dialog : re : new posting policy

2005-10-24

Richard Moore

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Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 10:19:08 -0400
From: Diana Skipworth
Subject: Re: rkm report : new posting policy
To: •••@••.•••

Dear Richard,
 
A couple of weeks ago I went to Chicago to attend the 5th
annual Chicago Summit of the Earth Charter.

The Earth Charter is a fantastic document and I had never
heard of it before, have you?  Their Website:  
  http://www.earthcharter.org

[ Earth charter available also:
http://cyberjournal.org/cj/show_archives/?id=823&lists=newslog
- rkm ]

Respect and care for the community of life, Ecological
Integrity, Social and Economic Justice, Democracy Nonviolence
and Peace.
---<snip>---

Regards,
 
Diana Skipworth
Geneva, IL    60134   

---------

Hi Diana,

The Charter is inspirational in its vision, as regards
humanity's relationship to the environment, etc. As
regards political strategy - and this may be appropriate -
It has little to offer. It calls for our current systems
to become more accountable, transparent, etc. In that
context, such objectives are neither achievable
politically, nor sufficient, in terms of making any real
difference.

From the charter:

    This requires a change of mind and heart. It requires a 
    new sense of global interdependence and universal 
    responsibility. We must imaginatively develop and apply 
    the vision of a sustainable way of life locally, 
    nationally, regionally, and globally. Our cultural 
    diversity is a precious heritage and different cultures 
    will find their own distinctive ways to realize the 
    vision. We must deepen and expand the global dialogue that 
    generated the Earth Charter, for we have much to learn 
    from the ongoing collaborative search for truth and 
    wisdom. 

This makes a lot of sense. Cultural change is, I believe,
the right focus for the kind of social transformation we
need.
   
    In order to build a sustainable global community, the 
    nations of the world must renew their commitment to the 
    United Nations, fulfill their obligations under existing 
    international agreements, and support the implementation 
    of Earth Charter principles with an international legally 
    binding instrument on environment and development.  

As I see it, national governments are not, in general,
going to take radical positions until after overwhelming
public sentiment has forced them to do so. That means
we need to be thinking in terms of grassroots movements
before we begin to make demands on governments.

John Bunzl, and Simpol, have an approach that combines a
'grassroots movement' initiative with an 'influence
governments' initiative (see: next contribution). Perhaps
John and the Charter folks could collaborate.

thanks for bringing this to our attention,
rkm

--------------------------------------------------------
From: "John Bunzl" <•••@••.•••>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: rkm report : new posting policy
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 16:43:43 +0100

Richard,

Great to hear this! To the extent that you might feel
Simpol fits your criteria for 'what we can do', please let
me know how you feel it can best be put forward to your
audience.

all the best
John

-------

Hi John,

Nice to hear from you. As regards introducing Simpol, how
about this?... give us a few paragraphs explaining what
Simpol is about, URLs for more info, plus an update on how
your membership is shaping up, how many adopters, etc.
Also, how are you doing on having a 'policy' to be simultaneously
'adopted'. Have you already seen the Earth Charter?

best regards,
rkm

--------------------------------------------------------
From: "SHRIKUMAR" <>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: Launching 'positive themes'...
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 11:19:24 -0400

Dear Richard:

Greetings from Michigan.  I am sending you the literature
about us via priority mail today....

We are village based network and do not have a website
yet.  However, we will someday.

We can certainly share names and help in fundraising etc.

Today, I leave for India for 6 months and had hoped to
contact you and visit you...but may be you did not get my
email earlier.

I have been active in the US peace movement and Democracy
movement in India and now ofcourse this new network.

Next five days I am in UK and can be contacted on the
phone at 1-727-84-0920 from Sat to Wednesday...c/o of Dr.
Kedia in St. Albans.

Regards,
Shrikumar Poddar

---------------

Shrikumar,

Looking forward to literature. As regards a website, it is easy
to set up simple websites for free, or blogs, on a number of
services.

rkm

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Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 11:21:31 -0400
From: david creighton <>
To:  •••@••.•••
Subject: Re: rkm report : new posting policy

Glad to hear it Richard ("focusing on 'what we can do'").
As I've said before, there is a law of thermodynamics that
goes, for every action there is an equal [sic] and
opposite reaction. This applies to human activities as
well. So, as an example of on what you are redirecting
your attentions, here's something from WorldWatch:

World Watch Magazine

November/December 2005

<http://www.worldwatch.org/ct/20051020/pubs/mag/2005/186/>  
Featured in this month's issue of World Watch Magazine:

<http://www.worldwatch.org/ct/20051020/pubs/mag/2005/186/>
    Environmental Tipping Points
      In places as diverse as the Philippines, India, and New
    York City, people are addressing complex environmental
    problems by finding their positive "tipping points"--a
    point where catalytic action can set off a cascade of
    positive changes that tip the system towards
    sustainability.

<http://www.worldwatch.org/ct/20051020/pubs/mag/2005/186/>
    You Say You Want A Revolution?
      "Economic insecurity radically weakens all forms of civil
    society network building, including those that nurture
    democracy and communities' interests in their
    environments..."

<http://www.worldwatch.org/ct/20051020/pubs/mag/2005/186/>
    Trade and Consequences
      As demand for cheap, imported goods into the U.S. grows,
    so does the potential for catastrophic consequences from
    the ever-widening stream of marine freight....

China Watch

<http://www.worldwatch.org/ct/20051020/features/chinawatch/> 
    A joint initiative of the Worldwatch Institute and
    Beijing-based Global Environmental Institute (GEI),
    <http://www.worldwatch.org/ct/20051020/features/chinawatch/>
      China Watch reports on energy, agriculture, population,
    water, health, and the environment in China-with an
    emphasis on big-picture analysis relevant to policy
    makers, the business community, and non-governmental
    organizations.

This Week in China Watch....

<http://www.worldwatch.org/ct/20051020/features/chinawatch/stories/20051020-2/>
    China Aims to Build Energy-Efficient Society in Next Five Years
      The Chinese government has included a goal of building an
    energy-efficient, less resource-intensive society in a new
    proposal that feeds into the 11th Five-Year Plan of
    2006-2010.

These are what we call TATAs, from Susan George's immortal
reply to Margaret Thatcher's arrogant "TINA--there is no
alternative" (to neoliberalism). George replied, "There
are thousands of alternatives"--TATA! (Onomatopoeic as
well). May you find a thousand TATAs in your new search.

And thanks for your good works,
David Creighton
Ottawa

-------

David - thanks for the references - rkm

--------------------------------------------------------
From: "Thomas Greco -- CIRC2" <•••@••.•••>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: rkm report : new posting policy
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 10:50:57 -0700

Dear Richard,

In order for us to "gain the power to transform our
societies" we need to understand how we have given our
power away, how it has been taken from us, and how it has
been concentrated in so few hands. As a result of more
than a quarter century of research into money and banking,
I've concluded that it is these structures that are the
single most important mechanisms for concentrating power
(and wealth). They have been carefully crafted to do that.

But the good news is that we have the tools we need to
reinvent money and the exchange process, bypassing the
parasitic elements that enable oligarchs to do so much
damage.

I have written a great deal about that, and am working on
still another book, taking much of my inspiration from E.
C. Riegel. In sum, money is credit; credit is money. The
future of money is NO MONEY, but the deployment of mutual
credit clearing systems. Such systems are being
implemented in both the grassroots and commercial realms.
We are assembling the best available materials on our
website http://www.Reinventingmoney.com.

Thomas H. Greco, Jr., Director
Community Information Resource Center
P. O. Box 42663, Tucson, Arizona 85733
520-795-8930
•••@••.•••
circ2.home.mindspring.com
www.Reinventingmoney.com
    
    "Generosity is the virtue that produces peace." 
    - from a Buddhist Sutra

--------------

Hi Thomas,

What is the relationship between 'mutual credit clearing
systems' and 'community currencies'? Is 'credit clearing'
what happens between communities? I think we'd like to
hear more about this topic.

cheers,
rkm

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Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 10:16:34 -0700
Subject: note re: new posting policy
From: Jan Slakov <>
To: "Richard K. Moore" <•••@••.•••>

Dear Richard,

I don't know whether to say "congratulations" or "great,
but..."... I guess some of both. I do think it would be
useful and refreshing for you to focus more or some of the
amazingly good things that are happening. .... Maybe they
won't be enough to prevent horrible disaster, but at least
we can be happier as we travel that road to disaster :)...
but seriously, I do think that when we can truly be
grateful and experience things like love and joy, we
contribute to an emotional, spiritual climate that is
healing. And lord knows we need healing in our world!

My "but" is to remind you (and me) that an alternative
news source ("samisdat" kind of thing) is part of the
creation of a better world. I won't be subscribing to your
newslog as I just can't handle more e-mail, but it has
been interesting to get the odd posting from you of that
sort. On the other hand, I have learned to be fairly
cautious about believing some of what you send out. Some,
like that report about a hurricane in Florida, seem too
far out for me to believe and in that case at least, prove
indeed to be false.

In any case, I thought I'd like to suggest two things for
your new direction. One is the magazine: Yes! A Journal of
Positive Futures <http://www.yesmagazine.org>. Even though
it comes out of the US (Seattle area) and so I have to use
Us dollars to buy it, and even though it mainly covers US
initiatives, I still find it worth subscribing to.

Another is Nonviolent Communication. It's quite "big" in
the western US and Canada. Here on Salt Spring there are
several groups studying it. It would fit quite well with
the dynamic facilitation approach, at least from what I
understand of that. I'll copy below a posting about it, FYI. 

all the best, Jan

---------

Hi Jan,

I posted you Nonviolent Communication article to newslog:
http://cyberjournal.org/cj/show_archives/?id=832&lists=newslog

Don't worry, the 'alternative news source'  will continue on 
newslog. 

nice to hear from you,
rkm

--------------------------------------------------------
From: Janaia Donaldson <>
Subject: Re: rkm report : new posting policy
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 16:00:13 -0700
To: •••@••.•••

I value your analyses. When you post them to the cj list
I'm on, I'd appreciate your including the first paragraph
so I get the drift and can know whether to follow the
link. I also look forward to *practical* initiatives and
ideas for transformation. I am working to organize our
community in northern California to relocalize our
economy. At the very start of a long road. Thank you,

------

Hi Janaia,

Are you using a community currency in your attempts to
relocalize? Yes I do hope we focus on practical initiatives,
and ones that can help lead to transformation. I try to make
the titles of the newslog postings as descriptive as possible.
I usually don't have time to add paragraph descriptions but
I'll do it when I can.

rkm

--------------------------------------------------------
From: "Brian Hill" <•••@••.•••>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Subject: RE: rkm report : new posting policy
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 21:23:36 -0700
Organization: Institute  for Cultural Ecology

Natural resources = the commons

-----------

Hi Brian,

Yes, and in the book I use the phrase "reclaiming
the commons" to describe the necessary re-definition
of ownership, as part of the transformation process.

rkm

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From: •••@••.•••
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2005 02:15:12 EDT
Subject: Re: Heads up! : here comes the indictments...
To: •••@••.•••

        rkm> keep your eyes open, history could change,

this could be the start of a whole lot of smiling. How
interesting to know that a moment in world history is
coming and that it will be a little item of a single
website and pow!! the curtain may be pulled back and the
wizard of Oz may be seen trembling at the shock of
exposure. I've been fearing for his life. these guys play
very rough and very dirty.

-- 

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