Rifkin on Sustainability, Empathy and Civilization

Critique without the offering of solutions is a waste. Today I wanted to provide something more positive: someone who points a way forward:

Jeremy Rifkin is president of the Foundation on Economic Trends and the author of seventeen bestselling books on the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, the workforce, society, and the environment. Rifkin holds a degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a degree in international affairs from Tufts University.

In the video below Rifkin talks about what he thinks we can do to create a more empathetic and sustainable society:

Jeremy Rifkin is the principal architect of the Third Industrial Revolution long-term economic sustainability plan to address the triple challenge of the global economic crisis, energy security, and climate change. The Third Industrial Revolution was formally endorsed by the European Parliament in 2007 and is now being implemented by various agencies within the European Commission.

“Neoliberalism not merely as an economic system, but also as a mode of education in which market values supplant civic values, and the obligations of citizenship are reduced to the practice of consuming, the accumulation of capital, and the endless disposing of goods and people rendered as redundant and excess.” -- Henry A. Giroux

Jeremy Rifkin is also the founder and chairperson of the Third Industrial Revolution Global CEO Business Roundtable, comprised of more than 100 of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, construction companies, architectural firms, real estate companies, IT companies, power and utility companies, and transport and logistics companies.

Rifkin’s global economic development team is working with cities, regions, and national governments to develop master plans to transition their economies into post-carbon Third Industrial Revolution infrastructures.

In 2009, Rifkin and his team developed Third Industrial Revolution master plans for the cities of San Antonio, Texas and Rome, Italy, to transition their economies into the first post carbon urban areas in the world.

Rifkin was also instrumental in founding the Green Hydrogen Coalition. The GHC consists of 13 environmental and political organizations (including Greenpeace and MoveOn.Org) that are committed to building a renewable hydrogen-based economy.

Kevin Bales on Modern Slavery

How much does a human cost in today's global economy? About $10 U.S dollars. In this moving yet pragmatic talk, Kevin Bales explains the business of modern slavery, a multibillion-dollar economy that underpins some of the worst industries on earth. He shares stats and personal stories from his on-the-ground research -- and names the price of freeing every slave on earth right now: [Duration: 18:01]

Recorded at TED2010, February 2010 in Long Beach, CA.

Dr. Kevin Bales is an expert on modern slavery and President of Free the Slaves, the US Sister organization of Anti-Slavery International (the world’s oldest human rights organization). He is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Roehampton University in London, Visiting Professor at the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation, University of Hull, as well as serving on the Board of Directors of the International Cocoa Initiative.

Bales's book Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy published in 1999, has now been published in ten other languages. Archbishop Desmond Tutu called it "a well researched, scholarly and deeply disturbing expose of modern slavery". A revised edition was published in 2005.

This book was based on the first-hand in-depth study of five slave-based "businesses" in five different countries: Thailand (prostitution); Mauritania (water selling); Brazil (charcoal production); India (agriculture); and Pakistan (brick making). His book was the basis for, and he worked on, the film "Slavery: A Global Investigation" (2000).

Green Dragons and Death of Uncle Sam

It seems the so-called socialists of China are beating Uncle Sam at his own money-grubbing game. Several mainstream news agencies are reporting that a ‘greening’ China is quickly surpassing U.S in innovation and production by invested nearly twice as much money ($34.6 billion) in clean energy projects in 2009 as the United States. [ source ]

Massive profits and job growth are already being created all over China as a result of the nationalistic efforts by law-makers to become the world’s leaders of innovation in clean and sustainable energy. The drive for clean energy is expected to be the catalyst for whole new industries in technology and production. This nascent market for ecological sustainable technology is already starting to flourish and will only help generate further innovation in the strategic harnessing of wind, solar and geothermal energy.

The widely respected Pew Report indicates that those countries with strong, national policies aimed at reducing global warming and encouraging the use of renewable energy—including the UK, Germany and Spain— are rapidly succeeded in establishing strong competitive positions in the clean energy economy. [ source ]

Canada, the country I live in, was ranked eighth globally in relative investment in sustainable technology, spending $3.3 billion investment in 2009, but represented an 80% annual increase from the previous year. [ source ]

The clean energy economy represents one of the greatest economic opportunities of the 21st century and no nation seeking to be competitive in the future can afford to ignore it. The damages incurred by a population unable to accept the truth about global warming and confront the corporate destruction of planetary ecosystems are incalculable - both economically as well as ecologically.

“Nations seeking to compete effectively for clean energy jobs and manufacturing would do well to evaluate the array of policy mechanisms that can be employed to stimulate clean energy investment,” the Pew Report stated. This is especially true for policymakers in the United States, which is at risk of falling further behind its G20 competitors in the coming years absent adoption of a strong national policy framework to spur more robust clean energy investments.

But how can law-makers in the U.S and Canada possibly begin to implement changes while massive campaigns of disinformation and confusion by corporate interests and neo-conservative elites have almost half of the population believing in conspiracy theories, communist takeover fantasies and pathological ideology?

CBS News reports the facts:

As ignorant conservative pundits continue to incite hate and brainwash the hordes of faithful followers into believing that ecological crisis is a uber-conspiracy by the commies to steal their babies and eat them, the American industrial complex will continue to whither and eventually be so far behind Europe and Asia in innovative solution-finding (as opposed to attacking science and spewing libertarian-based climate change denialism) they will have absolutely no recourse other than to choke on the rusted carcass of their outdated existence.

Also Read These Related and Confirming Articles from: The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, The Guardian, Canadian Business Daily, BBC News.

Slavoj Žižek – Apocalyptic Times

Below is a link to a podcast recording of philosopher Slavoj Žižek at Birbeck College in London shooting off his usual Lacanian-Marxist philosophical fireworks. In it he waxes paradoxical on all things apocalyptic. As to be expected from the Slovenian rock-star intellectual, he makes some brilliant points while forcing his listeners to think for themselves - which for any of us is a challenging task these days.

Zizek poses several relevant questions about the impact of advanced technology on human identity: How far can technology go in altering our perception of who we are? Who is in control of the influences which have so great an impact on our sense of self? At a time when technology holds the potential to erase a subject’s memory, Zizek urges us to reflect on our growing vulnerability to this new and deeply penetrating ideological force.

Click below to listen to the entire podcast:

Slavoj Zizek – Apocalyptic Times

Slavoj Zizek is a philosopher and cultural critic who is internationally known for his use of the work of the french psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan to decode and deconstruct the decadent practices and messages of contemporary politics and popular culture. Zizek is both reviled and admired as a true 'manic excessive' among intellectuals of all interests.

[See also: Notes Towards a Definition of Communist Culture Masterclass]

World Water Day 2010

Do you drink corporate bottled water? If so, you might want to learn more about it:

The Story of Bottled Water, released today, World Water Day 2010, tells the story of manufactured demand — how corporations get people to buy more than half a billion bottles of water every week when it already flows from the tap.

Just over five minutes in length, the film explores the bottled water industry’s attacks on tap water and its use of seductive, environmental-themed advertising to cover up the mountains of plastic waste it produces.

The film concludes with a call to take back the tap, not only by making a personal commitment to avoid bottled water, but by supporting investments in clean, available tap water for all.

Since 1993, International World Water Day has been held annually on 22 March to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

Every year, more people die from the consequences of unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war. Clean, safe, and adequate freshwater is vital to the survival of all living organisms and the resilience of ecosystems, communities, and economies. However, the quality of the world’s water is increasingly threatened as human populations grow, industrial and agricultural activities expand, and climate change threatens to cause major alterations of the hydrologic cycle.

An investment of US$20 million in low-cost water technologies, such as drip irrigation and treadle pumps, could lift 100 million poor farming families out of extreme poverty, according to the report, ‘Clearing the Waters: A Focus on Water Quality Solutions'. It adds that repairing leaky water and sewage networks can also secure not only supplies but reduce pollution and generate employment. In some developing countries, 50-60 per cent of treated water is lost to leaks and globally an average of 35 per cent is lost. By some estimates, saving just half of this amount would supply water to 90 million people without further investment.

But while there are solutions, much more needs to be done, notes the UNEP report. The facts are:

• Globally, 2 million tons of sewage and industrial and agricultural waste are poured into the world's waters every day;
• At least 1.8 million children under five years-old die every year from water-related diseases, or one every 20 seconds;
• Every day, millions of tons of inadequately treated sewage and industrial agricultural wastes are poured into the world's waters;
• Over half of the world's hospital beds are occupied with people suffering from illnesses linked with contaminated water.

Take time to learn more about water, how we depend on it, and how our civilization is currently using it.

Speak Your Language

With all the new readers visiting the site I want to take a step back from my investigations and get personal.

I’ve been told I’m way too intense for most people, and so I’m trying to make some changes in the way I relate. I’m not making these changes because I care what people think OF ME, but because I care what people think. I care what people think about the world; I care what people think about themselves; and I care what people think needs to be done to create the change we all need in the world. I guess the point is: I care.

And I have learned that in order to come to a knowledge about meaningful things we have to pay attention. We have to truly engage and be aware.

Now that might sound way too obvious - but I can assure you it is not so easy. Paying attention doesn’t mean judging and it is not about categorizing. It is about being open. Directing one’s attention towards meaningful things requires an openness that draws no boundaries. And to do this we need to suspend what we think we know and let the inherent wisdom and truth of the Other wash over us. To truly know other people we need to swim in their collected individuality.

Everybody speaks their own language – even though we are all utterly interconnected, woven into the fabric of life and the social context from which we come. My ‘language’ is not the same as yours. So feel open to speak your language.

Michael Moore on Capitalism: A Love Story

As a follow-up to my last post on Capitalism and Fascism, I thought I would post an interview with filmmaker Michael Moore on his new film Capitalism: A Love Story.

Moore has spent his entire career questioning the rationale behind decisions made by U.S politicians and their partners in ‘big business’. His latest film investigates the forces behind millions of Americans losing their homes, jobs and savings while CEO’s get million dollar bonuses and huge corporations are bailed out by the government. A particular poignant scene shows the chairman of Goldman Sachs whispering into the ear of former President Ronald Regan ordering him to “hurry up” and finish his speech, and vividly demonstrating just how much influence corporations have on U.S government policy.

What is the price that America - and the rest of the world – has to pay to continue its love of capitalism?

Capitalism: A Denial Story

I recently stumbled across the following statement on youtube:

“The "Economic Crisis" has nothing to do with capitalism (in the traditional, free market sense of the term), and everything to do with corporatism and central planning. The Fed (and the state's recognition of this central bank) is responsible, not free markets (which we don't have).”

Apparently this was a response to the trailer for Michael Moore’s most recent movie called, Capitalism: A Love Story. Now there is much in this statement that I agree with: First, I agree that the global ‘economic crisis’ was accomplished in large part because of a broken and manipulated banking system. There were a whole group of wealthy elite families who worked with major corporations to control and influence the banks in order to siphon off derivative capital and basically fraud the systems out of billions of dollars. This is a well known and documented occurrence.

Secondly, ‘corporatism’ is most certainly at the core of the dilemma. As witnessed in the recent case where U.S Supreme Court granting further citizenship and personhood rights to corporations, thereby opening the door to billions of dollars being spent by special corporate interests to influence and thereby dominate the political landscape of the United States. This sadistic symbiosis of corporate and government interests has allowed the most wealthy people on the planet continue to consolidate, expand and extended their power and influence all over the world.

And I do agree that the Federal Bank and its monetary policies played a major role in the "crisis", however, again, this is because it too is controlled through and through by corporate fascist interests.

Yet, notice the first 9 words of that statement! Here they are: “The "Economic Crisis" has nothing to do with capitalism…” WTF?

Let me try and simplify this for everyone: corporate dominance, elite influence and the banking systems they own ARE integral parts of CAPITALISM. Capitalism in contemporary global society is nothing more that a set of values, ideas, practices, policies, technology and social structures engineered to maximize and consolidate profit - managed and defended by massive corporations and all those wealthy elites who control them. Capitalism is the blind pursuit of profit utilizing any means, technology or advantage possible within a systematically unfair, unequal, controlled and dominated field of interaction. Capitalism has only ever operated through influence, power and the appropriation of ‘natural resources’.

And the person who wrote the comments quoted above was right: we do not have free market capitalism. You wanna know why? BECAUSE it is a MYTH. ‘Free markets’ do NOT exist. Nor have they ever existed. Capitalism as it has historically evolved is not the kind of system the kids were told about in primary schools, and it is certainly not about devising institutions that stay in line with the fantasies of Adam Smith. Since the birth of capitalism during the renaissance the wealthy have continued to dominate the fields of "competition", and controlled markets and access to markets throughout the world. [You might want to check out Fernand Braudel’s scholarship for the details] Markets, like everything else in the social world, are NOT, nor will they ever be, totally FREE.

Much like the belief in Anarchy in general, the notion of ‘free markets’ is a fantasy created by people naïve enough to think that there can ever be a “free” association of individuals operating outside the control of coercive powers. Put another way, believing in the possibility of "free markets" is like believing in a purple dragon - it looks good on paper, and makes for a good story but has never existed. Where there is opportunity (especially for profit) there will always be dominant people, groups and “special interests” (fascists) ready to rush in and shape the flow of materials and value for their benefit.

So to assert that the ‘economic crisis’ has nothing to do with capitalism is ridiculous. The whole banking system is a part of the larger machinations of capitalism – and it was the capitalist élites who drove these banks and corporations to do what they did.

In fact, the main goal of the banking-corporate-capitalist-government-elite alliance can only ever be achieved at the expense of other people and the ecosystems in which they subsist. Capitalism is an ideology and system with a single zero sum goal: profit. And the only way to extract profit is through the exploitation of others and the appropriation of natural resources. And failing to recognize this total alignment of contemporary profit-obsessed capitalism with the controlling interests and influences of the fascist elite would mean that we are either clinically insane, or that we have become so involved in our own self-hating delusions that we continue to operate out of a nihilistic state of denial.

Why Cultural Diversity Matters in the Modern World

What does it mean to be human? This question is a dominant theme on this blog and in everything I do. Of course, I don’t really expect an answer to this question; mostly because there is no single answer – but rather over 6 billion versions of the question.

To ask ‘what it means to be human’ is radically personal - answered only by unique individuals finding their way in the world. Yet it is also intensely social: of the thousands of different communities and languages on Earth, almost all of them have compellingly different ways of understanding the human experience.

"We are a wildly imaginative and creative species," declares Wade Davis in the video below. Davis, a renown anthropologist and explorer, backs up his claim in this video with fascinating accounts and photographs of humanity plumbing the depths of their cultural experience, psyche, flesh and environment in search of meaning and survival.

The genius of human culture is how we use it to understand and cope in the world, often surviving in impossible conditions. Far from viewing the world in a “romantic” or “nostalgic” way, Davis concludes with the provocative argument that without cultural diversity we may not be able to survive as a species.

I believe we simply cannot afford to diminish our ancestral repository of lived-experience and ways of being-in-the-world. Not only do we become culturally impoverished when diversity vanishes but we can also drastically decrease our capacity to imagine the world anew - thereby diminishing our ability to adapt to our gravest challenges in novel and humane ways. In short, without diversity in thought and deed we become terribly vulnerable to extinction.

Please take a moment to watch this fascinating presentation about how cultural diversity and human difference promotes human flourishing and ultimately protects us against the savagery and weakness of our greatest enemy: our own arrogance.

Wade Davis is a noted Canadian anthropologist, ethnobotanist, author and photographer whose work has focused on worldwide indigenous cultures, especially in North and South America and particularly involving the traditional uses and beliefs associated with psychoactive plants. Davis came to prominence with his 1985 best-selling book, The Serpent and the Rainbow about the zombies of Haiti - which was subsequently adapted into a Hollywood film on the same title. Davis has published numerous scholarly papers and popular articles in for National Geographic, Time Magazine and Fortune, among others.

You can visit his website here.
Or view his other amazing presentations here.

Shades, Shadows and Expression in the Blogosphere

I have decided to conduct a little research project. I have read some amazing, innovative and personal blogs throughout the years, so I know that blogging is meaningful to people, but how so? And why? I want to know more. And I want to hear from anyone who will take the time to share.

As an anthropologist who spends many hours blogging, and reading blogs, i inevitably started wondering about the underlying impulses and motivations involved in the practice of blogging for those who participate? What does blogging actually offer in terms of expressive and communicative value? Are there any striking commonalities of culture, social status or demographics involved in the phenomenon?

What is Anthropology you ask? Well Click Here

So armed with these interests, I ask for your help! Please take the time to answer the following five questions. Your answers can be as brief or as long and detailed as you like. Thank you so much in advance, and remember that this is not a formal study, but mostly to connect with fellow bloggers and satisfy my curiosity. So have fun with it:

1. Why do you do blog? (feel free to be as expressive as you like)

2. How much time do you spend blogging per week, and how much time do you spend reading other blogs per week?

3. In your experience, what potential or actual benefits do you think blogging provides?

4. How long have you been blogging?

5. What is your background (roughly, in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, and occupation)?

By answering these questions you agree to be part of a non-profit, non-academic research project on the social practice of blogging. After enough people have responded I will organize, develop and write up my overall impressions in a long, but accessible post. The post will include the overall data and provide a bit of home-grown irreverent analysis. (I may even consult a media theorist or cultural specialist or two.)

Everyone who participates will be recognized, and hopefully rewarded for their time by getting exposure for their blogs or projects on the final results post and everywhere this study manifests in the blogoshpere. Thanks again!

[note: please provide a link or address to your blog so others can visit and connect with you]

Change you can believe that Republicans will block

As the U.S Republican party continues to hamstring their country’s ability to function, right-wing pundits and old-boy conservative are no doubt attending their luxury parties and puffing on cigars at the expense of the unemployed and poor. With a full out assault on U.S democratic institutions, Republican senators are determined to prevent their elected President from passing any legislation all – even that which that the majority of polled Americans support.

Let me be quite clear: I am no adoring fan of Barak Obama. My issue is with the governing system itself. In my estimation, Obama – like every other politician in the economically dominant regions of world – is primarily a top level manager within the sprawling corporate infrastructure that props up the broken machinery called democracy. Obama’s main job is produce effective public rhetoric while brokering deals between wealthy elites and the special interests they embody.

This is not to say I think his intentions are completely insidious, because I think he actually believes in the systems he manages, and he indeed wants to work within established parameters to improve the lives of Americans. But history and the state of the world as it is suggests that he is awfully wrong.

Rather, what I want to highlight here is just how broken the U.S government is. What we see at work there is a two party system full of self-interested politikers, waging childish verbal and strategic wars against each other in the Senate and throughout the system. Divided and debilitated these two camps retreat into ideological backwardness while working to maintain the established order of power and influence. Smear campaigns, misinformation and political posturing render policy innovation and legislative progress impossible.

Prime example: The shockingly destructive filibusters by current Republican regime. In the last U.S Congress, the Republican minority more than doubled the previous record for filibusters, and they are currently on a pace to challenge or surpass this absurd obstruction of the democratic process this time around. How is it possible for this party, and these politicians to even pretend that they are working for the American people when they are completely grinding the governance mechanisms to a halt? Truly, I don’t understand how the grass-roots conservative faithful allow their representatives to get away with this dismantling of effective government?

Constitutional lawyers and political scientists everywhere are flabbergasted the level partisan politics deployed by the Republicans. It is simply unprecedented that a party refuses to allow an elected president to do his job.

This latest bit of democratic obstruction being staged by Senate conservatives, done in the name of limiting federal spending, is going to end up costing cash-strapped states millions of dollars as well as potentially causing millions of workers to lose their unemployment benefits. At this very moment Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., continues to block an extension of federal unemployment insurance benefits that are due to expire this weekend. Sen. Bunning’s filibuster will result in at least 400,000 people nationwide going without unemployment benefits this month - deepening the despair among the working calls and impoverished throughout the U.S [source] .

Millions more could lose employment support in the next few weeks if Congress doesn’t return to functioning, according to the U.S Department of Labor. The agency also estimated that 500,000 Americans will lose access to the program that allows the jobless to buy health insurance through their former employer, with the government paying 65 percent of the cost. Jim and his Republic business partners will effectively ensure that people barely existing at bottom 10% of the economic system will go without income support and have no access to healthcare. This is at the same time that studies show there are five unemployed Americans today for every job opening in the current economy. People are not unemployed because of choice [source]. All this because Jim and the Republicans doesn’t want the current administration to increase the deficit???

Ever afraid of looking like radicals, Congressional Democrats have not even truly challenged Bunning, except to briefly point out the hypocrisy of his own political record of repeatedly voting to expand the deficit when it came to wars, and tax cuts to the wealthy – and while fighting relentlessly to provide government handouts to huge drug companies. This is all on official record people, look it up.

As a result of Bunning’s political posturing the Senate has adjourned until Monday, with no votes scheduled until Tuesday. The results of this blockage in governance means that states will now start cutting off all sorts of payments to about 5 million people this weekend according to the National Association of State Workforce Agencies.

Such actions will force the most disadvantaged families in America to deal with addition domestic stressors that will no doubt reverberate through the healthcare, legal and penal systems, with more and more people losing their homes, becoming sick, medicated and/or turning to alternative and sometimes criminal economic activities in order to survive. The cost that this particular Republican stunt to taxpayers and the economy will very quickly cascade into the hundreds of millions. It seems the old regime of business and banking control is holding for now.

If these events and the current state of U.S governmental affairs doesn’t strike the average American as profoundly disturbing and pathologically disruptive I honestly don’t know what would?