In an
overpopulated world where "quality of life"
is, to a great degree, based on: (1) one's particular
"position" and/or possessions (which are often
gained by pure chance and hardly based on hard work,
or hard work alone), (2) the exploitation of
others, (3) the destruction of nature, and/or (4)
unsustainable growth........AND
IS NOT....based on
(cooperation, simplicity, voluntary action,
choice, a sane or reasonable austerity, and an
equitable sharing of natural resources).......in
this climate......talk
of "inalienable" rights mean little. On the
contrary, life is reduced and degraded to being
little more than the accumulation of position,
knowledge, power and possessions. And so.....wisdom,
compassion, generosity, and love,
(qualities
which represents
a balance between the feminine and masculine, or
liberal and conservative points of view)
take a back seat to a
inane debate about which "side" is right; as if the
two separate parts, or halves
(totally necessary to make up the whole)
could ever be absolutely right or wrong, true or
false, necessary or not necessary.
Of course,
for the vast majority, there are no "problems"
except in finding opportunities to personally "get
ahead", or using the grand excuse of needing to
concentrate on "personal survival".......as if
everyone doesn't need to "survive". Whether it
was in the Roman days when the masses were going to
the Coliseum for their weekly entertainment; or,
when the US was carpet bombing Southeast Asian and
sabotaging "leftist leaning" governments all over
the world because of corporate interests, the vast
majority choose to live lives in blissful ignorance.
(If you want to read WHAT the consequences of our
"civilization" are, read books by
Howard Zinn,
Noam Chomsky or
Derek
Jensen; if you want to read WHY our
"civilization" is the way it is, read
Erich Fromm
or
Jiddu Krishnamurti)
1)
Usery,
and/or exploitative economics, i.e. creating/using
wealth WITHOUT it actually resulting from
one's own personal effort, as in the direct
producing of goods and/or providing of
services...........and/or owning/using
property that one isn't actually involved in some
sort of direct relationship with for the purposes of
enjoyment or actively producing or creating
something.........is
the primary source of humanities suffering, both
personal and societal.
2)
The
second primary source of humanity suffering is
overpopulation,
with its subsequent dependency on expensive
belowground natural resources, destructive and
dangerous technologies like nuclear power, genetic
modification, chemical fertilizers and
pesticides..........and diminishing, poor quality,
deficient, above-ground natural resources which
should be available to all to share; and which are
vitally necessary to everyone so that a quality of
life can be enjoyed by ALL.
3) Our food
and fiber must be grown organically and most of it
grown and produced locally. Degenerative disease is
preventable; a community growing and preparing its
food together would make this much more doable,
affordable (the only costs being labor), and
enjoyable.......as long it was done efficiently and
only occupied a small amount of one's time.
4) Violence
should never be considered as a means to resolve
conflict, except as a last resort regarding personal
survival. And speaking of violence, the
"nation-state", far from protecting us, has done
nothing but wreak havoc and slaughter upon us for
centuries.
5) Food
(prepared) and shelter should be available to all
for a maximum requirement of approximately 2 days
simple LABOR per week......that any and all
could contribute towards. Only in such a society
could "everything"
be.....and be done...."right", so to speak.
Exchange/barter/money is fine, but should be more of
an option for "extras", rather than a dominant
requirement for necessities, or something forced on
people. (many fine thinkers have envisioned such
a paradigm such as
Mahatma Gandhi
;
and it might be stated that Jesus, Buddha,
Mohammed and many other spiritual and philosophical
giants have advocated something similar if one reads
such scholarly analysis by people like
Erich Fromm, and
Glenn T. Martin.)
6) The
other five days a week should be up to the
individual to do what he or she wishes to do with
their time; whether it be spent "productively" or
"responsibly" in the eyes of others, or not. Surely,
nothing less could ever be considered "freedom".
Again and again human beings prove that given our
"freedom" and adequate "resources", we are intensely
creative, productive and intelligent beings.
Other than sharing the natural
resources, housing and other basic human made
community resources, plus doing a little cooperative
work together to assure these basic needs are met
for all; strict egalitarianism is
NOT necessary, is
not in the true spirit of "community" and
human liberation, and is counterproductive to
creating the degree of abundance or prosperity
desirable for the community as a whole. Individual
prosperity (absent of all usery and exploitation)
even though not equal, or strictly egalitarian, has
a way of benefiting all......even though an
individual may personally benefit more because of
their own extra and personal efforts.
7) There
should be no "waste". Nothing toxic should find its
way into water, air or soil. If toxics cannot be
neutralized and recycled, they shouldn't be created.
Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little
faith is also of little love.
-
Erich Fromm
If
YOU
feel similarly, wouldn't you like to live this sort
of life in an intentional community with others who
share these same ethics and goals?
phone
352-505-8082
reachmehere@cox.net