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from TogetherInCreation Website
Co-Creating Eco-Governance
INTRODUCTION
As the threats to people and planet spiral exponentially and we face the destruction of life as we know it, it is clear that we need a radically new governing system that puts the healing and rehabilitation of our interconnected world as the collective priority.
The health of people and planet has been ruthlessly compromised by our current governance systems based on ideas of,
...that abuse human
and planetary resources for the benefit of a few.
In the face of vast global crises, people are uniting across boundaries to protest current systems and articulate alternatives.
When the environment is diseased and dying, people across the world suffer and die. The immensity of global threats confront us now more than ever with our shared destiny.
We can no longer believe that we
can export our violence and pollution and remain immune to the
consequences.
Coming together beyond self-interest to collective
wellness is the only way forward.
With a powerful and pragmatic vision,
social media and a range of existing technologies, we can together
overthrow unjust laws, redistribute resources and implement healthy
practices in a way that best serves the healing of the planet and a
thriving future for all.
At the time of writing, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have emerged as the presidential candidates of the Republican and Democratic parties in the highly controversial 2016 US presidential campaign.
In almost farcical fashion, the campaign provides a powerful and frightening mirror of global trends and of the culmination of many of the driving forces prevalent in democratic society.
It underscores the corruption, dangers and absurdities
embedded in the system and signifies the inevitable death of
democracy as we have come to think about it.
We must distil the wisdom
from the suffering and devastation, and integrate the lessons into a
new system - a system based on a mindset that cultivates life and
puts the planet and all its inhabitants first.
What we need now is to co-create a compelling vision and coherent process for the radical uncompromising healing and flourishing of life on the planet.
Democracy - The Mindset
But history has shown that most democracies have become contaminated by the very same dynamic of,
...evident in these other forms of governance.
While democracy legitimized the
issue of individual rights to equality, freedom and justice,
democracies have for the most part failed to deliver on these basic
values.
While democracy was conceived in order to right many of the wrongs of other systems it was nevertheless rooted in the same mindset of separateness and domination.
It is only when we move beyond this mindset, learn about our interconnectedness, and learn from life how to cultivate life that we will able to develop a healthy form of governance and heal and transform our damaged world.
To move beyond the mindset of
domination it is important to first step outside of it, question its
assumptions and acknowledge its limitations and consequences.
In this
sense democracy has been a powerful catalyst for human evolution,
and the evolution of how we govern ourselves.
Unlike in dictatorships there is no-one
else to blame. This is a big step forward in our maturation process.
In the overall picture, like other
systems of domination, democracy has led to the destructive power of
a ruling group over all other groups, and of humans over other
species and the environment.
A
superior status is seen as bestowing the privilege to dominate that
which is considered inferior to oneself for one's own benefit.
It privileges humans over other species and legitimizes exploiting them and the environment for human benefit.
The dynamic of oppression is thus an integral part of the framework,
and where there is oppression of one part of a system by another
there will inevitably be conflict and disease.
In modern western culture hierarchy takes many forms such as:
Within these groups there are further and further fragmentations and layers of perceived superiority, inferiority, privilege and oppression.
With the notion of hierarchy, we have even learned to perceive the mind as superior to the body and the rational mind as superior to other intelligences.
These concepts generate cultures severely in conflict
within themselves.
Now, the stakes have never been higher. The system has become an exceptionally sophisticated tool for implementing brutal agendas.
Democracies are complicit in leading and spreading war, poverty, disease and terror across the globe. Under the guise of promoting freedom, equality and justice they have been used to promote domination and exploitation.
The corporate elite have hijacked democracy, and are imposing on the malleable system a culture of life-threatening consumerism and conflict.
Democracy has
been used to control human and planetary resources in ways that go
violently against life.
Even the most well-meaning and competent leaders find themselves helpless in the face of a legalized, technocratic corporate monstrosity that has permeated governments worldwide.
When one looks closely at the framework the,
...we can
understand the devastation we witness today as an inevitable outcome
of the democratic system itself.
When the
mainstream mindset is one of separateness domination and privilege,
with a structure of a class based society and majority rule, even
more direct democracy and greater citizen involvement is not the
solution.
The comparison inevitably leads to feelings
of envy, shame, fear, arrogance, greed and guilt that in turn
generates conflict and violence. Leadership is outsourced to those
with formal authority who are positioned in a hierarchically
superior way and are given power and privilege.
The result is a perpetual struggle in the triangular dynamic over who is,
The narrative of democratic systems can often be understood in terms of this age-old, patriarchal dynamic and locks democratic culture into these three self-defeating and destructive roles.
The dynamic exists in the relationship among different identity groups as well as in relation to those in roles of leadership and authority.
While
all may technically have a voice in democracy, the psychological
power of that voice is experienced very differently among these
different roles.
The 'persecutor' can take many forms such as an ideology, the current
government or an identity group such as a nation, religion or
immigrants depicted as the ultimate threat to those lobbied for
their vote.
It evokes burdensome expectations and dependence from those who perceive themselves as victim. It evokes rage from those branded as 'persecutor' whose image and power are threatened by the "savior's role."
Many leaders who have been seen as
'saviors' have
been assassinated.
Of course, the 'victim' and
'persecutor' roles
switch depending on perspective. One's own persecutory behavior
towards 'the other' is often justified by seeing oneself as 'victim'
in a self-perpetuating spiral of blame and trauma.
And so, in so many democratic societies we see repetitive
cycles of different groups playing musical chairs with these
different roles with no real resolution of key issues or
transformation of the narrative itself.
It is pointless to try and locate any of these roles solely in one person or one group because we all hold the capacity for each of them, and move between these roles in different contexts.
The only way to get
out of this loop of suffering and destruction is to change the
entire story...
A sophisticated system of deceit and manipulation of information is employed to sell agendas of power and profit. Deceit can be found at every level of democratic systems including the way "democratic values" are abused in the election campaign industry and in the buying of people's votes and lawmaker's allegiances.
From false political promises and corrupt deals to economies driven by legalized false advertising, honesty has almost disappeared from our collective expectations.
We are sold the notion
that it is not only legitimate but enviable and a sign of success,
to use one's brilliance to manipulate a system based on exploiting
humans and the environment.
Instead
citizens learn from the system how to play the game of manipulating
information in their own interest.
It is the splitting virus that permeates our societies. The idiom of "speaking with a forked tongue" conveys the image of the split communication that happens when one says one thing and means another.
A forked tongue society
is constantly under stress to sift that which is truly nourishing
from that which is harmful.
False information acts like a splitting virus that spreads through entire societies fragmenting body and soul and creating cultures of people bereft of their connection to themselves, each other and nature, and thus more vulnerable to agendas imposed by external authorities.
If we compare our global system to a computer, we can apply the analogy of a virus that installs destructive and false information, multiplies exponentially and disrupts vital communication pathways.
Lies behave in society like a cancerous
virus behaves in a human body.
Similarly, on a societal level,
political maneuvering, false marketing, and divisive notions about
social hierarchies multiply rapidly and drive addictions, confusion,
disease, violent societal splits, terror and war.
Yet we continue to be sold
the
idea that democracy is the 'fairest' of all possible governing
systems. And we continue to believe it...!
Democracy has provided the convincing cover for a multi-national corporate system to define global laws, control governments and media and determine public agenda.
The
democratic system is the efficient tool for the financial elite, and
they will be pushing the benevolent illusion of democracy for as
long as they can benefit from it, while they themselves remain
untouchable.
Media presents
existing inequalities and abuse as isolated "undemocratic" issues
rather than as inevitable symptoms of the rigged democratic system
itself.
Facing the injustices and corruption of the system, we blame
individual bought politicians for their wrongdoings, who then become
the media scapegoats while the financial elite remain unscathed.
Discussion as to the nature of
democracy in different countries may vary but democracy itself is
not up for mainstream debate.
Reflecting on democracies in the light of these elements, the discrepancy between what is declared as democracy and the reality is striking.
The voting system itself, a keystone of democracy,
contributes to this discrepancy.
"Equality"
in the right to vote is immediately counteracted by the inequality
embedded in the outcome of a vote. This means the very voting system
created to promote equality actually entrenches a system of
inequality where the majority voice is privileged over the minority
one.
The majority rule concept is based on the
mindset of domination, separateness and superiority and denies the
interdependence of all parts of the system.
Humanity does not have a very successful record regarding "majority knowing best". The pressure to get a majority vote in elections and to pass laws in parliament in order to get ones way, contributes to a manipulative and often ruthless culture of corruption.
Not only will such a system generate constant discontent
and conflict, the neglect and oppression of minorities will
ultimately bring about disease in the entire system.
This creates polarity rather than multiplicity of voices. It flattens diversity, dumbs down debate into artificial binary choices and effectively silences minority voices and activists working with different frameworks outside of the mainstream status quo.
Not only does the
process entrench inequality, it rigidifies the system that becomes
immune to fresh evolving resources cultivated on the fringes of
society.
It
is skillfully designed to maximize citizen dependence and impotence
while giving free reign to those in power. The election hoax has
created the mind-boggling belief that a single vote once every few
years can actually offer citizens real representation or influence
in government.
This is nothing short of bribery. It is criminal, especially when we think of how this money could otherwise be used for the real benefit of citizens.
Politicians with vested interests often run on ridiculously narrow
platforms. Generally, they have limited knowledge on the vast range
of issues they deal with, and little accountability to truth and to
the course of their future actions.
Issues are reduced
to slogans. Candidates often offer sweeping promises of redemption
while devaluing and demonizing their opponents. This culture of
violence activates and fuels parallel violence among supporters.
The entire system is designed to keep the average person lazy, oblivious and complacent. In this way the financial elite have hijacked governments and have succeeded in taking away most freedoms while voters were sleeping between elections.
Rather
than the voting system generating a culture of active citizens
involved in ongoing decision making and constructive activism, it
instead cultivates a culture of extreme dependence.
This abuse of
democracy has created a culture of winners and losers in a
manipulative theatrical game and this dynamic fragments the moral,
emotional, intellectual and physical fabric of society as a whole.
The deceit that has become part of the democratic culture
generates the inevitable struggle of citizen's to claim the rights
they are promised by the very system that enables their rights to be
methodically taken away.
True freedom will only exist when we
move beyond the
human-centered mindset of domination...
Nature organizes itself according to a principle of
health, and not according to artificially created rights that are
taken away or allocated by those in power.
We have become indoctrinated with the bizarre and narcissistic notion that personal freedom can be gained at the expense of the freedom of others.
The word freedom has been abused to refer to the
freedom of the privileged to deny the freedom of others, including
the freedom of other species and the planet itself.
The belief that one group can have
freedom at the expense of another group (human or other species) is
a concept used to justify privilege and sell exploitation, conflict
and war.
We are dealing with the violence and insanity that results from the
impact of the ruthless onslaught of "legal" false messaging on
entire cultures under the guise of freedom of expression and freedom
of choice.
It has
been perverted to justify the freedom to sell false promises, use
legal language to obfuscate the truth, sell deceitful ideologies and
say things that can incite damage and destruction to others.
Through seductive advertisements, films, video games, cell phone apps and reality TV, we have created a system that incessantly imposes,
...on our conscious and subconscious mind.
Healthy information is insidiously censored and
perverted while toxic ideas and products dominate airtime.
They now monopolize
almost all branches of consumerism from
basic water to the
financial
institutions themselves.
Individual privacy is
increasingly infringed upon and the police force is becoming more
and more militarized and responsible for violence especially against
minorities.
Examples abound of industries given the license to abuse the basic elements of life:
...stealing rights of citizens to their basic health and safety.
Genetically modified food industries are systematically poisoning the earth and creating health hazards across the globe.
Countries suffer a severe drought while animal agriculture and bottled water industries exploit and drain water resources without limit. Citizens have the freedom to buy firearms but are not free of the resulting atrocities.
The
military industry profits off selling war across the
globe.
Laws restrict
people from the freedom to use natural and free, accessible healing
plants from nature, while dangerous drugs including cigarettes,
alcohol and many addictive pharmaceuticals are legalized and
marketed widely.
The mass migration is tangible evidence of our
fundamental interconnectedness and the impossibility of exporting
destruction elsewhere while remaining immune to the repercussions of
our actions.
The concept of equality is
entirely human-centered and gives no thought to equal rights for
other species or for the earth itself.
There is discrimination on every level from the way police behave towards different races to the ongoing neglect of those with physical challenges.
In some countries "democratically
elected" extremist religious parties entirely exclude women from
political representation and control access to media. In most
democracies women still do not get paid the same as men for the same
jobs and minorities are discriminated against.
Hitler himself
rose to power within a democratic political system. The
contradictions are blatant and yet remain for the most part
unaddressed.
Salary structure is designed to favor certain professions over
others. This in turn reinforces the spiraling divide between the
'haves' and 'have-nots'.
The reality is that with the growing divides, the middle class is shrinking and more and more are struggling to make ends meet. And, while the working class must spend their time scraping together money for subsistence, the privileged use their existing privileges of money, networks and education to extend the income gaps.
Cultivating dependence of
citizens particularly the poorer sectors promotes a deeply unequal
dynamic, and is part of the strategy of power. The more citizens are
dependent, the more power the government has.
Despite the hailed value of equality, socio-economic class
distribution among the financial elite, middle class, working class
and the poor has become an unquestionable premise of democracy.
The
premise of socio-economic class based distribution itself is not
questioned.
The fact that it has always been this
way, does not mean it has to stay this way.
It is a parasitic dynamic that leeches off the vulnerable and off the planet without replenishing that which is taken.
To say that it is unsustainable understates the severity of the disease.
Democracy boasts values of equality, yet has created a context where
a tiny percentage of people own vast amounts of global resources,
billions live in poverty and all of this inequality is structured in
the system and legal.
Two thirds of the world's population today live in countries that have greater inequality than they had in 1980.
Where
is the equality in a system that allows a minimum wage to be less
than 8 dollars an hour while CEO's can earn $20,000 an hour...? Money
creates more money in a manipulated system where a person's earnings
have very little to do with their real work or contribution to
society.
General concepts
like increased gross domestic product and economic growth hide the
fact that most of the growth actually goes into the pockets of a few
while middle and lower classes find themselves more and more in debt
and the entire system is severely damaged and depleted.
Instead, the wealthy are idolized and
protected by the self-perpetuating law-making system no matter how
ill-gotten their stash may be. Arguments as to the precise minimum
wage may take on heated forms, but the possibility of instituting a
maximum wage or redistributing the wealth of the multi-billionaires
is kept off limits.
Meanwhile the pay of:
Multi-national corporations create inequalities not only among individuals but among countries.
Citizens are sold the idea that their countries need foreign investment in order to bring employment. What they are not told is the price of such employment.
Foreign corporations often,
We are witness to the politics and wars of so called developed and often democratic countries vying with each other to sell weapons and other products to the poorer countries.
"Investment" in poorer
countries becomes a euphemism for owning and depleting them and
amplifying the divides between the haves and have not's on global
scale.
The Greek drama sent waves of unrest and dissent across Europe and the world. It highlighted how the corrupt system inevitably traps individuals and countries in a web of loans and interest.
The system is designed to enslave the weakest in lifelong debt.
The Greek finance minister called the sinister
manipulation of institutions that trade on speculation and bank on
the debt no less than financial terrorism.
Those with money are the ones that can ensure certain people get into powerful political and influential positions in the judicial system.
Only the rich can afford the "best" lawyers, the fines, the patent disputes and the array of sophisticated legal games to entrench their agendas and even to create the laws from which they themselves benefit.
...is now a nauseatingly repetitive and sinister mantra.
Individuals, companies and
governments worldwide, challenged with corruption scandals that
impact the lives of many, casually hold up this statement like an
impenetrable magic shield.
What does it mean about our democratic system
when those accused of corrupt behavior do not say "everything I/we
did was kind, just, or in the best interests of all" - but instead
defend themselves by saying their behavior was strictly "according
to the law"?
'Justice' has been reduced to an expensive
technical debate over the legality or illegality of a person's
behavior according to dubious laws that privilege some over others.
Politicians often vote on laws couched in vague
and long carefully crafted manuscripts designed to conceal more than
reveal the full consequences of what is at stake.
Alongside the police
and military is the legal system that cements this agenda.
The United States has the world's largest incarceration rate in the world, while it represents about 4.4 percent of the world's population:
As the laws that bind countries are increasingly determined by foreign policy and international agreements, justice has less and less to do with citizens' rights than with the interests of those at the helms pulling the strings.
Local citizens have very little say
regarding health policy,
fracking policy, or any laws that affect
the full spectrum of their lives.
The perversion of the cornerstones of democracy freedom, equality and justice is echoed in the Hopi Prophecy regarding the latter days of the Time of Purification.
The
culture of disconnect in every sphere of life that stems from the
mindset of domination leads to an implosion of the system from
within.
The mainstream 'democratic' narrative perpetuates the myth that humans are separate from and superior to other beings and nature and as such has a right to exploit and dominate life itself.
It does not educate citizens to honor the environment on which we all depend.
The disconnect from nature has a profound impact on the well-being
of children and society, and reinforces many of the physical and
emotional diseases rampant in our current urban lifestyles.
The governance system takes absolute control
over the environment with very little understanding or respect for
the complex web of life.
This power over citizens and resources is reinforced by an education system that does not educate about nature and the healthy functioning of eco-systems.
Citizens thus do not have the knowledge
or skills to recognize the way the environment is being plundered
and so cannot take action in this regard.
Passive learning with little focus on experiential
education and critical thinking creates dependent societies
susceptible to manipulative information that will inevitably collude
with environmental destruction.
The land is then considered to be owned by nation states and corporations invested in maximizing profits for the privileged.
Interested parties invest in massive media campaigns to present this plunder as progress. They invest in lobbyists to legalize their agenda, get the media industry to sell their agenda and rely on the military and police to enforce it.
Similarly
our
food system has been entirely corrupted and contaminated by this
dishonoring exploitative relationship to the land.
It cultivates a culture of conflict rather than consensus
and creative life-enhancing complementarity.
The divisive strategy is based on manipulating the human psychology of identity and belonging. Under the guise of win-lose tactics, it creates a lose-lose outcome.
It instigates conflict among groups, wastes resources and creates dependence on government.
No organization,
family or community could thrive with this divisive premise and
structure.
Democracies sell the idea that different identity groups have
different and often contradictory needs and therefore require unique
representation to promote their interests at the expense of others.
Politicians generally work to activate primal feelings of
allegiance and belonging by idealizing their own party and
demonizing the other. Patriotic loyalty is used to distract from
local issues.
The 50/50 divide is most
often manifested in terms of "left" vs. "right" or liberal vs.
conservative.
It is doomed to repeat itself until
we change
the fundamental mindset of splits and polarities and attend to the
needs of the system as a whole.
This perpetuates the class based system and creates a disconnect between groups of people who are artificially set up to be in conflict and completion with each other. Privilege of the wealthy and oppression of the weak are built into the system that a-priori justifies a class based system.
The middle class hovers insecurely
between the two extremes while having to work increasingly more
hours for less wages while the rich get richer and the poor get
poorer
People often find themselves having to compromise their conscience on important issues. They are often torn when having to choose one party over another when they may identify with different parties on different issues.
Politicians can find themselves torn between duty and conscience when they are required to vote along party lines.
The
game of bartering over votes to pass a law undermines honesty,
conscience and integrity in law-making. The strategy of divide and
conquer creates pressure, anxiety and conflict within society and
within people's psyches.
Politicians usually come from a limited range of professions that do not represent the majority of citizens. The financial interests and reward system is designed to make them more attentive to their lobbyists than the will of the people.
Given that many politicians
are chosen by specific identity groups, they often represent the
interests of only that particular group and neglect other groups
which in turn heightens the divide and hostility between groups.
Democracy artificially divides
governance responsibilities into segments such as education,
security, economy, environment, justice etc. despite the fact that
these functions are entirely dependent on each other.
Ministries locked within narrow role
frameworks with rigid structures obstruct real learning and
resonance with the larger system.
Governance structures and
policies are thus often the greatest obstacle to the healthy
evolution of our societies, and government employees are generally
among the last to learn about and integrate global cutting edge
solutions to societal challenges.
The result is the
immense dysfunction, conflict and disease that plagues our world.
This centralized model of leadership reinforces a culture of absolute dependence. While democracy positions itself as a modern form of governance its leadership model, rooted in the domination mindset, is based on the outdated hierarchical pyramid structure and centralized leadership.
The overt power is often superficial with
the leader, a clear bait for the power hungry, being severely
handicapped by financial and political forces at work. The
hierarchical model is replicated at all different levels of the
governance structure creating a ripe field for abuse of power.
This model reinforces the dynamic of an omnipotent, God-like leader who is able to know all, see all and care for all. The notion of a patriarchal savior in the form of kings, priests, fathers, CEO's, professors or presidents, who can make everything okay is a seductive one that humans have been courting for millennia.
It disconnects individuals from their own
authority, responsibility, and creativity. The hierarchical
structure means that most leaders work very much in isolation with
limited access to different perspectives and few checks and
balances.
They are pacified by a belief that someone else is 'in charge' and will 'sort it all out' and there's always conveniently someone to blame.
This dependence dynamic
protects individuals from having to confront their own
responsibility, courage and limitations in co-creating our
collective reality.
The position of power often gives the freedom to abuse power. The distance of leaders from citizens means many decisions are disconnected from real needs. This enormous power makes leaders particularly vulnerable to financial lobbying, corruption and sell-outs.
Their
power over media gives them the ability to abuse
public opinion by manipulating truth, concealing information and
presenting their ideologies as self-evident truths.
Many leaders get into power due to political maneuvering and personal charisma.
The ability to gain power by,
...is
inbuilt in the system.
Democratic politics however has its own rules. While
politicians lead the most complex of human and environmental
systems, they are not required to have any formal training in global
issues, leadership, human dynamics, whole system theories, ecology
or other relevant skills.
Every few years new politicians allocate
resources and define policies in areas they know little about. No
responsible financial organization would dream of employing people
on this basis. It would be considered business suicide.
Health the Primary Casualty
Health is rapidly
becoming a luxury commodity with vast disparities among the wealthy
and poor.
Our emotional and mental well-being are continually undermined as we
face unprecedented forms of social violence and emotional imbalances
including addictions, social alienation, depression, attention
deficit disorders, anxiety and stress disorders that result from
living lifestyles out of balance with our environment.
Our concept of health has been tragically narrowed to reductive concepts disconnected from deep body wisdom and the healthy engagement with the eco-system of which we are part.
Our understanding of health is perverted by profit driven false information.
It has been largely reduced to narrow concepts of personal health, marketed in a way that creates an obsession with external form rather than holistic health of body, soul and environment.
Words like "natural", "healthy", "green" and "energizing" have become empty buzzwords with little if any connection to what is being sold.
We have reached the absurd point
where healthy soil, the foundation of healthy nutrition and life
itself is considered "dirty" while chemical household products are
branded as "clean".
The issue of health care is often reduced to citizens access to medical attention and its financial implications.
To a large extent the health systems have become bureaucratic structures that focus on medical solutions defined by the lucrative health industry and approved by those with vested interests.
While the economy pushes unhealthy lifestyles, government health care is often not available to all. In many cases private health care offers a higher quality service but becomes a privilege only for the rich.
The health of people thus becomes yet another
expression of privilege.
The economy, food system and education system are among the primary systems that perpetuate imbalance and disease.
To grasp the impact of democracy
on the health of people and planet it is important to explore how
these systems led by democratic governments are contributing to the
disease and devastation we currently face.
A growth economy that idealizes growth at the expense of health is destined to be an economy of disease.
The growth economy is indeed
like a growing cancer. Any living system has a natural limit of
growth within which it can achieve maximum health. No human being
would want to grow beyond his or her own healthy limits.
Industries that fuel the growth economy are industries that
profit
off disease and devastation...
Citizens are subject to endless laws, policies and mind-manipulations that enslave them to the mindset of addictive consumerism, dependence, competition and conflict. Every aspect of a citizen's life including health, food, security, environment, media, technology and education is determined by hidden financial interests that have little or nothing to do with the well-being of citizens.
Multi-national corporations steer global law and politics and are
destroying the environment, causing the depletion of many species.
Service based professions such as,
...are low on the income scale.
While
the elite class skims
resources, governments are calling for increased austerity measures
for the middle and working class.
The self-obsessed,
competitive mindset creates unhealthy social dynamics that spawn
alienation and social violence and in turn serves the frenetic
consumer "selfie", "pokemon" culture.
The financial system is based on corporate privilege, speculation, loans, interest and debt. It is a ruthless system designed to benefit those in the know and enforce economic slavery of the masses.
The system creates an addictive gambling culture that manipulates the true values of currencies.
The system justifies and
legalizes boundless salaries and wealth of those at the helms while
keeping the minimum wage at poverty level. It means that a small
groups of people are hoarding trillions of dollars gained while
creating poverty, enormous suffering and devastation.
Mining and fossil fuel industries are known to plunder resources while leaving a wake of destruction in the local communities.
Monopoly based systems deny people the right to make an honest healthy living in vital community based economies. People are not given the choice or information as to healthy existing alternatives.
They are denied investment and rights to develop their own agriculture and local green industries that would make them less dependent on the government, financial institutions and foreign corporations.
The growth economy has developed sophisticated methods of siphoning taxpayer money into the pockets of the rich.
Ultimately it is the
taxpayer that must carry the increasing tax burden on welfare,
health, and defence generated by the very corporations who
specialize in creating their own tax cuts and havens.
The processed food, chemical, military, security, pharmaceutical and media companies are often linked to each other or owned by the same groups of people.
Even so called "humanitarian aid" generated by the wars that feed the military industries is given in the form of plastic water bottles and GMO grain that in turn fills the pockets of the food conglomerates.
The following table from the Center for Responsive Politics provides information about the amount of money from different sectors that goes into 'lobbying' politicians on an annual basis.
It provides insight into the money behind every government policy.
The table shows the exorbitant numbers that have gone into influencing the American government for the last twenty years.
It gives a glimpse
into the hidden interests that determine not only which wars we
wage, what resources we destroy, but also what is in our food and
medicine and what guides the ideas we are sold about the world we
live in through education and media.
The Center for Responsive Politics: Amount spent on lobbying by sector
between 1998 and 2014 in the US. Among those whose impact is most destructive to people and environment, are the ones that spend the most on lobbying governments.
This means that democratic governments are voting to a large extent according to the interests of dangerous industries and our vote is giving these industries the power to decide the fate of our individual and collective health.
The industries are influential in determining the course of world events and driving climate change, war and human and environmental disease.
Mainstream media is to a large extent owned by the same small groups of people who are linked to, or dominate the financial system. Given that mainstream media is profit driven, it is clear that those who want to have power over peoples' minds invest in owning media outlets.
Power and profit are the primary forces shaping our belief systems and culture.
The art of covert advertising and mind
manipulation has been refined to function on the most subliminal
levels. This makes citizens entirely vulnerable to profit driven
agendas.
The enormous power of advertising means that the minds of citizens are for valuable property available for sale to the highest bidders.
We have been seduced by media to
lust for more, to believe that the path of competition is the only
legitimate way - that this is human nature - that those in power are
doing what they can to create a better world, and that with a bit of
extra work, we too can move up the social ladder and eventually join
the coveted elite status.
It fabricates artificial needs and desires designed to alienate people from nature and from their deepest wisdom.
Consumerism cultivates the idea that
people need stuff that is usually unnecessary and unhealthy as well
as being produced at the expense of people, other species and planet
itself.
Yet, even "free" social media has a price.
Social media itself entails exposure to endless floods of carefully crafted overt and subliminal messaging. Social media is one of the most powerful and profitable businesses and has been severely corrupted by advertising and corporate interests.
Once
again privilege is inbuilt in the system by empowering those who can
afford to advertise their agendas and manipulate human
consciousness.
Under the guise of defence, the industry instigates
conflict, glorifies war, ferments fear and hatred and sells
suffering and destruction. To a large extent it sets the political
agenda across the globe.
The stakes
just get higher as the weapons become increasingly dangerous.
The
US navy for instance is killing thousands of whales and dolphins
with sonar and weapons testing. Aside from the vast amounts of tax
payer money being wasted, the industry contaminates and destroys
entire eco-systems with noise, fire and chemicals.
Gun violence results in thousands of deaths and injuries annually with an alarming rate of mass public shootings on the rise. It is clear that the only beneficiaries of the military industry are those that sell the weapons and the by-products of war.
The burden is on the
taxpayer who pays for the often artificially manufactured security
risks as well as the traumatic consequences on the soldiers,
civilians and the environment.
Clearly investing vast sums of money in creative peace-building efforts would be a far healthier option, but this is not the preferred strategy of governments towing the line of the profit-driven "defence and security" industries.
It presents the use of fossil fuels as the primary if not only viable source of energy and often paints itself as working in environmentally careful ways.
While the devastating
impact of fossil fuels on the climate has been known for years, and
knowledge about alternative energy technologies have been available
since the time of the inventor
Nikola Tesla, this information has
been carefully guarded and hidden from the public.
For decades the world has been held hostage to the large coal and oil companies who have used their power to gain power and control economies across the world.
Fracking for natural gas has
now become the norm and has brought with it a host of new threats to
human and environmental health.
This ideas is as absurd as believing a specific organ in the human body serves only its particular region, and can be used independently of its living context. In abusing forests, waters, fuels, gases, metals and minerals we have upset the intricate web of life in ways we are only beginning to discover.
Fossil fuels is a primary cause of
global warming (pollution...!) is the most tangible and dangerous symptom of our
tampering with the intricate planetary eco-system.
In many cases it is complicit in peddling in false science, addiction and disease.
Across the world, the pharmaceutical industry has
strong ties with governments which means that health policies and
subsidized medicines are often severely swayed by interest groups.
Waterways and soil are shown to have traces of antibiotics and other
pharmaceuticals and are thus contaminating humans and other species
in ways that we know very little about.
There is increasing evidence that much of what is now called the "cancer industry" is one of the largest and most profitable hoaxes.
It has invested fortunes in research and development while hiding information about natural cures.
While many well-intentioned doctors work according to what they are taught, other doctors have knowingly abused their clients with,
...in
order to benefit financially.
There is widespread concern that some vaccines are tested in underdeveloped countries under the guise of humanitarian aid.
There is also increasing data as to possible
side effects including a range of serious health conditions. While
some vaccines may serve important functions there are also
investigations into ways they may be contributing to chronic
diseases across the globe.
The scientific aura gives enormous
power to those with money to buy rigged studies, and to prove and
print whatever will sell.
This means it has no
incentive to proactively cultivate health, and in some cases it is
known to suppress information regarding the importance of healthy
plant-based nutrition and the use of known plants as preventative
medicine and cures.
The societal disconnect from the
source of food is part of our larger cultural story of money and
exploitation. We have relinquished control of our food to profit
driven industries and governments at the expense of our health and
that of the environment.
Processed foods and pesticides are contributing to serious chronic diseases and environmental destruction, yet billions of people continue to consume products devoid of nutritional value and laced with a range of harmful ingredients.
To
understand why so many are "choosing" unhealthy options one needs to
look at the chain of industries that benefit from the processed food
production line.
Many use a range of genetically modified seeds and
dangerous pesticides, hormones and antibiotics.
Chemical and biological
contaminants obstruct nature's communication pathways and have
severely depleted our individual and collective immune system.
Local farming is being pushed aside by food giants that use dangerous chemical additives to prolong shelf life.
The sugar and wheat industries inundate the public with seductive
messaging of comfort foods, while actively spreading addiction and
disease. Junk food is sold cheaper than real food to make it even
more attractive and accessible.
A holistic nutritional approach shows however that:
Food and health illiteracy is in the interests of and to a large extent sponsored by those at the helms of the interwoven industries that run the economy.
Schools do not teach children about healthy nutrition or how to grow and prepare food. In the absence of real education about food and health, advertising becomes the key source of information.
But advertisements are designed to sell products irrespective of their health consequences.
Diet related illnesses,
chronic diseases and disorders, such as heart disease, cancers,
diabetes, obesity, anorexia and bulimia are symptoms of the corrupt
and profit driven food industry.
The reductionist picture of food is a product of the same mindset of separateness from which democracy itself is derived.
It focuses on
isolated phenomena and less on their relationship with each other
and on their whole system impact.
The animal agriculture industry is also known to be a leading cause of,
The meat and dairy industries invest huge sums to market apparent health of their products despite the fact that factory farmed foods are known to be toxic and cause chronic disease.
People that eat
animal products are ingesting a cocktail of dangerous chemicals,
growth hormones and antibiotics as well as the trauma and suffering
of animals held in extremely unnatural and inhumane conditions.
Despite all
of this people continue to consume animal agriculture products and
damage their own health and that of the environment.
Many education systems in democratic countries have created dependent, addictive cultures susceptible to the messaging of those with political, ideological and financial agendas.
They have reinforced the picture of one all-powerful leader on whom we must depend and to whom we relinquish responsibility.
They have
perpetuated the domination mindset of separateness, hierarchy and
privilege. The structure, content and teaching methods have created
a culture of passive, dependent citizens who are to a large extent
disinterested in global issues, addicted to competitive consumer
culture and disconnected from life wisdom.
Our culture,
with its severe impact on human and environmental health, is a
reflection of the education of previous generations.
They are not educated to become
creative and caring problem solvers willing to contribute to their
larger environment.
The system perpetuates myths on which the democratic system is founded.
It has
for the most part succeeded in maintaining cultures that preserve
the socio-economic status quo and feed the leeching economic system.
It has failed in raising healthy aware adults with the ecologically
sound professions required to tackle the global crises we face.
The vacuum is filled
by media that plays a powerful role in shaping the minds and
behavior of children. A vast amount of money is spent on
sophisticated advertising targeting children as consumers.
The majority of content is profit driven and sells cultures of,
A school is a microcosm of the larger societies and of the competitive culture where self-interest, deceit and bullying abound.
Classrooms today are more multi-cultural and multi-religious than ever before yet educators are not trained to deal with complex inter-personal and inter-cultural dynamics.
The education system is
generally disconnected from the community and while it is given full
responsibility for a child's education it has neither the authority
nor the tools to take up the role effectively.
Children are conditioned by the culture they witness through media.
Politicians, celebrities, reality TV stars and talk show hosts become role models. One can imagine the impact of democratic election campaigns, and the often bullying, demeaning, deceitful and corrupt political discourse and behavior on the psyche of children.
The divisive, abusive campaign
culture is a core part of what we learn from democracy in action.
How can teachers be expected to help
children deal with the onslaught of false and addictive messaging or
the violent and narcissistic, self-indulgent role models they are
exposed to on television, video games and social media?
They are taught to rely on external, biased "authorities" for
assessment of their character and worth in the world. They are not
taught to trust in their own sense of self-worth or recognize their
own value. A child's sense of self-worth is thus easily impacted by
the prejudices, moods and whims of their educators.
Diversity is
oppressed and images of success are standardized. Teachers trained
to teach specific disciplines usually have limited perspectives and
use language and techniques that are relevant only for children with
particular skill sets.
This in turn depletes the diverse range of talents and skills
necessary for society to flourish.
Evaluation through dualistic judgments such as,
...sabotages the child's capacity to discern in more nuanced and
pleasurable ways and develop intrinsic motivation to learn.
They do not learn to apply their knowledge in real, integrative life
situations.
In this way, the system perpetuates the growing divides between rich
and the poor.
They are not given the tools for self-realization and mutual enrichment with their environment. They are not taught how the body works, basic nutrition, hygiene, healthy movement or meditation practices, healthy sexuality, environmental conservation or eco-system vitality. They do not learn how to grow or prepare food.
They are taught to outsource their own self-care to others
leaving them further susceptible to false information and the profit
driven "health" industries.
How can adults impart values different
from those they learned as children?
'Global
warming' is the collective wake-up call for us to work together and
co-create an entirely new governance system that works
uncompromisingly for the healing of the planet and all its
inhabitants.
As in any living system when we impact a part, we impact the whole.
We have denied the vast consequences of our behavior and convinced ourselves that the multitude of environmental disasters mushrooming across the planet are isolated events and can be contained in their local areas.
Climate change, the greatest challenge we now face is a
manifestation of our fundamental interconnectedness.
Our stance
towards the earth is a parasitic, cancerous one and can be likened
to an auto-immune disease that attacks parts of the self it fails to
recognize as self.
Imagine consistently
mining a human's bones for minerals, draining the blood,
contaminating the body's air and water while putting the person
under constant emotional stress and still expecting the body to
function as normal.
In
this sense climate change is a harsh and powerful master - an
evolutionary wake-up call to learn from the climate code about
consciousness.
The end of these
industries is a prerequisite for reversing climate change but it is
not enough.
As long as there is a mindset of
oppression and exploitation there will be disease.
It has been recognized that the
"sustainability
approach" cannot be effective in reversing climate change.
While many are using the
term in innovative ways for the good of the planet, the mainstream
argument often focuses on how to continue take from the earth as
much as "sustainably" possible while giving back as little as
possible.
Similarly the precise migration routes of animals play a vital
ecological function and when we interfere with them we upset the
delicate balance of life.
It addresses symptoms of the disease
while leaving the cancer, (the domination mindset) intact.
Policies are generally crafted in the form of long term
targets with legal loopholes that privilege those in power and
perpetuate the imbalance and disease.
Compromising how much toxins the planet can safely tolerate is as
absurd as compromising how much cancer human bodies can safely
tolerate.
With
social media, independent journalism and the radical changes in
weather and environmental catastrophes it can no longer be hidden.
Nature and health do not work with a formula of compromise but rather of exquisite precision in distributing and replenishing healthy resources for the flourishing of all parts of the interconnected ecosystem.
To reverse
climate change we need to transform our basic mindset and organize
ourselves uncompromisingly in alignment with the code of thriving
living systems.
This means
that contrary to our current way of life, we share our health and
our destiny with each other and all species. It means that the
health of the planet, each other and all species must be our
collective priority.
It focuses
on uncompromising immediate action dedicated to eliminating all
disease and cultivating 100% health. It works with the healing and
replenishing wisdom of nature, striving to leave the planet richer
for having been here.
We can
no longer pretend that partial solutions, delays or compromises will
suffice.
It is an inevitable part of the dynamic of divisiveness and privilege found within all of us and at every level of society. Democracy is a system that lends itself to what we choose to do with it.
It was created from a mindset of separateness and domination before modern society learned about our fundamental ecological interconnectedness with all of creation. It is not organized around the principles of life and does not have an inbuilt filter to sift healthy from unhealthy behavior.
It was not conceived
of or structured to be able to cultivate the health and vitality of
complex interconnected human and environmental living systems.
While democracy has contributed to human consciousness
and the evolution of our understanding about the use and abuse of
our power, the inherent limitations of the system are evident in the
challenges we now face, and it is time to move on.
The
veils of secrecy that have shrouded the systematic abuse of power
are lifting. Information technology and alternative media are
threatening to undo the global system of domination. Growing numbers
of courageous whistle-blowers and investigative journalists are
revealing the vast and sinister manipulation of power and resources
by governments and the financial elite.
Rage at governments and the elite is growing as
people worldwide are taking to the streets to demand change. The
status quo of control is being threatened and chaos is growing.
While there are those fighting the secrecy that has enabled the mass deception, some governments are clamping down on privacy and internet freedoms.
There are those
using
the Internet to continue to spread misinformation and those
using it to spread truth and healthy information and create new
systems of social organization.
Some
journalists have pursued these threads and it seems Pandora's Box
has been opened. Hidden information is being revealed, and many
theories dismissed as hoaxes are shown to have substantive evidence.
The information war marks a radically new time where
everybody is a journalist and everything can become known, but also
a time where misinformation is easily spread.
The only
relevant framework for a new system of governance is one that is
uncompromisingly aligned with Life.
Information technology is enabling the spread of healthy information, and providing the platform for sharing resources and inventing entirely new planetary organizational systems.
The vision, knowledge, wisdom, and technologies for a thriving future already exist.
It is now a matter of connecting the circuits among those dedicated to the benefit of the whole, and creating an entirely new governance system that puts the health and vitality of the planet and all its inhabitants as its only compass.
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