One of the things that intelligent, well read, and maybe over-informed people need to do is selectively cut back on the data feeds that are plugged into their heads. — Bitter Crank
It's true that is we consume less we will need to produce less, which is fine. The only one hurt will be the profiteers. — Rich
A contraction in output due to decreased consumer demand will likely result in unemployment, — WISDOMfromPO-MO
I can't help but laugh at this. You are saying that autonomy of the individual is garbage, as well as science. How does one express themselves for you to listen without autonomy? How do you listen to non-human life and the Earth without organizing that knowledge (science is organized knowledge) into something meaningful to even talk about for others to listen? You dictating what I can talk about is contradictory to your goal of listening, and thinking that such-and-such topic is "garbage" is subjective. Maybe others don't think that and you need to listen to that.Apparently I am not making myself clear.
I will try again.
All of this Marxism; liberalism; "progress"; conservatism; Enlightenment rationalism, autonomy of the individual, rule of law; empiricism/"science"; technology; transhumanism; postmodernism; feminism; queer theory; identity politics; neo-liberalism; "the logic of free markets"; globalization; populism; "democracy" vs. "tyranny"; dualism vs. non-dualism; overconsumption vs. prosperity; Malthus vs. Adam Smith; etc.; etc.; etc. needs to be stuffed in a box, bound with several layers of duct tape, and fired on a rocket as far out of our sight and memory as possible.
Garbage in, garbage out.
If we are tired of getting garbage then we need to grow up and throw away the garbage.
The garbage is gone, what do we do now?
How about listening.
Listening to each other.
Listening to non-human life
Listening to the Earth.
How about empathizing.
I said let's break the garage-in-garbage-out cycle, and you responded with more of the garage.
We don't need more politics, laws, philosophy, science, technology, etc. We need to get a grip.
We need to try, gasp, being nice. — WISDOMfromPO-MO
The problem is wealth concentration not of production. — Rich
I spent about 15 years working in a socialist organization educating "the public" about Marx, De Leon, economic justice, the meaning of class, and so on and so forth. I donated to the cause. I wrote material. — Bitter Crank
Anyone who lives the life of a consumer, even a modest consumer, lives at the expense of the unspeakable suffering of others. You have a computer and probably a smart phone, for example; do you know how much slavery and what intolerable working conditions exist in the supply chain that enables you to enjoy those luxuries? — Janus
Capitalism, science, technology, etc. are sorry excuses for the sacred anyway. — WISDOMfromPO-MO
A contraction in output due to decreased consumer demand will likely result in unemployment, — WISDOMfromPO-MO
Absolutely not. The problem is wealth concentration not of production... — Rich
Conventional thinking is making this world into one polluted mess. The top 1% had sure been successful in messing with everyone's thinking... — Rich
So what is the point of the OP?... — Rich
You still are buying into all of the marketing junk pouring through the media. When it comes right down to it, you are still quite conventional. — Rich
Ah yes, the Arch Druid. — Bitter Crank
People need to find the area in which they can make a difference, and go do it. Become informed, but don't keep listening to and reading the same old bad news every day. It's just too demoralizing. Keep abreast of what is happening, but that doesn't take a lot of time. Things, like the disasters, don't change that much from month to month... — Bitter Crank
Do I believe that 'the people' can change the direction away from certain disaster that we all seem to be heading for? Sure I do. Do I think 'the people' will rise up, smash the corporate dictatorship, take over the government, and usher in a period of progressive ecological, economic, educational, et cetera policy which will get us all collectively out of the shit hole we seem to be sliding into? No, I think that is fairly unlikely... — Bitter Crank
So, I continue doing what I can do and recognizing that my power to effect change in the world is quite limited. It's more limited than I would like, but there's not much I can do about it. Got a magic ring or something you could give me to enhance my powers? — Bitter Crank
Anyone here familiar with John Michael Greer? — Wayfarer
Workers all over the world get the same bad deal. We should all stop cooperating with the owning class. — Bitter Crank
Yet, my mobile telco provider has all its helpdesk in India, in the call centres of Hyderabad and Pune, which now provide middle-class (in Indian terms) employment opportunities for millions of people. — Wayfarer
Having to earn your living in and of itself doesn't make you a slave, but having a wage under an employer generally does. I've always hated working under someone else, which is why I didn't last long >:O .Everyone is a slave in the sense that they have to somehow earn or otherwise acquire a living or die, BC. Life itself makes 'slaves' of us all in that kind of sense. — Janus
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