Activism Change

Changing Society & Success Story

Question:

frolf18 <frolf18NOfrS…@techie.com.invalid> wrote: > Can you at least be consistent in your beliefs and words?

Well, I certainly try, and believe I made every effort to do so in the original post. My point is that in order to challenge the consumer society, we need the necessary material resources (and others, i.e. communications skills, technical skills, teamwork, etc.) in order to do so.   In the case of the conference I went to, the video-link (via web-streaming) was extremely effective, as it allowed groups of people all across the United States in order to join together and participate in the ‘Your Money or Your Life’ conference. Unfortunately, in Canada the movement towards voluntary simplicity isn’t as widespread in the U.S., this may be due to: – not as much urgent need to do something about social and environmental problems, as we are currently faring a little better than the U.S. in this department (Universal Health Care being the best example) – not as much knowledge and cross-country communication as which currently exists in the U.S. in order to facilitate these beliefs across a wide audience – not as many people taking iniative on the problem.  Of which several of the people I met encouraged me to start a study circle in Canada, and organize it well! (since I have fairly good organizational skills) > It seems you appreciate corporate products if they advance > your beliefs, but the identical items are evil when not used > by yourself.

I’m in no way denying the value and effectiveness of material resources, I am simply questioning the extent to which we are currently dependent on them in this culture.  I think it’s important to promote a more sustainable way of life, in which the old can be mixed with the new. Steve

Response:

Very empowering day I had today!!. Went down to Seattle to participate in a video internet-streamline conference on voluntary simplicity – hosted by Vicki Robin (co-writer of ‘Your Money or Your Life’).  The conference was hooked up via video- feed in a classroom of a community college on E. Olive St. for anyone familiar with the area.  There were hundreds of feed sites all across the U.S., unfortunately nobody initiated any sites in Canada, which was why I had to go to Seattle! All in all there were about 40 of us participating in the program, and I got a chance to meet some very interesting people there, who share similar values as in the simple living and low consumption posts that I write about here.  I was delighted as to the warm welcome I received from those coordinating the program, as they got the word that I had come down from Canada – and many were quite impressed. The atmosphere at the meeting was one of tolerance, respect, light- heartedness, and a genuine sense of social concern, both for each other, and for the society at large.  I found it incredibly easy to be myself, talk to people, participate in discussions, etc.  Also, the meeting was organized incredibly well, and it went without a hitch. Opportunities were made to get to know each others, book resources were listed, as well each of our names was on a roster with phone #, e-mail address, etc.  Shyness was really not much of an issue there for me at all.  I find that when I’m in a group of caring and loving people, there’s really no reason to be shy.  This totally applies to various community-based situations I’ve put myself in.  On the flip side, I feel the most uncomfortable in functional, mercantile, and otherwise productivity-oriented social situations. During the break, I got a chance to meet David Heitmiller and Jacqueline Blix, authors of the book "Getting a Life" – they are the same couple who included their monthly expenses tabulation in the book, which I cited for JerryO in the beginning of the ‘Simple Living’ thread.  David was telling me about how he used to spend years working his butt off in the corporate world (he used to work for AT & T)  and then came to his senses and opted for a more sane and balanced lifestyle.  He was also mentioning about starting financial planning programs to help young people (like me) who are struggling with the FI program – in a sense, it’s a form of giving advice by the ‘old pros’ who have already attained FI. Also, I talked to the person in charge of the Speaker’s Bureau, and expressed interest for doing speeches on voluntary simplicity – putting into practice what I’ve learned in Toastmasters.  On a related note, my most recent Toastmasters speech was on voluntary simplicity (I used some quotes from ‘Your Money’) and people came up to me afterwards and said it was the best speech they’ve seen so far.  I’d have to agree – in that I felt passionate about the topic, and thus I appeared less nervous, used more eye contact, and more gestures.  As for the Speaker’s Bureau, I definitely qualify, as I’ve been working with the ‘Your Money’ program for at least six months, plus I have some public speaking skills under my belt.  The person in charge will send me an application form asap.  Most likely, I’ll be making more trips down to the States to do these speeches, or get involved in further events with some of the contacts I’ve made down there – but also I want to try and get something going further in Vancouver. There have been simple living programs in my area, but the organization hasn’t been the greatest, and the meetings have been very infrequent at best.  Perhaps I may get involved in boosting the interest for simple living in Vancouver.  I am quite surprised, as were many of the people I talked to, why Canada isn’t miles ahead of the U.S. on these social awareness issues.  Maybe it’s because the social and economic injustice problems aren’t nearly as bad in Canada as they are in the States, thus the urgent need for awareness and solutions is much more pressing south of the border.  Whereas in Canada, we may still be relatively less influenced by the corporatocracy, and hence our quality of life is considerably better.  But, still, it can’t be underscored just how much the need for increased social and environmental awareness is, and for more sustainable lifestyles, for both countries.  Canada is becoming increasingly under corporate control, and this means that Canada also needs to think about solutions to corporatocracy-based problems as well. Also, I realized to my delight, that the Media Foundation (http://www.adbusters.org) is located right in Vancouver, and this would be a prime organization for me to look into further and get involved with.  People at the Seattle meeting today recommended I do this, as that organization would love to have someone like me there (Hey, they said it, not me!) I think, most importantly, what I learned today was the danger of using these issues for selfish reasons, i.e. adopting a "sane island in an insane world" which has remarkable parallels of warning to the practice of staying in safe churches and Christian groups instead of going out in the world and confronting the evils there.  What’s important, is that by adopting the practice of voluntary simplicity, it’s not a sign of moralizing, i.e. "Hey listen!  You better do this!" and other ‘us vs them’ thinking which I know I’ve been guilty of in past debates here. But rather, it’s making changes that benefit the whole of society and the planet, realizing that we ALL share it.  The host of the program said it best that we really need to understand why our society is sick, and find ways to help cure the problems, i.e. we really need to understand the underlying social structures involved, and come up with a plan to make changes, rather than just point the finger and criticize society. I think that a lot of our society’s sickness has to do with the following components: – bully dynamics.  The society operates like a synergistic bully, that seeks to stomp on others to encourage excess competition, getting ahead, and creating a jungle atmosphere, as well as manipulating and mind-fucking those victims in the process. – economism.  This is the belief of worshiping the economy like as if it were God – putting complete faith and trust in market forces, and living, breathing, and dying in the economy.  This goes hand in hand with consumerism and jobism. – along with economism, is the perceptual reversal from how the economy actually works as a subset of the natural ecology, to viewing those natural resources as a subset of the economy.  I’ve had debates with economists about this, and they are in deep, deep, deep, really deep denial about these issues.  They seriously believe that the economic forces supercede natural resources. –    the conflation of democracy with capitalism. – a lost soul.  As a culture, we’ve lost our true meaning in life. Instead we look for the accumulation of wealth, success, and prestige to fill that gap. I think solutions to the problem are far from simple, but involve a combination of antidotes to which was just described.  First and foremost is the process of awareness, so that individuals may question the current values of society, and seek to create new values.  Along with this, the economic power mongrels in our culture who trample us with the sick memes I just highlighted will need to be seriously confronted, and this may take some time.   I just learned today that powerful for-profit corporations often end up taking over socially and environmentally aware corporations, simply because the latter are less economically powerful.  Those who are the most powerful economically, however, are the weakest in spirit, and this is perhaps the crux of the problem, and solutions to it. Also, solutions must be practical as well as ‘idealized’.  This includes concrete economic, social, and environmental steps taken to reduce one’s level of consumption on a day-to-day basis.  This also includes participating in community affairs, influencing others, and finding ways to get involved in environmental restoration and advocacy.  It is also key to recognize that it is for the good of society and the planet, not an elitist movement. We talk a lot about personal changework on this newsgroup, but I think that social changework is just as, if not more important. — "Power is not first, but justice is first in society and law."   – Francis A. Schaeffer, "A Christian Manifesto" Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

Response:

> The conference was hooked up via  video- > feed in a classroom of a community college on E. Olive St. for > anyone familiar with the area.  There were hundreds of feed sites all > across the U.S., unfortunately nobody initiated any sites in Canada, > which was why I had to go to Seattle!

Video-conferencing a feed across the US.  Thats pretty much the definition of living simple. > Whereas in Canada, we may still be relatively less > influenced by the corporatocracy, and hence our quality of life is > considerably better.  But, still, it can’t be underscored just how > much the need for increased social and environmental awareness is, and > for more sustainable lifestyles, for both countries.  Canada is > becoming increasingly under corporate control, and this means that > > Canada also > needs to think about solutions to corporatocracy-based problems as > well.

Ok, earlier in the post you wished for video-conferencing across Canada, yet now you proudly claim Canada isn’t as influenced by the Corporatocracy.  Geez.  Video-conferencing is definately a corporate child. Can you at least be consistent in your beliefs and words? It seems you appreciate corporate products if they advance your beliefs, but the identical items are evil when not used by yourself. * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!

Response:

Filed under: Voluntary simplicity

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