Archive for May, 2010

I don’t think I’m much of an activist but I do support The Zeitgeist Movement and try to communicate what it’s all about to everyone, anyone. Here’s the newsletter I got this week which I want to share with you because I think it is very powerful…

On the Gulf Coast of the United States the shock is now setting in for millions of American citizens as we now realize the true extent of the damage caused by our desire for obsolete and dangerous fossil fuels, and our perpetuation of an outdated monetary world society, where the bottom line has always been profit at all costs, be it human or environmental. It is time for a viable solution to deal with a system hardwired for self destruction.

It is with that very unfortunate introduction that we, The Zeitgeist Movement, now must enter the international conversation to express the need for true change. That word  is not some jingoist slogan devised by a focus group, but the evident desire of the public for a meaningful transition out of the destructive legacy, the burden of our past mistakes as a maturing civilization. We only have one Earth; there is no reset button here.

We must break out of our established ideologies that have prevented progress. Ending the political duality, economic stratification and false divisions is key to overcoming our apparent historical bondage that says the future we were promised must remain an elusive dream. We must now rethink our society and outgrow those parts of it that serve to paralyze us.

As of Friday, April 30th it was reported by CBS News (US) that the spill had spread to cover 2,100 square miles and was still spilling at a rate up to 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) a day. As of today, there has been no progress in stopping this catastrophe. This did not have to happen. It happened because we continue to use an obsolete technology for the sake of maintaining a profitable establishment. An establishment that perpetuates vast inequality in its wages to its employees versus its core owners, destroys fragile and vital eco-systems, and pollutes our air.

It is time for real change, not empty promises. No amount of socialism or free market ideology will save us from ourselves, there needs to be a fundamental re-write of what we think we know, to achieve a sustainable human enterprise.

Our generation has stood and watched as our planet has been raped and pillaged, yet we do nothing. Our generation has stood and watched as our government bailed out the very people who created this economic crisis, yet we do nothing. Our generation has stood and watched as our rights have been stripped away from us, and yet we do nothing. Our generation has stood and watched as we have been handed the problems of the countless generations before it, and we are preparing to do the same to the next generation, and
we do nothing.

Let us be the first generation to hand solutions to our children and our children’s children. But we can’t do it alone. Let us break down the barriers we have created amongst ourselves. We need all of you, every last one, to say enough is enough in one voice. Not as Americans or Russians, Christians or Muslims, but as fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters. Let us destroy the lines between us and work to create a world where our children are truly safe and free. Let us create a world where we can tell our children that they can be and do whatever their heart desires, and know deep inside us we are telling them the truth. Let our generation be the one.

We have the tools, we have the knowledge, we have the technology. It is time we make the transition to a world, an economy, and a future we all deserve regardless of geographic location or economic disposition. As long as we rely on legacy systems defined in a 19th century mentality all we will do is spin our wheels while a parade of economic and ecologic disasters visits us again and again. It is time to pull the plug on this charade because as you will find out, there is a better way.

We, the Zeitgeist Movement representatives, reach out to you so that we can all work together to do what must be done. Every man, woman and child has a voice, but together we can create one voice so deafening that no one will have a choice but to listen. But it requires you. It requires you put away preconceived notions you have been told about “the way things are” as if it is the only way, because it’s not! Our way of thinking will no longer sustain us. We can either remain in the house of cards we have built and watch it collapse all around us, or we can, through the best our society has to offer, begin to construct a stable mature and thriving society so that the Gulf Coast Oil Spill, the Exxon Valdez and many others are nothing more then an embarrassing footnote in history.