Love for Life

Federico Fuentes: Evo’s ‘ten commandments’ to save the planet
(With a supporting populist response by Dick Eastman)

Evo Morales, President of Bolivia, gives his "ten commandments to save the planet"

1) put an end to the capitalist system; 2) renounce wars; 3) for a world without imperialism or colonialism; 4) the right to water; 5) development of clean energies; 6) respect Mother Earth; 7) treat basic services as human rights; 8) fight inequalities; 9) promote diversity of cultures and economies; 10) and live well, not live better at the expense of others.

BRAVO EVO MORALES! Here is the basis on which I agree with President Morales and on which I think his proposals make sense, taking each "commandment" point by point.

I say, first, end the rule of the world by money, by monopoly credit, by investment capital (i.e. by private money that buys means of production for corporations with credit from international investment bankers) but retain the market system and individual enterprise on a single proprietorship and partnership basis.

I say, second, renouncing wars is easy, every nation does it, every aggressor does it -- but then they claim that their aggression is for defensive purposes, that they must commit aggression because they have discovered that their victim was planning aggression etc. The only way to end war is to remove the economic motive for war -- and the economic motive for war is that the ruling minorities monopolize the means of production in their own countries but they also control the money supply and keep from the people purchasing power that would enable them to buy what the country produces -- thus the nation much seek foreign markets to sell the excess, making the worker work even harder than is necessary to provide for themselves -- look at the Chinese working for international capitalists in China -- they produce so much and get so little. This can be ended. Social credit and nationalism and populism are the only answer to war.

I say, third , eliminate imperialism by introducing social credit (ending the monopoly of credit by the banking system.) I also say that banks should be limited in their reach. Interstate banking should be eliminated once and for all and international banking should only exist -- and exist under the heaviest regulation by nations, to facilitate balanced (no deficits) trade among nations with no foreign investment. Without international exploitation every nation (debt free) will have the means of developing its own resources to trade for the things they need.

I say, fourth, Evo Morales is right. Water should be owned by governments or provided by cooperatives that work within strict government guidelines -- the cooperative always being locally owned -- the the understanding that the water is a public good that cooperatives are allowed to dig wells or canals to bring to people. Water should never be owned by a corporation. Governments have the responsibility to provide drinkable (potable) water in cities or towns where they have jurisdiction, charging only enough to cover costs. People in rural areas can of course have their own well, subject to whatever regulation is deemed necessary by the local government or those affected "downstream." When the water rights of those "down stream" are a question -- the solution should be left to the local political process within larger legal guidelines.

I say, fifth, that nuclear energy is one of the clean energies.

I say, sixth, respect of Mother Earth is a worthless statement -- it means nothing more than respect everything between Venus and Mars -- politicians love to make such meaningless statements -- motherhood is always something a politician defends -- this does not mean that I hate the earth I should add.

I say, seventh, to say that basic services are human rights is valid -- but what it should mean is that everyone is entitled to social credit which enables them to take care of their basic needs -- this does not mean that your food must come from collective farms or that farmers should distribute their produce to people without being paid. It means that people deserve a social credit dividend check sufficient for them to feed, clothe and shelter themselves -- but the government should not become the totalitarian communist/socialist economic planners telling everyone what basics will be produced for them -- let them have money to choose what they think are the basics for themselves and for their families. This is the difference between populism and state socialism.

I say, eighth, that no two people are the same and equality of lives is impossible to calculate much less attain. However, no man should own billions or trillions in wealth (land, money owed to him at compound interest, factories, patents, gold, stock etc.) while the rest of the world is dispossessed of these things. There should be in every nation an upper limit on wealth. And no man with the highest allowable wealth should have even more wealth hidden away in other countries -- you should be allowed to be a billionaire only in your own country -- when you go to another country you should not be allowed to buy their land or own their factories. You may buy their goods and you may visit them and spend as a tourist, but you cannot invest in their lands or own their factories or lend them money. If you want to help them then give them free advice on how better to organize themselves. You may donate colleges or aid to these countries -- but with no strings attached.

I say, ninth, the government should not promote diversity of cultures and it should not promote homogenization of cultures -- it should allow people experiment with culture, to find ways to continue their cultures, to modify their cultures borrowing from other cultures as they see fit. Let the Amish continue as Amish. Let those who want to convert to something else do so. Let people of on culture form neighborhoods where that culture is supported -- as long as they do not force other people from where they live and work simply because they don't fit in. Allow people to have their own way of life -- even Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints in Texas. Simply obey the laws and accept that culture is carried in the heart and shared among people, it is not part of the land which belongs to everyone. Let there be freedom, and everyone will enjoy the good in all cultures, and cultures with intrinsic value will be maintained by those who see that value and find it worth preserving. The state should have no part of this -- unless the people want to build a park where folk festivals may be held or something like that. And if Christians want a manger scene in a park -- let them -- and also let the Hindu wheel a juggernaut through the streets with tambourines and incense burning when they find occasion. The beauty of man is that different cultures show different facets of his potential. The world would be diminished if we were all one race and if we were all one culture. It is the great evil of Zionist global imperialism that it destroys cultures and pits one culture against another and one religion against another. I know of a family where Mormons have let their son become Jehovah's Witnesses because his original (deceased) father was Jehovahs Witness. My wife is pentacostel Christian and I am a Mormon -- my youngest daughter attends a Lutheran school -- other Mormons I know attend Catholic schools. When I grew up in Oakland California and attended Oakland High School -- every race and religion was there and we were all the better for it. (How different and ugly things were when I went to the East Coast and saw cultural, racial and religions segregation. Get the state out of the diversity business. Also break up the media monopoly where we are all given Jewish racial and ethnic prejudices -- let us have real freedom -- even freedom to be anti-Zionist when Zionism is proven to mean racism and perpetual war against other cultures and beliefs. I am talking about cultures and races, I am not talking about conspiracies against all that are based on race and religion. Cultures are a program for people to run on. Zionism is a virus that destroys other peoples programs -- the very thing law and government must protect cultures and diversity from.

And tenth, I say, yes, let us all follow the "commandment" to live well, not live better at the expense of others. Only one person can own a particular original painting -- but everyone can own some original art. Everyone should be a partner with everyone else -- we cooperate -- in making society free and prosperous and beautiful and satisfying. Yes,there should still be winners and losers -- but only in the competition between two people or two small companies to provide a better good at less cost to the public -- let that kind of competition exist. The corporations have destroyed that kind of economy -- the corporations are the enemy of competition, they live by monopoly and unfair advantage (big loans from the credit monopolists, utilization of slave labor in slave societies so that soon all of the masses are working for slave wages or else the business goes under -- that is the way of Zionist international finance capitalism. We still want a world where excellence is rewarded by praise and the product of the great artist is rewarded highly -- but no one needs billions. We do not need Hollywood stars making millions on a film in the Zionist monopoly of the film industry -- when every city has people who would love to act, who would love to write screenplays and have their ideas brought to the screen or the stage -- but they lack capital and the screen actors union and dozen other unions conspire with the motion picture monopoly power to keep out competition. Economic freedom with every person having access to capital from social credit is the way that everyone will have a better life not at the expense of others, except for the billionaire monopolists and trillionaires war profiteers, drug profiteers, arms profiteers, pornography profiteers etc from whom we are going to take their monopoly power and all of their wealth beyond what is needed for a good middle class life. (And as common people today live better than kings 500 years ago, so middle class life is something that will blossom into a variety of lifestyles of great beauty and individuality when the species is finally allowed to live in the way outlined above.)

A final comment follows the article by Federico Fuentes below.

Dick Eastman
Yakima, Washington
Every man is responsible to every other man.

Bob Bowman will be our next president -- if we really want out of this mess.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/748/38683

Evo’s ‘ten commandments’ to save the planet

Federico Fuentes
26 April 2008

The message delivered by Bolivia’s indigenous president couldn’t be clearer: “If we want to save the planet, we have to put an end to and eradicate the capitalist model.”

Addressing the Seventh United Nations Indigenous Forum, held in New York on April 21, which this year was focused on the issue of climate change, President Evo Morales stated that this environmental crisis was “not the product of human beings in general, but rather the current inhumane capitalist system, with unlimited industrial development”.

“That is why I feel that it is important to put an end to the exploitation of human beings and to put an end to the pillaging of natural resources; to put an end to destructive wars for raw materials”, Morales said.

As an alternative system, Morales proposed “a communitarian socialism in harmony with Mother Earth”.

The UN forum was the first meeting since the UN passed the
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People last year. Since then Bolivia has become the first nation to adopt the declaration into its national legal framework and it continues to lead the way on indigenous rights.

During his much-applauded speech, delivered as chief guest at the forum for discussion, Morales outlined his “ten commandments” to save the planet.

The ten commandments are: 1) put an end to the capitalist system; 2) renounce wars; 3) for a world without imperialism or colonialism; 4) the right to water; 5) development of clean energies; 6) respect Mother Earth; 7) treat basic services as human rights; 8) fight inequalities; 9) promote diversity of cultures and economies; 10) and live well, not live better at the expense of others.

Morales also used his speech to raise the “very serious” issue of the plan to use food to produce fuel through the mass production of biofuels, which is threatening food access for the world’s poor. Under capitalism, Morales said, “cars come first, not human beings … I say life first and cars second.”

“In order to avoid hunger and misery”, it is necessary to solve the energy crisis through the development of clean energy such as wind and solar power, Morales said.

Issuing a rallying cry to the estimated 370 million indigenous people around the world, Morales proclaimed: “The indigenous people will not shut up until we achieve a real change.”

Morales told the more than 2,500 indigenous representatives: “It is not possible that some countries have all the power and others not. There exists a United Nations organisation, but if this does not change and democratise itself, then the first nations and indigenous peoples could, instead of the UN, create the Unity of Indigenous Nations of the World.”

He concluded by pointing out the choice that facing humanity was to “follow a life of capitalism and death, or the indigenous path of harmony with Mother Earth and life”.

(end)

One more comment on Evo’s ‘ten commandments’ to save the planet:

I especially like the idea of the socialization of water (public water utilities -- under local government would be best) , perhaps of land over a basic ownership for a family or a family farm -- but no more giant agribusiness or billionaires owning a hundred million acres. I also believe that nuclear energy is save -- that 3-mile island and Chernobyl were sabotage to stop nuclear power from competing with oil monopoly. To eliminate capitalism is to eliminate the credit monopoly and to eliminate the structure of the corporation -- but if a man wants to make bread in his own bakery the state should not stop him -- if a man or woman wants to make their own cars for sale and designs it and gets small companies which he brings together over the Internet to make different parts for the car so that he can assemble them and sell them -- then he should be able to do that -- but if he fails to make a profit he should go out of business and if he succeeds he should grow on the profits he has made -- there should be no usury capitalist bankrolling him or floating corporation stock. We want the old Henry Ford and Thomas Edison and Walt Disney model, not the leveraged buyout guys running our economy. And when the owner of a factory dies let the company die with him or be inherited and come under the full liability ownership of some other individual. Let full liability fall on the owner, but allow investment from investors up to 49 percent, with limited liability to those investors because they do not have majority share. etc. My point is that we can do away with "capitalism" -- but retain market system, private ownership, freedom of entrepreneurship that takes the consequences of not satisfying the market. Also the defense industries should be 100 percent nationalized and in war, as President Harding suggested after World War One -- in war the companies should be drafted and taken over by the government with no profit or revenue going to the owners until the war is over and the firms revert back to civilian products. Yes, eradicate the capitalism model -- eliminate money capital usury and the credit monopoly and the corporation structure and international investment -- but keep the market system -- make it a populist and national market system with balanced-account foreign trade in goods and services without foreign investment -- and make defense industry, power, water, public utilities (i.e. socialized services.) Remember Finance Capitalism = Imperialism = Communism = Zionism = racist domination by an organized minority that will always degrade the common man in order to rule over him.

Dick Eastman
Yakima, Washington
Every man is responsible to every other man.