dialog re/ localism, Gulf Gusher, Connie’s quesion

re/ Take 3 – Ch 4: The emergence of localism

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cyberjournal/message/426

—

—

Hi Herb,

Under capitalism there is a pool of capital seeking profitable investments. Over the centuries, that pool has gotten larger and larger. Meanwhile, as we have gradually approached resource limits, the available profitable investments have been gradually diminishing. By about 1970, capitalism as a global system was beginning to pass the point of diminishing returns. That’s why they launched the neoliberal project (privatization, globalization, derivative markets, etc.), so as to create an investment ponzi scheme that was not based on real economic growth. 

     In 2008, even the neoliberal project passed the point of diminishing returns. Hence, the New World Order, based on a command economy, as we see with Obama’s new ‘financial reform’ bill, which gives the Fed the power to micromanage the economy.

If the goal is to reduce world population by about 80%, then even the Gulf Gusher is probably not sufficient. And who needs fish if you can produce food in GMO factories? That’s the mentality of the monsters behind the NWO. 

rkm

Sharon Stevens wrote:

Hi Richard, I’m really tired, so please forgive me if this comes across negative. I am so delighted by your continuing spirit of commitment to real action and to the hard work to change the world. I am grateful for this consistent message.

I am, nonetheless, tired of seeing my brothers and sisters derided as sheep when they could be represented as collaborators. Following Maarten Hajer, I am also aware that, when spirituality was separated from the rational discourse of environmentalism to create what communication scholars call “ecomodernist discourse” (around the time Thatcher was in power), the grassroots of ecological activism became weaker for a time.

Connie writes that she wants to connect through a positive message of hope and reality. You say she is about to enter the fray, because of what she sees in her soul and instinct. What is this but magical realism?

Consider the tradition of magical realism in Latino literature, and its impact on the Chicano and Chicana movement. Consider Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/Frontera, a book that uses magical realism to change consciousness to create a bridge between women and men, homosexuals and heterosexuals, whites and non-whites, without ever denying systemic oppression. This has inspired any number of people to become increasingly active to change the world. I am one of them. It has been a slow process, but it works step by step.

Consider the children’s anime film Totoro, and its impact on the Japanese conservation movement.

Consider your own so-called rational writing, which meets all of our social norms for what good writing should be. You are writing words on a computer. Words on a computer are not trees in a rainforest or plants in a garden. They are not decisions in Parliament or any other deliberative body. They are not even protests on a street, which are themselves but another symbol-system. They are not money for an organisation that works in these ways.

What are you thinking?

This is magical realism. Your writing is your great hope, and your hope benefits us all.

You believe you can change our consciousness. (You’re right!)

You believe that if we change our consciousness, we will act. (You’re right!)

You believe that if we act, we will change the world.

You are right, so keep on writing.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, we consider the importance of the concept of “wairuatanga,” or spirituality. From wairuatanga we receive such important concepts as “mana whenua,” or the spirit of the land, which is closely connected to the concept of the “tangata whenua,” or people of the land. By recognising wairuatanga, we hold onto an immense resource for sustaining and fostering collective values such as land care  and respect. Mana whenua is also a potent political resource, especially for indigenous activists, because we all accept that for our indigenous Maori, the concept of tangata whenua speaks to a deep reality and source of identity that is rooted more deeply than the surface, more deeply than the present. In other words, because of wairuatanga, land care has political strength. Without wairuatanga, such concepts are empty tools.

For myself, through spirituality, I struggle directly with my alien-ation. Often, my “aliens” first manifest in dreams, imagination or intuition, and when I face them directly, I am able to integrate that which is alienated back into my life. Slowly. Step by step. As I confront alienation, I rediscover my agency. So I hope. I act. I talk to others, I cooperate.

Please do not undermine spirituality. Spirituality is, above all else, a meaning-ful approach to our lives. By believing in spirituality–including, but not only, by believing in the symbol-systems of a rational modernist book–we change our consciousness. By evolving our consciousness, we change our behaviour. You could say, if you wish to be inclusive, that by believing in magic, we become workers of light.

We need hope. Spirituality, including magical realism, gives hope. Another fruit of the spirit is perseverance in the face of apparent set-backs; it is the capacity to act for what is just without seeing the results of our actions, which means we can pursue long-term goals with fidelity and a sense of joy.

Spirituality challenges our alienation and reconnects us with our instincts.

A fruit of the the spirit is changed consciousness.

A fruit of changed consciousness is solidarity.

A fruit of solidarity is grassroots collective action.

A fruit of grassroots collective action is that the great world of our present will be shared even more widely, and experienced as even more wonderful, in the future.

Peace,

Sharon

P.S. You keep representing your audience in negative terms, in small slips of the discourse. This is because, as Kenneth Burke says, if we are not careful of how we use words, they will use us. Look at your sentence copied below, between the two em-dashes.

You could make the same point without the material between the em-dashes.

In his Prison Notebooks of WWII, which has made a huge impact on the world-wide social justice movement by giving us the term “hegemony” and a way to understand how symbol systems uphold oppression, Gramsci discusses the importance of the “organic intellectual,” the grassroots worker that develops a theoretical framework for understanding his or her situation. I appreciate Gramsci’s refusal to believe that intellectualism is the province of an elite group of knowledge workers. I have known young students who see themselves as organic intellectuals, despite their still nascent ability to articulate their views, but because of this “magical”–that is, this real but still unproven–belief in their power to understand their experience, they act with increasing radicalism and confidence, and they have the capacity to keep on developing their understanding and ability to communicate.

It is clear, from the content that surrounds such slips, that you believe in people; you think highly of the promise in all the people you address. Unfortunately (and please forgive the personificaton) language is a tricky dragon to slay. I suspect you can find similar slips in this email of mine, and I hope you will forgive me and trust that I will keep trying to learn. I am writing you because I trust you will persevere in writing what I believe can be one of the most actively influential books of our time. I am thinking of how Martin Luther King’s speeches are riddled with comments from his correspondents. I do not think this is plagiarism. I think this is the best way to lead a collective movement. You know how to be such a leader. Your commitment to dialogue and consultation is proof that you know how to craft a message robust enough to inspire us all.