The following is an excerpt from the amazing article with the above title, which can be found here.
“…Our watershed moment to change the world economic system has not just been squandered, we have inadvertently reinforced the same structures and institutions that have created the mess in the first place…
As Robert Hunter Wade, professor at the London School of Economics, told me this week; regulation is now coming into play that will allow banks to become even more reckless with taxpayers’ money, because they have become too big for any government to allow them to fail…
So we went from having 15 banks to having around six. And these remaining banks have more power as their importance is now set in regulatory stone – and they know it.
Instead of bringing the banking sector to heel – we have given it a kiss of life and pumped it with steroids. And these steroids are financed by the taxpayer.
Secondly, we have strengthened that other financial institution that directly affects almost every home and every individual in the developing world – the International Monetary Fund (IMF)…
We bolstered IMF funds by something close to $1 trillion. This call for fortifying the role of the IMF will be repeated in this week’s G8 summit.
The IMF was used to force neoliberalism – that poisonous cocktail of financial deregulation, free markets, privatisation and the rolling back of the state – on developing countries.
IMF policies have been, despite the heartache, the wrecked lives, the savaging of countries’ agriculture, education and institutions, granted legitimacy during this crisis.
So, all in all, our leaders multilateral solutions to the crisis have been about entrenching the existing world economic order rather than changing it.
But where does this leave us? You know, us in the real economy…”
What we choose to put into our bodies can have serious consequences. Prescription drugs have been declared safe by the FDA, yet every year more and more people are dying from their–often downplayed or ignored–side effects. Apparently, six months of limited clinical testing is not always sufficient for determining the safety of the medication. Yet, we need medicine and the pharmaceutical giants need to turn a profit. As do the mega-corporations now in charge of virtually every facet of our endangered (and often deadly) food supply.
(excerpts from an interview with Robert Kenner, documentary filmmaker, about his new film Food, Inc.)
“..A good portion of the film focuses on the dichotomy of cheap food versus expensive healthcare: subsidized crops make certain foods dirt-cheap at the check-out counter or fast food window but wreak havoc on human health and put families into debt.
[That subsidized corn and soy not only goes into hundreds of food products, but it also acts as cheap feed for livestock]. So basically you now bring this artificially inexpensive corn to these feedlots. And when [a small farmer] grows corn on their own property and is not getting a government subsidy you can’t then feed his food to these animals and be in competition to these mega-corporations. So we’re subsidizing food that ultimately turns into sugar in our bodies, and all of a sudden, we’re getting massive amounts of sugar, because of the corn and soy, and that sugar is making us fat.
The film very briefly touches on herbicide and pesticide chemical runoff finding its way into waterways and also mentions that increased cattle grazing has led to deforestation in, for example, the Amazon. But it leaves it at that. Was it a conscious choice to keep the environmental impacts brief?
We could have gone on about the environment. Ultimately, food accounts for a little over 20-25% of our carbon footprint. Like health reform, you can’t have environmental reform without changing the system and what I realized in making this film – perhaps it’s obvious but for me it really hit me – is that this is an unsustainable system. It’s a brand new system. We’ve had agricultural for ten thousand years. This system is about 40, 50 years old. And it’s not working for two giant reasons. It’s based on gasoline, which is a diminishing [resource] and as it starts to run out and as its prices start to get up to those historic highs, we’re going to have very expensive food. It takes so much gasoline to grow and transport this food. Also, there is so much pollution involved with this system; we’re depleting, poisoning the soil, the riverways, the oceans. So there are many things we don’t hit on entirely in the film, but basically what the film is about is connecting the dots to show you that this industrial system is not working.’…”
Below is a trailer for the film, which should be a great catalyst for change in what has become perhaps the most important topics of the day: health care reform and sustainability.
“Under my administration, the days of science taking a back seat to ideology are over.”
The President of the United States of America has been widely quoted with the above statement. In the speech, discussed in the article found here, he also made the following remarks:
“We have watched as scientific integrity has been undermined and scientific research politicised in an effort to advance predetermined ideological agendas,” Obama said. “We know that our country is better than this.”
Sadly, our country is beginning to look more and more like a banana republic. There is also little argument today that this country is facing a number of pressing issues–or, if you’d like to use stronger language–potentially disastrous crises. The economy, energy supply and even topsoil are all in dire straits. All of these problems, however, would benefit hugely from an end to our (failed) prohibition of certain drugs; as would the all-important food supply.
The underlying problem, which already appears to be widely acknowledged, is that our federal programs are being dictated from the top-down. Science, justice and our so-called rights all still take a backseat to lobbyists and campaign supporters; and no amount of fancy words from our new president are going to change the facts of the following article, or the shocking number like it:
This article discusses a study which contradicted the current administration’s stance on climate change, and largely centered around the following evidence:
“The time for such discussion of fundamental issues has passed for this round. The administrator and the administration has decided to move forward on endangerment, and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision… I can only see one impact of your comments given where we are in the process, and that would be a very negative impact on our office.”- Internal EPA email, March 17th, 2009
Self-preservation is undoubtedly a popular motive within our current culture, but it is also at the heart of the problems we now must confront. In terms of changing government policy, for example, we have a massive misallocation of funds.
According to the drug czar in a recent interview, the word “legalization” is not in his or the president’s vocabulary. Just moments after reminding us how important free speech is in our country, he explains that he won’t even listen to any arguments involving the idea of legalization. Then he quickly steps away from the podium, assuming that he’s successfully defended his precious war once again. The War which, he said so himself, is now officially over; yet is somehow still effectively in full swing.
In another bit of news, a European group named Charity has stirred controversy yet again by issueing a “Forgetful Politicians” deck of cards with faces on each card. The deck of cards is part of their ongoing Nice People Take Drugs campaign, and can be viewed in full on their website at www.NicePeopleTakeDrugs.org. Obama is the ace of hearts, baby Bush is the joker and Al Gore is the jack of spades. Every picture also comes with a quote from the corresponding politician, in order to show the depth of delusion these people are apparently under.
For instance, Al Gore claims:
“When I was young, I did things young people do. When I grew up I put away childish things.”
So, is it any surprise at all that his son was eventually arrested on drug charges? His argument is simply that he made a childish mistake, but since he got away with it and supposedly doesn’t do it anymore then there’s no problem. Aside from that whole bit about his son’s life potentially being ruined..
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is the queen of clubs, and is quoted with the following statement of supreme arrogance and indifference towards humanity:
“I was smart enough to use pot without getting caught, and now I’m on the Supreme Court. If you were stupid enough to get caught, that’s your problem. Your appeal is denied.”
But perhaps most troubling is the inconsistencies in our newly-elected President’s approach towards drugs. According to his card, he once stated the following–possibly in one of his books:
“Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when I could afford it…I inhaled frequently. That was the point.”
Now he has acknowledged the medical utility of cannabis sativa, and even promised to end the DEA raids on clinics which conform to state law. What he has failed so far to acknowledge, however, is that by agreeing the herb has medicinal use he has directly contradicted its current “Schedule I” classification. Beyond this, he was also once quoted as saying that “the war on drugs is an utter failure” yet as President has continued pouring money into the very system that is currently destroying Mexico and making us bankrupt (and no, we are not just talking ‘morality’ here.)
Prohibition has Failed; We have now moved on to Addiction Treatment and Health Care Reform
It often seem like the prohibition debate gets limited to cannabis, yet groups such as LEAP and the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, among others, recommend a complete end to the current drug prohibition laws in favor of a health-based approach. Roughly the same position the U.N. seems to now be taking, and getting awfully close to the latest statements from our own drug czar.
Those asking for a debate or change in laws should perhaps focus on fine-tuning this approach to ensure that our constitutional rights to grow medicinal and even entheogenic (like DMT, psilocybin mushrooms, peyote..) plants are once again upheld by Congress. We don’t even need to call it legalization, because all that’s required is a removal of the most racist and horrific atrocity that our government is (hopefully) still directly responsible for.
All we need is an open, honest debate and to follow the guide of scientific discovery–which has been in full swing for some time now. Decades, if your name happens to be Dr. Rick Strassman. The clinical research psychiatrist, and co-founder of the Cottonwood Research Foundation, is someone our President and other nicotine fiends might want to ask a few questions regarding addiction treatment.
Beyond the President’s own personal health, hopefully a former Constitutional Law Professor can understand that the changes required to once again honor the voice of science and reason will not always be easy. But, in the case of ending the drug war (by repealing the failed prohibition of some drugs), doing so will save the government billions, if not trillions of dollars. Or, rather, will allow the government to use our TAXPAYER MONEY to finance something other than a war waged directly against any citizens who do not conform to the dominant (white, European-influenced) American culture of the mid- twentieth century.
This will also free up plenty of money and personnel to deal with the skyrocketing addictions to various prescription and over-the-counter drugs, which is exactly where the newly appointed drug czar has already stated that his focus ought to be.
Anyone else currently employed as a drug warrior and afraid of losing their job ought to keep in mind that the drugs being used throughout our food supply are virtually unregulated–and a much greater threat to the population than any illicit mind-altering substances have ever been.
“..Jack Cole, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and a retired undercover narcotics detective, objected to the report’s classification of current policy as “control.”
“The world’s ‘drug czar,’ Antonio Maria Costa, would have you believe that the legalization movement is calling for the abolition of drug control,” he said. “Quite the contrary, we are demanding that governments replace the failed policy of prohibition with a system that actually regulates and controls drugs, including their purity and prices, as well as who produces them and who they can be sold to. You can’t have effective control under prohibition, as we should have learned from our failed experiment with alcohol in the U.S. between 1920 and 1933.”
“Democracy is an extraordinary adventure. It’s difficult, full of daring and risk and danger. But it’s the greatest gift we have,” the Academy Award-winning actor said Tuesday during a visit to The Washington Times newsroom.
“The people who voted for President Obama are just beginning to wake up to exactly what they brought in. The ‘change’ they envisioned is not the ‘change’ they have gotten.” Mr. Voight said.
He likens the Obama administration to a Hollywood script, rife with technique and craft, very compelling but not necessarily real.
“It is a very, very slick, relentless campaign to build Obama as the answer to all our needs. They know what people want and they give it in a package that can be read off a teleprompter. That’s not what our country is based upon,” Mr. Voight said.
He offered a terse review of the principal player.
“Obama is a very good actor. He knows how to play it. And he is very adept at creating this ‘Obama’ – this character who is there whenever the world needs something,” he said..
“The news media has lied itself out of the business. Now, real accountability journalism. That says it all. That’s what’s been missing so long,” he said.
He is vexed by bureaucracy, big government and soft-peddling by political correctness.
“This lie of political correctness is bringing this country down. You just want to break through it all.”
In an article entitled “Canada’s ‘Prince of Pot’ at war with US drug war“, the Associated Press portrays Marc Emery’s extradition case as being all but over. The other two defendants have already pled guilty, and Emery himself expects to be in a U.S. cell by August. The article even includes a statement from Emery concerning what would happen were he to die in U.S. custody. Thankfully, the AP also gave Mr. Emery the final words on the subject:
Although this particular article does not give Emery credit for defeating the U.S. “War on Drugs”; its title implies the author is well aware that our nation’s decades-long war was officially terminated not long ago. As consensus begins to emerge that drug abuse is not as dangerous as unenforceable drug laws, top officials in our government have now declared that there is no longer any U.S.-sponsored “War on Drugs.” In fact, here is a direct quote from our newly appointed drug czar; which is also the title of the article: “I’ve Ended The War On Drugs.”
Although there have been no major policy changes yet; articles such as the ones above and below offer proof that change is now immanent. The solutions have not yet been clearly defined, but thanks to the efforts of people like Marc Emery–and charitable organizations like, for example, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition–we now have a much better understanding of the problems we truly face.
“..Regardless of whether one is a ‘drug warrior’ or a ‘drug legalizer,” writes Bob Barr in the May 25thAtlanta Journal Constitution, “it is difficult if not impossible to defend the 38-year old war on drugs as a success.” That’s because, “Illicit drugs are every bit as easy to score on America’s streets and in her schools now as they were more than three decades ago. Last year, just under 84% of the 12th graders considered that marijuana was ‘very easy’ or ‘fairly easy’ to obtain; virtually the same as in a 1975 survey…”
“..Gloria Killian, of Pasadena, founder and executive director of ACWIP, estimates “Eighty percent of (the 11,600) women in California’s prisons are in there for nonviolent drug offenses. Most low-level drug offenders are addicts and need treatment. It’s a medical problem. It’s a mental health problem…”
The article makes a number of good points, but for Marc Emery and cannabis users throughout the world; “it” is a far safer alternative to alcohol or tobacco. For cancer patients, “it” can be life-saving and/or life-giving medicine. And for followers of Judaism,Hinduism, Buddhism and practically every major faith; “it” has been the vehicle of divine inspiration and celebrated healing.
Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, John Lennon, Bruce Lee and countless other celebrated artists were known to enjoy the herb; as were the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and many other “founding fathers.” And, try as they have–with our tax dollars, of course–the National Institute on Drug Abuse(NIDA), DEA and many other acronyms receiving public funds have never even proven cannabis use to cause cancer. Or to impair driving, for that matter: At least one study found the cannabis-influenced drivers to actually be safer than the sober drivers, much like the study which showed that cannabis use in the workplace had a “protective effect.”
Yet our government’s official stance regarding the plant, cannabis sativa, is sill unchanged: marihuana–a Mexican slang term originally adopted to confuse those familiar with cannabis–is a Schedule I Narcotic, which implies that the drug be both chemically addictive and have absolutely no medical use. Of course all scientific studies and government statistics run counter to these claims, but apparently such inconsistencies matter not to those in charge. Or rather, they didn’t used to.
Beyond the promises made by our new Pres., the Supreme Court has done such things as allow the use of DMT for spiritual purposes and deny a case brought against medical marijuana in two California counties. At least three justices have also compared our current prohibition to alcohol prohibition (in the sense that it has produced more harm than good), indicating that they already understand the broader implications behind the above mentioned rulings. Some of which are laid out in the article quoted below, “Put That in Your Pipe and Smoke it.”
“..The decision has vast implications, considering that 12 other states have similar laws and efforts to completely legalize marijuana are increasing. This decision was a significant step because it acknowledges that marijuana has possible medicinal benefits, establishes state authority and indicates increasing popular acceptance of the drug…”
“..The decision backs the power of the state. Marijuana laws at the federal and state levels conflict, and this time the Supreme Court’s action favors the state of California. This gives California, and other states in a similar situation, the chance to allow medical marijuana use.
The more power the states have, the more likely the legalization of marijuana will become. With increased independence, California will be able to pass a legalization bill allowing the taxation of marijuana sales to people above a certain age. The country will watch as the first working model of a state with legal non-medical marijuana comes into focus. The speculation will finally end. People who have always said that legalizing marijuana will cause drug use to skyrocket will see that the state will not crumble and the world will not implode. In the meantime, crime and violence surrounding marijuana sales will be drastically reduced and the state will gain billions in tax revenue. A more regulated system will also reduce the dangers of getting marijuana laced with undesired substances…”
To the Victor Go the Spoils
According to a quote from Antonio Mara Costa, Director of the UN Office for Drugs and Crime, “We must have the courage to look at a dramatic, unintended consequence of drug control: The emergence of a criminal market of staggering proportions.” (emphasis is my own)
At the same time certain factions of our government are spending all of their (our) resources to bring down Marc Emery for selling seeds, Mexico has gotten far worse than previously imaginable. Not that we aren’t sending plenty of U.S. guns and money down there to combat the problem, which is exacerbated immensely by that very same flow of U.S. guns and money…
For these reasons and many others, the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy has recommended the decriminalization of all drugs. Like the brave, heroic men and women of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; the Latin American Commission–which includes 17 prominent, respected leaders from both Central and South America–has declared the use of addictive drugs not to be a criminal issue, but rather a health concern.
Marc Emery has long been a champion of cannabis, but it is important to note that his battle has been against the infamous War on Drugs in its entirety. Unlike so many industrial hemp and medical marijuana activists who refuse (for whatever reason) to look at the bigger picture, Emery and a growing number of experts from various fields and backgrounds have come to the same simple conclusion: the War on Drugs has gotta go. And so it finally has, according to no less than the drug czar himself.
Should we not expect that the methods of this war be done away with now that the ‘battle’ is over?
This mean there will no longer be millions of non-violent drug users sitting in prison eating three squares a day while I (and way too many others) struggle just to pay our taxes and put food on the table. This means that the production of industrial hemp will no longer be against the law, but instead will be the poster child for a worldwide movement towards sustainable energy, construction and healthy food production. This also means that our men and women in Law Enforcement will be able to protect and serve the citizens far more effectively, instead of spending trillions with absolutely no long-term results.
Although it is easy to get carried away discussing the endless negative consequences of this (failed) war, it is far more important to focus on the benefits of learning from common sense. Now that we have the benefit of hindsight, it seems obvious that this beast was the outcome of Eisenhower’s (and FDR’s?) dreaded “Military Industrial Complex.” But a number of the questions this type of thinking can often lead to are daunting to say the least.
For starters, if so many of us (myself included) can actually be convinced that a plant is somehow “evil”, then what else have we fallen for? Where else has this government of ours gone terribly astray? Of course there are far too many possibilities for this to be anything but a rhetorical question for the purposes of this article, however our recent victory should yield a number of clues for identifying other problems and implementing effective solutions through cooperation and grassroots efforts. Once President Obama and Congress acknowledge the facts, this failed war becomes a resounding affirmation of both democracy and the American spirit which politicians love so dearly to remind us about in their speeches.
Addiction, however, is not such a straight-forward problem to address. A person can be effectively addicted to any number of bad habits which have nothing to do with ‘drugs’, such as: television, video games, sports, driving (which I also consider a sport) and of course caffeine–which is a drug that has serious effects, especially on kids. Yet it is nearly impossible to find anything marketed for children that is not loaded with either caffeine and/or sugar (perhaps the most addictive drug of all, other than the opposite sex, of course…)
As far as clinical addiction goes, it is worth mentioning a forthcoming book from a Harvard psychologist–which claims that “New research suggests it’s a choice.“ Not that I agree completely with the author’s stance, but it proves what anyone who’s ever been addicted to nicotine (or petroleum) knows all too well: some choices are much harder than others.
Global Civilization on the brink (The Dominant Animal, Paul R. Ehrich and Anne He. Ehrich)
A “twtpoll” has been circulating Twitter the last month asking tweeters, “Do You Support the Legalization of Marijuana in the United States?”, the poll is now in it’s final days. Scheduled to close voting on June 1st, this poll was set to allow unique votes only to ensure nobody used the poll to promote their own personal agenda. You may be surprised to learn, some 96% of Twitter users are in favor of legalizing the “demon weed” in one form or another.
Now before you start thinking this poll was only circulated in stoner circles, you should know hundreds of users tweeted this poll. Some of these retweeters have tens of thousands of followers such as @Zaibatsu and @BuzzEdition, so it is safe to say this is a healthy representation of the twitter collective mind on the subject.
During the course of this poll, a few people commented to me this isn’t an accurate representation of twitter users because only those in favor of legalization were likely to respond to the poll. I concede the results indicate the overwhelming response came from those in support of legalization, but what does that say about those that oppose? Like any election or poll, abstinence from voting sends a message also. It says you aren’t passionate about this issue one way or another. While you can’t put a number on Twitter users in this camp, it’s obvious by the results of the poll – those that oppose legalization are losing the will to fight about it.
That’s good news for patients around the country who are desperately hoping marijuana is legalized in their area, at least for medicinal use. It is also good news for states and the federal government as they increasingly look for new revenue streams to continue funding public projects and even to simply pay their staff. Those states debating the marijuana issue should find results like this encouraging, it’s no longer the political suicide it used to be.
Thanks to technologies which have developed extensively in the past few years–like blogs and YouTube; I have the privilege of passing along interesting and even useful links such as the one below.
Along with good general information for anyone looking to take advantage of wind energy, there is also a link to the following video:
“It’s About Time“
Seven years ago, I graduated from a well-respected state school with a B.S. in engineering. My goal had originally been to design cars, but after reading Lee Iacocca’s autobiography and studying the methods of the “big three” versus their competitors…I decided that green energy would be a much better option.
The problem was, none of the various emerging technologies looked all that promising. Solar and wind had too many downsides; biofuels seemed to be using at least the same amount of energy that was created, and the forests destroyed to make this possible were not even taken into account.
Nuclear is hugely expensive, absurdly dangerous and produces tons of extremely toxic waste which we have no way to reasonably dispose of. And I’m sorry, but hiding it inside a mountain while praying that nothing happens is not a responsible solution. It is a slap in the face–or possibly an ugly death sentence–to our future generations.
My point is that things looked pretty bleak at first. However, as time progressed and my ability to access high-value information increased I began to notice that there are actually groundbreaking technologies creeping up from all corners of the globe.
The false perceptions due to the fading influence of old power structures (i.e., corporate media giants) will inevitably be overtaken by the social and information revolutions currently under way.So, as I’m sure lots of people have said: “it’s about time.”
Long before the days of blogging, news feeds and the like; my personal god was the daily newspaper. Growing up, my parents always had a newspaper on the table in the mornings. Reading that paper every day got me in the habit of wanting to keep up on the news. Although I did my best to avoid reading anything of literary value or required for school, I became obsessed with the ‘news.’
(It is also worth noting that I delivered said newspaper to 160 houses every morning, even during the long and cold Montana winters…And if you still think that what FOX and CNN broadcast is actually news, look up the word Infotainment.)
If this had happened ten years ago (and I’m not saying it didn’t), there is almost no chance I would have heard one word about it. At least not while legislation is still pending. I also would not have the following quote, taken from the above article:
“Americans know that they have a responsibility to live within their means and pay what they owe,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday. “But they also have a right to not get ripped off by the sudden rate hikes, unfair penalties and hidden fees that have become all too common.”
What’s touted as a “credit cardholder’s Bill of Rights” is now being discussed in Washington and, according to another related article:
Sadly, the proposed legislation does little to combat the overall problems. A few of the unfair penalties and sudden rate hikes are addressed, as are a number of other blatant abuses; but there is still nothing to stop them from charging 30% or more interest on balances accrued under much lower rates, like 10, 5 or 0% APR. So, then what about the President’s complaint and request of Congress which I mentioned at the beginning?
Either we have somehow elected a lame-duck president, or Congress feels beholden to other interests–which do not appear to be in line with the welfare of the citizens who elected them.
Crazy Is as Crazy Does
The famed inventor, Nikola Tesla once said: “The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.” Part of the general thesis of this paper is that practically all of us frequently exhibit insane behavior. Often we have no idea it is happening because we have been brought up to view this as acceptable behavior; but it is happening nonetheless.
According to the history which I was taught in school, Mr. Tesla’s biggest contribution to society was the Tesla coil and he was most likely insane when he died broke at the age of 86. But I was also lucky enough to have a physics teacher with a personal interest in Tesla’s inventions, which likely contributed to my interest in him many years later.
What my public schooling neglected to mention was that Dr. Tesla also invented the AC motor, radio and television transmission; even wireless power. He is rumored to have displayed the use of wireless power in the 1930s by powering a car–with an electric motor and no battery–at speeds up to 90 mph. The reporters reportedly (?) accused him of black magic and made a farce of the event.
Despite his great hopes for a world powered by wireless–and therefore extremely efficient–energy, he eventually gave up and shut down the demonstration. According to what has now become an underground legend, he died before completing his research or publishing any further papers. Thanks to the now infamous excuse of a ‘threat to national security,’ our government seized all of Tesla’s research and documents upon his death.
They eventually released what was claimed to be everything, however ‘they’ also like to pretend the ionospheric heater in Alaska (HAARP) is a benign research tool for scientists–instead of being part of the strangest and most secretive branch of our ever-expanding military industrial complex ever to be exposed widely in public circles.
And therein lies the crux of the problem: It has now become glaringly apparent to anyone who is paying attention that our government and major media outlets are lying about and/or ignoring the ugly facts which our tax dollars have helped to create.
Luckily, these major institutions of a failed 20th century pseudo-empire will soon be forced to capitulate to reason–and, perhaps more so, to technology.
“No More Lies“
With a newly elected president calling for greater transparency in government, there has never been a better time to hold our leaders accountable for the promises they make.
Transparency and our government have sadly not gotten along very well in the past. However, thanks largely to technologies pioneered by Nikola Tesla, we now have the ability to hold our elected officials and “news” outlets accountable for their actions. The internet has come to save us from ourselves, but only if we are willing to take a good look in the mirror.
In the past decade, marijuana use has roughly doubled according to some estimates. Despite our best efforts, we cannot stop the flow of drugs–we can arrest traffickers and kill growers, but the demand requires that someone always take their place. Yet, what if we no longer needed to traffic marijuana or other plant-based ‘drugs’? Better still, what if it was no longer such a profitable business because people could easily grow their own? Well, whether anyone approves or not, those days are finally here.
Thanks to technologies such as LEDs and aeroponics, anyone with a bit of capital can grow any plant they want, anywhere they want. And with almost no chance of getting caught (if for some reason the plant you choose to grow is currently illegal…)
The movie, “Rat Race” is a comedy about how far people will go and what they will do when a large amount of money is at stake. Many of the antics appear over the top–but when compared to the real stories which regularly make the news, they are conservative and lame. Bernie Madoff, Jack Abromoff, Enron, Fannie, Freddy, Lehman Brothers and a growing list of other examples prove how easily greed can undermine progress. Yet their crimes are still somehow pale in comparison to those of ‘terrorists’ and others who benefit from the current black market.
In our current society, there is little doubt (in my mind anyway) that money is seen as an all-powerful god. And we are the countless minions begging for its sweet, blissful mercy. We are taught to want what the elite have, even as we bemoan the system which they have built on our willing backs.
In many of our own minds, success is still judged on the false criteria implanted by these tragic fools. Individuals who are obsessed with accumulating money and power are mentally ill, which is ironically something that their high-priced psychiatrist may have already told many of them. This is not to say that all successful people are mentally ill, which is clearly not the case; but it’s usually pretty easy to spot the ones who are addicted to power.
For instance, does anyone really think that Dick Cheney is happy and lives a full, rewarding life? And yet, this bitter old man–who happens to be guilty of many war crimes and heavily invested in the prison industry–is widely seen as a pillar of success.
Our new President is also not immune to this lust for money. He recently declared that “The United States is the Saudi Arabia of coal, although we have our own home-grown problems in terms of dealing with a cheap energy source that creates a bit carbon footprint.” Therefore, his only issues are the money it brings in and the best way to tax it; just like a typical politician.
Once again, where is the change we were promised? And how do we actually hold our leaders accountable for said promises? Perhaps most importantly, how long can we afford to wait–or is that even a reasonable question anymore?
With the ongoing economic meltdown threatening to turn into a full blown depression (whatever that means), many people are beginning to reconsider their long-term investments and future security. Gas prices are low today, but could easily be skyrocketing in the coming months–or as soon those setting the price feel we can endure the rising cost without breaking the entire system (yet again.)
Food is still readily available for most at a (somewhat) reasonable rate, but there is rising concern that a global famine is imminent. All, or at least most, of the systems around us which have been established to supply our everyday needs rely on unstable resources (including oil, degrading soil and extremely cheap, inhumane labor.) This all may sound frightening, but it is also the perfect opportunity for a truly positive and profound change. As John Lennon once said: “there are no problems, only solutions.”
It has also been stated that 3% of the population grows all the food for the other 97% of people living in the United States. On average, the food we consume travels 1700 miles “from farm to fork.” Most of our produce comes from California and Florida while corn and grains are harvested throughout the midwestern plains, but recently more and more of our produce, grains and even meats are coming from South America or Africa. It is easy to attribute much of this to the ( hideous) push for E85, but there are many other contributing factors such as the Acai berry from Brazil which is currently all the rage in health circles.
We are very effective consumers, just as we have been groomed to be; but our appetite is now destroying what’s left of the rain forests–which function as the planet’s lungs, our best pharmacy and much more. Not only are we cutting down the rain forests, we are mismanaging and destroying forests throughout the continental United States. Lumber has been crucial to most ‘western’ construction for hundreds of years, but never have we figured out a way to make it sustainable–or even terribly profitable for all but a few.
Unfortunately, the loss of forests to croplands and ever-increasing world population are not the extent of our problems being created by our current methods. Much of the deforested land starts off fertile, yet will be worthless after less than a decade of typical use. Our current methods of commercial farming are unsustainable (and therefore suicidal), but sadly they pale in comparison to so-called ‘meat production.’ Which, incidentally, is now being blamed for the spread of so-called swine flu.
“The problem, he and other critics of CAFO pollutants stress, is not just normal pig waste, but waste combined with staggering volumes of antibiotics and toxic chemicals used by Smithfield Foods and similar industrial CAFO operations to maximize ‘efficiency.’
Tietz notes, ‘A lot of pig shit is one thing; a lot of highly toxic pig shit is another. The excrement of Smithfield hogs is hardly even pig shit: On a continuum of pollutants, it is probably closer to radioactive waste than to organic manure. The reason it is so toxic is Smithfield’s efficiency. The company produces 6 billion pounds of packaged pork each year. That’s a remarkable achievement, a prolificacy unimagined only two decades ago, and the only way to do it is to raise pigs in astonishing, unprecedented concentrations.’11
The degrees of concentration in the Smithfield Foods vertically integrated pig meat concentrations have little to do with traditional hog farming. In facilities now spread around the world, Smithfield’s pigs live by the hundreds or thousands in warehouse-like barns, in rows of wall-to-wall pens. Sows are artificially inseminated and fed and delivered of their piglets in cages so small they cannot turn around.
As Tietz notes, ‘Forty fully grown 250-pound male hogs often occupy a pen the size of a tiny apartment. They trample each other to death. There is no sunlight, straw, fresh air or earth. The floors are slatted to allow excrement to fall into a catchment pit under the pens, but many things besides excrement can wind up in the pits: afterbirths, piglets accidentally crushed by their mothers, old batteries, broken bottles of insecticide, antibiotic syringes, stillborn pigs — anything small enough to fit through the foot-wide pipes that drain the pits. The pipes remain closed until enough sewage accumulates in the pits to create good expulsion pressure; then the pipes are opened and everything bursts out into a large holding pond.’12″
But, as this article hopefully demonstrates, our culture is undergoing fundamental technological changes which are bound to have a much wider and more beneficial impact than expected. For a perfect example, consider the rumors of a new approach to drug education and abuse treatment.
Here is what the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy concluded last year after more than a year of discussions among 17 former and present Latin American leaders: “Toward a Paradigm Shift“
And if you want to see what happens when an FBI Director is forced to display his ignorance of reality, check out the following clip:
For more information and tools for activism, please visit www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com
The legendary Alan Watts explains the riddles of life and what it means to open your mind. An incredible lecture which ought to be heard by everyone and taught in our schools. Far more effective than 90% of pharmaceutical drugs…
