A Question about Wealth and Privilege, and Oppression and Suffering

Let us ask whether our wealth and privilege depend on oppression and cause suffering.

No Imperialism, No Racism

Racial and economic justice, and the cessation of violent conflict! Abolition of an offensive economic, military-industrial establishment...

The enemy is not personnel. It is not personal. The enemy is ignorance. The enemy is fear, xenophobia, racism and other prejudice. The enemy is aggression and violence and hate.

Here are three copies of a video I recently made, my intent was to deal with the problem of an 'us v. them' mentality, privilege and oppression, wealth disparity, socio-economic harmfulness, and I suppose, violence in general.

Videos are below the fold.

Scenes from the Apocolypse (Day 4 at the US Social Forum in Detroit)

My friend just drove through East Detroit. I'm told that it looks like a scene from the Apocolypse. The houses still standing in disrepair, and only a few sparse houses still standing, with giant trees standing like sentinels, and some blocks are entirely razed to the ground every house collapsed. There are giant multi-story factories crumbling, with upper stories caving in...

What a story. What an indictment of our amoral/immoral boom and bust economy. I am thinking about a transition to a life-serving society, rather than one that presumes the possibility of enlightened and altruistic self-interest.

I believe progress is toward service, toward caring, toward a society that ensures the mutual uplift of all people, a society that is non-discriminatory.

I believe that the highest purpose for humanity on Earth is stewardship and care-taking, because I believe that the Earth does not belong to any one of us, nor to all of us collectively—rather it's the other way around, in that we belong to the Earth, and we are part of the Earth.

It's so sad to see the poverty that exists in the midst of so much abundance. So sad to see the racism that goes on to this day.

I had a conversation with a friend earlier about their parents opinion that poor people are to blame for their plight because they're lazy.

I am concerned that this type of thinking is all too prevalent in the mainstream, and is the result of ignorance and a misguided and incomplete understanding of systematic privilege and oppression, and the effects of violence and abuse on individuals and communities.

People suffer mistreatment and it causes impairment. It is incorrect to blame people with impairment for their subsequent disability. People who suffer with impairment ought to be supported and cared for, ought to be nurtured and accepted for their condition—as they are—and not subjected to pity, nor to discouragement based on their condition.

It's about unconditional love. And understanding that all people are good. And while some people behave in ways that aren't good (probably all of us do to some extent in this society (because society is not designed to serve life/our best interests of health and mutual prosperity) it makes sense to strive for understanding and for a world that works for all people, regardless of age, gender, religion, race, nationality, ethnicity, ability, and etc..

"Another world is possible. On a quiet day I can hear her breathing." —Arundhati Roy

Social Forum Day 3

Hey,

Interesting day today, lots to talk about. I did some laundry, and had an interesting bike ride a couple miles North from the WSU campus on Woodward. Laundromat was huge, and the machines worked well. The neighborhood was pretty depressed. Woodward was being repaved with some serious concrete slabs. I have to wonder what people are thinking by investing in this infrastructure when we know that our current societal addiction to fossil fuels is harmful and unsustainable and the cause of so much economic and environmental instability and injustice...

I went to an interesting workshop this morning. It was by an organization called Resource Generation (http://www.resourcegeneration.org/home.html), and I have some mixed emotions and (what I think are) deep thoughts about the workshop and some of the ideas that were presented. The workshop was titled, "Class Privilege and Activism." I think the crux of my discomfort related to the lack of analysis about the intrinsic harmful nature of the majority (if not all) of wealth generating activities... Basically, I think it makes the most sense to have a society that is economically egalitarian, because the real ways to happiness are less material than they are spiritual. Real happiness results from health, belonging, community, being part of a meaningful society.

So I was kind of distressed by how these young wealthy people were seemingly justifying or rationalizing their wealth based on fact that they're interested in being philanthropic. Like holding financial power over others, making the decision over who is going to get money and when?

I have more to write about this topic, I took some notes, hopefully I will have more energy to write on it tomorrow.

I saw Climbing PoeTree (http://www.climbingpoetree.com/) perform tonight, and enjoyed their performance. It's really electrifying. I encourage you to check out these talented performers.


Peace,
Berd

Care is "Dull" at the Bohemian Grove: Global Dominance, Economic Exploitation, and Social Violence

I left the following comment on The Olympian.com. I believe that the problems of social violence, economic exploitation, and environmental degradation are connected with policies like global dominance, which is a political concept espoused by many of the most powerful men in the world, some of whom meet at the Bohemian Grove (near Monte Rio, CA), for a Summer Encampment - where they celebrate the "Cremation of Care." Here's a link to a story about the case of Lindsey Baum. Lindsey is a missing child, who disappeared more than four months ago. I believe the problem of missing children is interrelated with other problems of society. Link to the story with my comment: After four months, authorities have little evidence in Lindsey Baum case

And here's the comment I made:

I am of the opinion that the problem of missing children is directly related to the societal ethics of putting profit before people. Lindsey Baum went missing about a month before the annual Bohemian Grove Summer Encampment. At the encampment, some of the world's most powerful businessmen and political decision makers partake in a ceremony called The Cremation of Care, which involves the ritual cremation of "Dull Care" - the effigy of a sacrificed child. I believe this attitude - that care is dull - on the part of the world's most powerful men is directly related to societal violence, and domestic abuses, including but certainly not limited to child disappearances and abductions.


[more information:] Missing Children, Global Dominance, The Bohemian Grove, and The Cremation of Care

Ignorance About the Ways of Others: a Privilege of the Powerful

I saw this great quote on another site, Patrick Sullivan, Every Bit is Fiction, yesterday, and I want to share it with you:

“Thoroughgoing ignorance about the ways of others is largely a privilege of the powerful.”

– Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, Kwame Anthony Appiah