SPOILER ALERT: if you are planning on watching this 1994 classic anytime soon, do not read on.

Okay, here we go:

In Speed, an eccentric villain straps a bomb to the underside of a city bus, which will explode if the speed of the vehicle ever drops below 50 miles per hour, once it has reach that point.

Keanu (an LA cop) learns of the event, but not until the bus is already on the highway, moving over 50 mph. Nonetheless, the unshakable Keanu fearlessly boards the moving bus, where he meets Sandra Bulluck- a bus passenger so hot you’ll say, “oh yeah, I’m watching a movie.”

Keanu’s first plan is to get to the airport, where they can drive in circles without risk of traffic slowing them down. Then, after reaching the airport, they confuse the terrorist by creating a loop for the surveillance camera he is using to watch them. All the passengers except Sandra and Keanu get into a van that pulls up along side them. Keanu then rigs up a device to keep the accelerator depressed, and he and Sandra jump out of the door and slide away- wrapped in each other’s arms on a metal surfboard.

After sliding to a halt (actual dialogue):

Sandra: “You’re not going to get mushy on me, are you?“

Keanu: “Maybe… I might.”

Sandra: “I hope not, ’cause you know, relationships that start under intense circumstances- they never last.“

Keanu: (looks at camera) “Oh yeah?“

If this movie doesn’t get you, I don’t know what will.

But how does it relate to our Economy?

Well, like almost every country in the world, the US dollar (aka Federal Reserve Note) is issued by a private (read: for-profit) central bank. This means that all money is created out of interest-bearing loans. In order to keep money in circulation, new loans must always be made to cover the principle on the loans coming out of circulation, and BIGGER loans must always be made to account for the interest- hence the mandate for infinite growth.

If at any point our rate of growth of real goods and services fails to keep pace with the rate of interest on the circulating money (which is inevitable on a planet of finite resources), then there is a brief period where those in debt must draw into their savings to make payments, as economic growth can no longer cover the interest. Once that savings dries up (otherwise known as the erosion of the middle class), those who are in debt simply begin to miss payments. When enough people are simultaneously missing payments, we have a “credit crisis.” This results in banks refusing to issue new money, which causes a recession of GDP, and finally we find ourselves in a shortage of the real goods and services needed to meet our basic needs. In simple terms, if we do not continue to grow at pace, the bus blows up.

Now, Keanu handled the situation perfectly. He made a quick decision that bought them some time, then immediately turned his attention to how to get everyone safely off the bus.

Our political arena faces the identical situation. We can buy ourselves some time in the short term, but what we really have to do is find a way off the bus for the long term. This elucidates a major point that goes unrecognized in our world today: Keanu was just an action hero- you do NOT need a PhD in macroeconomics to see the fundamental problem with our current system. Infinite exponential growth on a finite planet is utterly incompatible with sustainability. Oh, and an economy based on debt makes citizens into slaves… but that’s beside the point.

There is no question that our economic system is unsustainable, however our politicians, mainstream media, and even most academic institutions act as though this is not the case- that a growth-necessitating system can last forever. This would be analogous to Keanu handling the situation in the following way:

Keanu: “we just need to get to the airport, then we’re golden.”

Sandra: “But Keanu, what about when we run out of fuel?”

Keanu: “we’ve got plenty of fuel!”

Sandra: “so you just want stay on the bus and drive in circles till it blows up?”

Keanu: “what, you want to get off the bus?”

Sandra: “actually yes, I would very much like to get off the bus.”

Keanu: “well you can’t, that’s unrealistic and utopian, and has no place in our discussion of pragmatic issues.”

Sandra: *facepalm*
Of course, Keanu would never do that. But politicians today make the case for themselves by claiming that they can make the bus run faster than their opponent (aka create more economic growth). No concern is ever raised for running out of fuel (“peak oil” or “peak growth”) whatsoever.

Wouldn’t it makes sense though for a politician to propose the idea that maybe- just maybe- we should look for a way to remove the speedometer-bomb from the underside of the bus? Wouldn’t that just make all of our lives a whole lot easier?

This is the concept behind monetary reform and ending the Federal Reserve- a private institution that can only issue money if interest rates are above the zero percent lower-bound. This is what creates the unsustainable mandate for eternal growth, and this is the issue that is getting no attention in mainstream politics.

Without a doubt, basing the economic model of a planet with finite resources on a system that requires infinite exponential growth will be looked back on as one of the most foolish practices in the history of our species- right along with slavery, nuclear weapons, and Four Loko.
Luckily, alternative systems do exist.

1) Our currency could be issued by a Public Central Bank instead of a Private one, and spent directly into circulation by the government. This practice combined with the outlawing of fractional reserve would decouple money from debt (erasing the growth imperative), and make the concept of “taxation” obsolete, as the government could simply print its own money. Any inflation created through this spending would function as an indirect tax on all holdings. To prevent “menu costs” and other inflation-related problems, the currency could be set to a “demurrage rate,” causing each dollar to decay at a rate determined by the central bank to prevent inflation. Like inflation, a demurrage tax falls on holdings, rather than income, shifting the burden to those who HAVE the most, and away from those who CONTRIBUTE the most.

To study the finer workings of this proposed system, check out Charles Eisenstein’s book, Sacred Economics.

2) We could begin using P2P cryptographic currencies like BitCoins. This currency is “mined” into circulation algorithmically in proportion to a user’s contribution carrying out of the infrastructural logistics of transactions between other users. All BitBoins transactions are completely transparent, and by their nature are completely incompatible with fractional reserve and the growth imperative.

3) Eventually we can explore more complex money-less systems such as Jacque Fresco’s Resourced-Based Economic Model, utilizing the technological understanding we already have to feed, clothe and shelter all people on our planet, without the need for full time “jobs.”

4) We can simply address the root-issues behind economic concerns at a community level. For example:

“what is the best way to feed everyone in this community? Should we ship all our food in from 2,000+ miles away, or should we simply start building gardens in our own homes and neighborhoods?”

I think people would be surprised how unhelpful the concepts of “ownership exchange,” and “centralized control,” are when you really get down to what it is you’re trying to accomplish.
Obviously there are multitudes of other proposed concepts such as currencies backed by precious metals, a nationalized banking system, time banks, mutual credit systems, and more. I shared the four that most resonate with me, but it is very likely that the understandings behind each will play some role our liberation. The point is not to discourage alternatives other than your own, but to be as resourceful as possible in our ascension. That, to me, is what economics is really about.

But until that time… drive fast, my friends

We’re hearing talk of global economic collapse, eugenics plots to reduce human population, HAARP, FEMA camps for US citizens… and a fascist world government stepping in with marshal law. In a phrase: the New World Order.

And then there’s the other side of the coin. A shift in consciousness. Worldwide liberation from the political and economic oppression. Spiritual awakening. Garden cities. Free sustainable energy. The New Age.

Many people have begun to look into these two seemingly contradictory visions of the future, and gotten confused. One is hell and the other is Utopia. We can’t have the New World Order and the New Age… so what’s the deal? Who’s clairvoyant, and who’s delusional?

In a word: neither. Both scenarios are possible, and both are underway already. What we are experiencing on our planet at present is a sort of polarization. Every day more and more people are waking up and realizing that there is a better way to do things. Yet at the same time, the forces which seek to control our planet, are getting more desperate, and taking more intense measures than ever before. Ultimately, however, the decision is in our hands. We have the option of acquiescing into a state of global servitude… or we can choose to step outside the system and create our world anew.

Where I see the greatest stagnation of anywhere on our planet is in the individuals who are first waking up. They see the blueprint for the future if we do not shift, and they imagine a new way of life. But the idea of bridging the gap from where we are today, to where we want to go- daunts the hell out of them.
There are huge numbers of people who are feeling paralyzed. They want to start making changes, but they just don’t see how one person can do a damn thing against the financial-military-industrial complex. The good news? They are wrong.

The Holographic Nature of Reality

It has been well accepted from scientists for a long time that matter as we know it is nowhere near solid. Apparent solidity is 99.999…% empty space. When your hand is stopped by the surface of a table, for example, you have not reached a solid barrier, but are being repelled by valence electron charges.

The way this relates back to our conversation is in its implications for what we (humans) are- we are not physical beings, but holographic. It is this understanding that gives us a crucial insight into how we can choose to recreate our planet.
You see, there is an interesting property to holograms. Holograms are lasers projected across a lens to create a 3D image. However, if you split that laser in half, you do not have two halves of the image, but rather two full holograms at 50% intensity. Though I am vastly oversimplifying, you could say that holograms are like a 3D version of a fractal, where each part is a reflection of the whole and vice versa.

What we are, therefore, is not insignificant specs amidst a vast universe, but microcosmic entities for the entire thing! Thus, when we make small changes in our own life, we are not just affecting our own life. We are affecting the energetic foundation of the entire universe.

Being Change

The most powerful social movements in history have not been those that were implemented from the top down through “policy.” Rather, it was the ones that arose organically through “grass roots,” that really left an impact. India’s liberation from the British Empire, and American Civil Rights reform are just a couple of examples. The reason that these movements were so powerful is because they inspired a shift on the individual level. How did Gandhi put it? Be the change you wish to see in the world. You are a microcosm that affects entirety. Thousands of people made tiny shifts in their approach to the situation, and made small changes in how they went about their life. The collective results were cataclysmic.

This approach is what will determine the way our world looks in 10 years. If everyone says “I can’t do anything- I’m just Joe Shmoe,” then we find ourselves in a high-tech, worldwide version of Nazi Germany before we can say “Bob’s your uncle.” But by the same token, if each individual recognizes and accepts responsibility for the small changes they can make to their own microcosm, then we will see a paradigm shift unlike anything in our history books. These times are intense and can feel scary, but the opportunity here is truly unprecedented.

The Biggest Lie

The biggest lie that you have been told your entire life is that you are insignificant- that your actions do not shape the world. They absolutely do. You are not small. You are not weak. You are are all-wise, all-powerful beings. As Hermes Trismegistus put it,

“know ye not that ye are gods?!”

He was right. The way we will create a new Earth is by taking responsibility for the small changes we can affect today. If you don’t support your bank, move to a credit union. If you don’t support industrial farming practices, grow some food at home. Don’t agree with the narrow perspective of the mainstream media? Get your voice out there through independent channels that you do support. You would be amazed at how many forward thinking publications are out there who are will to publish contributor perspectives. This article is case and point.

But I’m not here to tell you what to do. No one is. The shift is about personal exploration and collaboration. Sharing new ideas and more harmonious alternatives to the game we are playing today. And for those still on the fence- who can tell that something is wrong but still fear change- just know this: there is an ocean of possibility out there.

And the water’s fine.

Hey guys, this is my first blog post in a while. Turns out it’s hard to keep up with writing when you start working 40 hours a week… bummer. Anyway, I decided to do a quick and light article about the 3 most common, most limiting, and easiest to overcome mistakes in pursuing gains in strength.

1. No Progressive Overload-  you know this lifter already. He goes to the gym regularly, has a well practiced routine, and most notably, he benches the same weight every time he’s in the gym. When he first started that routine of his, he probably saw some good gains- felt a little stronger, looked a little bigger, moved a little better… but things have tapered off. He has plateaued physiologically, neurologically, and, in all likelihood, psychologically as well. So what’s the deal? Has he gotten as strong as he’s gonna get? Has he tapped his genetic potential? Absolutely, positively- NO. He has simply not trained with progressive overload.

What is progressive overload exactly? Let’s look at it like this- the gains you make through lifting (improved neurological coding and muscular hypertrophy) are adaptations to a new environmental stimulus. In other words, when you start picking up heavy shit for the first time, your body adapts to make that process easier. Eventually, however, your body makes all the adaptations it needs to move that particular weight, and you stop getting stronger. This is a plateau.
In order to break through a plateau, you need to provide your body with a new stimulus for adaptation. In other words, pick up something slightly heavier than you did yesterday. I have seen with myself and others phenomenal strength gains from programs that are no more complicated than adding 5 pounds to the bar every time you lift. Start with a weight that is light, and that you can handle with impeccable form. Then simply add five pound each session. In no time you will be smashing your old PR’s.

2. No Training Journal- how many lifters do you know that keep a journal of every rep they perform? Probably not very many. The ones that do, however, will tell you without hesitation that this practice has taken their training to another level. Recording your lifts in a journal provides 3 indispensable assets:

1. Accountability- If you see long gaps between training sessions it will be blatantly obvious that you are not putting in the necessary work. When it’s not on paper, it’s easy to convince yourself that you’re “lifting regularly.”
2. Perspective- the biggest part of staying motivated is being able to see what work pays off and what doesn’t. When you have a log of your progress in each lift, it becomes clear what’s working and what isn’t, allowing you to feel confident about continuing with the same thing, or switching it up as needed.
3. Tangible Reflections- we are all familiar with the feeling of picking up a deadlift and thinking, something about that didn’t feel quite right. Most of the time, however, this is a fleeting thought that never becomes anything constructive. In addition to recording sets, reps and weights for each of my lifts, I also have a section for general “notes,” from each session. I usually only have 2-4 bullets per hour in the gym, but they make a huge difference. It’s an opportunity to conceptualize what needs to be your focus during a given movement, and affirm it in a more concrete way than simply shaking your head. I make notes in my journal about everything, not just lifting- running, swimming, throwing a baseball- anything that helps me understand human movement better. I honestly believe that this practice has taught me at least as much as any of the books or articles I’ve read.

3. Insufficient Exercise Variety- this final point is more applicable for somewhat experienced lifters. Nonetheless, it is an important point for everyone to understand. Human beings are not like fork lifts. Fork lifts move loads vertically. That’s all they do. Human beings, on the other hand, are infinitely dynamic machines, capable of pulling, pressing, and twisting in limitless different ways. When a coach then says that “these are the only two or three exercises that are valuable,” they are missing something. Humans are not only capable of high variety, they thrive under it.

It would be nice if you could simply pick an exercise, and add five pounds per session for the rest of your life. This approach will get you a solid 100 lbs or more on many of your lifts, but doesn’t tend to last forever. When you hit that inevitable plateau, switch it up. There are a million awesome exercises out there to choose from.
Lift heavy, lift under control, and record it all. When you hit a wall, find a new, awkward exercise, and go to work. If you do all that, you need never hit a plateau.

People talk about genetic potential all the time. The truth is though, no one really has any idea what the fuck human beings are capable of. Plateaus are breakable. Ceilings are naught.

 

“It’s a weird thing you do… when you make nature illegal.” –Joe Rogan

Cannabis Sativa, or as it is more commonly known, Marijuana. This is a subject that I’ve wanted to weigh in on for a while now. On the surface, it may appear to be a trivial issue, but the deeper you dig, the more the more it becomes apparent that the roots on this plant run deeper than we ever would have imagined…

I began exploring the bigger picture behind Cannabis a few months ago, already convinced from my own experience that

A) it is not a dangerous substance to have publicly available, and

B) that it is a naturally occurring part of nature- therefore, making it illegal intrinsically struck me as one of the crazier things our government has ever done (and boy is that ever saying something).

Debate around this issue generally centers on concepts like “the gateway” to other drugs, or the growing THC content of hybrid strains. Let me save you some suspense- marijuana laws are not, and have never been based on any kind of scientific data regarding physical or mental health.

In this article, I outline some of the lesser-know capacities of the Cannabis plant, and expose the financial interest which they threaten- for in case you haven’t noticed, this [socioeconomic control] is what is always comes back to. Cannabis laws were based on special (read: financial) interest when they were made, and stay in place for the same reason.

First things first, however, we should be clear on terminology. The word Hemp refers to strains of the Cannabis plant with THC concentrations which are so low that smoking it would have no noticeable effect. This is approximately 90% of the over 2000 known varieties of the plant in existence [4]. Marijuana, on the other hand, refers to that other 10%- that have higher concentrations of THC, and have noticeable psychotropic effects when ingested through various methods.

Okay, let’s get down to it:

1. Manufacturing Materials: Marijuana was made illegal on August 2nd, 1937 through the Marijuana Tax Act. Prominent supporters of the bill included William Randolph Hearst a newspaper tycoon who also had large investments in the timber industry, various cotton industrialists, and Dupont Chemical Company, which held the patent for nylon [3]. In all three cases, anyone who looks back on this issue can see the strong financial interest to make hemp fibers illegal, not because of any concern for public well-being, but for their own earnings sheets.

Today, cities and roads around the world are covered in concrete, houses are constructed with gypsum drywall, and all manner of commercial products are made with petroleum plastics. What do these materials all have in common?

1) They all contain considerable quantities of toxic chemicals and don’t biodegrade well

2) A more ecologically harmonious alternative exists for all of them… using hemp [1].

Imagine if old buildings could be demolished and sent to a composting facility. Imagine if you could simply toss a plastic bag into your backyard compost bin… these concepts can and will come to fruition when we begin to harness the power of this amazing plant.

2. Bio-Fuels: The unsuitability of petroleum-based fuel has gotten no shortage of attention. What people are far less aware of, however, is the diversity of viable solutions available to us. Every internal combustion engine currently in existence is already capable of running on a bio-diesel or ethanol fuel. Deriving these products from soy and corn, as has been most widely publicized, is not, in fact, our best option. Those more common methods rely on GMO agriculture, and petrochemicals (derived from fossil fuels) for production.

Fortunately there are much better alternatives for agricultural crops to create biofuels. Options include algae, certain strains of fungus, and, you guessed it, HEMP [2].

Between fuels and plastics, hemp has the potential to effectively rid us of our dependency on petroleum. Imagine that.

3. Medicine: With the growth of medical marijuana as a non-pharmaceutical alternative to treatment for many chronic pain conditions, people are beginning to question the non-holistic approach of big pharmacy. Thousands are now turning to naturally occurring THC rather than semi-synthetic opiates which are phenomenally more impairing of physiological and cognitive function. Greater still is the potential impact of Cannabidiol (CBD), a compound found in the leaves of the cannabis plant. It is one of the most powerful alkalizing, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancerous compounds known to man. Watch this phenomenal excerpt on Raw Cannabis from the documentary, American Drug War II

4. Awakening: This final point is largely based on theory and personal experience, rather than scientific data, however I feel it is as relevant a concept to this conversation as any so far mentioned. I am of great belief that as a species, humanity is extremely programmed. From the time we are born, we are indoctrinated by other “programmed people,” to support our government, economic system, educational paradigm, big corporations, and, in the most general sense, a state of subordination.

The conventional western upbringing discourages present moment aesthetic experience, and mandates the incessant use of left-brained thinking mind. There is nothing wrong with utilizing your analytical capacity; the problem is simply how much of our “thinking content” is instilled in us through education and media. I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but the vast majority of human thought and conversation is profoundly unoriginal.

Pharmaceuticals and the “legal drugs,” also support this dynamic. All pain-killers, stimulants, anti-depressants, alcohol, tobacco, nicotine- these are all anesthetic drugs- they make you less connected to your sensory experiences. Marijuana, on the other hand, along with drugs like MDMA, psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, and DMT- is an aesthetic drug- it enhances sensory perceptions, pulling you into the present moment, rather than cutting you off from it. Now I have never used any powerful hallucinogens myself, but include them here because the logical implications would be incomplete if I did not note that they fell in the same category. I do not recommend their use, consult your doctor, bla bla bla…

But getting back to the point, when people have experiences with these drugs, they tend to “step out” of their left-brain thinking and into that aesthetic experience. What I believe is also happening is that they are stepping out of the “programmed,” area of their mind. Many people who have used psylocybin, LSD or DMT talk about a phenomenon called an “ego death.” Whether it happens all at once (such as in these more extreme cases) or gradually, this concept of “de-programming,” is, I believe, very much connected to the enhanced aesthetic experience that these drugs create. Am I saying that getting high is essential for your spiritual evolution? No. But can it be a facilitator for that process? I believe it can.

Conclusion: Discussion over whether or not Marijuana should be legal predominantly centers around its effects on human health. This is not the real issue. No one has ever died from smoking weed- not even lung cancer has ever been linked to it. The cannabis plant is illegal because it is one of the single greatest threats to the financial establishment of our world, most directly the industries of pharmaceuticals and fossil fuel. What’s more, THC can, I believe, play a facilitating role in the deprogramming and awakening of those who bring attention to that experience.

What could be more threatening to financial establishment than that?

Sources

1. http://www.collective-evolution.com/2012/04/01/5-ways-hemp-will-change-our-world/

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuel

3. http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/why-is-marijuana-illegal/

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp

If you wanted to sum up modern society in one sentence, you could say that we are “a group of bald monkeys, working desperately to improve our numbers.”

And when you put it in those terms, it becomes pretty obvious pretty quickly that, as a species, we are missing something… because there there is a hell of a lot more to life than improving your numbers.

Love, beauty, creativity, consciousness- these are things that cannot be quantified. They are not quantities but qualities. They are number-less experiences, and for that reason, they do not get prioritized alongside “economic recovery.” And it shows. Our GDP is huge, and life is one big fucking struggle for humans all over the planet- even in the “developed” nations. You have to work your face off 40+ hours per week just to live. Insanity is not a strong enough word.

When asked about our goals, people respond with aspirations to work their way up the corporate ladder at some horse-shit company. You never hear aspirations to “experience deeper consciousness.” People don’t even know what that means. But what if they did? How different would our world look?

At some point, we are going to have to wake up and see what an insane state of affairs we are perpetuating. We are going to have to stop doggedly defending the bullshit systems that keep us in this state.

Fiat money- police states- prisons- dictatorial education- military occupation for resources- and mandatory taxes to support all of it. It’s fucking crazy.

And when we finally acknowledge that elephant in the room- only then- will we be able to actually do something about it, and create something better- more resonant, more harmonious.

And we can do it. My god can we ever.

But not until we let go of our fear of change.

Because that’s it. That’s all any of this is. One at a time, we are shifting our awareness inward, and we are realizing that we have the ability to channel something a whole lot qualitatively better.

In my last article, I identified what I see as the 5 most blatantly corrupt industries on the planet, and offered solutions to the disharmony they create. In the words of Johann Wolfgang van Goethe, however, “there are none more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.“

In most circles it has become well accepted that Banking and Energy are profoundly corrupt industries, but by many, they are seen as isolated infections in an otherwise forthright world economy. The purpose of this article is to address that assumption- to outline 5 of the most glorified, revered industries in the world, and display how they frequently are, in fact, just as corrupt as the Monsanto’s and Exxon Mobil’s of the world. Enjoy

1. Values Investing- Most people assume that the credit crisis we’ve been facing for the last 4 years is entirely the result of foul play by the big banks and wall-street. While they are, of course, the ones who triggered the ‘recession,’ they were far from the only ones who enabled it. Let’s consider a couple data points:

• The US money supply (M2) is currently valued at just over 9.8 trillion USD [1].
• The US Total Debt (Individuals+Firms+Banks+Government) is currently estimated at 57.6 Trillion USD [2].

Take a moment to process that ratio; there is 5.9 times as much debt as there is money in the US economy. No amount of clever budget re-arrangement, therefore, can compensate for the fact that there is not enough money to pay off all that debt.

When an individual has a net worth of less than zero, their options are either a) work like a slave, or b) declare bankruptcy. This is the reality of our economic system- we are slaves to it. Thanks to movies like Zeitgeist: Addendum, many people have come to realize the fraudulent nature of the US dollar (aka Federal Reserve Note). Incorrectly, however, most assume that it is entirely the result of fiat mechanics and fractional reserve banking.

While those are, far and away, the greatest determining factors, it is important to understand that they are not the only ones. The very concept of interest-based lending creates the same inherent schism. This includes credit unions, venture capital, and even lending your friend five bucks with interest.

Consider this: when you loan your friend five dollars, the money supply of our economy does not change. It remains exactly the same. The Total Debt, however, increases by the amount of interest being charged on that loan. Any form of interest-based lending, therefore, widens the differential between M2 and Total Debt. This makes us (as a collective) more enslaved to our economic system, and more vulnerable to engineered credit crises such as we’ve recently experienced.

The Solution: invest in getting off the grid. Because money only comes into circulation through interest-based loans, there is no way for us all to become rich together and beat this game. It literally has nothing to do with how hard we collectively work. The only way to overcome “money” is to make it obsolete. Invest in things like growing your own food at home, installing solar panels- things that empower you to survive without the monetary system.

Today, the few can manipulate the masses because we are dependent upon their system for our survival (no money no food, right?). So use what money you have today to make yourself (and eventually others as well) independent from the globalist system. When you have all the food and energy you need in your own back yard, you will not be manipulable.That is real activism.That is what’s worth investing in.

2. Software- Companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft are often held up as noble examples of progress through capitalism. Rarely, however, are they recognized as organizations whose model for business further compounds our dependency upon a fraudulent monetary system. Let me explain:

It is estimated that Microsoft, Apple, and Google operating systems account for over 96% of internet usage [7]. Products released by these companies are written with proprietary coding, meaning that the only people who actually have access to the script for this software are people who work for that company. Anyone who were to freely disseminate that information would be violating intellectual copyright agreements. For the average user, this means that the only way to participate in that area of technological progress is by further involving themselves in a ponzi-economy. But is that really how it has to be?

The Solution: open-source software. Juxtaposed with proprietary coding, open-source software is just that- software which allows anyone and everyone to access, play with, and improve upon the scripts for that product. In other words, it allows technology to progress, whether money is involved or not.

As an interesting side-note, it is commonly asserted by defenders of our economic model that without monetary incentive, there would be no forward-progress in technology. The study of computer software indicates strongly otherwise. In the case of operating systems, Linux has evolved for generations with no big companies involved, simply because people enjoy playing with and improving upon scripts. Microsoft and Apple, on the other hand, have actually had to encrypt their codes to be top-secret, and use the threat of legal persecution to keep the general public from improving upon their software free of charge. Is it possible that modern economists are missing something about what inspires human behavior?

Open Source alternatives include Ubuntu (Linux) as an operating system, Mozilla Firefox as a web browser, LibreOffice for document processing (compatible with Microsoft Office), WordPress for websites and blogging, and many others for almost every application you could think of. They are almost all free to download, and, in my experience, are just as good as the big company’s products. They weigh lighter on your computer’s processing power, as well as on your soul Try them out and see what you think.

3. Social Media- Similar to with software, companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter are  revered as the “best of capitalism,” bringing people together free of charge. As anyone who’s looked into the matter knows, however, that’s not exactly where the story ends. Because all your information is saved for you on “cloud storage,” none of it is really your information. Every “like,” every” tweet,” and every private message you have ever sent (including email), are saved on a hard drive hundreds of miles away, even after you “delete” them. The way these companies turn a profit is by selling your “personal” information to marketing organizations, so that companies can cater advertisements specifically to your demographic.

Contrary to popular opinion, we are not the customers of social media companies. Just think about it- you never pay them a dime. The customers are the advertisers. You are the product.

To most, this seems harmless if a bit unsettling. That is before one realizes that the end game that is planned for these social networks. In the last year, 4 bills have been proposed to authorize more military intelligence involvement in social media. If one of them passes, it will effectively give the NSA and/or CIA the power to silence dissident free speech based on what it subjectively considers to be a “threat to domestic security.” Their hope is that the world will become dependent on social media like Facebook for all our communications, so that it becomes something that they can control from a centralized structure, with the push of a button.

The Solution: De-centralized social media. If you haven’t looked into this yet, look into it. The front-runner at the moment seems to be a project called Diaspora, designed by four friends from NYU. The concept is to make a Facebook-like entity with no central hub to store information. Instead, individuals will setup their own “Pods,” which provide cloud info storage to themselves and others. So far this organization has around 40 pods, dispersed randomly around the US, Europe, and South America.

The benefit of this approach, is that there is no bundling of private information to give to marketing companies, because it does not exist in any one central location. Even if the founders suddenly decided to abandon their values and sell out, the information is distributed across too many pods, which they don’t even own to begin with.

And as for the military intelligence agenda, profiling “cyber threats,” becomes near impossible. Sure, if they had one Julian Assange-type individual they wanted to shut down, they could easily locate which pod he operated from and hack into it. But the centralized control center like with Facebook would not exist.

4. Science- First of all, let’s not confuse our variables: it is the Science Industry, not the Scientific Method, which I am referring to here. The scientific method is the creative exploration of trial and error. It drives progress and deeper understanding in every area of our lives. The science industry, on the other hand, is largely corporate-funded, scripted research, designed to reinforce a product or practice. Because these two concepts are so commonly associated, many people have an almost religious reverence for science-related businesses, and consider those who question it to be all but blasphemous.

The point being made here is pretty simple: research that promotes corporate interest gets funded. Research that does not promote corporate interest does not get funded. In fact, the British Medical Journal concluded from a recent informational study that, “Systematic bias favours products which are made by the company funding the research [6].”

…Surprised?

Of course, thanks to techniques like peer review and study replication, published scientific work is not likely to be a complete forgery. That being said, because of the bias in funding, our scientific mainstream still creates a very skewed lens through which we interpret reality.

The Missing Ingredient: Intuition. To some people this may sound strange, but it is absolutely essential. Why? Because the number of situations that we could research and collect data on is literally infinite. How do we decide what is worth studying, and what is not?

In today’s world, the answer to that question is money. Whether a study supports a financial interest is largely what determines whether it gets carried out. But should that really be the determining factor?

Intuition is our inner guidance. It tells us which ideas resonate with us, and which are BS. For what it’s worth, I believe that this should be the guiding force for which studies get carried out, and which do not.

Unfortunately, many people have lost touch with their intuitive guidance, and have come to resort instead to finance or authoritative dictarorship as their guide. This point alone does much to elucidate the distortion we see in our world today.

5. Education- This issue is messy, sensitive, and taboo as hell. All the more reason, however, why it needs to be addressed. For that reason, I’ll keep my opinion out of it as much as I can reasonably do, and just share these statistics:

• A recent informational study by NPR found that US medical schools receive up to 16 percent of their funding directly from pharmaceutical companies [3].
• The Harvard Business School’s largest private supporter is Citi Group, providing an undisclosed annual donation somewhere in the six-figures [4]. As was done with Pharma-funding of medical schools, informational studies are needed to elucidate the banking interests reinforced through schools of business and economics.
• Many universities receive the majority of their funding from government programs such as the National Institute of Health. This may seem to address the issue at the surface level, however when we consider the financial lobby involved in government, we realize that special interest bias still exists, if indirectly:

• According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spent $18.9 million on public lobbying in 2011 alone [5].
• The US Chamber of Commerce spent $66.3 million last year to represent the interests of business and banking [5]

It is generally assumed that corporate donations are altruistic in nature, and that scrutiny of them is out of line. What such thinking fails to realize is that corporate donations and not just donations- they are strategically placed investments. At the executive level of any big company, nothing matters beyond the bottom line. So when they donate money to a school, or fund a campaign like “Procter & Gamble presents Thank You, Mom,” unfortunately, it is not simply out of the goodness of their hearts.

Finally, and beyond all that, the very concept underlying school deserves some consideration as well: you are paying someone so that they will tell you what to read. Does that sound a little crazy to anyone besides me?

The Alternative: Un-Schooling. While some educational programs are insightful (and not just indoctrinating), it’s a mistake to ever assume that someone else is responsible for your intellectual growth. I personally made the choice to withdraw from University last fall when I finally acknowledged that I (like 99% of students) had been going to school for the wrong reasons. I wasn’t there because I really believed I was learning anything mind-blowing- I was there because I was afraid not to be there. That’s no way to go through life.

The un-schooling approach simply means picking your own curriculum, rather than having it predetermined for you. Since I have started doing this, I’ve learned exponentially more impact-ful concepts than I was dealing with in school. I’ve studied metabolic pathways in strength and conditioning, the raw food approach to nutrition, the philosophy of sustainable design, and about how fiat economics really functions- all the last 9 months. In a sentence, it has  transformed the way I see the world- how many college student can really say that?

So am I advocating that everyone needs to drop out of school? No, what I’m saying is that whatever you’re doing- school, work, sports, whatever- just make sure it’s for the right reasons.

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has caused you to re-consider a few of the establishments that you took for granted. If we want to see real change in our world, simply asking the coercive forces to go away will not do it. We have to start with ourselves, and start supporting alternatives to structures that keep us locked into bondage.

It’s easy to look at something like a backyard vegetable garden and say, “this is so small- there’s no way it will make any kind of difference.” But it will. There is a momentum inherent to such small actions, that will empower you and others around you keep taking those little steps, until they become bigger steps, and you are running full-bore toward a different type of tomorrow.

You are not a helpless victim of circumstance, you are all-powerful. You can continue with the flow of world right now, or you can generate momentum to create something completely different. In either case, it all starts with one little step.

Sources:

1. http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h6/current/

2. http://www.usdebtclock.org/

3. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4696316

4. http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/giving/corporate-partners/corporate-associate.html

5. http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=2011&indexType=s

6. http://www.bmj.com/content/326/7400/1167.full

7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems#Estimates_for_2011

1) Banking- Did you know:

• All money comes into circulation through an interest-based loan from either the Federal Reserve or another private bank.
• As a result, there is more debt than money in our economy. This is not due to irresponsible lending, but is inherent to the mechanics of all fiat currency.
• Every time a loan is repaid, interest (wealth) is transferred from the working class to the ownership class. Structural class-ism is therefore built directly into the system. Again, it is not simply a result of greedy people within the system- it is a reality upon which the entire concept of banking is predicated.

The Solution? Credit Unions- at least in the short term. While still technically a fractional-reserve lending system, Credit Unions have one important difference from conventional banks: no shareholders. With conventional banks, a large amount of the revenue generated from the lending programs is paid to the super-ownership class of the bank-owners. They receive interest on money that they aren’t even necessarily lending themselves. They just take it because they can- “our bank, our rules- bitch.” With credit unions, there are no shareholders. All revenue from loans is payed to members and employees. Again, not perfect, but far better. Personally, I would recommend only keeping as much money in a credit union as you need to meet your day to day expenses (a few thousand at most). The rest could be put to better use with more globally harmonious investments.

2) Energy- Did you know:

• 69.3% of US energy comes from burning fossil fuels [1]. This process releases lead and arsenic into the air and water, and is the number one source of Mercury contamination in the United States [2].
• More than 99% of the world’s cars run on an internal combustion engine, burning either petroleum, or (occasionally) an oil derived from genetically modified soy [3].
• 14% of the world’s electricity comes from nuclear fission [4]. We have no way to reintegrate the waste product from this process, ecologically, as it is  one the most radiatively toxic substances ever designed. Our current model is to bury it under Yucca Mountain in Nevada and, well, hope that one one ever goes near that god-forsaken place…
• Biofuels are made almost entirely from subsidized GMO crops, and still emit carcinogens during combustion.

The Solution: Renewable Electricity.

This is the only known ecologically harmonious option for energy. Options to create this include Solar, Wind, Wave, Tidal, and especially Geothermal energy. Using these techniques at our current technological capacity, we could power the entire planet many times over without one calorie coming from fossil fuels or nuclear reactors. In addition, Nikola Tesla developed a method to generate literally infinite energy anywhere- directly from the electric field of the universe. His discoveries and all replications since have been systematically de-funded, and either confiscated by military intelligence or destroyed through arson. See the movie Thrive. It is top 5 on my all-time list.

As for practical applications today, simply do your best to cut your footprint (not of carbon emissions, but of the non-harmonious energy empire), and fund alternatives as you can personally afford to. Good options are walking, riding your bike, fitting up your house with solar panels (if you own a home), and buying into local, independent, sustainable energy co-ops (if you don’t). This is also one of the good investments I was referring to above.

3) Agriculture/Biotech- Did you know:

• US subsidized crops range from 65 to 94% in their use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) [5]- in case there was any doubt that out government was in bed with Monsanto.
• GMO’s are organisms whose genes have been spliced with genes from other species to better benefit the business model of the company selling them (most notably, Monsanto). One highly prevalent example is the “Terminator Gene,” which causes the organism to be sterile. This forces the grower to buy new seeds from Monsanto every year, rather than simply replanting the seeds of their harvest as nature intended. I wonder how eating 90% sterilized food might effect the reproductive health of humans. Don’t a lot people have issues with that these days? Oh well- it’s cheaper.
• 99% of US agriculture is grown with petroleum-based fertilizer [6]. Thought we only used that stuff for cars and plastics, huh? Think again. By buying “conventionally” grown food, you are, in fact, supporting the American War Machine.
• 99% of Agriculture in the US is grown with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or a cocktail of the three [9]. These are toxic chemicals designed to kill organisms outside the intended monoculture.  The only reason the crop itself can survive these sprayings is because they have been genetically modified to withstand them. Monsanto’s “Roundup-Ready Gene,” for example, allows crops to tolerate ordinarily toxic levels of the patented poison (and it is a poison). The problem with this process is that it delivers food which may appear healthy, yet is likely to be carrying significant levels of toxins within it.

The Solution: Follow this formula:

Whenever possible, grow at your own home with organic (non GMO) seeds. When you can’t grow it yourself, buy local or regional organic. If you can’t buy local or regional organic, you probably don’t need (or want) to be eating it.

4) Media- Did you know:

• Almost 100% of the mainstream media is owned by seven companies: Disney, NewsCorp, TimeWarner, CBS, Viacom, NBCUniversal, and Sony. They control everything from movies and television, to all the major newspapers, and even music record labels [7].
• When one company dominates an industry, it is called a monopoly. When a handful of companies cooperatively dominate an industry, it is called a “Cartel.” This is what we have with our mainstream media- an elite group that is cooperatively and covertly controlling everything that comes through our television, radio, newspaper, and theater.
• When people say that the mainstream media is “biased toward special interest groups,” it means that the super-elite own all of it, and don’t allow exposure to people who expose their globalist agenda. Consider, for example, why filmmakers such as Peter Joseph and Dylan Avery have never been interviewed on mainstream TV. Their films (Zeitgeist and Loose Change, respectively) are the two most viewed documentaries in the history of the internet. Their work is systematically blacklisted, however, due to its accurate exposure of the forces at work behind the the media empire, as well as every other industry outlined in this article.

The Solution: Independent Media. Cancel your subscription to cable (aka the cabal). It’ll save you money and disconnect you from the Propaganda Machine. Get your news and world affairs from Independent sources who are not in the pocket of the financial super-elite. There are lots of awesome alternatives like RT, Infowars, and NPR’s Alternative Radio- not to mention the hundreds of others you can find on BlogTalkRadio and various blogs. What’s more, don’t get all your information from any one place- diversify and see what truly resonates with you.

For those who want to go the extra mile, start blogging yourself and sharing important information through social media. Do your part to help get the important headlines out there and visible. Your ability to do this is phenomenal. Even if all you do is post a video on your Facebook, you are likely to generate AT LEAST 20 views for an issue that otherwise would not have been there. As more people are waking up to the system and starting to do this every day, I believe very strongly that the Media Empire’s days are numbered.

5) Healthcare- Did you know:

• Pharmaceutical companies provide corporate sponsorship (money) for scientific journals, medical school textbooks, and political lobbies. A pro-pharmaceutical bias has been scientifically documented and in the British Medical Journal [8].
• Med Students study drugs in almost every quarter of their degree, and take, on average, only one class on nutrition.
• There is not a single pharmaceutical drug that actually makes people healthier (pause for cries of indignation). What pharmaceuticals do is mask symptoms (anesthetics), destroy cells indiscriminately (Chemo and other cancer treatment drugs), or introduce small amounts of disease (vaccinations). There is not a single one that actually harmonizes the human body. Say what you want about “having these options in your back pocket,” but recognize that none of them are good for you, and none of them cure disease. Only the human immune system can do that.

The Solution: don’t expect an industry run by pharmaceutical conglomerates to keep you healthy. Become an expert on your own health. Learn and implement harmonious nutrition, exercise, and hobbies. If you don’t get those 3 figured out for yourself, your health will deteriorate, and the Medical-Pharmaceutical Industry, will not save you. It’s time empower ourselves with understanding.

For more complex health issues, explore alternative approaches that are harmonious with the functioning of the human system. Some awesome options are acupuncture, reiki, and chiropractics. For health consultations and checkups, you are better off with a naturopath or homeopath than a conventional MD. And finally, if you have a chronic pain condition and feel that you just need some relief in the interim period while you heal, toss the semi-synthetic opiates out the fucking window, and roll yourself a joint. That’s just my two cents

Conclusion- this article as exposed a lot of ugliness and dishonesty. At the same time, however, my hope is that this information will empower you to realize that you can affect change today. Don’t let yourself become overwhelmed and paralyzed- recognize the change that you can make in your life, and begin with one small step. Transfer your money, buy a bike, invest in a solar co-op, cancel your cable, and eat some organic vegetables Do not underestimate the power behind these actions.

To change the world and free ourselves from these systems, it is going to take a lot of change from everyone on the individual level. But that long road starts with one person taking responsibility for their actions, and just putting one foot in front of the other. Be that person. Change the world.

Thanks for reading

Sources:

1. http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/

2. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/science/earth/20brfs-MERCURYFOUND_BRF.html?_r=2&em

3. http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2010-04/most-advanced-engines

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power#cite_note-WNAMay-0

5. http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/biotechcrops/

6. http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/organic

7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_conglomerate

8. http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/February-2009/Vaccine-Studies–Under-the-Influence-of-Pharma.aspx

In case you haven’t looked up from your cave in a while, the biggest, messiest clash clash of titans so far in 2012 is currently being fought on the world stage. I’m referring to the battle between bills like CISPA and file sharing sites like the Pirate Bay. Some of the players in this epic include: internet moguls, governments around the world, media empires, military intelligence, and the ever-ominous power of the people. The question to be answered is simple: can internet users freely share files on the internet? How you respond to it will decidedly effect the future of not just music, but every industry in the world.

Napster hit the scene and June 1999 and changed the game in a major way. For the first time, a centralized, unstructured, file-sharing system was widely being used, and an mp3 of almost any song you could ask for was available for free. The site was brought down in a lawsuit with A&M Records in July 2001[1]. Since that time, many P2P networks have come and gone. Some of the more notable ones being: Morpheus, Kazaa, Limewire, BitTorrent, FrostWire, and MegaUpload.

Today, the US Legal Armada has raised its sails with navigates set for siege on the Pirate Bay, a Swedish site that is currently providing downloads to over 4 million unique IP’s around the world each month (in other words, it now has more participants than the Chicago Tribune does readers [2]).

Enter CISPA

CISPA stands for the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. It is a bill which passed the House of Representatives on April 26th, 2012, and is currently being debated in the Senate [3]. It gives military intelligence organizations such as the NSA and CIA authority to shut down any site they deem to be a “cyber threat,” which it defines as follows:

“‘information in the possession of an element of the intelligence community directly pertaining to a vulnerability of, or threat to, a system or network of a government or private entity, including information pertaining to the protection of a system or network from either ‘efforts to degrade, disrupt, or destroy such system or network’; or ‘theft or misappropriation of private or government information, intellectual property, or personally identifiable information [3].’”

in other words, if this bill passes, you can say goodbye to the Pirate Bay and WikiLeaks within 6 months- WikiLeaks, in the name of domestic security, the Pirate Bay in the name of stopping “piracy.” But before we just accept that prerogative, let’s explore what “piracy” really is.

The short answer: it’s a vague, propagandist synonym for online file-sharing. This, in fact, is all any of these sites do. When you go to TBP for example, you are not viewing stolenmusic, as some would lead you to believe. Rather, you are viewing legally purchased music, which someone is simply offering to let you copy and paste onto your hard drive. Unlike physical theft, no one is actually losing anything. It is analogous to walking into a grocery store, magically cloning a container of blueberries, and simply taking the clone with you, but leaving the original container where you found it. Nothing actually gets taken from anyone.

• Government and Media respond to this situation by asserting that it is not our place to copy and share our files.

• Advocates for file-sharing counter that point with the analogy that peer-to-peer sharing is merely a digital version of lending your CD’s or Books to a friend. How can you say that’s not our place?

• Companies like Apple and Amazon have attempted to strike a balance by encrypting their digital files such that there is a limit to how they can be copied and shared. iTunes mp3 files, for example, can only be copied and shared to five computers. Kindle PDFs expire after a certain time frame when lent to other users, thus making them function more similarly to physical books and CD’s.

• And this is my point: the laws that we use to try to regulate and govern file-sharing are out-dated. They attempt to treat digital files like physical products when they are not. Information sharing has evolved into a new medium, but our approach to them has yet to catch up.

Save  Bieber! XD

In my experience, the people who are “against file sharing” don’t make very complete objections the premises on which its based. Rather, they eventually all cut to the same point- how can artists support themselves when people have the option of downloading their music for free?

Concern over this issue forgets to consider two things:

1. Networking is everything- have you ever heard the expression, “it’s all about who you know,”? Nowhere is this more true than the music industry (except maybe politics). While file sharing may account for a few lost sales, it more than makes up for that by increasing the artist’s visibility across the internet. A study from Blackburn estimates that “pirated” file sharing actually improves record sales for 75% or artists [4]. The 25% who are marginally affected are the ones on top, who have already secured their livelihood as artists. It’s like moving into a higher tax bracket. But even for that 25%, there are huge benefits to file sharing that this study doesn’t account for… which brings me to my next point:
2. Artistic revenue comes from more than just record sales- they also make money through live performances. The more widely disseminated their music is, the higher the demand for their events will be, and the more revenue they will be able to generate from them. Additionally, more and more artists are beginning to support themselves through ad-sponsorship on live-streaming sites such as YouTube. Have you noticed that even the Nicki Minajs and Justin Biebers  are all now putting their videos up for free viewing on VEVO? Wouldn’t that undercut record sales too? Probably, but do you think they care? YouTube pays them out the ass. Artistic revenue is not being destroyed. It is merely changing form to mirror a new generation of information sharing.

As convincing as I find this logic, some people just have a hard time wrapping their heads around the idea that an artist can make decent money off of YouTube and concerts alone. With those people in mind, I thought it might be worth considering a group of artist who have forfeited record sales altogether. Due to their frequent use of copyrighted samples, many electronic music artists are actually not allowed to sell records. Even the big names like Kaskade and Pretty Lights release all of their music for free download off their blogs. They generate revenue from ad sponsorship on free streaming sites, and perform at some of the biggest concerts on the planet. Rather than attempting to hoard and protect their music, they disseminate it as widely as possible. Kaskade, for example, regularly throws up links for free downloads and streaming to his more than 253,000 Twitter followers. How’s that for embracing the idea of free music?

The Pirate Bay vs. CISPA: “do we really have to choose?“

Now ordinarily, I’m not one for taking sides in a conflict as I feel it usually represents some sort of false dichotomy (you’re either behind our military, or you’re with the terrorists!). This situation is one exception. The Pirate Bay and CISPA cannot and will not coexists peacefully, as the main directive of CISPA is to take TPB down. It’s going to be one or the other, so as far as I can tell, you might as well weigh in. If you believe in free music on our planet, raise awareness. Send this article or others like it to your friends and family. Write about it on your own blog, facebook, or twitter. You’re not going to get the chance to vote on it yourself, but you can affect change by spreading understanding of the forces and ideas at work.

CISPA is the third bill of its kind to be proposed in the last year alone. SOPA and PIPA have failed already, yet the proposals keep coming. Even if CISPA fails, it won’t be the last. Big Media and government are going to keep working until they either get their way, or the world stands up to them. And they may succeed. They may eventually pass a bill and take down the Pirate Bay.

In the words of Medgar Evers, however,

“You can kill a man, but you can’t kill an idea.”

Because for every site they take down, three will appear to replace it. Free sharing is not about any one site or any one person. It’s an idea- the idea that we are free to share with the world, and create artistic abundance! It is not the end of music- it is the end of the music empire. And that, in my humble opinion, is not something to lament.

Sources:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing#Peer-to-peer_file_sharing
2. http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thepiratebay.se/
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Intelligence_Sharing_and_Protection_Act
4. http://torrentfreak.com/why-most-artists-profit-from-piracy/

In the first post of this series, I explained why the media’s targeting of “anarchists” as the party to blame for this issue is ignorant if not intentionally misleading. In this second part, I’ll address what I feel specifically about the damage caused to the City Centre building in downtown Seattle, as well as generally, about the tactic of property destruction as a means toward affecting social change.

Before I do that however, I’ll briefly state the obvious point that the breaking of random car windows is nothing more than aimless destruction. You would be hard pressed to find a person anywhere who thinks that that action is a prudent method toward their agenda. When we see such senseless acts of cathartic destruction, it is obvious that we are dealing with a person who is facing a very large amount of hurt and frustration in their own life. Seeing as no people were physically harmed in this situation, I wonder if maybe- just maybe- that might be worth more of our consideration than the fact that they were breaking the law…

Anyway, let’s consider the damage to NikeTown and American Apparel.

Estimates for the cost to replace the smashed in windows ranged from 12,000 to 16,000 dollars- per window, per store. So, this could potentially indicate as much as 32,000 dollars each[1]- a pretty significant chunk of change. However it is worth asking the question: who is ultimately coming out of pocket for these damages? Is it Nike? Is it American Apparel? Actually, no. Both companies are simply leasing their space in that building, and are not, in fact, responsible for replacing the broken windows. The building (called City Centre) is owned by the Bentall Kennedy Group, a Toronto-based fiduciary (wealth management) firm, specializing in real estate[2]. In addition to this skyscraper (which they purchased for $237 million in 1998 [5]), the firm manages over 26 Billion dollars in property assets throughout the US and Canada[3]. But don’t worry, because they won’t be paying for it either. Like all commercial real estate, City Centre is undoubtedly well-insured. Though I couldn’t find any public disclosure of who their insurance provider is, I figured it would be decent example to consider MetLife Inc, a relatively large insurer of commercial real estate. According to Y-Chart, Metlife’s total assets are valued at just over 799.6 Billion USD [4].

Therefore, we must be prepared for the fact that this event could well have cost an insurance company some .000004% of its wealth.

I bring up this metric to point out two things:

1. that it would take almost 25 million events like this just to bring down one large insurance company- forget about the system of capitalism. In other words, this strategy is simply never going to free humanity from monetary oppression.
2. That the property destruction to these windows had no realistic effect whatsoever on anyone’s livelihood. While I don’t support their methods, I think its important that we recognize that this really wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Over 1.4 million Iraqis have died in military conflict since  US forces invaded [6], however. That, I do feel is a big deal.

The biggest drawback

While I haven’t lost any sleep over the fact that a few windows were broken, there is one big, unintended consequence of this property damage: that it will be used as a propaganda tool. Events like this give government an excuse to be more proactive and aggressive with police forces in shutting down protests in the future. This is the last thing we want. They also give it an event to spin as “domestic terrorism” in advocacy for increasing military intelligence and doing things like monitoring private messages on Facebook, and shutting down bloggers. If you think I’m inventing that last part, I suggest you Google the word CISPA and see what comes up.

More than anything, this event was a distraction. It fooled a lot of people into thinking that “anarchists” are the enemy. Like “terrorists,” this word is ambiguous and a terrible description of what the group is actually about. But that’s exactly what they want. They don’t want you to understand your enemy- they want you to hate them and look to the police and military as your savior. In fixating on events like this, people forget the much larger systemic oppression to which they and the “anarchists” are both subjected. Don’t be one of those people. Step back, connect the dots, and try to see what’s going on in the bigger picture.

If it seems like there are more police in black body armor carrying plastic shields these days, it’s because there are. If it seems like congress is making an effort to remove more and more of our online freedom, it’s because they are. The powers that run our government are systematically working to remove our free speech and increase their police state occupation in our cities. But as always, don’t take my word for it. Just pay attention.

Sources:
1. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018116330_maydayprotest02m.html
2. http://www.emporis.com/building/city-centre-seattle-wa-usa
3. http://www.bentallkennedy.com/about_us_our_people_corporate.php
4. http://ycharts.com/companies/MET/assets
5. http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/1999/08/30/story7.html
6. http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq

Few in Seattle have yet to hear about the May Day riots, which featured property destruction to some of our downtown establishments. Individuals dressed in black clothing and ski masks broke windows and threw flaming containers of human feces into Nike Town, American Apparel, and the Federal Court Appeals building during a public demonstration focussed otherwise on immigration reform and the Occupy movements. In the time following, there have been a lot of news headlines and Facebook statuses demonizing “anarchists” as the party to blame for this event. For those of you who don’t know (which is probably most of you), I am an anarchist, and have been since I was 15. It’s not something that I talk about frequently because frankly, I don’t have much of an audience for it- even among my friends. But after seeing the mainstream response to this event, I decided that it was as good a time as any to clear up some serious misinformation and shed some light on what this event was really about.

First of all, before people go around condemning “anarchists” for this event, I think it would probably be useful to at least have a working understanding of what this word means.

The word Anarchist stems from the Greek prefix “an-,” meaning “without,” and “arkos,” meaning government. In laymen’s terms, therefore, an anarchist is simply someone without advocacy for government. It does not imply violence, property destruction, or even activism of any sort. It is merely a person who doesn’t want a government.

Now, in the context of the May Day events, the people who were breaking windows may well have been anarchists. However, to label those actions as “anarchism,” is simply not accurate. Remember, this term implies nothing about property destruction whatsoever.


Here’s an analogy: you read about a car bomb that went off somewhere in the middle east. Do you think it would be a clear or accurate description of the event to say “muslims bomb local intersection.” Of course not. The vast majority of muslims have no interest in killing anyone. So is that really a fair statement to make then? Personally, it strikes me as pretty slanderous toward a well-intentioned, unaffiliated group of people.

So what should they call it? Well, how about “an anti-capitalism activist group engaging in property destruction,”? Too much of a mouthful? Well sorry- that’s what it is. It’s not accurate to label it as anarchism. And it’s no more accurate to label those people as anarchists than it is to label them as atheists, heterosexuals, caucasians, or any other category they fit into that’s not technically affiliated with their approach.

Look, I don’t identify super strongly with being an anarchist. I don’t rep it on any of my clothing, and I’ve never painted the “A” logo on anything. But I take the time to point out this distinction because there are a lot of good people out there who get a hellacious rap from the rest of society simply because people don’t understand what anarchists are really about.

I hope this clears up the situation for a lot of you, and that after reading this, you’ll at least think twice before blaming “anarchists” for this issue.

In part 2 of this series, I’ll discuss what I actually think of the approach that these individuals took as an impetus for social change, and what the effects on our society will ultimately be.

If you are interested to read about why I came to view the world through an anarchist’s lens, you can check out one of my first posts here

Talk to you guys soon.

Peace, Love, and Consciousness