capitalism

Black Friday: Rise Above It

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“Today, humanity faces a stark choice: save the planet and ditch capitalism, or save capitalism and ditch the planet.”
– Fawzi Ibrahim,Capitalism versus Planet Earth (Muswell Press, London, 2012)

Tomorrow is Black Friday in the U.S. (and apparently we Canucks are now following our neighbour’s bad example). Black Friday is aptly named, I think, because people have been killed in the rush to get into stores early to save money on a gadget or two. If that isn’t an indictment of our consumer society, I don’t know what is.

Here’s a video – banned from MTV and other networks –  from the folks at Adbusters (whose co-founder Kalle Lasn and senior editor Micah White first dreamed up the idea that lead to the Occupy movement). Thanks to Katherine who blogs over at FeistyRedHair for the link:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=E_jpG6kv6Pw]

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Go to Adbusters for ideas about how to creatively disrupt the consumer orgy of Black Friday.

Here’s Kalle Lasn On CNN talking about the Buy Nothing campaign. Unfortunately, the interviewer’s responses represents the vast majority of North Americans right now:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dtNiiatDkGk]

To listen to an interview with Kalle Lasn on CBC radio’s As It Happens from November 2011, click here.

Don’t forget Christmas is right around the corner

In A Capitalist Economy, the True Job Creators Are Middle Class

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Nick Hanauer, entrepreneur and one percenter, exposes the fallacy that it’s the super rich who create jobs. He makes a strong case for taxing the rich to create benefits for the entire society, including growing the middle class. It’s good policy for everyone.

Hanauer asserted that TED refused to post this video on-line on the grounds that it was too politically controversial. It’s now available on-line. You be the judge:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bBx2Y5HhplI]

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More links:

TED and inequality: The Real Story

To read the transcript of Hanauer’s talk, go to National Journal.com

Take Time To Renew Your Spirit

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“What we are seeing is not just a climate crisis, an energy crisis, a food crisis, a financial crisis… but also the systemic crisis of capitalism itself, which is bringing about the destruction of humanity and nature. If the cause is systemic, then the solution must be systemic as well.”

~Bolivian President Evo Morales