[PeDAGoG] A powerful short film on "Beyond Money"

[Pallav Das]

Friends,

For the last few months, the Radical Ecological Democracy website (REDWeb)
has explored the Australian thinker, Anitra Nelson's recent book, "Beyond
Money" for ideas and inspiration to help us negotiate these confounding
times of end capitalism. With the help of her intellectual insights, we
have, as Bertrand Russel encouraged us to do, hung "a question mark on the
thing(s) you've long taken for granted" - the brutal constraints of
"universal exchange" and the mesmerizing seduction of money. The response
to our efforts has been amazingly powerful, somewhat shocking, frankly,
given the omnipotence of money. It seems the interest in Anitra's ideas is
a reflection of the growing popular unease towards the oppressive
structures of the market economy and its rapidly evident links with the
ecological and economic disasters unfolding in front of our eyes. And,
needless to say, Anitra spurs us to continue to respond to that societal
need, and does so with more than just her words, as if in a sacred
communion with Dostoyevsky who said, "I don't know how to be silent when my
heart is speaking." Earlier, today, she shared a powerful short film based
on her book's significant convictions, which I'm sharing with all of you:

https://anitranelson.info/beyond-money/

I encourage you to take a listen to the resolute calm of Anitra's narration
cleverly overlaid on the strikingly insistent and riveting drone of Bruce
Rogers' didgeridoo - a quintessential Australian experience, indeed. Strung
together with stimulating images of experiments in non-money existence, the
disarming simplicity of the film is an affirmation of our growing belief
that achieving freedom from the hard clasp of capitalism does not
necessarily have to be a complicated affair. But, it starts with the
embrace of the idea of "alternatives" with warmth, and dare I say, fervor!
As a dear friend of mine often insists, elegantly traversing the chasm
between the personal and the political, "indifference doesn't go very well
with freedom."

For our part, we at REDWeb are putting together a dynamic team with the
help of some brilliant partners to take Anitra's ideas further - more
articles on the various ways in which non-money exchanges are being
imagined and created, the increasing adoption and adherence to alternative
currencies, and the spread of sturdy and secure solidarity economies all
over the world, followed by a series of stimulating webinars with thinkers
and practitioners of these cutting edge ideas - hopefully, beginning in
early autumn. Stay tuned for more news on that!

In the meantime, please share Anitra's film with your networks, and for
those of you who may have missed out on the article on the central ideas of
her book, here's the link to it:

https://radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/is-post-capitalism-post-money%ef%bf%bc/

And, here's the link to the review of Anitra's book by our dear friend and
comrade, John Clark:

https://radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/against-the-universal-agent-of-separation-a-review-of-anitra-nelsons-beyond-money-a-post-capitalist-strategy/

Shoot me an email if you have any questions, and please continue to share
your ideas and opinions on our listserv (and let me know if you would like
to join it).

Have a pleasant rest of your weekend, and a Happy 4th to those of you here
in the U.S., whatever be the meaning and significance of the day for you! I
hope you can relive some old memories, and also create some fresh ones.
And, a barbecue under the open sky is always a welcome relief, whatever be
the reason for it!

In solidarity,

Pallav
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