Always Time to Shop.

   

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…

 

Peace & Love,

Fungi-T.

 

Morning Dew–from my Prison Notebooks

I’ll try and kick it off…(Just woke up 5 mins ago, giving some stream of consciousness a shot here…)

Listening to some Ben Harper from Lifeline–Younger than Today & Fight outta you

“I would rather take a punch, then not give you a shot…I’d rather find out who you are, then who you’re not…Don’t let it take the fight outta you” BH

Last meeting, we talked about Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin’s introductory essay from the Socialist Register, can’t remember the exact title right now, but it is from the 2004 edition on the Imperialism of Our Time.

http://socialistregister.com/recent/2004

The whole book is basically about reintroducing the word Imperialism into discourses, conversations, thoughts about Amercian power, American Hegemony, American Exceptionalism–whatever you might’ve (or are) calling it according to Panitch and Gindin actually refers to the Imperialism nexus of the present, that grows out from the past era of inter-imperial rivalry upto WWI.

Summaries aside, the importance of this article is that it helps the FUNGUS name the powers it wishes to speak truth to, or even more correct–it helps having a historical, conceptual, theoretical analysis of what we like to call the MACHINE.

Aside–the Machine, or evil?, just think Morpheus in the Matrix giving you the choice–blue pill or red pill–depending on what you choose, you’ll know what we’re talking about when we speak of the machine–a system, a structure, ways of organizing life that put the living species and ecosystems of earth in the slavery of the interests of a very small few elites, maybe their fucked up aliens? I don’t know, but it damn near time for our generations to really start fucking them up…sand in the wheels of the machine–to put those damn grinding gears to halt!

Ok, back to the Socialist Register–we read little more than half the article, and will finish today. After which I’ll put up a better analysis, with some questions for online folks to answer…

BUY NOTHING DAY

2nd outing of action in the name of the Fungus, and well, we had a great day of action. Spreading the good word, if sometimes problematic, of the busters, downtown.

I consider it like giving people a little shock, nothing taser deadly, but maybe like putting a fork in socket or something. And you could see it, sometimes, jolting people out of there zombie shopping states–double takes, stares, looking(but not looking), scowls, some smiles too!

We’re (I’m) not saying that buying nothing for a day will solve everything, we’re just trying to show folks (including ourselves) it doesn’t have to be like this, it shouldn’t–consuming more than you need, trying to fill some void (that emptiness inside you that most aren’t sure what to call) at the expense of others, on the backs of others. Maybe that’s one of the problems, that we see them as others…those whose slave-like service for the production of goods for our gross overconsumption.

Forget about what Jesus would do…think about What your gonna do differently from this day forward about your consumption and act on it muthafucka!

Myself included…I speak to myself on this as much as I do the readers of this thing.

Other:

• Meet again today
• finish Imperialism article
• discuss Mission Statement(s)
• think about future actions, I’ve got one in mind:
  • http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/noticias_01.php?cd_news=2402&cd_language=2
  • Instead of the centralized events of past editions, WSF 2008 will have thousands of activities organized by social movements, unions, groups, networks and other organisations in their own regions. This will cover a one-week period, culminating in a Global Day of Action on January 26th. The global mobilization will be directly linked to the local agendas of social actors, making the week full of debates, cultural and artistic activities, demonstrations, protests, direct actions, meetings and many other ways of showing that another world is possible.
• Fungus.co.uk? Starting up a UK fungal node–care package to get them started?
• Podcast–musical score

To Do’s:

• start working on podcast
• fix up website/blog
• format for the next few meetings–articles, projects, art, thoughts anyone?
• insert more here if I missed any…

Quote of the Day:“African-Amercian orator, Frederick Douglass, a militant abolitionist and himself an escaped slave, who wrote”:

Those who profess freedom, yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without ploughing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful wrath of its many waters. Power concedes nothing without demands–it never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to, and you have the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them. And these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.

-from Taiaiake Alfred’s Wasase: Indigenous pathways of action and freedom

peace.

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED….let’s party

November 24th, 2:00 pm, at the art gallery downtown…. bring a mug for tea, bring a chair for chillin’, bring some warm clothes cause it’s rain or shine baby….

we’ll set up an environment where strangers can break down the barriers that keep us apart, where strangers feel comfortable chillin’ and socializing and participating in fun and free activities (ie chess, checkers, a game of soccer, maybe a game of street hockey, cards, listening to some tunes on the geetar, maybe people could give away books that they’ve already read for free, free back massages are always a possibility….. come down and join the fun…..

LOVE MORE

LIVE MORE

SHOP LESS

A twist on an ol’ favourite….

Live Clean….

Live Free…..

Nov. 24th, Reduce your ecological footprint…. BUY NOTHING…..

then make a habit of it

Buy Nothing Day

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