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| The Citizen's Voice Newsletter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Revolution Within part 2 March 1, 1999 vol1.6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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THE REVOLUTION WITHIN Part2 Once we understand what Upadarianism is we can understand what the Revolution Within is. But first the Upadarian theory of human action must be explained. In reviewing our theory of human action (refered to as "praxeology") we will look at what action is, how choices are made, the "social diagram", socializing agents, the socialization process and "self-resocialization". Once we have reviewed Upadarian praxeology we can move on to the revolution within, the "over turning movement" and "state and institution building". Now, let us move into Upadarian praxeology. What is action? Very simply action is choice followed by activity or purposeful inactivity. Without choice and the power to pick one alternative while setting aside other alternatives true action cannot take place. The elements of action are the power of volition and decision, the choosing of one alternative and the setting aside of other alternatives. In acting we do do not merely decide to accept one alternative, we pick up one alternative and we set aside others. In other words in acting we make a decision for one thing and against other things. Action is positive acceptance of one alternative and negative rejection of other possible alternatives. More than anything else action involves choice, a decision to do or not do something in order to achieve some desired end be it material or spiritual, be it selfish or altruistic. We act in order to exchange and change. We exchange something such as money, labor or property in order to get something. We change our current situation from a condition of lacking the object of our desires to a condition of having the object of our desires. The motivating factor behind all action is felt lack. If we feel satisfied with all things as they are we do not act we merely carry out tasks in a robotic motion which involves activity but which does not involve true action. All action is rational in so far as the acting individual perceives that their action will in fact achieve the end for which they have made the choice to act. When the Indians traded away Manhatten for trinkets they may have been grossly lacking in insight but the rationality of their act was sound, they exchanged an island of little value for objects which they valued more. All exchanges essentially involve the principle contained in the proverb "the buyer says 'it is nothing, it is nothing' and walks away rejoicing." We exchange what we have for something which we value more, we give away what we hold in low regard for what we hold in high regard. Generally we attempt foremost to give away as little as possible for what we want. How then do we arrive at the decisions which presage all human action? How are choices made? As we reviewed above action essentially involves a choosing of one alternative among all possible alternative with us taking up the one alternative and putting aside or rejecting the other possible alternatives. In modern day economics it is understood that the type and form of economic system advocated by the conflicting (and numerous) economic schools of thought is primarily the result of the objectives each school has in mind. If the objective is economic equlaity the type of system advocated will necessarily differ greatly from a system where the objective is the diversity and quality of goods. So also is choice regulated and directed by the end which the acting individual has in mind. The end dictates not only what things the individual feels necessary to obtain but even how the action will be conducted and how much of what one has will be exchanged for what one wants. Most of the choices we make are part of a "system of choices". This system of choices is a regulating factor, it defines what actions are acceptable and desirable as well as the intrinsic value of what one exchanges for what one wants. This system even goes so far as to instruct us as to what is worth obtaining and what is not worth keeping or obtaining. Another word for this system of choices is "the social digram" and we will now move on to discuss the social diagram. The social diagram. Picture a line which has no begining or end, a line which goes on forever and ever. This line cover s "all possible actions". Picture now somewhere in the "middle" of this line two other short lines extending upwards from the horizantal line at 90 degree angles. Within these lines write the words "all acceptable behaviours" and outside of these lines write "all unacceptable behaviours". A behaviour is essentially an action, an activity in which something is exchanged in the hopes of obtaining something which one desires but is lacking. In every form of exchange at all levels, in every society, in every situation and at all times this diagram is present. From marriage and sex to work and friendship we all use our social diagrams to guide our choices whether we are conscious of those diagrams or not. All action, therefore, can be said to be a choice motivated by our social diagram to take one alternative and to set aside or reject all other possible alternatives. Understanding how and why we accept or obey our social diagrams is not only the key to understanding who we are it is the key to understanding how we can re-direct our lives. We shall now go on to discuss the primary builders of our social diagrams, the socializing agents. Socializing agents. According to the "control theory" all of our behaviour is directed towards controlling our environment in order to meet one or all of the needs for self-actualization, belonging, security, food, shelter and fun. If we accept these needs as basic to the human condition (and there is no reason not to, at least for discussion purposes) we can deduce that for each of these categories a social diagram is present. Of all possible foods, for instance, we "accept" only certain ones based on our social digram and of all possible ways of eating foods we "accept" only certain ways of eating foods and this is also the work of our social diagram. Let us now conduct a little exercise to see the role socializing agents play in developing our social diagrams. 1 Take a peice of paper and draw a straight line across the top. Below this line write "all possible forms of fun". 2 Now, write a list of 30 forms of fun whether "good" or "bad" or even legal or illegal. 3 Next, draw two lines about three inches apart at 90 degree angles extending about two inches up from the horizontal line. Above the space created by the two lines write "acceptable forms of fun". 4 Now from your list of 30 possible forms of fun pick out those forms which you personally consider acceptable forms of fun. 5 Now write this new list on a separate sheet of paper following each item with a list of as many people as you can think of who you have seen, heard about or read about doing that specific thing and the positive and /or negative results which accrued to them as a result of doing such a thing. 6 Finally, write how you came to accept each of these forms of fun and give a brief logical defense of why each of these is positively beneficial to both yourself when you do the and to society in general should the vast majority of people do the same. The people who you saw, heard about or read about doing some of those things which are "acceptable" according to your social diagram are socializing agents. A socializing agent is any person, institution or thing from which individuals learn which behaviors are acceptable and which are not. Among those who are the most influential of socializing agents are parents, peers, teachers and heroes be they political, military, entertainment or sports figures. Whoever you want to either please or imitate becomes your socializing agent. You, the socializee, and the numerous socializing agents of your life are part of an ongoing socialization process. We shall now discuss that process. The socialization process. As we observe socializing agents we internalize a social diagram and this diagram determines how and why we act. Internalization means that we accept and obey the standards of acceptability which we learn from socializing agents first consciously and then unconsciously. The fundamental method by which we learn what our socializing agents find acceptable is the process of sanctions either positive (an award, praise or some benefit) or negative (ostricism, public scorn, reprimand, spanking or some negative result). If we can think of forms of fun we find acceptable we can also think of the sanctions which we have experienced that either encouraged or discouraged us from doing certain things. When we won a race and were praised or when we smoked and were spanked we experienced attempts to socialize us through sanction. The socializing agents which we most respected or adored were the ones who we ultimately obeyed. In this context we are always obeyeing something and that something is our social diagram. What happens, however, when our social diagrams are either not suited to meeting our present needs or when they conflict with our ideal? As and example consider Daniel Bell's book "The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism" in which he makes the point that the techno-economic, political and cultural elements of society are three seperate things. According to Bell the techno-economic sphere is based on the ideals of cost effectiveness and product quality, the political sphere is based on the ideals of inherent equality and a libertarian "rule of law" while the culture is governed by self-expression/self-fulfillment in a hedonistic free for all. Whether or not Bell's views are 100% correct is not important here. The main value of Bell's idea is that he was able to grasp that our social diagrams can often be contradictory and he essentially held that the political diagram (equality and liberty) ought to become the single social diagram upon which all others are built. What then could Bell or anyone do if they determined that there were contradictions between the various social diagrams which they held? For starters the would be reformer of ones' own social diagrams would first and foremost have to identify those diagrams as to their contents and root ideals and then compare those diagrams with the one set of ideals which one holds to be of supreme importance. The process of changing ones' social diagrams is called Self-resocialization and we will discuss this now. Self-resocialization. There are two tests by which the individual can evaluate the desirability of a social diagram. Those two tests involve determining whether or not the diagram is practical and useful under existing circumstances and whether or not the diagram is practical and useful in bringing the individual fulfillment, inner peace and even "pleasure" (not in the sensual context but, rather, in the esoteric context). Once a deficiency is discovered the individual is required by necessity to change their diagram for if they do not their situation will not change. We can change our social digrams and if we change our digrams there is a very good chance that we can ultimatley modify our circumstances and even change our lives. Three things impede our ability to change our diagrams and thus our lives, lack of knowldge about the fact that social diagrams exists let alone how they are created, lack of knowledge that we can change our diagram and lack of a decision on our part to take back control over our diagram from "socializing agents" beyond our control to become our own socializing agent and to select agents which embody the ideal which we actually want to live by. The first two obstacles can be overcome with education but the last obstacle is the most difficult to overcome because it requires a decision to act followed by a disciplined effort to change not only what one believes but how one acts. The key question I would pose to any person is "who should define your social digram and set the pattern of you life, you or somebody else?' As ultimately we must all stand alone before the judgement seat when we face our Creator the answer to this question can only be that we must determine, according to what we consider to be right and useful to ourselves and our society, the content of our social diagram. This process of self-resocialization involves a concerted and conscious effort to redefine our social digram, to essentially change our mind about ideas which conflict with our world-view and to thereby change our pattern of conduct so that what we DO conforms faithfully with what we BELIEVE about ourselves, our society and our world. The fact is that when we have inconsistent social diagrams we find great stress and frustration because we fail to live according to our core beliefs. This process of changing our mind and then changing our pattern of conduct is both self-liberating and dramatically life-altering. From how we manage and spend our money to how we view human relationships and interact with others we begin to embark on a program of radical restructuring. This program we refer to as The Revolution Within and it is a program the individual can conduct immediately and on their own. If, as we hope, you choose to adopt Upadarianism the revolution within would involve YOU altering your social diagrams, and hence your behavior, to correspond to your adopted ideals. This is the primary and foundational means by which the Upadarian revolution will be carried out, it will not be a mere cosmetic change in the FORMS of power or the players in the political drama it will be a deep-seated social revolution firmly rooted in the human heart. The "overturning movement" in which the community takes on democracy and cooperative free enterprise and the state and institution building efforts which will occur as nations elect to adopt Upadarian institutions will both be founded upon the spreading of the revolution within from person to person until individuals become a team and teams become a "community" influencing their larger communities and their nations to liberate themselves from such things as exploitation, oppression, ignorance, deception and prejudicial persecution. The vision of the Upadarian Revolution is a total transformation of America's social, economic, and political life. We envision a nation in which nearly all, if not all, citizens are either self-employed in some way or are sharing equally in the responsibilities and profits of business. In other words, we envision a nation where nearly every citizen is economically self-sufficient and is thereby free to pursue his or her own happiness. We also envision small communities as the foundation and basis of all political sovereignty with each community being governed directly by their citizens and with each community being materially self-reliant. We see alternative energy and manufacturing processes/resources empowering smaller entities to meet the needs of locals in a manner which provides quality and variety and has little to no impact on the local environment. We see the values of the small town and the open-minded culture of the city coming together in the sovereign comm unity , an entity modelled after Thomas Jeffersons' ward republic and the Greek Po l is with ALL citizens regardless of race or economic standing being equal members of the "body politic". We see counties being reformed into "federations" of sovereign communities and states being federations of sovereign counties. We see workers' unions rising up to demand equality between labor and capital along the "cooperative free enterprise" model. We further envision a literal interpretation of the constitution with amendments which protect the rights of communities and further strengthen the Bill of Rights. We see the end of political party domination of governing bodies with the end of rules which provide for the appointment according to party or seniority and rotating leadership positions, drawn by lot, to ensure that all elected delegates serve in these postions. The Upadarian Revolution seeks to go deep, into the hearts of individuals, as well as far and wide, througout the whole nation at every level. This "revolution" occurs in two primary stages. Stage one involves purging our minds of the myths of caeseristic institutions such as Big Government and Big Business. The second stage involves changing one's own life through financial and behavioural 'reforms' and then cooperating with fellow travelers to create tools of self-liberation such as buying co-ops, local publications, local credit-unions, workers' unions and citizens' corporations that make it possible for individuals to obtain true economic self-reliance. This is the overall "thumbnail" sketch of what we mean when we speak of the Upadarian Revolution or "the Upadarianization of America". It will require a greater commitment by individuals to "active citizenship" , that is why we emphasize the first stage, personal decolonization, so heavily. People must see themselves as sovereign creations of a sovereign God and then be willing to take responsibility for their own lives and the life of their People. America is not a land, America is a People and each of us are Americans. Whenever one of us reforms our life we reform part of America and as more and more Americans realise who they are and what power they have the Upadarian Revolution will grow and grow until it spreads throughout the whole nation. We must do more then elect some well funded politician, we must re-learn the art of actually governing ourselves and our communities. Change begins with YOU and I, as each of us rejects the notion that we do not count and accepts the moral responsibility to control our own destiny and reach out to our neighbors in cooperation something will begin to happen, something good for every single one of us. Freedom will only thrive where the People become individually involved and where ignorance and apathy are replaced with knowledge and initiative. The Upadarian Revolution is a daunting task, one that will have immediate positive effects on individuals who begin to practice it but that will take a long-term commitment to spread it throughout the whole nation. Upadarianism is the economic, political and cultural world-view of the American Civilization. What is this American Civilization? It is a civilization born out of the coming together of the Hispanic, Western, Asian, African and Native American worlds. Geographically it stretches from the great Canadian north to the islands of Tierre Del Fuego. The destiny of this civilization is to transform all of the Americas into a collection of Free and sovereign Peoples who have achieved the ideals of equality, liberty and prosperity through a community-driven free enterprise. Each and every one of the numerous ethnic groups which form the mosaic of the Peoples of the Americas are part and parcel (equal in value) of the newly emerging American "Race". The radical imperative for Upadarianism in America today is to create some "Homeland" within the heart and the imagination of people wherein the principles of Upadarianism can be practiced and from which the Upadarian revolution can be spread throughout the Americas or even the world. Picture a situation in which the economic level of prosperity currently enjoyed by the United States is enjoyed by all of the Americas, picture the numerous nations of the Americas with democratic systems of self-government and local empowerment of individuals and communities and picture an end of the reign of Big Business and Big Government from Canada to the Falkland Islands. If you can see the image of a Free and Prosperous American Civilization stretching from pole to pole along the whole length of the American continents then you have caught a glimpse of the DESTINY of that civilization. Our Civilization, which is taking root first in the heart through a "revolution within", is on a collision course with the decadent civilization of a Western Europe still hell-bent on global domination. Many of the financial, social, religious and political institutions of American nations are controlled by leaders who are loyal to the Western ethos and mythos of acquisition and nihilistic "will to power". Therefore Western Civilization still exercises a great deal of power over the Peoples of the new world. The time has come for the new world to end once and for all the reign of Western "caeserism" in the Americas, the time has come for the Peoples of the Americas to seize their destiny and claim their moral and political birthright! This is but a vision and, as we have noted earlier in the NOVUS series, it is only a target. But it gives us, I think, something to shoot for, something to get up every day and LIVE FOR. NEXT WEEK Part 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NEWS AND VIEWS, more reader input March 1, 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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IS U.S. SOVEREIGNTY IN DANGER? by Lee F. McKenzie leemck413@aol.com THE ESSENTIAL IMPORTANCE OF U.S. SOVEREIGNTY Of critical importance to all patriotic Americans is the Constitution of the United States of America. The purpose of our government is to preserve and protect for each citizen the rights of life, liberty and property. Threats to Constitutional rights from within America come through a distortion of our system of laws. The loss of Constitutional rights due to forces outside America might be viewed in terms of a loss of Sovereignty. PACIFIED INTO THINKING THERE IS NO PROBLEM For a great many years I had not given much thought that a loss of U.S. Sovereignty was much of a danger. On the surface I recognized the fact that America had in the past been involved in great wars. The threats from fascist and totalitarian goverments were overcome as Americans patrioticly rose to the defence of home, country and freedom. Like most Americans, I had thought that the greatest danger to American Sovereignty would always come from this type of external hostility. A SUBTILE AND HIDDEN DANGER In recent years I have become alert to a different, more subtile and sinister way in which Americans can loose their Sovereignty and Constututional Rights. If the United States enters into a treaty with another country, group of countries or international organizations, then the citizens of the United States are subject to the terms of such treaties. If the terms of international treaties are contrary in any way to fundamental Constitutional Rights, America's sovereignty is compromised. Americans are then in jepardy of loosing their most cherished freedoms. THE GREATEST EXTERNAL THREATS TO U.S. SOVERIEGNTY AND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS In the first of the "Federalist Papers" Alexander Hamilton said that: "...a dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people" and "that of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying obsequious court to the people, commencing demagogues and ending tyrants." It would seem that the heated emotional pleas for rights carry the greatest danger for America's loss of soveriegnty. Today we are faced with a number of such emotional issues which involve attempts to get the United States to sign treaties. Some of these issues are as follows: INTERNATIONAL TREATIES ON THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL TREATIES ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN INTERNATIONAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS INTERNATIONAL TREATIES ON THE ENVIRONMENT SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF LOSS OF SOVEREIGNTY 1. NAFTA or the North American Free Trade Agreement appeals to the altruistic feelings fairness in many Americans. However, the terms of this agreement supercede federal, state and local laws on health standards of produce and other food products. By the terms of NAFTA, the United States is compelled to accept substandard foods. This places the health of Americans at risk. In effect American have lost in this matter their rights of self determination normally associated with Sovereignty. 2. Canadians, like Americans, worked hard to remove lead from gasoline. In Canada, tetraethyl lead in gasoline was replaced a number of years ago by a manganese compound. The particular manganese compound used in Canadian gasoline is made in the United States by a multi-national company called Ethyl Corporation. Accumulating evidence of health hazards associated with the use of the manganese compound recently prompted the Canadian Government to ban the use of the manganese compound in Canada. Under an "obscure" clause of NAFTA (which the Canadian Government signed) Ethyl Corporation sued the Canadian Government and forced Canadians to reintroduce the manganese compound into Canadian gasoline. In addition the Ethyl Corporation is claiming $200,000,000 in damages from the Canadian people due to their breech of obligations under NAFTA. Very clearly by signing NAFTA, the Government of Canada has lost a measure of of their sovereignty. Whether the health threats of manganese additives in gasoline are real or imagined, the Canadian people ought to have the right of self determination to decide for themselves. Yet, sadly, that right was taken away in the stroke of a pen when Canada signed NAFTA. 3. In recent years the United Nations has assembled "peace keeping forces" from among participating nations. The United States has participated heavily in these activities. In a number of instances U.S. Troops have been instructed to put on UN insignia and serve under the command of foreign commanders. In some cases individual service men have refused to serve under foreign commanders and have been summarily subject to court marshall and dishonorable discharge. The legal arguments of these soldiers has been that upon joining the U.S. military they made a commitment to defend the Constitution of the United States, and that service under foreign commanders in an international army was not part of their agreement. 4. Although the United States Senate has refused to ratify the United Nation's Biodiversity Treaty, President Clinton has directed the United States State Department to put terms of this treaty into effect. This involves an agreement to manage "Biosphere Reserves" according to international dictates and objectives. The intention is to progressively limit and finally cut off human access to these areas. Starting with Yellowstone National Park in 1979, UNESCO has designated 47 Biosphere Reserves in the United States covering 50 million acres. At Yellowstone National Park, United Nations' delegates who surveyed the area last year, called for a "buffer zone" around the Park. By placing United States lands under the direction and control of foreign entities, the United States has agreed to limit our sovereign power to manage our own lands. Americans who live in areas adjacent to Biosphere reserves are being deprived of their rights of property. The Clinton Administration's designation of Yellowstone Park as a World Heritage Site "in danger" has already been used to shut down a gold mine near (not even in) Yellowstone. Currently the Park Service is choking off the local economy by refusing to maintain certain highways and by buying up any property available. Of course, there will be plenty available as more and more owners are denied the use of their own private property which causes businesses to shut down and the economy to show. The UN/UNESCO representatives have made no secret of their goals. Their next step is their Wildlands Project, a plan to designate one half of the United States as "protected areas or areas where special measures need to be taken to conserve biological diversity." Inside Yellowstone, the Park Service is shutting down campgrounds as the park is being prepared to become the core of a huge biosphere reserve, as part of the United Nations global plan. Once established, no human activity will be permitted in the area. THE REAL DRIVING FORCE BEHIND INTERNATIONAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS I continue to marvel in light of European history how the many European countries are now coming together in a "European Economic Community". I ask how the many differences and traditions of mistrust have been disguised, obscured or overcome in such a few short years. About a year ago I participated in a business and technical meeting involving international representatives of my own company as well as international officials of another very large, multinational company which supplies our business with certain chemicals. An official of our trading partner spoke about the world wide presence of his company's operations. He spoke of his company having corporate representatives or "corporate ambassadors" whose mission is to "break down barriers" by working with world governments. The barriers of which he speaks include: trade barriers, labor barriers, environmental barriers etc. These are barriers which make it difficult for the multinational company to do business. One particular labor barrier which he mentioned involved workers in the asia pacific area. In that region it is difficult to find workers which are trained to do the work of this company. After making an investment of time and money to train workers, this multinational company often experienced the disappointment of the workers leaving the company for better offers. He then said that his multi-national company had found a way to keep workers with the company-----hold the mortgage on their home. Despite the fact that such workers might have the best living accomodations they have ever enjoyed, I had a cold feeling come over me regarding the method used to control peoples lives. It reminded me of the old "company stores" which were part of America's early history. In reflecting upon my business experiences in light of current events, I have come to a number of conclusions. The large multi-national companies have little concern for culture, religious morals or specific national ethics. Their primary objective to get gain and do business without restriction. In doing so they attempt to break down barriers or obstacles to doing business between countries. I believe that the primary driving forces behind establishment the European Economic Community, and other international trading agreements like NAFTA are the multi-national companies. The financial power behind these huge organizations is tremendous, both to influence government officials as well as to shape public opinion through the media. ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN 1. America's elected officials must stop accepting political campaign contributions and PAC money from multinational companies so that they can act without bias in the interest of Americans and Constitutional Rights. Since election laws have tradi tionally been considered a state right, and since each state has a different set of election laws, it would be ea s y to approach the issue of campaign funds in state legislatures. 2. States should vigorously defend and maintain local control of wilderness areas and historical sites. There is noone who loves Utah as much as Utahn's. Putting Utah's public lands in control of external entities places such lands at risk to the whims of those who have private agendas. 3. Utah's legislators should be alert to issues containing emotional traps (like childrens rights, womens rights, environment etc.) which can subtily erode genuine Constitutional rights. The United States does not need to sign treaties to do what is morally right and Constitutionally right for its citizens. 4. The best and most noble role of the United Nations is to be a forum and catalyst for peace among nations, a place where disagreements can be resolved before war and hostilities erupt. The United Nations should not intrude upon the sovereign rights of peoples and governments and should allow such to manage their own affairs. There is danger in giving the United Nations a standing army. There is danger in giving the United Nations sovereign control over land and property. There is also danger in making nations subject and liable to mandated controls by the United Nations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COOPERATIVE FREE ENTERPRISE W R Collier Jr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Essentials of Cooperative Free Enterprise | Cooperative Free Enterprise is designed around the idea that the individual is the foundation of economic independence and that promoting such individual and community economic self-reliance is the purpose of the economic system. For these reasons worker ownership of the means of production, community scale economics (in which the community becomes reliant on its own resources, land and labor for the necessities of life), the end of interest slavery and the end of the wage slavery system of labor where people are free to profit from their labor and enjoy the fruits of their labors are all advocated strongly. Cooperative free enterprise combines two theories, that of cooperative relationships as the basis of society and that of privately owned, freely acting worker-controlled businesses providing the needs and wants of the community. This is opposed to capitalist free enterprise in which those who own the means of production profit and labor is a mere commodity to be used for the profit of the capitalist. Capitalism is a form of free-enterprise but it tends towards monopoly, exploitation and a partnership between Big Business and Big Government that holds down the little people and robs them not only of their money but of their liberty as well. Personal independence requires coop
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