You have to be pretty blind to not accept that economic activity at the start of the second decade of the new millennium is focused on looting the public commons. When I say commons I mean the ways that humans (and in some cases other sentient beings) come together and share resources. At least in Canada this means shared resources which could be read as public coffers or tax dollars. For the most part taxation is fair, taking more from those who can pay and less from those who cannot and then building up a reserve which is used to cover collectively valuable things like healthcare.
Unfortunately it’s becoming clear that the behaviour of elites in recent years (and arguably starting a long time ago but at least when Jean Chretien and the gang took over federally and Mike Harris et al in Ontario) is about looting the public commons. I guess they decided that there never is enough and should take from everyone.
Take for example the recent big bailouts of 2008-2009 but of course they are ongoing, despite what Barack Obama says or does. Basically our elected representatives took collective money, our tax dollars and even tax dollars that we haven’t generated yet (debt) and gave them away to the richest segment of society. The joke is that this segment, the folks that run the hedge funds, dodgy loan companies and wasteful corporations like GM, don’t show any signs of slowing down and continuing to collect massive bonuses which are basically collective money that they have received and handed out to shareholders or upper staff. And no one seems upset by this. What a lovely system they have created for themselves.
The Vancouver Olympics are quickly becoming another major cash grab, wrapped in the flag like a bow. Billions of dollars are flowing for developers to build numerous buildings at a dreadfully inflated and just asking to burst prices. We’re told that the Olympics will make money and generate income but realistically most cities and countries are left to clean up the economic mess after all the popped balloons and streamers have been swept up. Debt, debt, debt for the commons and just more pillaging for the elites.
I wonder at this behaviour. I wonder if it’s related to the glaringly obvious fact that our days of lavish living are numbered. The long emergency begins. Maybe the ones who have lived so high on the hog are living it up at the end of the world (from their perspective anyway). And the central pillar of their plan is to rob the public commons blind.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Melting
Wow divinely sweet is this? The Vancouver Olympics, the last mighty bellow of our worn-out civilization and a fraud of global proportions is melting. Melting. You may have been reading that there has been no snow at skiing venues for weeks. Well now it's a crisis (that's right, another one).
In typical civilized fashion instead of accepting that there are limits to what we can and cannot do and that we are ultimately controlled by our ecosystems, the organizers are going to start trucking in the snow. Another conquest but at what cost? Kiss your precious budget goodbye VANOC. Not only trucks, but snow cats and even helicopters will seek out and deliver snow to Olympic sites. Imagine it, a relatively green forest, then smack in the middle, a piece of Canadian winter for all the gawking tourists. They're so disconnected from the real world that they'll likely assume this is normal.
It's really a facade that they are building. Made of straw and wood with a little snow on top. A thin cover to all our myths. Hollow and short-lived, like most of civilization's creations.
Not once have I heard mention of climate change. It's actually ironic because the snow is melting around the world because of our lavish lifestyles and the Olympics are the epitome of this destructive pattern. Imagine all those thousands of "fans" coming from all corners of the world to watch athletes and spend spend spend on everything and anything. All those greenhouse gases no one wants to talk about; oh yeah, we'll just buy some carbon offsets. Nationalism combined with overconsumption and a little international travel make for a deadly combination and at the very least, less snow on mountains.
Though I can't help realizing that Mother Nature is so generous with her errant children that she'll probably send snow just in time for the games. When we deserve to be beaten severely for our childish behaviour we'll once again be passed a candy and told to "run along".
In typical civilized fashion instead of accepting that there are limits to what we can and cannot do and that we are ultimately controlled by our ecosystems, the organizers are going to start trucking in the snow. Another conquest but at what cost? Kiss your precious budget goodbye VANOC. Not only trucks, but snow cats and even helicopters will seek out and deliver snow to Olympic sites. Imagine it, a relatively green forest, then smack in the middle, a piece of Canadian winter for all the gawking tourists. They're so disconnected from the real world that they'll likely assume this is normal.
It's really a facade that they are building. Made of straw and wood with a little snow on top. A thin cover to all our myths. Hollow and short-lived, like most of civilization's creations.
Not once have I heard mention of climate change. It's actually ironic because the snow is melting around the world because of our lavish lifestyles and the Olympics are the epitome of this destructive pattern. Imagine all those thousands of "fans" coming from all corners of the world to watch athletes and spend spend spend on everything and anything. All those greenhouse gases no one wants to talk about; oh yeah, we'll just buy some carbon offsets. Nationalism combined with overconsumption and a little international travel make for a deadly combination and at the very least, less snow on mountains.
Though I can't help realizing that Mother Nature is so generous with her errant children that she'll probably send snow just in time for the games. When we deserve to be beaten severely for our childish behaviour we'll once again be passed a candy and told to "run along".
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Fight Club and Haiti's Latest Conquest
In interesting news, a Fight Club was recently discovered at the University of Manitoba. One assumes that the organizers have mere moved the club to another location and we wish them well. Remember that pummeling each other isn't enough, we have to embrace the second stage of Fight Club, Project Mayhem to be truly affective. Now go trash some corporate art and don't stop there.
--
I'm a little disturbed by all the Canadian backslapping that's going on around the recent Haitian earthquake. We're all told how much of a difference Canadians are making in Haiti, going there and throwing around their charity. Let's all celebrate how great Canada is! Meanwhile people are bandaging severed limbs with duct tape. It's enough to make you want to puke if you have any awareness of the history of Haiti. Canada is definitely not a friend to the people of Haiti. Check out this well documented backgrounder.
To keep riding the imperialist train the US military has effectively occupied the Port-Au-Prince Airport, the country's only international airport apparently. Check out this well documented piece from Democracy Now! This might make sense given the situation but it seems that the US military is prioritizing the arrival of soldiers and military hardware over humanitarian aid.
This move fosters in westerners, like you and I, the idea that Haitians (and blacks in general) are lawless barbarians who must be policed severely. This is further reinforced by all the stories of generous Canadian policemen and women and soldiers who were in Haiti training police there.
Oh the savage dark skinned barbarian myth! Some things never change.
--
I'm a little disturbed by all the Canadian backslapping that's going on around the recent Haitian earthquake. We're all told how much of a difference Canadians are making in Haiti, going there and throwing around their charity. Let's all celebrate how great Canada is! Meanwhile people are bandaging severed limbs with duct tape. It's enough to make you want to puke if you have any awareness of the history of Haiti. Canada is definitely not a friend to the people of Haiti. Check out this well documented backgrounder.
To keep riding the imperialist train the US military has effectively occupied the Port-Au-Prince Airport, the country's only international airport apparently. Check out this well documented piece from Democracy Now! This might make sense given the situation but it seems that the US military is prioritizing the arrival of soldiers and military hardware over humanitarian aid.
This move fosters in westerners, like you and I, the idea that Haitians (and blacks in general) are lawless barbarians who must be policed severely. This is further reinforced by all the stories of generous Canadian policemen and women and soldiers who were in Haiti training police there.
Oh the savage dark skinned barbarian myth! Some things never change.
Monday, January 18, 2010
FarmVille
So apparently a popular game on Facebook is called FarmVille. It's a game where you buy a farm and then take care of it, planting crops, watering them, harvesting, taking things to market, milking cows, butchering animals (presumably). I have no experience with this game apart from this "article" which felt more like it was selling stocks in the company that developed it.
It's interesting that this game is so popular. Maybe it reflects the feeling that most of us have that our lives are so disconnected from anything real that we're getting sick (literally). How does it make sense that I sit in front of a screen for 8 hours a day and get tiny pieces of paper that I can give to a store and get food. I think we all know that this is a weird system and likely not long for this world. Maybe people will use this as a start to growing their own food. Though this game requires no hardwork or exercise so it's sure to come in above the original.
The funny thing about the game is that I'm sure Monsanto has caught wind of it and I bet that Roundup and Roundup Ready crops are available for purchase through the game. I wonder if the "farmers" know they are growing genetically modified corn?
It's interesting that this game is so popular. Maybe it reflects the feeling that most of us have that our lives are so disconnected from anything real that we're getting sick (literally). How does it make sense that I sit in front of a screen for 8 hours a day and get tiny pieces of paper that I can give to a store and get food. I think we all know that this is a weird system and likely not long for this world. Maybe people will use this as a start to growing their own food. Though this game requires no hardwork or exercise so it's sure to come in above the original.
The funny thing about the game is that I'm sure Monsanto has caught wind of it and I bet that Roundup and Roundup Ready crops are available for purchase through the game. I wonder if the "farmers" know they are growing genetically modified corn?
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Copenhagen
A few last thoughts on Copenhagen. No agreement, no surprise. How could we realistically think we could organize every state on earth including every government and corporation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and police it and track it for the next say 200 years? I know that civilized humans are insane but we are pretty crazy and arrogant to think we could achieve such a monumental task. So I don't view Copenhagen as a failure, as I once did. This isn't like the easy job of banning ozone depleting substances. This is about how we live on earth.
And it's really about complexity. I've written about this before. We have this crazy idea, we being civilized humans, that in response to change we just need to have more departments, more staff, more agreements, more laws, more police. MORE. But this increases complexity and that's pretty dangerous. Imagine your are building a tower and just keep adding on to the top; picture jenga. One day the structure isn't going to to work and it's going to fall over. Conversely, consider a number of small structures, like a village. If one collapses, which is infinitely possible, all the others are still going to be there. There's a great permaculture principle which states: Use small and slow solutions.
Happily I came across this fascinating article after Copenhagen. Essentially it challenges the assumption that our leaders and scientists make and we assimiliate everyday, that nothing is going to change. Consumption rates will continue to rise and that's just the way it is. When of course this is not how the earth works. This is a finite planet. So you won't have enough oil for everyone year after year and that's going to affect how much greenhouse gas emissions we produce.
And if we keep building that tower, when it falls our emissions are going to go with it. So get busy building dear bureaucrats and CEOs and dear leaders. All your complexity is going to amount to nothing in the end.
And it's really about complexity. I've written about this before. We have this crazy idea, we being civilized humans, that in response to change we just need to have more departments, more staff, more agreements, more laws, more police. MORE. But this increases complexity and that's pretty dangerous. Imagine your are building a tower and just keep adding on to the top; picture jenga. One day the structure isn't going to to work and it's going to fall over. Conversely, consider a number of small structures, like a village. If one collapses, which is infinitely possible, all the others are still going to be there. There's a great permaculture principle which states: Use small and slow solutions.
Happily I came across this fascinating article after Copenhagen. Essentially it challenges the assumption that our leaders and scientists make and we assimiliate everyday, that nothing is going to change. Consumption rates will continue to rise and that's just the way it is. When of course this is not how the earth works. This is a finite planet. So you won't have enough oil for everyone year after year and that's going to affect how much greenhouse gas emissions we produce.
And if we keep building that tower, when it falls our emissions are going to go with it. So get busy building dear bureaucrats and CEOs and dear leaders. All your complexity is going to amount to nothing in the end.
Avatar Thoughts
Don't get me wrong, I find Avatar to be a brilliant film. The visuals alone make it a marvel. The acting is fine. The story is one that I feel a lot of affinity for. It was well worth the price of admission. But having said that I have numerous issues with this film.
For one, the moon Pandora is portrayed as this lush eden, where every being lives in balance with every other being. What possible problem could I have with that? Well it's the idea that there is this lush eden in the universe when we live on the most perfect eden in the universe already. What the heck do we think planet Earth is? Is it boring, lifeless? Maybe it's time that we got out of our tiny concrete boxes and left the city to see the real world. I worry that the film, in a way, denegrates the majesty of life on earth by imagining another world and presenting it as more special than our own world.
One scene that made me want to wretch was the scene where the gunship pilot, disgusted by the actions of her fellow mercenaries declares: "I didn't sign up for this". Umm, you're a mercenary sister, what the fuck do you think you signed up for? You kill for money. You facilitate the destruction of ecosystems and the genocides of entire species. This is what you do. I'm just not sure that I believe that she would experience any kind of independent thought. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for redemption but, in the end, killing people and blowing up giant trees is pretty fun so it didn't strike me as realistic.
Finally the ending was a big disappointment. In their victory, the beings of Pandora (not just the Navi and this is an important point) quietly march the civilized humans back to their ships so they can leave the moon forever. Paradise is saved. Unfortunately this doesn't strike me as being a smart move, given any kind of understanding of history. Civilized people don't stop. I kept thinking about this quote from Thomas Jefferson, that most civilized of human, in regards to bothersome "Indian" tribes: "In the end, they will kill some of us. We will kill all of them". They are coming back and this time they are going to melt your planet from orbit. You don't matter, the resources you find yourself on matter and the civilized don't stop. Since it's unlikely that the Navi and their fellow beings can muster a defense against nuclear weapons, though I won't count them out yet, the least they could do would be to line up every single one of those fuckers on that airstrip and stick a blade dipped in painful neurotoxins into their stomachs and watch them die a painful death. Apart from the satisfaction of watching these murderers die, you would have the double benefit of instilling a degree of fear in your civilized enemies. They possibly wouldn't know what happened to their compatriots and this might help you when, inevitably the conflict resumes.
I wish I had had a notebook with me because I had lots of thoughts throughout the film. Ultimately there are a lot of lessons to be drawn from this film. The most important being the warning of where we are taking our beautiful eden, Earth. This can never become a "dead planet". What would our lives be worth them?
For one, the moon Pandora is portrayed as this lush eden, where every being lives in balance with every other being. What possible problem could I have with that? Well it's the idea that there is this lush eden in the universe when we live on the most perfect eden in the universe already. What the heck do we think planet Earth is? Is it boring, lifeless? Maybe it's time that we got out of our tiny concrete boxes and left the city to see the real world. I worry that the film, in a way, denegrates the majesty of life on earth by imagining another world and presenting it as more special than our own world.
One scene that made me want to wretch was the scene where the gunship pilot, disgusted by the actions of her fellow mercenaries declares: "I didn't sign up for this". Umm, you're a mercenary sister, what the fuck do you think you signed up for? You kill for money. You facilitate the destruction of ecosystems and the genocides of entire species. This is what you do. I'm just not sure that I believe that she would experience any kind of independent thought. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for redemption but, in the end, killing people and blowing up giant trees is pretty fun so it didn't strike me as realistic.
Finally the ending was a big disappointment. In their victory, the beings of Pandora (not just the Navi and this is an important point) quietly march the civilized humans back to their ships so they can leave the moon forever. Paradise is saved. Unfortunately this doesn't strike me as being a smart move, given any kind of understanding of history. Civilized people don't stop. I kept thinking about this quote from Thomas Jefferson, that most civilized of human, in regards to bothersome "Indian" tribes: "In the end, they will kill some of us. We will kill all of them". They are coming back and this time they are going to melt your planet from orbit. You don't matter, the resources you find yourself on matter and the civilized don't stop. Since it's unlikely that the Navi and their fellow beings can muster a defense against nuclear weapons, though I won't count them out yet, the least they could do would be to line up every single one of those fuckers on that airstrip and stick a blade dipped in painful neurotoxins into their stomachs and watch them die a painful death. Apart from the satisfaction of watching these murderers die, you would have the double benefit of instilling a degree of fear in your civilized enemies. They possibly wouldn't know what happened to their compatriots and this might help you when, inevitably the conflict resumes.
I wish I had had a notebook with me because I had lots of thoughts throughout the film. Ultimately there are a lot of lessons to be drawn from this film. The most important being the warning of where we are taking our beautiful eden, Earth. This can never become a "dead planet". What would our lives be worth them?
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