Talking Heads | This Must Be the Place

Talking Heads | Psycho Killer

Thoughts on Harmful Economic Activities

written on the sky:

I think it is wrong to reap private profit off of destructive activities. What do you think?

It's wrong to reap private gain from harmful activities. Sounds crazy, right? But it's really not. Maybe the reason it sounds extreme is because of how our society has turned into an incredibly harmful beast - a beast that it capable of destroying all life on the planet. That's a tremendous feat of engineering. We, as a society, are going in the wrong direction - and majorly so. We are hurting life, and those who live. Instead of damaging nature and hurting living creatures, we ought to be going in the direction of protecting and serving all life.

It's common sense. We're all part of one human family. Indeed, we are all part of one interconnected web, of which all life is part. So when there is imbalance in one area, there is imbalance in all areas.

I think that it is time for humanity to right its wrongs, to restore harmony in its relationships: in its relationships with itself, as well as in its relationship with the planet and all living creatures.

There is a strong need for balance. We all suffer while the fates of life on Earth and future generations of human beings hang in the balance.

Photos from Evergreen Woods in Autumn

Evergreen Forest

Reaganomics

A Tacoma News Tribune user named Reaganomics left me a public message on my user profile:

Reaganomics wrote:

Berd, I am so happy you went to the protest. This little example should help you understand why these two cowards should not be released. Let's say you are organizing a protest. You assign me to bring the granola. I assure you that I will bring a whole Subaru full of healthy granola to feed the hungry protesters. When protest day happens I fail to show up with the required supplies. No one is willing to protest because they don't have the energy. That would mean that I failed to keep my word to you as my commander-in-chief. That is what these fellows did, except their error could mean someone else forfits their life. I hope this little example helps you understand.

10/24/2009 6:00 AM PDT on Tacoma - The News Tribune

To which I replied:

BerdWhitlock wrote:

Reaganomics:

Let's consider a little anecdote.

Let's say that I want control over the whole world. Let's say I want global dominance.

Let's say you have something I consider an important prize in your yard. Let's say that I think this prize is connected to my posture of global dominance. Oh do I ever want this prize. But there's a problem.

You also want this prize. In fact, you don't want me to control it, or to take it. And you are not offering it for sale.

I consider the prize a "vital interest."

I want it so bad. So let's say I will create a government, complete with a military, for the purpose of taking the prize from the yard where you live.

Now I consider the prize a "vital national interest." And I convince a large portion of my country that it truly is. I also convince a large portion of my country that you are dangerous, evil, backward, and a threat to their way of life.

Next, Let's say I will bomb you and your country, invade it with my army, and fight ruthlessly against anyone who resists my efforts to establish control. I will fight so ruthlessly that I will not hesitate to open fire in the presence of civilians- so that even your children are endangered by your resistance to my occupation.

Imagine that.

That is what America has done.

I hope this little example helps you understand what the USA has done.

10/26/2009 4:17 PM PDT on Tacoma - The News Tribune

Capitalism ≠ Democracy

Capitalism does not equal democracy. In fact, in many respects, an under-regulated/deregulated/unregulated capitalism is anti-democratic. In a capitalistic society, where monied interests have privilege and special influence over government, democracy is threatened, because the pre-requisite for full access to political participation is money. Under capitalism, money is the object of worship - instead of democracy, where participation in decision-making by people is the ideal. So, capitalism does not equal democracy. Nor does the practice of free-market capitalism constitute freedom. True freedom necessitates freedom for all. In a capitalism that is practiced without adherence to humanistic moral principles (where, for example, great powers are driven to war with each other for profit,) there is no freedom. There is only slavery. Even the rich are enslaved to the financial bottom-line, enslaved by want for money, and enslaved also by fear of losing money. In a society where capitalistic is under-regulated, the interests of profit are put before the interests of people. People are hurt, sacrificed, and more-or-less enslaved to serve the interests of capital.

Instead of this, I think it would be better where people work to serve the interests of themselves, of humanity, and of all life. Toward a life-serving society, Berd

some profit while others are made to suffer...

which reminds me of a quote by Dorothy Day:

"Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy rotten system."

How Have You Been | Crosby, Stills and Nash

Foggy Landing

Shift

I posted this before, but here I am posting it again. I have been thinking about this quote by MLK Jr. a few times today:


"I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Last Full Moon Before Bombardment

October 4th, 2009

Moonrise, shortly before 7 PM

This will be the last Full Moon before the NASA and U.S. Government (if successful) bombard an impactor into the surface of the Moon. (ref: NASA LCROSS Mission)

I really wish my government wasn't engaged in this destructive scientific experiment.

The Moon is sacred to me. (So are all the planets. Including Earth. But the Earth is already so deeply affected by human activities - a few human-made bombs are just the tip of the ice-berg in terms of environmental destruction here.) I wish that the Moon would be kept clear and protected against this kind of experiment.

It wouldn't bother me as much if I knew that the results of such scientific endeavor - and any economic gains made as a result - would be shared equitably amongst all people. If the products and suggestions gained from such research were to be used to uplift all people, then I would not be so adamantly opposed to sending people into space.

However, in light of the intense poverty here amongst people on Earth, and in light of the growing gap between rich and poor (the gap is just astronomical) - I do not believe that it can be rationally justified to direct resources to projects such as this. No. It's just not right.

What I believe is that until all people are properly sheltered, nourished, educated and given equitable opportunity to participate in meaningful, non-oppressive (supporting, uplifting, life-serving), and sustainable economic systems - then it is wrong to spend money, energy, and other resources on space exploration (not to mention conquest nor dominance.)

Peace.

Cheers.

Berd

Percival Landing in Fog

Dock

Tom Petty | Wildflowers

SurvivaBall: Gated Community for One

SurvivaBall by the Yes Men

Pillar and Ceiling

Cathedral of Saint Paul, St. Paul, Minnesota