Learning to See in the Dark: The Roots of Ethical Resistance

“If you separate reason from emotion, if you separate voice from relationship, and mind from body, we lose our grounding in the human world, then it is possible to act without knowing, or even without registering the consequences or the impact of our actions.”
- Carol Gilligan

About the Lecture

In this complex narrative documenting paradigm shifts in developmental thinking, Carol Gilligan defines the very capacity of our human nature—to have a voice and to communicate—as the grounds of both love and democratic citizenship. Dissecting the roots of healthy ethical resistance, Gilligan weaves together developmental psychology, neurobiology, ethics, and politics in ethical and moral decisions.

Gilligan provides an overview of the evolution of her research and thinking about gender as they relate to ethics. She recounts in her early research that she was initially blind to gender issues. These issues became strikingly clear to her after completing one study with men about their moral dilemmas to serve in the Vietnam War or resist the draft, versus a group of women faced with the moral choice to continue or to terminate a pregnancy. Though this experience she realized that all previous studies of moral and psychological development had been based on men only. This insight set off a body of research and publication that focuses on the traditional gender splits of thought verses emotion, self verses relationships and mind verses body, and the harm to both genders to operate soley within these separate and restrictive arenas.

From gender, Gilligan goes onto to study patriarchy, and looks into the societal issues on how the masculine qualities of thought, self and body have been elevated while emotion, relationships and body have been devalued, causing the psychological community to conclude that patriarchy is the natural state. Reflecting with great relief that "we now have a map," she looks at current political landscape offers insights into the election of Barack Obama and what it says about how our political landscape is changing.

"We are born with a voice and into relationship, and if those capacities are encouraged, not traumatized, then we are able to register within ourselves the feeling of what happens, and that's the grounds, the growing consensus, for ethical action, to be in touch in that sense".

DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE by Hubert Sauper

Some time in the 1960's, in the heart of Africa, a new animal was introduced into Lake Victoria as a little scientific experiment. The Nile ...all » Some time in the 1960's, in the heart of Africa, a new animal was introduced into Lake Victoria as a little scientific experiment. The Nile Perch, a voracious predator, extinguished almost the entire stock of the native fish species. However, the new fish multiplied so fast, that its white fillets are today exported all around the world. Huge hulking ex-Soviet cargo planes come daily to collect the latest catch in exchange for their southbound cargo… Kalashnikovs and ammunitions for the uncounted wars in the dark center of the continent. spacer This booming multinational industry of fish and weapons has created an ungodly globalized alliance on the shores of the world’s biggest tropical lake: an army of local fishermen, World bank agents, homeless children, African ministers, EU-commissioners, Tanzanian prostitutes and Russian pilots.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9039818938732594749

Alternative Economy Cultures

Alternative Economy Cultures part 1 from pixelACHE festival

The ‘Alternative Economy Cultures’ (alt.econ.cult) programme on April 3rd & 5th, brought together leading international and Finnish thinkers, cultural practitioners and activists, to present alternative economic visions, during Pixelache Helsinki Festival 2009.

The seminar aimed to tackle not just the financial, but the social, cultural, institutional, human, material, emotional and intellectual forms of capital. Not just about individual gain, boosting, balancing or bail-outs, but common good, peer-to-peer, shared wealth and appropriate reward for effort involved.

The discussion-based workshop about peer-fundraising brought together artists, researchers and business representatives interested in P2P funding models. Focusing upon emerging practices and related topics, it also raised the topic: Can the crowd-sourcing phenomena be applied to support alternative cultural events in Finland?

The programme was initiated and organised by artist-researcher Andrew Gryf Paterson (independent / agryfp.info / Medialab TaiK), in cooperation with Marita Muukkonen & Ivor Stodolsky of Perpetuum Mobilε (perpetualmobile.org) and Roope Mokka of Demos Helsinki (demos.fi). We aimed to offer a new strand to the Pixelache Network discourse.

For more info: 2009.pixelache.ac/festival/programme/alternative-economy-cultures/

Michael Albert: Remembering Tomorrow - A Memoir

Michael Albert speaks at the Harvard Coop about his book Remembering Tomorrow: From SDS to Life After Capitalism. May 8th 2007. The book is a lucid political memoir that offers an ardent defense of the project to transform global inequality. It recounts a life of uncompromising commitment to creating change one step at a time. Whether chronicling the battles against the Vietnam War, those waged on Boston campuses, or the challenges of creating living, breathing alternative social models, Albert brings a keen and unwavering sense of justice to his work, pointing the way forward for the next generation. Michael Albert currently works with Z Magazine and the website Znet. Schooled in the New Left and anti-Vietnam War movements and an activist ever since, Albert primarily focuses on matters of movement building and creating alternative media. He developed, along with Robin Hahnel, the economic vision called participatory economics. A Ph.d in economics, Albert is the author of fifteen books. He lives in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, with his wife and partner, Lydia Sargent
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3622753371052484817

DANNY SCHECHTER: PLUNDER - THE CRIME OF OUR TIME

DANNY SCHECHTER, “The News Dissector,” has spent decades as a truth teller in the media. He has worked in print, radio, local news, cable news (CNN and CNBC), network news magazines (ABC) and as an independent filmmaker and TV producer with the award-winning independent company, Globalvision.

His film “IN DEBT WE TRUST” (2006) was the first to expose Wall Street’s connection to subprime loans, predicting the economic crisis that this book investigates.



PLUNDER: THE CRIME OF OUR TIME is a hard-hitting investigative film by Danny Schechter. The "News Dissector" explores how the financial crisis was built on a foundation of criminal activity uncovering the connection between the collapse of the housing market and the economic catastrophe that followed.

The film opens with the conviction of Ponzi King Bernie Madoff, whose acknowledged criminality drove a $65 billion dollar pyramid scheme. It argues that the wrong doing committed by a few individuals distracts from the real story, implicating the best-known institutions that financed and profited from fraudulent sub prime lending. This connection is now being investigated by the FBI as part of a probe into what it calls a "fraud epidemic."

PLUNDER shows how these firms created special securities to repackage and resell these dubious loans after they were re-rated as Triple A. These firms then bet against many of these toxic assets with credit default swaps and other insurance scams. By leveraging these investments, they recklessly put trillions of dollars and the world economy at risk.

To tell this story Schechter speaks with bankers involved in these activities, respected economists, insider experts, top journalists, including Paul Krugman, and even a convicted white-collar criminal, Sam Antar, who blows the whistle on intentionally dishonest practices.

The film displays how this pyramid of fraud led to the massive foreclosures affecting 10 million homeowners, rising unemployment, economic collapse and increasing hardships worldwide. It connects the dots identifying who the victims and beneficiaries are in what "may well turn out to be the greatest nonviolent crime against humanity in history," according to an ex investment banker. Graydon Carter, the Editor of Vanity Fair is quoted as saying, "in other words never before have so few done so much to so many." The film details the frustration of homeowners, who have become the hardest hit victims, as they express their anger in protest against the CEOs of these institutions.

Plunder: the Crime of Our Time looks into how the crisis developed, from the mysterious collapse of Bear Stearns, an 85-year-old investment firm that disappeared in a week to the shadowy world of trillion dollar hedge funds. Insiders who work in the industry, and know it well, tell both of these stories. Plunder also shows how hastily arranged government bailouts did not revive the economy and may have lost billions.

The film also delves into the complicity of the major media outlets, which failed to sound the alarm or investigate wrong doers. A top financial journalist and media analyst as well as a financier explain how the business media became embedded in the culture it was covering, similar to embedded reporters in Iraq.

In its conclusion, Plunder offers facts and details about events that have affected billions of people and lost trillions of dollars. The film travels to Paris to examine how this crisis has gone global. Ultimately, it calls for a full investigation and structural reforms of financial institutions to insure accountability by the white-collar perpetrators who profited from the misery of their victims. It's a call to action: if action is not taken real lessons will not be learned or applied and another crisis may be looming as the underlying problems are still there.

The "News Dissector" spent a year and half on this investigation, following up on his book, "Plunder," that predicted the crisis and an earlier film, "In Debt We Trust," that explored America's rising credit burden at the time. This former CNN and Emmy award winning ABC News producer was labeled an "alarmist" and his initial finding was greeted with denial. This early work is now seen as prophetic despite understating the full impact of an ongoing crisis that has not yet ended.

"This is a story that must be told if economic justice is to have any meaning," says Schechter, "Plunder demands a full investigation into who is responsible for the crisis and an appropriate punishment - a "jail out" - for the wrongdoers at a time when the debate about the crisis and what to do about it is treated so superficially on every media outlet. This crisis is not about the unintentional mistakes of a greedy few but a crime that effects us all.'

Plunder was directed by Danny Schechter for Globalvision, Inc. It was produced with Ray Nowosielski.

The Gig Is Up: Money, the Federal Reserve and You

Populist lawyer, Gary Fielder, presents “The Gig Is Up: Money, the Federal Reserve and You. Live from Wolfe Hall at The University of Colorado School of Law, on December 4, 2008, Mr. Fielder, a criminal and constitutional lawyer from Denver, Colorado, presents a power point and video presentation on the creation of money with an historical analysis of our current banking system. With quotes from Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich and many others, Fielder makes his case to abolish the Federal Reserve and return to a sound and honest money system. Fractional Reserve Banking. Currency. Amero. World Government. International Banking. www.gigisup.net Produced by Jack Creamer, Side 3 Studios, Denver, Colorado. Video edits by Jonathan Ellinoff. Technical Assistant, Rye Miller. This video is for educational purposes only. Admission was not charged, nor will any effort be made to profit from its production or sale. The DVD is free.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4020719354420953428

Monopoly Men (Federal Reserve Fraud) (1999)

The Federal Reserve, or the Fed as it is lovingly called, may be one of the most mysterious entities in modern American government. Created during Wilson's presidency to protect the economy in times of financial turmoil, its real business remains to be discovered. During the Wilson presidency, the U.S. government sanctions the creation of the Federal Reserve. Thought by many to be a government organization maintained to provide financial accountability in the event of a domestic depression, the actual business of the Fed is shrouded in secrecy. Many Americans will be shocked to discover that the principle business of the Fed is to print money from nothing, lend it to the U.S. government and charge interest on these loans. Who keeps the interest? Good question. Find out as the connective tissue between this and other top-secret international organizations is explored and exposed.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7065177340464808778

John Pilger : The New Rulers Of The World

http://johnpilger.com/videos/the-new-rulers-of-the-world

'The New Rulers Of The World (2001) analyses the new global economy and reveals that the divisions between the rich and poor have never been greater - two thirds of the world's children live in poverty - and the gulf is widening like never before.

The film turns the spotlight on the new rulers of the world - the great multinationals and the governments and institutions that back them such as the IMF, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation under whose rules millions of people throughout the world lose their jobs and livelihood.

The West, explains Pilger, has increased its stranglehold on poor countries by using the might of these powerful financial institutions to control their economies. "A small group of powerful individuals are now richer than most of the population of Africa," he says, "just 200 giant corporations dominate a quarter of the world’s economic activity. General Motors is now bigger than Denmark. Ford is bigger than South Africa. Enormously rich men like Bill Gates, have a wealth greater than all of Africa. Golfer Tiger Woods was paid more to promote Nike than the entire workforce making the company’s products in Indonesia received."

To examine the true effects of globalisation, Pilger travels to Indonesia - a country described by the World Bank as a model pupil until its globalised economy collapsed in 1998 - where high-street brands such as Nike, Adidas, Gap and Reebok are mass produced by cheap labour in 'sweatshops' and sold for up to 250 times the amount received by workers.

He films secretly in one of the biggest sweatshops in the capital, Jakarta. Over footage of hundreds of mostly women and children in the camp, with its open sewers and unsafe water, Pilger reports that workers are paid the equivalent of 72p a day - about one American dollar - which is the legal minimum wage in Indonesia but acknowledged by that country’s own government as only just over half a living wage. Many children there were undernourished and prone to disease. While filming, Pilger himself caught dengue fever.

He also recounts the previously untold story of how globalisation in Asia had begun in Indonesia and how Western politicians and businessmen sponsored the dictator General Suharto, who brutally seized power in the mid-1960s. "The great sweatshops and banks and luxury hotels in Indonesia were built on the mass murder of as many as one million people, an episode the West would prefer to forget," he reveals. "Within a year of the bloodbath, Indonesia’s economy was effectively redesigned in America, giving the West access to vast mineral wealth, markets and cheap labour - what President Nixon called the greatest prize in Asia."

'The New Rulers Of The World' is a collision of two of Pilger’s continuing themes - imperialism and the injustice of poverty. It observes the parallel between modern-day globalisation and old-world imperialism. "There’s no difference between the quite ruthless intervention of international capital into foreign markets these days than there was in the old days, when they were backed up by gunboats," says Pilger. "Much of my global view has come over years of seeing how imperialism works and how the world is divided between the rich, who get richer, and the poor, who get poorer, and the rich get richer on the backs of the poor. That division hasn’t changed for about 500 years, but there are new, deceptive ways of shoring it up and ensuring that most of the world’s resources are concentrated in as few hands as possible. What is different today is there is a worldwide movement that understands this deception and is gaining strength, especially among the young, many of whom are far better educated about the chameleon nature of capitalism than those in the 1960s. Moreover, if the intensity of Establishment propaganda is a guide, at times bordering on institutional panic, then the new movement is already succeeding."

The New Rulers Of The World was a Carlton Television production for ITV first broadcast on ITV1, 18 July 2001. Director: Alan Lowery. Producer: John Pilger. Associate Producers: Chris Martin and Laurelle Keough.

Awards: Gran Prix Leonardo Award, 2003; Certificate of Merit, Chicago International Television Awards, 2003.

The Debt of the Dictators

hishamm76

http://www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0193

The Debt of the Dictators is a INSIGHT documentary project about illegitimate debt.

The 58 minute film had its premiere at the World Social Forum in Porto Allegre in January 2005. It received very good critiques from the audience and the local press.

SPREAD AROUND THE WORLD!

More than 300 organizations worldwide in over 40 countries, have ordered our film "The Debt of the Dictators". Its popularity has led to that it now exists in four languages, English, French, Spanish and Portugese. The Jubilee Campaign has decided to use the documentary in its impressive work to end all debt from dictators anywhere in the world.

In the film you will learn that "the international banks know all the prices, but have no values".

You may have this film for free by contacting Norwegian Church Aid (www.nca.no).

About the film:
Journalist Erling Borgen has travelled to three different continents in order to describe how one-fifth of all developing countries debt are loans which was given to support brutal dictators and their regimes in the past.
Today, the poor locals have to struggle in deep poverty because of the former dictators ability to spend money on themselves, and the rich countries in the world do not want to let the poor countries off their financial hook.
The INSIGHT team found good examples on illegitimate debt in Argentina, South Africa and The Philippines, and we invite the viewers along to a journey they will not forget. INSIGHT goes behind the local tourist attractions, and visits the poor neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires, the depressing townships of Johannesburg, where poor youngsters desperately are looking for jobs, and the journey ends in the Manila slum.
The film shows in an excellent way how ordinary Argentinian, South African and Phillpine lives are heavily influenced by the debt incurred by the Argentine military dictatorship, the brutal apartheid regime in South Africa and the corrupt President Marcos in the Philippines.
The history shows the sad fact that even when the corrupt dictators and generals committed the most horrifying human rights violations in their highly undemocratic regimes, the large banks of the world were lining up to offer billion-dollar loans.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank had few objections when they lent money to regimes and countries which were denounced by the whole world.
The film asks the question whether it is fair that innocent poor people in the world today should pay the debt of their dictators in the past.
http://www.erlingborgen.com/

THE BIG SELLOUT

The big sellout 1
Stiglitz and others on the costs of globalization.

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE SYNOPSIS (.PDF)

THE BIG SELLOUT is a political film. In various episodes the abstract phenomenon of privatisation is depicted in stories about very concrete human destinies around the globe. The documentary tells tragic, tragicomic but also encouraging stories of the everyday life of people, who day by day have to deal with the effects of privatisation politics, dictated by anonymous international financial institutions in Washington D.C. and Geneva, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

In his film, author and director FLORIAN OPITZ reveals the reality of the privatised and globalised world, which is supposed to be effective and shiny. He examines the effects of THE BIG SELLOUT, the worldwide privatisation of basic public services, such as water supply, electricity, public transportation, and even public health care. In South America, Asia, Africa, but also in Europe and the United States, OPITZ meets people, for whom these promises are nothing more than hollow phrases. And what he finds is that THE BIG SELLOUT has only just begun.

FLORIAN OPITZ talks to the architects of the new economic world order, as well as to ordinary people who have to deal with the politics of the former. He tells the story of a South African activist who helps poor families in Soweto, who are disconnected from electricity by the to-be privatised electricity supplier ESKOM, because they cannot afford to pay the high electricity bills anymore. Hunted by the Police and the company's security he and his team of guerilla electricians reconnect these families back, illegally.

Another storyline is about a Philippine mother living with her family in a slum area in Metro-Manila. For years now she has been struggling to find money to pay for the dialysis, her son needs twice a week. If she doesn't succeed until the end of the week, her son will die.

A humorous British train driver and union activist is the protagonist of the third episode. Having proudly started his career in the most efficient railway system in Europe, some years later he finds himself in a privatised, totally fragmented, and run down industry whose service regularly collapses. He is constantly fighting for his colleagues who have been facing more and more pressure from their private employers over the recent years. Pressure that has already lead to a numerous deadly accidents in the British railway system.

Last but not least, THE BIG SELLOUT tells us about the fight of the Bolivian citizens of Cochabamba against an US corporation that had tried to take over the municipal water supply. The tempted takeover lead to the first “water war” in human history, in which tens of thousands Bolivian citizens fought against the Bolivian police and military.

Allthough depicting the tragic privatisation failures all over the world there is a lot of hope in the episodes. In a desperate situation that seems to have no alternative to a „survival of the fittest“ mentality, people unite and stand up against a seemingly all-powerful enemy.

In the documentary, Joseph Stiglitz, one of the world's best known economists and Nobel Prize winner for economy makes the viewer understand where the dogma of privatisation came from, who profits from it, and what societies lose, when following it blindly. As refined former director of the World Bank, he comes from the world of financial institutions, but today he is fighting for the losers of the privatisation process, triggered by these same organizations.

THE BIG SELLOUT is a very special film: The different storylines of the film are not narrated one after the other, but woven together and carefully intertwined in a thrilling, episodical structure that is as compelling as truthful, and results in a film that is even more exciting than the sum of its parts.

Militarism & Pop Culture

Militainment, Inc.

Militainment, Inc. offers a fascinating, disturbing, and timely glimpse into the militarization of American popular culture, examining how U.S. news coverage has come to resemble Hollywood film, video games, and "reality television" in its glamorization of war. Mobilizing an astonishing range of media examples - from news anchors' idolatry of military machinery to the impact of government propaganda on war reporting - the film asks: How has war taken its place in the culture as an entertainment spectacle? And how does presenting war as entertainment affect the ability of citizens to evaluate the necessity and real human costs of military action? The film is broken down into nine sections, each between 10 and 20 minutes in length, allowing for in-depth classroom analysis of individual elements of this wide-ranging phenomenon.

Filmmaker Info
Written, produced & narrated by Roger Stahl

Filmmaker's Bio
Roger Stahl is Assistant Professor of Speech Communication at the University of Georgia. His work has appeared in publications such as Rhetoric and Public Affairs, Encyclopedia of Political Communication, and Critical Studies in Media Communication.

The Economics of Peace/JUSTICE

Sam Keen PART 1 of 4 at The Economics of Peace Conference Sonoma Ca 2009 from The Economics Of Peace on Vimeo.


Sam Keen PART 2 of 4 at The Economics of Peace Conference Sonoma Ca 2009 from The Economics Of Peace on Vimeo.


Sam Keen PART 3 of 4 at The Economics of Peace Conference Sonoma Ca 2009 from The Economics Of Peace on Vimeo.


Sam Keen PART 4 of 4 at The Economics of Peace Conference Sonoma Ca 2009 from The Economics Of Peace on Vimeo.

Sam Keen speaking at The Economics of Peace Conference in Sonoma California October 2009.

Sam Keen is a noted author, philosopher and expert on propaganda and the roles myths play in our psyches and societies. He holds Ph.D's in philosophy and theology from Harvard and has authored several bestselling books, including Fire in the Belly, Faces of the Enemy, which was also a PSB documentary, and Hymns to an Unknown God. His work on myth was the subject of a 60-minute special with Bill Moyers, Your Mythic Journey with Sam Keen. In addition to being an expert on cultural myths, Keen was a contributing editor at Psychology Today magazine for 20 years.
http://vimeo.com/channels/theeconomicsofpeace

"A sociedade tornou-se um laboratório sem nenhum responsável pelos resultados do experimento"

Além de sociólogo, Beck é filósofo, psicólogo e cientista político pela Universidade de Munique. A sociedade do risco à qual se refere o alemão Ulrich Beck diz respeito às incertezas fabricadas. “Essas ‘verdadeiras’ incertezas, reforçadas por rápidas inovações tecnológicas e respostas sociais aceleradas, estão criando uma nova paisagem de risco global.”

O que é “sociedade de risco” e como surgiu?

“Sociedade de risco” significa que vivemos em um mundo fora de controle. Não há nada certo além da incerteza. Mas vamos aos detalhes. O termo “risco” tem dois sentidos radicalmente diferentes. Aplica-se, em primeiro lugar, a um mundo governado inteiramente pelas leis da probabilidade, onde tudo é mensurável e calculável. Esta palavra também é comumente usada para referir-se a incertezas não quantificáveis, a “riscos que não podem ser mensurados”. Quando falo de “sociedade de risco”, é nesse último sentido de incertezas fabricadas.

Essas “verdadeiras” incertezas, reforçadas por rápidas inovações tecnológicas e respostas sociais aceleradas, estão criando uma nova paisagem de risco global. Em todas essas novas tecnologias incertas de risco, estamos separados da possibilidade e dos resultados por um oceano de ignorância[1] (not knowing).

O senhor pode dar um exemplo?

Há alguns anos, o Congresso dos EUA deu a uma comissão científica a tarefa de desenvolver uma linguagem simbólica que tornaria claro o perigo que um local de dejetos atômicos nos EUA implicaria. O problema a ser resolvido era o seguinte: Como os conceitos e símbolos poderiam ser constituídos de forma a comunicar (algo) àqueles que vivessem daqui a dez mil anos. A comissão era formada por físicos, antropólogos, lingüistas, pesquisadores do cérebro, psicólogos, biólogos moleculares, gerontólogos, artistas etc. Primeiro de tudo, eles deveriam esclarecer uma questão simples: os EUA existiriam daqui a dez mil anos? A resposta foi, claro, simples: “EUA para sempre!”. No entanto, a chave do problema – como é possível hoje começar uma conversa para dez mil anos no futuro – eventualmente provou ser insolúvel. A comissão buscou por exemplos dos mais antigos símbolos da humanidade, estudou as ruínas de Stonehenge[2] (1500 a. C.) e as pirâmides, pesquisou a recepção de Homero[3] e da bíblia e ouviu explicações sobre o ciclo de vida dos documentos. Isso, no entanto, alcançou apenas algumas centenas de anos passados, não dez mil. Na velocidade de seu desenvolvimento tecnológico, o mundo moderno aumenta a diferença global entre a linguagem de riscos quantificáveis no qual pensamos e agimos, e o mundo de insegurança quantificável que igualmente criamos. Com nossas decisões passadas sobre energia atômica e nossas decisões presentes sobre o uso de tecnologia genética, genética humana, nanotecnologia e ciência informática, desencadeamos conseqüências imprevisíveis, incontroláveis e certamente até incomunicáveis que ameaçam a vida na Terra.

O que, portanto, é realmente novo a respeito da sociedade de risco?

Risco é um conceito moderno. Pressupõe decisões que tentam fazer das conseqüências imprevisíveis das decisões civilizacionais decisões previsíveis e controláveis. Se alguém, por exemplo, diz que o risco de câncer em fumantes está em um certo nível, e o risco de catástrofe em uma usina nuclear está em certo nível, isso implica que riscos são conseqüências negativas permitidas por decisões que parecem calculáveis, assim como a probabilidade de doença ou acidente, e ainda assim não são catástrofes naturais.

A novidade da sociedade de risco repousa no fato de que nossas decisões civilizacionais envolvem conseqüências e perigos globais, e isso contradiz radicalmente a linguagem institucionalizada do controle – e mesmo a promessa de controle – que é irradiada ao público global na eventualidade de catástrofe (como em Chernobyl e também nos ataques terroristas[4] - terror attacks - sobre Nova Iorque e Washington). Isso constitui precisamente a “explosividade” política da sociedade de risco. Esta “explosividade” tem seu centro na esfera pública da sociedade de massas midiatizada, na política, na burocracia, na economia, embora não seja necessariamente contíguo a um evento específico ao qual esteja conectada.

A “explosividade” política não pode ser descrita e mensurada nem na linguagem do risco, nem em fórmulas científicas. Nela “explode” - se me permite a metáfora – a responsabilidade, reivindica racionalidade e legitimidade pelo contato com a realidade. O outro lado da presença admitida do perigo é a falência das instituições cuja autoridade provém da maestria assumida de tal perigo. Desse modo, o “nascimento social” de um perigo global é tanto um improvável quanto um dramático, mesmo traumático, fim do mundo. Na experiência de choque irradiado pela mídia massificada, torna-se reconhecível que – para citar Goya[5] – a dormência da razão cria monstros.

Em seu livro Sociedade de Risco, o senhor argumenta que “a força motriz na sociedade de classes pode ser resumida em uma frase: Tenho fome! O movimento posto em marcha pela sociedade de risco também é expresso pelo indicativo: Tenho medo! A comunalidade da ansiedade toma o lugar da comunalidade da necessidade.”. Poderia explicar melhor essa afirmação?

Não sabemos se vivemos em um mundo algo mais arriscado que aquele das gerações passadas. Não é a quantidade de risco, mas a qualidade do controle ou – para ser mais preciso – a sabida impossibilidade de controle das conseqüências das decisões civilizacionais que faz a diferença histórica. Por isso, eu uso o termo “incertezas fabricadas”. A expectativa institucionalizada de controle, mesmo as idéias-chave de “certeza” e “racionalidade” estão em colapso. Não são as mudanças climáticas, os desastres ecológicos, ameaças de terrorismo internacional, o mal da vaca louca etc. que criam a originalidade da sociedade de risco, mas a crescente percepção de que vivemos em um mundo interconectado que está se descontrolando.

Os desafios dos riscos globais conceituais e prescritivos oriundos da primeira modernidade do século XIX e início do século XX, são discutidos no início do século XXI. Os riscos com os quais nos confrontamos não podem ser delimitados espacialmente, temporalmente, ou socialmente; eles abrangem estados-nação, alianças militares, e todas as classes sociais, e, por sua natureza, apresentam novos tipos de desafios às instituições designadas para seu controle.

As regras estabelecidas de atribuição e responsabilidade – causalidade, culpa e justiça – quebraram-se. Isso significa que sua cuidadosa aplicação à pesquisa e jurisdição tem o efeito contrário: os perigos aumentaram e sua “anonimatização” (anonymization) é legitimada. Então, a principal diferença entre a cultura pré-moderna do medo e a cultura do medo da segunda modernidade é: na pré-modernidade, os perigos e medos podem ser atribuídos a deuses ou Deus ou à natureza, e a promessa de modernidade deve superar essas ameaças com mais modernização e mais progresso – mais ciência, mais economia de mercado, melhores e novas tecnologias, padrões de segurança etc. Na era do risco, as ameaças com as quais nos confrontamos não podem ser atribuídas a Deus ou à natureza, mas à própria “modernização” e ao próprio “progresso”. Assim, a cultura do medo vem do fato paradoxal de que as instituições feitas para controlar produzem incontrolabilidade.

O que acontece à nossa capacidade de buscar justiça na sociedade de risco?

Não há uma resposta fácil a esta pergunta. Dê uma olhada, por exemplo, em uma das mais famosas filosofias e teorias morais da justiça de nosso tempo, criada por John Rawls[6]. Ele conceitualiza a justiça em um marco referencial construído sobre duas premissas obsoletas: a primeira é o “nacionalismo metodológico”, que significa que a questão da justiça é percebida em categorias do estado-nação; e a segunda é que ele concentra sua teoria na distribuição de “bens” e negligencia a distribuição dos “males” e “riscos”, do que deriva, como eu argumento em meu livro, uma lógica bem diferente.

Portanto, a “gramática” social e política em que vivemos, pensamos e sobre a qual agimos está se tornando historicamente obsoleta, não obstante, continua a governar nosso pensamento e nossas ações. Pegue a ameaça terrorista, por exemplo. A violência de 11 de setembro de 2001 se mostra como a falência de conceitos tradicionais baseados em estados de “guerra” e “paz”, “amigo” e “inimigo”, “guerra” e “crime” para então se apreender, analisar e propor abordagens às novas realidades morais, sociais e políticas. Sua questão, como redefinir a justiça numa sociedade de risco, nem sequer foi levantada.

O que significa “poder” em uma sociedade de risco?

Em conflitos de risco, a questão central do poder é de definição. É a questão de quem, com que recursos legais e intelectuais, passa a decidir o que conta como “risco”, o que conta como “causa”, e o que conta como “preço”[7]. A questão de determinar quem é responsável, e quem tem que carregar o fardo de pagar pelos danos, foi transformada em uma batalha sobre as regras de evidência e as leis de responsabilidade. E a razão para isso é que, no fundo, o verdadeiro duelo se dá entre a idéia de que alguém é responsável e a idéia de que ninguém é responsável.

É esta razão pela qual o senhor fala sobre “irresponsabilidade organizada” como uma característica da sociedade de risco?

Sim. Políticos dizem que não estão no comando, que eles no máximo regulam a estrutura para o mercado. Especialistas científicos dizem que meramente criam oportunidades tecnológicas: eles não decidem como elas serão implementadas. Gente de negócios diz que está simplesmente respondendo a uma demanda dos consumidores. A sociedade tornou-se um laboratório sem nenhum responsável pelos resultados do experimento.

Notas:

[1] No original, a palavra seria traduzível literalmente por “não saber”. (Nota do tradutor)

[2] Stonehenge: monumento megalítico da Idade do Bronze, localizado próximo a Amesbury, no condado de Wiltshire, a cerca de 13 km (8 milhas) a noroeste de Salisbury, na Inglaterra. Círculo de pedras provavelmente construído como templo-calendário do ano, impressiona pelo tamanho dos blocos movimentados para a sua edificação. Uma antiga lenda local atribui à magia do mago Merlim o seu deslocamento.

[3] Homero: primeiro grande poeta grego, que teria vivido há cerca de 3500 anos e consagrado o gênero épico com as suas grandiosas obras: A Ilíada e a Odisséia. Nada se sabe seguramente da sua existência; mas a crítica moderna inclina-se a crer que ele terá vivido no século VIII a. C., embora sem poder indicar onde nasceu nem confirmar a sua pobreza, cegueira e afã de viajante, caracteres que tradicionalmente lhe têm sido atribuídos.

[4] No original, a palavra é “terror”, porém o sentido pode ser usado tanto para “ataques terríveis” quanto para “ataques terroristas”. (Nota do tradutor)

[5] Franciscos José Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828): pintor espanhol cuja obra marca a transição do neoclassicismo ao romantismo.

[6] John Rawls (1921-2002): filósofo, foi professor de Filosofia Política na Universidade de Harvard. É autor de Uma teoria da justiça. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 1997; Liberalismo Político. São Paulo: Ática, 2000; e O Direito dos Povos. Rio de Janeiro: Martins Fontes, 2001. A IHU On-Line número 45, de 2 de dezembro de 2002, dedicou sua matéria de capa a John Rawls, sob o título John Rawls: o filósofo da justiça. Confira, ainda, o 1º dos Cadernos IHU Idéias, intitulado A teoria da justiça de John Rawls, de autoria do Prof. Dr. José Nedel.

[7] Do original, “cost”. Aqui “preço” está sendo usado como em “preço que se paga por ...”. (N. do T.)

Fonte: http://www.galizalivre.org/

20 Teses contra o "capitalismo verde"

O texto de abaixo é uma tradução livre de Fernanda Silva das “20 Theses against green capitalism”, de Tadzio Mueller e Alexis Passadakis, encontrado no Nowtopia de Chris Carlsson. Alexis é membro da ATTAC Alemanha e Tadzio faz parte do coletivo editorial Turbulence. Reproduzido de Apocalipse Motorizado.

1. A atual crise econômica mundial marca o fim da fase neoliberal do capitalismo. “Negócios como sempre” (financeirização, desregulação de mercados, privatização…) não são mais uma opção: novos espaços de acumulação e tipos diferentes de regulação política deverão ser criados pelos governos e corporações para manter o capitalismo de pé.

2. Além das crises econômica, política e climática, existe uma nova crise atormentando o mundo: a “biocrise”, que é o resultado da mistura suicida entre o ecossistema que garante a vida humana e a necessidade constante de expansão do capital.

3. A “biocrise” representa um perigo imenso à nossa sobrevivência coletiva. Mas, como todas as crises, também apresenta aos movimentos sociais uma oportunidade histórica: a de expor a jugular do capitalismo, ou seja, a sua incessante e destrutiva necessidade de se expandir.

4. Uma das propostas que emergiram das elites globais, a única que se relaciona com todas estas crises, é a do “New Deal” verde. Esta já não é mais a fase do capitalismo verde 1.0, da agricultura orgânica e do “faça você mesmo”, mas sim uma proposta de que esta fase “verde” do capitalismo deve continuar gerando lucros através da modernização de certas áreas de produção (carros, energia, etc).

5. O capitalismo verde 2.0 não é capaz de resolver a “biocrise” (mudanças climáticas e outros problemas ecológicos como a redução da biodiversidade), mas consegue tirar algum lucro dela. Esta postura não altera em nada a rota de colisão entre as economias de mercado e a biosfera.

6. Não estamos mais em 1930. Naquela época, através da pressão de movimentos sociais, o velho “New Deal” redistribuiu o poder e a riqueza. O “Green Deal” discutido por Obama, pelos partidos verdes ao redor do mundo e pelas corporações multinacionais está mais relacionado ao “bem-estar” das corporações do que das pessoas.

7. O “Capitalismo Verde” não vai colocar em discussão o poder daqueles que mais emitem gases de mudanças climáticas (empresas de energia, companhias aéreas, montadoras de automóveis, agricultura industrial), mas simplesmente vai despejar mais dinheiro nestas empresas, para ajudá-las a manter seus lucros mediante pequenas mudanças ecológicas, que serão muito pequenas e tomadas muito tarde.

8. Em escala planetária, os trabalhadores perderão seu poder de exigir salários decentes. Em um mundo configurado pelo “capitalismo verde”, os salários deverão estagnar ou decair para cobrir os custos da “modernização ecológica”.

9. O Estado do “capitalismo verde” será autoritário. Justificado pela ameaça de crise ecológica, o Estado irá “gerenciar” as agitações sociais que necessariamente irão emergir do aumento do custo de vida (comida, energia, etc) e do decréscimo dos salários.

10. No “capitalismo verde”, os pobres serão excluídos do consumo, empurrados para as margens, enquanto os mais ricos terão que “ajustar” seu comportamento destrutitvo indo às compras e salvando o planeta ao mesmo tempo.

11. Um estado autoritário, o aumento das desiguldades, o bem-estar das corporações: do ponto de vista da emancipação social e ecológica, o “capitalismo verde” será um desastre do qual não conseguiremos nos recuperar jamais. Hoje nós ainda temos a chance de superar paradigma suicida do crescimento constante. Amanhã, quando nos acostumarmos ao capitalismo verde, isso não será possível.

12. No “capitalismo verde” existe um perigo estabelecido: os grandes grupos ambientais passarão a desempenhar o mesmo papel que os sindicados desempenharam na era Fordista: agir como válvulas de escape para assegurar que as demandas de mudança social e que nossa raiva ficarão contidas dentro dos limites estabelecidos pelo capital e pelos governos.

13. Albert Einstein definiu “insanidade” como “fazer a mesma coisa repetidas vezes e esperar resultados diferentes”. Na década passada, apesar de Kyoto, não apenas cresceu a concentração de gases de efeito estufa na atmosfera, como também foi aumentada a taxa de crescimento destas emissões. Queremos apenas mais do mesmo? Não seria isso uma insanidade?

14. Os acordos climáticos internacionais promovem as falsas soluções, que geralmente visam garantir apenas a segurança energética e não atacar as mudanças climáticas. Longe de resolver crises, o comércio de carbono e as medidas a ele associadas servem apenas como escudo político para que as emissões de gases de efeito estufa continuem a ser feitas impunemente.

15. Para muitas comunidades do Sul do planeta, estas falsas soluções (biocombustíveis, “desertos verdes” e comércio de carbono) muitas vezes configuram uma ameaça maior do que as próprias mudanças climáticas.

16. Soluções reais para a crise climática não vêm de governos e corporações. Elas vêm de baixo, da sociedade global e dos movimentos que lutam por justiça climática.

17. Estas soluções incluem: não aos acordos de livre comércio, não às privatizações, não à flexibilização dos mecanismos de controle. Sim à soberania alimentar, sim ao decrescimento, sim à democracia radical e sim a deixar os recursos naturais onde eles se encontram.

18. Configurados como um movimento emergente por justiça global, devemos lutar contra dois inimigos: as mudanças climáticas e o capitalismo “fossílico” responsável por elas e, por outro lado, também será preciso lutar contra o emergente “capitalismo verde”, que não vai interromper o processo destrutivo, mas sim limitar a nossa capacidade de atuar para a impedir a destruição.

19. É claro que mudanças climáticas e acordos de livre comércio não são a mesma coisa. Mas o protocolo de Copenhagen será uma instância regulatória, da mesma forma que a OMC foi central para o capitalismo neoliberal. Então, como relacionar as duas coisas? O grupo dinamarquês KlimaX argumenta: um bom acordo é melhor do que nenhum acordo - mas nenhum acordo é melhor do que um mal acordo.

20. A chance dos governos sairem de Copenhagem com um “bom acordo” é praticamente zero. Nosso objetivo deve ser exigir soluções reais. Se isso não for possível, devemos esquecer Kyoto e impedir Copenhagem (não importa qual seja a tática).

Fonte: http://odecrescimento.blogspot.com/

Crise financière - ce que le public devrait savoir.
Enviado por Moizzze.

Face à l’interconnexion des crises à l’échelle mondiale, quelles alternatives ?

Du 3 au 5 juillet 2009 au centre culturel « La Marlagne », 5100 Wépion (Namur) Belgique

La première université d’été du réseau CADTM Europe (Comité pour l’Annulation de la Dette du Tiers Monde), se tiendra à Wépion, près de Namur en Belgique du Vendredi 3 au dimanche 5 Juillet 2009. Au cours de ce week-end résidentiel, la crise capitaliste majeure que nous vivons sera analysée dans ses multiples dimensions : crise financière, crise sociale, crise de la dette au Sud et au Nord, crise alimentaire, crise climatique etc.

Au-delà du diagnostic, il sera aussi et surtout question d’envisager les résistances et les alternatives, de montrer qu’un autre système est aussi nécessaire que possible, tel sera le fil rouge de cette première université d’été. Vous êtes attendus pour discuter dans plus de 20 ateliers et 3 plénières des grandes questions concernant les politiques européennes, la colonisation, la dette au Nord et au Sud, les migrations, le genre, l’altermondialisme, l’écologie, les médias, les crises, les alternatives...

Des parcours thématiques seront proposés aux participants qui souhaitent découvrir ou approfondir un sujet en particulier. La diversité et la complémentarité des intervenants (militants, journalistes, écrivains, chercheurs, parlementaires, économistes, ...) donnera à cette formation une dimension pluridisciplinaire, indispensable pour décoder la complexité et l’interconnexion des crises. Ainsi, nous aurons l’occasion d’échanger autour des analyses d’intervenants de qualité comme Jean-Marie Harribey, Eric Toussaint, Annick Coupé, Michel Husson... L’université d’été sera aussi l’occasion de découvrir le travail du CADTM, les ouvrages d’analyses et les outils pédagogiques que le réseau international met à la disposition du grand public.
http://www.cadtm.org/spip.php?article3997

La fin de la pauvreté?

La fin de la pauvreté ? - CADTM       Enviado por Moizzze.

Avec tant de richesses dans le monde, comment peut-on avoir autant de pauvreté ? « La Fin de la Pauvreté ? » retourne au début des temps modernes, au début des temps coloniaux, pour comprendre quand mais aussi pourquoi tout cela a commencé ? Les experts internationaux aussi bien que les victimes nous apportent des éléments de réponse, condamnant le colonialisme, l’économie de marché, la dette du tiers-monde, l’appropriation des terres et des autres ressources naturelles, qui entre autres condamnent les pays du tiers-monde et tous ceux qui s’efforcent de survivre dans un environnement toujours plus hostile. N’est-il pas temps de se demander pourquoi aujourd’hui 25% de la population mondiale consomme plus de 85% des ressources de la planète ?
http://www.theendofpoverty.com/

Glenn Gould Playing the Goldberg Variations

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6984208089899995423

Nigel North records Lute Music of John Dowland for NAXOS

Lutenist Nigel North records the lute music of John Dowland for NAXOS Records. The 4 CD set was recorded in Toronto and produced by Norbert Kraft.

Anonymous (Spain, 16th cent.) Cinco diferencias sobre Las Vacas

Arrangement & direction: Paul Leenhouts
Live performance at the Nicolaikirche, Lemgo (Germany) - September 5, 2009

QNG: Quartet New Generation

Hailed as Four Recorder Virtuosos by The New York Times, and mind-blowing by the Los Angeles Times, QNG—Quartet New Generation took top honors at the 2004 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. QNG mesmerizes its audiences through innovative programming that juxtaposes contemporary and early music. Performing on upwards of 20 different recorders of varying sizes and shapes during the course of a typical performance, the Quartet transports the listener into new sonic worlds, confirming the recorders viability as a modern classical instrument.

In the 2008-2009 season, QNG makes its debut in Carnegie Halls Stern Auditorium as part of a special performance with the Kronos Quartet and an all-star line-up performing Terry Rileys landmark work In C. Other season highlights include the Orange County Performing Arts Center, San Francisco State University, University of Wyoming and Boise State University, as well as recitals in Florida, Alabama, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Recent concerts include return engagements at the Chicago Cultural Center and the Detroit Institute of Arts, with debut performances at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, NJ, the Center for International Studies at the University of Missouri at St. Louis and the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles. In addition to two US tours, 2007-2008 also included a tour of Japan, performances at the Singapore Arts Festival and numerous performances throughout Europe.

Following the successful release of QNGs debut CD, Ethereal, in early 2007, the ensemble has just released In Vain, featuring music of Bach, Scheidt and Bruckner, as well as pieces written for them by Hahne, Beeferman, Kosviner and Pulitzer Prize-winner, Paul Moravec.

Starting with its successful US debut in 2004 at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the quartet has since performed in the US at the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society, the Chautauqua Institution, Merkin Concert Hall, Regina Quick Center at St. Bonaventure University, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, University of Chicago Presents, University of Nevada at Reno, Purdue University Convocations and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Additional appearances at the Brooklyn Academy of Musics BAM Café and Barbes Bar and Performance Space are part of CAGs New Music/New Places initiative.

Taking advantage of the large recorder family and its flexibility, QNG is constantly searching for new possibilities of sound and expression. The instruments played by the Quartet include a large number of accurate copies of authentic historical instruments plus modern recorders called Pätzoldbasses. These square box-like recorders produce a different structure of overtones based on those of organ pipes and therefore a specific extraordinary sound, which is further enhanced by the percussive nature of the keys.

The diversity of the instruments, paired with QNGs theatrical flair and high-intensity performance, inspires composers to write in fresh and exciting ways that define the music of our time. With a large repertoire of European works, the collective has begun commissioning American composers. These pieces include Paul Moravecs Mortal Flesh, Stephen Taylors Flow for Recorder Quartet and Strings (world premiere with the New Philharmonic led by Kirk Muspratt) and new works by Daniel Bernard Roumain, Gordon Beeferman and Nissim Schaul (world premieres on the CAG New Works Series at Symphony Space).

QNG—Quartet New Generation was founded in September 1998 at the Amsterdam Conservatoire and the University of the Arts, Berlin. The collective was also awarded the top prizes at the German Music Competition in Bonn, Germany; the International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition for Contemporary Music in the Netherlands; the International Chamber Music Competition for Contemporary Music in Poland; and the 13ème Concours International de Musique de Chambre in France.

Greensleeves - Anonymous - Cutting - Lute

Another version of Greensleeves, the most famous lute tune (I believe)

Here I play first the anonymous version from the William Ballet lute book (probably the first known version for solo lute of Greensleeves), then the version by Francis Cutting, and back to the first version at the end...

There is a song : Greensleeves was all my joy probably earlier to the lute solo. (1584)

Lute made by Stephen Murphy.

Tiorba - Daniel Zapico

Concierto en Mahón. Obras de Kapsberger: Arpeggiata, Capona y Ciaccona. Abril 2008.

Flow my tears" by John Dowland

 

Valeria Mignaco, soprano & Alfonso Marin, lute
Recorded live at Sint-Pieterskerk / Leuven / Belgium
http://www.lutevoice.com/

Agenda for a New Economy - David Korten - Seattle 2009

Using excerpts from his latest book Agenda for a New Economy, Korten will expose the economic mirage created by Wall Street institutions that led us to believe the economy was expanding exponentially, even as our economic, social and natural capital eroded and most people struggled harder to make ends meet. Korten will offer bold economic reforms and a radical but achievable program that restores and builds on the fundamental strengths of the American economy.
http://www.greenfestivals.org/

Radical Abundance: A Theology of Sustainability

David C. Korten is a visionary proponent of a planetary system of local living economies. His now-classic bestseller, When Corporations Rule the World, was called "a must-read" by commentators ranging from Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Londons Financial Times. Dr. Kortens most recent book is The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community.

Following his presentation, Korten answers questions from conference participants.

David Korten: "Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth"

As President Barack Obama reveals more details of his $825 billion economic stimulus plan, we turn to David Korten of YES! Magazine. In his new book, Korten argues that the nation faces a monumental economic challenge that goes far beyond anything being discussed in Congress. He writes that now is an opportune moment to move forward an agenda to replace the failed money-serving institutions of our present economy with the institutions of a new economy dedicated to serving life. http://www.democracynow.org/

Swine flu, Bird flu 'never happened': Probe into H1N1 'false pandemic'

Swine flu is under scrutiny once again as pharmaceutical companies are being accused of hyping up a false pandemic. The Council of Europe is putting the virus on its winter agenda which is now underway. The Council of Europe's Head of Health also claims the World Health Organisation colluded with major drug companies and changed the definition of pandemic. Doctor Wolfgang Wodarg says it ensured maximum profits, but no risks, for the firms. Now, countries like Britain, France and Germany have stockpiles of vaccines lying unused, as infections spread far less than the panic surrounding it.

Jan interviews David Korten, author of "The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community." In his book he explores the question of what it means to be human. He finds that there are two paths the human race can choose: to continue our current practices of environmental degradation and increasing global poverty, or to bring forth a new human era grounded in the principles of the Earth Charter.

From the model of domination (and love of money) to the community of life (David Korten and Earth Charter) http://www.davidkorten.com/system/files/u4/ECMomentumConfPresentationJune09.pdf

Interview with David Korten on his new book Agenda for a New Economy by Mirian Vilela, Executive Director of Earth Charter International
http://www.davidkorten.org/

GREAT TURNING author David Korten ( http://www.thegreatturning.net/ ) explains how - if we can awaken from our collective entrancement with a false story of our past - a country successfully designed to be ruled by the wealthy few can be transformed into one really governed by We the People.

Chalmers Johnson, author of Blowback, Sorrows of Empire and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic , talks about the similarities in the decline of the Roman and Soviet empires and the signs that the U.S. empire is exhibiting the same symptoms: overextension, corruption and the inability to reform.

Chalmers Johnson is president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, a non-profit research and public affairs organization devoted to public education concerning Japan and international relations in the Pacific. http://www.jpri.org/

Are We Rome?: Fall of an Empire, Fate of America

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5127043717385594397

Cullen Murphy editor at large, Vanity Fair

Esteemed editor and author Cullen Murphy ventures past the pundit's rhetoric to draw nuanced lessons about how we might avoid Rome's demise.

The rise and fall of ancient Rome has been on American minds from the beginning of our republic. Today we focus less on the Roman republic than on the empire that took its place. Depending on who's doing the talking, the history of Rome serves either as a triumphal call to action, or as a dire warning of imminent collapse.

Working on a canvas that extends far beyond the issue of an overstretched military, Murphy reveals a wide array of similarities between the two empires: the blinding, insular culture of our capitals; the debilitating effect of corruption; the paradoxical issue of borders; and the weakening of the body politic through various forms of privatization. Most pressingly, he argues that we most resemble Rome in the burgeoning corruption of our government and in our arrogant ignorance of the world outside: two things that are in our power to change. In lively, richly detailed historical stories based on the latest scholarship, the ancient world leaps to life and casts our own contemporary world in a provocative new light.

Are We Rome? The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America

Are We Rome? Comparisons Between Rome and the United States

Lawrence R. Velvel of the Massachusetts School of Law interviewed Cullen Murphy, editor at large for Vanity Fair magazine, on the show Books of Our Time about his book Are We Rome?. Murphy discusses how the Roman Empire and the United States are similar. Murphy says both societies demonstrate great arrogance. The Romans believed they would win any war they engaged in. They believed the will of Rome was all that mattered. The Romans demonstrated their arrogance when they marched into the Teutoburg Forest, expecting to dominate the Germanic tribes but instead had three legions defeated. The United States demonstrated a similar ignorance of the world’s thoughts and beliefs. Americans assume all nations desire their democratic way of life. Such a belief led to the debacle in Viet Nam and again in Iraq. The Romans saw themselves as the center of the world, believing, as Murphy states, “all roads lead to Rome,” and they literally did. They believed Rome was the world’s umbilicus. The United States has developed the same belief as the center of the world with Washington D.C. as the new global navel. Murphy says Rome and the United States have failed to learn from past mistakes. The Romans believed they were an empire without end, the past meant nothing. The United States has similarly failed to learn from its own history, becoming mired in a debacle in Viet Nam and blindly sacrifices troops and national treasure in Iraq. The militaries of both societies grew larger and larger. No matter how big they became, they were too small to accomplish their goals, yet too large to maintain for long periods. The Roman army grew as they conquered new land and integrated those dominated into the military. Similarly, the United States currently has over 700 military bases throughout the world. And, as did the Romans, the United States has supplemented its military with private contracts. This trend is replicated in other areas of government; public functions have been sold to private entities. In Rome, the emperor hollowed the government. He took enough power away from the legislature to make their meetings and debates meaningless. In the United States, the executive has done the same, eroding the abilities of the legislature. The checks and balances of American government have lost effect—the executive goes unchecked.

737 US Military Bases around the world

Domestic Democracy or Foreign Imperialism

A talk by Chalmers Johnson about the run up to Imperialism in the US over the past 40 years. Including discussion of his recent three novels: Blowback, the Sorrows of Empire and Nemesis. Chalmers addresses the effect of the 737 military bases the US has around the world and why Foreign Imperialism conflicts with a Domestic Democracy. We now have in effect an Imperial Presidency that ignores the Constitutional requirement for separation of powers and checks and balances. Comparisons are made between the US's policies and those of other failed Imperialist nations of the 18th and 19th century, such as England, France, and Holland. Also considered is the possibility of a military coup in the US and whether it would turn out better for the US than it did for Rome. The video has excerpts from President Eisenhower's famous farewell speech of 1961.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2132577202254254902

A most renowned author and expert on the Federal Reserve Bank and the New World Order will share the amazing story of how and why the privately owned Federal Reserve Banking Cartel was created. http://www.realityzone.com/

Entrevista con Eric Toussaint 1/2


Entrevista con Eric Toussaint 2/2


Eric Toussaint, doctor en ciencias políticas y Presidente del CADTM-Bélgica (Comité por la Anulación de la Deuda del Tercer Mundo), estuvo en la ciudad de Barcelona el pasado 13 de enero presentando su último libro, "50 preguntas y 50 respuestas sobre la deuda, el FMI y el Banco Mundial".
http://www.librered.net/wordpress/

The Creature from Jekyll Island

A Second Look at the Federal Reserve

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=638447372044116845

Where does money come from? Where does it go? Who makes it? The money magician's secrets are unveiled. Here is a close look at their mirrors and smoke machines, the pulleys, cogs, and wheels that create the grand illusion called money. A boring subject? Just wait. You'll be hooked in five minutes. It reads like a detective story – which it really is, but it's all true. This book is about the most blanant scam of history. It's all here: the cause of wars, boom-bust cycles, inflation, depression, prosperity. Your world view will definitely change. Putting it quite simply, this may be the most important book on world affairs you will ever read. 608 pages.

The Creature is at the top of the Best-Seller display at Borders Book Store in Thousand Oaks, California (photo at right). That's where the author lives, but he was totally surprised when a friend told him that the store is featuring his book.

We Hold These Truths: The Hope of Monetary Reform

“Our Early Political Leaders Warned Us Against the Banking Interests”


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3468056684550176104

 “The Federal Reserve"


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7247440563842157664

“The Collapse of the Financial System”


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2586504549221421168

“What is Credit and Who Should Control It?”


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4061589997977265938

“The Gap Between Prices and Income”


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3035089455833762689

“The Greenback and National Dividend Solutions”


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2945437690287937254

The literature on economic and monetary reform has been growing in recent years with a particular focus on how to achieve a more equitable and democratic distribution and availability of the bounty of the industrial age. Some of these books have approached the problem through a critique of our monetary system which creates money mainly through bank-generated loans. Other books have criticized the economic inequity deriving from finance capitalism with control of business and resources increasingly concentrated in the hands of the wealthy few who sit at the top of our financial system.
Richard C. Cook proposes a comprehensive series of measures that would transform the debt-based monetary system into one based on the productive values of the physical economy. Cook has named this approach: “Dividend Economics” of which Social Credit, founded by British engineer C.H. Douglas (1879-1952) and the Alaska Permanent Fund are examples.

The Solution to the Economic Crisis. Credit as a Public Utility

We Hold These Truths: The Hope of Monetary Reform

Colorado Independent Publishers Association Gold Medal in Public Affairs

Written and Produced by Richard C. Cook

Global Research, March 28, 2009

 ©2009 by Richard C. Cook. All Rights Reserved.

 Part One of Six Parts: Credit As A Public Utility: The Solution to the Economic Crisis

 “Our Early Political Leaders Warned Us Against the Banking Interests”

 Summary: Early U.S. statesmen, such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Andrew Jackson worked to free the nation from control by the bankers who had been behind the establishment of the First and Second Banks of the United States. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln implemented a true democratic currency by spending Greenbacks directly into circulation without borrowing from the banks. These measures allowed the U.S. to develop for much of the 19th century largely free from bankers’ control. By the end of the century, this had changed, and the bankers were taking over.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3468056684550176104

Part Two of Six Parts: Credit As A Public Utility: The Solution to the Economic Crisis

 “The Federal Reserve"

 Summary: President Lincoln’s Greenback system worked but was undermined and replaced by the financiers who got Congress to pass the National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864, then the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. The United States now became a nation dominated by the financial elite, the banks, and a debt-based monetary system. Consequently, the 20th Century was one of constant cycles of inflation and deflation resulting in the economic chaos we see today.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7247440563842157664

Part Three of Six Parts: Credit As A Public Utility: The Solution to the Economic Crisis

 “The Collapse of the Financial System”

Summary: The collapse we are seeing today began in the financial system, not the producing economy. The crisis started with the housing bubble which the Federal Reserve created by cutting interest rates and then brought own by raising them. The trigger of the 2008 bank meltdown was refusal by European banks to purchase any more “toxic” U.S. debt based on mortgages and sold as securities. Now, with the decline in equity values, the burden of debt in our economy has grown even larger. Thus a renewal of bank lending will not solve the problem, while the economic stimulus program of the Obama administration is likewise insufficient to restore economic health.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2586504549221421168

Part Four of Six Parts: Credit As A Public Utility: The Solution to the Economic Crisis

 “What is Credit and Who Should Control It?”

 Summary: Fractional reserve banking is the process by which banks create credit out of thin air. But despite abuses of the system, credit is still a crucial part of modern economics. An enlightened concept of governance would view credit as a public utility. This means that government must take back the control of credit from the private financiers.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4061589997977265938

Part Five of Six Parts: Credit As A Public Utility: The Solution to the Economic Crisis

 “The Gap Between Prices and Income”

Summary: One of the most important and least understood concepts in modern economics is the existence of a gap between prices and purchasing power. This gap results when a portion of prices must be set aside as business and private savings. The money is then used by the financial system for lending and speculation. Keynesian economics takes control of some of the savings through government deficit spending but is still a compromise with control of the economy by the financiers. In fact Keynesian economics has helped cause the collapsing debt pyramid. A better system would be to provide consumers with a National Dividend as a way to monetize the continuous appreciation of the producing economy.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3035089455833762689

Part Six of Six Parts: Credit As A Public Utility: The Solution to the Economic Crisis

 “The Greenback and National Dividend Solutions”

Summary: The U.S. should convert to a system where the money supply is created by the federal government by being spent into circulation without government borrowing or taxation as was done with the Greenbacks. The Federal Reserve should no longer be a bank of issue. Additionally, a National Dividend should be paid directly to the people. The “Cook Plan” calls for the initial distribution of vouchers in the amount of $1,000 a month plus a new system of community savings banks. Greenbacks combined with a National Dividend will create a non-inflationary democratic currency and transform the economy of the United States.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2945437690287937254

Richard C. Cook is a former U.S Treasury analyst who also worked in the Carter White House and for NASA and writes on public policy issues. His new book is We Hold These Truths: The Hope of Monetary Reform (Tendril Press 2009). His website is www.richardccook.com. He is a member of the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network and has been an adviser to Congressman Dennis Kucinich and the American Monetary Institute. Purchase the DVD at Richard C. Cook’s website.

Richard C. Cook is a frequent contributor to Global Research.
Global Research Articles by Richard C. Cook