Environment and Sustainable Development Networks
Dear Colleague Greetings from India! I am sure this would be of interest to you. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada in collaboration with Ministry of Environment and Forests (India) has launched the portal site of Sustainable Development Networking Programme, India (SDNP-India) at http://sdnp.delhi.nic.in mirrored at http://members.tripod.com/sdnp_india. SDNP India is a part of the Global Capacity 21 Initiative of the UNDP to foster informed decison-making by countries in environmental matters. More information of the global SDNP Initiative is available at http://www.sdnp.undp.org The SDNP India website provides access to a host of online databases, environmental legislation, case studies, publications, news clippings and electronic discussion groups on gamut of issues from Agriculture to Climate Change to Population, Health and Human Rights. A database of international organisations working on sustainable development issues is being maintained on the website and has been indexed subject area wise. We have also started to host information on Environment and Sutainable Development in local Indian languages too, so as to enhance the reach of the programme. The website also provides a platform to initiate debates and discussions, highlight developmental issues and initiate environmental actions at all levels through a host of services such as Building Bridges, Development Job Opportunities, Query Desk, Dev-Online, Event Reporting service, Web-Site Hosting and Training on Information and Communication Technologies. More information about these services is available at the SDNP website or by sending an email at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Vikas Nath Programme Officer Sustainable Development Networking Programme (India) Sustainable Development Networking Programme (India) Room 1023 Paryavaran Bhawan CGO Complex, Lodhi Road New Delhi 110003 India Phone + 91 11 436 2140 Fax + 91 11 436 1147 Email : [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL : http://sdnp.delhi.nic.in mirror site : http://members.tripod.com/sdnp_india
Re: CONVENTION LAW OR MARSHAL LAW
Dear Friends, all. Our Friend, John, makes revealing comments about the problem's of today's (sic) economics (recall that the greek word oikonimos = care of the household ! ) In the spirit of helping form a set of solutions, I add, at the end: - an action plan from The Fair World Project. I hope that it helps. co-operative hugs from, john courtneidge *** The full 'Fair World Project' text follows at the end: please share. Thanx ! *** -- From: "Johnny Holiday/John A. Taube" [EMAIL PROTECTED] snip In Hansons fourth paragraph, he contends that only by marshal law could the U.S. reduce its consumption by 95 percent. Hansons statement is over simplified. Whether we have marshal law or conventional law, by reducing consumption in our socioeconomic structure, our Price System, employment is correspondently reduced. Because 95 percent reduction in consumption will so drastically affect employment it will create a state of panic whether we have marshal or conventional law. It appears that Technocracy is alone in realizing that because we function with a Price System in our advanced technological age, the change in the time rate of doing work has forced us to be gluttons. Just why is this so? In primitive colonial times our nations production was strictly hand-tool. Think of this: For centuries metal ferrous and others was fashioned by the blacksmith with a sledge hammer and anvil, strictly hand-tool. Nobody uses that method today. It was replaced by a drop-forge and it turns out that drop-forges with a mere look-see skeleton crew has replaced the old hand-tool huge workforce that existed for centuries. In modern times, the work force need in metal fabrication per unit of production is trivial in comparison what it used to take. Im 87, born in 1912. While I dont remember the exact year, it probably was 1921 that our class went on a field trip to the telephone company and I have a vivid recollection of it. Banks of women at switch boards doing hand-tool, grueling, monotones, tedious work. Now what? Computers, with a skeleton look see force have replaced that multitude of hand-tool people who composed the old workforce. Our technology with a skeleton look see work force produces a plethora of goods. Our Price System requires that these goods are moved from inventory to consumer; failing this, the system collapses. In order to avoid a panic condition we have to be consumer gluttons. Where can one study this reduction of the work force and its effect on our society? Log onto Technocracys official web site, www.technocracy.org and, beside reading other articles, especially read M. King Hubberts Man-Hours and Distribution. Additionally log onto www.technocracysf.org and click on MENU and especially read A Commentary to Jim Lehrer. Before closing this piece, it will be beneficial to consider one other matter. There are a variety of groups that focus on the fact that not to distant in the future oil reserves will have reached such a low point that the existence of our scientific-technological age will be threatened. Everyone of these groups fails to realize that whatever is done to adjust to the shortage of oil but still leave intact our socioeconomic structure, our Price System, nothing has really been done to solve our problem. Hopefully, each one of these groups will study just how our Price System must be dumped if we are to have any future at all. *** *** Creating A Fair, Safe and Peaceful World *** Can we consider that our shared goal is to create a fair, safe and peaceful world? If so, it seems that we need to transform the economic system in which we live, so that: o people, together, are in control of their lives, o where all work for the long-lived benefit of all: caring for the long-lived benefit of the whole global ecology, and all its inhabitants. To find the way forward, we need to have strategies for the three core features of present-day economics: o ownership of workplaces and knowledge used for profit, o ownership of land and natural resources, and their use for profit, and o the practice of money-lending for profit. To be able to deal with these three, core aspects, we must, first, return money to its proper use - as a lubricant of human activity, created by, and flowing through, nationally-owned, democratic, public service banking and financial systems. With them in place, we can, then convert workplaces into appropriate co-operative enterprises, such that each has respectful stewardship of land and knowledge resources: o ensuring that everyone receives a fair, guaranteed income, o ensuring that proper stewardship of the planet is our central task, This suggests the following Seven Point Action Plan: The Co-operative Way - A Seven Point Action Plan 1) Convert competitive, market-based activities into
CONVENTION LAW OR MARSHAL LAW
The Addressee wrote: My Comments appended. CONVENTION LAW OR MARSHAL LAW IS? On April 7, 2000, Jay Hanson sent an email to Robert Hickerson and others. Hickerson sent it on to STEVEHUMAN and others, I being one of them. There are various statements of Hanson that, from the viewpoint of a member of Technocracy Inc., a scientific, educational-research organization, are worthy of comments. This piece will restrict itself to two of them. In the first paragraph, Hanson writes about Paul Ehrlichs concern about the carrying capacity of an area. Unless someone can come up with another source, Technocracy must be recognized as the first to call this serious matter to the public attention. In this respect Technocracy must be considered the mother of the environment movement. One can find Technocracys stand in its 1946 article The Ecology of Man which one can read in the official Technocracys official web site which will be noted below. For a hard copy: Write to CHQ, Technocracy Inc., 2475 Harksell, Ferndale, WA 98248. One can also reach Technocracy by phone: 360-366-1012 or by email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In Hansons fourth paragraph, he contends that only by marshal law could the U.S. reduce its consumption by 95 percent. Hansons statement is over simplified. Whether we have marshal law or conventional law, by reducing consumption in our socioeconomic structure, our Price System, employment is correspondently reduced. Because 95 percent reduction in consumption will so drastically affect employment it will create a state of panic whether we have marshal or conventional law. It appears that Technocracy is alone in realizing that because we function with a Price System in our advanced technological age, the change in the time rate of doing work has forced us to be gluttons. Just why is this so? In primitive colonial times our nations production was strictly hand-tool. Think of this: For centuries metal ferrous and others was fashioned by the blacksmith with a sledge hammer and anvil, strictly hand-tool. Nobody uses that method today. It was replaced by a drop-forge and it turns out that drop-forges with a mere look-see skeleton crew has replaced the old hand-tool huge workforce that existed for centuries. In modern times, the work force need in metal fabrication per unit of production is trivial in comparison what it used to take. Im 87, born in 1912. While I dont remember the exact year, it probably was 1921 that our class went on a field trip to the telephone company and I have a vivid recollection of it. Banks of women at switch boards doing hand-tool, grueling, monotones, tedious work. Now what? Computers, with a skeleton look see force have replaced that multitude of hand-tool people who composed the old workforce. Our technology with a skeleton look see work force produces a plethora of goods. Our Price System requires that these goods are moved from inventory to consumer; failing this, the system collapses. In order to avoid a panic condition we have to be consumer gluttons. Where can one study this reduction of the work force and its effect on our society? Log onto Technocracys official web site, www.technocracy.org and, beside reading other articles, especially read M. King Hubberts Man-Hours and Distribution. Additionally log onto www.technocracysf.org and click on MENU and especially read A Commentary to Jim Lehrer. Before closing this piece, it will be beneficial to consider one other matter. There are a variety of groups that focus on the fact that not to distant in the future oil reserves will have reached such a low point that the existence of our scientific-technological age will be threatened. Everyone of these groups fails to realize that whatever is done to adjust to the shortage of oil but still leave intact our socioeconomic structure, our Price System, nothing has really been done to solve our problem. Hopefully, each one of these groups will study just how our Price System must be dumped if we are to have any future at all. End of addressees post: == Ed G's Comments: The origin and history of the "sustainability concept is appreciated. I would like to address the question posed. "It appears that Technocracy is alone in realizing that because we function with a Price System in our advanced technological age, the change in the time rate of doing work has forced us to be gluttons. Just why is this so?" It is the nature of our money system that drives us to production and consumption to gluttony. Those among us who are deprived of capital do not consider our consumption of the necessities and amenities gluttony. Each individual partner of the process is motivated by the spectre of bankruptcy not only to continue playing the part, but also maintain one's competative economic place in it. Those fortunate to have risen above that level are those who play their part as a game. A game of power and prestige and
Re: lol
My niece, a wonderful single mother, supporting her child by
running a day-care program that works with other working
mother's children, sent me this little story. Her parents work
two jobs as teachers and work in the civil service while they
have put their four children through school and two through
college with a third in college at present. The entire family
helps each other with the parents supporting children and
grandchildren in their endeavors. This little story
seemed
more like "black humour" when I thought of how hard they
actually work in this "paradise." So I took it seriously
and
wrote a reply. I hope it is not too serious.
REH
Dawn Beam wrote:
I've been feeling very tired lately. I've been blaming
it
on iron poor blood, lack of vitamins, dieting and a dozen
other maladies. But now I found out the real reason. I'm
tired because I'm overworked!
The population of this country is 237 million. 104 million
are retired. That leaves 133 million to do the work.
There are 85 million in school, which leaves 48 million to
do the work.
Of this, there are 29 million employed by the federal
government. This leaves 19 million to do the work.
Four million are in the Armed Forces, which leaves
15 million to do the work.
Take out the 14,800,000 people who work for the state and
city governments, and that leaves 200,000 to do the work.
There are 188,000 in hospitals, so that leaves 12,000 to do
the work.
With 11,998 people in prisons now, that leaves just two
people to do the work. You and me. And you're sitting
there reading e-mail!
Dawn,
Thanks for the lightness, but it masks a serious question.
First of all there are more people than you said, probably 300
million and over 100 times as many in prison, most being minorities.
I know, however that your joke is not so funny when it expresses real
frustration. I also know you are overworked and
a wonderful
mother and granddaughter as well.
The one question you aren't asking is how much work is there
that is significant and how much is just tiring busy work?
Busy work makes one feel ignorant and useless while significant
work makes one feel energized. The number of significant
and
community oriented jobs i.e. jobs where people work in teams for
long periods of time, are slowly being devoured by what is called
the "Lean and Mean" industrial strategy. In short it means
down size
labor and replace with machines and computers.
Give labor jobs that have little permanence and make them individually
supply
their own health-care, disability, family health retirement.
Unlike your
father's inadequate government job which just pays too little for a
family of
four children with college, "Lean Mean" is a deliberate strategy
to get the
average worker to accept less and lower their expectations.
In order
to cover this up you must distract them (like you do with children
when
they complain about doing something you want) with:
1. games like the stock market (gambling
and usury)
2. complexity like taking money
out of medicine and education
and giving it to a third party (stockholders) and
calling the resultant
lower amount available for the actual task "efficiency."
Less effort
for the company and more tasks for families working
two jobs already.
(Reagan's Law: "Overworked people don't have
the energy to protest
societal and environmental abuses!")
3. an enemy: in Europe it was
Jews and Gypsies (they are still
sticking it to the Gypsies ), in the
U.S.A today it is your neighbor who doesn't agree
with you about
abortion or who isn't the same religion, or who
is elderly, or retired
after a long work life in the same job (and whose
retirement funds is
the basis for capital that makes the market prosperous).
Great
targets for envy but these retired skilled folks
would make ideal allies
if the current youth could find a way to enlist
them as such.
There is a word for all of this and it can be looked up on the Internet.
It is called AGILE Manufacturing and is the code word for temporary,
flexible jobs that require people to have flexible mobility
(be willing to
move anywhere and the family be damned!), no loyalty to anything
in
work except the temporary task at hand (how much money, is the
supreme indicator of personal value, i.e. your "worth.") the
slow
withering
away of the democratic government in favor of the stockholder
controlled
corporation, ("the big government is 'corrupt' while the 'competition'
of the
market keeps people honest.")
Well Dawn,
Dad taught me that the most important thing was to tell the
truth, even if no one else did. But to balance the harshness
of that light
with the reality of your community and to try to live together in peace.
If
your neighbors are constantly moving that is hard to do and truth becomes
just one more irritant in your life. I still try to live
the way Dad taught me
and as he said "God gave me eyes, ears and a mind to help me
decide
what was right for me and my family." That was what both
he and mother
taught me even
