Reflection on the Emptiness of Efficiency and Money over Simply Embracing Life and Respecting the Interconnectedness

economic efficiency drives hollow relationship to nature and life

Not a museum, not a bank, designed 1921 to be simply a bread & pastry shop

In the modern world born of a heavy leaning on manufactured consent to economics as being the driving force of power, which is a fabrication of people, which others follow. Yuval Noah Harari talks of ’money’ as being the most successful story. It is the banks, insurance, pharmaceutical and technological companies that have towers demonstrating their wealth. As Noam Chomsky points out, the media is the propaganda tool to manufacture consent of the population.

Yet, after all, as demonstrated in the opulence of a bread and pastry shop, our nutrition and life, comes through integrating, caretaking and renewing all life, which sustains us. What is of more value? Water, nutrition and joy of life while taking the time to appreciate the experience? Or rushing through one’s food, to hurry back to working for an institution whose profits rest at the top, skimmed off by those who engineer society to be their economic servants and pawns. 

My bed of stones last night, well from 6 to 8am. Didn’t have a pad under the sleeping bag, exhaustion was the cushion. The most beautiful experience was listening to and watching the swallows frolicking in the sky as they breakfasted. 

Well, I would have had a better night’s sleep under the trellises of vines on a terrace than inside the dorm rooms of the hostel where people sit chatting into mid morning. However, I was asked to move after under 3 hours. Then I walked up a hill to a park, no adequate place away from people, the most dangerous predators. I walked up the narrow street, turned right through an arched area to restaurants. There was a garden bed of polished black stone, which were indenting into my skin after falling asleep there in my sleeping bag (not a bed of nails as a yogi mind over matter). I watched and listened at 6:30 am as dozens of swallows chirped and dashed around over my head. Delightful. I then was awoken not by police, but young employees who kindly asked me to wake up and leave. Smooth polished black stones were preferable to morning dew and a soggy sleeping bag. I might as well be doing a broadcast on sleeping in the rough, or mind over matter ~ mattress. And then i saw cafeteria across the street and it has commanded a full reflection on my own culture.

Ornate beauty, care and very thought provoking craftsmanship. The Australian grown son and his parents and i chatted. A bit about each of our lives. He and his wide lived 4 years in Malta, now in London. Said Malta has a lot of expats. We talked of how each of our native countries lacked the history, intricacies of architecture and dimension of spirit. I said that the culture has a sickness trickling down from the top. The father said it’s more like flooding. A systemic sickness that started to embed itself even 40 years ago, when I went to the university and students were more concerned about getting into careers – specifically to make the most money – and asking questions about how they could get the best grade the most easily, rather than gaining the most knowledge. The Australians agreed that the school systems are designed to shape and develop an obeisant population, groomed to be dutiful worker bees in the economics-based culture with multiple choice tests, rather than to be creative, free thinkers capable of critiquing the status quo. 

I later conversed with a local Portuguese man and a tourist as I watched locals (regulars) interacting with the women and tourists kind of disregarding that they could do the women a favor by simply taking back their trays.

This building of the bread pastry shop panera, panificaçaō, built in 1921, was crafted with such thorough dedication to the ingredients of a good life and of bread: bacchus statue “Bacchus was primarily known as the god of agriculture and wine, but was also associated with fertility, drama, and revelry. In regards to agriculture, he was depicted as a god of trees and forest, and was often sought ought to help the orchards grow.” The tiles of bees and wheat, tiles above of eggs guarded by roosters and of the flowers and wheat creating the bread. Loveliness and celebration of the interconnectedness of life and nature.@

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Noam Chomsky: US Scandalous Healthcare symptomatic of populations’ failure to defend Democracy | Choice of disenfranchised masses to have blind faith in ruling elite

As the title suggests, in this interview and article by C.J. Polychroniou, Noam Chomsky unveils his expansive view of the United States.

truthout

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/39064-noam-chomsky-the-us-health-system-is-an-international-scandal-and-aca-repeal-will-make-it-worse?tsk=adminpreview#disqus_thread

Chomsky claims that the rejection of healthcare and lack of a real labor presence is symbolic of the much larger issue in the United States > that people do not participate or defend democracy, but are willing puppets of a political realm ruled by a wealthy few, to whom the population simply does not oppose, but subjugate their passions and dreams to agree to the system dictated by a ruling class – who the population could overpower with their force, if they simply wished to stand up for their rights to represent and govern themselves.

I’ve basically excerpted the article, juggling it around a bit to put the most poignant parts from the conclusion – at the beginning – for those who have no time to read. Hence it’s a sort of ‘cliff notes’ version of the article.

And as I posted on Facebook regarding this Truthout article, thank you so much Noam Chomsky for being the expansive and insightful person whom you are!

Noam Chomsky-information website

“The US health care system has long been an international scandal, with about twice the per capita expenses of other wealthy (OECD) countries and relatively poor outcomes. The ACA did, however, bring improvements, including insurance for tens of millions of people who lacked it, banning of refusal of insurance for people with prior disabilities, and other gains — and also, it appears to have led to a reduction in the increase of health care costs, though that is hard to determine precisely.

Returning to your question, it raises a crucial question about American democracy: why isn’t the population “demanding” what it strongly prefers? Why is it allowing concentrated private capital to undermine necessities of life in the interests of profit and power?

….The question directs our attention to a profound democratic deficit in an atomized society, lacking the kind of popular associations and organizations that enable the public to participate in a meaningful way in determining the course of political, social and economic affairs. These would crucially include a strong and participatory labor movement and actual political parties growing from public deliberation and participation instead of the elite-run candidate-producing groups that pass for political parties. What remains is a depoliticized society in which a majority of voters (barely half the population even in the super-hyped presidential elections, much less in others) are literally disenfranchised, in that their representatives disregard their preferences while effective decision-making lies largely in the hands of tiny concentrations of wealth and corporate power…

Turning finally to your question again, a rather general answer, which applies in its specific way to contemporary western democracies, was provided by David Hume over 250 years ago, in his classic study of the First Principles of Government. Hume found “nothing more surprising than to see the easiness with which the many are governed by the few; and to observe the implicit submission with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers. When we enquire by what means this wonder is brought about, we shall find, that as Force is always on the side of the governed, the governors have nothing to support them but opinion. `Tis therefore, on opinion only that government is founded; and this maxim extends to the most despotic and most military governments, as well as to the most free and most popular.”

Implicit submission is not imposed by laws of nature or political theory. It is a choice, at least in societies such as ours, which enjoys the legacy provided by the struggles of those who came before us. Here power is indeed “on the side of the governed,” if they organize and act to gain and exercise it. That holds for health care and for much else.”

The House of Representatives, dominated by Republicans (with a minority of voters), has voted over 50 times in the past six years to repeal or weaken Obamacare, but they have yet to come up with anything like a coherent alternative.
…
Comparison of the attitude toward elementary rights of labor and extraordinary rights of private power tells us a good deal about the nature of American society.
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The expulsion or mass killing of Indigenous nations cleared the ground for the invading settlers, who had enormous resources and ample fertile lands at their disposal, and extraordinary security for reasons of geography and power. That led to the rise of a society of individual farmers, and also, thanks to slavery, substantial control of the product that fueled the industrial revolution: cotton, the foundation of manufacturing, banking, commerce, retail for both the US and Britain, and less directly, other European societies. Also relevant is the fact that the country has actually been at war for 500 years with little respite, a history that has created “the richest, most powerful¸ and ultimately most militarized nation in world history,” as scholar Walter Hixson has documented.
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Administrative costs are far greater in the private component of the health care system than in Medicare, which itself suffers by having to work through the private system.

Comparisons with other countries reveal much more bureaucracy and higher administrative costs in the US privatized system than elsewhere. One study of the US and Canada a decade ago, by medical researcher Steffie Woolhandler and associates, found enormous disparities, and concluded that “Reducing U.S. administrative costs to Canadian levels would save at least $209 billion annually, enough to fund universal coverage.
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Another anomalous feature of the US system is the law banning the government from negotiating drug prices, which leads to highly inflated prices in the US as compared with other countries. That effect is magnified considerably by the extreme patent rights accorded to the pharmaceutical industry in “trade agreements,” enabling monopoly profits. In a profit-driven system, there are also incentives for expensive treatments rather than preventive care, as strikingly in Cuba, with remarkably efficient and effective health care.”

Carol Keiter the blogger

Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition

We Do Have the Means | Living Harmoniously with the Planet | Salt-water Powered Cars

Collective Evolution’s article on salt-water generated fuel.

“It works just like a hydrogen fuel cell except that the liquid used for storing energy is saltwater.”

nanoFlowCell SaltWater fuel conversion

“In this case the liquid (saltwater) passes through a membrane in between the two tanks, creating an electric charge. This electricity is then stored and distributed by super capacitors. The four electric motors in the car are fed electricity which makes it run. The car carries the water in two 200-litre tanks, which in one sitting will allow drivers to travel up to 373 miles (600km).

We’ve got major plans, and not just within the automobile industry. The potential of the NanoFlowcell technology and its applications is much greater, especially in terms of domestic energy supplies as well as in maritime, rail and aviation technology.

All cars should be required to be made from this type, or other similar types of clean green energy.

Scientists at the U.S Naval Research Laboratory have developed a technology to recover carbon dioxide and hydrogen from seawater and convert it into a liquid hydrocarbon fuel. This could be a tremendous breakthrough and eliminate the need for old ways of generating fuel.”

Golly gee, if the U.S. Navy can break-up from their addiction to fossil fuels, so can all of us!

U.S. Navy produces fuel from Seawater

Navy’s new fuel process: Extracting carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2) from seawater to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuel.

Why did they bother investigating this? Because “in Fiscal year 2011, the U.S. Navy Military Sea Lift Command, the primary supplier of fuel and oil to the U.S. Navy fleet, delivered nearly 600 million gallons of fuel to Navy vessels underway, operating 15 fleet replenishment oilers around the globe.”

“A catalytic converter extracts carbon dioxide and hydrogen from water and converts the gases into liquid hydrocarbons at a 92 percent efficiency rate, and the resulting fuel can be used in ships’ existing engines.”

carbon capture skid at (NRL) Navy Research Laboratory

 

 

Research chemist Heather D. Willhauer NRL

“It’s remarkable how Barack Obama has constantly pointed out that we will be using oil, gas and coal for the next twenty years, and that we don’t have the technology to lift our dependence off of these resources.

 

Those who are looking into it can clearly see that this simply isn’t true. We have the means to live in ways that are more harmonious with the planet and all beings on it.” Not to mention, a plethora of jobs can be created to implement this at all levels.

Calling: all workers in the industries of coal, mining, petroleum… > there are other income opportunities out there!

Yes, We Can, well that is, Yes, the U.S. Navy CAN covert seawater to fuel.

We need to pull away from coal, petroleum and all other dirty, non-renewable processes and invest our insights, energies and integrity into supporting clean, renewable energies.

“It’s just another example of the many ways of generating energy that are now available that could end our dependence on fossil fuels. These new, clean green ways of generating energy have been around for decades, so why are we always talking about them without ever implementing them?”

It just so happens that those with undivided interest and ownership in coal and fossil fuel as well as their dirty derivative industries are anonymously pouring huge amounts of money into disinformation campaigns regarding Global Warming and its main culprits. This article from the Guardian talks about the secretive donors who gave US climate denial groups $125m over three years.

The Earth is not Responsible for Global Warming – Earth has no barcode

Thomas Berry, Dreamer of the Earth: The Spiritual Ecology co-author of “The Universe Story” writes, “The natural world itself is the primary economic reality, the primary educator, the primary governance, the primary technologist, the primary healer, the primary presence of the sacred, the primary moral value“.

It is in the best interest of all – humans and all other life forms on Earth. And for financial reasons, companies and individuals who have divested their stocks and bonds in fossil fuel companies have outperformed…

This article from the Guardian points out that the real danger is not the kayaktivists, but Shell.

Why is this important? Because the beautiful and fantastic display of the diversity of life that have taken millions of years to evolve to their unique spectacular natures, is what ROCKS about our planet Earth: Living together intimately and harmoniously with the diversity of the entire biosphere is the reason and the beauty of this planet. No other reason, except for the fact that we are all related and interdependent and of this earth. Our heaven is right here on earth. It is the Earth and its myriad of life – the biosphere and the geosphere – that is sacred and needs our protection.

What can you do? There is plenty that you can do, right now! The Ecological Buddhism website offers you a whole gamut of solutions in every arena; with guidance regarding Renewable Energy, Sustainable Economy, Deep Ecology & Ecopsychology, Energy Efficiency, Activism, Behavior & Communication and the Game Changers!

The National Wildlife Federation can help to guide you, advocating about Clean Energy and Climate Solutions.

“Whether it be Solar, Free Energy (zero-point), Converting Seawater, {Wind, or Wave technology}, it’s clear we can do better than we are doing now.”

Do it! – divest in dirty and invest in clean & renewable – for your kids and for all other creatures with whom we share our planet Earth.

Why bother? As the authors of “Ecobuddhism and the wisdom of the psyche – The Universe Story” unveil. “We are a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects”. Here are some excerpts from the “The Universe Story” of Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry.

“That our western civilization should be the principal cause of such extensive damage to the planet is so difficult a truth for us to absorb that our society in general is presently in a state of shock and denial, or disbelief…Our western addiction to commercial-industrial progress as our basic referent for reality and value, is becoming an all-pervasive attitude throughout the various peoples and cultures of the Earth.”

Not a neural toxin, but an attitude and understanding deficiency!

“Efforts to present the full reality of the situation are being met generally with intense opposition, an opposition due to the subservience of our religious, educational and professional establishments to our industrial culture….the Ecozoic Era requires a comprehensive human consensus away from what we’ve been brainwashed into beholding as true; i.e. Manufactured Consent – The Political Economy of the Mass Media – a non-fiction book written by by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky in 1988…

¡ Reiterating! The authors of “The Universe Story” state that “The natural world itself is the primary economic reality, the primary educator, the primary governance, the primary technologist, the primary healer, the primary presence of the sacred, the primary moral value.”

Ecotherapy: Healing Ourselves, Healing the Earth.

The most dangerous animal, by its side a Great White shark swims peacefully.