What sort of world are we building for our great-grandchildren? What sort of life will they have and is the nature of our ecosystems being altered by our quest for "progress" to the point of no return, where it shall be unable to susatin life?
Why is the assumption that all technological invention is benign when it so very obviously is not? Why the blind eye turned to the suffering of organic life - plant, animal and human? Derrick Jensen's latest published in Orion magazine address these questions.
"Most people today have not awakened from the Cult of Progress. Even with the world being dismembered before their eyes, nearly all public figures continue to be members of this cult. The same is true for many nonpublic figures—for most of us—as we seem unquestioningly to presume that tomorrow’s progress will bring more good things to life, and will simultaneously solve the problems created by yesterday’s and today’s progress (without then creating yet more problems, as “progress” always seems to do)."
~ Dystopia, at LATOC
~~~
QUOTE In 1970 Lewis Mumford wrote, “The chief premise common to both technology and science is the notion that there are no desirable limits to the increase of knowledge, of material goods, of environmental control; that quantitative productivity is an end in itself, and that every means should be used to further expansion.” Mumford asked the same question that so many of us ask, which is, Why on earth would a culture do so many crazy, stupid, destructive things? His answer cuts through the typical cornucopian garbage: “The desired reward of this magic is not just abundance but absolute control.” Mumford knew—as we all do—that there was no hope in proceeding “on the terms imposed by technocratic society.” He didn’t think change would be easy, saying that it might take “an all-out fatal shock treatment, close to catastrophe, to break the hold of civilized man’s chronic psychosis.” He was not optimistic: “Even such a belated awakening would be a miracle.” UNQUOTE
The rest of the article here: High on Progress by Derrick Jensen from Orion magazine.
~~~
Showing posts with label LATOC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LATOC. Show all posts
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Our Daily Ben
We’re best psychologically suited
For tribal life which was uprooted;
But resources lack
When we devolve back.
Extinction is now undisputed.
It sure is a big f*cking ocean,
So stop making such a commotion;
Dispersant’s fine lotion,
Not poisonous potion....
(This bullsh*t might get me promotion!)
~ by Benjamin the Donkey
~~~
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Our Daily Ben
Since they don’t like to show what they do,The video might not come through;
To see the top kill
They’re bargaining still,
And hoping to charge pay-per-view.
~ Benjamin the Donkey
Benjamin's poetic posts are found at LATOC.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Benjamin's Limericks
My favorite place on the net for news and savvy commentary is LATOC, the discussion forum for Peak Oil: Life After the Oil Crash which is owned and managed by Matt Savinar. One of the regular forum members is a certain Benjamin the Donkey, real name unknown, who has given permission for some of his wonderful comment-in-the-form of-limerick to be posted here.
If you are not familiar with LATOC please do yourself a favor and check it out.
Enjoy!
All poems by "Benjamin The Donkey".
The rich give the poor short shrift,
But the race is not to the swift;
When doom’s widely sniffed
And culture’s adrift
There will be an observable shift.
For teaching and having minds turn,
The time left should be of concern;
It is hard to bestow
Understanding PO
When it took us much longer to learn.
Humor might help make us wiser
In dealing with things like this geyser,
Or it may turn out lame
Like trying to blunt blame
With a tiny tube in a riser.
Relax, nothing’s wrong with our spray,
Our stock’s nearly gone anyway;
But should it convey
Too much death and decay
We wont use it next time. OK?
So finally BP invites
You to look at some spewing oil sights;
You might be impressed
But you won’t see the best
Till they’ve peddled the movie rights.
If you totally kill the oceans
By using your poisonous potions,
Please do let us know
In a year or so
(Or at least, go through the motions).
Some say Socrates knew quite a lot,
But he said that he didn’t know squat;
People jeer and they smirk
At Darwin, that jerk,
And who understands Einstein’s rot?
Old Homer wrote his crap in Greek,
And Shakespeare, his words are oblique,
There is no Lolita
In Bhagavad Gita,
And Faust’s deal can wait till next week.
Distortions from Vincent van Gogh
Don’t look just like life, so they blow;
And the women, you know,
They come and they go,
Talking of Michelangelo.
Bach wrote junk for something divine,
Brahms ripped off symphonic design;
And you know, for my bucks,
Shrieking opera sucks,
And Beethoven only wrote nine.
In my view, the arch and the dome
Don’t compare to the woods where I roam;
Heard da Vinci imply
That people might fly,
But who cares for London or Rome?
I don’t like how people behave,
There is nothing here that I crave;
But I’m sure I would glow
In a time long ago—
I wish I were back in a cave.
~~~
Friday, January 8, 2010
Daily Economic Update
Robert Denner makes more sense than any twenty "professional" financial reporters/observers rolled together and sifted. It is my great pleasure to introduce his brand-new blog, Daily Economic Update. I know Robert from the LATOC forum, where you can get your daily dose of doom and more importantly, some truly fine out-of-the-box thinking. Click on over to the Daily Economic Update and see for yourself!
DJY
~~~
DJY
~~~
Thursday, October 29, 2009
A 2012 Manifesto
I just read this great post at my favorite collection of assorted Peak Oil-aware cowboys, Birkenstock wearing mamas, military and ex-military, financial geeks, EMT's and gardening gurus, LATOC. The writer has given blanket permission for it to be reproduced in its entirety, so have at it. If you like it, spread it far and wide. The only point I gently take issue with is the last one, as one commenter put it: "Many find great comfort and meaning within traditional religions. I think that if such a person does, and if the religion doesn't encourage that person to act in ways that run counter to the welfare of others (i.e., they take the "golden rule" in whatever form it shows up for them seriously), then that would be fulfilling #10. Some people feel ready to move beyond traditional religions, and some don't see a need to, for them. This is to be expected and, again, as long as the religion isn't used as a weapon of coercion, respected." I would point out that a traditional religion, such as my Byzantine Catholicism, if fully followed, will lead one to The Creator.
Enjoy and let me know what you think.
DJY
THE 2012 MANIFESTO
HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE COMING TRANSITION
The crisis we are now experiencing is just a prelude to the major Transition in global consciousness that will occur during the 2012 period. In order to make the shift, the corrupt, hierarchical systems which do not serve the needs of Humanity must collapse. This will create fear and hardship for many, but for those who prepare for the paradigm shift to a new matrix of consciousness and being, the transition will be viewed as a mere inconvenience necessary for the rebalancing of Earth's and Humanity's energies. Here are the top 10 ways that you can prepare:
1 - Recognize that The United States of America is an Empire in decline. Most empires do not go to bed willingly. History shows us that the USA gets very belligerent when the economy goes south or other nations refuse to do what it tells them to. New alliances are forming that intend to counter US Hegemony. The Dollar is about to be rejected as the global currency. Unjustified and irrational wars have brought the USA to bankruptcy. The deficit is out of control. We are at the mercy of foreign energy sources. The global community is fed up with Bully USA and is about to pull the plug on many fronts. Expect the US Government to lash out in a last-ditch attempt to salvage Empire.
2 - Study and familiarize yourself with the concept of Peak Oil and its ramifications on our economic and social systems. In an era of energy scarcity, endless economic growth is not possible. The days of Milk and Honey are over. Value of Fiat paper currency (e.g. US Dollar/USD) is predicated on continual economic growth fueled by cheap energy. Peak Oil will ensure that the USD, globalism, the US economy, and all systems dependent on finance capital will collapse. This shedding process is already underway. Realize that the Good Ol Days are over and that materialism is a thing of the past.
3 - Unplug from the Mainstream Media (MSM) propaganda stream. Television, commercial radio, daily newspapers, and most of what you read on corporate-sponsored websites is disinformation and propaganda whose only purpose is to control and manipulate public consciousness in order to stifle development of human consciousness and true democracy. Kill your Television. Read, listen, watch and support local, independent, alternative and grass-roots media. Start your own blog, low power FM radio station, public access TV show, or 'zine to share the truth as you know it to be.
4 - Understand that Corporations (the Dark Forces) control our government and politicians (CorpGov). Voting is a charade to make you believe that you have a democratic choice. Democrats and Republicans serve the same elite puppetmasters and are no different from one another, no matter how genuine their rhetoric sounds. If you don't believe that Corporations are in control, then ignore that the Congress and the White House bailed out corrupt Banksters to the tune of TRILLIONS while they put on a dog-and-pony show about how much a public healthcare system will cost! The Federal Reserve will never be audited to expose the rampant corruption. The voting systems are rigged to ensure the Elites get the results they want. If you choose to engage in the voting game, only vote for Third Party and Independent candidates. Corporate-backed politicians must be flushed from the system permanently.
5 - Economically detach from The System. Know that the Finance/banking, Insurance, and Real Estate (FIRE) economy is all about sucking money from your pocket and transferring it to wealthy Elites. It is essentially legalized theft of your labor and the wealth that such labor creates. Try to operate in a cash-only fashion, under the table and out of the banks. Barter for goods and services. Consider joining or starting a local currency (LETS) system. Take your money out of the big corporate banks and place it with your local non-profit community/employee Credit Union. If you are concerned about the long-term viability of the USD and the negative effects of inflation, consider buying a home with productive farmland, machinery & tools, or other tangible goods that hold and can create value. You should also consider adding gold and silver to the mix.
6 - Learn to grow, harvest and store food. Modern just-in-time (JIT) delivery systems allow for only several days worth of food on store shelves. How long will that food last during a (manufactured?) disaster or economic collapse. Energy descent will make food via supermarkets harder to come by. Build your soil and grow your own healthy, organic fruits and vegetables. Establish a chicken coop and harvest the eggs, meat, feathers and manure. Goats are great for brush-clearing, milk and cheese. Rabbits re-produce quickly. Ponds can be stocked with fish. Learn about Permaculture and how it can make your homestead more productive with less work.
7 - Get off The Grid. Make your own energy. Capture, store and purify water. Without clean water we cannot survive. Municipal water systems are at the mercy of evaporating budgets, aging infrastructure, energy requirements, diversion by source communities/states, and tampering. Harvest rainwater from rooftops and in ponds, drill wells, establish storage tanks high up for gravity feed, install plumbing and filtration systems to ensure the water of life keeps flowing when the power goes out. Put a hot water solar system in place. Learn to purify water with a solar oven. Similarly, become energy independent. Install solar PV panels and a DC battery system, install a wood stove for heat, store fuel and have a generator in place for when the grid goes down.
8 - Learn traditional skills and healing practices. Wood working/turning, spinning, weaving, soap making, leather crafts, knitting, sewing, blacksmithing, metal working, herbal medicine, CPR, locksmithing, gun smithing, hunting, fishing, trapping, archery, animal husbandry, horse-shoeing, natural building, instrument making, coppicing, etc. Work with the local resources you have at hand rather than imported materials. Start a local guild of artisans and craftspeople to share knowledge and barter crafts.
9 - Build local community. Get to know your next-door neighbors and the locals. Attend or organize community celebrations and events. Create a phone tree for emergencies. Start a local tool/equipment exchange or barter system. Form a Neighborhood Watch, seed savers' exchange, or manufacturing cooperative. Volunteer to help the needy. Support your local farmer and shop at local, independent businesses to keep your money circulating in the local economy.
10 - Develop a personal spiritual practice. This does not mean religion! Religion is dogma that is used to politically and economically enslave humankind. Conversely, spirituality allows the individual to directly connect to Source (God/Goddess, Higher Self, the Universe, whatever you wish to call it) without an intermediate or middleman (Church, priests, dogma, institutions) getting in the way to control you. Spiritual practices include: meditation, yoga, Kaballah, shamanism, indigenous/Earth-based spiritual traditions, Tantra, ceremonial magick, prayer, etc. Pick the path that works for YOU and stick with it to develop the essential spiritual skills that you will depend on to navigate the Transition.Remember, LOVE is the key to our collective success.Visit A NEW MATRIX online at http://anewmatrix.blogspot.com to learn more
[You are encouraged to reproduce this and share it with everyone in your local community.]
~~~
Enjoy and let me know what you think.
DJY
THE 2012 MANIFESTO
HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE COMING TRANSITION
The crisis we are now experiencing is just a prelude to the major Transition in global consciousness that will occur during the 2012 period. In order to make the shift, the corrupt, hierarchical systems which do not serve the needs of Humanity must collapse. This will create fear and hardship for many, but for those who prepare for the paradigm shift to a new matrix of consciousness and being, the transition will be viewed as a mere inconvenience necessary for the rebalancing of Earth's and Humanity's energies. Here are the top 10 ways that you can prepare:
1 - Recognize that The United States of America is an Empire in decline. Most empires do not go to bed willingly. History shows us that the USA gets very belligerent when the economy goes south or other nations refuse to do what it tells them to. New alliances are forming that intend to counter US Hegemony. The Dollar is about to be rejected as the global currency. Unjustified and irrational wars have brought the USA to bankruptcy. The deficit is out of control. We are at the mercy of foreign energy sources. The global community is fed up with Bully USA and is about to pull the plug on many fronts. Expect the US Government to lash out in a last-ditch attempt to salvage Empire.
2 - Study and familiarize yourself with the concept of Peak Oil and its ramifications on our economic and social systems. In an era of energy scarcity, endless economic growth is not possible. The days of Milk and Honey are over. Value of Fiat paper currency (e.g. US Dollar/USD) is predicated on continual economic growth fueled by cheap energy. Peak Oil will ensure that the USD, globalism, the US economy, and all systems dependent on finance capital will collapse. This shedding process is already underway. Realize that the Good Ol Days are over and that materialism is a thing of the past.
3 - Unplug from the Mainstream Media (MSM) propaganda stream. Television, commercial radio, daily newspapers, and most of what you read on corporate-sponsored websites is disinformation and propaganda whose only purpose is to control and manipulate public consciousness in order to stifle development of human consciousness and true democracy. Kill your Television. Read, listen, watch and support local, independent, alternative and grass-roots media. Start your own blog, low power FM radio station, public access TV show, or 'zine to share the truth as you know it to be.
4 - Understand that Corporations (the Dark Forces) control our government and politicians (CorpGov). Voting is a charade to make you believe that you have a democratic choice. Democrats and Republicans serve the same elite puppetmasters and are no different from one another, no matter how genuine their rhetoric sounds. If you don't believe that Corporations are in control, then ignore that the Congress and the White House bailed out corrupt Banksters to the tune of TRILLIONS while they put on a dog-and-pony show about how much a public healthcare system will cost! The Federal Reserve will never be audited to expose the rampant corruption. The voting systems are rigged to ensure the Elites get the results they want. If you choose to engage in the voting game, only vote for Third Party and Independent candidates. Corporate-backed politicians must be flushed from the system permanently.
5 - Economically detach from The System. Know that the Finance/banking, Insurance, and Real Estate (FIRE) economy is all about sucking money from your pocket and transferring it to wealthy Elites. It is essentially legalized theft of your labor and the wealth that such labor creates. Try to operate in a cash-only fashion, under the table and out of the banks. Barter for goods and services. Consider joining or starting a local currency (LETS) system. Take your money out of the big corporate banks and place it with your local non-profit community/employee Credit Union. If you are concerned about the long-term viability of the USD and the negative effects of inflation, consider buying a home with productive farmland, machinery & tools, or other tangible goods that hold and can create value. You should also consider adding gold and silver to the mix.
6 - Learn to grow, harvest and store food. Modern just-in-time (JIT) delivery systems allow for only several days worth of food on store shelves. How long will that food last during a (manufactured?) disaster or economic collapse. Energy descent will make food via supermarkets harder to come by. Build your soil and grow your own healthy, organic fruits and vegetables. Establish a chicken coop and harvest the eggs, meat, feathers and manure. Goats are great for brush-clearing, milk and cheese. Rabbits re-produce quickly. Ponds can be stocked with fish. Learn about Permaculture and how it can make your homestead more productive with less work.
7 - Get off The Grid. Make your own energy. Capture, store and purify water. Without clean water we cannot survive. Municipal water systems are at the mercy of evaporating budgets, aging infrastructure, energy requirements, diversion by source communities/states, and tampering. Harvest rainwater from rooftops and in ponds, drill wells, establish storage tanks high up for gravity feed, install plumbing and filtration systems to ensure the water of life keeps flowing when the power goes out. Put a hot water solar system in place. Learn to purify water with a solar oven. Similarly, become energy independent. Install solar PV panels and a DC battery system, install a wood stove for heat, store fuel and have a generator in place for when the grid goes down.
8 - Learn traditional skills and healing practices. Wood working/turning, spinning, weaving, soap making, leather crafts, knitting, sewing, blacksmithing, metal working, herbal medicine, CPR, locksmithing, gun smithing, hunting, fishing, trapping, archery, animal husbandry, horse-shoeing, natural building, instrument making, coppicing, etc. Work with the local resources you have at hand rather than imported materials. Start a local guild of artisans and craftspeople to share knowledge and barter crafts.
9 - Build local community. Get to know your next-door neighbors and the locals. Attend or organize community celebrations and events. Create a phone tree for emergencies. Start a local tool/equipment exchange or barter system. Form a Neighborhood Watch, seed savers' exchange, or manufacturing cooperative. Volunteer to help the needy. Support your local farmer and shop at local, independent businesses to keep your money circulating in the local economy.
10 - Develop a personal spiritual practice. This does not mean religion! Religion is dogma that is used to politically and economically enslave humankind. Conversely, spirituality allows the individual to directly connect to Source (God/Goddess, Higher Self, the Universe, whatever you wish to call it) without an intermediate or middleman (Church, priests, dogma, institutions) getting in the way to control you. Spiritual practices include: meditation, yoga, Kaballah, shamanism, indigenous/Earth-based spiritual traditions, Tantra, ceremonial magick, prayer, etc. Pick the path that works for YOU and stick with it to develop the essential spiritual skills that you will depend on to navigate the Transition.Remember, LOVE is the key to our collective success.Visit A NEW MATRIX online at http://anewmatrix.blogspot.com to learn more
[You are encouraged to reproduce this and share it with everyone in your local community.]
~~~
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Preparing For The Next Great Depression?
An interesting little story found on that most mainstream of news sources, NBC. One of the people who they interviewed, Kathy, is a regular poster at a forum I frequently lurk on, as, I believe, is ExRanger who sometimes blogs here (the site is a great source of news links, by the way) LATOC, or Life After The Oil Crash. If "peak oil" is a new concept to anyone, I suggest reading a lot there, at Peak Oil: Life After the Oil Crash, at The Oil Drum and From The Wilderness, just for starters.
"Families brace for financial fallout ~ In these tough times, some families are stocking up in case of a financial disaster. NBC's Peter Alexander reports."
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/32026641#32026641
The obligatory psychiatrist at the end of the segment really hasn't a clue: "people revert to behaviors designed to ensure their security". I want to see him after a Hurricane Katrina blows through his town. I money-back guarantee you he'll be mooching off his doomer neighbors who had the foresight to behave in such a way that they assured their security.
~~~
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Joe Sixpack's Letter To Congress
A forum I frequent, Life After the Oil Crash, has the following excellent letter by member Joe-Bob Henry-Bob, to his congressional representatives posted over there. It explains things better than I could by a long shot. For your information:
QUOTE Dear (congresscritter),
There is one main reason that America has been a prosperous nation. Transparency. Both citizens and foreigners have devoted capital investment to our country over many decades because, simply put, we have rule of law and companies that want to do business in our country must tell the truth.
Consider a banana republic, in which accounting books are cooked, property is seized, markets are manipulated, currency is printed, and entire portions of the economy may be nationalized at any moment. Crooks tend to win out and the average citizen's wealth is destroyed. This is because they are not able to rationally plan for the future. ...so no one invests in such a country, as at any moment, one's hard-won wealth could be erased. Having a chance to rationally weigh the facts and make a sound judgment call allows wealth to be created. It is transparency that allows for prosperity and everything else we might want to achieve as a nation must stem from that.
Our current economic crisis is due to lack of transparency and a consequent absence of trust. Where once a person could make choices with one's money with some degree of confidence, this is no longer possible. Oversight and regulation were removed from our financial institutions. Our country's financial institutions are hiding liabilities and refusing to mark worthless "assets" to their market value and our Fed and Treasury are ASSISTING in this instead of stopping it! The entire system is seizing up because no one can trust anyone else. Moreover, if someone is attempting deceive me, if for instance they are trying to convince that something that is worth only $0.10 is actually worth $100 so that I will buy it they actually ARE trying to steal from me.
A lack of trust would be warranted! It is not merely a matter of "spin" or public "perception"
Please take steps to restore trust, transparency, and the rule of law in our nation.The Fed and Treasury have cooked up this 700 Billion bailout which can easily balloon to several times greater size, which will burden the taxpayers and benefit those who started the problem.
Moreover, their proposal contains this clause: "Section 8, ReviewDecisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."
Think about what that means. Regardless of whether they manage to keep this in the approved version.... THIS IS THE SPIRIT IN WHICH THE PROPOSAL WAS MADE!
Please take some time to review the following materials, at least the short youtube presentation.
It offers, briefly, a far superior solution to the most recent bailout. ...it is an alternative to what we've been doing so far - fruitlessly spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, nationalizing companies, and changing the rules of investment every week. That is NOT the rule of law, and it is NOT transparency. It leads to chaos.
Sincerely,
(joe-bob)
UNQUOTE
Please watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KYtD-Ff_eM&eurl=http://www.fedupusa.org/
http://www.denninger.net/letters/mortgage-mess.pdf
http://www.denninger.net/letters/2008-07-19-Lawmakers.pdf
+++
QUOTE Dear (congresscritter),
There is one main reason that America has been a prosperous nation. Transparency. Both citizens and foreigners have devoted capital investment to our country over many decades because, simply put, we have rule of law and companies that want to do business in our country must tell the truth.
Consider a banana republic, in which accounting books are cooked, property is seized, markets are manipulated, currency is printed, and entire portions of the economy may be nationalized at any moment. Crooks tend to win out and the average citizen's wealth is destroyed. This is because they are not able to rationally plan for the future. ...so no one invests in such a country, as at any moment, one's hard-won wealth could be erased. Having a chance to rationally weigh the facts and make a sound judgment call allows wealth to be created. It is transparency that allows for prosperity and everything else we might want to achieve as a nation must stem from that.
Our current economic crisis is due to lack of transparency and a consequent absence of trust. Where once a person could make choices with one's money with some degree of confidence, this is no longer possible. Oversight and regulation were removed from our financial institutions. Our country's financial institutions are hiding liabilities and refusing to mark worthless "assets" to their market value and our Fed and Treasury are ASSISTING in this instead of stopping it! The entire system is seizing up because no one can trust anyone else. Moreover, if someone is attempting deceive me, if for instance they are trying to convince that something that is worth only $0.10 is actually worth $100 so that I will buy it they actually ARE trying to steal from me.
A lack of trust would be warranted! It is not merely a matter of "spin" or public "perception"
Please take steps to restore trust, transparency, and the rule of law in our nation.The Fed and Treasury have cooked up this 700 Billion bailout which can easily balloon to several times greater size, which will burden the taxpayers and benefit those who started the problem.
Moreover, their proposal contains this clause: "Section 8, ReviewDecisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."
Think about what that means. Regardless of whether they manage to keep this in the approved version.... THIS IS THE SPIRIT IN WHICH THE PROPOSAL WAS MADE!
Please take some time to review the following materials, at least the short youtube presentation.
It offers, briefly, a far superior solution to the most recent bailout. ...it is an alternative to what we've been doing so far - fruitlessly spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, nationalizing companies, and changing the rules of investment every week. That is NOT the rule of law, and it is NOT transparency. It leads to chaos.
Sincerely,
(joe-bob)
UNQUOTE
Please watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KYtD-Ff_eM&eurl=http://www.fedupusa.org/
http://www.denninger.net/letters/mortgage-mess.pdf
http://www.denninger.net/letters/2008-07-19-Lawmakers.pdf
+++
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
