Re: Re: EARTH MEANDERS: Viva la Earth Revolution! A Sustainable Futu...

Agreed. "Pulling the plug"--total withdrawal from Glomart and embrace of a 
locally self-sufficient, communal way of life is best by far, but it takes a lot 
of courage and skills that most people don't have. My idea is aimed at 
everyone else who, for now, is stuck in, and totally brainwashed by, the System. If 
a handful of people wake up, drop out, go back to the land, they may be happy 
and fulfilled for a while, but they will be ignored by the rest of the dying 
world altogether. Whereas if large numbers of people, influenced by an 
imaginative, effective publicity campaign, start redirecting their money and life 
choices, in self-reinforcing ways, the effect could be profound...

In a message dated 1/30/2005 1:06:06 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
[email protected] writes:
Some worthwhile points I don't want to detract from, but we won't make any
progress if we're fighting it with one hand and feeding it with the other.
We feed the corporate war machine with our money and our corporate jobs.
The machine's lifeblood is money, and its footsoldiers are corporate
employees and customers. Fundraising? The machine will always have more
money, because we're feeding it with our mortgages, loans, and credit
buying - and taxes. You can't win by tax evasion any more than by violence.
You can however reduce your taxable income by living on less.  You can buy
and fix up existing homes for cash from individuals.  Same with autos, and
its also recycling and saving resources.  Besides shelter and
transportation, food is a basic of life that the machine is taking over for
profit, and destroying our health in the process. There are ways around it.
Growing your own, buying from local producers, learning how to eat healthy
- all these are part of the Local Food movement gaining momentum every day.
Start by junking the TV, microwave, and teflon pans. 

You admit your publicity ideas may or may not work, but I can guarantee you
that Pulling the Plug will, to whatever extent people are willing to do it.
Hundreds of thousands already are to some extent, whether they understand
it or not.  Not everyone can go all the way instantly, but every dollar not
spent on consumer goods, every credit offer turned down, every corporate
job you quit - the machine will die the death of a thousand cuts.  Many
people have blazed the way. Remember Borsori who wrote This Ugly
Civilization. The Nearings. Thoreau and Emerson.  Duane Elgin and Voluntary
Simplicity. Gandhi who said to forget how to dig the earth is to forget
ourselves.