Voluntary Simplicity's topics - tribe.net

Tools/Household Items Collective Library?

Diane — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:40:24 GMT

I remember reading in one of these groups of collectives who keep a database of things members own and are willing to lend to other members, such as tools, household items, baking pans, basically anything you occasionally need, but don't want to waste money and space buying it and storing it for long periods of time...

I was hoping that someone who is involved in such a community network could contact me as I would like to start something similar here and welcome tips on how to organize it and manage it.

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 0 replies

04/19-04/24 Introduction to Cob and Natural Building Prescott, AZ

transcendance — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:10:44 GMT

Talk about simplifying your life...play in the mud!!!
Hey folks, a Friend of mine is hosting a workshop in AZ building a cob/natural building greenhouse. Whether you want to build a cob oven, bench, studio, or other such space...or are inspired by the ecological/community awareness, while simultaneously creating a tangible product you should check this out. If anyone is interested either personally or professionally in such a workshop you should look into www.SGNB.com (thats for Seven Generations Natural Builders).

Instructor:
Sasha Rabin (sasha@sgnb.com)
Sasha Rabin has a degree in Ecological Design from Evergreen State College. She has studied natural and traditional methods of building in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Indonesia, and the southwest United States. Following an apprentice at the Cob Cottage Company she worked with them as an assistant instructor(2001) and went on to co-found Seven Genereation Natural Builders in 2003. She built a cob dwelling in the southwest US that she is curently living in. She contuinues to teach with SGNB, as well teaching as a guest instructor at the Real Good Institute for Solar Living(www.realgoods.com) / and Yestermorrow Design/Build School. (www.yestermorrow.org/)

(She is also flexible on the price if that is an issue but for a workshop that is a fair number!!!)

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2008 Communities Conference at Twin Oaks Community

Suede — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:21:23 GMT

My name is Suede and I live at Twin Oaks Community in Louisa, VA. This year I'm co-organizing the Communities Conference at Twin Oaks for my 2nd year, though the conference has been happening for many years now. Thought I'd post some basic info on the conference for those interested in learning about community, expanding knowledge or just meeting new people. Feel free to contact me with any questions about Twin Oaks or our conferences.

In Community,
Suede Machete

Here's the info:

The Communities Conference is a networking and learning opportunity for anyone interested or involved in co-operative or communal lifestyles. Join us for a weekend of sharing and celebration!

Friday August 15 through
Sunday August 17, 2008
$85 (sliding scale) includes
meals and camping

With workshops and events focused on
~ Intentional relationships
~ Group process
~Collective child raising
~ Creating culture
~ Forming communities
~ Sustainability
~ Appropriate technology
~ Community economics

Music
Dancing
Slide shows
Campfires
Swimming
Magic
More!

Respond to:
Twin Oaks Communities Conference
138 Twin Oaks Road, Louisa, Virginia 23093
540-894-5126

conference@twinoaks.org

For More Information, check out our website:

www.communitiesconference.org

Twin Oaks also hosts a Women's Gathering! Check that out at :

www.twinoaks.org/community...index.html

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Fraud Alert regarding North Coast Earth First! Aka NCEF! Media. Completely independent from any activist group!

White Rabbit — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:15:34 GMT

16 views since posting on Sunday, December 2, 2007
Location California

enlarge photo
NCEF! Media in Humboldt County Ca.(AKA NORTH COAST EARTH FIRST!), is accused of fraud and donation embezzlement. Caution! Do not support this lone wingnut's scam! Active and legitamate groups exist in the area. Caution! Do not be fooled by NCEF! Media and his fraudulent outreach. Shunka Wakan exists completely seperate from any active affinity group.

Read about how he perpetuated a lawsuit under the guise of EF! against a legitimate environmental nonprofit:

From: northcoastjournal.com/100407/...004.html

October 4, 2007

"Money On Trees"

Big cash nearly fell into Shunka Wakan's lap. Other Earth First!ers are kinda happy it didn't.

by Heidi Walters

As the jury trial for the civil suit Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation puttered to a start last week inside Courtroom 3 at the Humboldt County Courthouse, Shunka Wakan — a key witness for the plaintiff — spent mornings sitting on the hard wooden benches in the long hallway outside the courtroom. During breaks, Miller's attorney Linda Mitlyng, would come out of the courtroom to join him. But otherwise, as other people and their legal affairs swirled around him in a warm, odiferous bath of humanity, Shunka sat alone. Or, sometimes, he stood alone, straight-spined, his small, stocky body swallowed by the huge, stiff blue suit out of which his newly shorn, razor-scraped bald head poked vulnerably — as if, at any moment, the suit could gulp once more and he'd disappear completely. Always, he clutched a paper folder with a wolf's face on its cover.

The North Coast Earth First! Media guru had shaved off his woolly rust-tinged brown hair and beard the night before jury selection started, after discussing it with attorney Mitlyng. Now, it took an uncertain moment to recognize him. Then, of course: Shunka's light blue eyes in the pink-pale face, Shunka's closed-lip smile, Shunka's trademark husky murmur, "Mm-hmm, for sure," in response to a comment.

In Courtroom 3, the amiable but no-nonsense Judge Christopher Wilson's domain, the fate of a $185,000 donation dangled. Would the plaintiff, donor Kathryn Miller, prevail in her claim that the defendant, the Trees Foundation, was not in fact the intended recipient of her generous gift? That Shunka Wakan's NCEF! Media Center and the treesitters were? Or would the Trees Foundation convince the jury that, in fact, the money was intended all along for Trees, with no instructions attached for funneling it elsewhere?

Richard Idell, left, who is defending the Trees Foundation against a lawsuit filed by Kathryn Miller, confers with Doug Wallace, community support coordinator for Trees. Photo by David Lawlor.

In her opening arguments, Miller's attorney, Mitlyng, said the case came down to "fraud and broken promises." "She believed [Trees] would hold [the money] in trust, for the benefit of North Coast Earth First!" said Mitlyng. The defense's attorney, Richard Idell, countered in his opening argument that the donation was an unconditional gift and Miller never wrote letters of instruction — as Miller claims she did. "Ms. Miller ... didn't do anything. She took the check [from her mother's estate] and flipped it over and wrote on the back, 'Payable to the Trees Foundation,'" said Idell.

Miller's claim sought the return of her $185,000, plus interest.

Out in the hallway, Shunka waited to tell his side of the story. Maybe he thought about the magical donation that never materialized, and now probably never would. Maybe he thought about the other times he'd been in this courthouse — dozens of times, along with other activists, often before Judge Wilson, answering to charges of trespassing and other forms of civil disobedience in the woods. Likely, he wondered when they were finally going to call him in to testify — it was taking forever in there. He'd even sent out an e-mail prematurely to the several hundred subscribers to his NCEF! online group erroneously announcing he would be first up to testify.

By the end of Friday's court session, Miller was still on the stand. Perhaps Monday it would be Shunka's turn. Whenever it was, he would be testifying on Miller's behalf; but he wasn't a party to the lawsuit. And in the end, after hearing all of the evidence, the jury would be determining who was telling the truth about intentions and letters of instructions. Shunka was just there to provide context and evidence in a contract dispute.

But to a number of forest activists, including a half dozen or so who appeared in the audience last Friday to watch the trial unfold, that context matters more to them than the legal questions. They say this lawsuit has placed a strain on the environmental community that could do as much damage as an ill-felled redwood that takes down other giants in its descent. They disapprove of the lawsuit, and they blame Shunka for it. And, they say, it's just another example of how Shunka has commandeered the North Coast Earth First! identity and used it for purposes that nobody else in the amorphous but consensus-driven local Earth First! movement has agreed to.

"For a lot of us, when we read about the lawsuit, this is kind of like Shunka on trial," said long-time forest activist Deane Rimerman last Friday, calling from Olympia, Wash. "And, to what extent is he worthy of that money?"

Kathryn Miller wanted her money to go toward saving trees, she said on the witness stand last Thursday. The slender 59-year-old was dressed in a pink print skirt and white sweater, with her gray-streaked dark hair pulled back into a neat, thin braid tinted slightly green. (Little did the jury know that Miller had spent the night in jail, in blue jail duds, and then had been "dressed out," in court lingo, in her street clothes before being escorted into the court by the bailiff. Miller had been arrested the week before, on Sept. 17, when she arrived in civil court for the pre-trial readiness hearing; according to the misdemeanor criminal charges filed against her, Miller allegedly had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation all hours of the day and night.)

On the stand, Miller described how she became an activist. She remembered how, when she was a child in Orinda, her mother decided to stop spraying the beautiful oak trees on their property after reading Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. "And then, when my son was 9, we were watching the news on TV about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown. And my son said to me, 'I wish I'd never been born. I don't think I'll get to live a full life.'"

She protested the building of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. She started a peace action group in the late 1980s in San Jose. She did nonviolent protests at the Nevada Test Site. And in 1990, she came up with some of her fellow protestors to help set up the camp for Redwood Summer, and to take part in demonstrations. She's been on and off involved in Earth First! actions in Humboldt ever since, she said, including huffing in supplies for treesitters and huffing out their garbage. She'd also, at one point, bought a condo in Arcata.

In 2004, Miller sold her condo and bought an acre of farmland, already planted with coffee, in Guatemala. She put in fruit trees to shade the coffee. That same year, her mother, who lived in Sonoma, died. "The last time I saw her was in 2003," said Miller. "She told me when she died, she was going to leave me some money. I told her I'd use it to further my work for the forest. And she was pleased, because she loved the treesitters and the forest."

Shortly after learning of her mother's death, Kathryn Miller sought out Shunka Wakan in front of the food co-op in Arcata, where he "tabled" to raise funds for the North Coast Earth First! Media office — selling T-shirts, and stickers, offering pamphlets, accepting donations. She'd known Shunka for about five years, she said.

"I said to him, I was going to inherit some money: What was the best way to get that to the North Coast Earth First!?"

In the spring of 2005, Shunka Wakan was floating above the treetops. "I was so excited," the 32-year-old said in an interview a few weeks ago, sitting inside his tiny but colorful North Coast Earth First! Media office in Arcata, walls covered in art and topo maps — including one of Buckeye Mountain, where in 2000-2001, during the "Mattole Free State" action, Shunka and others hiked 14 miles through waist-high snowdrifts to save trees.

Kathryn Miller, he recalled, had come up to him excitedly as he walked along the sidewalk outside the Arcata Co-op and said, "I just donated $185,000 to North Coast Earth First!'"

She'd talked to him the year before about making the donation — she'd said she was anticipating an inheritance from her mother's estate, and she wanted to make a big donation to his group. He'd told her to make it through the Trees Foundation, which handled the NCEF! Media office's finances through an arrangement that had been established years ago. (The Trees Foundation is an umbrella organization formed in 1991 to assist smaller environmental groups. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, it can accept large, tax-deductible donations on behalf of affiliates, and provide professional resources. And it can lead large campaigns, like the one to save the Headwaters Forest back in the '90s.)

Well, now she'd finally done it.

Miller and Shunka agreed to meet at Fiesta Café in Sunny Brae, so she could tell him how she wanted the money spent: She wanted, straight away, for someone to organize a mediated workshop for the local Earth First! activists on ageism and sexism, issues she thought were fracturing the movement. And, she wanted the bulk of the donation to help support the forest activists who blockade logging roads and hunker up in ancient redwoods to fend off loggers' saws.

Not long after, Shunka was on his way to have lunch with some folks from the Trees Foundation, where they'd talk about Miller's wishes.

"Our media outreach was going to get a big boost," Shunka said. "The donation would keep the EF! office going for many years. So I walked into the Wildflower Café feeling elated, thinking we got all this money."

Barbara Ristow and Doug Wallace of the Trees Foundation were there. "I was super excited," Shunka said, "and I said, 'This is great, this big donation. Isn't it wonderful?' We ordered food, and still I'm all excited, talking about the money, but I notice they're looking nervously at each other. [Finally], they said, 'Well, we're just shocked that you think this money was for you.' And I was like, 'I just met with the donor, and that's what she said.' And they're like, 'Well, let's go ahead and plan the workshop and deal with that later.' I remember that, because it put me at ease."

After that, Shunka said he gave Trees a list of people he thought might benefit from the mediator-run workshop. "Some were people I knew had beefs with me, but I was willing to bring 'em into the circle and talk about it."

According to some vague accounts, the workshop was a disaster. One person who was there claims that Shunka, at one point, pounded his fists on the floor, blustered, then got up and stormed out, yelling as he walked away. Shunka says that's overblown.

"The letter from Kathryn Miller to Barbara Bristow said she wanted the mediation to be a safe place, safe to be emotional," he said. "And I think people are saying 'I freaked out.' The freak-out reports are exaggerated. It's just part of this ongoing character assassination. People say I was 'red-faced.' But my face is naturally red."

In late 2005, while Shunka was in Seattle, a friend called him from Arcata to say a woman had come by asking for the office key. She had a list of equipment she wanted to take away. The friend didn't give her the key.

When Shunka got back from Seattle, he discovered his reimbursement funds from Trees had been "frozen." He also learned about a letter someone in the NCEF! movement had circulated for signatures and then sent to Mark Knipper, who handled the Trees Foundation transactions for the NCEF! Media office. It said, in essence, "We don't want Shunka running EF!"

"I called the Trees Foundation," Shunka recalled. "I was sick, it was the middle of the winter, I'm trying to table, it's raining, it's cold. And Barbara Ristow told me, 'You just need to have a meeting [with the other Earth First!ers] and come to a group consensus on what the Trees Foundation funding should be used for."

The meeting never happened — nobody could agree to meet, said Mark Knipper, also in an interview last week. Knipper is a social worker and a long-time activist who had been the contact person between Trees and NCEF! Media. "So it ate itself," Knipper said. "And although I'm former Navy, a mariner, I said I'm not going down with this ship. So I divorced myself from it ... and signed it all back to Trees."

The NCEF! Media office was dropped from the Trees Foundation altogether.

Shunka and the NCEF! Media office never did see any of the big donation. Miller didn't even know that, he said, until she phoned him up in the summer of 2006, more than a year after she made the donation, to ask about a guy named "Jungle," who had been reported as missing on the NCEF! hotline. Miller was spending much of her time in Guatemala now, where she was raising fruit trees; after she'd made her big donation, Hurricane Stan had struck — she spent the ensuing year mopping up the mess.

First, Shunka told her Jungle was still missing. Then he told her about the money.

"I said, 'Yeah, they told me it wasn't for us,'" said Shunka. "And she said, 'I meant for all of it to go to you guys.' She sounded real upset. And I was like, 'I knew it! I knew it!'"

Shunka tried to sue Trees in small claims court, but it went nowhere.

Miller filed a claim against the Trees Foundation on Oct. 5, 2006, in Humboldt County Superior Court, seeking the return of the $185,000 plus interest so she could distribute the money herself.

And if she wins? "She may just spread it out more," said Shunka. "She's got tree planting ideas. Maybe she could buy a grove. She'd maybe not give it all to Earth First! this time. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Trees blew for us."

On an uncomfortably hot afternoon last week, four forest activists who'd agreed to an interview for this story — Jeff, Shaggy, Sparrow and Farmer — sat on the ground at the Arcata Marsh next to a log bench on which a teeming crew of red ants worked a splintered notch. Someone had come along here in 1999 and carved a grouping of faces — bearded, grimacing, possibly mourning faces — onto the log and signed it Daniel. The carving had been drenched in red paint, and burnished by years of sitters.

"It kind of reminds me of the memorial for Gypsy," said one of them. "With the red paint."

Gypsy was the forest name of David Nathan Chain, who in September 1998, during an Earth First! action at Grizzly Creek, was crushed to death by a tree felled by an enraged logger. Farmer, actually, was there — he was just 16, but had a year of activism already under his belt. And Shunka was there — it was Shunka's first forest action.

Farmer, Shag, Sparrow and Jeff first made it clear that they spoke for themselves alone, although they participate in various forest defense affinity groups: Farmer works for the Mattole Wildlands Defense Group now, watchdogging the California Department of Forestry for new timber harvest plans, and keeping an eye on a Pacific Lumber Co. watershed analysis. Shag, who saw his first redwood about five years ago, helps keep the Fern Gully treesit village in Freshwater functioning. Jeff, who grew up in the high desert, and fell in love with the woods, works with the Nanning Creek treesit just outside of Scotia, as well as other groups. Sparrow, who was drawn to forest action because the cultural landscape was "like a folktale" he couldn't resist, is with the Fern Gully affinity group. These groups are all part of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association, a collective with a website but no formal structure.

The HFDA sprang into being six years ago — about the time the entity called North Coast Earth First! had essentially dissolved. It would take a book to describe that drawn-out dissolution — a book of lost causes, won causes, waning media interest, Judi Bari's death, Gypsy's death, ego-spurred squabbles, interpersonal catastrophes, a war overseas, hurricanes. And while the HFDA activists might still cherish the Earth First! name — the movement — in their hearts, it's now been further complicated by what you might call the Shunka effect.

"I still feel in many ways solidarity with the greater Earth First! movement abroad," said Farmer. "But in this county, in this climate, if you say you're with the North Coast Earth First!, many people associate you with North Coast Earth First! Media."

Shunka revived the North Coast Earth First! office around 2002. And he did what previous office managers had done — tabled, put out news releases, wrote articles for other publications. But it wasn't like the old days, in the '90s, when hundreds of people were getting arrested in forest actions and the jail support phone and legal resources were in constant use.

Shunka first worked in an office in Eureka, then later moved to Arcata. He called his outfit the NCEF! Media Center. For a time, he and other "affinity groups" tried to work together. But he alienated some people. He took over the North Coast Earth First! website. He controlled the North Coast Earth First! email list of 300 or more subscribers to the news alerts. He sent out press releases on his own.

"I felt the North Coast Earth First! Media Center was a unilateral effort on Shunka's part," said Farmer. Whereas, in the old days, "spokespeople were decided on by the group. And if you wrote an article it was passed by everyone. I feel Shunka appointed himself spokesperson at some point."

Many also claim they've been subject to a lashing anger from Shunka.

"I won't work with him because I pledge nonviolence in my actions," said Shag. "I don't believe he pledges the same thing. He has exhibited violent behavior towards me and towards other activists in my presence."

"He's a bear," said Jeff, making claw-fists with his hands.

But the sad thing is, all of this infighting probably has done nothing to help the actual trees. And the mediation workshop Kathryn Miller wanted didn't fix matters. Now, there was her lawsuit.

"When I heard about this lawsuit, I thought, the Trees Foundation does not deserve to be attacked in that way," said Farmer. "There's much bigger issues that need to be dealt with — with Maxxam and old-growth logging. ...If you look at Fern Gully and Nanning Creek (the Bonanza timber harvest plan), there's hundreds of old growth acres still standing whose fate is unclear."

Shag put it more bluntly: "If [Miller] knew Shunka and wanted to get the money to North Coast Earth First! Media, she should've given it to Shunka. But if she was trying to get it to treesits and forest defense, then the money went to the right place.

"My problem is this whole representation thing. There's people in the trees — how do you know who to get the money to, to help them?"

Shunka knows that a lot of fellow activists aren't happy with his role in the donation dispute. He also knows how some people talk about him and say he's hard to get along with. "I'm just standing up for the truth," he said. "And people don't like it. To me, it feels like a small clique of people who don't like me. I feel a lot of love and support in this community."

He certainly doesn't come off right away as someone who's angry, or who lashes out, or who locks the office and doesn't let people in. Why, recently, he helped a young woman hook up with the treesitters so she could learn the ropes. (Shaggy said that's proof Shunka doesn't have direct connections with the people doing direct action; but you can't deny it's a connection.)

It's probably a bad idea to ask Darryl Cherney, one of the founders of the local Earth First! movement, what he thinks of Shunka Wakan, whose real name is Jason Wilson. (Shunka tells a story of how he was named by a Lakota medicine man on the banks of the Cheyenne River in South Dakota in 1995. "Shunka Wakan," meaning "great dog," is only part of it. There's a secret part after that — altogether, his name means "the humble man called horse.")

"Shunka's a wingnut," Cherney said over the phone last Friday, sounding cheerfully vitriolic. "I have a 10-verse song about Shunka."

Here are the last few verses:

Who's at the co-op spanging a donation
Shunka, Shunka
Who's got a lawsuit 'gainst the Trees Foundation
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka
Who's gonna keep on fighting the fight
Shunka, Shunka
With four of his friends at swimmers delight
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka (Shunka voice: It's the last of the revolution)

There's no other word for it but "mean." But Cherney and Shunka have history — not all of it sour. Cherney said Shunka laughed when he heard the song, at least the first time.

"I met Shunka in 1998," Cherney said. "And I know he knew Julia ["Butterfly" Hill, whom Shunka had come west to find]. That was a good thing, helping Julia. That was good Shunka."

Cherney had even pushed for Shunka to go to Houston to talk with Charles Hurwitz, whose Maxxam Corp. bought out the old Pacific Lumber company back in 1985 and quickly became the forest activists' number one villain. Shunka went.

But now? "The current status of Shunka and me," Cherney said, "is that Shunka has sent me five or eight or nine e-mails threatening to sue me. Shunka is a joke."

Cherney can talk for hours about the problems he's had with Shunka over the years. His main point, though, is what has Shunka done for the trees lately?

"My question is, where's your topo maps?" he asked. "Where's your wilderness preservation proposal? Where's your lobbyist team in Sacramento?"

It has to be that, on some level, even the people in the movement who don't like Shunka understand somewhat where he's coming from. So he's emotional. Passionate. Perhaps he's caught up so completely in the cause he can't let go. Or, who knows — maybe he's a phony, like he accused Knipper of being back in 2005.

But being a forest activist comes with perils beyond the obvious physical ones.

"I'm really trying to have compassion for Shunka, even though he's kind of attacked us," said Susy Barsotti by phone from Laytonville a couple of weeks ago. Barsotti is president of the Trees Foundation board, and she says the lawsuit has held Trees hostage, unable to function fully. "I've been mystified and dismayed that he's participated like this in the suit. But Shunka witnessed Gypsy's death. And I think he may have post-traumatic stress syndrome. I don't think he's recovered from it. And that can affect your behavior."

A number of people mentioned this, actually, about Shunka. And he often refers to Gypsy's death himself. In an article titled "What Luna has taught me," posted on the website of Julia "Butterfly" Hill's organization, Circle of Life, Shunka writes: "I decided to commit to doing ground support after witnessing the death of David Nathan "Gypsy" Chain on September 17, 1998 ... I remember looking across the valley as we hiked up that day, seeing the rolling hills of forests and clear-cuts, and thinking out loud, "That's why we're here!" Seeing Gypsy's life taken from him, and then seeing the corruption and lies of the Humboldt County Sheriffs ... really opened my eyes to the situation our old-growth forests face."

Later, he did ground support for Hill in her second year in Luna. And in the same article on her website, something else Shunka writes indicates how ready he was to devote himself to a cause: "Being on the support team was the top priority in my life, and I was happy knowing that everything else revolved around when I'd be needed for the next supply run. I never felt lost because I knew what I was doing. That was a feeling I had not felt in years, between feeling dissatisfaction with life in college, and then more dissatisfaction with life as a minimum-wage worker after college. Before joining Julia's ground support team I was unhappy, even to the point of tears, wondering if my entire life was going to be a minimum-wage nightmare ...."

Pure devotion, without benefit of a little hypocrisy, could drive anyone batty. Deane Rimerman, the activist from Olympia who said it is Shunka who is on trial, said it's not uncommon for intense, stressful movements like Earth First! to produce an army of walking wounded. And he's been around, in forest actions up and down the coast, for long enough to know; he was the one, in fact, who "got the maps and led the first hikers up to the hill" to the Gypsy Mountain campaign and Luna treesit.

"In the forest activist movement, there's very little that's rewarding," Rimerman said. "There's a lot of post traumatic stress syndrome. All of us get it. Once you've been through the court process, and the jail process, and seen 1,000-year-old trees get cut down that you really cared about and thought you could save — it's devastating."

That alone, setting aside the troubles with Shunka, could explain the many rifts that have occurred within the local EF! ranks over the years. Josh Brown, who moved to Humboldt in 1995 right before the peak of the Headwaters campaign, said one of the unique qualities of Earth First! is that it "is primarily a youth movement."

"A lot of people that come through are young, are passionate — and it's a wonderful thing," he said. They get thrown into leadership positions quickly — and then they get burned out. Many move quickly on to other things. Brown stayed in longer than most. "When I left [in 2001], I was 30 years old. And I'd been a full-time activist since I was 18."

Paradoxically, said Brown, the youthful draw and the departure of seasoned activists leaves the movement with "no elders to kind of sit around and coach the [new kids]."

The movement also draws strong personalities, he said. Tenacious ones, too, like Shunka's.

"Shunka, I think he really does have a big heart," said Brown. "And I think he does care for the forest."

Last Friday, following the morning session of Miller v. Trees, a group of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association activists stood on the courthouse steps talking. The door opened, and Shunka walked out and down the steps toward the group. They didn't greet him. After a time, he tried to talk to one of them, Jeff. Jeff walked away. Shunka followed him, then stopped and talked to another guy. Then he stood alone again.

From: northcoastjournal.com/101107/...011.html

"Trees Foundation Wins"

October 11th, 2007

The jury in the civil case Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation decided in favor of Trees, after deliberating all day Tuesday. (See "Money on Trees," Oct. 4).

Miller is the long-time forest activist who inherited a bundle from her mother and then signed $185,000 over to the Trees Foundation. In her lawsuit, she claimed she had intended the money to be passed through Trees to one of its affiliates, North Coast Earth First! Media, run by Shunka Wakan. She claimed she had made her intentions clear, verbally and in writing, and that Trees had agreed to the conditions, then broken its promise and kept the money. Trees denied making such promises, and said it had never seen any letters or heard of instructions to give the money to NCEF! Media. (Also, somewhat relatedly, in criminal court on Tuesday Miller pleaded no contest to charges that she had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation.)

So, that's that. Now, there are only the pieces to pick up.

For Shunka Wakan — featured in last week's Journal as a central figure in a messy nest of infighting that has fractured the current ranks of local Earth First!ians — it could be a long, lonely patching together of lost friends and broken alliances. Not only did he and Miller lose their attempt to retrieve her donation, but now he's been banned from the North Coast Co-op.

Yes, that happened last week. It was Thursday, around 4:15 in the evening, and two activists with the Humboldt Forest Defense Association were tabling — hawking brochures and such — outside the Co-op. It's an activity Shunka himself has spent many a day doing in that very same spot, raising cash to pay for his NCEF!Media outreach work and other causes. And, well, these two fellows, Jeff and Farmer, were on Shunka's shit list, now. They'd spoken gently, but unfavorably, about Shunka's doings in the North Coast Earth First! arena — said he lashed out at people, said he commandeered NCEF! resources, and so forth. Here's a snippet of Jeff's account of what happened, which he sent to the NCJ in an e-mail on Friday:

"Shunka was removed from the Arcata Co-op yesterday after a scuffle with myself and another activist around 5 p.m. Well, he wasn't exactly removed, but APD was called. He was asked to leave after threatening to flip over the HFD donation table while stating he was 'like Jesus in the marketplace ...'"

Sue Coulter, manager of the Arcata Co-op, recounted on Friday how an employee walking by heard the argument and went inside to get her. "So I went out to talk to [Shunka], because it's not the first time we've had problems," she said. "Most of the time, he's fine. Most of the time, I stick up for him." One time, she said, she even called the police to protect Shunka after someone had threatened him. "But he gets into arguments. I tried to talk to him. I told him to leave. ... He was causing a scene, right by the door, and I can't have it. He refused to leave. ... I said, fine. I went into the store. He followed me into the store, and he was still yelling at me, 'Oh, now you're going to call the police on me.'" Coulter called the police, but Shunka left before they arrived.

Shunka, waiting in the courthouse for the jury verdict Tuesday, said Coulter did indeed ask him to leave and he did, indeed, refuse to. As for the HFD tablers, he said he merely asked them why they had Trees Foundation literature on their table. "I said, 'Why do you want to represent these people?'" And then, he said, "Jeff accused me of embezzling — he said this in public. He said, 'You've embezzled thousands of dollars from the Earth First! movement through the years.' And I complained to one of the employees who was walking by. Because that's serious, accusing someone of embezzling."

But Shunka said the whole thing's yet another attack on him. "I don't consider I was yelling. We were talking. I'm an emotional person, I concede to that. I speak from my heart. I don't scream at people. I would love to — but I don't."

In his email, Jeff with HFD predicted Shunka would leave town within weeks, if not sooner. But at the courthouse, even before the verdict, Shunka said he wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm just going to continue to run the Earth First! office and continue to call Humboldt County home," he said. He's also going to write a letter to the Co-op, complaining about how he gets scapegoated and booted out of there even when other people, he says, are the culprits. And, as for the Miller v. Trees case, he said, he and Miller may now take their complaint to another venue.

-- Heidi Walters

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posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 0 replies

"Too Much Stuff"

Margi — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:44:12 GMT

Please join my new tribe, "Too Much Stuff" about our relationships to material possessions, how we think about them, how we justify them, The pros and cons of hoarding vs. getting rid of them, etc., anything relating to our "stuff". Here is the URL:

tribes.tribe.net/asceticsandpackrats

Thanks!
Margi
Moderator of "Too Much Stuff" tribe

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 0 replies

Fall Ecology and Harvest: An Intergenerational Exploration

nathaniel — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 02:50:28 GMT

Scholarship and Worktrade available. Please call 541 937-2567 ext.116 or email nature@lostvalley.org for more information.

October 13-14, 2007 (Saturday-Sunday)
at Lost Valley Educational Center, Dexter, OR

We invite people ages 12 through 112 to join us to learn about fall ecology, indigenous tradition, and the harvest season here in the western Cascade foothills. Throughout this weekend of presentations, discussions, and activities, we'll explore how we can learn from one another and pass ecological wisdom and insights back and forth between generations. The schedule (subject to change) is as follows:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 morning: indigenous traditions and their modern applications
9-9:30 am: introduction/welcome circle
9:30-10:30 am: Esther Stutzman (Kalapuyan storyteller)
10:40-11:30 am: presentation and discussion circle featuring Bill Burwell (Kalapuya researcher), Jerry Hall (ethnobotanist, Lane Community College), Dharmika Henschel (ethnobotanist/musician), Jude Hobbs (Permaculture teacher and designer, Agroecology Northwest), and Rick Valley (Lost Valley land steward, Permaculture teacher and designer)
11:30 am-12:10 pm: break-out groups
12:10-12:30 pm: concluding morning circle
12:30-1:30 pm: lunch

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 afternoon and evening: seasonal harvest activities, ecological restoration, ecovillage development, youth initiatives, and bioregional culture
2-4:30 pm: tour (Rick Valley) and hands-on harvest- and land-related activities
4:45-5:45 pm: Alison Rosenblatt (NextGEN--Global Ecovillage Network)
6-7 pm: dinner
7:30 pm on: music (Dharmika Henschel and others), sharing circle about traditional seasonal celebrations, stories, poems, networking

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14 morning: school gardening, youth, and horticultural exploration
7:30-8:30 am: breakfast
9-9:30 am: morning welcome circle
9:30-9:50 am: Sharon Blick (former director, School Garden Project)
9:50-10:10 am: Jen Anonia (Food for Lane County Gardens Program Manager)
10:10-10:30 am: Heiko Koester (Permacultural landscaper, Eugene Permaculture Guild)
10:40-11:20 am: Sarah Kleeger and Andrew Still (Seed Ambassadors Project)
11:30 am-12:30 pm: discussion
12:30-1:30 pm: lunch

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14 afternoon: autumn ecology and ethnobotany
2-4:15 pm: talks and walks with Dave Kofranek (lichenologist), Tobias Policha (ethnobotanist, Institute of Contemporary Ethnobotany), Heiko Koester, and others
4:30-5:30 pm: closing circle

Conference registration fees, including four organic vegetarian meals, are $105 for students 12 and above, $135 for non-students. Overnight lodging ($30) and camping ($10) are also available. We are offering a $10 discount/rebate from your registration fee for each paying registrant who first heard about the event through you, or who cites you as his or her primary influence in considering attending. A limited number of worktrade scholarships are available (for an application, follow the link within the online registration form at www.lostvalley.org/fallecology/registration). If space allows, we will also accept single-day attendees for $80 Saturday only, $65 Sunday only (or, for students, $65 Saturday only, $50 Sunday only.) See www.lostvalley.org/fallecology for updated event details, or contact Fall Ecology and Harvest Event, 81868 Lost Valley Lane, Dexter, OR 97431, (541) 937-2567 x116, nature AT lostvalley.org.

brochure: www.lostvalley.org/files/Fall%20Ecology%20and%20Harvest%20brochure.pdf
poster: www.lostvalley.org/files/Fall%20Ecology%20and%20Harvest%20poster.pdf

Cosponsors:
Lost Valley Nature Center
Lost Valley Educational Center’s 87 acres include oak savanna, natural meadow, stream and riparian areas, ponds, extensive forest lands in various states of maturity, gardens and orchards. Our diverse habitats and several miles of nature trails offer unique environmental education opportunities. Lost Valley Nature Center sponsors walks and public events (like May’s Native Plants and Permaculture Gathering) to help nature-lovers learn from the land and from one another.

NextGEN
NextGEN is a global network organized by young adults concerned with issues of sustainability. We hope to inspire you with examples of viable and positive choices for the future. We offer opportunities for action through conferences, educational workshops, and direct experience in communities. Our international support network develops connections among activists and encourages resource sharing.

Excerpts from May’s Native Plants and Permaculture Conference Proceedings:

Bill Burwell: At the start of each harvest season the Kalapuyans would have a first gathering ceremony. The spiritual leader of each winter village site would harvest a few articles of each resource, bring it back, prepare it in a ceremonial way, bless the plants or animals that were responsible, and then the regular harvest could begin. The first gathering ceremony was very important to them, and it was practiced all throughout the Kalapuya culture, religiously. Their belief was that all plants and animals, including humans, were part of the same format. As above, so below. Just like humans, plants and all animals had families, and then beyond the families they had communities.

There’s one word I know of that was utilized all the way up and down the Willamette Valley, the lower Columbia, and into the Salish area in Washington: Tamanawas. It’s been translated as spirit power. People who went out on a vision quest were looking for their Tamanawas. I think what it really related to was a person’s ability to interconnect with all the rest of nature. I’ve collected a number of tales of the people going out into the woods to find a particular medicine, and their ability to find this medicine came from the ability to plug into that certain plant and interact with it. The plant actually was the teacher of the person who was going out on the search.

Jerry Hall: When we started learning our language, songs began coming to us. There is the belief that songs are just in the ether or in the air, and they select somebody to come to at a time in that person’s life. … My experience is that singing evokes something from us that is beyond talking and gives expression to prayer.

I feel that nature is really part of the home and that people related that way five hundred years ago. People knew where everything was and they took care of it.

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 0 replies

God sued over pestilence and terror

janathemama — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:43:40 GMT

-now how about that for fine example of complicating life!

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20070919/tod-us-justice-religion-offbeat-f62056d_1.html

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 9 replies

Have you ever tried it barefoot?

Andy — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 17:21:49 GMT

“Some people (often calling themselves "barefooters") enjoy the sensation of their feet in direct contact with the ground and make an effort to go barefoot whenever possible. People who self-identify as "barefooters" tend to be those living in developed countries where going barefoot becomes a symbol of freedom and health among other things. In developing countries, going barefoot is not regarded as status symbol as it is in the west. (From: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

I’m used to a life on bare soles: I haven’t worn shoes since December 2000 (with a few exceptions!) and I don’t think I’ll EVER imprison my feet again! I’ve been walking barefoot since my schooldays, but not every day, not everywhere… It was a winter morning back in 2000, just after Christmas: I was ready to board my flight to India. My feet were already bare while I was waiting for the train which would take me to the airport. The air was a bit chilly, and I noticed a couple of people staring at my feet, obviously unable to believe what they saw: A pair of bare feet, decorated with a leather-anklet and a shiny little toering… I didn’t know that I was about to leave Europe for good, returning only occasionally for short visits. But I was ready for the big adventure: Spending many month on the road, exploring almost every nook and corner of India on my bare soles – from Kanyakumari to Gangtok and from Gujarat to West Bengal… It was SO much fun! I didn’t even carry any shoes in my backpack, and soon, my soles were tough as leather! Finally, the unexpected happened: I managed to settle down in India! I’ve been able to live my life barefoot ever since…

Summertime in India means: HEAT! Scorching heat… Come in April, May or June and you’ll realize what it means if the mercury crosses the 45° C mark! But if you’re visiting Delhi and North India in December or January, you’ll be surprised how chilly it gets: 0° C aren’t really exceptional! These are the conditions my bare feet have to cope with! Hot tarmac in June, chilly mornings in January… Plus: Sharp-edged gravel, thorny weed, little pieces of glass… Rock-climbing, day-long hikes in the Himalayas (I’m travelling A LOT!)… But no matter what: I’m ALWAYS barefoot. All-year-round, wherever I go, whatever I do. Most of my friends have never seen me wearing shoes…

I know: It sounds strange, at least if you’re new to the whole idea! Living barefoot - the mere thought might actually scare you… Maybe you’ll even think: That guy is weird! But giving it a second thought you might get inspired! Inspiring you to give it a try, to experience the joys and the freedom of travelling - and living - barefoot - that’s why I’m sharing my experience with you!

First of all: Don’t worry about my feet! My soles got tough over the years – VERY tough! Even I’m sometimes surprised HOW tough they got! It’s the natural result of a barefoot life in India… For those of you being concerned about health issues: I’m living barefoot for more than six years now, and I didn’t face ANY problem – except having to remove a little thorn from time to time, but even that happens rarely!

But the question remains: WHY? A question I’ve heard a thousand times. Well, it’s not a kind of “fashion statement”… Yes: There are quite a few “barefoot celebrities! Model Travis Fimmel not only does most of his modeling in bare feet, but says he goes barefoot almost exclusively. Singer Henry Rollins often performs barefoot on stage. Lenny Kravitz has said he feels no need to wear shoes or socks. Richard Ashcroft appeared barefoot on stage at Live8. Actor Sean Astin arrived at a film premiere in bare feet. Julia Roberts is known as a person who loves to be barefoot. She has appeared barefoot in several of her movies. Liv Tyler, Nicole Kidman and Cameron Diaz have walked barefoot on the red carpet at their own movie-premieres. Pamela Anderson is often seen in magazines, walking around barefoot in her hometown. Shakira is often barefoot on stage, as well as in her music videos. Deana Carter performs barefoot. Same with Joss Stone, Kelly Clarkson, Mandy Moore… Britney Spears gained some notoriety by going barefoot into a public restroom. She has since frequently been seen going barefoot. Designer Genevieve Gorder almost always went barefoot during the series “Trading Spaces” on TLC. Zola Budd often ran barefoot in competition… No doubt: Barefoot is “in”! But if it comes to ME: It’s not important that wearing no shoes is fashionable! I’ve different reasons for “keeping ‘em bare”…

Walking barefoot is AMAZING!!! If you’re barefoot you’re able to FEEL the ground! Would you wear gloves all-year-round? Nopes! So: Why shoes? Being in touch with Mother Earth, letting the energy flow freely isn’t that bad, after all… Right? Plus: It’s very refreshing and stimulating (ever heard about the reflex zones in our feet?)! Join me for a rather longish hike, preferably in the mountains, and let’s see who gets tired first! Walking barefoot is stimulating: In every sense! There’s more: The ecological impact is far less dramatic (erosion!) if you’re hiking in a natural environment (ever thought about what your heavy hiking boots do to the ecosystem?). It’s also communicative to a degree you wouldn’t expect: Travelling a lot I’ve made more than one friend explaining WHY I’m roaming around barefoot! Somehow you’re more defensive, less aggressive if barefoot… There are many aspects, but what really counts is the sensual factor: The “barefoot feeling”! It’s not only about feeling the ground beneath our soles, every change in texture or temperature, the difference between lawn and concrete, tar and marble, but also about feeling free – in many ways! If you don’t know what I mean: Leave your shoes at home and experience the freedom, the freshness, the air touching every inch of your feet… Try it once and you’ll never want to wear those “little prisons” again!

INDIA – it still means: Bare feet EVERYWHERE, especially in rural areas and the South, but also in cities and parts of the North! And I don’t think that will change within a lifetime! Half of the people in my neighbourhood (a typical “mixed area” with modern houses and traditional enclaves side-by-side) are barefoot throughout the year! Dusty bare feet, immune to the heat of summer, to sharp gravel and other hazards are a common sight, so common that you’ll hardly notice them anymore after a month or so. It’s true: I’m still getting attention for my lack of footwear, but not because I’m barefoot but because I’m a FOREIGNER (“ferengi”) who is barefoot! And reactions are almost always positive…

I’ve met people (online, not on the road!!!) trying to convince me that my barefoot lifestyle is actually “offensive” IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT. My habit of walking barefoot is “a sign of disrespect” considering that I’m obviously able to “afford shoes” – that’s how they argue… Well, I feel: THAT’S CRAP! I don’t think my Indian neighbours are walking barefoot ‘cause they can’t AFFORD shoes: Flip flops are available for less than 1 Euro, means buying a pair isn’t a big deal, except for someone who’s virtually penniless. If those 50 Rupees would really matter - well, in that case you wouldn’t see people riding their bicycle barefoot! But there are many… My impression: It’s not about poverty, many Indians feel it’s UNNECESSARY to imprison their feet! It’s their CHOICE to live without shoes! They opt for a barefoot life ‘cause they feel more comfortable, consider the therapeutical aspects (high blood pressure, reflex zones…) or simply don’t see a point in using a few straps of leather or plastic to confine their feet. And some have spiritual reasons too… Let me remind you what M.F. Hussain, India’s celebrated modern painter (a multimillionaire – crorepati!) says about his OWN habit of going barefoot EVERYWHERE: “It started for purely health reasons. As acupressure is great for the feet I opted out of footwear. And as a result even today I can sit for long hours on the floor .It is almost 40 years now that I am barefoot. Earlier people laughed. Now they have accepted me as I am. I even go to Parliament without shoes. In fact in our country removing your footwear is a mark of respect. Be it at home or a place of worship we go in barefoot.”. I mentioned it before: In India itself I’m hardly encountering ANY negative reaction! People are only curious if they see a foreigner strolling around barefoot. Some ARE concerned, but only because they think I’m not experienced enough! It’s not that difficult to convince them…

Living barefoot 24/7/365 I’m spending lot’s of time travelling, and I’m ALWAYS travelling barefoot. It’s an exciting experience to roam around without any footwear in my backpack, trusting in my leather-like soles toughened over many years. Let me share my latest experience…

Four weeks ago: It’s time for my annual trip to Europe! I’m leaving Bangalore early in the morning (at 6 am), happy to escape the South Indian monsoon – which wasn’t really impressive so far, but things might change! My flight with Gulf Air involves a 24 hours stopover in Muscat, Oman. I’m boarding the flight barefoot – as usual and without the slightest problem. Arriving in Muscat, I’m told that passengers are entitled to stay at the Holiday Inn for free (transfer and meals included!). Leaving my luggage in the room, I’m spending the whole day (from 9:30 am to 8 pm) in Muscat. Exploring Old Muscat with the palace and several forts is interesting, but the real fun starts in Muthra: The harbour and bazaar are waiting for me, a maze of alleys and shops, bustling with vendors, locals and a few foreign tourists. It’s a hot day with temperatures well above 40° C, but I’m used to the South Indian summer – and so are my tough soles! Many shops in Muthra are owned by Indians, Pakistanis or Bangladeshis. They’re a friendly bunch, well-versed in English and always curious to know why I’m wearing no shoes – and how I can possibly stand the hot tarmac! Passing by a cyber-café, I’m invited to rest a while, enjoying the – quite effective – AC. The next 10 minutes or so I’m busy to explain the young owner from North India why it is so much fun to walk barefoot in the streets of Muscat. Soon, the whole staff gathers around us, listening to his translation and asking additional questions… Only 20 minutes later: A fruit- and vegetable vendor from Bangladesh asks me: “How do you manage to be barefoot? It is SO HOT outside! He serves me a Mountain Dew while I’m convincing him that neither the heat nor little pieces of glass etc. are a serious threat for me – not after having spent more than six years on bare soles! He smiles, replying “you’re a tough man” – and wishes me all the best. Some people I meet are so curious that they ask me to show them my ultra-tough soles, and a young lad (chatting with a group of guys in their late teens) even pinches the leather-like skin …

Roaming around barefoot, living, hiking and travelling barefoot is an all-round experience. It’s VERY communicative – and a good way to make new friends! Try it yourself! Free your feet and keep ‘em bare!

If you want to read more about me and my life on bare soles or if you’re looking for other like-minded souls, check my Yahoo-Group “The Barefoot Traveller’s Tepee”! More than 800 members from different corners of the world, the largest online-collection of barefoot-links and a huge photo-section are waiting for you!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/barefoottravelling/

Keep ‘em bare!

Barefoot Traveller

barefootingindia@yahoo.co.in

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 5 replies

are cell phones bad?

anita — Thu, 01 Jul 2004 05:49:03 GMT

so i finally broke down and bought a cell phone. but i'm having trouble using it. everywhere i look around i see people on their phones. on the one hand, you can bring the people you love with you as you move around the world. but on the other hand, you miss what's right in front of you. you expose yourself to eavesdropping passersby. you make noise in places that would otherwise be quieter. this morning, i had a tense conversation with my mother in the lobby of the building where i work. weird experience the looks i got as people overheard fragments.

i'd love to hear other people's thoughts/feelings...

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 15 replies

Favorite Quotes

shaneanthony — Wed, 27 Jul 2005 15:54:44 GMT

"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone." (Thoreau.)

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 9 replies

Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment

sushil — Sun, 06 May 2007 14:25:14 GMT

[b]The link between Mind and Social / Environmental-Issues. [/b]

The fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle of Industrial Society is causing exponential rise in psychological problems besides destroying the environment. All issues are interlinked. Our Minds cannot be peaceful when attention-spans are down to nanoseconds, microseconds and milliseconds. Our Minds cannot be peaceful if we destroy Nature.

[b]Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment. [/b]

Subject : In a fast society slow emotions become extinct.
Subject : A thinking mind cannot feel.
Subject : Scientific/ Industrial/ Financial thinking destroys the planet.
Subject : Environment can never be saved as long as cities exist.

Emotion is what we experience during gaps in our thinking.

If there are no gaps there is no emotion.

Today people are thinking all the time and are mistaking thought (words/ language) for emotion.

When society switches-over from physical work (agriculture) to mental work (scientific/ industrial/ financial/ fast visuals/ fast words ) the speed of thinking keeps on accelerating and the gaps between thinking go on decreasing.

There comes a time when there are almost no gaps.

People become incapable of experiencing/ tolerating gaps.

Emotion ends.

Man becomes machine.

A society that speeds up mentally experiences every mental slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety.

A ( travelling )society that speeds up physically experiences every physical slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety.

A society that entertains itself daily experiences every non-entertaining moment as Depression / Anxiety.

[b]Fast visuals/ words make slow emotions extinct.

Scientific/ Industrial/ Financial thinking destroys emotional circuits.

A fast (large) society cannot feel pain / remorse / empathy.

A fast (large) society will always be cruel to Animals/ Trees/ Air/ Water/ Land and to Itself. [/b]

I am trying to get the following experiment conducted in a psychophysiology/ bio-chemistry laboratory.

There is a link between visual / verbal speed ( in perception, memory,
imagery ) and the bio-chemical state of the brain and the body.

Emotion can intensify / sustain only when visual and verbal processing
associated with the emotion slows down ( stops / freezes ).

The degree of difficulty of an emotion depends upon the degree of
freezing (of visuals and words ) required to intensify and sustain that
particular emotion.

Experiment:

Subjects (preferably actors specialising in tragedy / tragic roles )
will be asked to watch a silent video film showing any of the
following:-

(1) Human suffering.
(2) Animal suffering.
(3) Suffering ( Destruction ) of Air / Water / Land / Trees.

Subjects will be asked to intensify and sustain the subjective feeling of pain/ grief for the sufferer.

The chemical changes associated with the emotion in the body(blood) would be measured by appropriate methods.

The silent video film will be shown at different speeds :
(1) 125% of actual speed.
(2) Actual/real speed.
(3) 75% of actual speed.
(4) 50% of actual speed.
(5) 25% of actual speed.

Results :

(1) Intensity of emotion increases with the decrease in visual speed.
(2) Intensity of emotion is maximum when visual speed is minimum (25%
of actual speed)
(3) The amount of chemical change associated with the emotion in the
body(blood) will be found to increase with the decrease in visual speed.
(4) The chemical change is maximum when visual speed is minimum.
(5) The amount of chemical change will increase with the decrease in
breathing rate. Breathing becomes so slow and non-rhythmic that it stops
for some time at the inhalation/ exhalation stages.

The above co-relations will be valid for all subjects -even for those who cannot feel pain/ grief. Such subjects will experience emotion associated with boredom/ discomfort/ restlessness/ irritability/ uneasiness. The chemicals released will be different but the co-relation between visual speed and amount of chemical will be same( the breathing rates will be different/ fast). All subjects will experience some kind of emotion.

[If scientists can discover 4000 different chemicals in cigarette-smoke then they can certainly detect the few chemicals released in blood when weexperience higher-level emotions like pain, empathy, compassion, remorse etc… ]

In the 2nd stage of experiment we shall replace the silent video film with a Narrator ( Audio only ) and repeat the procedure thereby establishing the link between intensity of emotion and verbal speed. The narrator will slow down verbal speed by-- speaking slowly, stretching words, repetition of words/ sentences & making use of
pause/ silence between words.

Please note:
(1) A thinking mind cannot intensify / sustain any emotion.
While this statement is generally true for all emotions, it is particularly true for all painful emotions.

(2) Pain / remorse / empathy cannot be experienced in a society in which visual (verbal) speed and breathing- rates are fast . It is impossible.

PROOF.
Proof of the link between pain and slow visuals / words :-

In the last century man has made thousands of movies / films on various
themes / subjects. Whenever pain / tragedy is shown in any film the
visuals ( scenes ) and words ( dialogues ) are always slowed down. In
many films tragedy is shown in slow motion. At the most intense moment
of pain the films almost become static / stationary.

Tragedy-films provide direct proof / evidence of the link between pain
and slowness.

Pain can intensify / sustain only when visual ( and verbal ) speed slows
down( stops/ freezes).

[b]Change in visual speed over the years. [/b]

One thousand years ago visuals would change only when man physically
moved himself to a new place or when other people ( animals / birds )
and objects ( clouds / water ) physically moved themselves before him.

Today man sits in front of TV / Computer and watches the rapidly
changing visuals / audio.

He sits in a vehicle ( car / train / bus ) and as it moves he watches
the rapidly changing visuals.

He turns the pages of a book / newspaper / magazine and sees many
visuals / text in a short span.

[b]Change in verbal speed over the years. [/b]

In ancient times verbal processing was “live” in nature—ie it happened when people actually spoke.
Today there is non-stop verbal processing inside the mind through print and electronic media ( newspapers, books, magazines, radio, television, computer etc…) as a result of which the verbal content & speed has increased thousands of times.

The speed of visuals ( and words ) has increased so much during the last
one hundred years that today the human brain has become incapable of
focussing on slow visuals /words through perception, memory, imagery.

If we cannot focus on slow visuals / words we cannot experience emotions associated with slow visuals /words.

Before the advent of Industrial Revolution Man's thinking was primarily
limited to :

(a) visual processing ( slow visuals )
(b) verbal / language processing ( slow words )

Today there are many kinds of fast thinking :

(1) visual processing ( fast visuals )
(2) verbal / language processing ( fast words )
(3) Scientific / Technical thinking ( fast )
(4) Industrial thinking ( fast )
(5) Business thinking ( fast )

(3), (4) & (5) are associated with Numbers / Symbols / Equations /
Graphs /Circuits / Diagrams / Money / Accounting etc…

As long as the mind is doing this kind of thinking it cannot feel any
emotion - not an iota of emotion.

In a fast society slow emotions become extinct.
In a thinking ( scientific / industrial ) society emotion itself becomes extinct.

Emotion is what remains in the mind when visual/ verbal processing slows down (stops/ freezes)

There are certain categories of people who feel more emotion (subjective experience ) than others.

If we attempt to understand why (and how ) they feel more emotion we can learn a lot about emotion.

Writers, poets, actors, painters ( and other artists )

[b]Writers [/b]
Writers do verbal ( and associated visual) processing whole day- every day.
They do slow verbal ( and associated visual) processing every day.
(A novel that we read in 2 hours might have taken 2 years to write. This is also the reason why the reader can never feel the intensity & duration of emotion experienced by the writer )

[b]Poets [/b]
Poets do verbal ( and associated visual ) processing whole day- every day. There is more emotion in poetry than in prose. This happens because there are very few words ( and associated visuals ) in poetry than in any other kind of writing. There is a very high degree of freezing / slowing down of visuals & words in poetry.

[b]Actors [/b]
Actors do verbal ( and associated visual ) processing whole day- every day. During shooting / rehearsal they repeat the dialogues ( words ) again and again ( the associated visuals / scenes also get repeated along with the dialogues )

[b]Painters [/b]
Painters do visual ( and associated verbal ) processing whole day- every day. They do extremely slow visual processing - The visual on the canvas changes only when the painter adds to what already exists on the canvas.

There are some important points to be noted :

All these people do visual & verbal processing - whole day - every day.
They do slow visual & verbal processing.
They do not do scientific / industrial / business processing whole day - every day.

Most of the city people doing mental work either do this kind of mental processing which is associated with Numbers / Symbols/ Equations / Graphs / Circuits / Diagrams / Money / Accounting etc… or they do fast visual ( verbal ) processing whole day - every day.

This kind of thinking ( processing ) has come into existence only during the last 200 years and has destroyed our emotional ability ( circuits ).

Once we speed up our minds we become incapable of slowing down [it would take years of effort to slow down]. One can understand it this way - A supercomputer cannot process at the rate of an ordinary computer. Once we speed up [and we have been speeding up for several generations now] we cannot slow down because the neural circuits get altered - the bio-chemistry of the brain and its anatomy changes.

[b]Self-Assessment of ( subjective ) intensity of emotion is almost always wrong. [/b]

Suppose the maximum intensity(and duration) of a particular emotion that
can be experienced by any human being is 100 units.

Let us suppose the maximum intensity(and duration) of that particular emotion ever
experienced by two people A & B in their entire life is :
A - 100units
B - 20 units

Now suppose A & B are made subjects on a particular day and are asked
to feel that particular emotion under experimental conditions ( or
outside the laboratory ) and the intensity &duration they actually experience is :

A - 90 units
B - 18 units

If A & B are then asked to indicate the intensity &duration of emotion on a scale
of 0 -10 their response is likely to be ;

A - 9
B - 9

Who is right and who is wrong ?
A is right.
B is wrong - B is wrong by a wide margin - B has experienced an
intensity(and duration) of 18 units out of a maximum of 100 units and his correct / actual score should be 1.8

Self- assessment ( self rating ) can be accurate only if people have
the capacity to experience the highest intensity &duration ( units ) of the
particular emotion under study.

In small(slow)agriculture-based societies the mind used to experience a state of emotion all the time because of physical work and slow visual/verbal processing . People who do physical work experience the same good subjective-feeling which is experienced by people who do physical excercise. [People who do physical work also sleep much better than people who do mental work - the quality of sleep is much better]. If we read one thousand-year-old literature we will not come across the term "boredom" - the concept of boredom did not exist in slow societies. There were long gaps between different visuals and between words/ sentences - and people had the ability to experience/ tolerate the gaps - it was normal for them.

Emotion can intensify / sustain only when visual / verbal processing slows down ( stops / freezes ). In an Industrial (thinking) society people experience very little emotion because of fast ( visual / verbal / scientific / industrial / business ) thinking.

Suppose the maximum intensity and duration of a particular emotion ( for most people ) in a fast society has reduced to 5 units ( from 100 units that people used to experience in earlier /slower societies ).

If such people experience 4 units of emotion they will give themselves a
rating /score of 8 on a scale of 0-10 whereas their actual score should
be 0.4

[Please note :
Fast emotions =emotions associated with fast visuals/fast words/fast breathing/fast heart-rate.
Slow emotions=emotions associated with slow visuals/slow words/slow breathing/slow heart-rate.
Rate of thinking=number of visuals/words processed per minute.
Gaps between thinking =gaps between visuals/ words/ sentences.]

Thoughts and Emotions are interlinked - but different things - totally/ completly different.

Words can be spoken - words can be read - words can be heard.

Emotion is a subjective-experience. Other examples of subjective experience are taste, smell, touch, headache, stomach pain.

One can understand the difference this way :

When we eat an apple we can feel the taste of apple. Apple can give us the taste of apple - but apple is not taste.

If we pour apple juice into a glass - the glass will not feel the taste - it does not have the ability to feel taste.

If a person eats an apple he will feel the taste - because he has the ability to generate taste from apple.

Words/ Visuals can evoke, intensify and sustain emotions - but words/ visuals are not emotions.

In every field there is easy work/activity and difficult work/activity.

In mathematics there is easy mathematics and difficult mathematics. Everyone can add 2+4 within microseconds. A PhD level problem of mathematics would take hours [or more] to solve - and that too only by someone who has spent 20 - 25 years learning mathematics upto PhD level.

Same way in the field of emotions there are easy emotions and difficult emotions. Easy emotions are evoked within nanoseconds, microseconds and milliseconds - anger, lust, fear, pleasure, entertainment and excitement are some examples. These emotions are associated with fast breathing and heart-rate. These emotions don"t require gaps between thinking to evoke, intensify and sustain. These are the emotions that can be found everywhere in today's fast society.

Then there are difficult emotions - which require ability and years of effort to develop - emotions associated with pain, compassion and peaceful states of mind are some examples. These emotions are associated with slow breathing and heart-rate. These emotions require freezing of thought - freezing of visuals and words - huge amounts of gaps between thinking - to evoke, intensify and sustain.

The experiments I have proposed are primarily meant for those people who understand only the language of science. We don't need experiments to understand that our present lifestyle is destroying our Minds and Environment - the evidence is everywhere - left, right and center. The craze and fetish for science and scientific proof has mainly existed for the last 50 - 100 years. People have lived on this planet for thousands of years without needing scientific proof to understand something. It is Science and Technology that created the consumerist Industrial Society which has led to the destruction of Mind and Nature/ Environment. Who needs more science or more scientific proof. [b]Science is not the solution - Science is the problem.[/b]

[b]IQ Vs EQ [/b]

IQ always has an element of change in it – IQ is about trying to make/ discover/ invent something new all the time.
Change is an inherent feature of IQ.
IQ is also about thinking more in less time—it involves speeding up of mind. Someone who does more mathematics in less time is considered more intelligent in mathematics. IQ is about change and speed.

EQ is about sustainment of the same feeling/experience over a period of time. When we experience any higher-level emotion for 10 minutes we experience the same feeling( subjective experience) over and over again for 10 minutes.
The( same) feeling can sustain only if there is Repetition.
EQ involves Repetition—Constancy—Sameness.

IQ and EQ are contradictory.
IQ and EQ are opposites.
IQ and EQ are inversely proportional.

(1) A thinking species destroys the planet.
(2) Animals lived on earth for billions of years (in very large numbers)
without destroying nature.
(3) They did not destroy nature because their thinking / activity was
limited to searching for food for one time only.
(4) Man has existed on earth in large numbers for only a few thousand
years / a few hundred years.
(5) Within this short period Man has destroyed the environment.
(6) This destruction took place because of Man's thinking.
(7) When man thinks he makes things.
(8) When he makes things he kills animals / trees / air / water / land.
( Nothing can be made without killing these five elements of nature ).

(9) A thinking species destroys the planet.

[b]Intelligence Is A Curse. [/b]

This planet is on the verge of total destruction.

The cause of destruction is – overactivity.
[Out of millions of species in this world the human-species is the only one that has indulged in overactivity]

The cause of overactivity is – Intelligence.
[The environment would never have got destroyed if Man had been only as intelligent as animals]

Intelligence is a curse - a disease - a disability - an abnormality.

Intelligence is the biggest cause/ source of destruction in this world.

[In fact Intelligence is the only cause of destruction in this world other than natural causes]

[b]Mental work is injurious to the mind and planet. [/b]

Life was never good in the past.

Life will never be good in future.

Life can never be good.

Suffering is a part of life - an inherent feature of life. Suffering can never be eliminated.

There is Physical suffering - There is Mental suffering.

In pre-industrial society there were physical diseases caused by virus and bacteria.
In modern society there are hundreds of lifestyle related physical diseases - Cancer, Stroke, Diabetes, Obesity, Multiple Organ Failures.

Mental suffering will always exist. It exists in agrarian society. It exists in industrial society. As soon as we stop working we experience mental suffering.

We avoid mental suffering by working ceaselessly.

There is no higher purpose behind work.

People do not work because they want to work.
People work because they cannot stop working.

The energy generated by the food we eat forces us to work ceaselessly.

Energy = Energy[Physical Work] + Energy[Mental Work] + Energy[Suffering/ Subjective Experience]

All three energies on the right side are inversely proportional to one another.

When we do hard physical work or hard mental work or a combination of physical work and mental work almost all energy is used up in doing work.

When we stop physical work and mental work the unused energy is experienced as suffering/ anxiety/ restlessness/ discomfort. This suffering is so intense - so unbearable - that most people cannot stop physical activity and mental activity simultaneously for even 2 minutes.

People do not work because they want to work.
People do not work for their family.
People do not work for their nation.
People do not work for any reason.

People work because they cannot stop working.

It does not matter what kind of work we do - whether it is physical work or any kind of mental work. As soon as we stop working we suffer from restlessness, anxiety, uneasiness and discomfort.

[ In Yoga and Meditation the goal is to stop Physical Activity and Mental Activity simultaneously - and then transform the subjective-experience of restlessness/ anxiety/ suffering into peace. This requires ability and years of effort ]

For most people it is a choice between physical and mental work.
The switch-over from physical work to mental work is disastrous for the planet.

Man can do the same physical work every day.
Man cannot do the same mental work every day.

When man used to do physical work ( farming and related activities ) he could do the same repetitive work day after day- generation after generation.

After the Industrial Revolution when man switched-over to mental work he began a never ending process of making new machines / things / products-- a process which can only end with the complete destruction of environment ( planet ).

When society switches over from physical work to mental work it starts making thousands of consumer goods. People start calling them necessities. They are not necessities at all - 90% of consumer goods that we see today did not exist 50 years ago.

Food, Water, Air, Little clothing, Little Shelter - these are necessities.

Close your nose and stop breathing for a few minutes - you will then know what necessity is.

Stop drinking water for a few days - you will then know what necessity is.

Stop eating food for a few days - you will then know what necessity is.

Today people are making thousands of consumer goods - not because they are necessities - but because they cannot stop making them. People cannot stop doing work - After switching over to mental work they will keep on making thousands of unnecessary consumer goods. Industrial Society is destroying necessary things[b][Animals,Trees,Air,Water and Land][/b] for makng unnecessary things[b][Consumer Goods][/b]. This is the reason why the switch-over from physical work to mental work is so destructive. This is the point of no-return - once this is crossed the destruction of Environment/ Nature is inevitable.

[b]If we live a simple life there is individual suffering - but no largescale destruction of Environment.

If we live a consumerist life there is individual suffering - plus largescale destruction of Environment.[/b]

The nature of mental work is such that man has to do new mental work every day- in fact he has to do new mental work every moment- Man cannot repeat in the next moment the mental work that he has already done in the previous moment.

A mathematician cannot solve the same problem of mathematics every day- once he has solved it he will be forced to take up a new( unsolved) problem. Even when he is solving one particular problem he has to move from one step to another - there is a continuous change involved -- there is no constancy at any stage.

An engineer cannot design the same machine again and again –once he has made a machine he will try to make changes/ design a new one.

A writer cannot write the same article every day- he will be forced to write something new every day/ every moment (This is also the reason behind endless discussions/ debates/ arguments).

[b]Discussions, Debates and Arguments. [/b]

Let us examine how much discussion we are collectively having in Industrial Society every day.

Millions of pages in print – newspapers / books / magazines.
Millions of web-pages on internet every day.

Now add to this all the conversation (discussion) we are having through radio / television / telephone and several other media every day.

And add to this all the discussion we are having through face-to-face interaction.

The volume of discussion per individual in one week is greater than the total discussion someone living in pre-industrial society would have in his entire life.

There is too much discussion in modern society.
Discussion is not solving our problems – discussion itself has become a problem – a gigantic problem.

A society that does mental work will discuss itself to destruction [extinction]

A society that does mental work will argue itself to destruction [extinction]

A society that does mental work will debate itself to destruction [extinction]

A society that does mental work can never stop discussions / debates / arguments – it is impossible. It will discuss / debate / argue till the last moment of it’s existence.

Discussions / Debates / Arguments – these are creations of a society that has switched-over from physical work to mental work.

Discussions / Debates / Arguments – these are diseases of a society that has switched-over from physical work to mental work.

Discussions / debates / arguments can end only in agriculture-based societies that do physical work.

We cannot do physical-work and mental-work simultaneously.

There is an inverse relationship between physical-work and mental-work.
If one is high [more] the other has got to be low [less]

If we want to do physical work we have to reduce mental activity by the same proportion.
If we want to do mental work we have to reduce physical activity by the same proportion.

There is very little discussion / debate / argument in societies that do physical work - ie, agriculture-based societies - And this is the reason why they are millions of times saner than industrial societies.

Change is an inherent feature of mental work.

Since change is an inherent feature of mental work - a society that does mental work can never be at peace with itself – it is impossible.

A society that does mental work will always be restless.

Only those societies that do physical work [agriculture and related activities] can find contentment and peace.

[b]As long as cities exist we can neither save the environment nor the mind.[/b]

To save the [ remaining ] environment from destruction man will have to
return back to physical work [ smaller communities ].

To save the mind from mental diseases man will have to return back to physical work [ smaller communities ].

[b]Criminality and Abnormality. [/b]

Industrial Society has collectively killed billions of Animals and Trees [ Remember - plant and animal species developed over a period of millions ofyears]

It has also killed most of Water and Air [ Please note - polluting Water and Air is equivalent to killing Water and Air ]

The soil was not fertile when the earth was created. It became fertile - very slowly - over a period of millions of years. And look what man has done - He has covered millions and millions of hectares of land with cement and concrete. All the land that has been covered with cement and concrete has been killed.

Man has stockpiled thousands of tonnes of highly radioactive nuclear material and nuclear waste which is going to remain highly radioactive and carcinogenic for the next thousands of years - and which has already leaked into the environment hundreds of times.

There is an arsenal of 50,000 nuclear missiles that can destroy the planet several times over.

What could be more criminal than this.
What could be more abnormal than this.

Lawyers and Judges are trying to catch a few criminals.
They don’t realize the entire Industrial Society is criminal.

Psychologists and Psychiatrists are trying to classify a few people as abnormal.
They don’t realize the entire Industrial Society is abnormal.

Industrial Society is collectively making millions of tonnes of weapons and explosives [of all kinds] every year – and then it wonders why there is so much violence in this world.

Big Mystery.

If you make millions of tonnes of weapons and explosives on earth they are going to be used on earth – they are not going to be used on Mars.

The entire Industrial Society is a terrorist.
The Military-Industrial-Complex is the real terrorist.
Science and Technology is the terrorist.

Make things
Buy things
Sell things

This is not the purpose of life.

Destroy Shopping Culture.

No one deserves more.
Everyone deserves less.
Life can sustain on earth only when everyone has less.

There was a time when Man knew nothing about the number of species and millions of species existed.
Today Man knows the names of millions of species and nothing is left of the species.

It took millions of years for millions of species to slowly come into existence on earth - and man has decimated all other species.

After destroying millions of highly-developed species on earth Man is today searching for a few molecules of life in outer-space.

If a few microbes, a few molecules of methane / water are found on Mars - it becomes the newspaper headline.

They call it progress.

The following is about to come true.

Nature can exist

(1) before man.
(2) after man.
(3) not with man.

Destruction of environment can be divided into two parts - destruction of environment for producing food - and destruction of environment for making thousands of consumer goods. In pre-Industrial Society people destroyed environment primarily for [b]food.[/b] In Industrial Society people are destroying environment for [b]food and consumer goods.[/b] If we want to save environment we will have to bring down the second to the minimum level by not making all unnecessary consumer goods.

Environment can be saved only if we stop production of most [ more than
99% ] of the consumer goods we are making today.

[b]Environment cannot be saved by recycling.

The attempt of an industrial society to save the environment by recycling is like shooting someone 10,000 times and then trying to save him by taking out one bullet. [/b]

Time is running out for this planet.

Regarding Industrialization there is an important point to be noted. Modern Industrial Society has existed for 100 years - 200 years - 300 years. When we compare this period with the total duration for which human society has existed on earth this period is so short - so small that it almost does'nt exist. It is almost zero.

Material things don't bring peace and happiness. Today billions of people have got things which even Kings did not have in the past. Car, computer, television, fridge, telephone - no King ever had these things. But people are still restless and unhappy.

Industrial Society is consuming psychiatric drugs/ sleeping pills by tonnes and tonnes.

A very large percentage of the population is surviving on precription drugs, illegal drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.

One-third of the population has become fat like elephants.

People talk about increase in lifespan. What is the use of increased lifespan if people have to resort to Drugs, Alcohol and Cigarettes to pull through life. And just wait a few more years - the average lifespan will soon become zero - human life will cease to exist on earth.

Consumerist-Lifestyle is just not sustainable. If we do not immediately return to living a very simple and frugal life then very soon there will be no human life on earth. We would need several planets[earths] to sustain the present lifestyle.

The human race has been destroying/ killing animals, trees, air, water, land and people from the very beginning of civilization. [b]Science and Technology has increased this destructive capacity millions of times. [/b]

Every man is a serial-killer. The per-capita destruction of Environment - per-capita destruction of Animals, Trees, Air, Water and Land is thousands of times greater than what it was 1000 years ago - 500 years ago - 200 years ago.

The [b]Military-Industrial Complex[/b] is all set to destroy whatever life and environment that remains on earth.

There is a reason why the two World Wars happened in the recent past and not 1000 years ago?

It was not possible to have world wars 1000 years ago. World Wars became possible only when Science and Technology developed aeroplanes, ships and other carriers which could transport millions of troops and millions of tonnes of weapons[once again a creation of science and technology] from one corner of the globe to another.

And today one does'nt even need all these to fight a war. One just needs to move finger-tips to launch missiles that can destroy the planet several times over.

Right at this moment there are several countries fighting wars with one another. There is internal war going on in almost half of the the countries of the world. All these wars are being fuelled and sustained by billions of tonnes of weapons produced by the Military-Industrial Complex every year.

And it is going to get worse and worse every day.

If you kill one person they call it murder.
If you kill a few hundred they call it terrorism.
If you kill a few million they call it war.

Science and Technology has made this world [millions of times] more violent and unsafe than before.

Science and Technology has produced billions of tonnes of weapons and explosives - chemical, biological and nuclear weapons - millions of tonnes of Radioactive material [ which will soon be used to make dirty bombs - which are going to contaminate the environment for hundreds and thousands of years]. [b]Science and Technology is the real terrorist.[/b]

[b]Think Positive. [/b]

Psychologists say -- Think Positive.
Politicians say – Think Positive.
Economists say – Think Positive.
Scientists say – Think Positive.
Everyone says – Think Positive.

Arctic ice is melting – Glaciers are melting – Rivers are drying up.
Think Positive.

Fish population in Oceans is down to 1/3 of what it was 100 years ago.
Think Positive.

Pollution levels are going sky-high and valley-deep.
Think Positive.

There used to be millions of members in most species of Animals and Birds. Now they are down to thousands and hundreds.
Think Positive.

Weather is getting more and more irregular and unpredictable.
Think Positive.

Metal everywhere - Concrete everywhere - Plastic everywhere.
Think Positive.

Thinking positive is the height of insanity.
Thinking positive is the height of abnormality.

This is a world that has become completely incapable of feeling Pain, Compassion, Remorse and Guilt.
The planet is getting destroyed moment by moment – and people are thinking positive.

Very soon there will be 1 Animal and 1 Tree left in this world – and people will still be thinking positive.

They will be holding Seminars, Conferences and Global-Summits to save the Environment.

There is an important point which the human-species needs to understand. People think they can save the Environment by doing something.

We can never save the environment by doing something.

It is overactivity that has destroyed environment in the first place.

Human-species is the only one out of millions of species that has indulged in overactivity on this planet [ And for this very reason the human speciesis going to exist on earth for the least amount of time]

And it is not Mild Overactivity – It is Excessive Overactivity – Exponential Overactivity.

We cannot save the environment by doing something.

We can only save it by doing less of what we have been doing - much less of what we have been doing.

If we want to save environment we will have to reduce human activity [overactivity] by 99%.

[b]The Illogical Logic of Man. [/b]

A few birds have got infected with bird-flu and Man has started killing millions of birds.
They say birds are a threat to humans.

Sometime ago there was Mad Cow disease and Man started killing hundreds of thousands of cows.
They said cows are a threat to humans.

Ever since Man came into existence - millions of humans with infectious diseases have transferred such diseases to millions of other people - and will continue to infect millions more in future.
Such people are a threat to rest of the people.
Man should follow the same logic here and kill all infected people.

It is Man who has killed millions of people in Wars and other forms of Violence – and can kill millions more any time in future.
Man should follow the same logic here and kill all people.

It is the human species which is the greatest threat to humans and all other life on this planet - In fact the human species is the only species which is a threat to all life on Earth.

Man has decimated all Animal and Plant species – polluted the Sky and Oceans - and poisioned every square inch of earth.

In a mere 200 - 300 years Industrial Society has destroyed all that Nature laboriously created over a period of millions of years.

Humans pose the greatest threat to other humans.
Humans pose the greatest threat to all other life on earth.

The so-called Rational and Civilized Man should follow the same logic here - and destroy the entire human race.

Please note :

If you indulge in Factory Farming – If you torture the birds – confine millions of them in prison like conditions – depriving them of Sunlight and the freedom to walk and fly – you are creating an environment for the spread of virus and disease.

[b]Lifestyle of Mass Destruction. [/b]

Destruction is an inherent feature of Development.

Progress = Destruction of Nature.
Development = Destruction of Nature.

We can have Sustainable Lifestyle.
We cannot have Sustainable Development.

Development can never be sustainable.
Sustainability and Development cannot exist together.

Development and Sustainability are opposites.
Development and Sustainability are contradictory.

Sustainable Living is associated with consuming less – being satisfied with a simple and frugal life.
Development is associated with never ending desires – always wanting more.

Sustainable lifestyle requires Constancy.
Sustainable lifestyle requires Sameness.
Sustainable lifestyle requires Repetition.

Development is associated with Change.
Development is associated with New.
Development is associated with Transience.

Industrial Societies can never be sustainable – When you make thousands of consumer goods you kill Nature - you kill Animals, Trees, Air, Water and Land.

A Society that does mental work [city based] can never be sustainable - it will keep on making consumer goods - destroying the environment moment by moment.

Only agriculture-based societies that do physical work can be sustainable.

The term Sustainable Development is like the terms

Stationary Walk.
Silent Talk.
Wakeful Sleep.
Dark Sun
Gentle Torture.
Dry Rain.
Peaceful War.

There was a time when Man used to say –

I work in order to feed my family.
I work in order to put Food on the Table.

Today man is putting a lot more than Food on the Table.

Cars, Computers, ipods, Aeroplanes, 200 TV Channels, Luxury Yatchs, Caribbean Vacations, Palatial Homes, Video Phones, Designer Clothes, Designer Drugs, Cosmetic Surgery …………… The list is endless.

Man is putting thousands of consumer goods and services on the Table.
There is too much weight on the Table.
[b]And the Table has begun to creak. [/b]

The more you put on your table the more you take out from the mouths of Animals and Birds.

The more you put on your table the more you kill Animals and Trees.

The more you put on your table the more you kill Water, Air and Land.

The more you put on your table the more you kill Mountains and Valleys.

The more you put on your table the more you kill the Sky and Oceans - the Rivers and Lakes.

There are so many things on the Table that one can barely see the Food.

We need just a few things to live.
And we are making thousands of things.

Billions of people are engaged in making, buying and selling of thousands of consumer goods.

Destroy Shopping Culture.

Go back to Simple Living.
Go back to putting just Food on the Table.

sushil_yadav

[b][I am seeking help from volunteers in spreading this message far and wide][/b]

http://www.planetsave.com/ps_mambo/option,com_simpleboard/Itemid,75/func,view/id,68/catid,6/
http://www.freeinfosociety.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=3649
http://www.ephilosopher.com/bb-topic-244.html
http://www.corrupt.org/transcendence/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1167537083

[I want to inform the Moderator that I have also posted this article on boards of other tribes related to keywords in my article]

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 1 reply

New Tribe about Sustainable and Practical Ecological Living and Intentional Community Issues.

Planet-Doctor — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 18:14:26 GMT

http://tribes.tribe.net/splice-eco

A tribe to discuss the real and practical issues of sustainability as well as the practical issues with intentional communities intended to help shift society towards a more sustainable model.

This is an actively moderated tribe in which spam, dangerous medical claims, personal attacks and cult recruiting behaviors will not be tolerated.

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 0 replies

Village life in Mexico this winter

solomax — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 09:48:22 GMT

A crew of a couple dozen friends and folks met through tribe.net are joining me in Mexico this winter in a village of 250 people in Central Mexico to develop a cultural exchange community center. Most of us are burners and rainbows, and our projects will be fun and focused on service to local communities.

The people in this area live very simple... fishing and farming mostly, and they are some of the happiness, sweetest I've ever encountered.

www.solomax.com/roblito.html

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 0 replies

Some suggestions for ethical gift giving and supporting something positive.

Planet-Doctor — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 05:33:08 GMT

Hello all,

At this time of year it is often tough to find what you want or feel good about giving. Many of us prefer to give gifts that do some good in the world and I would like to offer a suggestion.

The link and search box below will place orders through amazon.com and will let you find most things that you are interested in, including products and sponsorships directly in support of The Realms of Legend, such as our sponsor a tree program.

The Realms of Legend is the project to build a historical and environmental education facility in the style of a themed entertainment venue which will showcase concepts for simpler living, eco friendly living and solutions for many of the problems our society faces in the coming years, all in a format of fun and engaging experiences.

Ordering via the search box at the link below will give the project a small commission and help us pursue the goal of educating a large number of people about the options we have for building a more healthy and sustainable future for all.

If you are looking for a gift that you can be sure will get there on time and allow the recipient to choose what suits them best you might consider one of the gift certificates. The E-Card form is instant and you don't have to waste paper or wait for postal services or you can choose a more traditional hard copy version.

So if you are considering giving some form of gifts during the holiday season or even in the future, please consider using the search box below. Your support will be greatly appreciated.

I hope you all have a very fulfilling holiday season.

http://www.geocities.com/crusader_magnus/index.html?1166117680670

Cheers!

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 0 replies

new and enthusiastic member

Amy — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 01:10:39 GMT

Hello, I'm fairly new to this tribe, but I was so excited to find it. Been slowly changing my lifestyle over last couple of years and became more invested since reading Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin. I'm happy to have a place to come for ideas and support. I decided I was up for the challenge and look forward to the journey.

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 7 replies

looking for a simplicity blog....

Ness-a-less — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 06:26:31 GMT

a while back I happened across a link somewhere - I think on tribe-
for a neat blog somebody had about simplifying.

I think the author was a she and had a strange name for simplfying that was I think "de....(something or other) "
each entry had helpful tips and ideas for ways to simplify.
seems like she was making a blog entry every day with a new tip.

It's driving me nuts that I can't remember what she called it or find the site -
I know it's not much to go on but any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!
Any ideas???

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 1 reply

SelfAwareness*~--ThinkingRevolution--;;Listening;;

stevencoolcat — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 03:27:09 GMT

http://sitepalace.com/StevenMannettetje/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/selfawarenessthinkingrevolutionlistening-
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/realize2actualize/

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 0 replies

One (often ignored) answer. Take back your life, help the environment, save money.

Planet-Doctor — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 23:34:13 GMT

Actually there is a very direct answer to the bulk of the questions and concerns people raise here, the problem is getting more people to hear it and practice it. Yet there is great freedom and power over your own life once you embrace it.

This has been around for quite some time and every once in a while I find I have to remind people it exists. The website is useful, the PBS show/tape even more so for many.

The biggest point for many is: The POWER is YOURS.

http://affluenza.org/

Af-flu-en-za n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.

This is so important I think I will post it as a separate thread and in other related tribes.

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 6 replies

Awareness into Action

Skeyeopener — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 05:20:21 GMT

Here is an excerpt from a great thread that has started in the Year 2012 tribe
http://2012.tribe.net/

It speaks to the potential of intention, community, creativity, compassion...

Here is an invitation to participate, if there is willingness or desire...

Wed, December 28, 2005 - 1:01 AM
prophecy for the new Gregorian year
http://2012.tribe.net/thread/738d73d8-9759-41c7-8665-03ffa524d980

Here is an interesting collection of articles on RIFD technology, aka “The Mark
of the Beast.” http://nwowatcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=7.0.

For those who haven’t seen it, the 2005 UN Ecosystems Assessment can be found here: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/Article.aspx?id=61

As you know, the oceans are 90% fished out, most of the world’s ecosystems are on the point of collapse, resources severely depleted, etcetera.

It sure is fun – all this speculating about 2012, the return of the Goddess,
Thelemic Magick, indigenous prophesies, light working, and all the rest.

However, a question goes unaddressed: How are we going to change the world
situation and actually salvage this planet before it is too late? How much time
do we have? How are we going to work together to get this done? What is our
plan of action?

(In what follows, I am going to use the words “We” and “Our” rhetorically,
referring to the group I consider to be the evolutionary edge of the
progressive movement, integrating spiritual, ecological, political, social,
technological perspectives - represented at Burning Man, on Tribe, etc.)

Our time to come up with a strategy and then flawlessly execute it can probably be measured in months, perhaps a year or two, max.

As we all must know, we are currently in the midst of a mass extinction crisis.
David Ulansey has documented this at length:
http://www.well.com/user/davidu/extinction.html

Within thirty years, 25 percent of all species will be extinct. By that point,
we may well have entered an inevitable situation of complete biospheric
collapse and self-extinction. If we are going to avert the worst and most
totalizing effects of this crisis, we cannot start in two or three years – we
have to start now.

posted in Voluntary Simplicity - 0 replies