One of the first steps to implementing a resource based economy - according to The Zeitgeist Movement's steps - would be to declare all resources the property of all humanity, not the property of greedy corporations.
Occupy Wall Street is beginning to do just that. They're saying "This belongs to the People! This land - this city - this government - belong to THE PEOPLE, not to greedy bankers and corporations to dole it out to us in return for our slavery."
That's the first step.....
Monday, October 31, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
How to move forward with Occupy Wall street
A message from Peter Joseph to Occupy Wall
OWS already has support in most cities. Taking this advice from a movement that went worldwide in only a couple years can help OWS meet its goals.
Select a representative from each city.
Meet with OWS organizers and outline specific goals that you want to see met that you feel will change the current system.
Meet with the folks now in charge IN A PUBLIC, LIVE and TELEVISED FORUM. This will make your demands heard by not only those in power, but the people. Demand that all media be there, that would leaders be there, that nothing will be censored.
Right now you're still being largely ignored and ridiculed by the mainstream media.
THIS IS HOW YOU GO LIVE.
OWS already has support in most cities. Taking this advice from a movement that went worldwide in only a couple years can help OWS meet its goals.
Select a representative from each city.
Meet with OWS organizers and outline specific goals that you want to see met that you feel will change the current system.
Meet with the folks now in charge IN A PUBLIC, LIVE and TELEVISED FORUM. This will make your demands heard by not only those in power, but the people. Demand that all media be there, that would leaders be there, that nothing will be censored.
Right now you're still being largely ignored and ridiculed by the mainstream media.
THIS IS HOW YOU GO LIVE.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
What sucks the most...
.... these banks, and Wall Street folk, who make a killing in the Stock Exchange, who look down on people that can't find a job, that protest because they have no health care, that don't know where their next meal is coming from.... These money shufflers are rich because they shuffle money.
That's it.
They create Nothing.
They manufacture Nothing.
They cure Nothing.
They build Nothing.
They feed No one.
They house No one.
They clothe No one.
THEY CONTRIBUTE NOTHING!
Yet they are rewarded more than any other human on the planet.
How screwed up does a system have to be that rewards such people when there are millions who can't contribute because they aren't given the opportunity - because the corporation owners control the resources, control the food, and hold people's homes for ransom?
That's it.
They create Nothing.
They manufacture Nothing.
They cure Nothing.
They build Nothing.
They feed No one.
They house No one.
They clothe No one.
THEY CONTRIBUTE NOTHING!
Yet they are rewarded more than any other human on the planet.
How screwed up does a system have to be that rewards such people when there are millions who can't contribute because they aren't given the opportunity - because the corporation owners control the resources, control the food, and hold people's homes for ransom?
Monday, October 17, 2011
Create a Zeitgeist Corporation? Using money against itself.
I joined the Sacramento Chapter of TZM a while ago, as I probably will end up joining many other cities' chapters just to better keep up on what folks are doing at local levels. There are some brilliant people out there and their ideas should be spread throughout all chapters, not just their own local chapter, simply because some chapters are still too small to really act upon their ideas.
With this belief in mind, and having read Kirby Armstrong's "Proposal for Action", I feel it's important to share his idea and see what kind of response it gets.
http://tzmsacramento.groupsite.com/discussion/topic/show/511631#message_715428
It proposes that we start a corporation where no one owns more than 10,000 shares at a dollar a share, so we can invest some of our money into this corporation and begin building it to support ourselves and further our goals for a resource based economy.
I can see TZM'ers pissing themselves already at the thought of tainting TZM with money and even calling ourselves a "corporation", but consider this...
We live in a monetary system. We cannot operate outside this system. Right now, we're giving our money to a system that exploits us and it's people for every nickel it can get.
Let me take this a few steps further - maybe into fantasy land...
We advertise on Craigslist to get a large group of people who have education they can't use because there aren't any jobs, who have lost their homes to banks, and we all get together and buy into this corporation and get some farmland. We build earthships, cob homes, strawbale homes, invest in a solar power grid and some wind power - heck even some pedal power to generate electricity. We buy a few cars that we share.
Now we've eliminated mortgage/rent utilities and car payments.
We plant food in every nook and cranny on the property that will grow food - even the roofs (where there are no solar grids). We get WiFi internet and share it. We convert the cars to electric using motors from old forklifts we buy from foreclosed warehouses.
Now we have nothing left to spend our money on but our own projects. All our inventions are patented under the corporation and then release under creative commons to draw in more professionals. All profit goes into buying more land, more power systems, and doing the same thing til we've pretty much taken over the world.
OK, it won't be as easy as that, but you catch my drift. The possibilities are pretty extreme once we've eliminated the need to feed the system and taken care of all our basic needs.
I would guess all potential members would need to first familiarize themselves with the TZM orientation guide and the workings of the Venus Project in order to become accepted as members. Adhering to the current mindset of a monetary system would be completely counterproductive to this endeavor. Rules and financial transactions and records would all need to be completely transparent to all members at all times to stave off temptation from any latent greed that might still have not been completely weeded out of our systems.
We all understand, as it has been drummed into us from the start by anyone who opposes TZM that the transition will not be an easy one. Do we want to wait around and hope that Occupy Wall Street creates a class war? Do we want to wait til the monetary system collapses and we're all fighting off bands of marauders stealing the last scraps of a dead world? Do we want to sit around and bitch about why no one is doing anything?
Personally, I'd rather at least TRY this. The worst that could happen is we could all join together for a common cause and meet some very cool people. So hit that link above, read the idea, comment on it if you can expand on it. If you don't like the idea, move on or come up with one of your own. There's just no point wasting your time - and especially ours - bashing it. Go do your own thing. It's not a popularity contest - it's a brainstorm. The worst that could happen? It could fail, and we could walk away with new knowledge. The best? We could actually get this ball rolling!
With this belief in mind, and having read Kirby Armstrong's "Proposal for Action", I feel it's important to share his idea and see what kind of response it gets.
http://tzmsacramento.groupsite.com/discussion/topic/show/511631#message_715428
It proposes that we start a corporation where no one owns more than 10,000 shares at a dollar a share, so we can invest some of our money into this corporation and begin building it to support ourselves and further our goals for a resource based economy.
I can see TZM'ers pissing themselves already at the thought of tainting TZM with money and even calling ourselves a "corporation", but consider this...
We live in a monetary system. We cannot operate outside this system. Right now, we're giving our money to a system that exploits us and it's people for every nickel it can get.
Do we really want to continue to do that?
We are buying food from Monsatan, clothes from Waltard, houses built with the cheapest materials possible for the most amount they can squeeze out of it (whatever the market will bear). Do you really want to continue to support the very corporations you want to see gone?
Me neither
So after reading Kirby's idea, I thought - maybe one corporation would have a hard time building up to a point where we can begin living self-sustainably, but....
- What if we did this in every city? What if every city had a similar 'corporation' with the exact same rules, each with an apartment building - or groups of buildings - from which they operated and housed members who wished to live there?
- What if each of these 'corporations' merged into one giant corporation and small 'franchises'?
- What if someone in one city could add his shares to a project in another city?
- What if we actively recruited 'out-of-work' scientists and engineers and chemists (I'm sure they're out there) to collectively invest in their own ideas?
See where this is going?
Now before you go sci-fi/illuminati on me, keep in mind these facts:
- There is no CEO in this 'corporation'
- There are no 'bosses' in this 'corporation'
- Anyone who wants to work on any idea invests his/her own time and money into the ideas.
- Profit from this 'corporation' goes first directly into expanding the real estate of this 'corporation' for more members to work, carry out their ideas, and possibly live, if they don't want to pay outrageous rent and/or mortgages.
- All 'costs' for anything created by the 'corporation' would be minimal to it's members, and market value to non-members - the latter generating both more money to invest in more facilities, and incentive for non-members to become members.
Let me take this a few steps further - maybe into fantasy land...
We advertise on Craigslist to get a large group of people who have education they can't use because there aren't any jobs, who have lost their homes to banks, and we all get together and buy into this corporation and get some farmland. We build earthships, cob homes, strawbale homes, invest in a solar power grid and some wind power - heck even some pedal power to generate electricity. We buy a few cars that we share.
Now we've eliminated mortgage/rent utilities and car payments.
We plant food in every nook and cranny on the property that will grow food - even the roofs (where there are no solar grids). We get WiFi internet and share it. We convert the cars to electric using motors from old forklifts we buy from foreclosed warehouses.
Now we have nothing left to spend our money on but our own projects. All our inventions are patented under the corporation and then release under creative commons to draw in more professionals. All profit goes into buying more land, more power systems, and doing the same thing til we've pretty much taken over the world.
OK, it won't be as easy as that, but you catch my drift. The possibilities are pretty extreme once we've eliminated the need to feed the system and taken care of all our basic needs.
I would guess all potential members would need to first familiarize themselves with the TZM orientation guide and the workings of the Venus Project in order to become accepted as members. Adhering to the current mindset of a monetary system would be completely counterproductive to this endeavor. Rules and financial transactions and records would all need to be completely transparent to all members at all times to stave off temptation from any latent greed that might still have not been completely weeded out of our systems.
We all understand, as it has been drummed into us from the start by anyone who opposes TZM that the transition will not be an easy one. Do we want to wait around and hope that Occupy Wall Street creates a class war? Do we want to wait til the monetary system collapses and we're all fighting off bands of marauders stealing the last scraps of a dead world? Do we want to sit around and bitch about why no one is doing anything?
Personally, I'd rather at least TRY this. The worst that could happen is we could all join together for a common cause and meet some very cool people. So hit that link above, read the idea, comment on it if you can expand on it. If you don't like the idea, move on or come up with one of your own. There's just no point wasting your time - and especially ours - bashing it. Go do your own thing. It's not a popularity contest - it's a brainstorm. The worst that could happen? It could fail, and we could walk away with new knowledge. The best? We could actually get this ball rolling!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
It's like monkeys.......
.... like when one monkey figures out that if you pick up wheat from the sand and throw it in the water, the sand sinks and the wheat floats, so you can eat the wheat without getting a bunch of sand in your mouth.
Pretty soon, a few other monkeys see the first monkey do that and follow suit. Then soon, all the monkeys are doing the same thing because they see that the first monkeys are successful at getting yummy food.
Corporations have used this same "monkey see monkey do" technique for decades. They create TV commercials showing happy people being happy and successful buying their product and living the lifestyles they portray, and just like the monkeys watching the first monkey separating the sand from the wheat, they mimic what they perceive to be success.
Ghandi said "Be the change you want to see in the world". This is because when you become the person you want to be, and are successful in attaining true happiness, people who see that will mimic you. You can preach to folks til you're green in the face, but people, ultimately, will only change when they see something actually work, when they see the end results.
Problem is, you are competing with 24/7/365 corporate TV/Radio/Internet propaganda constantly feeding people a false illusion of success. TV shows, sitcoms, movies, all are written to show people engaging in a certain lifestyle, namely, a corporate projected lifestyle, wearing certain type clothing, turning their yards into grass instead of gardens, living in energy wasting homes that don't utilize any sustainable energy systems, driving gas guzzling SUVs, going out to restaurants and clubs all the time instead of cooking healthy meals, all this subliminal suggestion showing how your life should be lived. All this is so subtle that most people aren't even aware of it, and it creates a standard in your subconscious mind that this is what everyone else is doing and you certainly don't want to be singled out of the herd or you'd be open to slaughter from the lions or worse - shunned by your peers.
The latest trend now is to locate people who don't follow a corporate projected lifestyle and make fun of them. TV shows like Hoarders, Intervention, Jerry Springer, all focus on outrageous lifestyles no one would want to follow. The shared mockery of these people reinforces the corporate projected lifestyle as being the preferred lifestyle, by getting people to identify with other corporate projected lifestyle followers to "gang up" on the strange lifestyle they saw on TV the night before, secure in the notion that they, like their peers, are following the preferred lifestyle. It also serves to make these same people afraid to deviate too much from the corporate projected lifestyle for fear again of being shunned, ridiculed or mocked.
On a side note - this mocking of people who are 'different' and who don't follow the status quo has been rampant in schools for decades also. Children follow their parents' lead, and "peer policing" becomes another way in which people are kept in line from an early age to maintain the corporate projected lifestyle and squelch free thinking.
Fox News especially uses this technique in their coverage of news stories that their corporate sponsors, and specifically, Rupert Murdock, disapprove of. Behavior that is counter to the corporate projected lifestyle is quickly ridiculed and portrayed as counter to the preferred lifestyle, swiftly quelling any notion the participating viewer may have of accepting those views. They'll cover something like the Occupy Wall Street movement and refer to them all a bunch of homeless smelly bums, or Zeitgeist Movement members as cult members or marxists. Regular viewers of Fox News eventually identify with the newscasters the same way Hoarders and Jerry Springer watchers identify with each other as members of "the herd", thus feeling safe from attack because they are part of a large, protective mass that is 'in power', therefore, 'successful'. Mimicking the 'successful' media, then, becomes the "monkey see, monkey do" survival technique that has been reinforced in humans since our arboreal days.
Once these manipulations are recognized, though, it's difficult to ignore them, and they'll begin to appear in a lot of places you haven't noticed them before. It becomes like the "Emporer's New Clothes", or like the first time you can finally "see" the "Magic Eye" 3D effect. You start seeing through the manipulations and it's like a light coming on.
Unfortunately, the first thing most people do when you turn on the light is close their eyes.
Relying on logic, on recognizing what truly makes you happy, recognizing true success, trusting your instincts and living your own way, you can become the change you want to see in the world. Just be patient though. There is a lot of competition out there. Movements like The Zeitgeist Movement and Occupy Wall Street can help to bring people together who see this, and supporting their events shows the followers of the corporate projected lifestyle that the false illusion of the corporations' commercialism is there to manipulate them.
Supporting these movements gives them a new monkey to follow - one that actually cares about them.
Pretty soon, a few other monkeys see the first monkey do that and follow suit. Then soon, all the monkeys are doing the same thing because they see that the first monkeys are successful at getting yummy food.
Corporations have used this same "monkey see monkey do" technique for decades. They create TV commercials showing happy people being happy and successful buying their product and living the lifestyles they portray, and just like the monkeys watching the first monkey separating the sand from the wheat, they mimic what they perceive to be success.
Ghandi said "Be the change you want to see in the world". This is because when you become the person you want to be, and are successful in attaining true happiness, people who see that will mimic you. You can preach to folks til you're green in the face, but people, ultimately, will only change when they see something actually work, when they see the end results.
Problem is, you are competing with 24/7/365 corporate TV/Radio/Internet propaganda constantly feeding people a false illusion of success. TV shows, sitcoms, movies, all are written to show people engaging in a certain lifestyle, namely, a corporate projected lifestyle, wearing certain type clothing, turning their yards into grass instead of gardens, living in energy wasting homes that don't utilize any sustainable energy systems, driving gas guzzling SUVs, going out to restaurants and clubs all the time instead of cooking healthy meals, all this subliminal suggestion showing how your life should be lived. All this is so subtle that most people aren't even aware of it, and it creates a standard in your subconscious mind that this is what everyone else is doing and you certainly don't want to be singled out of the herd or you'd be open to slaughter from the lions or worse - shunned by your peers.
The latest trend now is to locate people who don't follow a corporate projected lifestyle and make fun of them. TV shows like Hoarders, Intervention, Jerry Springer, all focus on outrageous lifestyles no one would want to follow. The shared mockery of these people reinforces the corporate projected lifestyle as being the preferred lifestyle, by getting people to identify with other corporate projected lifestyle followers to "gang up" on the strange lifestyle they saw on TV the night before, secure in the notion that they, like their peers, are following the preferred lifestyle. It also serves to make these same people afraid to deviate too much from the corporate projected lifestyle for fear again of being shunned, ridiculed or mocked.
On a side note - this mocking of people who are 'different' and who don't follow the status quo has been rampant in schools for decades also. Children follow their parents' lead, and "peer policing" becomes another way in which people are kept in line from an early age to maintain the corporate projected lifestyle and squelch free thinking.
Fox News especially uses this technique in their coverage of news stories that their corporate sponsors, and specifically, Rupert Murdock, disapprove of. Behavior that is counter to the corporate projected lifestyle is quickly ridiculed and portrayed as counter to the preferred lifestyle, swiftly quelling any notion the participating viewer may have of accepting those views. They'll cover something like the Occupy Wall Street movement and refer to them all a bunch of homeless smelly bums, or Zeitgeist Movement members as cult members or marxists. Regular viewers of Fox News eventually identify with the newscasters the same way Hoarders and Jerry Springer watchers identify with each other as members of "the herd", thus feeling safe from attack because they are part of a large, protective mass that is 'in power', therefore, 'successful'. Mimicking the 'successful' media, then, becomes the "monkey see, monkey do" survival technique that has been reinforced in humans since our arboreal days.
Once these manipulations are recognized, though, it's difficult to ignore them, and they'll begin to appear in a lot of places you haven't noticed them before. It becomes like the "Emporer's New Clothes", or like the first time you can finally "see" the "Magic Eye" 3D effect. You start seeing through the manipulations and it's like a light coming on.
Unfortunately, the first thing most people do when you turn on the light is close their eyes.
Relying on logic, on recognizing what truly makes you happy, recognizing true success, trusting your instincts and living your own way, you can become the change you want to see in the world. Just be patient though. There is a lot of competition out there. Movements like The Zeitgeist Movement and Occupy Wall Street can help to bring people together who see this, and supporting their events shows the followers of the corporate projected lifestyle that the false illusion of the corporations' commercialism is there to manipulate them.
Supporting these movements gives them a new monkey to follow - one that actually cares about them.
Friday, October 14, 2011
How to win an argument about TZM...
First - stay REALLY cool.
Always CHECK yourself.
Tighten the muscles around your solar plex as tightly as you can. Do so while relaxing your face muscles.
When they say "How do you plan to deal with "blahblahblah", always - ALWAYS - ask "Well how do you deal with it now?"
When they ask "Well who will decide blahblahblah? Ask them "Who decides now? And why do THEY get to decide? Do YOU have a say? Really?" ...and continue to bring up things like "Did YOU vote to give all that money to the banks?" and "did YOU vote to drop radioactive bombs spiked with plutonium?"
Always make them look at the way things are handled now, show them how little power they actually have in this system
Then - and ONLY then - offer TZM's solution.
Familiarize yourself with TZM's orientation guide
Watch the movie if you don't retain reading material well.
Make sure you know your stuff before you start talking, or they'll squash you like a bug.
Remember - KEEP YOUR AB MUSCLES TIGHT.
I don't know why it works but it really keeps your emotions in check, and emotionalism is not what TZM is about. It's about logic, science, and love.
Hope that helps.
So.... What can you do? Here's what I do.
I have a Google alert for "Zeitgeist Movement" pop into my Gmail "as it happens" and anytime I see a post on a blog or a news story or video about TZM come into my Gmail I hit the link and read it, and if it merits a response, I post a response, especially if it's a negative article that is completely wrong about our movement.
These articles, blogs, etc are being read by people who already show some from of interest in the subject - otherwise they wouldn't be reading about it. These are the folks we need to talk to - the ones whose attention we already have. Randomly talking to people who haven't heard of the movement is fine. but pulling folks over to our side of the fence who are on the fence already, or clinging to the other side of the fence, and trying to get them to make an actual argument against the movement can help them make a more intelligent decision about whether to accept TZM's view on things or not.
Once I've made a comment on a blog, a post, or a news article, I share that comment on my Facebook. People love to read other people's mail. Doesn't hurt to actually SAY who you are by sharing your FB info, nothing's private anymore anyway. it gives you more credibility and gives your response more merit than being anonymous.
You can also share the article on all your other social media. I intend to begin sharing them on my blog. I just posted a comment on an article about TZM being s "fringe group" "infiltrating" OWS from a Tucson newspaper - and I live in Ohio.
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2011/10/14/occupy-tucson-starts-saturday-9-am-armory-park&cb=d534a98637069a136a608703fc37a88d&sort=desc#readerComments
You don't have to do everything locally. just get out there, look for the bad articles and defend yourselves. The have no logical argument against our movement. use that.
These articles, blogs, etc are being read by people who already show some from of interest in the subject - otherwise they wouldn't be reading about it. These are the folks we need to talk to - the ones whose attention we already have. Randomly talking to people who haven't heard of the movement is fine. but pulling folks over to our side of the fence who are on the fence already, or clinging to the other side of the fence, and trying to get them to make an actual argument against the movement can help them make a more intelligent decision about whether to accept TZM's view on things or not.
Once I've made a comment on a blog, a post, or a news article, I share that comment on my Facebook. People love to read other people's mail. Doesn't hurt to actually SAY who you are by sharing your FB info, nothing's private anymore anyway. it gives you more credibility and gives your response more merit than being anonymous.
You can also share the article on all your other social media. I intend to begin sharing them on my blog. I just posted a comment on an article about TZM being s "fringe group" "infiltrating" OWS from a Tucson newspaper - and I live in Ohio.
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2011/10/14/occupy-tucson-starts-saturday-9-am-armory-park&cb=d534a98637069a136a608703fc37a88d&sort=desc#readerComments
You don't have to do everything locally. just get out there, look for the bad articles and defend yourselves. The have no logical argument against our movement. use that.
Occupy Columbus / Occupy Wall St
My girl and I attended and took part in Occupy Columbus protest that was held at the High St side of the statehouse on Monday in support of the Occupy Wall Street protests going on in New York. It was fun, and good to be around people who are aware enough to see what's going on in this country. It was unfortunate that there were no other Zeitgeisters there, but we put in a plug for TZM as we photographed our signs (bearing TZM's website), let others photograph and publish our signs on their websites and social media pages, and discussed TZM with other protestors.
While I'm sure many of TZM members feel Occupy Wall Street is just a band-aid, please take into consideration that at the very least, it exposes the corruption in our government to a much larger crowd, leaving them more open to an alternative to what we have now. While the deer are in the headlights is the best time to show them the light. I discussed TZM with a few other people there and, because they already understand the situation with government corruption and corporate influence, they are much more accepting of TZM's goals than the average person. OWS members want alternatives, and we can offer them.
I just hope all of us in TZM will take extra steps to support OWS, to add to their numbers and help legitimize their cause.
While I'm sure many of TZM members feel Occupy Wall Street is just a band-aid, please take into consideration that at the very least, it exposes the corruption in our government to a much larger crowd, leaving them more open to an alternative to what we have now. While the deer are in the headlights is the best time to show them the light. I discussed TZM with a few other people there and, because they already understand the situation with government corruption and corporate influence, they are much more accepting of TZM's goals than the average person. OWS members want alternatives, and we can offer them.
I just hope all of us in TZM will take extra steps to support OWS, to add to their numbers and help legitimize their cause.
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