I resent this comment...snip!
The U.S. is not a dictatorship, it is an Illusional Democracy, one
in
which we all have an opportunity to participate in the Dream of...snip
This whole legislative thing about charging fees for plant amendments
and for the exchange of seeds or plants makes me really mad because
I am so limited financially and my great joy in gardening and protecting
the sacred space of my road is threatened by the soil amendment legislation
and possibility of similar legislation that would limit the exchange
of one's
own seed with someone else.
>Our media is full of your President on a grand tour, urging countries
to
>change from dictatorships to democracies.
>
>Do you think the US may do this in time?
When you are not into breaking the law and you are personally affected
by such legislation like I am, it's hard not to get angy with those
who
find it pleasurable and remuniative to manipulate a whole country's
population. The concept of democracy (the myth) is not in question,
but only the method of practicing it. When we don't have legislators
and
executives who understand the sacredness of the earth and her creatures
and whose world view is based on the good of corporations rather than
the good of people, especially poor people and small family farmers,
then we have the right to call them into question--and humor, cynical
or not, is a good way of doing it.
Denver police spied on activists...
Have you ever had your phone tapped? When I was in the anti-
nuclear movement, I suspected that the leadership who were trying to
get teenagers to destroy property at a power plant were CIA.
A friend
of mine and I published a pamphlet, "Alternatives to Pilgrim II" which
said that technologies such as fuel cells, wind generation and co-generation
and practices such as time of day rates and flat rates instead of low
rates
for large users are a better way for the country to go. I was
a liberal
among a lot of socialists and anarchists, but I was as threatening
to
the federal government as they were, and they did intimidate me by
the phone tapping and allowing me to be aware of it. It is
harrassment of any dissent. That is what is happening now.
We
can't be afraid to speak out or we'll let GWB and the far right-wing
legislators like the ones from my state reshape the country to their
liking. They've already made a good dent in it in a very short
time
and although 9/11 was a terrible tragedy and a great political threat,
harrassing environmental organizations and farmers is going too
far and is not acceptable. They're pushing the envelope as far
as
they can.
I don't have any hope that a real stateman/woman is in the offing of
the
November elections. I wish they were. Thank goodness for
Ralph
Nader, the Green Party and the support organizations for legitimate
protest movements everywhere. I prefer writing and public meetings
like "Civil Society" has been doing.
I think the idea that demonstrating on your own property is the best
way to go is true, but in our case, we had a chemically sensitive man
be greatly injured by the spray and we have women with breast cancer
and a man with prostate cancer who live on the road. They need
to
be protected from any spray on the road. I've been working for
"No
Spray" on this road for ten years. I pulled knapweed and planted
native
grasses and sedum, penstemon and yarrow on the sand banks for years
and we just had a small group. The Weed Committee (name recently
changed from Weed Board) was quite anxious about all the noxious
weeds that were germinating year after year. It was a miracle
when
we got a weed supervisor who got us a cost-share grant and we were
able to buy a professional weed whacker and remove all the noxious
weed seedheads. We are being proactive about this and I'm trying
to get the Weed Committee to read Allan Savory's Holistic Management
and learn to not to be so reactive. I'm not sure it's conscious.
I
think they are like a lot of Americans who buy into the conventional
paradigm. Exposure to new ideas can make a dent. They don't
own corporations and they aren't rich. That's why I keep giving
out information in weed committee meetings. Grassroots movements
are like demonstrating on your own property--just a step beyond that.
