a little stash of my sister's old clothes. just need a little paint, some scissors, stitching here and there, some glue, a few embellishments and a creative twist!

One way we can avoid making an unnecessary impact on our planet, or avoid needless exploitation, is by buying locally produced goods.  Beyond this though, why not try making your Christmas gifts (or gifts for any other time, for that matter)?  It means virtually no impact on the planet (depending on whether or not you have to buy anything additional) and not least, spending less money!  Here are my ’3 things’.

My sister is moving overseas this year, so i was lucky enough to be able to have a search through all of her old clothes and accessories, and found quite a stash of potential pre-loved pieces that ill be able to perfectly prime for presentation to some precious peeps.

  Think recycled fashion and wares, once loved, now re-loved.

Pieces can be adorned with little embellishments you might find lying around, and all it takes is a bit of creativity and some simple stitching or good quality glue to refashion something old, into something unique and refreshed – all with your own personal, loving touch!

Another little treasure i discovered lying around at home – and the second of my ’3 things ill be making for Christmas’ – are these little ceramic pots (pictured below).  With a bit of love, there are so many ways that they can be turned into something special and fun.  I’m going to paint them with chalkboard paint (which you can easily find at any hardware store) so i can write little messages on them for the giftees (they’ll then be able to rub it off and use it anyway they like – who needs post-it notes!).  I also plan on using dried flowers, stuck firm in a little cork base to keep them standing tall, and after cleaning and lining the pots with plastic, they’ll be ready to fill with number three of the little gifts ill be making this Christmas!

little ceramic pots i found in the garage. so many other uses

Making food or giving food as gifts is a great Christmas idea that reduces our impact on the earth, provides a little personal touch and also benefits others, helping them to reduce their impact too!  For my third homemade xmas gift, I’ll be filling these little pots with some homemade icecream i’ll be making – something that is much easier to make than you may think, might i add.  – All you really need is some eggs, sugar, lots of cream and some funky flavours to make it memorable.  I’m going to make mine with almond, gin and orange zest.  Find a recipe online and get involved!

There really is no limit to the ways in which we can look at our gift-giving choices throughout the year – only your creativity.  One thing that is for sure though, is that there is a new lease on life to be found in so many things that we think we can no longer use!  So get inspired and re-use, recycle and re-love this Christmas.  Save your cash and save a piece of the planet too!

’3things’ is an initiative of Oxfam Australia.  It is a:  “movement for global goodness. The idea is that if we all take steps to act ethically, sustainably and generously we can change the world one individual decision at a time. This can happen on a local, national or global scale – and through our combined small actions we can reduce poverty, live in a world where everyone has the opportunity to express their basic human rights and the environment is sustained.”

find out more here

]]> http://theinsideoutside.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/3-things-you-can-make-for-christmas-gifts/feed/ 0 Carlitos M http://theinsideoutside.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/stop-this-becoming-exactly-what-they-want-it-to-become/ http://theinsideoutside.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/stop-this-becoming-exactly-what-they-want-it-to-become/#comments Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:11:57 +0000 Cm http://theinsideoutside.wordpress.com/?p=1696 Read more]]>

who's the real threat? (click to enlarge)

The US/UK coalition propaganda machine is now telling us that Iran has become “newly aggressive, and we are not quite sure why” as “UK military steps up plans for Iran attack amid fresh nuclear fears” and “British officials consider contingency options to back up a possible US action as fears mount over Tehran’s capability ” (guardian November 2).

Could it well be that they are feeling threatened by the ‘aggression’ of the US and the UK, and their gigantic stockpiles of nuclear weapons?  Nothing new here.  Perhaps it just fits in perfectly to suggest Iran’s ‘aggression’, because the coalition’s middle eastern ally is suggesting that they themselves might launch an attack on their arab neighbour.  Why?  “We’re just attacking them, because they attacked our Israeli buddies” .. “We warned them” – you can hear it now, right?

Such perfect examples of the ‘sleeping giant theory’ (a childish, ‘he hit me first’ excuse – the kind of game that US congress have long played) and the kind of ‘devil made me do it’ reasoning also outlined in the book ‘The seven deadly spins’ by the author Mickey Z, which dissects the cunning lies utilized for war propaganda, also used to justify the US war-machine’s self-serving needs.  And when i say ‘self-serving’, dont get that confused with serving the US state.  It really only benefits a few small hands of power, as they well know.

“to go to war when there are insufficient funds in the treasury is a recipe for failure, and for the ultimate destruction of the state” ..  “war causes inflation, and inflation exhausts the country waging the war” – from his classic ‘the art of war’, Sun Tzu’s anti-criterium for engagement only serve to highlight the tenuousness of any pledge by the US/UK coalition to be serving the interests of their respective countries, or the people (or the world).

Such language as that which has been outlined by the guardian newspaper can only be viewed as completely, utterly irresponsible, belligerent and provocative behaviour…

When George Bush invaded Panama (just two weeks after the fall of the Berlin wall) on the weak pretense that Panama was being used as a port for smuggling drugs into the USA, he was asked if the amount of civilian deaths in the fight to capture Manuel Noriega was worth it (Noriega, a man transformed at the click of a finger into a brutal figure, by the very authority that previously installed him as a US backed CIA agent – the US government) “every human life is precious, and yet i have to answer, yes it has been worth it”,  answered Bush.  Such open, delusional, insane hypocrisy.

The similarities – to past, current and now, possible future wars – is startling, to say the least.
But who are we to argue?

]]> http://theinsideoutside.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/stop-this-becoming-exactly-what-they-want-it-to-become/feed/ 1 Carlitos M http://theinsideoutside.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/need-to-clean-up-your-act/ http://theinsideoutside.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/need-to-clean-up-your-act/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 02:24:18 +0000 Cm http://theinsideoutside.wordpress.com/?p=1682 Read more]]>

one ENOURMOUS bag of rubbish, from one small stretch of creek-bank

The plastic bag in the image on the left is filled with litter collected from what would have been an approximately ten metre length of creek’s edge, around a twenty minute walk from my current home in the suburbs of Brisbane, Australia.

That i can find this much waste in such a small area is quite astonishing, and perhaps an assessment – with very poor results – of the people local to this area.  I fear however, that this isn’t a phenomenon unique to this locale.

Sure, the existence of a McDonalds just a few hundred metres away ensured that there was a majority of their packaging littering the shoreline (which city or suburb doesn’t have a McDonalds these days? – keep up the good work Ronald) but we live in a country where rubbish bins aren’t necessarily few and far between.

Nevertheless, most of what i picked up were discarded food wrappers and packaging (along with quite a few plastic bags – no doubt from the nearby supermarket, a load of cigarette butts – an insidious, all too often thrown, disgusting piece of matter, beer bottles and alchopop cans) that could surely have been held onto, and disposed of properly,  with care and thought of the impact that not doing so can have.

Fact is, most people (dare i say, most Australians) are far too mindless, lazy and dare i say stupid to consider hanging on to their chocolate bar wrapper, or paper bag, or burnt out cigarette, or finished soda can until they can get to a rubbish bin. 

In my suburb, this basically means no more than a 500 metre walk (until you will pass a bin on the side of the street).  – In the CBD (where insane littering is still rife) you’d probably pass a rubbish bin every 200 metres.

Why it is so easy for most people to engage in this ugly habit is a mostly unanswerable question – we all know the consequences of letting our waste go to ground. But still, single-celled organisms take better care of their living environment.  As do most birds, insects and sea life.

Perhaps there is part of the blame to be squared on the shoulders of the over-packaging producers of the goods we consume, but consider:  If not one single person let one single piece of litter reach the ground, how much healthier would our oceans be, our gardens look, our streets appear, and how much would we all benefit from an untainted human habitat?  A clean habitat for our food sources?  An increase in productivity from not having to allocate resources and manpower to constantly cleaning up our mess?  And the love that our mother earth would provide us with in return?   Im sure i can be forgiven for using the word ‘stupid’ ..

Think about it.

]]> http://theinsideoutside.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/need-to-clean-up-your-act/feed/ 1 imag0542-1-1 Carlitos M http://theinsideoutside.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/why-the-occupy-movement-isnt-quite-working-in-australia/ http://theinsideoutside.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/why-the-occupy-movement-isnt-quite-working-in-australia/#comments Thu, 27 Oct 2011 02:44:22 +0000 Cm http://theinsideoutside.wordpress.com/?p=1645 Read more]]> Australian’s have been largely unimpressed by the ‘occupy’ movement.  At week two into the global ‘occupation’ (its worldwide inception was officially October 15th) the occupations in our two most populated cities have already been dispersed, somewhat controversially.

In Sydney, they lasted only 8 days and were allegedly informed that they could protest by day, remove themselves at night and continue on in daylight hours once more.  When they failed to comply, they were removed.

In Melbourne, they lasted almost a week, before they were handed eviction notices and then removed, somewhat forcibly, resulting in a barrage of media attention – perhaps even to their benefit.

The act of how they were actually removed is really beside the point.  – The green left weekly and its propaganda will tell you that it was ‘brutal’, the police and the government and their propaganda will tell you that they used ‘necessary force’.  – Its one politic against another.  What begs the real question is ‘why’ ?

In a comparable time frame, Occupy Wall St (the movement that sparked the international groundswell) had already garnered the support of thousands, as a physical presence at their occupation (including some police, businessmen, pilots, pensioners and professors), already had widespread media coverage (albeit independent media – it is, after all, a protest against corporate power), already had renowned political and social figures addressing their assemblies (such as writer and activist Cornel West, and author and journalist – formerly of the New York Times – Chris Hedges) and already had distinct maps and schematics of their ‘occupation’ available for all, along with extended schedules of upcoming occupation events.  Within a week they had even inspired thousands in other American cities to start their own occupations.

hundreds of thousands gathered to protest in Madrid's Puerta del Sol

In Italy – a country who’s current economic climate threatens to destroy the whole euro zone – Rome’s occupy movement was so angered with the status quo that riots ensued (a fascist head of state doesn’t bode well these days).  Spain also saw hundreds of thousands gathering to protest against the hands controlling its country’s failing economy.

Sure, NYC’s population (Italy’s, Spain’s and London’s too) would assure power in numbers for the ’99%’ – and their access to influential citizens is much higher than say, Brisbane – but shouldn’t the universality of the cause mean universal support?

In New York – all across America – foreclosures, unemployment and bankruptcy are crippling the nation and its people.  Spain is suffering some of the worst unemployment of anywhere in Europe.  And Rome is falling like well, the Romans (the similarities between the fall of the Roman empire, and the state of the current ‘empires’ ruling the world are interestingly startling).

In Australia though, things aren’t so severe.  When a disorganized, disheveled group of rebels get together on a working day, screaming misinformation and ranting like schoolkids about greed and corporations and slandering ‘the rich’, it doesn’t really captivate much of society.  In America yes, in Australia, no.

If the main vein of dispute had the blood of our country’s environment, water, flora or fauna coursing through it and pumping our metaphoric, emboldened hearts, more people might take notice.  A shining example of this is the tens of thousands that rallied all across the country midway through this month against the threat of Coal Seam Gas mining that could well jeopardize our water and food supply.  It’s a common cause.  It speaks to a genuine cross-section of our democracy – including elected members, the police and influential business.

If there was an occupy movement in Australia to protest the shutting down of the National Rugby League competition (heaven forbid!) the streets would be full, overflowing, millions would erupt.  Where is the commonality of a senseless tirade against ‘the rich‘ or ‘greed‘, as is so often repeated.  What about ‘sustainability‘?

If Australia’s occupy movements were actually organised, controlled, directed, well-installed, educated and informed, they may have forseen the problems that caused their movements (Sydney and Melbourne) to be dissolved (temporarily or otherwise) – they could have even better informed a very confused, disinterested public.

The lack of information, direction, forethought or foresight has been a crippling factor from Occupy Australia’s start – as i’m sure is the unfortunate case for many other cities experiencing tumult across the world as i write this.  Just yesterday, radio 4bc spoke with Occupy Brisbane’s ‘organiser’ Mr Thomas Brookes about the occupy movement, and his discourse was largely predictable and off-topic.  He quoted figures of America’s unemployment at “20 percent”, then when corrected by the announcer (who said “i dont think that’s a nationwide figure”) Brookes responded by saying:  Oh yeah, they’re “all over the shop”, in a lame attempt to disguise his apparent indiscretions.

The announcer then quoted accurate figures on other U.S states, before Mr Brookes responded by saying “i dont know the exact figures, im just looking at the whole picture”.  – Hang on, didn’t you just agree with the announcer when he said he ‘doesn’t think that’s a nationwide figure’?  … Tenuous indeed.  Its hard to take these people seriously.

What could have been a chance to actually inform a wide range of listeners towards what is actually occurring, what they are actually fighting for, what is actually at stake (our world as we know it, not just our money, possessions, jobs, homes – because for some, this just isn’t relevant!) was another typical uninformed rant.  Off-topic answers, inarticulate ramblings, repeatedly quoting all the predictable nonsense about ‘greed’ and ‘capitalism’ and ‘the market’ and ‘democracy’.  Come on now.

And just as any political movement (which is what this is,as long as they don’t establish serious solutions or achievable alternatives) has members with agendas, just as it relies on propaganda, so did Mr Brookes.  – With gems like: “we would have people supporting us in the general public, in the centre of Brisbane – who are obviously office workers – they would be supporting us probably 100 to 1, to people that would come up and make a negative comment”.  This, just after he had said: “We have not had one single negative comment”.  I fail to understand this kind of mathematics (sometimes termed ‘propaganda’ or ‘lies’).

In his defense, Mr. Brookes did say that ‘anyone negative’ who came up and talked to them, once they had explained themselves (because clearly, they are excellent at it) they ‘understood’.  Perhaps this is why the 100 to 1 was capable of also being zero.  Did i mention tenuous?

Let’s be clear, i am fighting their fight, i agree with their intentions (to refashion the status quo) but clearly, i could be accused of standing on the sidelines, not doing anything about the current state of affairs.  This isn’t the case.  The very fact that im sitting here writing this is indicative of some effort (here’s some others you might partake in to do your bit) and besides, i was there, offering my help from day one and before.  For me, there is no better reason for doing this other than the sake of our planet because without the earth, there is no life.  For rich or for poor.

Unfortunately, there is barely any attention focused on how ‘greed’ or ‘the corporations’ are raping our earth. 

Put the earth to one side anyway (its not hard for this kind of ignorance to incense me, but its more than rife, as the bandwagon touting hate against ‘greed’, ‘corporations’ and ‘the rich’ pulls out in all its red glory).  – There are personal agendas here.  Personal goals.  Personal aims.

Part of the organising committee decided that any dissenters would be ‘chanted out‘ with the cry of ‘love, unity and respect!‘  And it just so happens that the couple that decided this, operate a company called ‘love and unity’.  Perhaps unplanned (Freudian slip?  Parapraxis?  Anyone?), but ironic , nonetheless.  Mr.  Brookes too – who ‘represents’ the 99%, don’t forget – can be heard using the words ‘I’, ‘me’ or ‘my’ almost 30 times in the short few minutes he was on air, in stark contrast to the four or five times he said ‘we’ or ‘us’.  Corruption begins with corruption of self…

Its only natural for anybody who is angry or threatened to use scapegoats, point fingers, lay blame – but how that generates broad appeal is beyond me.  At best, it just alienates sections of society which is completely unacceptable when the occupiers say they are fighting for the 99%.  Im sure there are ‘rich’ people out there who are putting their money behind responsible, sustainable businesses, purely for the benefit of society and the planet – not for personal or private gain.  In fact, im certain of it (read the comments at the bottom of this article).

Unfortunately, Australian occupiers dont represent the 99% like they say they do, which is probably a considerable factor as to why public support, and support from the police or authorities is scarce, at best.  Case in point, is the  remarkable and hilarious footage around at the moment of Melbourne’s occupiers chanting: “always was, always will be Aboriginal land!”, and minutes later “Who’s streets?! – Our streets!” … right.  What?  – Personally, screaming idiots don’t represent me, as I’m sure vast cross-sections of the Australian population will agree.

When Australia’s ‘occupiers’ start appearing to be informed, organised, guided, directed, driven, educated and are fighting for a common cause, perhaps their very serious cause will too be taken seriously.

on this day in 2011, her majesty the queen (also known as the queen of Australia) visited my home town of Brisbane, to wave from a boat and receive bouquets of flowers from small children

Below is a hypothetical list of grievances voiced by some, during a recent experience i had (insert experience here).  To me, talking about these kinds of problems – any problems – longer than is necessary is not a part of any solution to solve them.  I may be termed impatient.  Perhaps it is so.  – Sure there are many paths to the one goal, but what’s the point in forgoing proactivity?  What’s the point in not challenging your surroundings?  And connecting to people again.  And the earth.

Because of the universal nature of some of the solutions to each ‘grievance’, they aren’t in their corresponding columns.  Maybe its the possibility that the problems we have are with each other, or ourselves.  Its interesting to see how applicable some of the solutions are to many aspects of life, whatever the problem.  This is the reason why the ‘grievances’ i heard (and read) inspired this research and this tabulation.  – Their ‘universality’.  And the echo of that word…

Although im not sure who the author of the work is, credit must go to Pete ‘Bulldog’ Barr for a couple of ‘quotes’, in green. 

An equally inspiring figure Jacque Fresco made a famous speech where he outlined the problems of the world (things such as hunger, crime, racism, hate, climate change, overpopulation etc) as being caused by people, as in ‘people problems’…

For further stimuli on this topic, and to see where this information was found lose your inhibitions (click)

read this column first                         > >

Rarely used

Brisbane’s public transport system is atrocious.  Regularly troubled, inconsistent, late, poorly serviced and lacking in organisation, frequency and forethought, we’re even expected to pay far more than Australia’s other major cities, for a far less convenient and fair service.  – How does this even help to promote public transport use?  Especially when Translink (the Queensland government’s transport authority in Brisbane) boasts of being ‘green’ and thinking about the future?  Are they serious?

It’s time public transport was a viable feasible option for all, for the sake of our cities. -  The world’s best all have this common trait at their core!  – Something that is not only convenient, but efficient, timely and useful – it could even be engaging, for passengers and staff! – why not?.

The benefits, particularly for our planet (but also for local business, local communities, transportation, our savings and our health) should be all the convincing everybody needs.

Get more info here, sign the petition, share it with your friends.

The sheer number of views, and the debate and attention it has gained across many pages and platforms is a fine tribute to this controversy.  And boy (!) is such tumult the kind of tasty morsel that we’ve all come to enjoy devouring these days hmmmm? A sort of vicarious thrill in an otherwise mundane, struggle-filled, toiling existence.

It’s kind of akin to watching a ‘current affairs’ programme:

You get all the thrills of investigating an unsolved kidnapping, naming and shaming a plumber, finding cheaper washing liquid, discovering the latest hidden secret to curing your depression (because lets face it, you’re shit, and so’s your life) and witnessing the first breakdancing performance from a troupe of poodles – all while sitting around and doing nothing!  (Sounds familiar) ..

Anyway, you’re welcome.  Because fuck, i understand how tough life can be when you make it so.  – Perhaps its as thrilling as camping in a public park, and shouting abuses at scapegoats.  Something like this.  Anyway, let me just straighten a few things out:

‘Why i left occupy Brisbane’ (here), wasn’t meant to be a guide on how i expected its ‘occupiers’ to behave;  nor did i think that i was the ‘individual‘ that had ‘the authority to tell the rest of us who is welcome and who isn’t‘, as someone suggested i may have felt; it wasn’t even the final ultimatum for the poor state of our status-quo’s affairs.  But i make no compromise when it comes to voicing my opinions.

What i outlined, is what i saw.  It was an explanation towards ‘Why i left occupy Brisbane‘ (the title ‘Why i left occupy Brisbane’ [click here to read] may have alluded to this – see here).  Needless to say, what i wrote attracted a vast amount of attention from all sides.  Maybe even more attention than occupy Brisbane itself.  Who knows.  This was always my aim.  This will always be the aim whenever i write anything – for knowledge is power, and independent media is free to express any views its proponents see fit, as we all indeed are.  Ok?

As i say, it wasn’t a list of guidelines, it wasn’t a do-or-die critique.  This is a radical moment.  Of radical change…  And while the groundswell relies on a mass awakening of the vast majority (inclusive of all – the so-called ’1%’ and the ’99%’ as well – yes, thats right: 100%!) there was nothing progressively radical about what was happening here in Brisbane.  Sure it was radical (as in, rag-tag; radical as in, lets ‘organise a protest, without actually organising it’), but that’s not the kind of radical i was looking for.

Personally, i was looking for a group that was already engaged in a total, massive shift.  A community of people that operate under the laws of respect for each other and the environment of our community, and nothing else – not the laws of consumption and vice that they feel ‘trapped’ in.

I was looking for a people who push each other to the extremes of physical and mental capability through forced and practiced mind-expansion, high level physical and mental activity, undeniably mind-altering music, play, conversation, sex, drugs, travel, relationships, challenges and experiences.

Perhaps if there were more people wearing shoes and they were waving around maces, instead of firesticks, i might have felt emboldened too.

a member of the 'plundergroud' crew on London's underground, installing their own advertisements (click to enlargen)

Yes this is all a process, yes there is a path, but im done talking about it – i am doing it.  Living it.  I am less and less a part of the ‘system’.  So don’t hold it against me.  And don’t hold it against me if bad renditions of Bob Marley’s ‘redemption song’ lubricated with Toohey’s Extra Dry don’t inspire me.  I am free to walk away.  I need less rabble, less ranting, my solace, my silence and my pot, my music and my guitar and my time to continue writing and working towards our common goal…

And if our common goal is indeed to crush the corporations, wake up the banks and lift the foot from the throat of our mother earth’s neck, then it must also be to give the corps and the banks less of a say in our life, reduce our impact on our earth – as those who spawned this universal fight – the Occupy Wall St’ers – are now starting to dare to outline for us.

- Move your money to a credit union, they offer (I’m even considering a safe); buy nothing new for the U.S holiday season; buy nothing new for Christmas – ever again; make gifts; consume less!!; abstain from anything that generates money into ‘the system’ for just one day: no television, internet, phonecalls, electricity or purchasing; hell, they’re even sending out calls (entitled ‘Tactical Briefings’) to special mailing lists that cry out that its time to ‘amp up the edgy theatrics‘, with ‘deviant pranks, subversive performances and playful détournements of all kinds‘…

It’s not even worth outlining how incapable Occupy Brisbane’s folk (an apt name for them) would have been of carrying out such wild and adventurous antics (see the paragraph about halfway through this article, where i suggested ‘who i was looking for’ for some possible criteria).

As I’ve mentioned previously too, there are surely much more passionate, powerful cries resonating from other occupations.  Power to them.  Fuck! – Power to everybody!

Careful though, nobody really has the right to tell anyone how to behave – even if it is actually in aid of crippling the very institutions we are all trying to cripple.  No.  We must do it together, slowly but surely.  Fuck off.

the finished work

Do i need to repeat the fact that its OWS that are giving this advice?  – We are transforming society.  We are transforming the way we eat, live, transport ourselves, communicate.  We are throwing a cat amongst the pigeons of the status quo.  A big fucking ravenous blood-thirsty lion, in fact.  And we need lots of them.  A whole fucking pack.  So I’m going to find a zoo, not a playground.

FYI:  people – many of us -  have been fighting for this change,  for more than a few weeks.  Or Months.  Or years.  A couple of decades, in fact.  Here’s a clue: click

I too could have been lost at this stage (this is actually how everybody introduced themselves at Occupy Brisbane’s organisational meeting, (just) one week prior to the actual worldwide ‘occupation’ date) – with almost every single person (all but 3, if i remember correctly) choosing to affiliate themselves with the dead and dying of the left  (and it was well bandied – a more formal term would be flattery – that the group was ‘apolitical’), but i chose to go on, fighting for what i believed in, emboldened by the power of the collective conscience.

Boy was i wrong.  These people do not speak for the 99%.  They are just the typical ‘the system has failed us (me)’, ‘down with the corporations that are doing us (me) wrong’, blame-filled, hopeless philistines who you might expect at such a meeting.  Especially in the sleepy (suffocated) little town of Brisbane.  Quite simply, I was foolish to consider the fact that there might be anything other than skilless, unambitious, lazy, inactive, rich-slandering, small-minded, shit-talkers.  The kind of people who love a conspiracy theory, to strengthen their spines.  Or should i say need, rather than love? 

They are hypocrites.  Even the ‘staunch’, older participants, who say things like “Ive been trying to do something about this ‘system’ for years: these ‘greedy fucking corporations’ and their ‘cronies’, and these ‘corrupt fucking politicians” – ranting at you, while they munch down some Hungry Jacks and sip on Coca-Cola, incessantly checking their  bank balance (Commonwealth) on their smartphone, made by the biggest corporation of them all.  And that’s in the breath before they tell someone passing by that “we want to form a political party”.   Yeah, fuck politics.

They get up on their high horse (because they’re part of the organisational committe – i think their horse too, is actually high) and tell you about how many cops they know, the time they went to jail for protesting, and the fact that they haven’t paid tax or a fine, or voted for years even though the week prior, they were boasting about how they were ‘a company director’ (pretty sure that not paying company tax is highly fraudulent – or impossibly hard – under ASIC’s company laws) and how they haven’t voted for a major party ever before (implying that they do in fact, vote), and that they only had to pay a fine to get out of jail (although he hasn’t paid one in years.  Perhaps i was looking at – and talking to – his astrally projected spirit-self?).

I’d like to hear him show me the proof that he really didn’t pay tax.  Then he’d truly be able to join the ‘greedy corporations’ that they all so readily attack.  Did i mention hypocrite?

You start to wonder how foolish they are that they can even kid themselves.  Completely.  And how foolish those they’ve been spending the last ‘years’ fighting ‘the system’ with are that they didn’t notice how full of shit they were.  Misery loves company, i suppose.

I know it sounds like I’m making this up.  These are factual recollections.  I’m literally just recalling what i experienced.

Its a game of blame.  And when you suggest to them that they have the choice to actually not buy from these companies (the very ones that they lay their misinformed blame on) their typical response is:   “but we’re trapped in this system.  We dont even have the choice!”  Right.  So the very system that you oppose has succeeded in brainwashing you also. You’re so against it, i can tell.

Trust me, i dont support the corps either, or politics, or the state.  But id rather take action against not supporting them, every day of the year

- and not just when the bandwagon pulls up and promises to drive me to a park in a public place where i can share conspiracy theories with everyone who’ll only confirm them, then piss on the street and eat and ‘camp’ for free, as we all wave signs and chant slogans at the ‘rich’ who are to blame for all of our problems.

Sure, the corporations are mindlessly, needlessly raping the earth; sure, our governments are failing to represent the people – they’re not even listening, in fact; and sure, there are some ‘rich’ people around the world who have more money than anyone could know what to do with (sometimes, more money than an entire continent) but these are people problems, and the people i came across at Occupy Brisbane, arent even willing to start with applying their beliefs to those who they can most easily access, influence and change – themselves.

They are just as obsessed with ‘money’ and ‘success’ as ‘the rich’ (it must be ‘the system’s’ fault that they want these things though, right?) – they just have none, and no answer, ambition, skill, ability or hope to acquire it.

All the slanderous comments about ‘hippies’ and ‘fools’ and ‘uneducated sheeple’ are true.  I’m not saying that out of spite, I’m saying that as a portrayal of what i observed.  I was there.  A 15 year old stoner, with an already developed taste for cheap booze (again, observations, not assumptions), who didn’t even graduate from primary school, hitched a ride up from Nimbin (his admission) and then headed over with his friends to an anti coal seam gas rally to scream abuse through a megaphone at Mr Drew Hutton (a staunch anti CSG supporter) while Mr Hutton was interviewed for television, isn’t really worth much respect.  His own mother probably doesn’t even respect him.  I bet ‘the 99%’ are happy to be represented by such people.  He certainly spoke for me.  NOT!

and oh did they cry "hooray! free food and free camping"

Ok.  Maybe that was a bit bitter.  But try this for bitter:  While explaining to a possible capitalism-deserter just what is exactly wrong with ‘the system‘  (a favored term, thrown around with malice, as though they aren’t even a part of it, with their ipads and Macdonalds and instant Coles lunches) an ‘occupier’ was overheard saying: “All i want is to earn 60 grand a year, and own my own house! – I’m not asking for much” …  I was enraged.

I would have liked to have asked him firstly: Why?  Why do you even need 60 grand a year?  And why do you need to own your own house?  Why are any of these clearly capitalist consumerist mores even important to you (as you go on attacking them)?  And secondly, what would you be paid ’60 grand a year’ for?  Wanking?  Looking like a fool?  Reading books to children?  What skills do you have?  A well qualified head of department at a decent school would be on about 60k in this country.  Maybe not.  The police arent.  I’m sure ‘the system’ is to blame for that though, right?

Their great idol, Mr Karl Marx was the one who said: “from each according to his ability, to each according to his contribution“.  I fail, as hard as i look, to see what exactly these people are contributing.  Sure, they’re contributing to some collective consciousness (i doubt that 99% of the 99% even know what that is, or have learned to tap into theirs) and their voices (however misguided and uneducated and blame-ridden they are) are making some people take notice of them (and now that ive noticed them, you’re reading my conclusion) but that’s it.

It’s ‘the system’s‘ fault that they only have a TAFE degree in basket weaving, are forced to drink coke, don’t have enough initiative to find work that will pay them enough to adequately house themselves, were forced into having children that they can’t support.  Sure it is.

The hardest people to be critical of are ourselves.  These people are simply too caught up in blaming everybody else, and making sweeping generalisations about ‘the rich’ and ‘the corporations’ and ‘the banks’ to even realise that they too are well and truly entrenched in the system.  And not because they don’t have a choice.  May i repeat that: NOT BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE A CHOICE!   (thought i’d put it in red, since its your favourite colour).

It is your choice to lust for 60grand a year and a ‘house you own’.  It is your choice to not educate yourself (and before you say you ‘can’t afford university’ – or school – LIBRARIES ARE FREE!)  It is your choice to have children you can’t afford, drink coke, buy from Coles, drink unfiltered water, own a car, not own a car.  What’s that you say?  We are free?  Yes, we are…  The hypocrisy is mindblowing, blatant and all-too-0bvious to even be mildly tolerable.

So I left.  It only took me 48 hours to become disenfranchised with the ‘disenfranchised’.  What’s worse, is that there is no directive, no aim (that’s what they say, and won’t be the case if the socialists have their way). It’s all well and good to let this process ‘grow organically’, but would you want to eat food grown out of misguided, ill-informed anger and hostility?  I don’t imagine it’d taste too good.

When referring to this movement ‘grow organically’ seems to be a term for ‘we have no idea and we cant agree, because we aren’t actually intelligent or educated enough to form a solution’.  Like i said, they all still suckle from the tits of the very beast they say is poisoned and poisoning us, even though severance from that particular ‘system’ would be the most profound and lasting protest they could actually make.  But they’re trapped, aren’t they.  Oh yes indeed they are – in themselves…

I would love to see them handed the wheels of the world.  How quickly would their numbers dwindle.  Hell, the population might decrease to a level our earth can actually manage, as she breathes a sigh of relief.  These people can’t even afford to nourish themselves enough to prevent their skin from peeling away from their body in protest of the vessel that is carrying it.  Who will save the rest of us?  I suppose i deserve to die anyway, because I’m ‘rich’.  Rich with perspective…

I will continue to fight for my beliefs, write for my beliefs and live in my beliefs.  Slowly but surely, i am accumulating enough experience, skill and wealth (as little as it may be, and as little as is necessary), and enough of a like-minded community, to truly detach myself from our world’s failing system, on a remote tract of loved land, when i can finally live in peace, truly at one with and respecting to the utmost, the earth that is sustaining all life as we know it, for there is no beauty that matches life and its profound complexities.

And until then, i wish you a speedy journey to your slow and painful death.

Please note:  I really really really hope it isn’t like this in every city, and that this is just a reflection of the city where i made these observations...

weirdos

As compassion levels drop, so do levels of exploitation rise.  And as a backlash from the world’s citizens threatens to upset the status quo as we know it -  with angry fingers being pointed collectively at ‘greedy’ banks, corporations, industry and ‘corrupt’ and ‘out of touch’ politicians and governments, CEOs and magnates – we must surely look in to other reasons why we became so obsessed with money: to the point where some of us will stop at nothing to get our hands on it.

Modern society is very disconnected.  Whether its because of technology, disparity between the rich and the poor, a lack of time to spend socialising (as most continue over-working themselves, in the endless pursuit of money) or some state-driven fear of each other, we are noticing each other less and less, interacting – even on a most basic level – full of inhibition and judgment, assumption and close-mindedness.  Its sad.  But this is merely a matter of observation.

A friend of mine said to me recently ‘you should say something to every person who you make eye contact with‘.  But most days, if you make eye contact with someone, a quick glance away is the most you’ll get – that’s if they weren’t approaching you and making sure to be looking down to avoid any such human contact.  Passing them on the street was enough.

Its the old-timers who you can be more confident about getting a friendly nod from on the street but even now, a whole rampart of scare-tactics has made them pretty quick on the look-away as well.  And all too often am i left saying “hey mate” to nobody but myself, or waving to ghosts, apparitions, there was never anyone there.  Its strange.

I wonder how many dogs, or birds, or spiders, or insects, goats, cows, cats, fish, butterflies, bacterium, ants, pass each other – somewhere – and just ignore the fact that ‘hey, im a dog too!‘ or ‘tweet! – i dont know what you’re doing here, cos ive never seen you before but – tweet tweet poo-tee-weet tweet!’  … Its strange.

Maybe we’re the only species with egos big and twisted enough to think that such a simple acknowledgement of a mutual existence may actually be a Machiavellian move to get in someone’s pants, or stop them for an awkward conversation, or trick them into opening their wallet, dancing with you, buying a watch, lending you their phone or giving you a piece of change?  Or worse still, i could be a rapist.  Well-versed in the subtle art of ‘conversation before attack’...

Such a disconnect makes it easier to forget the thread that connects us all.  It makes it easier to push compassion for our species aside, and climb over those who may stand in the way of what we want…  What we’re told we ‘need’…  And we even lose sight of why we should care about the very entity that is sustaining us all.

Because only ‘I’ matter.  Only ‘I’ and ‘my’ problems exist, in ‘my’ world.  Come on now, would a dog really eat a dog? Really?  Even if they knew that the world of dogs would be so much better, if they all got along?

The ‘greedy banker‘ walking down the street, knows in his mind, however true, that this ‘long-haired hooligan‘ isn’t even worth the welfare he’s collecting.  Maybe he even uses his assumptions to justify his greed.  And by the same token: the ‘dole-bludging surfer‘ who passes the banker on the street mutters to himself as he walks away about how much of a ‘greedy piece of shit‘ anyone wearing a suit happens to be, as it emboldens his stance against ‘them‘.  We blame each other, because of our ignorance, our fears.

Ignorance:  It’s the same reason that those fighting greed are sometimes termed ‘useful idiots‘, and the same reason why social activists are full of blame.  How productive.  How proactive.  What a solution!!  Maybe if we sling so much mud, we’ll bury each other?

So why have we become so obsessed with money?  Maybe we were forced to?  Maybe ‘society‘ said that we need this, and need that, and the ‘system‘ we live in forced us into the position we’re in – trapped in a paradigm that we cant do anything about.

Hang on a second though, you havent even bothered to learn about society.  You havent even bothered to connect to it, truly.  You can’t even look the people in the eye who you’re standing alongside, and fighting this fight with.  You cant even look the people in the eye, who you are fighting for.  Isn’t that everybody? -  Where’s the love?  We’re not obsessed with money, we’re obsessed with ourselves.

The guy offering free hugs is a weirdo.  The person handing out bunches of herbs and veg in the city has poisoned them.  The girl lying helplessly, unconscious at the bus shelter isn’t worth stopping for.  Never mind the old lady struggling up the stairs.  We must fight to get to the bar.  We must fight to get on the bus.  Why should i return the money he dropped?  Or let him in to the flow of traffic?  Or hold the door?  Or offer my seat? I’m in a hurry! ..  Why even care about our planet, if nobody else does? ..

Sun Tzu, in his classic political treatise ‘The art of war’ said: “Know the enemy, know yourself; your victory will never be endangered”.  If this really is a battle, then we fail to even consider our enemy, and we fail to even consider each other – ourselves.

How many times have you walked past someone in need, without even breaking your stride? (click for video)

]]> http://theinsideoutside.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/why-have-we-lost-touch-with-each-other/feed/ 0 weirdos Carlitos M