A Korean Autumnal Equinox
Leave a CommentMy wife, Patcharin, and our friend, Jinhee and I stepped off of a local bus in a small valley nestled in the mountains to the east of Seoul. The trip was to a small organic farm where we had been invited to visit. Our hosts, Mr. Park and his older brother, were standing along the other side of the highway, waving to us and walking towards a quaint restaurant. We caught up to them, exchanged greetings and walked into the restaurant for mountain hikers. We were served a delicious and spicy dish of flour noodles, vegetables and small shrimp, cooked in a large wok over a burner on our table. On the side, we had three types of kimchi. As we engaged in small talk about our lives and interests, one of the Park brothers brought out a bottle of French wine to share in small soju glasses. In this cozy setting, I could see where, after a long day of hiking, a group might delight in the animal satisfaction of resting aching muscles and filling empty stomachs.
After our meal, we strolled up the narrow lane lined by small, closely packed houses, gardens and rock walls topped with Korean style ornamental roofing tiles. The pumpkin squash in the garden lay about sunning themselves under a crystal blue sky, high above the mountains which lay to the south. I noticed that the corn, now more than 2 meters tall, was nearly ready for picking and the green, heart shaped leaves of the bean plants waved to us in the breeze. When we arrived at the farm, we proceeded through the rock wall, which was a continuation of the rock walls of the neighbors, and their neighbors, and so on roaming throughout the village.
There under the pines and Japanese maple trees was a white board saying, “Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Hartsell, and Jinhee. From Co-op Paradise” We went to sit under one of the maples, where we enjoyed five herb tea, apples and the largest Asian pear I have ever seen. Mr. Park, the older, spoke of the food cooperative that they were a part of. We talked of farming and of the risks of foods grown with chemicals. We were told that in Korea, we must peel our fruits and vegetables because of the chemicals which had been sprayed on them. I commented, “but that is the most nutritious part.” We all agreed and proceeded to peel our fruit and drink our tea. The Park brothers told us of their plan to make a sanctuary of 320 mountainous acres along the Han River, where they will put in gardens for older people to enjoy and a special medicinal herb project. The older Mr. Park had worked for the governmental office for reforestation and the younger had worked in business. Both of these men, who are now well into their 70’s, are intent on continued public service.
Afterwards, we walked over to the garden which spread out in front of us; about one acre of garden space and another acre of greenhouses for winter growing. As I walked along the raised beds of biointensive agriculture, I noticed some familiars which I had grown in my garden in the U.S. : lettuce leaf basil, Napa cabbage, Daikon radish, licorice, various types of lettuce. There was also a famous wild vegetable called Lamb’s Quarters or “Calites” which tastes better than spinach; a true delight to encounter.
The younger Mr. Park motioned for us to follow him up to a shed. As we entered we saw a well with a simple pulley for bringing up water. We looked over the side and down into the deep well, as Jinhee pulled the bucket of water up, up, slowly, slowly. We could see a white bottle floating in the bucket; it was a bottle of the famed mokolli. Mokolli is an unpurified, alcohol drink which looks like weak milk, and is considered to be the drink of the farmers in Korea. Mr. Park removed the bottle and we each dipped our cupped hands into the cool mountain water and tossed it over our faces. I leaned over and Mr. Park gently poured the rest of the water over my head as I cried out, “cooooold!”
We walked back down to the garden where we were going to do some “work.” In one corner of the garden, near the farmers’ quonset hut, or might I say ‘nest,’ we were shown a small area about one pyeong, or a square meter, in size. Mr. Park said that he had especially conditioned the soil in this little spot with some good compost and it was ready for planting. He brought out ten Napa cabbage plants and ten or so, bunches of onions. “This is your area and these plants are for you.” It was our very own “postage stamp” garden! We were quite touched. Jinhee and Patcharin jumped right in and began digging and planting the plant starts, teasing Mr. Park and myself for being lazy while they did all of the work. A couple other farmers walked over to see what the commotion was. They opened a small bottle of soju, the mokolli and a can of mackerel. I picked a few sesame leaves and we sat there on the low platform, eating, sipping and talking.
When Jinhee and Patcharin finished up, one of the farmers brought out his drum and began to sing, “Arirang, Arirang!” as he beat the drum hesitatingly, yet in a firm series of thumps. Jinhee leaned over and told my wife and I that in different regions of Korea they sing the sad love song in different ways. It is the most famous song in Korea. “Arirang, Arirang!” the old farmer wailed on as he pointed with his drum stick to Mr. Park, who then began to sing a line. After the song and clapping, I lay down on the platform and looked up at the blue sky through the star-shaped leaves of the maple tree thinking to myself, “Isn’t this a magical day?”
Of course it was a magical day, for it dawned on me that the sun up above was over the equator, headed south, and the day was the Autumnal Equinox.
The Collapse of Free Market Ideology
The media are using the terms seismic and potential meltdown, accurately, to describe the current conditions of the market and what seems to be the defining moment of the collapse of the free-market ideology. The much stronger terms indicate the situation is beyond crisis as other institutions teeter. Failure and massive, worldwide governmental intervention signals the overall collapse where there will be no reasonable way to believe in the ideology without looking completely out of touch, or worse. Up until this point, there has been plenty of incentive to perpetuate the myth, because of the rewards of money and power. Such belief is delusion, nevertheless. The potential meltdown is a scenario where the scientific and moral evidence was completely ignored by the elite structures, because the eventual consequences are not existential threats to publicly secured elite wealth. The ideology has been perpetuated in order to indoctrinate people into a belief that their lives are to be competitive in every way and that they are to submit to the free-market and worship riches and privilege. From recent times forward, with free market ideology not only discredited but functionally impossible, regular markets must continue, as they should continue, and as people work to create better circumstances. Giving the markets over to a command economy is to be avoided.
While it may be too much to expect the average citizen to know the inner workings of the complex economic system, it is not necessary that they do. People know what consumerism and greed are. They know that somewhere, someone will be left with empty hands. In reality, on a global scale, the case is far more grave, where the empty-handed end up being the large majority with empty stomachs. Rather than the very small minority that society is willing to sacrifice for its “progress,” there is a large majority. Yet, in developed countries the prominent issue of the times is considered to be frustration in moving from the middle to the upper, and the upper to the rich classes. Many have been willing to trade principle for personal gain, and have enjoyed the comfort of overwhelming public consideration for frustrated aspirations in the sympathetic, mainstream media. However, what is not focused on in the media is the incalculable suffering that has been caused by the proliferation of the free market. For instance, in the mainstream media, there are no sections specifically devoted to Labor and Poverty (or the Empowerment of the Poor).
Regardless of misinformation about strong markets, there has been a massive economic problem in the United States, and the world, for some time. The problem is not the subprime crisis from last year, though that was a consequence and indicator of the ongoing ideological crisis. One would not know about the ongoing crisis if they chose to be solely informed by the mainstream media because its interests lie with big business. Simply put, the ideology is an ideal business climate of no regulation, no intervention or public involvement, e.g. protests and boycotts. It is a kind of utopian dream of a market working in a perfect fluidity, sold to the populace, but not believed by the sellers. The market is supposed to regulate itself through competition, and supply and demand, without price controls or what is seen as coercive, solely from the business perspective. Where capitalism is an ideology of talented, self-determined people, the best, serving society by entering the marketplace and creating wealth, the free-market has been a specific aspect of capitalism about how the market is supposed to work.
In society, in general, one of the main cultural translations of the ideology says that people must be promised riches to get them to innovate, create quality goods and services, and to serve society. In truth, capitalism did indeed emerge as a great public service, or as a massive social movement for self-determination in protest of monarchy and wealth through inheritance and family. People wanted a fair system that valued hard work and ability, and they were not willing to tolerate absolute control over their lives. As far back in history as we can go, we will find markets and entrepreneurs, but with the pre-capitalists of the 1700’s and the capitalism of the following century as a mass movement, individuals could gain access to markets and generate wealth. The wealth generated could be used as capital to invest in other endeavors and create opportunity through entrepreneurship. Herein lies the skillful risk taking of the capitalist.[1] Further, capitalism being a massive wealth generator was also supposed to represent the greater distribution of wealth. Eventually, the free market ideology developed as a conceptualization of a way to move products without economic friction within the system, where the price of a product is derived from production cost, supply and demand, competition and noninterference. Fees, such as tariffs, regulation, protection and popular movements created friction to the fluid movement of products and were to be eliminated. Over time, the ideology was fully adopted by the Republican Party in the United States, and moderately by the Democratic, as a bulwark against the social concerns of the populace at home and abroad.
The evidence gathered from the proponents of the free market or elitists shows the opposite of free market ideology with protection and intervention for elitist constructs. However, one aspect of elitism that is in favor of the free market is the removal of the public from interference in the market such as the massive attempt to suppress popular movements representing the legitimate concerns of people – access to essential and basic needs. The WTO protests in Seattle and Cancun are two examples. Protection and deregulation can been seen in the fact that of the Fortune 500’s top 100 companies, all have received handouts from the taxpayers, and a number of the companies would not be on the list had it not been for the People.[2] Handouts going to companies that are already making a profit should be considered robbery. The rugged individualism and risk taking is not apparent when considering the evidence. And, public service is all but absent. In the pharmaceutical industry a comparative amount is spent on marketing as on research, and that figure is more than double for some companies. In addition, more than half of the research, of the entire pharmaceutical system, is paid for and conducted in public supported institutions such as universities, state research institutions and nonprofit institutions, thus proving that a majority of people do not necessarily have to be “rewarded” by the free market in order to innovate.[3] Finally, the US medical system is largely supported by taxpayer money, nearly 60%, but people are not receiving the health insurance they have already paid for. Much of their money goes to support a dependent private sector.[4]
On the global level, it is important to remember, in relation to the current collapse is that the ideology has been proliferated throughout the world under globalization and its institutions: the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO. These institutions are tied directly into the free-market ideology, thus creating the conditions for serious consequences for other countries which adopt the regressive policies such as the privatization of human services. Yet, even under massive pressure from the free-market or the institutions of globalization, there are stellar examples of economic prosperity that run counter to the ideology. The vibrant and dynamic South Korean economy was developed out of a highly protectionist system.[5] Today, Seoul is one of the major centers for ultra technology. And, the world’s best airline, which has reasonable air fares, is not a private company – Singapore Air.[6] Wealth, prosperity, innovation and quality are not by definition equal to the free market ideology; therefore, it is of utmost important that we adhere to evidence. Evidence must run in direct proportion to adherence to sound financial principles, human commitment to excellence, and a sense of humanity before numbers and astronomical profits. The system is not a free market and never was; it has been manipulated, opportunistically, to suit greed. As a system of greed, the free market ideology is not morally defensible; however, it has been powerful and rich enough to last for a long-time as history has been witness to. The ideology is a doctrine of greed in that it claims the goods and services which pertain to human essential and basic needs as fair game in its utopia of mechanistic fluidity. For those who adhered to the doctrine, which is to gain riches, forgetting all others but self, they have celebrated with triumphalism in avarice and personal gain from the propagation of the ideology. However, the game of greed on Wall Street is neither game, nor dream, for the masses of people who have lost their homes or are feeling the insecurity and intense anxiety over making ends meet. The game is a nightmare for those who carry in their hearts the essence of the United States and the dream of prosperity where each can thrive. The fact that there is plenty of wealth, but the abundance is directed into the corporate accounts, while the suffering of the populace has increased, is telling of the actual workings of the free-market ideology. The reality is that a society has been created where one-half of a percent of the people own 39% of the stocks.[7] Freddie Mac, Sallie Mae, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Merrill-Lynch and others including Enron, WorldCom, Wal-Mart, Exxon and big agribusiness are representative examples of the free-market construct and should bear the responsibility for imposing impossible and unreal standards creating tremendous suffering for people. Instead, institutions are given public money for rescue when they should have been brought to justice long ago, before they collapsed.
The current deindustrialization of the US and outsourcing of professional jobs coupled with the mass exodus of people, globally, from the appalling conditions of IMF and WTO impositions in their home countries, creates the conditions for enormous suffering. In other words, the US is headed in the direction of a technocratic feudalism where people are increasingly exposed to the ravages of the greed of powerful structures. On the global level, one comparison illustrates the situation of widespread suffering related to free-markets and its alleviation. The Government of India, which has adopted the US free market ideology, has produced atrocious results for those masses left to the “natural” regulatory of the free market. Suffering from lack of basic nutrition and healthcare, more than 4 million people die each year. On the other hand, China, which operates on a kind of mixed communist/capitalist economy saw the suffering and mortalities arising from lack, and scientifically devised and implemented a plan to effectively prevent and diminish suffering.[8] To China’s credit, the results of the proactive intervention to decrease suffering proved far more effective than leaving people to fend for themselves.
Viewing the devastating socio-economic data we cannot help but feel the warmth of humanity, which is a different matter than the glitter and glitz of what is popularly referred to as a global casino. As can be expected, important data is little seen in the corporate media, and when it is, it is marginalized or minimized. In the U.S., up until recently, more than one-third of children lived in low income or poverty stricken families: 37%.[9] This number has very likely changed for the worse in the last year. And, contrary to the misinformation about and criticism of the dispossessed, mostly all of the parents of these children were employed, rather than biding their time in idleness as they are so often criticized for. Aside from the obvious violence of taking the parents away from their children for most of the day, the ideology of the system imposes further violence, psychological violence, by stigmas attached to the haves and have-nots. It is no wonder that many single parents will forego the low paying job, preferring welfare in order to stay at home with their children. The free-market has said little about them except to demand that they get a job or to say that they should not have taken a sub-prime mortgage in the first place.
For the global poor, the free-market ideology is the same. The free-markets say nothing, except to “get out,” to the farmer who sees his or her high quality produce devalued because of cheaper, lower quality and “subsidized” imports. Neither does the free-market consider the human side of supply and demand. Taking the coffee market as a representative example, without price regulation, when there is overproduction, the price falls dramatically. Farmers cannot liquidate their investments (trees) and plant another cash crop quickly, so they are forced to stay with what they have. In desperation for income, they begin to produce more and even borrow against future production. Finally, the aggregate of a country or region in desperate production causes the market to bottom out. Eventually, the farmers are driven from the land, a place where they had lived in dignity and where families were sustained before they were forced to plant cash crops, decades ago. Into the “void” big agribusiness and the rich can buy land at rock bottom prices and move in to set up feudalism.[10] When this scenario occurred in the past, the free-market provided the Starbucks Company and big business with huge profits. To make the matter a further catastrophe, Starbucks did not reflect their savings by lowering the prices of their coffees which were enjoyed in stores around the world. The prices remained the same, or increased, and the profits went to the company, not the producers. In this light, the current farmer advocacy campaign by Starbucks seems to be for marketing purposes. What made it possible for the company to behave in such a way was the widespread influence that Starbucks had over the market and distribution, through buying power and the company’s tendency towards monopoly.[11] In brief, the lack of protection for farmers leads to their poverty, while the handouts and protections afforded to powerful companies leads to astronomical profits.
Overall, the system as a construct has run the regular market into the ground on two fronts – the greed of the corporation and the greed of the consumerist. On the home economics level, widespread consumerism is responsible because people have taken on unnecessary, excessive debt in order to secure the goods and services of privilege and status, while household incomes have leveled out or declined. Real incomes and savings are lower than they were in the 1970’s and debt has skyrocketed. In addition, Americans are forced to work long hours. When stagnant earning power is coupled with years of elevated gas prices, which have drained what savings people had, we find a serious set of circumstances. In this difficult climate, the jobless rate has increased dramatically to more than 6%, which is of concern, but the figure does not represent the great concern of the many who have “jobs” but not jobs that provide livelihoods. The parallels on the larger level are little different in form – decades of focus on short term gain. In addition, deregulation and protectionism were used to create a system where risk was passed along to the populace and huge risks were taken for private profit but backed by the taxpayer. Deregulation also allowed for firms like the current ones to get involved with high risk investments and lending to normally unqualified borrowers – a practice called predatory lending within the business world.
An analysis of the seismic conditions shows the Current Account Deficit[12] to be larger than is has ever been – almost 7% of GDP[13]. U.S. jobs are leaving the country at a rapid pace, the stock market is inflated and money has been printed without backing, creating artificiality. There have been numerous attempts to quell the market, but at some point, the consequences of what have been set in motion long ago will reveal themselves through crises and an eventual meltdown. Socially, the free-market myth has been used to wage a cultural war against the legitimate aspirations of human beings trying to better themselves, as they demand basic needs such as a job and healthcare when they pay into the system. Scientifically, the free market never added up. Practices such as the aforementioned printing of money without backing, accumulating massive debts, war, corporate handouts from the taxpayer and technology transfer from the state sector to the private sector were a prescription for disaster. It is difficult to understand where were the controls of defense, e.g. the FBI and other investigative agencies, when they were needed? Even under the free market ideology, there is a provision for governmental intervention, when there is need for defensive measures.
There must be other options rather than a dichotomy between a command economy and a free market. The market cannot decide on fairness or justice because those decisions are in the realm of human subjectivity. Thus, people must act to create a fair market, one that is morally defensible, if we are as a society to steer clear of the shoals of greed. People will have to roll up their sleeves and create a climate for enterprising individuals and groups to do business. A fair market can be developed by people who recognize the potential for greed and domination, and who seek to diminish negative effects. Benefits can, and will be created through the tremendous wealth which has been, and will be, created by a better system in the US and in the globalized market. Indeed, a vast majority of people resonate with a strong, beneficial economy when it is developed out of reasonable protection, sound guidance and strong investment opportunities.
The answers to the current collapse of the free-market ideology in the US, and to the actual suffering of Americans, is to be found in the essence of the United States which is the essence of people. People adhering to basic principles and applying themselves to solving problems is the old reliable way of creating systems that attend to human need and development. The first place they might start is to withdraw their participation from the greed of the failed system and begin to create other systems that can assist people who are suffering the consequences of the current conditions. On the level of the home, intelligent consuming rather than consumerism, along with saving money will be helpful to protect families from fluctuations in the market, especially the energy market. Intelligent consuming is the simplification of wants and desires which arise from an understanding of the social crisis and its underpinnings.
By making use of the same human ingenuity and genuine concern that has made them strong before, people can work for a just economic system; one based on essential needs, creating true prosperity for all. The future of the US economy, or globalization, does not depend upon the goodwill of the government, the corporations or the free market but on people and the essence of liberty and justice they carry with them into the future; a future that can be much different than the recent past.
[1] See Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations.
[2] Chomsky, N. YouTube: Capitalism and Its Discontents. Viewed: May 2008
[3] Chang, H.J. 2008. Bad Samaritans, The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism. Bloomsbury Press. New York.
[4] Woolhander, S. and D.Himmelstein. 2002. Paying for National Health Insurance and Not Getting It. Health Affairs, July/August.
[5] Chang. H.J. See above.
[6] Chang, H.J. See above.
[7] Chomsky, N. 1998. Power in the Global Arena. Amiel Lecture, London, May 1998. [My quote of 39% comes from Dr. Chomsky, but here he goes beyond my reference to 0.5% of the people owning 39% of the stocks] Chomsky: “ example, namely the stock market. There has been enormous asset inflation, which is certainly a fairy tale to the one percent of households that own half the stocks, and the ten percent that own most of the rest. It has also been a fairy tale for corporations; the business press has been ecstatic about the profit growth in the last few years. It has been called ‘extraordinary,’ ’stunning,’ ‘dazzling,’ ’stupendous,…”
[8] Sen, A. Nobel Laureate in Economics. His entire body of work focuses on the effective distribution of resources and the plight of the poor.
[9] OECD. 2006. United States. [I add together the percentages for poverty and low income]
[10] Taken from my visit to the coffee growing region in Veracruz, Mexico.
[11] The information on globalization and Starbuck’s is copious on the internet. See: http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1852; and Oxfam
[12] Combination of the nation’s trade deficit and the total investment in U.S. stocks and bonds owned by foreign investment and transfers.
[13] Peterson Institute for International Economics.
The Infamous (Bio) Bank Robbery – Biopiracy and Genetic Serfdom
A bank robbery is in process. It is a heist, never known in the history of humankind of a most precious and rich bank. It is not located in Manhattan or Tokyo or Hong Kong, but has branches all around the world. This great reservoir of wealth is the DNA Bank found in seeds and cells. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a large molecule, called a macromolecule, made up of four kinds of bases. It is the arrangement of these bases which creates the blueprint for life. This code is the information by which certain proteins will be made and used to make cellular structures, biochemicals and other more interesting external attributes like eye and hair color.
Recent developments in scientific knowledge and technological applications make it possible to manipulate or alter the genetic code to induce plants to produce herbicide resistant characteristics, chemicals, medicines and even industrial polymers like plastics. The massive gene rush for the control over the genetic code is increasing rapidly as corporations vie for control over the market. The genetic code has become a commodity.
Genes are the new coveted prizes of commercialism. I would assert both the seriousness and absurdity of such an endeavor. Indeed, it is the robbery of the DNA bank, a “Fist in the Eye of God.” There are dollar signs on everything biological, “For Sale.” Corporations believe that without control, or patents, they cannot help society. The focus of the outcome of patenting is profits, astronomical profits, as we can ascertain from the power of the technology itself.
The logic of the corporate ideology is that life must be owned, making genetic alteration or modification an issue of immense social concern. Scientists and farmers are alarmed about the potential loss of land races and genetic diversity; in addition, over the past couple of decades, they have repeatedly warned of the very real dangers from mistakes and/or misuse of the technology which would create serious consequences for the economy, human and animal health, the environment and society.
Native peoples have cultivated the plants growing in their lands for centuries or millennia. This knowledge has been passed down to each generation for the benefit of their progeny for medicines, food and other goods developed from plants. Overall, native peoples have not recognized individual ownership over the commonwealth, especially plants. The American Indians did not have a word for land (earth) ownership, however they did have a commonwealth of sharing.
The knowledge of native peoples is of a different sort, adapted to use under the conditions in which they lived their lives seeking harmony with nature. Though not written down, native knowledge is their own. Edible plants and medicinals have been developed carefully, and over long stretches of time, into what we know today. Indigenous knowledge is literally on our plates. An ear of corn, which we enjoy in taste, texture and aesthetic, comes from the various native species of Mexico developed by indigenous people there. The potatoes which nourish our bodies come from native species in the Andean Region of South America. This original genetic diversity is called a land race. Land races are the great storehouse of genetic information — the DNA Bank.
Indigenous peoples have cultivated the land races, or the original plants, to increase production and size, to in-crease certain flavors, to be drought resistant and to bring out other favorable characteristics. They conducted their science under natural conditions, in a natural way. In modern science, we have developed an entire field of study dedicated to this kind of plant modification which is called hybridization.
However, since the 1980s, scientists have been able to move DNA across natural boundaries, from one species to the next, creating the possibility for a vast, seemingly infinite number of combinations. This new field is called genetic “engineering.” A unique example is the insertion of genes from a fish into a strawberry which was done in the 1990s.
While the hybridization of plants was certainly a theft of indigenous knowledge, the robbery of the DNA Bank, which we see today, is of another category not possible a short time ago. Through advances in molecular biology, corporations have been engaged in a massive seed grab, in order to literally own seeds through the genetic information in the germ of the seed. Corporations have sorted and catalogued a tremendous number of seeds and are busily staking their claims on the genetic information which they manipulate from each seed.
For example, the Monsanto Corporation has changed the DNA of a soybean plant so that the plant is herbicide resistant. This product is called “Round-up Ready Soybeans.” The Round-up Ready soybean plant can be sprayed with the Round-up brand herbicide and it will not die, while the weeds around it are eliminated. The seeds and the herbicide are produced by the same company, so the corporation profits two times.
Being mostly poor, indigenous people and their communities do not have the financial and knowledge resources with which to articulate their needs and meet the global issues that affect their lives. And, since nearly all people are vulnerable to material gain, the poor whom are especially vulnerable because of severe lack, can be divided and then conquered.
The more powerful party who wants access to resources finds it a better business deal to pay off a few corrupt leaders rather than to share the wealth with the entire community. Once the corrupt leaders are “on board” the powerful group uses the leaders as a wedge to split the community and create discord. If the poor rise-up, they are summarily crushed as has been shown consistently in Latin America. In the midst of community discord, the exploitation of the resources occurs. In the case of the alteration of the DNA in seeds, once the patents have been had, and the seed DNA is altered, the seeds have been reintroduced back into the indigenous communities at a bargain; even for free.
The people become dependent on the company for seeds and the company secures its control over the seeds and the people, their land and their knowledge. A simple increase in price, or the threat of a price increase, secures corporate control. A genetic serfdom is created. In other cases, people are forced off of their land, “legally.” All the while, the computer screens tick numbers away “peacefully” in the world’s financial centers as the extraction of biological wealth and the immiseration of indigenous people continues. This process is called biopiracy. There is one overarching purpose, which is to dominate and control the market by controlling essential human needs. Highly placed individuals at the corporations are saying clearly what their interests are, “selling as much of the product as possible.”
The plunder of the DNA Bank allows for control not possible up until the last 15 years. Such control guarantees profit since patent laws have made it illegal for farmers to save their seed or to exchange seeds with other farmers. The only way to obtain seed [food] is through the corporation and a massive system of agribusiness which can be a highly lethal structure to the world’s poor, as we can see with the current food crisis in the news, and in the utter desolation of the poor in both food and healthcare insecurity which is mostly out of the news.
In such a complex economic climate and because of the difficulties of understanding science, the details may escape the general public. However, I believe that most everyone can understand a robbery when they see it. People can see clearly that culture has been removed from agriculture and replaced with business. The lack of mass response from the societies of formal democracies is instructive as they have stood by and watched, even cheered triumphantly, at the destruction of farms, families and lives due to globalization; globalization that is traceable back to the firms of the “democratic” countries.
The comforts and indulgences of the cities, of the middle and upper classes, have made people comfortable with the rural sacrifice; justified, because whether grotesque or sterilized, the sacrifice is believed, albeit conveniently, to be inevitable. The reality is that the rural sacrifice is “inevitable” to “feed” the ever growing desires of those who are comfortable.
What happened in the US under the “Get big or get out!” policies of the US Secretary of Agriculture, has now become a globalized message, well understood by the poor. The message is to leave their homes and land, and go to the cities without making a sound… or else. The shove in the back is made all the more powerful under the influence of the control and domination of DNA in seeds.
Woman Power – Microcredit and Integral Economics
Over the past year and a half, the power of women using microcredit to alleviate their own poverty has come to the forefront of world awareness. The catalyst for this phenomenon was the 2006 Nobel Peace Award which was given to Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Microcredit is the use of small amounts of money, usually $50-$100, to help women to buy necessary materials for their home businesses. After they make their goods and harvest their produce, they repay their microcredit, create savings and use their profits for their families. In this way, microcredit is a renewable resource. To date, the Grameen Bank has shared more than $7 billion with the poor. The repayment rate of Grameen microcredit is an incredible 98.2%!
We might ask, “What is so special about a bank? Banks are interested in getting people into debt and making a profit.” I share such a concern, but true microcredit banks operate in the reverse. While they do have income, the bank is set up to respond to the needs of the poor, where bank employees are committed to service and members own the bank. The bank does not focus on the accumulation of massive sums of money for high salaries and expensive, unnecessary buildings; it functions to keep money in the hands of the poor. Microcredit is part of a larger field called integral economics which has only just begun to blossom, on a mass scale.[1] There is plenty of room for expansion as social and green entrepreneurs lend their skills.
In 2001, I was living in Mexico and in the United States when I came into contact with this truly golden idea of Dr. Yunus. My imagination was captured. Immediately, I began to search for an opportunity to experiment. The first experiment began early in 2002, with poor women in the village of Aguaje, Veracruz, Mexico. The experiment became the basis for the current NGO, Integral Trust Fund-Peaceful Family (www.integraltrust.org), located in Southeast Asia. At ITF, we call a microcredit loan an “i-Share” because of the overall focus on sharing with others.
Since the beginnings of the Integral Trust Fund, I have studied the subject of economics intensely and have seen the strong connection between serious social issues and the corporatism and consumerism of the First World. I have seen economic and military hegemony, first hand, by travelling into impoverished regions and into militarized zones. I have met people who were born in the “wrong” geographical location, because the natural resources which were under their homes or in their forests were coveted by large corporations. The corporations were seeking astronomical profits while the people slid into desperation.
Poverty is the worst of violences. Poverty leads to terrible conflict. Poverty is an affront to human dignity. In some cases the people try to defend themselves, while in other cases, poverty drives recruits into terror networks, where highly organized groups act on “behalf of the poor.” Many of the poor, due to the fact that they are in the way of the corporate bulldozer, move away from their homes. The mass exodus which has been underway in North and South America is a reality which continues to mar any concept we may have of a civil global world. The answer to such a complex situation is not an easy matter. However, there are constructive steps that can be taken to ease the social strife, better local economies and help the people to take hold of their destinies. To ignore the suffering of the poor, or to maintain apathy, are not options, unless we are comfortable with the consequences that history will bear out in our name. Proactive, constructive efforts are needed.
The subtle beauty of the microcredit story is that the world can now see the economics of poverty and the connection between the alleviation of unnecessary suffering and the generation of peace. The poor are doing what they can do.[2] Our part, as citizens in the First World, is to relinquish our extravagances and to restrain our corporations who are exploiting the poor and the natural environment. Secondly, the field of social and green business has the research and applications in place for the transformation of the poverty of those at the bottom of the pyramid.[3] As a moral imperative, we can support those businesses which operate on an integral economics model.
To those of us who have heard of microcredit, we are amazed at what a small amount of money can do for a poor family. Over time, borrowers develop consistency in their businesses because of the support of the bank or fund. And, larger sums of money are made available so that families can move from serious poverty to a milder form of poverty, or even end poverty in their lives and graduate to simplicity.
I hope that others will find microcredit and other forms of socially and ecologically responsible business as appealing as I have. I feel that greater mutuality and interrelationship with each other, and the natural world, is within our reach. We have the information, the technology and the wealth to move forward in a significant way.
Our best gauge of progress will be the empowerment of women, equally and everywhere.
Ban Saen Beach, Thailand, August 2008
Published: Ohmynews
Losing Connection in a Connected World
When I wrote my recent article on Netlage, my intention was to show an emergent aspect of culture – a kind of phenomenon which has emerged, worldwide, involving how we communicate via computers and other electronics. People are quite connected. We can imagine the energy flows of text messages, emails and cell phone conversations buzzing about the world. Digital media, I wrote, are transmitted in a new code or language which has developed to a point of complexity where sentences, prose and ideas can be transmitted using abbreviated language and emoticons. This cyber language can be considered an actual addition to language because it has become complex. It is complex enough to make it difficult or impossible for a first language speaker, who has not used the code, to decipher the electronic messages. And, when it comes to icons, it is amusing to think that we have a playful renaissance of hieroglyphics.
Much of the energy driving Netlage comes from teenagers. Teens will typically develop their own forms of language so as to differentiate or even separate themselves for their overlords, the adults. It is a normal process, which continues until they join the adult world and drop away their “special” terms as unnecessary. The fact that Netlage has developed out of the teen and college culture has an aspect of the natural tendency to form a special language. However, in the case of Netlage, the language has followed right up into adulthood because technology and Netlage are not age-specific; adults are contributing to and using Netlage regularly.
We can expect there to be cultural changes, additions and deletions whenever there is a massive external change in the conditions of our lives, simply because we adapt to our conditions. Technology involving electronics has created the external means for Netlage, however, it is our innate sense of making connection with others that is the impetus for cultural changes. We use whatever means we have available. Native Americans used smoke signals to communicate at distance, then there was the telegraph, the telephone, and now there are any numbers of ways to communicate electronically. The reasons why we communicate vary according to what we are doing. Today, we simply have more media for communication, for example, we might be at work, sending documents by email, while we are maintaining a text conversation with our friend on our cell phone. The enthusiastic embrace of a new cultural manifestation such as Netlage and the technology that makes it possible has many positive aspects because it makes communication more convenient, creates new opportunities, and well, it can be fun. At the same time, I want to also say, as a matter of caution, that it would be best if our enthusiasm for something does not exceed our ability for critical thought or discernment. A question I would ask is, with all of the means of connection, are we really communicating? Is it possible we are losing connection in our connected world?
Constant interaction with the screens on phones, computers or games, is leading us to become disconnected from the world around us. This phenomenon is especially apparent in children. Children and teenagers today are suffering from a short attention span and are stimulus-hungry. Parents may notice that their children are lacking in their development of healthy friendships with other children and that children are seemingly disconnected from nature. When I asked two young people if they liked nature, one said that she hated nature because it is dirty, and the other told me that he hated animals. They said this quite matter-of-factly, and when they saw the consternation on my face, they were as innocently confused as I was profoundly sad. They thought that it is OK to think of nature in such a way. I simply cannot dismiss this basic interaction as a difference of opinions or as an age gap. I believe that there is a serious disconnection occurring due to the undisciplined use of technology. While it is necessary for children to have unstructured time, or play, we also need to be careful to make sure that what they do is healthy. I cannot think of anything better than to form friendships and to spend time in nature.
The technological revolution has also affected adults, making many adult relationships devoid of intimacy, which can create a hunger for real connection. Yes, we are connected electronically, but what are we saying? When we write with truth, others trust us. When we write about what is good, people want to be near us. Learning to speak with a command of our language, and to write with the natural flow of our mind is what makes our communications beautiful, and people will love us. Just do a search for some of Tolstoy’s letters, especially his Letter to a Hindu, which was to a young barrister in South Africa – Gandhi. The depth and ability with which we communicate can induce a magical experience, one that is not lost to the delete button on the keyboard or cast to the wind of the electron flow busily whirling about in the computer.
Cyber Language, New Communication Tool
We human beings are gregarious creatures. If we look around as we go about our day we will see people sending text messages, talking on their cell phones, talking with each other and perhaps talking to themselves.
Communication is our thing. We talk to animals and we talk to plants. Each day virtually all of us use the Internet to communicate with other people. Our cyber communication has become an important part of our daily lives.
Communication is fun. Communication is power. As the Internet and cell phones have entered society, new variations on our languages have also emerged from emailing, chatting, texting and blogging. This new expression of language I call “Netlage,’’ which is the combination of Internet and Language.
The cyber language, or geek speak, is simply an abridged language, or code, for rapid communication purposes: Korean is Netguel, English is Netlish, Japanese is Netppon and Chinese is Netchin. I arrived at some of these names by consulting my students, who are actively engaged not only in communication, but in complex cyber games.
Also, Netlage includes new terms that have helped us to understand the cyber realm. Terms such as digital footprint, ladder by-pass and hacktivist are examples. The digital footprint has even allowed police to track the nocturnal behavior of politicians.
Alterations, additions and deletions in language occur simply because languages are dynamic, and change according to current thinking in society and new technologies. In the case of Netlage, language has changed according to social pressure as society adjusts to new technology.
Naturally, any new manifestation of culture, if it is important, causes debate. Acceptance of a new addition to culture depends on how valuable or disruptive it promises to be. Netlage is causing such cultural debate. People are evaluating the usefulness of Netlage and whether it is devaluing a country’s national language(s).
They are concerned about the loss of the finer aspects of language as people rush into global-technological society. Conversely, nearly everyone, especially students, see the advantages of using Netlage as a way to communicate through fewer key strokes.
Another important concern is over the enormous amount of time people spend interacting with a computer screen rather than learning to interact with other people. In a global world, we cannot afford to lose our sense of how to interact with others.
In fact, we will find that we will have to refine our interpersonal skills to a greater degree in order to engage the world in a sophisticated way. Further, the addition of emoticons has shown that we are not satisfied with the dryness of letter symbols on a screen.
We want to communicate to our friends how we feel. There are many different expressions from which we choose, all designed to convey our mood and message to other people who cannot see or hear us. Truly it is better to see the smile of a friend, in person J. Undoubtedly, students will continue to mold and shape their cyber world and Netlage will expand in the larger culture.
The website “Net Lingo’’ caters to the cyber community for the purpose of rapid communication and cyberculture. As a professor, I see no serious problems with Netlage, as long as we continue to treasure, and practice, our writing forms and expressions.
Let us simply remember that staying connected with the real world of people is the way to friendship. And, by staying connected to the real world of nature, we honor all of life. As we enjoy communication with each other, we will continue to observe and participate in the ever evolving culture around us. Perhaps we might make an addition to Netlage. At the same time, let us not accept symbol over substance, data over poetry.
