Another winner from the irrepressible Joe Bageant. And another reminder from me to tune in(to the green subculture and tribal resurgence), turn on (to the spiritual and your Higher Power) and drop out (of the rat race). I also plead with you to stop using the word consumer to refer to people. Use citizen, person or worker instead. The word consumer has a lot of negative baggage, and it is the result of a concerted ad campaign of dark intent and dubious integrity. It is demeaning. (BBC's The Century of the Self argues -- quite successfully -- that we have all been brainwashed to see ourselves as consumers first. It documents how capitalists and politicians in the US and in Great Brittan used psychological warfare to turn the masses in the US and UK from seeing themselves as workers to seeing themselves as buying machines. Freud, his daughter Anna and his diabolical nephew Edward Bernays -- who according to the documentary founded the profession of public relations -- are the villains in this evolving story.)
"But you won't hear anyone complaining. America doesn't like whiners. A whiner or a cynic is about the worst thing you can be in the land of gunpoint optimism. Foreigners often remark on the upbeat American personality. I assure them that our American corpocracy has its ways of pistol whipping or sedating its human assets into the appropriate level of cheeriness."
Our Produce-or-Die Culture Is Killing Us -- And We're Idiotically Grinning and Bearing It by Joe Bageant
Showing posts with label spiritual values. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spiritual values. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
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.]
~~~
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Just A Ride
The material world certainly is "just a ride" like a weekend carnival show which will soon be gone, tents folded and old popcorn bags blowing in the dust.
So only do what you'll remember well on your deathbed, and love life and people with all your might.
So only do what you'll remember well on your deathbed, and love life and people with all your might.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Stepping Back From Impulse
Good advice. Step back from the irritable impulse.
QUOTE Step back, for example, from first thoughts of feeling puffed up. Step back from first thoughts of superiority. Step back from first thoughts of aggravation. Step back from jealousy or it will bite you back.
How many times during a typical day are you inclined to be aggravated or at least mildly disturbed with something or somebody? Isn't that a constant temptation? There are many reasons for disliking people and it is a test of life because it's a test of love.
Yet, life is too short for even a moment of agitation.
Often you have heard us discuss the power of forgiveness -- and the detriment of holding a grudge.
To love we must first forgive. When you don't forgive -- when you give into the inclination to dislike (and even hate) a person -- you step into that person's darkness. UNQUOTE
art credit: wolfsongo
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
A Little Perspective
A little perspective now and then is valued by the wisest men (and women!)
From the pronoia wildman, Rob Brezhny. Here's one pagan hippie I agree with, at least with most of the sentiments he delivers in the letter below, which I found today in my inbox. I personally am still likely to write in a Ron Paul/Dennis Kucinich protest vote, but the first 3/4 or Rob's letter really got my attention. Yes!
~~~~~~~
QUOTE
Dear Readers,
Before the last U.S. presidential election in 2004, *What Is Enlightenment?* magazine posed the following query to five religious leaders: "Many people argue that the upcoming presidential election is the most important in our lifetime.
Do you agree?" Four of the respondents said, in effect, "Yes, because George Bush is bad for America and the world." But the fifth religious leader, Zen Buddhist Jan Chozen Roshi, replied, "I don't know. Our existence is so short, it's like a dust mote in the eye of God.
To say that the time in which my dust mote existed was the most important is a self-centered view." Roshi's wisdom reminded me of an anecdote told by Henry Kissinger, an American politician who was Secretary of State in the 1970s. Kissinger once asked Chinese premier Zhou Enlai what he thought of the French Revolution, which had happened two centuries earlier. "Too soon to tell," Chou answered.
I always like to keep these ideas in mind, even in times of relative peace and calm. But I'm especially fond of focusing on the *very* big picture when divine chaos is whirling around -- like now. It helps keep me humble, and discourages me from any temptation I might have to believe I know the Whole Truth about anything, let alone about the mysterious long-term processes at work in the evolution of the human race.
There's another factor that makes me cautious about getting embroiled in partisan politics and the narrow-minded hostility that fuels it. One of my main goals in life is to love everyone with passionate intensity -- no exceptions. Not just the people I find beautiful and helpful and interesting and attractive. But also the people I don't like and the people who don't like me and the people I disagree with and the people who can't or won't do anything for me. In order to become the gorgeous genius I aspire to be, in order to fulfill the unique destiny I came to Earth to embody, I have to hold EVERYONE in my heart with compassion and empathy. As I contemplate how every single part of creation is interconnected, I've got to be aware that the creatures I'm allergic to and inclined to feel alienated from are also part of the great web of life.
That's my spiritual goal; it's essential to awakening my best self and cultivating an intimate connection to Spirit. It's also my selfish goal; it's critical to my physical and mental health. Hatred always sickens me. Love always invigorates me.*On the other hand:I was born at a specific moment in history with a unique outlook and a particular assignment. I can't help but be passionate about the truth as I see it.
And the truth as I see it is that Barack Obama is the best choice for President of the United States. He is definitely the most pronoiac candidate.That's why I'm voting for him and feel good about saying:BARACK OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT
If you'd like to know a little more about my political perspectives, some (but not all) of which are shared by Obama, you can read them here: http://tinyurl.com/2etg3cIf the spirit moves you, you can also read this article from *The New Yorker,* which I largely endorse:http://tinyurl.com/4ev99m
P.S. It's crucial to keep in mind that Obama can't single-handedly and magically heal all the havoc inflicted on America and the world by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his henchmen. The resuscitation will have to be accomplished primarily by we-the-people, and as much on the local level as in the federal realm.
UNQUOTE
~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the pronoia wildman, Rob Brezhny. Here's one pagan hippie I agree with, at least with most of the sentiments he delivers in the letter below, which I found today in my inbox. I personally am still likely to write in a Ron Paul/Dennis Kucinich protest vote, but the first 3/4 or Rob's letter really got my attention. Yes!
~~~~~~~
QUOTE
Dear Readers,
Before the last U.S. presidential election in 2004, *What Is Enlightenment?* magazine posed the following query to five religious leaders: "Many people argue that the upcoming presidential election is the most important in our lifetime.
Do you agree?" Four of the respondents said, in effect, "Yes, because George Bush is bad for America and the world." But the fifth religious leader, Zen Buddhist Jan Chozen Roshi, replied, "I don't know. Our existence is so short, it's like a dust mote in the eye of God.
To say that the time in which my dust mote existed was the most important is a self-centered view." Roshi's wisdom reminded me of an anecdote told by Henry Kissinger, an American politician who was Secretary of State in the 1970s. Kissinger once asked Chinese premier Zhou Enlai what he thought of the French Revolution, which had happened two centuries earlier. "Too soon to tell," Chou answered.
I always like to keep these ideas in mind, even in times of relative peace and calm. But I'm especially fond of focusing on the *very* big picture when divine chaos is whirling around -- like now. It helps keep me humble, and discourages me from any temptation I might have to believe I know the Whole Truth about anything, let alone about the mysterious long-term processes at work in the evolution of the human race.
There's another factor that makes me cautious about getting embroiled in partisan politics and the narrow-minded hostility that fuels it. One of my main goals in life is to love everyone with passionate intensity -- no exceptions. Not just the people I find beautiful and helpful and interesting and attractive. But also the people I don't like and the people who don't like me and the people I disagree with and the people who can't or won't do anything for me. In order to become the gorgeous genius I aspire to be, in order to fulfill the unique destiny I came to Earth to embody, I have to hold EVERYONE in my heart with compassion and empathy. As I contemplate how every single part of creation is interconnected, I've got to be aware that the creatures I'm allergic to and inclined to feel alienated from are also part of the great web of life.
That's my spiritual goal; it's essential to awakening my best self and cultivating an intimate connection to Spirit. It's also my selfish goal; it's critical to my physical and mental health. Hatred always sickens me. Love always invigorates me.*On the other hand:I was born at a specific moment in history with a unique outlook and a particular assignment. I can't help but be passionate about the truth as I see it.
And the truth as I see it is that Barack Obama is the best choice for President of the United States. He is definitely the most pronoiac candidate.That's why I'm voting for him and feel good about saying:BARACK OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT
If you'd like to know a little more about my political perspectives, some (but not all) of which are shared by Obama, you can read them here: http://tinyurl.com/2etg3cIf the spirit moves you, you can also read this article from *The New Yorker,* which I largely endorse:http://tinyurl.com/4ev99m
P.S. It's crucial to keep in mind that Obama can't single-handedly and magically heal all the havoc inflicted on America and the world by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his henchmen. The resuscitation will have to be accomplished primarily by we-the-people, and as much on the local level as in the federal realm.
UNQUOTE
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
