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Anthony Alvarado

Tag Archives: end of the world

Piketty and Kingsworth are talking about the same thing

21 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by Alvarado in Uncategorized

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capital in twenty first century, dark mountain, end of the world, global collapse, picketty

Anybody else notice this confluence? There were two articles in this week’s Sunday edition of the NY Times, both are on the topics that are the largest challenges of our time. What is interesting is that these two gigantic challenges are somehow viewed as two separate issues, even though they are caused by the same thing.

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(Pictured above, Paul Kingsworth, founder of Dark Mountain movement, and a big sissy who thinks it is time to give up the fight.)

 

The articles I am referring to are one on the Dark Mountain movement. A group of former activists and ecologists who have thrown in the towel, and given up, it is too late, we can’t save nature and the planet. Let’s give up. The other article is on the new book on economics by french professor Picketty called Capital in the Twenty First Century. I haven’t read it yet, but it deals with the huge rise in inequality between the super wealthy and everyone else. We have two landmark moments here. A group of people, many of whom have long been the radicals and activists fighting to save the planet have given up hope. It is a bad sign when that happens, it likely means that the only reason more people haven’t given up all hope is because we are naive and don’t fully appreciate the direness of the situation. the other landmark moment, is that not too long ago saying that wealth inequality was a big deal problem was seen as radical, as the kind of talk you’d expect to hear only on a the campus of a bohemian college, maybe after a couple of puffs of reefer. But not this message: that the inequality of wealth is getting worse and worse and soon it will threaten the fabric of democracy . . . this is the message of the day in what is being lauded as THE big watershed book on economics. It is being touted as  the agreed upon thing in Academia and journalism.

 

We are destroying the planet by not caring for it, we are also damaging society with mind-boggiling $ inequality. These seem to be the two biggest challenges we face right now. Why I am bringing this up here is because I think it is crazy that no one has thought to point out that these, the two biggest challenges faced by humanity now, are caused by the same thing! Capitalism. Commercialism. The power of money, and uncontrolled greed left to run rampant over everything else.

This is actually good news! It means that rather than facing down what might look like two evil, nasty giants, we only face one. Like the Dark Mountain people I agree that our situation is bleak. Unlike them I don’t think it is time to throw in the towel. That’s a sissy move. If there is one thing I have learned from playing chess it’s not to give up,  ever, but to keep fighting even when you are down a piece and it looks hopeless. You can still win, even when you are way behind as long as you don’t give up. If you give up you can’t win at all, of course.

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Professor Pikkety suggests that progressive taxes which help redistribute wealth are a solution. I think they are a great start but not nearly enough. It seems to me that what is needed is a much deeper change. A change in values, in the way we see things, and in the ethics of what we value. We need to acquire a vision that allows us to see nature as precious enough so that we as a species will make whatever sacrifices we need to in order to save it. And a vision that teaches us to see unchecked greed and wealth accumulation for what it is: merely a sad, and gross disease. Not something to be envious of. In short, policy changes are not enough, we need to work on a new vision. A change that happens not just on the level of policy and legislation, but on the level of the heart. It is while looking for this new vision that I came up with the thoughts and ideas, and way of looking at things that became my book DIY Magic. Yes, I think what is needed is a magical way of seeing things, a sort of soul vision.

 

Is this even possible? Many would say no.  It is time to give up, and stop fighting. Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow the world dies, in fact what else is there to do but get all the cash you can and enjoy yourself. That is the battle cry of those who have given up. Folks feel overwhelmed, they feel that we face too many enemies to overcome. But what if the challenges we face are really a part of the same common cause? And therefore can be tackled with a common solution? A new way of seeing? I say that this battle has only just begun.

1 week

14 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by Alvarado in Uncategorized

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Tags

connecticut shooting, Dostoevsky, end of the world, responsibility, tragedy

By now you have heard about the awful, tragedy in Connecticut. A shooter killed 27, 18 of them children. This is just a few days after someone in my hometown of Portland shot up a mall.

It’s sickening. The first reaction most of us have upon hearing of news like this, after the initial emotions of sadness, revulsion, etc. is why? What is the explanation of this? Humans seek to understand tragedy because we think if we can understand something we can control it. And so prevent it.

One of the first reactions I saw to this was on Facebook. Someone posted in response to news of the shootings – This is what happens when people try to interpret the Mayan calendar.

Now as I’ve said before I think the Mayan calendar has 0 influence on the length of the world, we will still be around in 2013, and 2014, and on and on. But I think this person’s assumption is very interesting: the assumption is that if people know that the world is going to end, they are like — well fuck it, I’m going on a shooting spree. Ladies and Gentleman, if that is all that really holds civilization back from murder and violence than it would be a good thing if the world did just plain end in a week.

Because the end of the world would mean that we don’t have to face what’s wrong with the world. And by the world I mean us, humans, people. (The earth, plants and animals would be doing just dandy without us). The end of the world is a fantasy that lets us ignore the real issues at hand, and the hard work that must be done if we as a race are to progress.

Now, where does that leave us, with regards to the old big question of the nature of evil? Why? How could this sort of thing happen? Who is ultimately responsible? I don’t know. The media will blame it all on the sick fuck that did it. (And I do think that the media perpetuates the cycle of violence as much as anybody, by obsessing over it — and by the media I mean us the readers.)

But, I think that we as a race are no longer children, we have powers, and access to technologies, ideas, and abilities that would have made us gods in the eyes of our ancestors. Maybe our moral reasoning, our ethics, and ideas of responsibility need to evolve and mature too. So here is a radical idea (despite being over 130 years old). What if we all take responsibility for all of society, as individuals, and we all take responsibility for all individuals as a society? Here is a passage from The Brother’s Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, where the elder monk Zosima explains this radical idea to his monks.

“When he knows that he is not only worse than all those in the world, but is also guilty before all people, on behalf of all and for all, for all human sins, the world’s and each person’s, only then will the goal of our unity be acheived. For you must know my dear ones, that each of us is undoubtedly guilty on behalf of all and for all on earth, not only because of the common guilt of the world, but personally, each one of us, for all people and each person on this earth. This knowledge is the crown of the monk’s path, and of every man’s path on earth. For monks are not a different sort of men, but only as all men on earth ought also to be. Only then will our hearts be moved to a love that is infinite, universal, and know no satiety. Then each of us will be able to gain the whole world by love and wash away the world’s sins with his tears . . .”

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The World ends in 18 days

04 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by Alvarado in Uncategorized

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2012, baking, end of the world, yoga

Of course I don’t really believe that. But I have been trying to convince myself that I do lately. Just as a thought experiment, or a living-life experiment really. Ask yourself; if you really believed that the end of the world was happening on December 21st, what would you do?

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Freak out? Go on a crazy bender? Or a shopping spree?

Sure that’s a fine approach I guess, if you’re into that sort of thing. I have set a couple of pretty basic goals . . . you might think they’re silly. But they are simply things that I wish I had learned how to do already, and if the world is going to end in a few weeks I want to do them before I die. They are:

1. bake a loaf of bread.

2. learn how to do a headstand.

3. read Gravity’s Rainbow.

ImageYep. That’s it. Baking bread is pure zen. Simply flour, water, a pinch of salt and of yeast and you can make the staff of life. Like all good zen activities, it seems very simple, but doing it well is an art form. The headstand is for yoga. It feels great, and gives you a rush. And Gravity’s Rainbow is just one of those big giant books I’ve always meant to read but never got around to.

gravitys_rainbow

So, if the world ends in 18 days, what are your 3 things?

headstand

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