[PeDAGoG] [REDlistserve] Why Are Archaeologists Unable to Find Evidence for a Ruling Class of the Indus Civilization?

Mon Jun 26 20:16:24 CEST 2023

Hi Christian,

I fully agree with you on horizontal governance but I would add collective ownership of the means of production (also governed horizontally not by the state). There can be no democracy without democratic control of the means of production.

I also see you're also based in SF. I'll most likely be a graduate student at UCB starting this fall. I'd be happy to connect when I move there!
Best,
Giorgos

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From: GTA-PeDAGoG <gta-pedagog-bounces at lists.ourproject.org> on behalf of Mofwoofoo <mofwoofoo at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 24, 2023 7:00 PM
To: Christian Stalberg <CStalberg at mymail.ciis.edu>
Cc: RED listserve <radical_ecological_democracy at googlegroups.com>; PeDAGoG: Post-Development Academic-Activist Global Group <gta-pedagog at lists.ourproject.org>; Discussion list about emerging world social movement <wsm-discuss at lists.openspaceforum.net>
Subject: Re: [PeDAGoG] [REDlistserve] Why Are Archaeologists Unable to Find Evidence for a Ruling Class of the Indus Civilization?

This article gives credence to this: Vision/Remedy for Humanity

We often take for granted the air we breathe, people, children, our loved ones, the joy of eating, the beauty of the sky, so many things that are plentiful and that we are accustomed to, as opposed to a child where even the smallest things can take on importance. Our lives are commercialized.

Money is a fiction, but it's real. We need it as much as we need air. Without money, we perish.The more money one has, the more power, the more options, the more freedom. In 2022, 2 trillion, 240 billion went to global military spending (https://www.statista.com/statistics/264434/trend-of-global-military-spending/). Estimates of how much money it would take to end world hunger range from $7 billion to $265 billion per year (https://www.globalgiving.org/learn/how-much-would-it-cost-to-end-world-hunger/).

War is business. Everything is for sale, food, sex, knowledge/tech, assassins, bombs, politicians and governments, etc. Ah, politicians and governments, there's the rub. Everything has a price, but not everything should be for sale. Selling people, slavery was finally made illegal is an example. Politicians and governments are another no-no. But the reality is that very rich people and large corporations can control governments simply by buying off politicians. This gives them inordinate power over others. This is the "fly in the soup", or the flaw in the system that is constantly overlooked and accepted. This is why humanity has suffered the same seemingly intractable problems for millenia, i.e. corruption, crime, poverty, hunger, disease, and war. This is why it never is going to change substantially no matter who gets elected, that voting just continues the domination.

Now that humanity has reached the stage of ever-mounting crises, the urge for change is everywhere. But if this key problem is not noticed, the changes that we make will never be enough. Even though things are so complex, sometimes like the Challenger space shuttle explosion in 1986 was caused by a design flaw in the spacecraft's O-rings, which are mechanical gaskets that are designed to be seated in a groove and then compressed in between two surfaces, creating a seal at the interface. That seal helps to prevent liquids or gases from escaping. The morning of the 1986 space flight was much colder than previous Challenger launches, and the primary O-ring became cold and hard and couldn't seal properly.

This is analogous to the ease of corruption in governments today as the major cause of the seemingly intractable and increasing dilemmas that confronts all of humanity today.The solution is to restructure all governments from vertical to horizontal which will remove the possibility of corruption or the selling of the government. Sometimes it is a small adjustment that can correct complex situations.

Horizontal governance involves citizen participation, extreme transparency, a new constitution that all could agree upon, incorporating human rights and dignity, along with making all human needs as easily accessible as possible in the most equitable manner imaginable. It would also include confederating cities, villages, and states such that all would have autonomy within the confines of the constitution.

This would provide the infrastructure or framework for humanity to begin living in a world based on cooperation and collaboration, rather than competition. Hopefully, leading to making unconditional love for all life a commonality.

On Sat, Jun 24, 2023 at 8:45 AM 'Christian Stalberg' via Radical Ecological Democracy <radical_ecological_democracy at googlegroups.com<mailto:radical_ecological_democracy at googlegroups.com>> wrote:

https://www.resilience.org/stories/2023-06-23/why-are-archaeologists-unable-to-find-evidence-for-a-ruling-class-of-the-indus-civilization/

__

Christian Stalberg

Doctoral Student

Anthropology & Social Change

CIIS, San Francisco, CA

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” – Edmund Burke

“Go to where the silence is and say something.” – Amy Goodman

"I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept." - Angela Davis

“What is it that we can do that addresses whatever the problem is, rather than what it is that we’re trying to get somebody else to do.” – Alice Lynd

“It’s better to die for an idea that is going to live than to live for an idea that is going to die.” – Steve Biko

“We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable – but so did the divine right of kings.” - Ursula K. Le Guin

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