first, let me say that i know this blog has been a little quiet. I'm focusing my efforts on some youtube videos right now to cover the same topics. You can find me on youtube under 29mickjones.
Second, i've been checking out the zeitgeist addendum film as it seems quite interesting. However i wish to addresss the followers of the film with the following questions and statements:
I am relatively new to the zeitgeist movement but for some time have been studying along very similar lines of society transformation / revolution. What I’ve read and watched about zeitgeist has seemed promising but I do have some concerns about its direction and I’d like to put them to you for comment.
When talking about a resource economy rather than a monetary economy little seems to be said about our motivations when acquiring products. For example are pointless luxury goods not going to be frowned upon. In a resource economy surely we would not waste our time producing fassion or luxury items that produce no useful need to mankind. Is consumerism a bad thing? What is the zeitgeist line on this?
Within the Zeitgeist movement I’ve no heard the mention of marx or other political figures, indeed zeitgeist seems to be somewhat a-political. I’m not convinced that along these lines a leadership would not emerge to control the masses such as we have today. I believe constant state of revolution and destruction is necessary to keep the revolution honest. As in Mao’s cultural revolution. Surely zeitgeist need to align it’s self at least even loosely with marx.
Within Zeitgiest I have not heard any mention of the family institution. Communist teachings suggest the family should be abolished as it leads to a comflict of interests between individuals and society. Surely we are wanting to achive a truly altruistic society? Are you really suggesting that family structures should still exist?
Also within Zeitgeist there is a big thrust towards technology. I very much advocate this however, it is important that we keep control and not hide behind systems to keep us in line. No matter what technology and machines are developed they are only tools. Tools need to be operated by a craftsman who guide them . From Zeitgeist this aspect of technology seems to be used to relieve us of some of our decision making, and to guard us from ourselves and our human leanings towards expoitation of others. We are in charge or society, not the machines, we cannot delegate such responsibility. It also suggests we can have more leisure time etc… In a transformed society I argue we should have less leisure time as we are working for society and not ourselves. Our work would not be drudgery as we are not been exploited, and we are altruistic.
Also what about personal possessions. I believe these, contribute much to our problems. I don’t hear much about their abolishment from Zeitgeist.
In summary, I do think this movement is a step forward however it’s a small step, we need to carefully examine more the teachings of marx and anarchist thinkers. We need to set our sights a little higher.
Mick.
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Basic society
Two cave men live side by side. Life is hard, food , survival.
They have to dedicate their efforts to looking after their personal needs but also looking for chances to exploit their neighbour to gain advantage. They do this because their very survival is under threat. They are scared and feel insecure. Also they must dedicate their time to defence, as their neighbour will try to exploit them.
Lets introduce a 3rd cave man. He is dominant, and has a strong sense of justice. He stamps out the exploitation and the need for defence as he imposes his own sense “fairness” on the group, however has to take on these extra roles in additional to his own survival.
By now introducing a ‘system’ including collective and collaborative working into the equation, we can make the basic survival easier. Whist the mis-trust still exists there will still be a need for ‘Boss’ caveman to rule. How do we then dissolve away the mis trust, remove the need for defence and the desire for exploitation, and advantage.
We need to illustrate the huge gains made by collectivisation shared by all.
These gains must far outweigh the temporary petty gains made by cheating, or the effort used defending themselves. Then surely the path forward will be quite natural and obvious. No envy, greed, need for competition, but a real passion about improving society for all. We have complete trust that your neighbour’s actions is for the common good, therefore good for you. The question is when are we ready to make this leap to a high state of social consciousness. This is I believe what Marx termed as true communism, and the disbanding of the dictatorship of the proletariat. If we are not ready to make this leap then the first signs of rot will be quickly evident. We can paper of the cracks by imposing rules and systems but we must ask why is this necessary?
They have to dedicate their efforts to looking after their personal needs but also looking for chances to exploit their neighbour to gain advantage. They do this because their very survival is under threat. They are scared and feel insecure. Also they must dedicate their time to defence, as their neighbour will try to exploit them.
Lets introduce a 3rd cave man. He is dominant, and has a strong sense of justice. He stamps out the exploitation and the need for defence as he imposes his own sense “fairness” on the group, however has to take on these extra roles in additional to his own survival.
By now introducing a ‘system’ including collective and collaborative working into the equation, we can make the basic survival easier. Whist the mis-trust still exists there will still be a need for ‘Boss’ caveman to rule. How do we then dissolve away the mis trust, remove the need for defence and the desire for exploitation, and advantage.
We need to illustrate the huge gains made by collectivisation shared by all.
These gains must far outweigh the temporary petty gains made by cheating, or the effort used defending themselves. Then surely the path forward will be quite natural and obvious. No envy, greed, need for competition, but a real passion about improving society for all. We have complete trust that your neighbour’s actions is for the common good, therefore good for you. The question is when are we ready to make this leap to a high state of social consciousness. This is I believe what Marx termed as true communism, and the disbanding of the dictatorship of the proletariat. If we are not ready to make this leap then the first signs of rot will be quickly evident. We can paper of the cracks by imposing rules and systems but we must ask why is this necessary?
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
The elimination of greed PT4
Not convinced? Well lets just return to the game one more time to another contestant called Gerard. Maybe he’s got something really interesting to say.
“Gerard”
Background 29yo, married, no children, buying house, average paid job.
Gerard went in the room and came out with the envelope of money. We asked him the usual questions, why he chose what he chose and did he feel greedy. He said that no he didn’t feel greed but he had a plan. When we inquired what the plan was he just smiled and said ‘you’ll see’. What I didn’t tell you earlier was that the amount written on the envelope ($260) was in fact incorrect. The envelope contained a bankers cheque for $44 billion. Impossible I hear you say, well after all, this is fictitious so you’ll have to bear with me. So, Gerard has just wandered off with this immense sum of money. What will become of him? One of two luxuries perhaps. Well, here’s what Gerard actually did. He hired a security team to maintain his anonymity at quite a sum. Second he got ad space on the television network for tomorrow at prime time. This advert was seen by a large percentage of the population and those that didn’t see it were soon aware of its content from the extreme impact it would have. On the ad, one of Gerard representatives appeared and read from a script. At 9pm tomorrow and each day onwards you will all be getting a windfall, the rep said. Literally, $20 bills will be dropped from the tallest building in the city. Come down to the city and see what you can collect, the rep shouted. The plan, each evening was to drop a few thousand pounds of one of the tallest building in the city, let it flutter down and let the public gather it all up. As you may imagine it would take a while to get through £44 billion by this method but that was the plan. So as the following evening approached a crowd gathered beneath the advertised building. There was a real buzz in the air. Most people thought it must be a prank but were happy to humour this fool to see what happened. On the dot at 9pm, some fireworks exploded and a light show begun, shortly followed as promised by the night air filled with fluttering banknotes. Everybody went crazy fighting for their share. This was repeated the next day and the next. The only addition via another TV advert, was that special secure charity boxes were to be placed beneath the building and if the ‘gatherers’ wished they could donate their bounty to the registered charities listed on the boxes. The boxes remained somewhat empty. This process was repeated for several weeks, secretly viewed by the anonymous Gerard from the top of the building. Months passed, and not a night of banknote rain was missed, but a strange thing began to happen. The charity boxes began to get some donations. This was highlighted particularly when one cold February evening when the turn out was less than usual at the drop, and as the crowd dispersed some bank notes were still strewn across the floor. Gerard watched as 2 teenagers nonchalantly kicked at the notes as they walked passed going about their business, but didn’t collect them. All became still again with several hundred dollars laying in the street like litter. If fact it was 3 street cleaners that were next on the scene and they swept the notes up just like clearing litter. They tipped the notes into the charity box. Gerard lifted his head, and thought to himself, could greed be finally on the wane.
“Gerard”
Background 29yo, married, no children, buying house, average paid job.
Gerard went in the room and came out with the envelope of money. We asked him the usual questions, why he chose what he chose and did he feel greedy. He said that no he didn’t feel greed but he had a plan. When we inquired what the plan was he just smiled and said ‘you’ll see’. What I didn’t tell you earlier was that the amount written on the envelope ($260) was in fact incorrect. The envelope contained a bankers cheque for $44 billion. Impossible I hear you say, well after all, this is fictitious so you’ll have to bear with me. So, Gerard has just wandered off with this immense sum of money. What will become of him? One of two luxuries perhaps. Well, here’s what Gerard actually did. He hired a security team to maintain his anonymity at quite a sum. Second he got ad space on the television network for tomorrow at prime time. This advert was seen by a large percentage of the population and those that didn’t see it were soon aware of its content from the extreme impact it would have. On the ad, one of Gerard representatives appeared and read from a script. At 9pm tomorrow and each day onwards you will all be getting a windfall, the rep said. Literally, $20 bills will be dropped from the tallest building in the city. Come down to the city and see what you can collect, the rep shouted. The plan, each evening was to drop a few thousand pounds of one of the tallest building in the city, let it flutter down and let the public gather it all up. As you may imagine it would take a while to get through £44 billion by this method but that was the plan. So as the following evening approached a crowd gathered beneath the advertised building. There was a real buzz in the air. Most people thought it must be a prank but were happy to humour this fool to see what happened. On the dot at 9pm, some fireworks exploded and a light show begun, shortly followed as promised by the night air filled with fluttering banknotes. Everybody went crazy fighting for their share. This was repeated the next day and the next. The only addition via another TV advert, was that special secure charity boxes were to be placed beneath the building and if the ‘gatherers’ wished they could donate their bounty to the registered charities listed on the boxes. The boxes remained somewhat empty. This process was repeated for several weeks, secretly viewed by the anonymous Gerard from the top of the building. Months passed, and not a night of banknote rain was missed, but a strange thing began to happen. The charity boxes began to get some donations. This was highlighted particularly when one cold February evening when the turn out was less than usual at the drop, and as the crowd dispersed some bank notes were still strewn across the floor. Gerard watched as 2 teenagers nonchalantly kicked at the notes as they walked passed going about their business, but didn’t collect them. All became still again with several hundred dollars laying in the street like litter. If fact it was 3 street cleaners that were next on the scene and they swept the notes up just like clearing litter. They tipped the notes into the charity box. Gerard lifted his head, and thought to himself, could greed be finally on the wane.
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
The elimination of greed PT3
What can we learn from all this. Well the game listed above was fictitious, but you may agree the results could be true. My suggestion is that that we are influenced by our surroundings, conditions of life, prejustice, and exploitations which make greed a very tempting emotion. Without theses negatives then greed will just melt away. Without these negatives then it would serve no purpose. This now leads me on to open up this discussion to more topics to get to the bottom of what makes us think the way we do.
Monday, 26 October 2009
The elimination of greed PT2
Consider a man alone in a room and told he can chose from a selection of available prizes. He can chose only one item, or nothing at all if he wishes, but he can keep what he takes. The prizes are all kinds of values and types.
3 MP3 players – ascending quality
1 new coffee cup
large colour TV
Picture painted by local artist
Lucky charm
A envelope containing a labelled amount of cash
What does he chose and more importantly what thought processes does he consider whilst choosing.
Ok, our first subject “tim”.
Background , 20yo renting flat alone, stable job on modest salary.
Tim, goes in and comes out with, the Large colour TV. When he exits we interview him and ask him about his thoughts and motivations. He says that basically it was a chance to get some something free, chose the Tv because it looked to most expensive thing there, more than the Cash, and he’d already got a top of range MP3 player. The TV will look nice in his living room and he might be able to sell his existing one. When asked did he feel greedy he said no, why should I? you were giving them away.
Our next subject is “Cuthbert”
Background, 44yo, married, big mortgage, stable job on job salary
Cuthbert goes in and comes out with, nothing. We asked him why he took nothing, he said he thought there was some kind of trick going on and wasn’t comfortable
playing along. Did you feel greedy? Well when I saw the item a deep sense of greed did enter my mind, like I want them all, but logic took over, so no not really.
Julie, 72 widowed, on a state pension with few savings
Julie comes out with the lucky charm, saying she needs all the luck she can get for her upcoming hospital operation. We didn’t ask her if she felt greedy but she did say none of the other items appealed to her much, although she counted the cash and commented that it was an awful lot of Money.
“Brian”
Background, 27yo, single, buying house, steady low paid job.
Brian didn’t come out at all. After a while we found the room empty and an open window. He’d taken all of the prizes so we weren’t able to interview him about how he felt.
3 MP3 players – ascending quality
1 new coffee cup
large colour TV
Picture painted by local artist
Lucky charm
A envelope containing a labelled amount of cash
What does he chose and more importantly what thought processes does he consider whilst choosing.
Ok, our first subject “tim”.
Background , 20yo renting flat alone, stable job on modest salary.
Tim, goes in and comes out with, the Large colour TV. When he exits we interview him and ask him about his thoughts and motivations. He says that basically it was a chance to get some something free, chose the Tv because it looked to most expensive thing there, more than the Cash, and he’d already got a top of range MP3 player. The TV will look nice in his living room and he might be able to sell his existing one. When asked did he feel greedy he said no, why should I? you were giving them away.
Our next subject is “Cuthbert”
Background, 44yo, married, big mortgage, stable job on job salary
Cuthbert goes in and comes out with, nothing. We asked him why he took nothing, he said he thought there was some kind of trick going on and wasn’t comfortable
playing along. Did you feel greedy? Well when I saw the item a deep sense of greed did enter my mind, like I want them all, but logic took over, so no not really.
Julie, 72 widowed, on a state pension with few savings
Julie comes out with the lucky charm, saying she needs all the luck she can get for her upcoming hospital operation. We didn’t ask her if she felt greedy but she did say none of the other items appealed to her much, although she counted the cash and commented that it was an awful lot of Money.
“Brian”
Background, 27yo, single, buying house, steady low paid job.
Brian didn’t come out at all. After a while we found the room empty and an open window. He’d taken all of the prizes so we weren’t able to interview him about how he felt.
Thursday, 22 October 2009
The elimination of greed - PT1
Greed is the excessive or rapacious desire and pursuit of money, wealth, power. It is generally considered a vice, and is one of the seven deadly sins in Catholicism. - Wikipedia.
What is at the heart of greed, is it a need for personal survival, self preservation. Is it only at the expense of others, or can you be greedy on your own. Is it in human nature and there’s nothing we can do about it. Or, as I think it’s a disease brought on by the exploitation, pre-justice and persecution in society.
You wouldn’t consider a man dying of thirst in the desert greedy for wanting a glass of water. But could this be more need than want. Desire is an interesting word because it suggests a choice rather than a basic need.
You may desire a luxury car
You may want a meal out
You will need air, food and water.
some thoughts to ponder, PT2 to follow
What is at the heart of greed, is it a need for personal survival, self preservation. Is it only at the expense of others, or can you be greedy on your own. Is it in human nature and there’s nothing we can do about it. Or, as I think it’s a disease brought on by the exploitation, pre-justice and persecution in society.
You wouldn’t consider a man dying of thirst in the desert greedy for wanting a glass of water. But could this be more need than want. Desire is an interesting word because it suggests a choice rather than a basic need.
You may desire a luxury car
You may want a meal out
You will need air, food and water.
some thoughts to ponder, PT2 to follow
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
The future of human society
Greetings Friends Romans and People of this planet.
What i'm intending to do here is to discuss, not what's wrong with the world and society but more what we are going to do about it and how it can be put right. I have burning issues and ideas that i wish to share , hone, and discuss with anyone who's interested.
I would describe myself as a Marxist revolutionary who belives our society, government and capitalism is rotten and corrupt and needs replacing.
I've put together some embryonic notes that i'll drip feed on this blogg for all to see.
As someone once said ' Workers of the world unite, you've nothing to lose but your chains'
What i'm intending to do here is to discuss, not what's wrong with the world and society but more what we are going to do about it and how it can be put right. I have burning issues and ideas that i wish to share , hone, and discuss with anyone who's interested.
I would describe myself as a Marxist revolutionary who belives our society, government and capitalism is rotten and corrupt and needs replacing.
I've put together some embryonic notes that i'll drip feed on this blogg for all to see.
As someone once said ' Workers of the world unite, you've nothing to lose but your chains'
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