A prominent resource economist has pronounced himself disgusted with “dishonest” Conservative attack ads on a Liberal carbon tax proposal that’s yet to be unveiled.
“The Conservatives — and I say this with great sadness because I don’t care which political party is in power — but if we’re going to do anything about climate change, we’re going to have to be honest with people,” Marc Jaccard of Simon Fraser University told CTV.ca on Tuesday.
“This is just totally dishonest.”
On the weekend, the Tories previewed ads aimed at the proposed carbon tax, painting it as Liberal Leader Stephane Dion’s “tax on everything.”
The ads are to start running Tuesday.
Jaccard, a co-author of the recent book Hot Air, said the Conservatives’ own policy on reducing greenhouse gas emissions won’t work because it doesn’t put a price on carbon for consumers.
“Their policy is to regulate industry and then have these offset loopholes where industry can subsidize consumers. But those are the types of policies that have never worked in the past,” he said.
The Conservatives have said their plan will cut Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent below 2006 levels by 2020. But many environmental groups join Jaccard in saying the plan won’t work.
If it did work, the Conservative plan wouldn’t see Canada’s Kyoto Protocol target — to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent below 1990 levels by 2012 — achieved until 2025.
The Liberals are said to be proposing putting a tax on carbon. While the policy has yet to be released, the Grits have said it will be “tax shifting” and “revenue-neutral,” meaning that any revenue collected would be given back in the form of income or other tax cuts.
In the House of Commons’ question period on Monday, junior minister Jason Kenney accused the Liberals of engaging in a massive tax grab to pay for billions in unbudgeted election promises.
Dion said the ads are “misleading and a lie.”
Honest dialogue
“I’m not a fan of Stephane Dion, but when you get a politician out there that’s trying to start an honest dialogue and say to people, ‘you know what? We won’t get our emissions down if there isn’t a price on them and that’s just the truth’,” Jaccard said.
“And to see politicians saying, ‘Maybe I can stay in power’ or gain more power, or maybe a majority government, by distorting this” disgusted him, he said.
“Every one of those ads should say, ‘Oh and by the way, your income taxes are going down if (the Liberals) do put in that tax,’ but it’s not there.”
The Liberals say their plan, unlike the Conservative one, offers offsetting tax cuts.
Dion has said the plan won’t drive up prices at the gas pump, where high oil prices have driven gasoline prices up to record levels.
Some of the Tory ads were to run at gas pumps in Toronto and other parts of southern Ontario.
But Fuelcast, the company that operates the pump-side advertising network, said Monday it won’t run the ads.
The Conservatives have said they have a binding contract with Fuelcast, but if the company doesn’t honour the deal, they will up their radio buy instead.
When you get to the state in your life that you can perceive everything to be beautiful (some call it bliss, or shambala, or just being in tune with yourself) then the next step in our evolution is to provide the necessary assistance or opportunities for others to get to that same level. When communities of people are capable of tuning themselves in alignment with their spirit we will see the evolution of the neo-human, and this is when we will see de-emphasis on the old paradigm that is plagued by war and greed and other negative aspects of an ego-driven society. Instead we will see emphasis placed on loyalty, truth, freedom, justice, and our collective potential is fascinating. As ‘far- out’ as it seems, the idea of experiencing life simultaneously in multiple universes unconstrained by time and space is gaining mainstream momentum amongst the scientific community…. crazy shit isn’t it??!!
Only through disconnection with one’s ego is this possible, and convincing the masses to live life with one’s ego in check is obviously an up hill battle in today’s whacked-out, consumer-crazed society. Our media/culture/society (the MACHINE) does everything it can to promote an abundance of the ego, but if we listen to the wise spiritual men and women throughout history, they all teach the importance of disconnecting with your ego. Pride with humility; honour with integrity; selflessness and servitude to others… We can only truly reach shambala and flourish when we are free to become the master of ourselves. Spreading the messages of love, the goodness, health, positivity and living life to your potential is the only way to truly effect change and it starts with all of us on our various journeys. Your positive attitude and selfless servitude to others will rub off on others that you meet and through your interactions with others you will be able to show them the true light of their potential.
Peace and Love to all, with a special shout out to Rufus!
CBC News Human activity is wiping out close to one per cent of every other species on earth every year, a global environmental report said Friday.
The report, compiled by the World Wildlife Fund, the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network, said the population of animals, birds and fish has dropped by a third in the last 35 years.
“You’d have to go back to the extinction of the dinosaurs to see a decline as rapid as this,” said Jonathan Loh, editor of the report.
The main reasons for species extinction are pollution, farming and urban expansion, overfishing and hunting, the report said.
Between 1960 and 2000, the world’s population doubled, said Ben Collen, one of the authors of the report.
Decline ’caused by humans’
“Yet during the same period, animal populations have declined by 30 per cent on average. It’s beyond doubt that this decline has been caused by humans,” he said.
The report includes a Living Planet Index that tracks birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and amphibians around the world. Marine bird species alone have fallen by 30 per cent between 1995 and 2005, it said.
As well, between 1970 and 2005, land-based species fell by 25 per cent, marine by 28 per cent and freshwater by 29 per cent.
“Biodiversity underpins the health of the planet and has a direct impact on all our lives, so it is alarming that despite an increased awareness of environmental issues we continue to see a downtrend trend,” said WWF campaign head Colin Butfield.
The report comes in the lead up to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn next week.
More than 5,000 delegates will gather from May 19-30 to “discuss the protection and the preservation of species and habitats, a sustainable use of biological diversity as well as a fair distribution of access and exploitation,” the conference website says.
We’ve bought in to the materialistic, consumer culture that robs us of the essence of our existence…
Huge homes, widespread car culture push Canada to back of the pack
CBC News
Canadians scored dismally in a 14-country survey on environmentally friendly consumption patterns, in part owing to a widespread car culture and a penchant for big homes.
The survey, which was released Wednesday, was conducted by the polling firm GlobeScan for the National Geographic Society. Canada finished ahead of the United States but behind Brazil, India, China, Mexico, Hungary, Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Australia, Spain, Japan and France.
According to the National Geographic survey, 52 per cent of Canadian respondents said they drive alone daily. According to the National Geographic survey, 52 per cent of Canadian respondents said they drive alone daily. (CBC)
“I think that the survey results … really set an important reminder to Canadians that on a per capita basis Canadians’ footprint is really quite heavy compared with other countries,” said Eric Whan, GlobeScan’s director of sustainability, at a press conference Wednesday.
One thousand consumers from each of the 14 countries completed the online survey about their consumption patterns between Jan. 11 and Feb. 13. Participants answered questions about housing, transportation, food and their purchasing habits and were given a score out of 100. Government action and industry were not assessed.
YOUR SAY
‘Brazil uses less heat than Canada, duh! A lot of canadians would love to enjoy brazilian type weather all year round. ’
—Taylor
Add your comment
The researchers acknowledged that financial and cultural circumstances may have influenced the rankings, with developing countries scoring well. But, they argued consumers everywhere can choose to be more environmentally friendly in their consumption habits.
“Regardless of why consumers behave in an environmentally friendly way — whether it be driven by health concerns, whether it’s a cultural thing, climate, income … or a real conscious decision to be more green — the fact is individual consumers in developing countries have less impact on the environment than the average consumer in wealthy countries,” Whan said.
“In this sense, it really doesn’t matter why they behave in the way they do — the fact is, their behaviour does have an environmental impact and consumers anywhere can change in many ways, many of their behaviours for better or worse.”
Brazil, India earn marks for small homes
The survey found that 29 per cent of Canadians have nine or more rooms in their houses, putting Canada at the higher end of the spectrum for house size. Canadians were also penalized for heating their homes.
While acknowledging heating as a necessity in Canada’s northern climate, the researchers said Canadians scored low because of the way they choose to heat their homes.
“The Canadians being one of the highest users in the market basket of energy overall was quite surprising,” said Lloyd Hetherington, GlobeScan’s executive vice-president.
“We know that there’s penalties there for living in a colder climate, for being stretched out in a large country but by and large in most of these indices, Canada did not score well. There’s a lot to be done.”
By comparison, Brazil earned high marks for having smaller homes, infrequent use of home heating and widespread use of renewable electricity. Respondents in China and India also raised their green index value for the use of solar panels to heat water.
In terms of transportation, Canada ranked 12th out of the 14 countries surveyed with 52 per cent of respondents saying they drive alone daily. The survey also found 87 per cent say they have one or more vehicles in their households. In contrast, 22 per cent reported using public transportation at least once a week. China ranked well in this category, though the study noted car use there was growing notably.
Canadians scored well in recycling with 59 per cent of respondents saying they always recycled and 46 per cent said they donated items that could be reused. About 50 per cent of Canadians also said they have energy-saving washing machines and/or refrigerators and freezers. China, India and Brazil led in the consumer goods index, with most consumers reporting they purchase green products and own few appliances.
With more Canadians saying they buy locally grown foods, Canadians ranked fifth in the food index. Canada also earned points for below-average consumption of bottled water at 52 per cent.
The study also found 19 per cent of Canadian consumers believe environmental problems will negatively affect their health though only 20 per cent said they were actively attempting to lessen their impact on the environment.
The results of the survey were weighted according to census data to best represent age, gender and education demographics for each country. The results are considered to be accurate within 3.1 percentage points 95 per cent of the time.
INDI, Calif. – Sean Penn spoke at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Sunday, urging the young crowd to involve themselves politically.
The Oscar-winning actor, a late addition to the music festival, joking referred to his out-of-place billing among the 125-plus performers.
Wearing a T-shirt and jeans and smoking a cigarette while he sat on a stool, Penn said he unfortunately couldn’t perform his “a cappella Celine Dion cover act” since he had “compromised his upper register.”
Instead, Penn urged festival-goers to join him on his “Dirty Hands Caravan,” a biodiesel cross-country bus trip he plans to launch Monday, arriving in New Orleans on May 4. The purpose of the trip, which he hopes 300 will join, is to encourage young people to be more politically and environmentally involved.
“The government can’t do it,” Penn said. “They can’t save this thing.”
Penn said that while younger generations were smarter and more technologically savvy than any before it, they were separating themselves through technology.
He also criticized the war in Iraq.
“For the 3,000 people we lost on 9/11, we’ve lost 4,000 in this war, and that’s just American soldiers,” Penn said.
“And why did we let it happen?” he added. “It’s simple: We let it happen.”
The “most powerful third party is you and me,” Penn said.
Penn was one of the few participants to discuss politics at the Southern California festival, where dancing and music were far more prevalent.
Not to sound too preachy, but here’s today’s words of love:
LOVE MORE, LIVE MORE, BE HAPPY, BE CONFIDENT, BE LESS MATERIAL, BE MORE WISE, and LIVE as FREE as you possibly can… all the while LOVE your LIFE and realize that we need to be in harmony with NATURE (and right now collectively our society is not) to be living life to our optimal.
So celebrate the beauty of NATURE today and strive to live your life from this moment on as in balance and in harmony with nature as you can. It will benefit not only you, but all of humanity and all of nature as well.
IT’S CALLED THE AMERICAN DREAM AND YOU HAVE TO BE ASLEEP TO BELIEVE IT.
and (Why America (the World) Sucks…They got you by the balls!)
This entry is part 1 in a series of entries exploring monetary systems with regards to public knowledge and awareness in the United States and Canada, its origins and history, and present day status. What better place to begin than with a video from George Carlin, about the state of affairs today…
This is probably my favourite track from Eddie Vedder’s solo soundtrack for the incredible movie, “Into the Wild”. Someone put some visuals to the music. Here’s the lyrics:
Oh it’s a mystery to me.
We have a greed, with which we have agreed…
and you think you have to want more than you need…
until you have it all, you won’t be free.
Society, you’re a crazy breed.
I hope you’re not lonely, without me.
When you want more than you have, you think you need…
and when you think more then you want, your thoughts begin to bleed.
I think I need to find a bigger place…
cause when you have more than you think, you need more space.
Society, you’re a crazy breed.
I hope you’re not lonely, without me.
Society, crazy indeed…
I hope you’re not lonely, without me.
There’s those thinkin’ more or less, less is more,
but if less is more, how you keepin’ score?
It means for every point you make, your level drops.
Kinda like you’re startin’ from the top…
and you can’t do that.
Society, you’re a crazy breed.
I hope you’re not lonely, without me.
Society, crazy indeed…
I hope you’re not lonely, without me
Society, have mercy on me.
I hope you’re not angry, if I disagree.
Society, crazy indeed.
I hope you’re not lonely…
without me.
I’m starting to read an amazing book by John Perkins, titled, “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”.
Here’s the Prologue:
Quito, Ecuador’s capital, stretches across a volcanic valley high in the Andes, at an altitude of nine thousand feet. Residents of this city, which was founded long before Columbus arrived in the Americas, are accustomed to seeing snow on the surrounding peaks, despite the fact that they live just a few miles south of the equator. The city of Shell, a frontier outpost and military base hacked out of Ecuador’s Amazon jungle to service the oil company whose name it bears, is nearly eight thousand feet lower than Quito. A steaming city, it is inhabited mostly by soldiers, oil workers, and the indigenous people from the Shuar and Kichwa tribes who work for them as prostitutes and laborers.
To journey from one city to the other, you must travel a road that is both tortuous and breathtaking. Local people will tell you that during the trip you experience all four seasons in a single day. Although I have driven this road many times, I never tire of the spectacular scenery. Sheer cliffs, punctuated by cascading waterfalls and brilliant bromeliads, rise up one side. On the other side, the earth drops abruptly into a deep abyss where the Pastaza River, a headwater of the Amazon, snakes its way down the Andes. The Pastaza carries water from the glaciers of Cotopaxi, one of the world’s highest active volcanoes and a deity in the time of the Incas, to the Atlantic Ocean over three thousand miles away.
In 2003, I departed Quito in a Subaru Outback and headed for Shell on a mission that was like no other I had ever accepted. I was hoping to end a war I had helped create. As is the case with so many things we EHMs must take responsibility for, it is a war that is virtually unknown anywhere outside the country where it is fought. I was on my way to meet with the Shuars, the Kichwas, and their neighbors the Achuars, the Zaparos, and the Shiwiars—tribes determined to prevent our oil companies from destroying their homes, families, and lands, even if it means they must die in the process. For them, this is a war about the survival of their children and cultures, while for us it is about power, money, and natural resources. It is one part of the struggle for world domination and the dream of a few greedy men, global empire.
That is what we EHMs do best: we build a global empire. We are an elite group of men and women who utilize international financial organizations to foment conditions that make other nations subservient to the corporatocracy running our biggest corporations, our government, and our banks. Like our counterparts in the Mafia, EHMs provide favors. These take the form of loans to develop infrastructure —electric generating plants, highways, ports, airports, or industrial parks. A condition of such loans is that engineering and construction companies from our own country must build all these projects. In essence, most of the money never leaves the United States; it is simply transferred from banking offices in Washington to engineering offices in New York, Houston, or San Francisco.
Despite the fact that the money is returned almost immediately to corporations that are members of the corporatocracy (the creditor), the recipient country is required to pay it all back, principal plus interest. If an EHM is completely successful, the loans are so large that the debtor is forced to default on its payments after a few years. When this happens, then like the Mafia we demand our pound of flesh. This often includes one or more of the following: control over United Nations votes, the installation of military bases, or access to precious resources such as oil or the Panama Canal. Of course, the debtor still owes us the money—and another country is added to our global empire.
Huge news out of Japan: a top newspaper is reporting a major shift in climate policy, and citing Avaaz members as one of the reasons why!
The paper reports that at a critical, high-level meeting on global warming, the Environment Minister held up Avaaz’s “Titanic” newspaper ad from the Bali summit–showing Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda, with Bush, steering towards climate disaster… along with a call for tough 2020 emissions targets, signed by 90,000 Avaaz members.
“The world sees Japan as a force resisting change! Are we okay with this?” the minister asked. The Chief Cabinet Minister suggested setting a target. Days later, Prime Minister Fukuda announced his decision: at last, Japan would set a 2020 emissions target!
This is a genuine victory. Japan is a huge polluter, a key Bush ally, and host of this summer’s crucial G8 summit. Congratulations to everyone for the positive role we all played!
Japan’s not the only example. Here are some other moments when rapid-response people power made a difference in 2007:
Burma: When news broke in October of the violent crackdown against protesting monks, Avaaz members scrambled into action. Within 96 hours, more than half a million people called on the Chinese government to intervene, and Avaaz ran the total count in a full-page ad in one of the most influential global newspapers. Shamed, China successfully pushed Burma to start talks with the UN and with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Burma campaign continues to build.
Global poverty: When World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz’s personal corruption undermined the Bank’s programme to encourage good government, Avaaz members joined the cry for new leadership. With global media looking on, we hand-delivered 50,000 signatures to World Bank Headquarters. Wolfowitz resigned days later.
Global warming: In addition to the “Titanic” ad that moved Japan, more than 320,000 Avaaz members took action in real time during the Bali summit–successfully reversing Canada’s obstructionism and isolating Bush as he attempted to scuttle any agreement. While just a first step, the “Bali Road Map” set the stage for climate breakthroughs this year and next.
What urgent moments will 2008 bring? Some we can predict–most we cannot.
What we do know for certain is that the new year will bring serious threats and golden opportunities. We know that in those critical moments, acting quickly can make all the difference. And we know that if we all contribute a little bit now, we’ll be sure that whatever comes–and whatever is required of us–we will be ready.
Avaaz depends on Avaaz members like you to fund our campaigns. Don’t wait for “someone else” to step in–we’re it. To make a secure, online contribution to the 2008 Crisis Action Fund, just click the link below:
A good friend of mine recommended that we compile a list of informative and accessible documentaries that coincide with the aims of the fungus in the hopes of raising as much awareness as possible. He compiled this list of documentaries that are available on the internet at various locations. Thanks so much C for the info.
Here are various websites where many of these documentaries are available:
- Ovguide
- movie alien
- joox
- Divxlive
- Weatherwars.info
- Alex jones websites
- Infowars
- Prison planet
- Vancouver9-11truth.org
- Commondreams.org
- skolnicksreport
Here are the recommended documentaries. I haven’t seen many of them yet, so I can’t comment too much on them. Remember that thinking critically is always the key when attempting to decipher the information from any media source.
- Hacking Democracy
- America: Freedom to Fascism
- Who killed John O’Neill
- The Weather Underground
- JFK: The Bush Connection
- Alex Jones: Endgame, Matrix of Evil, Terrorstorm, and many others…
- FEMA – Concentration Camps
- Banking with Nazis
- The Panama Deception
- Decoding the past – secrets of the dollar bill
- Illuminazi
- The Illuminati
- The History of Freemasonry
- WMD: Weapons of mass deception
- The Secret NASA transmissions
- The Future of Food
I will be making a conscious effort to write more on the blog…..
until the next episode,
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.
I think it does…. a few of us went down to the beach today when the rain stopped and the clouds kind of cleared, and we brought along a camera. As we started taking some sweet shots of the sunshine breaking through the dark clouds and reflecting off of the wet sand, we noticed a seagull that was just chillin. It was standing in a shallow pool and his (her?) body remained completely still for at least 5 minutes. Was he merely taking a moment’s break in his ongoing quest for safety, security, and satisfying his basic needs? Or was he pondering, perhaps contemplating the meaning of life? Perhaps he was as awestruck as we were at the amazing symmetry found in nature. As we stared out into the water, we noticed a family of ducks just chillin out in the water. They were bobbing up and down, back and forth, completely in rhythm to the lull of the ocean. Completely at peace….
The pace of life of nature is wonderful. How different our lives are…. perpetually rushing through the hyperactive business culture lifestyle that we feel is natural, yet in reality is completely out of touch with nature.
The incredible beauty found in nature and in life is anything but ’simple’… but the ’simple’ life (as our society loves to derogatorily call it) is so much more vibrant, gentle, compassionate, organic, and fulfilling than a life clung to material desires.
I’ve had an epiphany… and this one centres around the way I drive my car. I know I shouldn’t be driving, but unfortunately my job and my life require the odd trip in what my mother refers to as the “gear shifting junker”, or something to that effect. Those of you who know me and have driven with me can attest that I love to drive, and the old ‘88 lude still handles and performs as well as almost any other (poor man’s) sports car on the road. But I think this driving attitude has come to an end. No longer am I going to 1) waste gas 2) harm the environment 3) get stressed out – by driving fast… i’ve decided to slow right down, and in doing so i kinda hope to slow down other people too… maybe it’ll make them appreciate the scenery, or perhaps focus on the song that’s playing on the radio, or get them to relax a little more… or at least save money on gas.
I think it’s more rebellious to drive slow now than it is to drive fast…. if we’re gonna slow the machine down a little, why not start on the road?!
This is an article I wrote. The ‘beautiful game’ refers to soccer:
If the majority of scientists and economists are correct in their analysis of global warming trends, the planet is facing a significant environmental and socio-economic crisis in the years to come. If what we are told is true, we have a very short window of opportunity (scientists estimate 10 – 20 years) in which to eliminate our bad habits in order to save the planet. We have a purpose; we are, and I say this very humbly, the most important generation to walk the planet. Think of ten years over the course of human history: It is merely a momentary blip; a blink of an eye over the course of a cosmic millennium. And you and I, for whatever reason, are alive and breathing during this most precious and scary and exhilarating of times. The way our generation conducts business as well as the way our generation conducts our own individual lives is integral to the success or the demise of the planet. Still don’t think you have a purpose?Read the rest of this entry »
The numbers show that this should be the real question at the Bali talks.
By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 4th December 2007
When you warn people about the dangers of climate change, they call you a saint. When you explain what needs to be done to stop it, they call you a communist. Let me show you why.
There is now a broad scientific consensus that we need to prevent temperatures from rising by more than 2°C above their pre-industrial level. Beyond that point, the Greenland ice sheet could go into irreversible meltdown, some ecosystems collapse, billions suffer from water stress, droughts could start to threaten global food supplies(1,2).
The government proposes to cut the UK’s carbon emissions by 60% by 2050. This target is based on a report published in 2000(3). That report was based on an assessment published in 1995, which drew on scientific papers published a few years earlier. The UK’s policy, in other words, is based on papers some 15 years old. Our target, which is one of the toughest on earth, bears no relation to current science.
Over the past fortnight, both Gordon Brown and his adviser Sir Nicholas Stern have proposed raising the cut to 80%(4,5). Where did this figure come from? The last G8 summit adopted the aim of a global cut of 50% by 2050, which means that 80% would be roughly the UK’s fair share. But the G8’s target isn’t based on current science either.
In the new summary published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), you will find a table which links different cuts to likely temperatures(6). To prevent global warming from eventually exceeding 2°, it suggests, by 2050 the world needs to cut its emissions to roughly 15% of the volume in 2000.
I looked up the global figures for carbon dioxide production in 2000(7) and divided it by the current population(8). This gives a baseline figure of 3.58 tonnes of CO2 per person. An 85% cut means that (if the population remains constant) the global output per head should be reduced to 0.537t by 2050. The UK currently produces 9.6 tonnes per head and the US 23.6t(9,10). Reducing these figures to 0.537t means a 94.4% cut in the UK and a 97.7% cut in the US. But the world population will rise in the same period. If we assume a population of 9bn in 2050(11), the cuts rise to 95.9% in the UK and 98.3% in the US.
The IPCC figures might also be out of date. In a footnote beneath the table, the panel admits that “emission reductions … might be underestimated due to missing carbon cycle feedbacks”. What this means is that the impact of the biosphere’s response to global warming has not been fully considered. As seawater warms, for example, it releases carbon dioxide. As soil bacteria heat up, they respire more, generating more CO2. As temperatures rise, tropical forests die back, releasing the carbon they contain. These are examples of positive feedbacks. A recent paper (all the references are on my website) estimates that feedbacks account for about 18% of global warming(12). They are likely to intensify.
A paper in Geophysical Research Letters finds that even with a 90% global cut by 2050, the 2° threshold “is eventually broken”(13). To stabilise temperatures at 1.5° above the pre-industrial level requires a global cut of 100%. The diplomats who started talks in Bali yesterday should be discussing the complete decarbonisation of the global economy.
It is not impossible. In a previous article I showed how by switching the whole economy over to the use of electricity and by deploying the latest thinking on regional supergrids, grid balancing and energy storage, you could run almost the entire energy system on renewable power(14). The major exception is flying (don’t expect to see battery-powered jetliners) which suggests that we should be closing rather than opening runways.
Making money in a corporation like McDonald’s is not simple at all! Behind every sandwich there is a complex process you must learn to manaage: from the creation of pastures to the slaughter, from the restaurant management to the branding. You’ll discover all the dirty secrets that made us one of the biggest companies in the world. A great game for educational purposes…
“For decades McDonald’s corporation has been heavily criticized for its negative impact on society and the environment. There are inevitably some glitches in our activity: rainforest destruction, livelihood losses in the third world, desertification, precarization of working conditions, food poisoning and so on…
Denying all these well founded accusations would be impossible so we decided to create an online game to explain to young people that this is the price to pay in order to preserve our lifestyle.
We’ll continue on our way, with our well-known determination. Join us and have fun with us!”
“A broad, interspiritual American culture is being born and is becoming increasingly conscious, aware of a horizon of meaning and spiritual life that can overpower the predominant culture of entertainment, consumerism, and an essentially heartless capitalism. Under the surface of this society, with the intense meditative discipline being observed by several millions of spiritual seekers, a torrent of consciousness is rising in American humanity and other nations as well that will have its effect in time.”
-Wayne Teasdale, Roman Catholic monk
Taken from an essay included in “Spiritual perspectives on America’s role as Superpower”… a fantastic book containing 16 essays written by profound religious and spiritual teachers of multiple faiths (Catholic, Muslim,Jewish, Buddhist, Vedantist, Protestant, interfaith traditions). More quotes to come as I read more and more…
PS. Great insights on ’security’ a few posts ago! Reminds me of Pearl Jam lyrics in “I’m Open”:
A man lies in his bed in a room with no door
He waits, hoping for a presence, something, anything to enter
After spending half his life searching
He still felt as blank as the ceiling at which he stared
He is alive, but feels absolutely nothing, so is he?
When he was six, he believed that the moon overhead followed him
By nine, he deciphered the illusion, trading magic for fact, no trade-backs
So this is what it’s like to be an adult?
If he only knew now what he knew then
What does it mean when Saturdays for some people are spent in the shopping malls purchasing $220 t-shirts and a whole lot of other expensive goods that no-one NEEDS, while others are outside digging through bins of waste in hopes of finding what they really need, basic survival? How is it that the effects of consumerism are so dangerous and permanent, yet so many people continue to mindlessly walk around malls in there spare time and shop? How do we shift the minds of the population into understanding that the status symbol of wealth comes at a much more expensive price than just the price tag itself? How can we stop the mindfucks and spread the truth legitimately when the only ones who can afford marketing real estate around the city are the large corporations that depend and thrive off consumerism? How do we tell kids not to shop when shopping malls are one of the only free indoor public spaces that allow and encourage individuals to loiter on those cold winter days?
I wonder when and how status symbols became so important, that many people decided to go into massive debt just to pretend they are somebody they’re not by purchasing goods they can’t afford? Why are we still so concerned with ‘wealth’ and how we look? Are we still caught up in judgement? Shit, it seems so elementary. “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” Something so basic and yet so challenging for so many people to grasp. If only we could use that energy and money towards real life issues that actually mean something. Instead of focusing on wealth and security, focus on health and happiness. Focus on living a complete life filled with adventure and love. Focus on treating your neighbor with love and respect. Focus on being a wise consumer. Think before you buy. Realize the difference between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. Be aware of your ecological footprint. Be smart with your money no matter how wealthy you are. [Only a sucker will spend $200 on a t-shirt.] Be aware of the media and what they are actually saying and trying to sell to you. Smoking Marlboro’s won’t make you feel happy just as a new phone won’t make you satisfied. Re-think style and the cool and influence others. Be a walking billboard for the free spirited soul and be proud of who you are as an individual and not by the clothes you wear or money you may or may not have. Style is something that is acquired through living life and cannot be purchased at the latest clothing store. So go out and create your own style by being who you are and Remember that living life is a way of art…
As much of ‘the machine’ requires our unrelenting, unquestioning habit of consuming to exist, I thought we could align ourselves with an adbusters initiative…. that of ‘buy nothing day’…. perhaps we could take some time at our next workshop to brainstorm some ways in which our time could be better spent than mindlessly consuming crap we don’t need. Maybe we could come up with a poster idea, find a way to mass produce it, and spread the word around the streets of vancouver…. Here’s a starter list of free (or cheap) activities that give me a greater sense of satisfaction and happiness:-reading (mainly non fiction, but every now and then a fictional story is good for the imagination)-playing foosball, tennis, ping pong (craigslist has cheap used stuff that works great)-going for a walk or a run or a bike ride in the forest-playing my guitar-socializing/philosophizing with friends-playing drop in ice hockey ($5.50)-doing yoga in my bedroom-writing my thoughts down in a journal-playing hacky sack-volunteering time at a daycare-indoor rock climbing (approx. $10)-playing ‘bump set spike’ with a couple of friends
