Sergiodeathstar

Let’s face it - land can only be “owned” by violence.

If you come onto land that I own, I can kick you off, or I can call the police or even shoot you. How did this system come to be? and who does it serve?

All other things that we possess are produced with some element of labour, and so can be traded on that basis. It took me two hours to make this basket, so you pay me instead of having to make it yourself. When we buy services we pay for labour even more directly.

But land is different because nobody made it. The land was always here, and there was a time when none of it was “owned” by anyone. So what changed?

When hunter gatherers became agriculturalists, populations increased relative to the amount of land under cultivation. More and more land would have been turned into farmland until there was no more spare fertile land. In some cases this led to population pressure and even collapse (Such as with the Maya, the Greenland Norse, and even modern Rwanda - See Jared Diamond’s book ‘Collapse’).

When a society runs out of spare fertile land, each farmer must then compete with the others to ensure that they have access to enough land to feed themselves and their families. In other words land becomes scarce.

One way of ensuring dominance when in competition is violence. Once upon a time, one of these early farmers must have decided that only he and his family were allowed to cultivate a certain patch. The rest is inevitable - violence, war, feudalism, peasant revolts and an ongoing struggle between those who have enough and those who don’t.

When colonial Europeans came to new parts of the word that didn’t have individual land ownership laws (Africa, New Zealand, Australia etc.) they quickly imposed such laws, with them as the major beneficiaries. How did they impose these laws? You guessed it, well documented and often horrific violence.

Individual land ownership is something most westerners think of as civilized and normal. I argue that it is in fact a fabricated concept that disguises domination of scarce land by those sanctioned to impose violence on others - usually the rich.

By dominating all land with violence, the rich do more than limit our opportunity to take pleasant strolls -  they force us to serve them in order to pay tribute (or rent).

The structures and laws around land ownership haven’t changed greatly since the end of Feudalism.

Until they do, this reality won’t change either.

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Here it is for posterity, my 25 year predictions for the world, starting from 05 October 2010:

2011

Towards the end of the year, price increases will be felt. Strikes in Europe begin. Increased resistance from unions to austerity measure imposed by governments. Western unemployment remains high, China’s growth continues.

2012 - 2015

Oil producers face enormous pressure form western and Chinese governments to increase production. excess capacity is now unavailable and oil spikes to $130 a barrel, perhaps more.

The stock market undergoes another free fall. Unemployment rises even higher. Social instability rises, protests increase, ultra-right nationalism becomes more common (but not a major political force). Police forces become more militant. Detention camps readied for uprisings amongst the unemployed.

The next recession hits harder because the govenments no longer have the means to bail out every corrupt or defunct bank or corporation, but they will still try. As a result of their excessive cash injections, prices rise and government debt becomes more unsustainable for many countries. Western consumers are now poorer and less employed than they have been since the 1930s.

2016-2018

The economy slowly is recovering form the second recession. Newspapers declare the economy is ‘back on track’. Governments are close to or actually bankrupt, with unemployment benefit payments high and tax revenues low. Baby boomers begin to retire en-mass, furthering the pressuring governments into financial collapse.

2020

There are serious problems with the pension system, with western governments declaring the current retirement age ‘unsustainable’. Poorer baby boomers must continue to work into their late sixties and seventies. Pensions are allowed to shrink by not keeping up with inflation. Some retirees begin to die from cold / starvation / social isolation. Unemployment benefits cut to non-livable levels, forcing thousands to crime, prostitution or begging.

2023

The third oil shock occurs. Economies are now less able to cope because of existing levels of indebtedness. Some food networks breakdown and Tesco’s sometimes has no food on the shelf. A large proportion of the working age population is unemployed and tends to stay a home engaging in cottage industry and behind-the-scenes trade / favour exchanges.

Governments are becoming increasingly authoritarian, with protests brutally suppressed by heavily armed police. Looting and public violence are becoming more common. TV proclaims all is well but is viewed with increasing cynicism by all but the most simple minded.

Alternative movements (Freegans, transition towns, intentional communities, co-housing) are gaining traction but still lie mostly on the fringes. Localization of the economy begins, not as a “make the world better” initiative by the middle class, but because unemployed people must rely on each other to survive. This begins to create a “Parallel economy” of favour exchange, barter and swapping, which is viewed with suspicion by governments and corporations.

2025, forth oil shock and beyond

Car travel is now much less common and very expensive. Public infrastructure is crumbling and dilapidated. The Chinese economy is parrelel with the west, but both are falling apart. Cities contract to densely populated centres. Bicycle carts and bikes are providing more mainstream travel to a larger proportion of society. Conditions are a mix of “Dog eat dog” survivalism and “close personal networks” which replace the failed government structures like pensions, unemployment benefits and insurance. 9-5 work less common, those that have it are a privileged class whose lives differ much less greatly from 2010.

Society becomes more human labour powered, and conditions for workers deteriorate. The working poor are found in factories and on farms, where they are exploited under similar conditions to animals.

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Anxiety. It’s the oppisite of contentment. And contentment, is arguably the answer to the question of life. Being content means you’ve won.

Is it possible then, to get from here to there by shear force of will alone?

I’ve recently begun trying and the result, though not comprehensive, have been astounding.

Anxiety runs at the heart of every problem I’ve ever had. Anxiety about the future, about how others will view my actions, about how things will turn out. Now though, I’m seeing that it’s the anxiety, rather than the situations themselves, that’s the problem.

Anxiety is just a feeling, and it can be overcome by changing your brain. To this end I’ve taken up meditation, which for me is another way of saying emptying my brain. Over time I simply stop paying attention to the thoughts in my head. I just let them drift out to sea, without clinging on. When I stop grasping, I begin to feel enormasly liberated, like a hge weight has left my shoulders. 

My next question is, if you have no anxiety causing desires, what do you do? Anxiety can be a powerful motivating factor, like hunger. If anxiety is overcome, will it leave you with nothing to do?

What to do?

What does this guiy actually do all day?

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Poor old science fiction. Since it’s exciting beginnings circa Jules Vern, it has now become mired in the worst kinds of prejudice and limitations. What was once the open frontier of writing has become a geeky sub genre where plots are predictable and characters fill the space between predictable “Future tech”. Where it used to arouse opposition from its paradigm shifting newness, now it’s because of it’s tired predictability.

William Gibson, cyber punk pioneer, recently said that speculative fiction has lost it’s purpose because society had lost a coherant sense of progress. I wonder weather this is indeed the case, or if William Gibson is just getting old. To me, there is a very real sense of progress, but instead of speeding towards some hyper technological utopia, it feels more like we are heading to a poetically justified conclusion.

It seems logical for me to want to explore the uncertain future with fiction. Whats going to happen? It’s a more mytifiying question now than ever before. We’re experienceing the beginning of a decline, which I think is harder to predict than the continuation of an upward trend. Prehaps to address this we need to take some of the science out of speculative fiction, if the major changes are going to be social rather than technological.

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America, according to the media I’ve seen, is as polarised as it’s ever been. Republicans are up in arms about loosing thier strangle hold on power, and are doing thier best to stop the Democrats doing anything at all.

As a traditionally socialst type, I am often emotionally traumatised when dealing with the right. They are aggressive, they swear and call names, they use put downs and bandy the word socialism about like its swear word. They are offended by my existance, but we also have our similarities.

The right seem paralysed by a fear of government controlling thier lives. I hate the idea of big corporations and a greedy elite controlling my life. We both want our lives back.

My personal socialist ideal is not about government control, but about government preventing corporations and modern day warlords controlling us even more. I don’t want a large government, and I want my freedom as much as the next gun toten’ pickup driving deep south yokle. Yet we are pushed to oppisite sides of an imaginary two poll arena.

If was a yokel, I would want:

• To take care of my family and recieve respect for doing something useful.
• To enjoy togtherness in a church with people like myself
• To be able to make my own decisions without government getting in the way
• To eat well and enjoy time huntin’ and fishin’ with my yokel buddies

As an eco village forming socialst hippy, I want:

Despite all outward apperances, we’re very similar. Now I just have to work out how to hold a conversation…

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Recently I’ve been thinking about fame. Our modern idea of fame may have started with Charles Lindbergh who became famous for crossing the atlantic in an aeroplane. He did something famous, and did at a time when the press and photography were really getting going. The result was that people all over the world saw his face and he became one of the most recognisable people on earth. His life changed overnight. In essance, fame gave him legitimacy, authority, and thus by extention power.

A thirst for this type of recognition and it’s associated power is fuelled by advertising - the reinforcing of a persons recognisability, and thus power. This power is associated with western concepts of success and therefore the reinforcement of a particualr persons fame is also the reinforcement of the entire “fame” culture.

When a person is praised publicly, it can generate three reactions in others.

1. Admiration, which pushes people towards emulation.
2. Jealousy, which can either lead to competitiveness, an erosian of self worth, or an active rejection or denail of the persons achievements.
3. Apathy, in which a person is unaffected by the public praising of another.

The first two can been seen well reprisented in western societies. Young people especially are affected by fame. 20% of german teenagers when asked in a recent survey what they want to be, answered “Artist”. They are also a group increasingly affected by problems with self esteem and feelings of worthlessness. In addition they are well known to be increasingly apethetic. Anecdoetally then, I suggest that these emerging trends could all be related to our “Culture of fame”.

If we were to reject this cultural model, how then would the world be different? If fame was not reinforced by media, famous people would be replaced by stories of famous deeds as occured all over the world before the advent of mass media, or perhaps more specialised mini celerities like those emerging from the internet. It may also mean that famous people are replaced by some other group as the dominant role model for young people. If this group was more diverse and more reprisentitive of the real world, then perhaps young peoples, and thus eventually everyone elses hopes and aspirations would in turn become more realistic and achievable.

What do you think?

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Sarah and I have now sent out the inital email inviting interest for the forming of an eco village. This is a big, bold move for us, starting our own rather than joing an existing village. One of the main reasons for us doing so, is that many of the villages we have seen so far seem to be semi-commercial, in that the prices for land seem to be much higher than they need to be. Additionally, if we are really going to transition to a lower energy society, there’s going to need to be a lot more of these types of settlements, and there has to be a first one in any area!

the idea is to buy a block of land, split it between several groups of people, and engage in sustainable agriculture and building. Initally Sarah and I will be looking at a yurt to live in, perhaps building our own med brick and/or straw bale house later on. If your interested in having a look at the concept of an ecovilage in the lower north island of New Zealand, check out the website, and share you comments. Have you got any experience setting up an ecovillage, or know of existing villages that could offer us advice? Let me know

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Living in London, one is occasionally struck by the desire to surgically removes ones eardrums with a spoon in order to get some peace and quiet. At times like these, readers are encouraged to set course for the countryside. Dedham vale is just such a spot. As you take the turn off from the main road, your feet touch an earthy path made just for walkers and you are transported back before the age of the car. Soon those whizzing, roaring things receed and you are left with that peace that only comes from the quiet of the wind and the occasional twitter of birds (The noise not the internet service, GO OUTSIDE!).

This window onto another time did a lot for my mind. The human history of England is almost entirely made up of carless rural life, and yet in two hundred years its now nothing but a faded memory. In return for less physical work we have given up peace, nature and idyll. We pay the price for our sloth with clocks, microsoft outlook and weekend binge drinking. In an age of obesity, perhaps we have taken this labour saving theory too far.

Dawdling along the river stour, you will eventually come to John Constables famous Flatford Mill, site of some of Englands most famous paintings. Though now a small time tourist destination, it still echos of the past and you can imagine the simple rural folk sitting for a bread and cheese lunch under the trees that line the fields. I was lucky enough to sit by the edge of a large lake there, and as I sat a mother duck came right to my feet with at least 400 ducklings. I mean, I say four hundered but it could have been more. Ducklings, if you’ve had the pleasure you will know - are entirely desined to be appealing and vuanrable. As they bumbled precousiously about my feet I was struck by a strange feeling of loss, and I hope that the future I’m working to create will offer the opportunity for more moments like this. I want this more than I want an ipod.

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1) Benevolent motivation

The first step is to agree we want to get there, for this I would reccomend an internet signup board where we can all post our agreement. Once half of all people have signed, it will overide the democratic legitimacy of elected nation state governents and be the first world democratic directive of the new federation.

2) Selfless and humanitarian power structure

This majority then need to elect a council of selfless and benevolent leaders with a strict code of ethics and restrictions. I reccommend training these people from birth to be Dalai Llama-like, and not picking anyone who wants to do the job. NO POLITICIANS. These people will know all the star trek movies very well, and possibly will have read one of the books.

3) Science elevated to an international priority for the human race

With our new structure in place, petty worries will vanish as human effort is redirected from profit to science. People will be motivated to advance the human race by a new reward mechanism that rewards on the basis of value to humanity. In 6 months cancer will be cured, and we’ll be teleporting to the gym.

4) Sustainable everything, by law

All energy will come from dilithium crystals at this stage, creating no pollution and giving nearly unlimited power.

5) All clothing replaced by spandex one-sies

Onesies, or one peice clothing, will be made fashionable and acceptable by decree. Initial disgust at this mode of dress will be overcome with bright colors, badges and free entry to popular tourist destinations.

6) All buildings replaced with glass domes and interestingly shaped white things. World landscaped into park.

All buildings will need to be replaced with glass bubble structres, or if not, they must be white and have an interesting shape. These white / glass buildings will be surrounded by a world wide park consisting of tropical vegetation and colorful birds. In between the trees will be hot / cold pools with volunteer bars serving humorus 1980’s style fluro cocktails. All sports to be replaced by techno versions of the same thing, which primarily means putting colorful LEDS in any equipment.

7) A constitution for the human race

This constitution must be made on solely idealist lines and must not include ridiculous things like “The right to bear arms.” Instead, it will be based on compassion, exploring space, and inclusiveness of all sentient beings.

Make spaceships

Again, must be either white or glass bubble like, for the design team, I personally reccomend Apple Inc.

9) Be friendly when we meet alians

Undoubtedly, these aliens will be uglier versions of ourselves. Instead of laughing and mocking these unfortunate beings, we should be accepting, but firmly encouraging of our utopian values. This will lead to alliances.

10) Congratulations, you are living in a Star Trek like Utopia.

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It’s about Yaks. It’s about horses. It’s about family. Today we put the spot light on Gengis and talk about a career choice thats finding it difficult to attract new recruits. Its got a histroy going back to 8500-6500 BC (more than can be said for .aspx e-commerce development) and is the essence of freedom.

Your default life plan? Its a family affair, so soon after you’re able to walk, you’ll be helping with the yaks. Before you know it you’ll know how to ride a horse or camel, and will be successfully watching over a group of yaks by yourself (A management level position). Skills such as weaving bridles out of an animals own hair and yak birthing will be strongly transferable to other careers should you decide to branch out later on. The hours tend to be long, and you’ll often be expected to put in dawn to dusk days, however the companionship and sense of community will be truely enriching.

Not long after you are married, you’ll get your own yurt. This little beauty is the only home you’ll ever need and comes with fire flap at the top, sturdy wooden lattice walls and yak felt cover. No paying this puppy off, it’ll be yours freehold, financed by the family business.

The food is generally Yak / sheep / goat based, think butter, meat, milk, uh, butter and uh, and milk. Additionally noodles and naan bread are popular.There is also an abundance of grass for those so inclined.

Popular lesiure activities include prayers, playing the mongolian Violin or other traditional instrument, and having friends or neighbors over for dinner. After a 3 day walk, they’ll be hungry.

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