how across the board, all industries are centered upon the principle of growth and beating out the little guys. The bottom line is that this kind of non-stop growth cannot possibly continue infinitely. When we start to realize that we are all suffering from this growth complex, we can start to rethink our societal structure and what might be a better path. The end of this growth complex could come in different forms, but we do have a choice to let it grow until it reaches its own violent end or work now towards a sustainable future.
http://vermontrepublic.org/the-curse-of-bigness-or-business-as-usual-in-america-the-vulnerable
http://vermontrepublic.org/the-curse-of-bigness-or-business-as-usual-in-america-the-vulnerable
A silent danger
Think about how many products you use on a daily basis. Dish soap, laundry detergent, chapstick, make-up, shampoo, and any number of cleaning supplies or cosmetics. The fact is there is very little regulation here. Placing things like "organic" or "natural" on these non-food products has no legal requirements. If you don't feel like taking the time for yourself, think about the loved ones (animals too!) around you who you may be subjecting to harmful things such as petroleum, lead and tar. The bottom line is, the aim of all companies is profit, not your health, so if you don't take the time to look into your products, you are putting faith into companies who do not at all have you, your family or your pets' (or the environment's) interests in mind. Here are a few links to start off.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/21/lead_in_lipstick_coal_tar_in
http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/07/21/2010-07-21_story_of_cosmetics_paints_an_ugly_picture.html
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/07/annie-leonard-story-of-cosmetics.php
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/21/lead_in_lipstick_coal_tar_in
http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/07/21/2010-07-21_story_of_cosmetics_paints_an_ugly_picture.html
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/07/annie-leonard-story-of-cosmetics.php
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Can you sleep at night BP?
I read this article a week or so ago. It is about the gulf disaster and the long term implications on humans and the environment. We are talking cancers, tumors, and many painful deaths and diseases. Everything in it was as I had suspected, but not yet heard. This sadness is beyond comprehension. The most amazing part of it all is the constant attempts to hide information from the public.
http://www.helium.com/items/1929422-bp-gulf-disaster-may-be-killing-millions
Also, possible radioactivity:
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/08/bps-crude-oil-may-be-radioactive.html
http://www.helium.com/items/1929422-bp-gulf-disaster-may-be-killing-millions
Also, possible radioactivity:
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/08/bps-crude-oil-may-be-radioactive.html
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