Becoming Water

Today
Become Fluid


Beliefs are better used as devices of progression as opposed to fixed world views. So, it's not the belief but the system that maintains the idea that beliefs should be static that needs to be addressed. Beliefs should be flexible and breakable as newer information is assimilated. I try, and often fail, to live my life as a testament to this (BE the change we want to see in the world, not FIGHT for change).

All institutions that are considered static, fixed, unwavering, or otherwise hostile or indifferent to new information, are bad regardless if the institution was established in the East or West. That is not to say that some institutions are void of great wisdom and lifestyle methods. It is important to note that great wisdom and lifestyle methods can, and should, come about without the use of static institutions.

-Eric St. Pierre


Quotations

"A nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and by common hatred of its neighbours."

-William Ralph Inge

"I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world."

-Diogenes

"I have no country to fight for; my country is the earth, and I am a citizen of the world."

-Eugene V. Debs

"Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind."

-Albert Einstein

"Everyone is asked their opinion about every detail in order to prevent them from having one about the totality"

- Raoul Vaneigem

Art

Introducing Aaron Ridgeway to the Postscript Society.


Poetry


and he fancied himself an artist
made of masculine prance and quiet sputters
as if smoke ring talent where a trait to be admired.
by the works of others before he,
by the tear and thickness of artists hands,
those lines river snaked through canyons of depth
and his was atop those mountainsides, carving the faces of great men.
how’s a smoke ring volcano, boy?
how’s the lament of the Virginian’s eyes?
that brow so subtle in statement,
as if to speak:
“an artist tells no lies.”



- Eric St. Pierre


Articles

A Prison System for You and Me to Live In

A New York police officer fed up with the corrupt nature of the law enforcement system decided to take matters into his own hands and make audio recordings of police officials. What was revealed in those tapes exposes law enforcement big wigs as liars and manipulators. The tapes show how the crime rate was manipulated to receive more funding from the federal government and how crime victims were harassed and told to keep quiet about their experience.

Political Rhetoric Delays Wind Energy

"Opinion" gets in the way of another solution. Thanks to Gina St. Pierre for finding this article.

Yogi Self Deprivation

Explore the limits of the body and mind. Thanks to Steven Walker for submitting this article.

Websites

The Orion Project

From the website:
"Imagine a world where every home and village has its own clean source of electrical energy, free from the cost of fossil fuels, nuclear power or a centralized electric grid.
Imagine every means of transportation running off of clean power plants, using no source of fuel and creating no pollution.
Imagine the developing world blossoming with these new technologies and the equatorial rain forests protected from slash and burn subsistence farming and logging.
Imagine all inter-city transportation above the ground and the millions of acres paved over with highways freed for productive agriculture and recreation.
Imagine all manufacturing being clean-fuel sourced, using no-cost or low-cost energy.
Imagine the possibility of 100% recycling because the energy cost of transporting recycled materials, processing them and scrubbing pollution out of the air and water approaches zero."

Thanks to Burt Antone for finding the site.

Action Alerts

None to report.

Other Links of Interest

Eric's Shirts
James' Book


A Personal Note

The Post Script Society publication is maintained and compiled by Eric St. Pierre unless otherwise notated. This issue of the Post Script Society was edited by Gina St. Pierre, many thanks are due to her. If you would like to to contribute to our publication, please send an email to thepostscriptsociety@gmail.com.

Consumption and the Looking Glass Self: The Illusion of Need and Identity

Consumption and the Looking Glass Self:

The Illusion of Need and Identity


All nations are consumption based societies. Most activities from leisure to labor are formatted around cyclical consumption. In these modern days, citizens acquire material possessions to let others know how they wish to be perceived. Thus, the looking glass self is manipulated in an unnatural or manufactured way. Prior to the eighteenth century, consumption was an indicator of true status and social structure; sumptuary laws where enforced as a way to limit luxury and extravagance as a means to keep classes of people stratified (Encyclopedia of Sociology volume 1). In modern times, Americans can consume as much as one’s dollar value allows, making the possibilities of alienation from others and separation from the Self essentially endless. Workers around the world now produce commodities in exchange for wages so that they may buy things that they did not make by means of their own effort (Encyclopedia of Sociology volume 1). Also, workers tend to receive a wage that is unequal in value to what they produce (Encyclopedia of Sociology volume 1). These facts separate humanity from the natural world. Due to the power of advertising and the relentless pursuit of monetary gain, the consumer is led, unknowingly, from their natural being by engaging in cyclical and conspicuous consumption. The following paragraphs will explain some of the detrimental aspects of consumer culture and its effects on the looking glass self. Though society’s current illusions may seem daunting, it is important to evaluate future considerations, such as the resource based economy proposed by inventor, artist, and social designer Jacque Fresco (http://www.thevenusproject.com/).

The illusion of need is a major problem facing modern culture. Some products that would have been considered luxuries fifty years ago are now considered needs. For example, modern people generally connect food to social order instead of caloric intake or other requirements (Encyclopedia of Sociology volume 1). So, if a person wants to impress a potential partner, one no longer wants to provide high end expensive food on a first date; it is socially demanded by our alpha-male centric society.

Our world is dominated with advertisements of vapid, morbidly thin fashion models. From one season to another, fashion trends surge and ebb. What causes these rapid shifts in trends? Certainly, a matter of three months, or a season - is not a substantial amount of time for sustainable improvements in clothing to come from nothing. Yet, over $250 billion is spent on fashion each year in the United States of America (http://www.grabstats.com/). Clearly, what we have is an industry built upon the insecurities of consumers, women in particular. And like all institutional industry, the fashion industry’s sole purpose is to keep itself alive, thus the insistence upon the cyclical consumption of new fashion is disguised as a need.

Our illusion of the need to stand out in the crowd or to be above others denies us the natural state of human of connectivity. "[O]ur ability to ‘want’, to ‘desire’ and to ‘long for’, and especially our ability to experience such emotions repeatedly, actually underpins the economy of human togetherness" (Zygmunt, Consuming Life page 26). In other words, our manufactured desires that are advertised as needs have become paramount and are blinding us from the reality of human interconnectedness. This natural reality of interconnectedness is an enemy to the advertising industry that spends one-hundred forty billion USD annually (http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2005-06-19-cannes-box_x.htm) to convince Americans that they need to purchase their products in order to achieve a high social standing.

Conspicuous and cyclical consumption mask the true intentions of our looking glass self, where as actual projected value is replaced by vain, materialistic endeavors. Although we as a culture go out of our way to “shop to impress,” studies have shown that those of us that who pursue happiness through the acquisition of products are less liked by our peers than those of us who pursue happiness via social experiences (http://www.sciencedaily.com/.). So, what is it that drives consumption? Studies have shown that advertising may be more powerful than our culture ever intended. We use to turn to religion and philosophy to answer the big questions like “Who are we?” and “Why are we here?” but now, growing trends indicate that the advertising and capitalist market industries are answering those questions for us. A lifestyle is no longer something that we consciously choose; instead, we “buy” the lifestyle (“Shopology”, 2001). The advertising arm has reached into the churches too; Americans tithe one-hundred three billion dollars a year to places of worship (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/charity/2008-10-07-charity-faith_N.htm). Here, instead of the consumption of products, we have the consumption of a clear conscious.

When the consumer is unable to purchase into what they are led to believe by the advertising and capitalist market is a needed lifestyle, people tend to resort to a coping mechanism that psychologists call “compensatory consumption.” That is, “A term coined to describe the phenomenon whereby individuals who feel frustrated in achieving personal goals may compensate for this through their consumption BEHAVIOUR. It applies particularly to individuals with low incomes/occupational mobility.” (The Westburn Dictionary of Marketing, 1998) This feeds into the cyclical consumption machine, further manipulating the looking glass self by means of hiding depression caused by consumption, with more consumption. This helps to fuel the medical industry. The public is overmedicated and subdued by antidepressants (associatedcontent.com/article/256677/americans_are_being_overmedicated_the.html). From 1999 to 2000, the total money spent on antidepressants in America rose by twenty-one percent to ten million (healingdaily.com). So, market capitalism and the advertising industry fools consumers into believing in an unattainable standard of living and are there to sell them medications when they become depressed over the illusion. To say that there is money to be made from depression is an understatement.

What we see is a clear practice; to keep cyclical consumption, market capitalism’s fuel, rolling, the advertising industry must push arbitrary products from the want category into the need category. Again, this separates the consumer from reality and makes it impossible for the looking glass aspect of the self to be fully realized.

Another detrimental issue the consumer faces is the illusion of identity. When speaking of the illusion of identity in relationship to consumption, one question is of particular importance: How are consumers expected to reflect their true nature via the looking glass self if the consumer does not realize that their true self is no longer represented in their actions? “Anthropology continually shows that in order to consume, people must make sense of needs, relationships and objects, and establish complex collective meanings and rituals that knit all three together.” (Encyclopedia of Sociology volume 1) Therefore in order for the market to strive, wants must be disguised as needs, product relationships must be established firmly and early in the consumer’s life, and collective cultural rituals must revolve around consumption.

“It is currently estimated that a child sees more than forty-thousand television commercials a year.” (Report of the APA task force on advertising and children) “The primary purpose of all television advertising is to influence the attitudes and subsequent behavior of viewers” (Report of the APA task force on advertising and children). Children below the ages off seven and eight lack the cognitive ability to apply considerations such as intent and bias to what they view. Advertising specialists, being versed in psychology, take advantage of this fact. The effect of advertising on children usually goes beyond the altering of attitudes and subsequent behavior; it may have a more lasting effect. Advertising can affect the child’s perception of what is nutritious and may cause child/parent conflict should a parent attempt to deny the child of the advertised item. Distorted nutritional information can lead to childhood obesity, diabetes, and a lifetime of health and cognitive problems. Child/parent conflict can lead to lasting miscommunication and even child abuse and neglect.

A sizable part of an individual’s identity is her or his relationship to their cultural traditions. Few cultural American traditions have endured untouched by the long reaching arm of consumerism. All major religious celebrations involve gift giving and receiving. On average, around thirty-seven billion dollars are spent on Christmas gifts per year (US Census). All holidays built around relationships, i.e. Mother’s Day and Valentines Day- have entire industries dedicated to making the consumer feel obligated to purchase goods. Again, in the form of gift giving, we see that the advertising industry and the capitalist market have their hands in three areas of life that give us our identity: religious, philosophical, and familial affairs associated with cultural traditions and rituals. Given this, a second practice is clear: market capitalism, the advertising industry, and materialism join forces, so to speak, to manipulate traditions that give a people identity and definition.

When presented with this discouraging realization one may feel helpless and desperate. One possible solution to these problems of consumption is an economy and philosophy developed and advocated for over the last forty years by a man named Jacque Fresco. Mr. Fresco is a ninety-four futurist, inventor, artist, and social engineer whose lifework has been assimilated into a social design paradigm that he holistically and creatively calls The Venus Project. The Venus Project is headquartered in Venus, Florida. Jacque Fresco and his long time partner, Roxanne Meadows, dedicate every day of their life to researching sustainable and clean technologies. Their only income is the modest income generated by sales of Mr. Fresco’s books and by tours that they give once or twice a month to those that who wish to learn more about his life’s work. They are currently on a world tour lecture circuit speaking to the general public about the benefits and values of a resource based economy.

The goal of the Venus Project is to assist the world in a transition, by means of massive social therapy, from our current monetary based economy to a resource based economy or RBE. Jacque Fresco envisions a world beyond politics, poverty, and war; where the world’s solutions are arrived at using the scientific method. In an RBE the world’s resources would be the understood inheritance of all the world’s inhabitants. Nothing is bought or sold, because there is no gain from such acts. The delusive value of modern society’s fiat money would be replaced with true value; the value of human thought and effort. Mr. Fresco envisions a world where humans are free of borders and wage slavery. In his resource based economy, there would be no reason for any advertising, much less deceptive advertising aimed at children. This would help to free children from the trappings of positive reinforcement through advertising and offer ample room for them to grow into happy, healthy, productive non-consumers. Stripped of the intent of monetary gain, our cultural traditions will become what they were originally intended to be, meaningful and fulfilling without the expectations of gift giving and receiving. Without the market system telling us what is fashionably desirable and what is not, we can concentrate our skills on making cloths that serve a more function based purpose. Consumption has no spirit. Consumption consumes because it is empty. Emptiness keeps the monetary market machine rolling. In a resource based economy, sustainability and the intelligent application of technology via a system, or scientific, method is valued over the acquisition of material possession and monetary gain. For when our purses are full, what is left of our spirit?

A resourced based economy, as expressed within the values and ideals of the Venus Project, allows for all levels of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to be met without a price tag. This frees people to achieve higher states of being and realizations of interconnectedness. Without the illusions of need and identity to manipulate our perception of ourselves, the looking glass self is left naked and pure.

Works Cited
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/256677/americans_are_being_overmedicated_the.html
http://www.census.gov/retail/
Encyclopedia of Sociology, vol. 1, page 139, hard copy
Encyclopedia of Sociology, vol. 1, page 140, hard copy
Encyclopedia of Sociology, vol. 1, page 143, hard copy
http://www.grabstats.com/statcategorymain.asp?StatCatID=12
http://www.healingdaily.com/conditions/health-spending.htm
Report of the APA task force on advertising and children, FEB 20, 2004 page 2
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100414130832.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/charity/2008-10-07-charity-faith_N.html
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2005-06-19-cannes-box_x.htm
http://www.thevenusproject.com/
Zygmunt, Consuming Life page 26, hard copy

Written by Eric St. Pierre
Edited by Gina St. Pierre and James Blackburn III

Allowing it to Happen

Today,

Allow it to happen

Art by James Blackburn

Spirituality, stripped of religion, is the urge to connect with something that is often referred to as a higher power. Once you take the -isms out, that urge is what you're left with. I don't personally refer to the sense of connectivity as a higher power because that suggests that it is something that is separate from us. I don't believe in a deity that dictates morality. The reason for this is that what is considered moral has fluctuated over time and has never been the same all over the world. The one thing that every human - and indeed every living thing - has in common is the drive to survive. Our ethics and morality and thus or spirituality should be based on this drive. It has been shown time after time that cooperation supports life while competition destroys it. This cooperation, or connection, is my form of spirituality because it can be measured. Pondering the abstract - things that cannot be measured - is fun and intellectually stimulating but in the end it doesn't add up to the tangible. I am more so concerned with "Now that we're here, what do we do?", rather than "How did we get here?"

-Eric St. Pierre

Websites

WolframAlpha

WolframAlpha's goal is to take all the world's information, make it all easily assessable to everyone in the world, and make it testable and computable by everyone in the world. While this tool is, for the time being, strictly mathematical in nature, it is the basis of Jacque Fresco's Venus Project. With WolframAlpha we have the beginnings of a holistic system that utilizes the scientific method to arrive at solutions and decisions. In the future, a system like this would allow anyone to test hypotheses on better social systems and structural organization in general. In the Venus Project, if the result is a better way to do things, then that new way is adopted. The "better" way to do things is not voted on, but instead scientifically tested to determine it's worth. This is an example of what can be done.

Equality Trust

Income inequality leads to poor physical and mental health, drug abuse, lower levels of education, imprisonment, and other undesirable social fallacies. This is true in human and nonhuman primate societies. Here is the proof.

HydroCopia

Organic, automated farming. This is a glimpse into the future of food with a focus on health and abundance.

Articles

A Life Without Fear

Read about Isabelle, the child who is unable to fear. Our society views this as a disorder - and it very well may be - but imagine if we all had this "disorder." Is this child sick, or has she evolved?

Draw Muhammed Day

May 20th is Draw Muhammed Day. The purpose is to water down the pool of targets that Islamists have their jihads set on. It's just an image, get over it. If we can't laugh at ourselves how can we ever make this world a better place? Oh, and here's a link to images of Muhammad from Medieval Times (no, not the restaurant)- thanks to Steve Walker for the link.

Quotes

"States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions."

-Noam Chomsky

"For one who mindfully develop

Boundless loving-kindnessSeeing the destruction of clinging,

The fetters are worn away."

- Itivuttaka 1.27

Action Alerts

Friends,

For now, I am not aware of any volunteers organized to help clean Pensacola nor Navarre Beaches or wildlife. BP has said they are not accepting any volunteer help. Anyone wanting to help with oil slick clean-up in Orange Beach should contact captain_lori@yahoo.com . More info below. This morning I received word that two more leaks have been discovered, and an estimated five-times more oil is escaping than previously thought (more than 275,000 gallons per day). Remember to contact your local, state and federal representatives, and tell them we don’t want drilling off our coasts.

Thanks,

Tim Miller

Other Links of Interest

Eric's Art

James' Book
The Post Script Society Face Book Page

A Personal Note The Post Script Society publication is maintained and compiled by Eric St. Pierre unless otherwise notated. This issue of the Post Script Society was edited by Gina St. Pierre and James Blackburn, many thanks are due to them. If you would like to to contribute to our publication, please respond to blog. To reseive email updates from The Postscript Society, send an email to thepostscriptsociety@gmail.com