[GJM] Fw: Re:: Ending Unmet Need

[robert searle]

Dear MH,

      Though I agree with consumer activism it is
ofcourse largely a waste of time unless you manage to
get huge support. We have to make friends with big
business along the lines of TFE so that corporations
can turn "quickly" to sustainable technologies with
the injection of new unearned money. The same approach
goes for banks who would be able to create interest
free loans without charging customers the interest on
them as already explained! 

I have to be honest with you, and certain other people
(including Mr. Ellis), and that is I find your ideas
somewhat naive, and unrealistic. Whether you like it,
or not competative capitalism rules, and it is
possible to find practical, and extraordinary ways to
contain it via TFE. 

With the progress of human evolution people en masse
will come to accept more "advanced" economic systems
in the future. With better financial empowerment of
relevant NGOs this becomes more, and more a distinct
possibility especially if the younger generation are
properly educated. All this ofcourse would cost money
if it is to be done properly rather than relying on
committed volunteers.

For now though the most important thing is to fully
develop a highly radical, but practical system that
best suits  competative capitalism...otherwise ideas
like Binary Economic, eco-villages, et al are
essentially a waste of time if we are serious about
BIG CHANGES FOR A BETTER WORLD. They will only come
about in their own time which would ofcourse be many,
many decades. We need something NOW that would attract
corporations, banks, the public, and even global
justice that would be acceptable to most of us 
otherwise we are heading towards climate catastrophe
on a massive scale.



Regards,

Robert Searle.




Personally, 
--- marguerite hampton <ecopilgrim at aabol.com> wrote:

> Dear Bill, thanks for the input.  I agree that there
> are hundreds, if not
> thousands, of ways to go around the system and vote
> for alternative ways.
> And your list is a good start. 
> 
> What I would like to suggest is taking a look at the
> top money-making
> enterprises in the U.S. and the world and stop
> directing our dollars in that
> direction as these are also the most environmentally
> destructive things we
> do for the most part and they also contribute to
> dehumanization in many
> parts of the world. 
> .
> They are in order of their rating: 
> 
> 1.  The travel industry 
> 2.  The oil industry
> 3.  The beef industry 
> 4.   The insurance industry  
> 
> Also rated high in terms of revenue generated, but I
> don't know exactly
> where they belong in 
> the ranking order, are the manufacture of weapons of
> war and illegal drug
> production. The auto industry also rates very high,
> but is associated with
> the oil industry. 
> 
> One of the reasons these activities are so difficult
> to avoid doing is that
> they are also associated with employment and
> eliminating them would make a
> staggering impact on jobs available worldwide.  
> 
> However, as I have previously demonstrated, millions
> of jobs are being
> eliminated due to technological advances which
> eliminate the need for human
> labor.  Technological advances can also be written
> off as capital
> investments under the present tax codes -- things
> the GMS likes.  
> 
> The statistics now are that only 30% of the
> worldwide laborforce available
> today is necessary to produce all of the goods and
> services necessary for
> the 6+ billion people on the planet.  This puts 
> competition for jobs
> worldwide in the "very high" category and is why the
> GMS is outsourcing so
> many jobs from the U.S. to countries where wages are
> much lower (and also
> where environmental laws are less strict).  
> 
> One of the things we need to recognize is that the
> U.S. was able to keep
> employment high for many years, especially in the
> auto industry, because
> obsolesence was built into each vehicle so that
> either the car had to be
> replaced frequently or required frequent replacement
> of parts. This 
> practice kept assembly lines humming.  However, once
> Edward Demings took the
> concept of "efficiency" to Japan and it was adopted
> there, employment in the
> auto industry has dropped dramatically.  Now, with
> the end of "cheap" oil
> rapidly approaching, the auto industry is in big
> trouble and we are seeing plant closings galore. 
> The only thing that takes
> up the slack is the
> military-industrial complex which must now
> "manufacture war" in order to
> keep assembly lines humming in order to produce
> vehicles and associated
> products such as weapons so that enough 
> of the laborforce is still employed to keep the
> economy moving. 
> 
> There are similar stories with regard to the beef
> and travel industries but
> I don't have time to go into them now -- . More
> later.  But what I feel is
> necessary is for us to recognize that these
> industries are largely kept in
> place by politicians who are paid to politic in the
> best interests of the 
> GMS.  So, politics are the main force behind our
> dilemna and cannot be the
> solution.  
> Once we begin to understand how the world really
> works, and get beyond
> politics, we may be able to find some solutions for
> the short term -- it may
> be too late for the long term as millions around the
> world are already
> suffering from global climate change.   
> 
> When one sees how embedded we are in activities that
> are so destructive, yet
> understands that so many livliehoods depend upon
> this destructiveness, one
> begins to understand why global climate change is
> the only force powerful
> enough to create the transformation necessary to
> allow for the continuation
> of the human race and the recovery of our wounded
> Earth Mother. What we need
> to recognize is the innate wisdom of nature and
> instead of fighting it,
> surrender to it.  If we look back into history, we
> find that global climate
> change is a natural cycle in the overall life of the
> earth -- as natural as
> the rain, the wind, the snow, the sunlight, and the
> darkness.  Instead of
> fearing it, we need embrace it and know that it's
> force is a healing power-
> a part of the grand design of all that there is. 
> 
> Let us surrender our ego, let us put away our fear,
> let this be our finest
> hour, and go gently into the darker night knowing
> that the sunlight will
> shine on us again in another time and place  This is
> not about "us" it is
> about life and intelligence. . 
> 
> eco 
> 
> 
> 
>  
>  
> 
>      
> 
>    
>  
> -------Original Message
>  
> From: Bill Ellis
> Date: 11/12/06 11:34:12
> To: marguerite hampton
> Cc: Peace_ERA peace_era; ConsilienceP ConsilienceP;
> Centre4Change .; FixGov;
> Global Forum for Justice Discussion; GatherTheWomen
> GatherTheWomen
> Subject: Re:: Ending Unmet Need
>  
> On 11, Nov 2006, at 11:33 PM, marguerite hampton
> wrote:  
> > While it may seem like your dollar vote goes
> unnoticed, what if all of
> > us felt that way and never voted our dollars for
> the alternative? 
>  
> BE:
> Buying second hand is one good way to vote with your
> dollars.
> Freecycling, bartering, CSAs,  homesteading, and
> local scripts are
> others. One of these lists  developed a list of 35
> ways to avoid or
> transform "the money system." (below)  Perhaps it is
> time to put some
> effort in developing them.
> Any ideas ?
>  
> Bill Ellis
>  
> >
> > TITLE                  AN EXPERT
> > 1) Mutual Credit  - Tom Greco
> > 2) Local Scrips  - Paul Glover
> > 3) LETS  - Michael Linton
> > 4) Time Dollars  - Edgar Cahn
> > 5) Credit Unions  - Bill Sterner
> > 6) Local Curreny  - Prof. Lewis Solomon
> > 7) Community Loan Funds  - Rececca Dunn
> > 8) Peer Lending  - Mary Coyle
> > 9) Reciprocity  - Dominque Temple
> > 10) Democratic Maeagment  - Len Krimmerman
> > 11) Worker Ownership  - CaRol di Marcello
> > 12) Collectives
> > 14) Alternative Trade Organizations  - Jim Goetsch
> > 15) Rochdale Cooperatives  -  Joes David Welty
> > 16) Food C-0p Store Fronts  - George Keller
> > 17) Food Co-op Buying Clubs  - Peg Pritchert
> > 18) Co-op Warhouses  - Dave Gutknecht
> > 19) Community Supported Agriculture  - Robyn VanEn
> > 20) Permaculture  -  Dan Hemenway
> > 21) Community Land Trusts  - Julie Orvis
> > 22) Intentional Communities  - Laird Schaub
> > 23) Co-husing  - Ken Norwood
> 
=== message truncated ===>
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