Monday 20 October 2014

The Right to Right Livelihood -- The Economics of Compassion







Shirley Lewis once told me we need to live as sustainably as possible

ASAP

and I agreed, then she said the key is, given your current circumstances.  Finally, I understood!  It wasn't about achieving an ideal of perfection, that stops some dead in their tracks, but taking stock of your current realities, then just taking one step forward at a time -- toward what you see as being sustainable.







What Sustains Us -- I thought I already knew the answer to this.  Shirley showed me this diagram called the Arc of Respect.  She believes that all the elements (of which earth is only one) are needed for our sustenance.  Plus -- we need the compassion and love of our fellow humans.  By the way here is a new way to describe ourselves.  Human comes from the same word as humus.  Yes we are of the earth and return to earth, but aren't we more?



Just as Shirley has said, we are beings of love.









So now as these beings, we try to keep our sense of humus intact (recycling, reusing, reducing) and keep on composting.  (I now have the Humanure Handbook, and it rocks... by the way.)





The Humanure Handbook : A Guide to Composting Human Manure - Joseph C. Jenkins





However, we need to have our own sense of compassion fully operational to graduate from being human to being love.



This is why I wish to talk to you today about a new economics and a new way of making a living and prospering and sharing with those in need.  It's called the economics of compassion.




 Walter Brueggemann is already implementing this idea in Cincinatti, Ohio (USA)





             






Anitra (Life Without Money) Nelson guided me to this fellow (link) who has managed to create a ground swell in the Free Land Movement in Australia.  He simply asked (on Gumtree) and simply received (by website users responding in kind.)










His wish is for the greater good, that is why I believe it has worked.  Not only a little but a lot!  So far I understand 3000 acres on 12 properties mostly in NSW -- some internationally -- has been offered free of charge for the production of food for the community.  (I presume this means the money-free community for practical reasons, but should apply to any one who is in need who comes forward -- and aren't such people already free of money.)



  Pragmatically, each property mentioned above represents a unique  

  situation that the participants will create in their own way.  When it comes  

  to money, it is still a planet of free choice,  

  and we can do what we like with this type of energy/abundance.  



The stigma our society has created around lack of money is intolerable.  It is bad enough not to be able to meet one's needs or one's family's, but don't dare talk about it. You see, money is a two-edged sword.  Whilst is can be said that it helps us meet our needs, it creates a dependence on itself (plus the fear of the lack of there being enough) just as a drug does.  Can't sleep without valium, can't wake up and go to work without coffee.  Can't live without money.  Sound familiar?





Articles 23 & 24 pertain to work.



I recently attended a methadone clinic for money addicts (in Australia this is called Centrelink, or the dole) that made sure I would have a two-weekly top-up of matrix-juice in my bank account.  However, it wasn't until I travelled out of my normal bucolic surroundings toward the big city of Sydney (which I normally avoid) that I fully comprehended the grip of this methadone metronome that fully hypnotises its users.  Sorry but I will not give horrible details of what happened to me in Sydney, but I will tell you I am much happier now than before, and I could write a book about what happened called, The Way I Changed in a Day.  This drama is instructive, because it shows that empowerment of ourselves and fulfillment of our heart's desire is also possible (you should see the land I found thanks to Spaces of Love (FB group) -- but it is possible precisely without money.




Example of right livelihood organisation --

This picture, "Promoting Seed Sovereignty"







Working around the world to reclaim the right to seeds and to a dignified life





At the very moment my own personal finances had reached the zero point, my empowerment reached its peak.  That is because I realised that my so-called support systems were actually draining me.  Job, Centrelink, employment agency.  By freeing myself (internally mind you, this had to come first) of them, I found power I had never known before.





Presence Worlwide





The Mondragon Corporation in Spain is defying the overall economy there

 to bring egalitarian working conditions (and employment!)

through its cooperative model


It includes companies such as the Orbea bicycle makers.







Arrasate, Spain





External circumstances, grim as they may have appeared at times, all seemed to conspire and align perfectly with my heart's desire, so the fruit of the internal work became apparent very rapidly.



 We are talking a week here.










I should also like to mention a debt of gratitude to one of my classmates in the "Work Readiness" program.  You might think it strange that some one already employed had to attend a course of that name.  So did I.  Not only that, but having a day's work was no excuse for missing a class!  With Integrity I came back the following week (and boy did I resent it) to make up the missed material.






Alan Watts






Somehow this man's material (via several youtube videos) had been inserted into the course presentation  (I love the way things are done in this country, even bureaucrats have a soul!).  I remember Alan Watts saying it is stupid to keep doing things we hate.  I couldn't find this exact quote any where, but that is what I got from the sound of his words.





Who is Vandana Shiva?

Here is an interview with her.





Vandana Shiva accuses multinational corporations such as Monsanto of attempting to impose “food totalitarianism” on the world.






Soon after this seed was planted, my life returned to me.  The country music record played in reverse.  I didn't have to go to an unhappy job or seek jobs I didn't want, got to spend time at home with the family (the dog did come back, eventually!) and potentially have found a beautiful new home that will empower me to participate in its design and construction -- plus I am blogging again after ten weeks absence.





Vladimir Megre. Kins dolmens





In spring 2013, the first preparatory stage began in the

construction of the Drugi eco-settlement in the

 south of Serbia. In 2014, the construction of houses was planned.


Linguistic note, drugi means "others" in Serbian.




The actual reason for the hiatus was another matter that I will share with you.  It was the birth of a beautiful baby daughter in September that kept me off they keyboard.







Evgeny Savchenko, 
Governor of Belgorod Oblast. 

Members of the Belgorod Duma have 
given legal status to Kin's Domains.



Never thought I'd use a politician as an example
of Right Livelihood -- Congratulations, Evgeny!



Interesting in a way that the post I had planned to send before my daughter's birth (also on Right Livelihood) looked completely different.  This little cherub has changed my life for the better just by her existence.  A quiet, good sleeper she is.  So if I have lost any sleep recently it is because I have been wondering how I could improve the world I brought her into.









As the Dalai Lama said in an interview in this book -- The Art of Happiness at Work (which I found life-changing enough in less-fortunate times seven years ago) -- Your Holiness, and what do you do?  Reply -- after clarifying what was meant by do -- to mean what is your principal work -- Nothing.  I do nothing, just care for myself, I suppose.










And when the Dalai Lama cares for himself -- he breathes in and out, eats, rests and drinks tea of course.  But the world is changed by his existence.  How does he do it?  And how can we do it?








Note -- the Dalai Lama knows how to ground and balance himself -- that's what he means by taking care of himself.  But look how effective it enables him to be.  How early does he get up?  And meditate?  And how many people does he meet with every day?  Was he ever persecuted or exiled? Is he still balanced in spite of it?  See what I mean..