RE: POLITICS: Free Trade vs. Slavery

[Guest guest]

[Chris] Everyone, free or slave, is bound by the laws of nature that

compel us to

work, so in a way you could say we are slaves to nature. But since we

are all

slaves to nature, using the terms slavery in that sense would be infinitely

broad and therefore useless, since any word fails to mean anything if it

cannot

discriminate.

[Deanna] So true. I like that you bring this up, because while

traditionally this fact of life is true, and is so for all life forms,

yet when we see corporate privatization of basic natural resources, such

as water in South American countries for instance, then I don't think it

is simply a matter of being slaves to nature anymore. Other examples of

taking basic rights away from people includes the patenting of life,

from that which nature/God provides to GMO crop seeds. In the former

case, it seems crazy to be able to lay a claim on a life form that the

patent holder didn't even create! In the latter, the big issue is

licensing to prohibit farmers from saving and using seeds (although

maybe that's got a good side with proliferating GMO minimized by this

required termination of contract per crop yield). We are slaves to the

middlemen who now hijack nature as their own.

I am quite curious to see how the impending energy crisis will play out

in this kind of model.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/corp/crisis120904.cfm

" As if to acknowledge the seriousness of this debate, the Wall Street

Journal reported in September that evidence of a global slowdown in

petroleum output can no longer be ignored. While no one can say with

certainty that recent developments portend the imminent arrival of peak

oil output, there can be no question that global supply shortages will

prove increasingly common in the future. "

Deanna

[Guest guest]

>[Deanna] I am quite curious to see how the impending energy crisis will play

out

>in this kind of model.

[HJ] My own prediction is that the whole system will fracture ...

literally. It's already happened with the Internet: there is more

power in the hands of more people. Our group is also

an example: we are producing more food locally (in our

houses or gardens) and are less reliant on big agribusiness.

There are more small " niche " businesses or big businesses

being run as franchises, and even the big corporations have

become more dependent on small suppliers and consultants.

This is happening because basically the " wholly centralized "

model of ANYTHING doesn't work very well ... the best model

is something like the Internet, which is a cross between some

centralization (naming conventions, nodes, rules) and distributed

processing. Your nervous sytem works in much the same way:

SOME things are centralized, some are distributed, and a set

of rules keeps things organized.

With petroleum, the little " Anything into Oil " generators

will be able to be built for not much money at all ... The

cost is already not prohibitive, and while it IS patented,

it is totally scalable. So I forsee a day when my little town,

instead of running a huge sewage processing plant, makes

oil out of the sewage and sells it locally. Ditto the farmers

with their farm waste, and the city dump.

With houses, " zero sum " houses are already being built.

Ours is close ... we don't need electricity for heat, or wood.

When every house becomes a little electric generator, you

have truly distributed processing. Some large buildings are already

producing hydrogen via rooftop solar generators, to fuel

their company cars.

Of course this is not something the big corporations like,

so there'll be a backlash, more push for privatization. I can't

see how it will work in the long run though ... the privatization

is apt to cause major greed issues, like Enron, which should eventually

wake people up. I hope.

Heidi [HJ] [HTG]

Three Wise Women would have:

Asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby,

cleaned the stable, made a cassarole, brought practical gifts

and there would be Peace on Earth.

[Guest guest]

One you didn't mention is the medical industry.

People are sick and tired of being sick and tired and are leaving

allopathic medical care in droves.

And the Vioxx bit only fueled the rush.

Judith Alta

Bright blessings for this Yule season.

-----Original Message-----

>[Deanna] I am quite curious to see how the impending energy crisis will

play out

>in this kind of model.

[HJ] My own prediction is that the whole system will fracture ...

literally. It's already happened with the Internet: there is more

power in the hands of more people. Our group is also

an example: we are producing more food locally (in our

houses or gardens) and are less reliant on big agribusiness.

There are more small " niche " businesses or big businesses

being run as franchises, and even the big corporations have

become more dependent on small suppliers and consultants.

This is happening because basically the " wholly centralized "

model of ANYTHING doesn't work very well ... the best model

is something like the Internet, which is a cross between some

centralization (naming conventions, nodes, rules) and distributed

processing. Your nervous sytem works in much the same way:

SOME things are centralized, some are distributed, and a set

of rules keeps things organized.

With petroleum, the little " Anything into Oil " generators

will be able to be built for not much money at all ... The

cost is already not prohibitive, and while it IS patented,

it is totally scalable. So I forsee a day when my little town,

instead of running a huge sewage processing plant, makes

oil out of the sewage and sells it locally. Ditto the farmers

with their farm waste, and the city dump.

With houses, " zero sum " houses are already being built.

Ours is close ... we don't need electricity for heat, or wood.

When every house becomes a little electric generator, you

have truly distributed processing. Some large buildings are already

producing hydrogen via rooftop solar generators, to fuel

their company cars.

Of course this is not something the big corporations like,

so there'll be a backlash, more push for privatization. I can't

see how it will work in the long run though ... the privatization

is apt to cause major greed issues, like Enron, which should eventually

wake people up. I hope.

Heidi [HJ] [HTG]

Three Wise Women would have:

Asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby,

cleaned the stable, made a cassarole, brought practical gifts

and there would be Peace on Earth.