January 2013 - P2P-Foundation - lists.ourproject.org

Fwd: World Economics Association - The political economy of economic metrics
by Michel Bauwens 30 Jan '13

30 Jan '13

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: World Economics Association <contact(a)worldeconomicsassociation.org> Date: Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 12:03 AM Subject: World Economics Association - The political economy of economic metrics To: michel <michel(a)p2pfoundation.net> ** <http://p.feedblitz.com/r.asp?l=56496096&f=763931&u=28787422&c=4538557><http://p.feedblitz.com/r.asp?l=56496096&f=763931&u=28787422&c=4538557>World Economics Association<http://p.feedblitz.com/r.asp?l=56496096&f=763931&c=4538557>- The political economy of economic metrics ------------------------------ <http://p.feedblitz.com/r.asp?l=72583672&f=763931&u=28787422&c=4538557> *Economic metrics* are used to describe the world. Enormous amounts of money are spent on measuring GDP, employment, wages, unemployment, inflation, consumer and producer confidence, debt, money, the price level and whatever. These metrics show us if inequality is rising or if unemployment is going down. But these metrics are not just, or even mainly, gathered for the sake of science. They also play a role in economic policy and are often designed to enable this. Some of these metrics like government debt as a percentage of GDP, are even used to call entire countries to account – they surely are part of ‘the language of power’. But are we measuring the right metrics? And do we measure them in the right way? Or are our insights and policies biased because we’re looking at biased and incomplete metrics? And are we looking at them in the right way? Or do they act as blindfolds? Who decides anyway and on which grounds about the very definitions and about the money spent on gathering the data? These kinds of questions are being discussed in the World Economics Association internet conference on *The political economy of economic metrics*. The conference is now open. Its website can be found here: *http://peemconference2013.worldeconomicsassociation.org/<http://p.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/763931/28787422/4538557/peemconference2013.w…> * *The WEA depends on small donations from its members and other users*. *PLEASE HELP by donating here<http://p.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/763931/4534930/4516227/https://www.paypal.co…> * • Email to a friend<http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Fwd2FriendEdit=763931;24273755;http://www.…>• ------------------------------ *Click here to safely unsubscribe<http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?EmailRemove=_28787422%7c763931%7c63effc3ae…>from "World Economics Association." Click here to view mailing archives <http://archive.feedblitz.com/763931>, here to change your preferences<http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Subscriptions=763931>, or here to subscribe <http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=763931> • Privacy<http://www.feedblitz.com/f?Privacy> <http://www.feedblitz.com/f>* ------------------------------ ------------------------------ Your requested content delivery powered by FeedBlitz<http://www.feedblitz.com>, LLC, 9 Thoreau Way, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA. +1.978.776.9498 -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

1 0

Fwd: ZNet Daily Commentary: Power Grows From Motor City Soil By Betsy Catlin
by Michel Bauwens 30 Jan '13

30 Jan '13

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <info(a)zcommunications.org> Date: Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 6:34 PM Subject: ZNet Daily Commentary: Power Grows From Motor City Soil By Betsy Catlin To: michelsub2004(a)gmail.com ** [image: zspace] <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Print<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Power Grows From Motor City Soil January 29, 2013 By *Betsy Catlin* Betsy Catlin's ZSpace Page<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…>/ ZSpace<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> On Dec. 10, 2012, hundreds of Detroiters lined up outside of The East Lake Baptist Church, braving the cold for the last of a series of public hearings on “the Hantz Woodlands deal.” At stake was the “largest speculative land sale<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW3V6o0Grh…>in the city’s history”: 140 acres comprised of 1,500 lots of city land. Local multi-millionaire John Hantz wanted to turn this plot into a large timber farm that would be, as he promised, “Detroit’s saving grace<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW7fMEg-2B…>.” But the hundreds of residents waiting outside had another idea of what saving the land could mean: They wanted the city to sell individual vacant plots at affordable prices for people to plant community gardens. Despite the public outcry, the council accepted Hantz’s bid to buy the land — an outcome that dismayed Charity Hicks, co-founder of the Detroit Food Justice Task Force. “We have lost the ability to think collectively about our own interests in the public political sphere,” she said. “Our public policy is completely distorted, and John Hantz represents that kind of corruption of our governance.” The Hantz deal symbolizes a broader battle occurring in Detroit: the struggle over who will control the rebuilding of a major American city after the decline of its industry. The city that was the home of manufacturing in the United States in the 20th century is poised to become once again a city of producers. But today, power is growing from the ground up thanks to Detroiters who are giving new meanings to value and work by redefining their relationship with the land, themselves and each other. *‘Our work’* To Charity Hicks, there is something liberating about a city that has, in her own words, undergone “profound collapse.” “You get to remake yourself,” she said. “You get to re-imagine yourself. You get to reawaken to new possibilities of being.” These possibilities are growing in more than 1,000 urban gardens and three full-scale farms that now cover the once-industrial landscape. These farms, tied together by various networks and coalitions, are transforming the way Detroiters relate to the food system. “[Right now] our primary and predominant role is that of consumer,” explains Shea Howell, a member of the Boggs Center<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=bnbUouWB28gJE3xtJuNG4XSqjP641wN4s…>and a community activist with the Detroit Black Food Security Network. But the urban agricultural movement is changing the way Detroiters define their work and their own individual and collective value. The Black Food Security Network reports that although Detroit’s population is 85 percent African-American, there are only two African-American-owned grocery stores in the city. To address this fact, the Detroit Food Justice Task Force runs a host of initiatives aimed at achieving food sovereignty for Detroit’s residents. There are community meals that include education about urban farming and institutional racism; campaigns to fight against genetically-modified foods; legislative initiatives to make city land available for long-term community leases; gardening scholarships, workshops and roundtable discussions; and, of course, hundreds of active farming operations inside the city’s limits. For many residents, traditional employment is hard to come by. Official statistics report that 30 percent of Detroit is unemployed — but in 2010 Mayor Dave Bing said that he believed real unemployment to be closer to 50 percent<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW3V6o0Grh…> . “When we lost our jobs, most of us went into a depression, because for most of us the majority of our identity is in what we do,” said Hicks. “If you don’t have access to a job then who are you? What are you? We started asking those questions.” Through the urban farming movement, she has found that many realized, “We are more than a job! We didn’t die. We still live here. We’re not ghosts.” “Now people don’t say ‘our jobs,’” she said. “They call it ‘our work.’” In this way, urban farming is not only replacing disappeared jobs; it is also redefining the very substance and philosophy of work by asking questions about what the meaning of work should be in the first place. To Wayne and Myrtle Curtis, founders of Freedom Freedom Growers, a farm on Detroit’s East Side, work is about meeting collective needs. “[The jobs] we once had didn’t satisfy our needs,” they wrote on their website. Instead, they desire work that respects their community, themselves and the earth. The collapse of industry in Detroit and the organizing that has followed make it possible to try again. *The roots of the movement* Detroit is a place where labor, manufacturing and race relations have intersected to create a deep history of organizing. The city was a center of the labor movement during the 20th century, when it gave birth to powerful unions like the United Auto Workers. It was one of the centers of the Black Power and Pan-African movements, the home of The League of Revolutionary Black Workers, and the birthplace of The Nation of Islam. “This was one of the first cities where Black Power talked about a different kind of city,” said Shea Howell. This history of Detroit as a stronghold of labor and African-American organizing has been lost in the story often told of Detroit’s collapse, which included a 60-percent decline in the city’s population since 1950. Charity Hicks summarized the faulty narrative about Detroit: “It is really poor. It has collapsed. It is the most blighted area in North America.” In this narrative, “Capitalists are not to blame,” she explains. “But the people of Detroit are.” To Hicks, this story, which places the fault of Detroit’s collapse on the city’s residents and particularly the African-Americans who stayed after the factories chased cheaper labor overseas, is mere propaganda. The real story of Detroit’s decline is the intermingling of deindustrialization, capital flight and fear sparked by radical African-American organizing. Beginning in the 1950s, middle-class white families fled the city center to white-only suburbs. Thousands more followed after the Detroit Rebellion of 1967, which was sparked by outrage at the racial inequality in the city, particularly policing in African-American neighborhoods. Yet, through the city’s food sovereignty movement, Detroiters are countering that narrative of Detroit’s collapse to reflect a city that is building a new kind of future — one rooted in its long movement history.* * *Land is the basis of power* Today’s gardens in Detroit grew out of a long history of urban farming that begins with the Great Migration: the wave of six million African Americans who moved northward from the South throughout the 20th century. In Detroit, some of these migrants brought with them their agricultural roots. They formed a group called “the Gardening Angels” in the 1980s. The movement grew food both for sustenance and to bestow the traditions of the elders to the youth, who had little connection to the earlier generation’s agricultural knowledge. The politics of this urban gardening movement grew out of the core tenets of the Black Power and the Pan-Africanist movements — political orientations that are still alive in today’s food generation of farmers. Malik Yakini is the director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network and was formerly a member of the Pan-African Congress in the 1970s, which held the position that land is the basis of power. In a recent Facebook post<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=-2FajTbpohXNFQ9BX1OchEDorTub2WngJ…>regarding the Hantz Woodlands deal, Yakini articulated that position again, which holds a significant meaning in light of the present struggle. Amidst a landscape dominated by blighted structures and vacant lots, this philosophy reflects not only the idea that land sustains life but also that it builds community and allows one to create a sense of home, identity and belonging in a place. This is all the more necessary in neighborhoods that have been deeply fractured by the incarceration of African-American males and neighborhood violence due to the war on drugs. Hicks explains that for her as “an African-descendant-American woman,” Detroit is a “city of profound violence and murder” but also “profound possibility.” “It is a place of trying to repair black people’s identity and self-worth,” she said. In Detroit, which has the largest percentage of African-American residents of any major U.S. city, the idea that land is the basis of power has become not only about food sovereignty and self-determination but also about re-planting African-American cultural roots deep enough to regrow community. *The battle between two futures* As the emerging possibilities in Detroit become ever more evident, Charity Hicks asks, “Whose possibility is Detroit the place of?” Municipal and state political leaders, as well as large landowners, are confronting the new power being sewn from below with increasing resistance. The Hantz Woodlands deal, passed despite community outrage, is only one of a slew of recent power grabs. Late last year, Michigan governor Rick Snyder signed both the Right to Work law, which attacks labor power, and the Emergency Financial Manager law, which could lead to the state’s full-scale takeover of Detroit’s municipal finances. The fact that these laws and deals passed in spite of so much public opposition was not an unexpected outcome for many Detroiters, who are growing accustomed to city and state officials disregarding the voices of their constituents with the demeaning excuse that the people don’t know what’s best for them. But to Shea Howell, these moves also signal something new — and positive. “We are now posing not just some little alternatives here and there,” she said. “These alternatives are now beginning to suggest a totally different direction for the city.” “Detroit becomes two worlds,” Hicks explains. On the one hand, it is “the world of possibility, of the emergence of a new way of life, a new understanding, a kind of re-emergence of our humanity.” But on the other, it is “the old status quo of perpetual growth and the capitalist constantly making a profound return on the dollar.” The battle for a new direction for Detroit resembles similar struggles in many crisis-ridden urban areas — especially those experiencing the consequences of storms like Katrina and Sandy. As climate change continues, we’re sure to see more neighborhoods like the Lower Ninth Ward and Far Rockaway: communities struggling to rebuild while abandoned by capital and the political elite. In these neighborhoods, people will be left to rebuild as they have been doing in Detroit in the decay of industrialism. As Shea Howell says, “Detroit is so compelling, in the way that Chiapas is so compelling, because you can see places where real liberation is actually happening — not in its fullness, certainly not, but enough that we know that there can be a better future.” ------------------------------ *From:* Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> *URL:* http://www.zcommunications.org/power-grows-from-motor-city-soil-by-betsy-ca…<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> The tool to turn commentary mailings off or on can be found in "My Account" -> "Preferences/Edit My Details" option (Receives commentaries). To view commentaries online go here: http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Comment on this commentary: http://www.zcommunications.org/power-grows-from-motor-city-soil-by-betsy-ca…<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Print<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Temporarily toggle off commentary and other Sustainer mailings.<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> (You can turn them back on from your account page at any time. You will not lose permissions or other Sustainer benefits nor will this interrupt your donations.) Visit your account page and make changes of any sort you may desire.<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> (You will have to enter your password in the field that appears.) If you would like to stop receiving ZNet mailings, please follow the unsubscribe link below http://www.zcommunications.org/unsubscribe/7e37f20ff9c5325e123df6d22916e85d<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

1 0

Re: [P2P-F] The Economics of Monasticism by Nathan Smith
by Michel Bauwens 30 Jan '13

30 Jan '13

Great find Kevin! For those that are interested in this, see the fundamental studies of Allen Butcher on communal economics and their allocation methods, which includes the long-term study of monasteries, at http://p2pfoundation.net/Category:Community_Economics Also of interest is the recent book, http://p2pfoundation.net/Globalization_of_Communes Michel

1 0

Fwd: ZNet Daily Commentary: Experts Fear Collapse of Global Civilisation By Stephen Leahy
by Michel Bauwens 29 Jan '13

29 Jan '13

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <info(a)zcommunications.org> Date: Sun, Jan 27, 2013 at 7:34 PM Subject: ZNet Daily Commentary: Experts Fear Collapse of Global Civilisation By Stephen Leahy To: michelsub2004(a)gmail.com ** [image: zspace] <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Print<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Experts Fear Collapse of Global Civilisation January 27, 2013 By *Stephen Leahy* Stephen Leahy's ZSpace Page<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…>/ ZSpace<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Experts on the health of our planet are terrified of the future. They can clearly see the coming collapse of global civilisation from an array of interconnected environmental problems. “We’re all scared,” said Paul Ehrlich, president of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University. “But we must tell the truth about what’s happening and challenge people to do something to prevent it,” Ehrlich told IPS. Global collapse of human civilisation seems likely, write Ehrlich and his partner Anne Ehrlich in the prestigious science journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society. This collapse will take the form of a “…gradual breakdown because famines, epidemics and resource shortages cause a disintegration of central control within nations, in concert with disruptions of trade and conflicts over increasingly scarce necessities”, they write. Already two billion people are hungry today. Food production is humanity’s biggest industry and is already being affected by climate and other environmental problems. “No civilisation can avoid collapse if it fails to feed its population,” the authors say. Escalating climate disruption, ocean acidification, oceanic dead zones, depletion of groundwater and extinctions of plants and animals are the main drivers of the coming collapse, they write in their peer-reviewed article “Can a collapse of global civilisation be avoided?”<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=TZRZXOIFMx2AeEKFk5UP1oubQRXg-2F0-…>published this week. Dozens of earth systems experts were consulted in writing the 10-page paper that contains over 160 references. “We talked to many of the world’s leading experts to reflect what is really happening,” said Ehrlich, who is an eminent biologist and winner of many scientific awards. Our reality is that current overconsumption of natural resources and the resulting damage to life-sustaining services nature provides means we need another half of a planet to keeping going. And that’s if all seven billion remain at their current living standards, the Ehrlichs write. If everyone lived like a U.S. citizen, another four or five planets would be needed. Global population is projected to increase by 2.5 billion by 2050. It doesn’t take an expert to conclude that collapse of civilisation will be unavoidable without major changes. We’re facing a future where billions will likely die, and yet little is being done to avoid certain disaster, he said. “Policy makers and the public aren’t terrified about this because they don’t have the information or the knowledge about how our planet functions,” he said. Last March, the world’s scientific community provided the first-ever “state of the planet” assessment at the “Planet Under Pressure<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWxjyMdF54…>” conference in London. More than 3,000 experts concluded humanity is facing a “planetary emergency” and there was no time to lose in making large-scale changes. In 2010, a coalition of the national scientific bodies and international scientific unions from 141 countries<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW55QdNn3J…>warned that “the continued functioning of the Earth system as we know it is at risk”. “The situation is absolutely desperate and yet there’s nothing on the front pages or on the agenda of world leaders,” said Pat Mooney, head of the international environmental organisation ETC Group<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW1eEn66J6…> . “The lack of attention is a tragedy,” Mooney previously told IPS<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW-2FWtbvf…> . Solutions exist and are briefly outlined in the Ehrlich paper. However, these require sweeping changes. All nations need to do everything they can to reduce their emissions of fossil fuels regardless of actions or lack of them by any other country, he said. Protection of the Earth’s biodiversity must take centre stage in all policy and economic decisions. Water and energy systems must be re-engineered. Agriculture must shift from fossil-fuel intensive industrial monocultures to ecologically-based systems of food production. Resilience and flexibility will be essential for civilisation to survive. A key element in meeting this unprecedented challenge is “…to see ourselves as utterly embedded in Nature and not somehow separate from those precious systems that sustain all life”, writes England’s Prince Charles commenting on the Ehrlich’s paper. “To continue with ‘business as usual’ is an act of suicide on a gargantuan scale,” Prince Charles concluded. ------------------------------ *From:* Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> *URL:* http://www.zcommunications.org/experts-fear-collapse-of-global-civilisation…<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> The tool to turn commentary mailings off or on can be found in "My Account" -> "Preferences/Edit My Details" option (Receives commentaries). To view commentaries online go here: http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Comment on this commentary: http://www.zcommunications.org/experts-fear-collapse-of-global-civilisation…<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Print<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Temporarily toggle off commentary and other Sustainer mailings.<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> (You can turn them back on from your account page at any time. You will not lose permissions or other Sustainer benefits nor will this interrupt your donations.) Visit your account page and make changes of any sort you may desire.<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> (You will have to enter your password in the field that appears.) If you would like to stop receiving ZNet mailings, please follow the unsubscribe link below http://www.zcommunications.org/unsubscribe/7e37f20ff9c5325e123df6d22916e85d<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

2 1

Fwd: ZNet Daily Commentary: Who Is Rescuing The Spanish People? By David Marty
by Michel Bauwens 29 Jan '13

29 Jan '13

see end of article for activist platform ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <info(a)zcommunications.org> Date: Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 6:43 PM Subject: ZNet Daily Commentary: Who Is Rescuing The Spanish People? By David Marty To: michelsub2004(a)gmail.com ** [image: zspace] <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Print<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Who Is Rescuing The Spanish People? January 28, 2013 By *David Marty* David Marty's ZSpace Page<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…>/ ZSpace<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Whether its banks are rescued by the ECB or not, Spain will remain in crisis. The situation is likely to become even worse under the ruling of the current right wing government of Mariano Rajoy who seems unable to move beyond the neoliberal political principles of the FAES (*principios politicos fundación FAES<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW4b5UPhwF…> *), the right wing think tank of the “Partido Popular” chaired by José María Aznar, former president of Spain from 1996 to 2004. One New York Times headline of November, 15 2012 was “Spain: New Rules Limit Evictions” in which the author correctly says that Spanish judges have issued 350.000 evictions since the start of the crisis. This figure means that between 1.5 and 2 million people have been evicted, which represents about 3 – 4% of the total Spanish population. Let’s see what this crisis means exactly for the Spanish population and compare the different solutions offered by the government on one hand and by citizens’ organizations on the other. The Current Situation Statistics While I’m writing, more than 26% of the workforce is currently unemployed, 22% of Spanish households are living under the poverty threshold and 25% of the population is threatened by social exclusion. There have been 350.000 evictions since the beginning of the crisis in 2007 and 532 foreclosures are currently taking place per day. What these statistics fail to mention are the terrible psychological effects of hopelessness on the people of Spain, as many fear for the future and can see no solution to the crisis. 1909 Spanish Mortgage Law It seems an old Spanish 1909 mortgage law gives financial companies the right to kick a family out of its home and then demand the remaining debt. It is probably quite difficult to understand if you are not familiar with the Spanish legal system, so let me explain how it works. When you find that you can no longer cover payments on your mortgage, your first experience of the foreclosure process is to be contacted by a bank employee (by phone if you are lucky or merely by answerphone message if not) who will reprimand you for being a ‘delinquent debtor’. After a few months to a year, when a judge finally decides how much you owe to the bank, your house is sold by auction. However, the only party interested in acquiring your house is the very same bank which, according to the 1909 Mortgage Law, will pay only 60% of its value. So, can you imagine the consequences? Let me give you an example. Imagine you owe €80.000 to the finance company. You can’t pay so a judge decides to sell your house valued at €100.000 by auction. You might think, “Fine, I can pay what I owe”. Wrong. The finance company will go to the auction and will most probably pay only 60% of the value, i.e. €60.000. This leaves €20.000 of unpaid debt and this is what *you* will have to pay * plus* administrative expenses *plus* interest, so you may in fact end up owing €40-50.000 to the finance company. This is what has happened to 350.000 families since the beginning of the crisis, and this is what more than one million people are currently facing in Spain. How the world sees it On August, 10th 2012 the UN published a report entitled “on adequate housing” (*On adequate housing<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW5BvcaJia…> *) by Mrs. *Raquel Rolnik*, UN Special Rapporteur. In this report, it is interesting to see how she singles out Spain, amongst other countries such as the US and Ireland, for having a particularly harsh housing policy. Rolnik says that Spanish governments have never genuinely attempted to reform the housing policy in favour of the population, in spite of article 47[1] <#13c863f30c41969d__ftn1> of the Spanish Constitution which explicitly states that “all Spaniards have the right to enjoy decent and adequate housing”. Instead, Spanish governments of both the right and the left have always pursued a housing policy which favors the elites and the financial and industrial corporations. On November 8, 2012, the advocate general of the European Court of Justice, Julianne Kokott, declared that “*the Spanish regulation is “incompatible” with the European Directive 93/13 on unfair contract terms*”.[2]<#13c863f30c41969d__ftn2>As of now, some judges have announced they won't continue with the current foreclosure cases until the Spanish legal system is reformed and made compatible with the European consumer rights directive 93/13. Morality and legitimacy One wonders what kind of moral legitimacy a government has when it is responsible for administering a system in which entire families including old people, kids and disabled people are being kicked out of their homes and plunged into unpayable debt. Should not a government provide for its people? Should it not protect its citizens? Article 47 of the 1978 Spanish Constitution was created to give the Spanish people the right to enjoy decent and adequate housing. It echoes Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which says, “*Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control*.” Whatever ministers and politicians might say, clearly the Spanish government has the power and the capacity to change the current housing laws. Who, after all, is responsible for applying the Spanish Constitution? Or, one wonders, is the Spanish Government actually proud of deliberately contravening the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its own constitution? What else is institutionally needed to stop this disaster? Government versus citizens On March 9, 2012, the current Minister of the Economy (and the 2006-2008 advisor for Lehman Brothers in Europe and director of its subsidiary bank in Spain and Portugal), Luis De Guindos, launched a “Code of good practice” appealing to the good will of the financial companies to stop evicting people in the most precarious situations. Despite his presumably close familiarity with the nature of financial corporations, De Guindos seems to have rather overestimated their capacity for “good will” towards people of flesh and blood. Surely it speaks volumes that, contrary to the “code of good practice”, evictions actually *increased* from 517 to 532 per day between March and November. In November 2012, following the protests and complaints of citizens organizations, police unions, judges and lawyers associations and the media publication of several cases of suicides[3] <#13c863f30c41969d__ftn3>, the government launched a second decree to stop evictions of (again) people in the most precarious situations.[4] <#13c863f30c41969d__ftn4> However, what Mariano Rajoy's government doesn't take into account in this decree is the * large* *majority of the affected people*. Almost all people who have suffered eviction can be said to be in a ‘precarious situation’, but their situations are not deemed to be precarious enough to benefit from the decree’s protection. For example, none of the suicides investigated by the media were in ‘precarious’ enough situations to have taken recourse to this decree. What are the solutions needed? Since 2007, a group of Barcelona citizens started the *Plataforma de Personas Afectadas por la Hipoteca *(Platform for Mortgage Victims). In 2012, this organization spread all around the country. The purpose of this platform is to help people with information, skills, confidence and support make visible the situation in Spain and around the world. In the short term, the aim is to ask the government to vote in a law to *stop evictions*, to *eliminate any debt* once the house is handed over to the bank and to establish a *social rent* according to incomes. The existence of this platform has shown how important public pressure is and how efficient it can be when people organize. All of the little changes introduced by the government have happened as a result of public pressures. The government of Mariano Rajoy seems unable to react constructively to the crisis and the workable solutions that have been put forward have come from grassroots organizations like the *Plataforma*. Hope only exists when you have real alternatives that you know are possible to achieve. And that is precisely what the Platform for Mortgage Victims is providing Spanish people with: real short term ALTERNATIVES. There's no other way to find a socially just solution to the housing crisis: people must react to the crisis together and organize in order to influence the political process. I've just shown you some ways in which they have started to have success. ------------------------------ [1] <#13c863f30c41969d__ftnref1>Article 47 of the Spanish Constitution states: "All Spaniards have the right to enjoy decent and adequate housing. The public authorities shall promote the necessary conditions and establish appropriate standards in order to make this right effective, regulating land use in accordance with the general interest in order to prevent speculation. The community shall have a share in the benefits accruing from the town-planning policies of public bodies". [2] <#13c863f30c41969d__ftnref2>http://* www.murciatoday.com/pm-promises-change-after-another-spanish-eviction-suici… * [3] <#13c863f30c41969d__ftnref3> http://www.diariovasco.com/20121026/mas-actualidad/sociedad/nueve-personas-…<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW2kyHIkeM…>this article explains the conclusion of the Psychiatric National Congress which took place in September 25th-28th 2012 in Bilbao. One third of the suicides are caused directly by the crisis. [4] <#13c863f30c41969d__ftnref4> http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/1113/spain-suicide-evictions.html<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWx-2B87qZ…> ------------------------------ *From:* Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> *URL:* http://www.zcommunications.org/who-is-rescuing-the-spanish-people-by-david-…<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> The tool to turn commentary mailings off or on can be found in "My Account" -> "Preferences/Edit My Details" option (Receives commentaries). To view commentaries online go here: http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Comment on this commentary: http://www.zcommunications.org/who-is-rescuing-the-spanish-people-by-david-…<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Print<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> Temporarily toggle off commentary and other Sustainer mailings.<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> (You can turn them back on from your account page at any time. You will not lose permissions or other Sustainer benefits nor will this interrupt your donations.) Visit your account page and make changes of any sort you may desire.<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> (You will have to enter your password in the field that appears.) If you would like to stop receiving ZNet mailings, please follow the unsubscribe link below http://www.zcommunications.org/unsubscribe/7e37f20ff9c5325e123df6d22916e85d<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz…> -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

1 0

Reminder: ESA 2013 RN18 Call: "Communication, Crisis, Critique and Change"
by Christian Fuchs 27 Jan '13

27 Jan '13

http://esa11thconference.eu/call-for-papers/research-networks/RN18 Deadline: FEBRUARY 1st European Sociological Association 2013 Conference "Communication, Crisis and Change" University of Torino, Italy August 28-31, 2013 The ESA 2013 conference asks the overall questions: What is behind the crisis? Which crisis is it? Whose critique is required? What changes are needed? RN18 - Sociology of Communications and Media Research: Communication, Crisis, Critique and Change Call for Abstracts One of several semi-plenaries at the ESA 2013 conference will focus on "Critical Political Economy of Media and Communications in Times of Capitalist Crisis" and will feature Graham Murdock (Loughborough University) and Bob Jessop (Lancaster University) as speakers. Submission: http://esa11thconference.eu/call-for-papers/research-networks/RN18 (click on panel titles for submission...) ESA RN18 focuses in its conference stream on the discussion of how crisis, critique and societal changes shape the study of media, communication & society today. The overall questions we want to address are: Which crises (including the financial and economic crisis of capitalism, global wars and conflicts, ecological crisis, the crisis of democracy, legitimation crisis, etc) are we experiencing today and how do they influence media and communication in contemporary society? What are the major changes of society, the media, and communication that we are experiencing today? What forms of political critique (political movements) and academic critique (critical studies, critical media sociology, critical theory, etc) are emerging today and are needed for interpreting and changing media, communication and society? ESA RN18 is calling for both general submissions on “Communication, Crisis, Critique and Change” that address these questions as wellas more specific submissions that address a number of specific session topics. Sessions 01RN18 Capitalism, Communication, Crisis & Critique Today 02RN18 Communication, Crisis and Change in Europe 03RN18 Knowledge Labour in the Media and Communication Industries in Times of Crisis 04RN18 Critical Social Theory and the Media: Studying Media, Communication and Society Critically 05RN18 Sociology of Communications and Media Research (open) Joint Sessions 06JS18 - Critical Political Economy of the Media and Communication in Times of Capitalist Crisis and Change Joint session with RN06 - Critical Political Economy Chairs: Ian Bruff & Christian Fuchs 18JS29 - Social Theory and Media Sociology Today Joint session with RN29 - Social Theory Chair: George Pleios and Csaba Szalo

1 0

It’s the Political Economy, Stupid: The Global Financial Crisis in Art and Theory
by Michel Bauwens 24 Jan '13

24 Jan '13

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Oliver Ressler <oliver(a)ressler.at> Date: Thu, Jan 24, 2013 at 4:02 AM Subject: [Newsletter] NEW FROM PLUTO PRESS: It’s the Political Economy, Stupid: The Global Financial Crisis in Art and Theory To: newsletter(a)ressler.at ** It’s the Political Economy, Stupid The Global Financial Crisis in Art and Theory Edited by Gregory Sholette and Oliver Ressler Hardback | 9780745333694 | £19.99 / $30 PDF eBook | 9781849648677 | £60 / $90 EPUB | 9781849648684 | £19.99 / $30 Kindle | 9781849648691 | £19.99 / $30 To buy the book at a special discount price visit: http://www.plutobooks.com/display.asp?K=9780745333694 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Praise for the IT'S THE POLITICAL ECONOMY, STUPID exhibition: 'Confrontational, intellectual, and occasionally amusing group show, which squarely aligns itself with the Occupy movement.' – VILLAGE VOICE 'In the wake of the capitalist crisis, very few cultural institutions have dared to address the horrors of greed that plague us in such a direct and haunting way.' – HYPERALLERGIC ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IT'S THE POLITICAL ECONOMY, STUPID brings together internationally acclaimed artists and thinkers, including Slavoj Žižek, David Graeber, Judith Butler and Brian Holmes, to focus on the current economic crisis in a sustained and critical manner. Following a unique format, images and text are integrated in a visually stunning bespoke production by activist designer Noel Douglas. What emerges is a powerful critique of the current capitalist crisis through an analytical and theoretical response and an aesthetic-cultural rejoinder. By combining artistic responses with the analysis of leading radical theorists, the book expands the boundaries of critique beyond the usual discourse. IT'S THE POLITICAL ECONOMY, STUPID argues that it is time to push back against the dictates of the capitalist logic and, by use of both theoretical and artistic means, launch a rescue of the very notion of the social. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- GREGORY SHOLETTE is an artist, activist and author based in New York. He co-founded two artists’ collectives: 'Political Art Documentation and Distribution' (1980-88) and 'REPOhistory' (1989-2000). He is the author of 'Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture' (Pluto, 2010) and co-editor of 'Collectivism after Modernism: The Art of Social Imagination after 1945' (2007) and 'The Interventionists: Users’ Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life' (2004). OLIVER RESSLER is an artist and filmmaker based in Vienna. His work has been exhibited across the world including at the Berkeley Art Museum, USA; Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul and the Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum, Egypt. He is the editor of 'Alternative Economics, Alternative Societies' (2007). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword by Pia Hovi-Assad, Pori Art Museum, Finland 1. 'Unspeaking the Grammar of Finance' – Gregory Sholette & Oliver Ressler 2. 'It’s The Political Economy, Stupid!' – Slavoj Žižek > Liz Park comments on art from the exhibition It’s The Political Economy, Stupid 3. 'The Political Economization of Art' – John Roberts 4. 'Derivative Days: Notes on Art, Finance and the Un-Productive Forces' – Melanie Gilligan 5. 'Occupational Realism' – Julia Bryan Wilson > Angela Dimitrakaki & Kirsten Lloyd comment on art from It’s The Political Economy, Stupid 6. 'Occupy Wall Street’s Anarchist Roots' – David Graeber 7. 'Bodies in Alliance and the Politics of the Street' – Judith Butler > Thom Donovan comments on art from It’s The Political Economy, Stupid 8. 'Sick Sad Life: On the Artistic Reproduction of Capital' – Kerstin Stakemeier 9. 'Art after Capitalism: a final word' – Brian Holmes Biographies -------------------------------------------------------------------------- INSPECTION COPIES To request an inspection copy please send the following details to chrisb(a)plutobooks.com: - the course name - the level of the course (level one, two, three or post-graduate) - the start date of the course - expected number of students on the course - name of local (or university) bookshop - full university address (this is where the book will be sent) We need all these details to be able to be able to process a request. Inspection copies are provided with an invoice that is cancelled if the book is adopted for a course, or returned in a resalable condition. You can also request inspection copies using our online form at www.plutobooks.com/lecturers.asp. EBOOKS Many Pluto books are available electronically. Libraries can subscribe to the Pluto eBook list via The Academic Library (www.theacademiclibrary.com) Individual titles can be ordered from many vendors, including Dawson ( www.dawsonera.com) in the UK and Ingram (www.myilibrary.com) in the UK, US and worldwide. REVIEW COPIES If you would like to request a copy of a book to review for a journal or other publication, please email our publicity manger Jon Wheatley at jonw(a)plutobooks.com, providing your contact details and the name of the publication you intend to review the book for. ORDERS To place an order, visit our website at www.plutobooks.com. _______________________________________________ Ressler_newsletter mailing list newsletter(a)ressler.at http://mailman.mediainvent.at/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ressler_newsletter -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

1 0

Fwd: Connected Citizens game live
by Dante-Gabryell Monson 22 Jan '13

22 Jan '13

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: info(a)connected-citizens.org <info(a)connected-citizens.org> Date: Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 8:18 PM Subject: Almost there - Connected Citizens game live in less than 1 hour To: "info(a)connected-citizens.org" <info(a)connected-citizens.org> Hello Social Inventors! *Today we get to reprogram government services. Are you ready to bring your best ideas?* In* less than 1 hour*, at *20:00 GMT / 3pm EST / noon PST*, the game will be OPEN and LIVE for you to start playing. Be sure to create your player identity<http://game.connected-citizens.org/users/sign_up> (if you haven't yet) and log-in to the game site<http://game.connected-citizens.org/> . Need a refresher? Watch this short video<http://game.connected-citizens.org/> to find out what the future of government services might look like. See what the drivers of change are. Imagine how people might access government services if they were as easy as reaching for your smartphone. Consider how citizens will be empowered, and how governments will have new opportunities, to use civic tech to improve communities for all. *Do you feel ready to reinvent government services? Let's play:* *game.connected-citizens.org* <http://game.connected-citizens.org/> You can get a birds-eye view of the game from the dashboard<http://game.connected-citizens.org/dashboard>. Then, start playing cards! Get inspired and build on other players' ideas, or challenge an idea that you don't agree with. But most of all -- have fun! Thank you for being part of this important conversation about the future of citizenship. - Connected Citizens Team

1 0

Who Should Own and Control the Network?
by Patrick Anderson 22 Jan '13

22 Jan '13

Some say the Workers should be the owners and some say the Consumers should be the owners and some say it should be a mixture of both. Imagine you are not connected to the internet, but want a wired connection between your computer and your neighbor's computer. Imagine you hire someone to do that work and continue to hire them to maintain that connection. Should that worker have some ownership in that very small network? Why or why not? Now imagine you and your neighbor connect to other people, and they to others and so-on until there are thousands and millions and even billions of connections. Should the workers that install and maintain those connections have some ownership in that very large network? Why or why not?

2 1

Fw: Fw: Psycho-Electronic Connection Testing. (A Correction)
by robert searle 22 Jan '13

22 Jan '13

M, Thank you for your response. RS. ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Michel Bauwens <michel(a)p2pfoundation.net> To: robert searle <dharao4(a)yahoo.co.uk> Sent: Monday, 21 January 2013, 12:20 Subject: Re: Fw: Psycho-Electronic Connection Testing. (A Correction) hi Robert, interesting as usual, but also difficult for me to see the p2p angle, so normally speaking I would judge it outside of your scope, but if you disagree, feel free to add it, the wiki is by self-registration, it would be nice if you can add a paragraph outlining its linkage to p2p spirituality, so that people know why it is there, Michel On Wed, Jan 16, 2013 at 11:26 PM, robert searle <dharao4(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > > > >----- Forwarded Message ----- >From: robert searle <dharao4(a)yahoo.co.uk> >To: "michelsub2004(a)gmail.com" <michelsub2004(a)gmail.com> >Sent: Wednesday, 16 January 2013, 13:01 >Subject: Psycho-Electronic Connection Testing. > > > >Michel, > > The following "invention" could go in the p2p foundation section on Spirituality? I hope to complete the basic concepts of the Eleutherian Theory which may be of great interest. > >Regards, > >Robert S. > > > > > Brief Introduction. > > > >What is suggested here may seem strange. But if one understands the basic reasoning behind it then all should appear clear, and "obvious". It is based on the experiences of the originator (Robert Searle) which may seem very novel especially to those who have had no "psychic," or "spiritual" experiences. It is hoped though that such persons may maintain an open mind. > > >The Basic Concept of Psycho-Electronic Connection Testing ( PECT). > >One critically important way to "prove" that there are such things as subtle energies from some form of psycho-spiritual universe is to actually experience them. This can happen via meditation (or indeed, via a "healing" session) in which degrees of a highly subtle bliss may be experienced, and visions even may be had. However, one way way to facilitate any "connection" may be through being in the prescence of some esoteric Teacher of any tradition. He, or she may give out "positive vibes". Depending on ones degree of sensitivity these can be picked up, and may even include visual phenomena such as seeing an aura, or coloured rays, et cetera. Such experiences with a Teacher may lead to some degree of "mystical" awakening. How, long this awakening continues probably depends on the amount of purity, and genuine desire to seek self-unfoldment. This process is a spontaeous initiation. In it a Teacher may be willing to disclose some form of meditation which helps to enhance the awakening into something more permanent, and more purifying. However, some awakenings may involve an official initiation in which subtle energies may then be experienced. In India, just looking at the Guru to receive such inner experiences, or "Grace" is known as Mouna Upadesa, or Silent Initiation. > >I, (Robert Searle) the originator of PECT had two awakenings from Dr, Sharma, and Sant Harjit Singh who belonged to the same lineage of the originating Master, Faqir Chand. The descriptions which he gave were almost identiical to one another but difficult ofcourse to describe completely. This seemed to be suggestive that both Gurus emanated from the "same" spiritual level of superconciouness. > >Apart from this, for many years I associated myself with a sect known as Radh Soami Satsang Beas. These involved attending varous spiritual meetings along with their rareified "atmosphere" or "energies" which along with the two awakenings probably increased my sensitivity to essentially positive "vibrations". What was later discovered when I had contact with Sant Harjit Singh in 2007 is that I became aware of waves of highly subtle energy. This was notably the case via a landline telephone which seemed to be "less" effective than a mobile phone which ofcourse has no "wire" connections.. > >Anyway, a respected devotee of Harjit Singh, James Chagula also had a like experience, and probably others likewise.. It was as if the electronic transmission of the telephonic communication was not only transmiting physical energy but also uplifting psycho-spiritual energies at the sametime. This in turn lead to a raising of conciousness to a "high". However, the aftereffects of this awareness may last for sometime after communication with the Guru on the phone. > >It also appears too that just looking at a photo of some live, or dead Master may also stimulate "higher conciousness". It is suspected though that the voice transmited via electronic means is perhaps the most potent means to bring about "connection" But it must be said that what is experienced is probably in most cases a low grade form of higher energy. > >Another remarkable thing happened when I started to realize that I could actually feel different grades of this subtle energy from various voice (and visual) recordings of Gurus ,and other advanced Teachers on the internet. It seemed immaterial whether they were living, or dead. Their recorded words still carried energies which could transcend time, space, and distance. Virtually no visual "phenomena" were involved. A fascinating aspect to this which needs to be fully tested is to see if certain Adepts came from the same plane of superconciosness. Thus, one line of Teachers from one tradition teaching the same meditation practice should have the "same" energy as his, or her predessor. If so, this could be suggestive of them being from the same plane of higher concioussness. Such a notioin has already been mooted at in connection with Dr Sharma, and Sant Harjit Singh.. but is worth repeating. It indicates a degree of objective dynamics at work. > > > >Creating PECT as a Structured System. > > > >It should become obvious now that such psycho-electronic connection testing, or PECT ofcourse could be a structured system in which people could make deliberate attempts to contact energies via spiritual Teachers of one sort, or another. Such an approach may inspire those who are really keen for spiritual development to have their progress quickened possibly. Yet, as indicated this will be only temporary in most cases but at least it would be a step in the right direction. > > >The internet could play a major part in the development of PECT in which a series of Teachers, and/or advanced disciples could be filmed in real-time, or otherwise. People staring at them on their computer screens may receive experiences. This in the main will probably be super tactile as opposed to visual in any way. Attempted discriptions of the resulting PECT experiences could be recorded, and compared at a "centralised" point of researchers in the network of internet users. > > > >No doubt other ideas could be developed in the structuring of PECT. But the present should suffice. > > > > >PS. On the internet somewhere (if it still exists) there was an image of guru, or yogi who claimed to cure illnesses just by looking at his picture.Whether anyone had any success at this at all is another matter, and could result in a placebo effect! > >One is also reminded here that someone went to a healer, and later discovered through meeting him, or her that the "gift" of healing had been "transmited" to them. Incidently, feeling healing energies, or being "healed" is usually an easy, and quick way of experiencing "subtle energies". Unlike PECT though, none of this involved physical electrical energy as a "carrier" of psycho-spiritual energy save for the case of the guru, or yogi mentioned in the last paragraph above. > > >Some "Relevant" Material. > > >The links below originated notably from my blog entitled Thoughts, and Visions. Here again, they do not deal with the use of electronic energy to facililtate human connection but the matters discussed here may still be of relevance, and interest. Electrical energy, and its relationship with "psychic" energy is still esentially terra incognito from a more scientific point of view. > > > > http://thoughtsandvisions-searle88.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/meeting-dr-sharma… > > >http://thoughtsandvisions-searle88.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/more-light-on-two… > >http://thoughtsandvisions-searle88.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/anyone-can-feel-e… > > >The following is copy of a section from the above mentioned blog. http://thoughtsandvisions-searle88.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/religare-gurinder… > >"...Depending on ones sensitivity when I have attended Satsang at Southall there is an intense concentration of the subtle energies of higher conciousness. This awareness I believe has been increased after my experiences with Sant Harjit Singh. What is significant is that this "sea" of higher energies does NOT come from the Satsangis alone. In other words, it may well have a divine source, or sources. I recall feeling this Power descending from the ceiling of the Satsang Hall in most a gentle, and spontaneous manner. Sometimes ofcourse one can see a white glow in some of the Satsangis themselves which is extremely subtle. > >When I leave the Southall Satsang this higher energy of conciousness can be experienced in the wonderful park nearby. I also recall Sant Harjit Singhs energy not only in his house but also outside...and beyond ofcourse. This is a matter of personal experience, and I cannot prove it unfortunately... > >Ofcourse, critics would say that the above is experienced in places like football matches, and pop music festivals...when the atmosphere becomes electric!! However, what I experience (along with many others) is something far more than this. It is A POWER unlike anything of this world..." > > > >The following link is of great interest in regards to PECT, and comes from a google discussion group, and it is clear that a devotee of Harjit Singh received "energies" via a telephonic conversation....to quote in brief ... > >".......as I (James Chagula ) listened to the Saint's voice; a very tangible, warm, Love-energy >began to seep directly from the telephone handset into my earlobe. The >shakti (energy) then permeated my body and began to flood my mind...................... > >Full text > >https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/alt.meditation.shabda/Ul… > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net/ - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/ Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

1 0