Dear RN, Richard's posting to us, "rkm re: facing eco-collapse and preparing for it" is classic rkm: not wishy washy in the least, daring us to see the whole picture and to make our actions fit with that view. If we look at "the whole picture", it is not unthinkable that there is indeed a corporate elite which sees much of humanity, indeed most life on earth, as expendable. And this is genocide. Seeing this, we must recognize the imperative we face that we do something to stop the genocide, (but not just genocide, also ecocide or terracide, words I have seen elsewhere that remind us that it is not just us humans who suffer). Certainly, some kind of revoution is called for, and while most of us would probably hesitate to use such a word with friends and family who are busy trying to land a job or mend their marriage or whatever, and haven't been thinking much about genocide and ecocide lately :), Richard dares us to do just that. And then he suggests that for those of us who see the necessity for revolution, we need mainly to focus on how-to-get-it-started: "_Yes, we need to begin planning immediately to rebuild the social commons! But instead of planning for a post-collapse commons, let's begin building that commons right now - and let's call that commons a 'grass-roots revolutionary movement' (for a democratic renaissance?). For activists, I suggest, our greatest 'need to plan' is in the area of how-to-get-the-movement-started. We can't wait to agree on ideology first - harmonizing agendas must be part of the movement process. There is nothing to wait for - whenever we're ready we can begin. The job only becomes more difficult the longer we wait." ...I remember at the workshop/retreat (of the summer of '98) which I helped Richard organize and out of which this list began, we discussed the importance of seeing the movement through "web-weaving" glasses. What I mean is that, when we are conscious of the need to continually reach out and link up with others working towards a democratic renaissance (and even those who might balk at tagging their efforts with any such epithet!) then we feel energized. We see the multitude of efforts and how they could, at least ptotentially, lead us towards a livable world. But when we see other groups and individuals as somehow opposed to our view of what revolution is all about, then we see how feeble our own efforts are and tend to get discouraged. With "web-weaving glasses" on, I think we can safely say the movement has already started. Of course, there is still so much work to do! A crucial part of this work is linking up with others and helping them and ourselves to see our different types of work as complimentary, rather than antagonistic. The web-weaving discussion Richard got going with his posting of Oct. 17 gives us one good example of this. I would like to cite a few other examples in this posting and the next two, of how people who we might not at first see as contributing to the "democratic renaissance" are in fact doing just that. One example comes right from "close to home", someone who was working with Richard before I was: Carolyn Ballard. She has lately been really busy with family-type things and less closely involved with Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance than earlier on. But we still keep in touch. A while back Carolyn wrote about how this man who needed a place to stay ended up living in her home and getting the space (literally and figuratively) to get back on his feet. I got to thinking about that.... Given that in our time, it is people like this man who are seen as "expendable" (and, as Richard pointed out, not just by "the elite" but by people in general), to help someone like this out is a revolutionary act, similar to the way people in Nazi-occupied Europe took in Jews and others to save them from the Nazis. (BTW, a marvellous book documenting these stories of WW II resistance is _Conscience and Courage_. Don't have a copy with me now so I can't tell you the name of the author.) Just as people in the US and Canada made a point of acting in solidarity with the people of Viet Nam, whose country had been devastated by the war, this is happening now with Yugoslavia. Here is just one example: Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1999 03:15:17 -0500 To: •••@••.•••, •••@••.••• From: Mark Douglas Whitaker <•••@••.•••> Subject: YUGOSLAVIA TOUR >Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 11:59:51 -0400 (EDT) >From: vincent scotti eirene <•••@••.•••> >To: •••@••.••• >Subject: YUGOSLAVIA TOUR > URL: http://www.notowar.com >*************************************************************************** ****> > > yugoslavia > the winter tour > > >founder of peace tv and videographer rich fishkin of pittsburgh, pa. has >recently returned from a two week trip to belgrade, yugoslavia. he is our >eyes for a blind america. > >the footage he has brought back shows the beauty of the land and the >determination of the the people. after ten years of sanctions and 78 days >of intense bombing the infrastructure of yugoslavia is crippled. the water >supply, hospitals, farm land, electricity, communications, railroad, and >bridges are all in disrepair. the continuation of sanctions has cut >yugoslavia off from needed aide. no one is ready for the coming winter. > >rich will be traveling this fall showing his videos of the people of > >yugoslavia and how they are surviving the after math of the nato bombings. >peace tv hopes to raise the neccesary funds and return this winter to >yugoslavia to spend orthodox christmas with those the US has deemed enemy. > >interested?? schedule a stop on the speaking tour show/videos screening. > >call or email: > >toll free: 1-888-NOTOWAR >•••@••.••• > >vincent scotti eirene' >outreach coordinator for peace tv > >@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > > > > URL: http://www.notowar.com > > duncan and porter house of hospitality and resistance > the pittsburgh dmz disarm cmu peace brigade > > snail/mail: post office box 99332 pgh., pa. 15233 > toll free: 1-888-NOTOWAR fax: 1-412-231-1114 vox: 231-2766 > pager: 590-2212 ICQ #5163973 > >((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( > >******************************************************************** >* •••@••.••• >* >* List serve for Student Committee of the Iraq Action Coalition. >* >* To subscribe, send this message: subscribe stu-cmte-iac >* to this address: •••@••.••• >* >* To unsubscribe, send this message: unsubscribe stu-cmte-iac >* to this address: •••@••.••• >* >* Visit our website: http://iraqaction.org/students.html >* >* Send for your campus start up kit >* by sending a message to: •••@••.••• >********************************************************************* ...I could go on and on with examples. No need to though, for once we have "web-weaving" glasses on, each of us can come up with lots of examples, I think. What do all these efforts have in common? I think an essential ingredient is the willingness to do the work that needs doing ourselves, a taking of responsibility ourselves. Mother Teresa said it well: "Do not wait for leaders, do it alone, person to person. " And Hans Sinn recently sent us a message making essentially the same point, quoting one of my all time favourite pieces, _Neither Victims Nor Executioners_: Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 11:33:15 -0400 To: •••@••.••• From: Hans Sinn <•••@••.•••> Subject: Re: rn- rkm re: facing eco-collapse and preparing for it I like Paul's conclusions, they are similar to what Albert Camus avocated 1946 in Neither Victims Nor Executioners, written for and published by Combat, the journal of the French resistance: " Little is to be expected from present-day governments, since these live and act by a murderous code. Hope remains only in the most difficult task of all: to reconsider everything from the ground up, so as to shape a living society inside a dying society." Hans. Civilian Peace Service <http://www.superaje.com/~marsin/cps.htm> ----------------- In the next two messages I would like to introduce you to two efforts that we can see as part of the revolution, one based in Quebec/Vermont, the other really close to where I live in Atlantic Canada. all the best, jan Creo que el mundo es bello, que la poesía es como el pan, de todos. (I believe the world is beautiful and that poetry, like bread, is for everyone) Roque Dalton Jan Slakov, Box 35, Weymouth, NS, Canada B0W 3T0 (902) 837-4980 --- CDR (Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance) home page -> http://cyberjournal.org ~================================================~ To subscribe to the cyberjournal simply send an empty message to: <•••@••.•••> ~================================================~ To keep posted on the democratic renaissance send an empty message to: <•••@••.•••>. Note: Besides the renaissance network list, I also moderate a peace and human rights list called "Bruna's list", a Canadian oceans protection list and a list for Nuclear Abolition activists. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Green Web Home Page http://fox.nstn.ca/~greenweb/gw-hp.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
