Greetings, everyone, I just saw a PBS documentary on John Muir and his insights and activities regarding nature and the eventual establishment by Pres. Theodore Roosevelt of the US Park system.
Faced with the strident cynicism of those who reject collective action for the common good in favor of a "me-first-and-only" policy, it was greatly refreshing to see what people of good will, cooperative disposition, and sensible idealism can achieve. They looked far beyond material self-advantage and profit as motivation. Ray, you stand out, in my mind, as someone who manifests the very best of these values. Cheers, Lawry > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Harrell > Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 12:15 AM > To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION'; > [email protected] > Subject: [Futurework] FW: Natural Harmony as a right. > > > > double negatives > > (dedicated to an immigrant nation) > > > > i've often wondered about the double negative: > > immigrants from horror succeeding brilliantly in america, > > children grown in affluence exceeding grandparents wildest dreams, > > only to struggle for the rest of their life doing junk, > > little that a vegetable couldn't accomplish. > > > > what is it about this place that curses the children? > > warren and bill worried but unknowing, > > a four carton of kochs struggling for something. > > how is it that the disembodied head of the king of france > > was the brain of a clockmaker? > > > > is it the need to deserve? > > to own both custer's and sitting bull's rifles. > > as if history could rub off, > > significance could be experienced > > joy escaped without sorrow > > > > koch’s cato reminds me of the great ring of rome > > brutus worn into battle only to be lost > > among the dead and forgotten. > > > > can it be that significance is not objective? > > that what is missed by the children of wealth > > is the poverty and its significance? > > > > that what we are looking at is old fashioned envy > > clothed in the violent fur of a skinny rodent? > > an animal spirit of impeccable violence? > > > > REH 2010 November 15 > > > > > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Harrell > Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 10:22 PM > To: [email protected]; 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, > EDUCATION' > Subject: Re: [Futurework] Natural Harmony as a right. > > > > Yes, that would be a stretch for you Harry. I understand that. About > as big a stretch as you land policies would be for the current economics > folks. It’s a stretch for some that other life might have rights. It > took a long time for the governments of the world to admit that Indigenous > Peoples had rights. With the U.S. and Canada it was last year at the UN. > > > > REH > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Harry Pollard > Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 2:18 PM > To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' > Subject: Re: [Futurework] Natural Harmony as a right. > > > > What nonsense humans can promote, Ray. > > > > I wonder if the idiots asked ‘nature’ whether it wanted “equal rights”? > > > > The best thing about ‘nature’ is that it is too practical to indulge itself > in such a silly religious mania. > > > > Harry > > > > ****************************** > > Henry George School of Los Angeles > > Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 > > (818) 352-4141 > > ****************************** > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Harrell > Sent: Friday, April 15, 2011 7:26 PM > To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' > Subject: [Futurework] Natural Harmony as a right. > > > > Some good stuff in here. It will be interesting how it all works out. > Truth and Beauty! REH > > > > Bolivia enshrines natural world's rights with equal status for Mother Earth > > Law of Mother Earth expected to prompt radical new conservation and social > measures in South American nation > > · John Vidal in La Paz > > · guardian.co.uk, Sunday 10 April 2011 18.17 BST > > John Vidal reports from La Paz where Bolivians are living with the effects of > climate change every day > > Bolivia is set to pass the world's first laws granting all nature equal > rights to humans. The Law of Mother Earth, now agreed by politicians and > grassroots social groups, redefines the country's rich mineral deposits as > "blessings" and is expected to lead to radical new conservation and social > measures to reduce pollution and control industry. > > The country, which has been pilloried by the US and Britain in the UN climate > talks for demanding steep carbon emission cuts, will establish 11 new rights > for nature. They include: the right to life and to exist; the right to > continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to > pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; > and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered. > > Controversially, it will also enshrine the right of nature "to not be > affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the > balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities". > > "It makes world history. Earth is the mother of all", said Vice-President > Alvaro García Linera. "It establishes a new relationship between man and > nature, the harmony of which must be preserved as a guarantee of its > regeneration." > > The law, which is part of a complete restructuring of the Bolivian legal > system following a change of constitution in 2009, has been heavily > influenced by a resurgent indigenous Andean spiritual world view which places > the environment and the earth deity known as the Pachamama at the centre of > all life. Humans are considered equal to all other entities. > > But the abstract new laws are not expected to stop industry in its tracks. > While it is not clear yet what actual protection the new rights will give in > court to bugs, insects and ecosystems, the government is expected to > establish a ministry of mother earth and to appoint an ombudsman. It is also > committed to giving communities new legal powers to monitor and control > polluting industries. > > Bolivia has long suffered from serious environmental problems from the mining > of tin, silver, gold and other raw materials. "Existing laws are not strong > enough," said Undarico Pinto, leader of the 3.5m-strong Confederación > Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia, the biggest social > movement, who helped draft the law. "It will make industry more transparent. > It will allow people to regulate industry at national, regional and local > levels." > > Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said Bolivia's traditional indigenous > respect for the Pachamama was vital to prevent climate change. "Our > grandparents taught us that we belong to a big family of plants and animals. > We believe that everything in the planet forms part of a big family. We > indigenous people can contribute to solving the energy, climate, food and > financial crises with our values," he said. > > Little opposition is expected to the law being passed because President Evo > Morales's ruling party, the Movement Towards Socialism, enjoys a comfortable > majority in both houses of parliament. > > However, the government must tread a fine line between increased regulation > of companies and giving way to the powerful social movements who have pressed > for the law. Bolivia earns $500m (£305m) a year from mining companies which > provides nearly one third of the country's foreign currency. > > In the indigenous philosophy, the Pachamama is a living being. > > The draft of the new law states: "She is sacred, fertile and the source of > life that feeds and cares for all living beings in her womb. She is in > permanent balance, harmony and communication with the cosmos. She is > comprised of all ecosystems and living beings, and their self-organisation." > > Ecuador, which also has powerful indigenous groups, has changed its > constitution to give nature "the right to exist, persist, maintain and > regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in > evolution". However, the abstract rights have not led to new laws or stopped > oil companies from destroying some of the most biologically rich areas of the > Amazon. > > Coping with climate change > > Bolivia is struggling to cope with rising temperatures, melting glaciers and > more extreme weather events including more frequent floods, droughts, frosts > and mudslides. > > Research by glaciologist Edson Ramirez of San Andres University in the > capital city, La Paz, suggests temperatures have been rising steadily for 60 > years and started to accelerate in 1979. They are now on course to rise a > further 3.5-4C over the next 100 years. This would turn much of Bolivia into > a desert. > > Most glaciers below 5,000m are expected to disappear completely within 20 > years, leaving Bolivia with a much smaller ice cap. Scientists say this will > lead to a crisis in farming and water shortages in cities such as La Paz and > El Alto. > > Evo Morales, Latin America's first indigenous president, has become an > outspoken critic in the UN of industrialised countries which are not prepared > to hold temperatures to a 1C rise. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
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