UNICEF, Propaganda and the formative years

Note: For context of this blog, please visit/review the Unicef-document "The formative years – UNICEF´s work on measuring early childhood development". 

By Agnieszka Lewandowski

Researching my pro-gram-ing I came across the so-called formative years and I asked myself why exactly is it often said that the first 7 years are the most important in a child's development and I was doing a google search, to see if I can find "the origin", reason or some factual evidence for that statement. 

What I came across was a UNICEF brochure on the formative years that I downloaded, opened up and now looking at it, it really makes me angry! The cognitive dissonance and blatant propaganda presented in that brochure is obvious. What it is, is an advertisement for "UNICEF", that plays on our emotional responses to seeing young children. Much more than actually caring for the well-being and well-development of young children worldwide. 

Letz go through it, one by one. The first thing is the design/layout of the brochure: 9 out of 12 pages are dominated by one or more pictures of "happy, smiling children" that seem to do well and have everything they need. Glossy, high-definition photographs. The first emotional response to the pictures of these children is a positive one, I feel good, save, optimistic and I am reminded of my childhood – which yes, pretty much had everything – and that "Feeling/experience" I would want for every child. Because I look at a brochure of "UNICEF", in the same moment that I have this positive emotional response, the positive emotional response is associated with this organization/UNICEF and the impression is created, that this organization actually cares for kids and their formative years. In fact my emotional response had nothing to do with the brochure or the work of UNICEF, but emerged from memories within my subconscious/unconscious mind.

Notice how little "Text" is actually on those 12 pages? And how small the print is? That means that the brochure is designed to favor emotional reactions to the content over factual substance (words, numbers) in/of the brochure. This is the design of a "FOREFRONT" that is presented to paint a certain picture of UNICEF/an organization, while the actual workings and structures of the organization is hidden. In this, our gullibility towards our emotional reactions is staring us right in the face. 

Also to be clear, I am not here to diss UNICEF in particular, but to write out and share a point I have become aware of, that is used on a mass-scale to dampen and control our awareness – I write this to free myself from the constructs of propaganda.

Then there is the page 10, with the only DATA on the whole brochure. Data equals the results of UNICEFs work. Roughly looking over the graphs, it seems that the "situation is improving", right? Every time point (years) has a higher bar to it than the time point before...which should for example mean that kids have more "Learning materials" such as books, playthings and that there is more/better "Early stimulation" in 2015 than in 2000. 

What the graph actually says is that MORE DATA on those points is available now. That more countries provide data and statistics on childhood development. This does not say anything about the facts of childhood and the current living conditions of children around the globe – it creates and imposes a view that "everything is ok, because we (the UNICEF) is working on it". But really? Can an organization such as UNICEF even do that? And are they doing it – what is involved with actually caring for the well-being and well-development of children in their formative years? One might ask: Why do they have to put up such a forefront, instead of SHOWING the actual processes and how-to of supporting children that are engaged in? What do parents need to be, have and know to make a "good impression" on their children in the formative years that will carry and support them throughout their teenage and adult years to become the best they can be?

To know how to support children, we need to look at how to support adults. What do we know about parents? Each parent is inherently wanting the best for their child – I truly believe that each parent would give their child the supervision, learning materials, stimulation and care that the child needs, if they 1.) could and 2.) would know how to. 

1.) is largely determined by the economic situation/living conditions of the parents and to break it down it is a money-(system) problem. Parents need the financial resources to provide their children with food, shelter, water, hygienic conditions and need "to able to afford" to spend time with their children/play with and care for them. Or to not have to put their child to work with very young years to provide additional income for the family. A solid monetary foundation for each person, would even influence the starting-point for having children and the number of children being born. 

So I still advocate for a form of "basic income" and in fact the more advanced form of that, an "equal money system". Because I also advocate that we need to re-think and re-engineer how "money functions" "at its roots". What I see is, that we need to move (ourselves) from a debt-based system to one that is based on unconditional GIVING, Support and Trust in ourselves and each other. If parents are living that way (and are able to live in that way, because they are supported by a system based on that principle) their children will take in a whole different world-view and operation-program in their formative years. 

This leads us to 2.) where we need to ask ourselves what the formatives years actually are and how they work. The best analogy of that is a computer with an empty HD/storage, without operating system etc.... a blank slate. All that the child tastes, smells, touches/feels, hears and sees is imprinted and stored – and at a certain point it starts to copy things like behavior, emotional reaction patterns, mannerism, energies/experiences, expressions from their environment, e.g. Parents and relatives, but can also be the TV or Youtube...or nature and animals...whatever the child interacts with will be taken in and saved to some extent. That means every trait, behavior, reaction pattern and lifestyle choice parents exhibit are on some level taken in and assimilated by their children – in the formative years, it seems, that children have not jet developed "protection and defense mechanisms" and "filters" to what they are taking in and accepting as themselves. 

Parents need to be aware of that and understand that their children will copy them and emulate their behavior. Realizing their role in the children's life is the first step to empower themselves to change some of the behaviors and patterns that they in turn copied and imprinted from those that have gone before them when they were children. De-programming and self-directed re-programming of oneself to live and express a self that is best for all, is the next step of self-empowerment as a parent. It´s funny, as I see now, that we are in our formative years, basically our whole life long...we are all continuously examples (parents) for and learn from/copy each other (children) and therefore have the responsibility to de-program the compromising programs we have taken on and accepted within/as ourselves and become examples of life and living.  

As programming is done through words ("program (n.)" stems from the greek "programma" meaning a " written public note" and "grammar (n.)" from old french "gramaire"= "grammar; learning" a program could easily be understood as something "pre-written" or "pre-learned") Writing and Self-Forgiveness, as well as "speaking things out" are word-based, effective tools for self-change.  For further explanation and examples on this, you can inform yourself about how to properly de-program yourself at Desteni.org. 

Catpunching

Catpunching.

"Sick Catpunching..." - Daily Mirror

When i look at this point of cat-punching a question comes up within me “What kind of people are doing something like this?”. I have a reaction of anger and hatred, going so far as to even wanting to “do something unto those people”, calling for justice... quite naturally or understandably you would say? Well, then you are, like me if i would accept that reaction, part of the problem that cause and perpetuate abuse in this world, resulting in manifestations like cat-punching or the said facebook-event.

I mean, the very reaction of anger and my thought/picture of “wanting just-ice/revenge” or to use force /violence to stop them is revealing. It shows how the very nature of a cat-puncher exists within me or anyone that would want to use force/violence towards another being.

It is a big cycle of dis-empowerment We react to a person that “punch” or in any way abuse an animal/cat deliberately with the same anger and hatred that we see them act out towards the animal, without even understanding where it comes from and or what does it serve. Does that then make us any different to them? It is not so easy to exactly pin-point why they do what they do, yet the person could investigate and find that out for them selves. Through writing and investigating with self-forgiveness one can source where this energy impulse comes from and how it was created within and by Self.

A point is also that the second facebook-page was named “Valentines Day Catpunching Event”. Valentines Day is typically a “celebration” of “love”, and it seems like a sarcastic reference and creates a opposition to the generally positive value of “Valentines Day”, like a polarity within the the title. Seems like the authors of the page wanted to say “we love cat-punching” and deliberately create a Polarity/Opposition to that which is generally accepted/defined as “lovely/positive/lovable”, such as cats. This polarity of

“love/hate” is also found within the people participating in the topic. On the one hand we have the animal/cat-hater that hate and abuse cats and on the other hand we have the animal/cat-lover that hate against the cat-haters. Lol.

Personally i have always liked cats and had quite an intimate relationship with them, so when i see abuse against them i have thoughts/reactions of wanting to help/protect/save them. For example through “doing something to those that abuse them”. Jet is this really going to help/protect the cats? Or any other animal in this world? Does closing the FB-Page protect/support those cats or other animals? I mean the people posting those photos, if they are actually abusing/punching the cats, most likely continue to do so even if the page is closed down. What about all the other animals that are killed, maimed, tortured, abused on a daily basis for various purposes in relation to and as an outflow of our human activities?

To contribute to the Solution, instead of the problem, we must stop and understand that which is of abuse within ourselves. We must stop dis(this)-empowering ourselves through reacting to unacceptable manifestations in this world, like cat-punching, and understand how we are collectively and individually contributing to creating them. Then we have to take responsibility for our part and stop/change. Obviously there is nothing wrong with signing a petition, to stop for example cat-punching or other things that we see and realize are unacceptable, but to really fix the problem at its core, we must look deeper to find their source/origin and expand our perspective to include all forms of abuse, against animals as well as humans.

A good place to start investigating is here:

Desteni

DIP Lite

Living Income Guarantee 

Art: Anna Brix Thomson

Human Perspectives and Living Income Guaranteed

I am currently reading „The Limits of Growth“ (D.L.Medows; 1972), a book that is often brought up and refered to in conjunction with sustainablitiy and global development. On page 20 one can find this interesting graph, that basically shows how the perspective and concerns of most human beings only extend to their closest circle of relationships and a very short period of time. Though i have no numbers or graph to back it up, i strongly assume that this is as true now, as it was 40 years ago.

 

 

"Although the perspectives of the world's people vary in space and in time, every human concern falls somewhere on the space-time graph. The majority of the world's people are concerned with matters that affect only family or friends over a short period of time. Others look farther ahead in time or over a larger area-a city or a nation. Only a very few people have a global perspective that extends far into the future ." - Limits of Growth -

The Points i would like to adress in this Blog are the problems that come with such a limited perspective, the reason for it, which contains then also the solution and from there i´d like to look at the benefits that will open up with expanding ones own perspective and equally allow everyone else to do so.

Starting with the problems on the space-axis, we can see that far away events/things seem to be of lesser concern for the individual. This means that one will care less about the people in ones neighborhood, than in ones family, less about the ones in another city than in ones neighourhood , less about the ones in another country then in ones own contry and so forth....Therefore it seems to be easier to disregard, abuse and exploit people of other groups. We see this manifested as constant conflicts, wars, one family/region/country/groups fighting each other. The exploitation and abuse of „far away people“ has become the very driving force of the economies in for example Europa and USA (watch „Darvins Nightmare“ to get perspective). Its pretty easy to turn a blind eye and ingnore what you do and participate in on a daily basis, when you have money in the pocket, food on the table and a roof over the head. The same is true with environmental Issues, for example pollution, the farther away, the lesser we care, and one can bring up all kinds of reasons and Justifications for why that is so, and that one can do nothing, knows nothing about it etc. but that is in fact only cover ups to hide ones responsibility as an equal participant.

Looking at the time-axis, the limited perspecitive does not allow us to see what we accumulate – which is what we have to face and live with - and what we leave as a legacy for the generations to come – Again this can be exemplifed with the social and envirnmental aspects and condensed to a question: Do we want to leave behind a burnt, destroyed, polluted Planet and a conflicting mess of society? Will we even leave behind a „conflicting mess of society“, or just vanish completly, basically self-destructing ourselves? Why are we so „short-sighted“?

The reason for our limited perspecitve as a human is quite simple: We are living in a System of Survival – where one needs money to survive and to get this money, to make this money more and to spent this money has become the primary reason for „living“ - thus we cower in and hide behind family, relationships, groups etc.; to secure our survival. More than half of the Population lives under the breadline and has to literally fight for their life, which should be a given right, they are the ones that do not have the time or opportunity to broaden their Perspective in any way whatsoever, as all their tought/mind/self and body is focued on getting something to eat/survive for the next day.

Then we have the so called „developed countries“, but the only thing we have developed is our greed and fear - in fact we exist in the very same position that: if we dont have/earn money = we have no right to life, no unconditional support - but our mind/self and body is consumed by constant desires that are implanted into and presented to us by the very System we live in – we are constantly on the search for the next fix, the next energetic experiance, that we can buy, which is always short term and so we dont see beyond the limited horizion of the next Pay-Check. Point to note here is that all of this is driven by FEAR.

 

One can go quite into detail with showing how every act of abuse or disregard, based on a limited human perspective, has its root in the way money/the money-system functions, yet at the same time it is so obvious, that it seems we are running around with extremly narrowed down blindfolds to not have to see it all the time, everywhere – For the sake of consistancy we can take the examples of how most wars/conflicts are fought over some kind of resource or land - which can be translated into money - or how it is simply less expensive for companies to dump their waste into the sea or rivers, causing pollution, than to properly take care of it.

Regardless of „third world“ or „first world“, our perspectives are made out of Money, as everything you see or can imagine is made out of and cost money – if you have a lot of money, you can broaden your perspective, say educate yourself, go for a trip to a foreign country or learn something new, you can create (a limited) future for yourself, yet this „Future-Perspective“ will be your limitation, as it is in danger, meaning, you have to constantly strife for „making it real“ in making money to be able to buy it. If you dont have a lot of money, your persepective on the Future will be more focussed on immediaty survival, like getting the necessary foods, water, stuff and shelter that you need to survive and yet again all this things cost money and are made up of Money – All those things are linked to Fear of not having them, and so currently the Human Perspective is generally a very fearful one. What is fascinating within this is, that despite the fact that those with more Money are able to broaden their perspective, educate theselves about the world and whats going, seem to not see the Solution to our limited perspective, which is to give everyone enough money to lead a dignified life without the basic fear of survival. Such a Solution is proposed as the Living Income Guaranteed by the Equal Life Foundation.

 

Giving everyone a Living Income Guaranteed will enable the human to slow down in a way, like we have been all running and chasing after something the whole time and now we can stop within ourselves and take a Look at what is really here, both what we have created as our Systems and Stuff as well as what is here as Nature, the Animals this Earth and what our effects on it, we will be able to look at each other, people in other coutries, without at the same time thinking that „O dear God, thanks that i am not that poor sucker“, we can look at the conflicts and wars going on and ask the questions why they are going on – where its the question if after all, with all people having enough Money to live a decent life, who will go to war?

 

What does it mean to give a Living Income for all on the space-axis? It means, that everywhere on earth, at minimum, a being recieves the necessary amount of Money to lead a dignified life and so to have a equal Living Perspective free from fear of Survival. The interesting thing is, that with having your Living Guranteed as Money provided by the government, which is basically all of the People/Citizens, your interesst will automatically be „all of the people/citizens“, instead your close relationships with family/friends, that where only so „close“ in fear of Survival, and so automatically the perspective change.

With LIG everybody has the certain perspective that their living in this word AND that of everyone else is taken Care of and so one will be abole to look beyond only ones own life and more readily consider others as well. Most of the worries and concerns about the people in ones immediate environment/relationships will chease to exist – Parents wont have to worry and fear about the future of their children, neither Children about the retirement and wellbeing of their parents, for example in their older years, as each will be given a Living Income and in this have their basic Human Rights guaranteed. If one is in an abusive Relationship of any kind and staying because of money to secure ones survival, the LIG will enable one to leave, which is only one way in which it will assist and support the human to live Self-Determination and Self-Responsibility.

In removing worries and fears we can create a Climate of Freedom to be able to change your relationships and to care for the things that really matter, which is ourselves and everything and everyone else that is here with us as part of the Living Organism called Earth. This then has the potential to really fundamentally change our Perspective on what is Here, on what is Life. So - one can essentially say that LIG is opening up the individuals perspective to seeing and considering a global perspective that can be condensed to: supporting everybody, everywhere, all of the time.

 

 

www.livingincome.me

 

 

Genetic manipulation and Equal Money Capitalism

Problems:

Ok, so artificilly genetic modified organisms have been around of a while and there are lots of points and fundamental questions that one could bring up and discuss in terms of if we „should“ do genetic manipulations at all and as indicated in the „should“ or „could“ the debate is often from a starting point of Moral or some form of Ethics, kind of involving fear of some kind of „god“ or „creation“ that can not be changed my man. Nevertheless it is done for some time now, indicating that if there was a „God“ that would forbid messing with his/her/its Creation humans do not care that much apparently. So this „question of principle“ i will not discuss here, also because it is already answered in the word „Principle“ - but rather look at the current manifestation of genetic engineering on the basis of a recent Article from „Mail Online“:

 

-Uncovered, the 'toxic' gene hiding inGM crops: Revelation throws new doubt over safety of Foods-

Basically, what the article says is that in a new study of the European Food Safety Autority segments of viral DNA were found that the international approval process failed to identify. The consequence is that the savety or potential danger and the overall effects of the presence in the crop of „Gen VI“ was not studied beforehand and now we are facing „problems“.

"It has been assumed that virus genes are not present in the plant once it is grown in the field and reaches consumers, however it is now clear that this is not the case.

 

A review of the EFSA research in Independent Science News said the presence of the viral gene appears to have been missed by biotech companies, universities and government regulators.

'This situation represents a complete and catastrophic system failure,' it said. 'There are clear indications that this viral gene might not be safe for human consumption. It also may disturb the normal functioning of crops, including their natural pest resistance.

'A reasonable concern is that the protein produced by Gene VI might be a human toxin. This is a question that can only be answered by future experiments.“

 
What this shows again is that the „biotech companies“ + officials simply have no clue on that is really accepted and allowed in terms of long term as well as unexpected effects genetic engineering can have.

 So - Problem number one is that we do we do not know all what consequences genetic manipulation and introducing manipulated organisms such as pants or animals to the ecosystem actually are. We do not know the consequences that the consumption of GM-Food has in fact. If you have the chance, i would suggest everybody to watch the Documentary „Gekaufte Wahrheit – Gentechnik im Magnetfeld des Geldes“. It reveals some pretty concerning facts about the Bio-Tech Companies and their methods.



Gekaufte Wahrheit - 12min-Trailer (with english speaking interviews)
 
Gekaufte Wahrheit, Zensurund Gesinnungsterror (interview in german)
 
Around 95% of all „Scientists“ working in this field are at the moment or where payed directly by the industry – So much in terms of „independet research“, it does not exist. No long term Studies of GM-grops where done up to now and the ones that where done showed for example serious alteration of Organs and tissue in the Animals, when feed over an extended period of time, i. e. a few months. This results are then deliberatly made „unscientific“ because for example the grop what was feed as a „Control“ of a not genetically engineered crop was not the same „mother-line“ of seeds/grops. That mother-line is in the hands of the Company producing the manipulated grops/seeds, they wont give it out for studies/research, and so practically no study/research can be done that will be accepted according to „scientific terms“. Another example is the spreading of GM-corn in Mexico, the country of origin of corn. Nobody wanted manipulaed corn there, and in fact it is still prohibited to grow it, but through cross-pollintation it has mixed and spread throughout the whole country. This shows that the companies have in fact no Control over thier apprent creations. Scientic work that proves this such as presented by Ignacio Chapela is put down and the careers of such beings are usually compromised.

Second problem i wan to adress her is that most of the crops, lets take soy here, is modified to give them a resistance against herbicides like. The example most know is Monsanto selling the genetically modifed soy + the poison „Roundup“. Besides the inconsiderate/abusive approach towards plants, we have the problem of Posion in our nature, our soil, our crops and so in the end Food that was treated with poision. As the weeds that should be killed with the Poison adapt and also develop resistances towards the chemicals they grow again and the farmer has the same weeds-problem again. As the apparent solution More Poison is promoted and so there are farmers using up to 8-9 Herbicides on their fields. This means lots of poision accumulates + we dont even know how this different Chemicals react with each other and the environment, what effects this will have on the ecosystems.

A last Problem-point for this blog is the practice of producing steril seeds, so that the farmer become dependet and have buy again each jear, each season. Is there a more explicit definition of „unsustainable“ than to take fertile life and sterilize it just make Profit?


Solutions:

As already touched upon in the in the beginning of this blog, the „Problem“ ist the Starting-Point Principle on which genetic engineering is currently based upon, which ist Profit, makeing money. The same can be/become our main „Solution“ when we redefine Profit and Captialism according to the Principle of „Equality and Oneness as Life“ what will also change our total startingpoint and so practices of science like genetics. No longer will scientist be dependent on coorperations to pay their bills and so not forced into situations of compromising their scientific standards or concerns for example about the safety of modified organisms, just so that a „product“ can be „created“ and thrown on the maket, or rather on the earth, at nature at us all with unpredictable consequences.

Again i will quote here two excerpts from the Equal Money Capitalism – Proposal, that is layed out in the Economist Journeyto Life Blogs:  

„So studies like ecology, physics, sociology, education, psychology will form the basis of economics and not the other way around - where today, economics determines science in terms of what is currently being researched as that which is the most profitable.“

Day 184 – The Relationship betweenEcology and Economy in Equal Money Capitalism

Informed Decision-Making

"Within Capitalism, the assumption is made that the consumer always has full knowledge available about the products they can buy - and thus, that they are always able to make informed decisions about the purchases they make - and that this mechanism, therefore - makes it so that only the best quality products are bought and stimulated to be produced, while inferior products will phase out. Obviously - this is currently not the case. The only point that is shared (and not even that comprehensively) is the ingredients. Labelling within Equal Money Capitalism will include not only ingredients, but also how the price was established - who contributed to the production process, what share of the profit goes to these participants - what are the externalities involved in terms of the harm that was caused towards the environment in the form of pollution and what resources were involved to produce the product, etc." Day 162 Equal Money Capitalism - The Way Forward

 

Informed decision making is a crucial point in this discussion and as we can see clearly informed decisions were not made in the field of genetic engineering, knowledge and information is held back, not considered and studies have not been carried out even though it was suggested by the FDA itself. The „rights“ to do so are protected by money and when we really look at it, it is atrocious and scary that we/the animals are feed potentially harmful stuff for decades and the companies making profit of this are protected behind „walls of paper“. Would you buy and eat GM-Food when its is labled? Would you buy and eat GM-Food when you know and have the information that there are studies that show that anmials feed with modified food show significant alterations in thier physicals? At least it would be cool to know and have all points investigated properly and results disclosed and put on the table openly so we can decide what is best for all.

As for now genetic engineering is only best for the Companies, like Monsanto, where they deliberatly create „products“ to make thier costumers = farmers dependent on. The truth is that we find bare to none gain in field with modified crops, and more studies show that there is no benefit (http://www.geneticallymodifiedfoods.co.uk/gm-foods-product-yields.html):

„A report that was provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that the GM crops currently available are not able to improve the yield potential of hybrid varieties. Another study suggested that yields can actually decrease if the varieties that are used for carrying herbicide-tolerant genes or also ones resistant to pests aren't the strongest yielding cultivars.“

So, the solution to problem Number two is pretty simply: We grow regular grops – if we can still find them. There are biodynamic methods of farming, where one considers the individual plants and and their relationship to the soil, environment and each other to have less parasites or/and diseases and when we really look at it we will often find that if there is a epidemic of pests/parasites/weeds there is somewhere a disharmony in the System – which at the moment mostly the human is the very cause of or at least a factor in. Would for example be weeds-problems or outbreaks of bark-beetles if there are no monocultures? Does Nature know the term „Pest Plant“?

The solution for third problem is also: Simply not doing it! But rather supporting ourselves and the plants as well in supporting and fostering their ability/design to grow in life-cycles with the by-product of giving us foods what we can do equally in giving them the necessary environment, nutrients and minerals that they need. Co-Existance in mutal support instead of abuse and inconsideration. A cool approch and example of how such a farming could look like is the work of Sepp Holzner.

 

The Rewards:

Lets start again with the first Point. The reward of having scientists that earn a equal profit share just like anybody else will be a transparent and trustworthy science where we can be sure the necessary studies are carried out in the best interest of all, instead of in the interest to survival and greed. Without the fear of „gentic engineering, which is in fact the fear of actually exactly knowing that the Bio-tech companies are more caring their profits then for the majority, we could look at the whole point with real eyes and see if, what, how we can align it to with what is best for all. Without need, force, push, judgement or fear simply investigating considering everything and when we find that there is something cool and worthwhile we can do it. But there will no secret about it, no debates about labeling and no hidden ingredients.

The reward for changing our approach in terms of farming will be less poison in the environment, soil and eventually healtier food. We will kill less lifeforms for your survival in an inconsiderate manner but instead get to know how everything functions and cooperates in the phyiscal world what has a doubble bonus included, where on the one hand we will develop an in depth understanding, consideration and regard for the plants, their relationship between themselves, to the soil, the environment, waht they need, what nutrients, water etc. and on the other hand the more effective and real our understanding for and relationship with the plants/nature is and will be the more cool, healthy, nurishing and diverse foods we get in return. So, here we have the chance to develop real sustainability WITH what is here. 

 

                                      WWW.EQUALMONEY.ORG 

 

Art: Marlen Vargas del Razo

The great Pacific Garbage Pad and Equal Money Capitalism

Problem:

In our Oceans several so called Garbage Patches have formed. The most pronounced are the North Atlantic Garbage Patch, the Indian Ocean Garbage Patch and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. What is a garbage Patch and why is it a problem?

Basically Garbage Patches are large Vortexes in which floating plastic waste is sucked and cycles trapped by the ocean currents. Obviously neither the Oceans nor the Currents are to blame for the accumulation of waste in these areas. It is estimated that around 20 % of the plastic stems from sea-based human emitters such as ships or oil-rigs, while 80% is emitted from land-based human systems/emitters.

 

To find out more about the genesis of these patches we have to look back more than 150 years where the first plastics were discovered and since became a primary resource/material for our Economic System. For Self-education on this I suggest watching the Documentary “Addicted to Plastic”, a great film which covers also most of what is discussed here. One can lit(t)er-Ally say that plastics has become our “drug of abuse/addiction”, the Way it was/is used to promote and facilitate the fast paced consumerism lifestyle with lots of cheap and disposable feel-good products. Plastics are resistant and durable, dependent on the specific compound and circumstances they last several hundred years in the environment. This means that, besides a small amount that has been incinerated, all the plastic produced from the beginning is still in circulation on the planet – and it gets more and more on a daily basis. We are just now becoming aware of the potential timebomb we have been and are accumulating within the unaware use of plastics – in the name of Money.

Suggested to watch:

Addicted to Plastic

This Film should see all of the world!!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=314263422009953&set=vb.286753951410972&type=2&theater

 Garbage Island: An Ocean Full of Plastic

  The Blind Spot

At this Point we can already spot a the major “Problems” that can as well be realized as starting points for preventive and corrective measures, namely:

- The sheer mass of plastic products and packaging and its  unquestioned and unaware usage.

• A dysfunctional Relationship to the “waste” plastic, meaning the waste management systems did and (almost everywhere) do not function effectively, treating plastic as a valuable resource that is manmade from the earth, while realizing that due to its nature and properties: plastic is not part of the natural environment.
  

• Just because its so widespread and seemingly “inert” plastic is seen as harmless, effecting no consequences
  

In fact plastic is not harmless as we can see when having a look at the consequences it creates for animals and ecosystems. Bigger parts and particles of plastic pose a threat to animals like Sea-Birds, Turtles and seals that can get caught in old nets, plastic strips or similar pieces. As one can see in the Picture below they will also eat the plastic. A study carried out by US and Canadian Scientists found that dead Sea-Birds now have 9 times more plastic in their bellies then 40 years ago. On the impacts of plastic a quote from the Article on “wildlifeextra.com”:

"The science on this issue is still being refined - there is much we don't know about the impacts of plastic ingestion on birds in general and Northern Fulmars in particular. We do know that the plastic in the stomach displaces the space for food that the birds need and that plastic can lacerate the stomach lining. Some of the birds we looked at had their gizzards completely full with plastic. We also know that plastic in the sea absorbs an astounding level of contaminants in a very short time and that these contaminants may leach out in a bird that swallows it," said Avery-Gomm.

What we also know with certainty is that plastic does not belong on the natural food table and in the stomach of animals. Most of the plastic in the patches is in form of small/very small pieces - with time they break down to even smaller particles - that float in the water layer beyond the surface. When plankton tries to consume this particles they usually choke on them and die off. So called “Nurdles” make up a big percentage of the marine debris. Nurdles are small pellets of plastic that can be easily transported and handled in large quantities and from which the actual plastic and plastic-products are made. According to Wikipedia a Orange County Study in 2001 found that 98% of the collected beach debris consisted of Nurdles. This poses the questions: How did they get there? Where/How did they spill – What did happen? Who didn´t handle with care? etc.

What all of this small plastic debris has in common is that they accumulate (hydrophobic/oily) contaminants, for example PCB. The accumulation-factor in this case is 1 million. That means that there is 1 million times more PCB per weight in the plastic Nurdles than in the surrounding water. Through the consumption of fish and smaller organisms the plastic enters the food-chain. What happens once the Contaminants are present in the Food-chain is that they accumulate.

Bioaccumulation is the process of accumulation on one “tropic level” of the ecosystem, meaning for example the accumulation of PCB in one animal species. This depends for example on the rate the fish consume Nurdles instead of actual food, what again depends on how the Nurdles/food-ratio is in the feeding-ground. The more plastic is in the water = the more contaminants enter the food-chain. The concentration of contaminants also plays a role and one can say the the higher the concentration in the plastic, the more will accumulate in the organisms consuming it. 

 

Biomagnification describes the Process of accumulation along the food-chain, meaning that generally the bigger the animals the more contaminants per bodyweight they accumulate in their bodies.

Now, even if one do not care and is ignorant about the consequences that this has for animals themselves one can see that that our plastic-waste and contaminants are a boomerang, coming right back to us, because at the top of the food-chain: sits the Human.





After so much Problems, lets look at the solutions:

Solutions:

Frist it is for us to realize that basically we have really fucked up in terms of what we have done and still are doing to the Ecosystems and the Planet as a whole. We have created consequences that will stay for a while, even if we stop immediatly, and that will/may have further consequences that we are just now really starting to get aware of, like this plastic-timebomb – Thus it is to in fact stop our addiction to plastic as a main ingredient for our consumerist frenzy. Now - how do we do this? Clear is that we can not allow ourselves to stay on our old ways of how we have done and treathed „things“ – So - we need a systematic and complete change. A new system that is based on Life as the only real value. Equal Money Captitalism is the proposal of such a system. Following are two excerpts of the Economist Journey to Life that i will expand on. Here you can Educate yourself on how such a system functions.

Informed Decision-Making

"Within Capitalism, the assumption is made that the consumer always has full knowledge available about the products they can buy - and thus, that they are always able to make informed decisions about the purchases they make - and that this mechanism, therefore - makes it so that only the best quality products are bought and stimulated to be produced, while inferior products will phase out. Obviously - this is currently not the case. The only point that is shared (and not even that comprehensively) is the ingredients. Labelling within Equal Money Capitalism will include not only ingredients, but also how the price was established - who contributed to the production process, what share of the profit goes to these participants - what are the externalities involved in terms of the harm that was caused towards the environment in the form of pollution and what resources were involved to produce the product, etc".

Economist Journey to Life – Equal Money Capitalism – The WayForward

In a System based on life a inferior product is a product that harms or poses a threat to life – and it is interesting because this already so, just because we do not consider the animals, nature, the environment as ourselves as equal life, because we see them in separation of ourselves we can justify that harm and abuse being done, in the name of money, what means that that our system currently is not based on life but on Greed. Labeling is a cool tool to expose the real cost of “things” and at whose cost these “things” are created. We have to re-evaluate all products and processes involved in the production of goods in terms of their

consequences for Life on earth. The current knowledge is flawed and can not be trusted so easily, as – in most of the cases – the very founders of Research/Studies are the very profiteers of that research/studies. For the first time we will be able to establish real science that takes all life into consideration and so enables informed decision-making:
 
“So studies like ecology, physics, sociology, education, psychology will form the basis of economics and not the other way around - where today, economics determines science in terms of what is being researched as that which is the most profitable”
Day 184: The Relationship between Ecology and Economics in Equal Money Capitalism

So in concrete terms this means that we look through all the products/applications we use plastic for at them sort out what we can do differently. Do we need to have candy and detergents tabs double packed in plastic? Or is this design based on psychology trickery to sell better – Competition will be eliminated and with it will go a lot of the diversity in plastics and and multi-material-packaging that cause problems when the product/package becomes “waste” and enters the recycling. There are bioplastics and some bigger companies already have proven that they can create sustainable and applicable products from it. With a sound foundation for economics like proposed here, a lot of things will change – because it becomes possible to change them.

And finally a good dose of common sense will help us see our “Blind Spot” namely that plastic is made from Oil and Oil is running out. That means that the way plastic is used currently is not sustainable whatsoever and will stop, one way or another. Thus for the applications where we still will be using the plastics of today, a recycling-system where we threat plastic as a valuable resource would be a good idea.

Rewards:

Our primary Reward will be that the Oceans are clean and that we do not further accept or allow to contaminate and poison our environment and so in the End ourselves – This will have a positive effect on various levels of our existence, beginning with the own physical bodies, we will be more healthy and can really enjoy a dish of seafood without fearing that it is a rather toxic cocktail. It will affect our overall mood and Self as humans when we will see clean beaches and rivers where we can spend our free time and we will know that we have changed a corrupt/abusive System to one that is best for all life – Nature it self will flourish as we can not even conceive at the moment, because for the first time we would tend to and support your environment, and so not only ourselves but also the generations to come will be rewarded with a harmonious place to life.

 WWW.EQUALMONEY.ORG

 

Art: Matti Freeman

Fishing and Freedom

One of the Points that came up today was that i have connected fishing to freedom. This romantic idea of the fisher in the wilderness standing in a river or paddling in a boat on a lake with the sun setting in marvellous colours from transparent lavender over oranges and a shining dark read on the horizon - and some day flies dancing in the air, obviously. Obviously this is the brainwashed version. 

The connection/definition of fishing as freedom however is common. In my youth we/I would go poach fish either in small becks and rivers or in breeding ponds for trouts where it was relatively easy to get a fish on the hook but at the same time an immense risk to not get caught by the owner. One time the owner of such a pond nearly caught us and for I was in intense fear of that he will tell it my parents. However, the point of doing something forbidden, breaking the rules was where I would experience a sense of Freedom and when I look at it then it was the freedom of “doing what I want, against what my parents told me” – the freedom from the socially accepted rules and norms represented and incarnated as the family-construct … obviously I was not aware of such a motivation back then for me it was exciting/thrilling. In this also some pretty unnecessary abuse was accepted and allowed because we could not take the fish home with us to eat them and then simply let them leave to rot or whatever.

 At one Point my cousin and me where also around, while the family was gathering, to get one specific fish within a small pond in a small beck that we gave also a specific name but for some reason – it was in the heart of the town and lots of people where around- we could not get the fish so went to a nearby breeding-pond and in a few minutes had caught the first fish and after a while the second. The first we killed and put into a plastic-bag to hide it and so we did with the second, but then we got the fear of bringing the fish home. It was like we first thought we could take them with us or…no, actually we where not thinking that much beforehand…not considering the consequences of actually catching a fish …we just wanted to fucking catch a fish because we were bored and disappointed because we could not get the “black mol”-fish in the small beck. –That’s like fucked up, because I remember that we talked about that it is unfair and fucked, we where angry that we can not simply fish in public in the beck...which would represent the society/rules/system, and so we simply “broke” the rules- But what is more fucked up, and was a Mystery for me till now, is what we did with the two fishes that we caught in the breeding pond: We nailed them on a tree and smashed them with branches, while doing so I would experience a strange kind of disgust but as well excitement and power and hysteric laughter because in essence I knew that we are doing something very fucked up. Or I saw it as something very fucked up, because I see also that I said a few times that we should take them with us. So basically we exerted out our anger and frustration on the society and system out on the fish and most defiantly the anger/frustrations had also nothing to do with the society or system rules on this particular day but was an outflow of accumulated Shit over time and this opens up a new perspective for me in seeing me and how I have defined anger and its exertion as freedom.

Another example would be the family-father-man that goes to fish on the weekends or after work to relax and recreate with sitting on the water with a angel. This angler also searches “his freedom” in the nature for a few hours or a day and when I look at it’s the freedom from the same structures and constructs as the family-construct and the work. Or the picture I described in the beginning with the wilderness – and this and similar pictures and imaginations are impulsed and created by and through specific fishing-magazines or fishing-films etc. -  where often a part of this fishing/fishing-holidays is this freedom from civilisation fishing somewhere in virgin waters –lol- meaning in waters where no other fisher has held his angel in yet – lol – to enjoy the freedom to get away form the stressing wife and the kids and the work one does not like but must do to feed them. I mean the very need and desire to feel free or to recreate shows that a being feels enslaved and stressed – in fear for survival – in its day-to-day participation in this I find the point that our current accepted and allowed relationship-constructs and systems are directly responsible for “sport-fishing”. May it be like in this first two examples the family-construct and situation of the being where a polarity-point of apparent freedom trough “getting away from it for awhile” shall be achieved or the work and economic-system which I assume is the video from my last blog a good example.

When I look at the desire to catch a big shark, to fight and dominate such a big animal to win than I see the desire for power and control – man shall go and dominate to earth…good ol GOD and as we all know MONEY is GOD – They want to fuck and dominate nature, because in everyday-life they are getting fucked and dominated by the System … directly fucked by GOD. And than this/such beings believe and think that it is their Freedom to do so, or even better their free Choice – because they have the fucking money to force their will and ego onto nature and these animals. This is a big ego-boost as an experience of perceived power and control for the mind to fight such a big physical being like a shark and when the fish is caught of pride as well - this is the way the system rewards fucked up abuse. The System within as the ego and the system without as the money system as it needs beings in such positions to kept the abuse going. From this perspective the sport-fishing is a balancing-out point where the slaves can experience a sense Freedom that is experienced as free Choice  when it is either a escape from reality as relax/recreate or a active acting out of Ego.  

“Sport-Fishing”

Today I was reading an article and a discussion on a case of an angler by “accident” hooked and caught a big hammer-head shark which is a classified as an endangered species and thus protected by the law. Now the point of discussion in and of this article was the “best practise” to handle and release such an animal. This was/is quite interesting for me to read and look at from two perspectives: Seeing the points that come up within me of how I have participated and seeing what is here, how do the two parties communicate and reason.

They discuss points like should a shark be walked after the fight and the muscles “massaged to help get rid of the lactate that has accumulated in the fighting, or if to cut the line in the water when one sees that the shark/fish is a endangered species. Because the point of discussions was that the angler landed the fish – which is not allowed according to the law – which could be used and was intended to be used by the author as point to activate a discussion about the “best practise” the how treat and handle fish in a catch-and-release-scenario and how to educate the angler.   

So this whole point/discussion has caused quite some reactions within me: A reality-check as in seeing how this points/system is actually working at the moment and how the law and Money is protecting abuse. The fist point that came up was like why do the angler want to have the fish on land and I saw that it is because you can not feel proud actually the angler would feel a loss when he would cut the line “I have lost a fish” was a common sentence when I was fishing. So lots of this is about winning and losing – which is also already implied in the word “Sport-fishing” – and thus he would want to land the fish, to take a photo to document “his win”, so from this self-interested desire is obviously no “best practice” possible.

I mean to put it out clear and frank: Sport-fishing is plain abuse and the point that I have realized about this in this discussion is that this is not at all realized – the point of discussion should be the starting-point of the angler for fishing and here I looked at and found a video of two men catching a hammer-head shark. I mean this is only one example – the fist one I clicked –lol- but it reveals and showed quite impressive the abusive nature and disregard for life that is accepted and allowed in sport-fishing or big-game-fishing:

Already the treatment of the ray that is used as bait is plain abuse, poking holes into his flesh pulling a hook with a line through and slicing it in pieces. Here a thought came up how this beings can be so dulled, but actually the are not experiencing “dullness” they experience excitement- and within writing the memories come up of me hooking the worms to go fishing poking holes in their body’s and sometimes also using small fish as baits and that I initially did not enjoy this, but it was taught to me like “don’t be such baby who wants to fish must also poke of the baits” – so this is interesting because this is a point that came up in the reading the discussion on the article as well: Tradition

 

 Quote:

“   It’s a huge risk having a family and caring about a fish this way. I watched my father and grandfather do this and I’ve been practicing the same methods that they have showed me, and it has worked for the last hundred years. I know the fisherman that caught this shark did everything they possibly could do, including risking his life to ensure this shark swam off strong”

This is defiantly a point within this: being/becoming a man, a man knows to fish, a man can care and provide for the family, a man knows to kill.

                                                                                                                                                                                     Family-Tradition

                                                                            

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to kill animals without to show and prove that I am a man and strong

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to think and believe that a man must know how to fish, has to care and provide for the family and knows how to kill

I forgive myself that I have not allowed myself as a man to realize that sport-fishing has nothing to do with providing for the family – it just gives me a experience of being a man as defined of and in this world feeling in power and control exerting my ego out on nature as the fish

I forgive myself as a man that I have accepted and allowed myself to project and exert out my superiority-complex on nature, the animals and the plants in harming, killing, abusing and destroying them to entertain myself and make me feel strong and powerful

Working with the same methods as our forbears is exactly how we keep repeating the past and allowing the system of abuse to continue. The interesting point within this is to see how this person – as nearly everybody is convinced in that he his doing the “right thing” and then projects it on the fisher in the article to …basically to validate “the same methods that they have showed me, and it has worked for the last hundred years”  

And that is also “the hard point” that will need lots of walking and re-eduction to have firstly oneself and then others as well realize and life that: No – we can not go on like this, we are definitely abusing what is here and this has to stop.

Currently how-ever-wants-to can for example go catch and release a shark just to have “fun” and is protected by the law (when he has a fishing-license) completely not considering the suffering, pain of the fish, where humans tend to believe that just because a being does not scream and shout it does not experience pain –which is a extremely fucked up misconception!!- and as well the situation the whole world is in and the role that the shark for example plays within the Ecosystem. That the number of sharks is constantly sinking – due to fishing; industrial and sport – which means that the positions of the “top-predator” of the ecosystem drop out and thus the balance of the ecosystem is disturbed which we are already aware of.

This long accepted and allowed believe structures that have become and are protected by the law can not simply be changed from “in one instance” to what is “best for all” based on the principle of equality of all life – the realisation can not be forced or dictated - but from my perspective a beginning would be that someone who wants to have a fishers-license must be educated on fish – in detail! the importance and position of them within the ecosystem the ecosystem as a whole the situation on earth, in the ecosystems without – and even more important would be the investigation of the Starting-point of a angler done in Self-honesty where the being that wants to catch fish has to self-investigate themselves to find out how it is that he/she wants to catch fish…when he/she after this still wants to fish.

Because within this I read the most obvious lies – and fuck I used them myself as I was a fisher, self-believes and it´s interesting because it brings up the another point of analogy because I/them would say: I love the fish! I like the fish – they are so beautiful creatures!

I can very well remember the excited/exciting feeling when I would indulge in “fishing-magazines” glancing at the pictures imagining how it would feel/be like to catch “this big fish” or on the water in the “hunting for fish”. A nice beautiful fish!

This feeling is nothing more that Greed! 

The point of analogy is how we fish for the desired partner or a costumer, we fish for complements, preparing baits – ourselves as baits to hook the other and reel him/or her in to either make a quick trophy out of in the form of a FUCKed up memory or kill him/or her (equally to ourselves) for/in a relationship to feed of nicely for a while.

 I can remember where created this view/perception in a holiday with a newly found friend about 13 years old sitting on a bench beneath Pines and judging and categorizing the girls as/like fish: X is a big fish; you need very glittery and attractive bait as well as a strong line. Y nja, not so heavy guess the best bait would be ...! Z is easy to catch but the drill will be very hard.

And so on … One girl we named hermit crab and she was like a bit shy or at least I saw her so, nevertheless I liked her somehow and in the end on the last day my cousin spoke to/with her – which made me jealous…the good-old self-judgement. In fact or as far is know jealousy/feeling and fear of being rejected was the starting point for my accepted and allowed abuse and cruelty towards animals/plants and in this also a starting point for self-abuse as Sadism/Masochism.   

The next point that came up for me with the video and also was the point of status as they discuss which reel is the best, or better what I could also see in my past where I have defined me according to the equipment of/for fishing and a special expensive reel. And that is also the last point for today on this MONEY – The typical man-stereotypes money and status = I can fucking buy me a fucking Marlin to catch and fucking put his fucking head as a fucking trophy on my fucking wall and I give a fuck about the animal, the ocean and essentially myself because I am brutal, violent and want to feel powerful and in control and money gives me the protection that to abuse:

 

Quote from the disscussion

“Like it or not, recreational anglers drive a multi billion dollar sport economy in the United States. $722 million was spent by recreational anglers in the state of Florida alone in 2009”

 And within this I am getting more and more aware that this is really “serious” from a perspective – how fucked we really are, how tight and protected the current system really is with a army of Egos – which means that it starts with Self!!

Bounty on this Blue Marlin: $451,350

 ILL getting paid to KILL