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God did not create us in his own image.

We created him in ours.

Well its finally here and far more informative, inspirational and motivational than expected.

Zeitgeist is emerging as an online media, networking (get the entire world of its collective ass and get it working together at long long last) project that may very well feature prominently in the history books of little Johnny(3) and Mary (4).

You can read our coverage of the original Zeitgeist here. Cheers to the guys at Edenbee for the heads up.

There is no point banging on as before because the point is for you to watch and make up your own mind. All Ill say is do yourself and your great great grandkids a favour. Boil the kettle. Dim the lights and open your mind.

It aint trippy. Its fact.

You’re life is the trip. And its ending one minute at a time.

Enjoy

FRONT

True Human Prosperity?

BACK

The system will not allow.

She may be presenting herself as a sassy maverick, but Sarah Palin is continuing to show she knows very little about how the world really works. Maybe its got something to do with her advisers. Hence….

Could the financial crisis force earth’s citizens to lower their individual carbon footprints? Little taster here. A report on the rise in importance of green collar jobs here.

Change.ie (the well branded and dangerously ineffective government plan on climate change) goes all reality TV (’that is sooo in right now, give the guy who came up with that the rest of the day off’) and teams up with the good natured people of the Today FM marketing team to give you (yes, YOU!!) the chance to win twenty thousand yoyos.

Meanwhile in the real world, ‘Climate change threatens to kill off up to a third of the planet’s species by the end of the century’.

Another great article on Celsias, this time from author Lester Browne, on the central role of the individual in evolving a way of life that respects the earth. Apparently, its got to do with something called democracy.
‘Let your political representatives know that a world spending more than $1 trillion a year for military purposes is simply out of sync with reality when the future of civilization is in question’. ‘Saving our civilization is not a spectator sport’. His book, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, just went to the top of my must read list.

I’d also put the following two books on your reading list if I were you:
‘Green Inc: An Environmental Insider reveals how a good cause has gone bad’. ‘There’s nothing more delicious than a book that lays bare the rot of a corrupted industry from an insider’s perspective.’
‘Hot, Flat, and Crowded:Why We Need a Green Revolution - And How it Can Renew America’ by Thomas Friedman. “A compelling manifesto that deserves a wide reading, especially by members of Congress and candidates for President.” (Boston Globe)

I’ve seen the MARS ‘lighter-than-air wind turbine‘ before, but this presentation seems a lot more… confident. What I like about tools like this is that, if it works, it will allow us to replace existing power sources and infrastructures and generate energy in remote areas outside of any existing infrastructures. Electric Picnic should go nuts for things like this. An article over on Eco-Worldly talks about a not dissimilar project in Brazil to bring solar powered Internet access to remote areas.

‘Google outlines plan to cut U.S. reliance on fossil fuels by 2030′. But its had to see how the Internet giant can affect any of the changes it outlines. Maybe they should come up with a piece of software that allows individuals and communities to manage the transition away from fossil fuels.

Probably, the most unhelpful attempt to eradicate world poverty and global warming ever. Feels more like a clever teaser to the next Austin Powers movie.

And finally, who would have thought that using more oil would help solve the problem? Stephen Colbert’s cutting edge coverage of climate change, global warming and oil addiction continues with this controversial report on the love that exists between oil company entrepreneurs and the air they breath. ‘A lot of people talk about loving the earth, but how many of them actually penetrate it?’

What do we really hope to gain from Web Two Point OHHH!! shit here comes the McDonald’s marketing machine!!!

An article over on New Media Age sparked a little idea that has been rattling around for a good while.

I am a big believer in the idea that people themselves should control the medium of high culture. Its essential for democracy and a healthy storytelling culture in general. What this article shows is that we are moving to a point where everyone with a mobile is now connected via the world wide web.

From the point of view of a democrat (cultural and political) this provides an amazing opportunity to build platforms into this system that will allow for a more inclusive, collaborative society.

From a marketing perspective, it means a captive audience, constantly exposed to the machine of modern global capitalistic opportunity.

Why bother informing, educating and involving people more in the system when you can push them to buy more stuff. The more stuff they buy, the better the economy does, and that means everybody is happy.

I’m as realistic as the next man, and I don’t blame anyone for trying to make a buck, but there’s a line you don’t cross and a base level you try not to reach.

How good would Jesus’ message have been if he had been wearing the name of a local eatery on his gown while allowing his fisherman friends to sell copious amounts of cod at his speeches. Its a perfectly acceptable arrangement at some level, but you cant help imagining the self-styled Son of God thinking to himself, ‘Guys, I’m trying to ‘communicate’ here’.

Its completely understandable when you consider the day to day reality of our economic system and its affect on our culture in general. The medium, as with everything, is part of the marketplace. And, of course, that’s all very…. interesting.

Problems arise when, out of this system, culture becomes product and the medium is taken over by the producers to sell their wares (physical product and / or ideas).

Here you have a medium that is completely open, democratic and transparent. And yet there is a very real danger that it will be swallowed up by the progressive marketing machine that has plagued every other ‘modern’ medium.

The evidence is there to show that all you end up with over time is a diluted message, an uninvolved public, and a load of generic content that does little but aim at the lowest common denominator.

It was relatively acceptable in the the golden ages of print journalism, cinema, radio and TV. Industry controlled content and the means by which it was presented. Like smoke filling a room, it was inevitable that the marketing machine would invade every possible nook and cranny.

But this is OUR Internet, OUR medium. And it is unacceptable if we allow this smoke to pollute its airways.

When you accept that the medium is the avenue along which ideas, information and discussion are supposed to flow within a community, you come to understand why so many of the real problems we face as a global nation are not being dealt with.

People are dis-connected. They are unfocused. They are confused. They come to believe sub-consciously that the world being presented to them on their TVs is somehow real, and that they must live up to its underlying message.

And I don’t accept the argument that ‘that’s life’ or ‘that’s how people really are’. That’s ‘horseshit’ frankly.

Rather than being completely Red and anti-establishment about it, I look at this arrangement with a cool head and I think ‘this is not good for society’. Especially one that, if you read the right books, newspapers and websites, is slowly tearing itself and the basis for its existence apart.

What we are talking about here is democracy and storytelling and how these are allowed to breath within a society. What we are also talking about is a global society that really needs to get up off its ass and start working as a team to solve all the problems we face together.

What all of these require is a community communicating. But how could they communicate with each other through a TV or Radio? These media were like noticeboards controlled by the teacher. Content was not representative and non-collaborative. It was controlled by the upper echelons of whatever institution had the power and the money to do so.

What the Internet (especially in the Web 2.0 era) is supposed to do is to allow even the poor angry trouble making kids in the back of the class to be heard. And maybe if they did, if their voice mattered, if they could contribute, if they were allowed to express themselves, then maybe they would start to grow up, they’d get involved, they’d try to make a difference, maybe even lead.

To me, Web 2.0 is about giving people the power to communicate with each other. To talk to each other. To share ideas. To act together. To take control of their own medium.

What will emerge is relative, innovative content, created by the community, for the community.

Its not a commie idea. Its not a hippie idea. Its not the calling card of dreamers, greens, reds, right wingers, Jesus freaks, anti-war-riors, or any other interest party. Its not for them alone.

Its for the sake of humanity Goddamn it!

Maybe if we work hard to ensure the smoke doesnt fill the room. Maybe if we build collaborative, creative, open, democratic platforms that allow people to make themselves heard and to take effective action when necessary. Then maybe the whole concept of ‘Power 2.0 the People’ can become something of a reality.

I’m a bit of a romantic I suppose.

Better still, I’ve big ideas about humanity, our nature, our natural sprituality, our place on the earth and so on. I believe they apply to and should be relevant to each and every human being everyday of their lives.

Problem is we are separated from that ideal in our daily lives.

Our culture doesnt recognise it. Our economic and political systems are ignorant of it. And as a result, our society as a whole is denied it.

Our collective histories to date have evolved structures and systems that work outside of these grand ideas.

In particular I have a firm believe in the idea (or should I say the reality) of the human community.

Humanity did not ‘begin’ with farming and ‘civilisation’. Before that we were not merely dumb smelly apes or wandering fruit picking savages. The earliest human cultures and societies cannot be described as primitive in any truly scientific way.

Read some books. Watch some nature programmes.

You will see staggering levels of sophistication in the cultures of all living creatures, going right back to the earliest lifeforms.

How can you ignore this when you come to ponder human culture and community. Worse still, how can you disconnect human culture from it altogether. Everything we are came from that.

The human community is another sophisticated natural community. You can argue that our intelligence and our abilities make it even more complex and sophisticated, but thats more a healthy debate than a definate reality.

Unfortunately, today’s high cultures are not built around its ideals. Different structures have evolved to circumscribe the workings of our daily lives.

Take for example, storytelling. Unique to humanity, and centrally important to the inner workings of the human community. It allows us to express, to record, to teach and to create meaning as a collective. I dont mean that in a marxist communist way, but in a communal one.

And yet in our society, the high culture of storytelling has been dominated by certain institutions since forever. One of the key reasons being that the storytelling tools or stages (the theatre, the picture house, the TV) were by their nature less open than the campfire. They could be controlled and used as pulpits, financial institutions, or propoganda machines.

Similarly with other aspects of the human community. They became locked in by higher institutions. The media. The church. The party. The sporting ‘associations’ (to a point). The financial system (whats left of it).

God bless the internet.

In the same way that free market economists believe in the ideal of an absolute free for all that will in time achieve stasis, I believe in opening up the communication between every individual on earth. This system will, if unregulated by certain interested parties, allow for the evolution of a true human community.

Within this system, ideas, ideals, tools, innovations, stories, discoveries, emotions, concerns and so on are shared for the prosperity of the community entire. It will lead to the emergence of a grand tapestry, one that can be seen and recognised as a definate overall culture.

There will be arguements. There will be disagreements, points of contention and distortions of the truth. There will be individuals who wish to use the system for their own good.  No doubt there will be times when the situation becomes far from pretty.

But it will not be controlled from above, and that is key.

The great thing now is that with the dawn of the internet, we have the potential of achieving this in a global and wholly transparent way.

Rather than our technology leading us further away from our ‘primitive past’, it is allowing us to evolve a level of global communication that in turn may very well allow us to realise our natural communal nature.

Obviously this relies on people actually using the tools and talking to each other.

It relies on the development of workable, open and democratic platforms, and that is something we are working on over at www.crewger.ie, but that tale is for another day.

It also heavily reliant on those busy little bees working tirelessly to stop those aforementioned ‘interest groups’ from crashing the party.

So do your community a favour. Turn off that TV. Log on. And sound off.

G.D.P. ≠ Quality of Life

No seriously. Its a pretty valid question.

What if every assistant to every respected climatologist in the world just happened to spill coffee on the bosses computer and mess up the raw data coming out of the atmosphere?

Or what if we are all miscalculating the facts in front of us and projecting Armageddon too early?

What if the ‘global warming swindle’ is just a ploy by the left to further its own end?

What if Jimmy Lovelock has been dabbling in LCD ever since the 1960’s?

What if we are all just being dramatic?

Let’s just imagine for a second that the deniers are 100% right, that global warming will not affect us much as we move into a new millennium, and total earth system collapse is not around the corner.

That still doesn’t make our polluting, destructive, regressive and disrespectful way of life right! For that is what we have.

Just because we are not facing some kind of apocalypse does not mean that we can continue to pollute the atmosphere, destroy eco-systems, dump our rubbish where ever we please and continue to develop a way of life that is harming not only individual species and eco-systems, but the earth system entire.

That’s what annoys me about the contemporary debate. Its come down to whether or not you ‘believe in global warming’ like it is some kind of ideology. The whole thing is getting caught up in colloquial debates between contemporary interest groups. How has it become a Left / Right, Christian / Atheist talking point? How small minded can people really get.

Its like watching passengers on the Titanic fighting over who gets to keep the piano, or who caused the problem, or whether or not she is really going to sink when clearly the boat is filling with salt water from the cold Atlantic, its beginning to tip somewhat, there are clearly not enough life boats to go around, the poor are locked in steerage and Leonardo and Kate have already run to the back of the boat and are hanging on for dear life.

ALARM BELLS ARE RINGING PEOPLE!!

It will be interesting to see how high and moral all of these deniers are when they have to start fighting over life boats.

Just because you are not doing enough damage to kill a person does not mean you can continue to beat the crap out of him.

It really is that simple.

Our actions, our way of life, is wrong! It is disrespectful and it seeks to destroy the reality of how our world actually works.

Our job is to build a way of life that does recognise and respect the earth system.

We all (left /right, black/white/asian, men/women, muslim/christian/atheist/miscellaneous) gain from this process. We all fade away without it.

Look to it!

Bankers are alright. They’re just wankers.

We on the other hand are colonised by wankers.