In this section we will learn how to equitably redistribute both the inordinate wealth and power of the world which is currently held by 1% of the wealthiest individuals and corporations—why this is a moral imperative and how to achieve it, locally and globally.
America is a barbaric society which allows such rampant homelessness, hunger, poverty and will be judged by how we take care of the least of us! Homelessness, and every other social ill could be solved in the blink of an eye if WE the people really cared and had the will because we would FORCE our elected representatives, and our religious institutions to do so; it is not rocket science, and can easily be done with true ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY–ever wonder why Europe and many other countries, who have relatively less of the wealth and riches we have, take better care of their people and don’t have homelessness but have free healthcare, free college, living wages, guaranteed incomes, and overall better quality of life for ALL its peoples? That is the “secret” the elite in America don’t want us to know–they want you to think that YOU in the middle class, will have to suffer and pay for such progress because the inordinately wealthy don’t want to; check out the netflix video “Where to Invade Next” for some insights.
The Problem with “Socialism”
There are a lot of good things about “socialism” as an economic system. For instance, in this country some of the positive “socialist” advances have included Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Public Housing, Credit Unions, Agricultural Coops, Housing Coops, Food Coops, Worker-Owned Business Coops. Then why such angst around the term “socialism” ?
We think we’ve figured out the problem. It is trauma associated with a word–based on one’s personal experiences and/or perceptions and conditioning. In this case the word “socialism” is used by manipulative politicians and pundits to scare the heck out of those who have been traumatized by a version of socialism, or of those who have not experienced it but have the perception of such trauma based on false propaganda. In order to help dispel these traumas and myths, let’s first simply define the term and it’s versions, and then abandon it for a new less threatening and manipulated term. Socialism is an economic system and not a political or governing system, just as capitalism is–both dealing with means and ownership of production, with private/public ownership of common spaces, with regulation of currencies, and other economic issues. When combined with a governing system there are basically two types of socialist countries–Authoritarian Socialist (e.g. Russia, China, Cuba) or Democratic Socialist (most of Europe, Canada, and, growing in the U.S.). Since now many countries are combining socialist policies and practices with capitalist ones, there are now several versions of capitalism—-Authoritarian Capitalist (Russia, China, Eastern European countries, and to some extent the US where there are not free but government manipulated markets favoring the elite, the wealthy, and corporations), and what we will call Libertarian or Democratic Capitalism (with less government market control and truly free markets; most of Europe, and to a lesser extent, the US). So what we are seeing is a mixture of the best parts of socialism and capitalism, especially successful in western Europe–where there is less fear, manipulation and propaganda relating to socialism (since it has worked there for so long and so well), so maybe it is time for us to coin new terms to describe optimum economic and political systems in order to free people’s minds and fears—perhaps: Democratic Social Capitalism, or Democratic Capital Socialism, or Libertarian Social Capitalism, or Libertarian Capital Socialism. Just some thoughts on how we can take the “boogeyman” out of economics and politics and start to learn how to unite and work together rather than be divided by old terms and rivalries.
In the spirit of reframing this discussion refer to “Regenerative Economics” or “Regenerative Capitalism” which is the application of nature’s laws and patterns of systemic health, self-organization, self-renewal, and regenerative vitality to socioeconomic systems, and includes business practices that restore and build rather than exploit and destroy. This is partly derived from the ancient knowledge of the the interrelationship of all life systems held and practiced by Indigenous and Eastern cultures.
Here is a chart below, contributed by Native American Roberto Mendoza, comparing our “woke” or “regenarative” values with existing corporatist capitalist extractive ones:
| INDIGENOUS/WOKE/COOPERATIVE VALUES | CORPORATE / CAPITALIST VALUES |
| Generosity. Sharing, no hoarding. | Greed. Hoarding, profit, taking more than you need. |
| Cooperation. Working together. Mutual aid. | Competition. ‘Dog eat dog’. Losers can only blame themselves. |
| Community. We are all related, including plants and animals. | Individualism. Me first, pull yourself up by your bootstraps. |
| Reciprocity. If you take, you must give back in some form. Not just things, but also energy. | Exploitation. Of people, the Earth and all living beings, plus the land, air and water. |
| Gender equality. Women respected and honored. Lineage goes through the mother. Women can be leaders. Two Spirits respected. | Patriarchy. Women subordinate to men, religions have male priests, men can control and use women and girls. |
| Commons. Belongs to everyone including communities — the land, water, soil. None of this can be bought or sold. | Private property. Owners can mark off, then exploit/extract the commons for private gain. |
| Earth-centered spirituality. All living beings are sacred and need to be nurtured and protected. Ex. Water is Life/Mni Wiconi. | Materialism/consumerism. The Earth seen as real estate, humans as commodities (slavery). Everything can bought and sold on the market. |
| Indigenous/Communalist Values Horizontal, direct democracy. Government by consensus. A balance between male and female leaders. | Corporate Capitalist Values Hierarchy. Top-down, authoritarian governance. Representative instead of direct democracy. With mostly men as leaders. |
| Restorative justice. No prison/jails. Community brings wrongdoers and victims together to work out responsibility, restitution and social harmony. | Retributive justice. Revenge, punishment, isolation of ‘criminals’. Mass incarceration, private prisons; War on Drugs and militarized police. |
| Food sovereignty. Locally grown organic gardens/small farms. Use of permaculture. | Industrial sized factory farming, Using pesticides, herbicides and antibiotics. |
| Autonomy. Self-governing neighborhoods, towns and cities. No hierarchical state. | Centralized hierarchical states/ Empires. Nationalism, Plutocracies and dictatorships |
| Equal Rights. Including LGBT people regardless of race or religion. | Racism/Otherism. Segregation/ sectarianism/classism. |
| Living well instead of living better – Buen Vivir. Shifts the common understanding of human rights and human development from anthropocentric frameworks toward a more biocentric focus. Which sees humans as a part of nature, not it’s owner or master. | ‘More, better, faster, bigger’. Grow or die. Continually growing inequality. Climate change, 6th Great Extinction, Insect Apocalypse. In which deforestation, massive fires and floods, desertification, increasing greenhouse gases, leads to resource wars and civilizational collapse. |
Some activities you can join us in immediately to further the goals of economic democracy, oneness and wokefulness include:
1) Join the global movement which is already changing the world GLOBAL CITIZEN.
2. A must read and really one of the main “textbooks” of this Institute is the book by Ezrah Aharone “The Sovereign Psyche: Systems of Chattel Freedom vs. Self-Authentic Freedom“ (We will be compiling an abridged version and posting it on this website, so stay tuned but in the meantime you can order and/or read excerpts from the book by clicking on the title.)
3. Join the continental revolutionary movement, Symbiosis, “a confederation of community organizations across North America, building a democratic and ecological society from the ground up.“
4. Join the main organization exposing and trying to end America’s violent, militaristic, and terroristic foreign policy Win Without War.
5. Check out our Global Woke Institute video-casts and podcasts
6. We have access to non-extractive funding for minority and women owned, diverse businesses, including both traditional and worker-owned/coops. (Write to globalwokeinstitute@gmail.com for info.)
7. https://books.google.com/books/about/Davos_Man.html… HOW THE BILLIONAIRES ARE DESTROYING THE WORLD :A must read on how the wealthy elite are keeping and increasing the gross inequities between the 99% and the 1%, while giving lip service to non- “solutions” which only enable them to grow and retain their inordinate wealth, at the expense of the masses. (If you would rather watch a related video, Google the author, Peter Goodman, whose YouTube videos are excellent!)
8. Social Housing For All (Link to Video)
Social Housing For All (Link to full paper) A Vision For Thriving Communities, Renter Power, and Racial Justice
To create a more equitable housing system, we must massively expand social housing: a public option for housing that is permanently affordable, protected from the private market, and publicly owned or under democratic community control. All levels of government must create public, non- profit means of housing finance, construction, management, and ownership to counter real estate speculation—rather than using our public funds to enrich for-profit speculators, private developers, and corporate landlords. Government policy should develop and maintain social housing by employing organized labor and creating union jobs. And we must ensure that systems of democratic accountability center low-income communities of color, renters, and the most marginalized residents in decision-making and control over resources. The implementation of social housing must redress inequity and exclusion; only through accountability to marginalized communities will social housing programs truly serve their interests
HOW WOKE AM I--REALLY ??? 