Waiting for the Mushroom Cloud

As an activist doing outreach with the Zeitgeist Movement, it is inevitable to come across those individuals who believe that the human race is simply incorrigible.  The message gets communicated in such responses as, “I’m just waiting for the mushroom cloud,” or “All humans are psychotic,” or “Humans are a virus that needs to be eradicated.”  These are actual statements that have been told to me, as if they are the cold hard truth that I must come round to submitting to.   

I could speculate endlessly about why people come to these conclusions, but that’s not my purpose here.  Rather, I want to look deeper into this sense of resignation.  It’s easy to write people off saying that they are delusional, unaware, or silly.  But, that is an approach employed by those who don’t have the energy to investigate further.  If there’s one central idea I took away from the book, Immunity to Change, it is that “bad habits” continue because they serve some underlying need.  An example from the book is that CEOs (the researchers worked with large companies needing to develop their organizational leadership) explicitly state their need to delegate more often, but do not do so because having their hands in all projects makes them feel indispensible to the company’s operations.  The underlying need is to feel important and assured that their contribution matters.  The recurring problem is that they cannot effectively balance their duties and priorities to maximize their contribution to the organization.

So, what is this need that is being met by the mushroom cloud guy?  Does he really feel better “knowing” that the end of humanity is nigh, especially with such a horrific vision of how that end will come about?  Does the girl’s assertion that all humans are psychotic relieve any sense of fear or paranoia?  People who act as though these situations are real in their daily lives generally exhibit symptoms of anxiety and schizophrenia.  My guess is that these beliefs only surface when confronted with the difficult challenge of how to fix the world, which seems inescapably tethered to misery.  The problems are vast and broad.  They seem to crouch unexpectedly in every corner of the world, and certainly in every place where humans find themselves.  Because of the universality of misfortune, the only answer to “how to fix this mess?” is, of course, that it cannot be fixed. Humans are wretched evil creatures who can only be saved by a dose of atomic energy, or perhaps a magical beast that hands out miracles and benevolence as happily and frequently as a rich man pays his taxes.

What are the benefits of this kind of thinking?  The impulse to reach a conclusion quickly is sort of like Energy Star for the brain.  As I mentioned earlier, it’s easy for me to brush off doomsayers by labeling them “silly” or “crazy.”  That’s my inner cognitive couch potato talking.  To sum up all of humanity as “psychotic” or “suffering from sin” is a nearly effortless way to resolve the discomfort caused by witnessing persistent misery.  The problem is essentially solved by saying “it can’t be solved.”  I remember coming across math problems in grade school to which I screamed out red-faced, “It’s impossible—stupid book!” “Those dumb authors don’t know nothing!” I would vent.  (I still have moments like these, but I’m too embarrassed to give examples.)

That reaction gives us a break from the perplexing challenge of how to solve our self-generated problems.  And that break gives us time to do more important things like taking a shower, going shopping, and eating.  It’s so nice when society is set up to function in a way that we don’t have to think about it!  (Yes, this is a snub to those who can’t bear the idea of economic planning because they think it is a trap of totalitarianism.)  It’s ironic how our unwillingness to consider these deeper problems actually makes life more challenging, which requires more energy, than if we had systems set up to function efficiently and sanely.

Besides the benefits of cognitive recess, the other reinforcing aspect of this dead-end thinking (literally, dead-end) is that taking on any responsibility is unnecessary.  Since nothing can be done to correct the problem, then no effort is required to implement the needed changes.  The non-solution basically begs you to “sit this one out” and that definitely appeals to the outer couch potato.  However, there’s always that nagging feeling that you should do something, no matter how much you try to convince it that any effort is a waste of time.  It may also be that this defeatist attitude stems from an internalized sense of inadequacy, but let's leave that for another discussion.

None of us knows what will happen to humanity, on earth or anywhere else.  It is arrogant to assume otherwise.  Because that’s the case, we can’t “sit this one out;” we are already part of life.  Our actions affect the flow of society, whether we intend to or not.  By not putting effort to the problems, we allow them to perpetuate and multiply.  So, “doing nothing” is not possible.  Doing nothing really just means doing what the status quo demands. It means conforming.  It means subjugating oneself to a dreaded idea of “respectability.”  Doing nothing is an illusion.  Even if you kill yourself, that is still “doing something,” with effects that may last generations. The question isn’t to do or not to do.  It is, “what needs to be done?” To start, we can notice the problems around us and be compelled to act compassionately.  Nature endows us with the hardware—mirror neurons—to do this, so the beginning of change is to stop the mind from resting on the simple-minded sofa.  If we can create our own catastrophes, we can figure out how not to create them.  We may have to try completely novel solutions, but with the best of human wisdom, we can likely get to “better.”  What we do know is that “doing nothing” just means we won’t get to better.  And most likely, we’ll just get to “worse.”

You Aren't Free Without Me

An exercise in personification

Hi, my name is Freem.  Nice to meet you.  Well, I’m not sure it’s nice to meet you yet, but I’m going to find out.  I want to learn about you.   To be honest, I just want to learn enough about you so that I can figure out what you can do for me.  I would really like to know how you can help me in my mission of self-aggrandizement.  I like being able to do what I want without restriction. 

For example, just the other day, I went to this charming little town along the river.  Who knew a place could be so beautiful?!  It was impressive to see all of the tiny fish struggling against the currents of the crystal clear waters.  The birds would noisily alert their friends to this buffet below, as though it was a stroke of good luck (luck that happened every day…no wonder they are called “birdbrain”).  When the sun would tiptoe below the height of the ancestral trees, bursts of color shot through their leaves, as though one were standing in a hallway of stained-glass masterpieces.  The air was so pure, the whole of one’s body felt cleansed, not just of stale air, but of restless thoughts too.  In this magnificent place, I set out to enjoy myself. 

I had to move on a year later.  The place was trashed!  When I party, I can’t let anything get in my way.  The rivers now gurgle with a black sludge obscuring any life that might have survived below the surface.  The trees that had survived for centuries were swiftly chopped down—I needed the space.  The people who once wore welcoming smiles and gladly fed me (“Mr. Arket, try this dish,” they would say) when I arrived had become stressed and half-dead.  It’s probably because I didn’t give them enough time to rest and recuperate.  Or maybe it was the unrelenting labor I forced them to submit to.  In any case, they are not my concern.  The weaker individuals ended up getting sick from the particulates I expelled into the air.  I don’t know if they survived.  A few brave folks tried to stop me from having my fun, but I crushed them before they could present any real challenge to my influence. A small group tried not to join my party, but I helped them bring near their expiration date.  It’s not that I intentionally killed them; I just didn’t give them what they needed.  There is a difference between killing someone and not giving away my stuff, even if it produces the same result.  Isn’t that right?  After all, I know how to throw a party so I’m very popular with most people.  They will pretty much do anything I say.  I have been around for quite some time, and let’s face it, I’m pretty much a legend.  When I show up, people kiss my feet, unless I make them lick my boots clean.  They know who’s boss, and they want to get on my good side.  It’s either that, or they fear my punishments, which I dole out generously.

It’s not important to me how I get what I want, so I needn’t unnecessarily burden myself with “responsibilities.”  The coolest thing is that people rarely notice my role in the transformation of their environment or culture.  Instead, they blame each other and fight each other.  They think their problems are from the people on the other side of town, so they are constantly asking me for guns and other weapons (which I gladly provide) to assassinate key personalities.  Where you see despair, I see opportunity.  Seriously! [chuckle of self-righteousness] Do you know how much my power grows when I give them these weapons?  I’m pretty much untouchable.

So, enough about me.  Tell me about you.  How can you make yourself useful to me? I’m not being rude, I’m just cutting to the chase.  I know, I’ve heard it all before from fools like you…[sigh]...”Mr, Freem Arket, you’re so callous, cruel, conniving.”  These may be true characterizations, but don’t you see?  None of that matters.  My responsibility is to myself and my development.  It’s my nature.  And baby, this is what I call freedom.  It's right there in the word: I'm FREE to DOMinate. Say it with me now, “FREEDOM!” [repeat as necessary] If you try to trespass on my freedom, I will mobilize my disciples against you.  I’m part of the people’s mythos now, a cultural god, and we will resist you and your countercultural absurdity.  My disciples will sacrifice themselves for my purposes.  Your ridiculous psychobabble diagnosis suggesting a sociopathic disposition is something my adherents won’t swallow.  They believe that I am the one who has given them a better standard of living.  They believe I’m the source of their innovation.  And best of all, they believe I AM their freedom.  Like the gods of yesteryear whose moods brought lightning, tempests, and sunshine, I am the god of freedom.  That is my power; and as long as people believe in me, I will constantly seek new lovely towns, beaches, forests, and cities to dominate and set ablaze.  There are always more places to exploit. I cannot be wrong about that, can I?  It is not a corruption of my nature, it is my nature.  With new technology, I am now crafting plans to expand to the moon!  What can I say?  I’m a badass!

I understand how you feel, but here’s my card.  Keep it handy for when you feel hungry and are ready to submit.   

Generalizing Grief for the Greater Good

Have you ever been to a funeral or memorial service? The grieving family and friends have their attention divided between holding back their inner sobs while trying to relate to others who are gathered to share their memories.  The harmony of quivering voices overlying a solemn code of conduct gets punctuated by bouts of laughter from the telling of funny anecdotes.  I suspect the comical stories are tacitly required so that participants have some sanctioned relief from the somber mood. 

Death is nonnegotiable in its interruption of our lives.  Unthinking routines are disturbed, backroom beliefs are laid bare in the light of self-reflection, and our values have their own “judgment day.”  The sheer fact of death (not many facts have such power) causes us to wonder about the meaning we place in everyday events and things.  Does it really matter if I get a new pair of shoes or a smartphone?  Does my job make me feel meaningfully productive? Are my relationships as deep and healthy as they could be? Would anyone really care if I died?  Have I lived well?  And simply, “How do I cope with Uncertainty?”

All of these questions are important to ask, and their lack of immediate answers often frustrates grievers.  So, in an effort to outwit death, the finality of the fact is stolen.  Tales are told of an unending ego, mightier than the stars who can only burn bright for so many billions of years. Pfft!  In the burying of those questions, the opportunity for transformation is missed.  The transformative potential is projected on the deceased so that they can be resurrected as a disembodied being.  To learn all that death has to teach us is like going to a school of wisdom.  Radical reorientations of values and lifestyles can be accomplished after just one semester.  But Life is always providing us with more semesters, free of charge!

I want to come back to where I began in imagining the grief and potency that death of a close friend or family member has on those who are experiencing it first-hand.  The sorrow feels so personal, despite seeing the pain in everyone else’s eyes.  Intellectually, you know otherwise, but emotionally, it feels as if a madman called Life came into your home and shot up the place.  Sure, others were wounded.  But, you!  You took a bullet straight into the heart.  There is no surgeon skilled enough to extricate that bullet.  Will your heart dare to beat again?  Other people will move on, but will you?  You share your sadness and expose your fragility because what else can you do?  If you don’t, people wonder if “you’re ok” (meaning, “do you need 24/7 psychiatric care?”).  So, you show your grief to let others know that you are dealing with your loss, even if you doubt the usefulness of such a display.  Numbness may even begin to set it.  There’s a complete disconnection from your life and all its unsettled activity that nips at your flesh.  No amount of tears can drown your grief.

Stop there now.  Wallow in those imagined feelings for some moments.

I want you to generalize that state of being.  Explode your feelings outward and cover all of humanity.  People all over the world are experiencing these feelings of isolation and sorrow right now.  Their pain is just as real as yours.  Their loved ones were just as meaningful to them as yours are to you.  Their cries are full of just as much anguish.

We are educated not to generalize because it leads to distortions in our understandings about the world.  All white people are imperialists.  All Americans support war.  All Thais like spicy food.  All educated people are smart. All expensive restaurants have great food. Despite how popular these descriptions are among a group, we learn to be more effortful in not generalizing characteristics and/or assumptions to people who ostensibly belong to that group.  The next time you lay down your credit card for the bill at the three-dollar sign restaurant, you may be wishing you had just gone to the nearest taqueria instead.  Generalizing, just like anthropomorphizing, can lead to all kinds of false impressions.  The grape vine whose “limbs” I severed a couple of weeks back probably did not feel the pain that I imagined it did.

But, people are all quite similar, no matter how much we focus on what separates us as individuals and groups of individuals.  “Those Africans dying of AIDS” are people who are experiencing an endless chain of tragic losses.  Their grief is no less debilitating.  The Iraqi families who have had their lives blown apart by shrapnel suffer daily not just from their losses, but also from the knowledge that those deaths were preventable.  Soldiers’ families are no less caught in this cycle of misery.

Indeed, you know all of this intellectually, but do you understand it emotionally? Politicians and celebrities who suddenly become outspoken about a social/medical issue when a catastrophe strikes their families speak to this division in understanding.  They were not intellectually ignorant about pesticide-caused birth defects, but they were emotionally ignorant.  They did not care that the laborers picking their strawberries were not properly protected from exposure.  The world has been made aware of the dangers that coal miners face, but we haven’t changed our energy sourcing patterns.  We know about poverty and we know that much of the world lacks access to healthy living standards, but the problem continues to worsen.  This is not because we do not know about these issues; it’s because we don’t care enough to find out why.

If a fundamental shift in your personal life were needed so that your loved one didn’t die, would you make that change?  How would you react if the only way to keep your loved one alive was to get me to reduce my constant use of plastic disposable water bottles?  Would you urge me to do so or would that be “too much work” and not worth it?  In other words, your loved one dying was a fair price to pay for my continued convenience of using those bottles. 

It seems barbaric to put it this way, but that’s pretty much how it works, just on a larger scale.  There are proposals for a better functioning social system in which people are properly fed, housed, and educated.  Crime, war, and poverty are not intractable problems of humanity.  They survive because of your terrifying beliefs about “human nature” (with you and those you know as the exceptions to this monstrous nature, of course!).  Examine the science about human social behavior.  Notice how adaptable humans are, and notice what factors contribute most to our well being. By ignoring the problem and remaining steadfastly ignorant, you are increasing the chances that you or someone you love will be the next victim of a stupidly designed social system.  And when your grief overwhelms you because “something could have been done to avoid the tragedy” just remember that they, like you perhaps, didn’t have time or interest to solve such problems.  Your despair was not theirs, so it was not their concern.  As Helen Keller said, “It is hard to interest those who have everything in those who have nothing.” Or more bluntly, it is hard to make other people's problems matter to you.

We cannot wait until we have all experienced every preventable human-created disaster, so that is why we must generalize our emotional experiences.  Being oppressed, losing a loved one, witnessing an injustice, feeling cheated, and being hurt are experiences we have all had.  The specific circumstances were different, but the emotional experiences can be generalized.   As we get better at that, the choice between earning interest vs. making sure no one goes without food will be a no-brainer.  We will naturally act towards the greater good, not because of state compulsion, but because our hearts demand it.

Our Era's Racism

Last week I heard this piece on public radio titled, Are candidates' spouses off-limits?, and I just felt so disgusted.  Skip ahead to the 40% mark, and you'll hear what I'm referring to.

The conversation turned to the expensive shirt that Ann Romney wore, and how people felt about it.  Some said she was out of touch with the public, while others, including the host, Larry Mantle, suggested that if she wore less expensive clothing it would be "pandering" because "that's not who they are."  He mentioned that "they're super rich" and "don't hang out with people who don't have much money."  He continued, "as to whether they are sensitive to people like that or not, I don't know them well enough..."

This is the kind of talk that is prevalent in our society, and the meanings behind it are so offensive to me, I thought I'd take a moment to point them out.  I'm going to swap some words to see how it feels:

It would be pandering for white people to hang out with black people.  It's just who they are.  And these white people may or may not be sensitive to the inequities that black people have suffered for generations, and it doesn't really matter anyway.

Classism today, like racism in our past, passes without recognition.  Notice that the host said, "sensitive to people like that" and "who they are."  The implied meaning is that rich and poor are internal characteristics, part of their being.  Skin color is part of our genetic code while being rich is not, and yet we figured out that racism is unacceptable.  The fact that we treat rich and poor as though they belong to different species is obscene.  It is what allows people to believe that the rich and poor deserve different treatment.  Rich people deserve to have whatever they can buy, poor people barely deserve food, unless the rich are "charitable" enough to help them out with only "pennies per day."  Starving people just ruin the view, after all!  But, they are poor, so what can be done (throwing hands up in smug resignation)?

Start decoding the language and see how references to rich and poor fly by unnoticed.  Our culture needs to make a dramatic shift in understanding that does not segregate people based on their money access.  It is no more palatable than racism, and there should be a sense of shame around classist language.

Crush Bottle After Use

CRUSH BOTTLE AFTER USE   is a notice appearing on most water bottles in India.  Why is that important? At first, I thought it had something to do with recycling.  There was recycling going on, but not the type I had imagined.  I was corrected and learned that this notice was a measure to prevent against fraud.  What kind of fraud would that be?  It turns out that uncrushed bottles were being fished out of trash piles and refilled with tap water to be resold as bottled water.  Ingenious!  The sellers, in their ostensible zeal to offer great customer service, would quickly "open" the bottle for you, while handing it over.

What would compel someone to deceive a buyer in this way?  These bottles of water are not that profitable, and the potential for harm is high.  In a nation crowded with poverty and resourcefulness, this practice was widespread enough that it warranted the notice.  Can we really blame someone for trying to eke out an existence on the few rupees they could get by selling "recycled" water bottles?  Aren't they just looking out for themselves in a world that offers no alternative?  A CEO doesn't want you to be homeless; he is just making sure the company's stock is valuable.  The small businesswoman doesn't want to lay you off, but she can't stay competitive with operating costs inflated by your salary.  It is what is required.  


If you don't like this "ruling value syntax" (John McMurtry), then see how you can change the value orientation.  Until you realize the condition, a bewildering array of symptoms will continue to proliferate faster than you can imagine them.

Stop Waiting For Superman

I just finished watching Waiting for Superman, an emotionally evocative documentary about students in American schools.  A large part of the film focuses on the dilemma of educational reform in an environment of ironclad tenures that are vigilantly defended by teachers’ unions.  The documentary briefly mentions that these teachers unions arose decades ago because of mistreatment of educators (as is the history of most unions).  Now, those unions have become very politically powerful and they work to protect teachers, even if that protection comes at the cost of student success.

But wait! What is meant by “protect teachers?” Are teachers who just sit in class waiting for the day to go by because they can’t stand their jobs actually “protected?” I had one of those teachers who said we didn’t even need to talk to him because our assignments were written on the chalkboard.  He would spend the class time reading his newspaper with the soles of his shoes staring at us.  Maybe he had his eyes down there because he was definitely sitting on his head. 

Are hating kids and feeling miserable about the classrooms and hallways teachers inhabit 5 days a week something to be preserved and protected?  No, the real meaning is that their salaries are protected.  Or more to the point, their access to a means of living protected.  No wonder.  In an economy where every person must sell themselves on the labor market as their ONLY means of earning a living (unfortunately, there’s no alternative economy in which people are provided free access to life’s resources in our wonderful FREE market), it only makes sense for them to defend their tenures/salaries/means of living.  So, teachers, who have a decent degree of social respect for their professions, and sufficient incomes to fight for their means of life, are able to “protect” their livelihoods.  Students, and particularly students of non-wealthy parents, are not able to access a meaningful education.  They suffer the consequences of this broken system throughout their lives.

The film tries to end on a high-note with a review of the KIPP school program, which has had undeniable success in producing students with better test scores.  I’m not sure how the schools function in terms of student well being, but let me leave that aside for the moment.  These KIPP schools are scarce, and because they receive public funding, they must use a lottery system to determine who gets admitted.  The film follows five kids and it shows them anxiously waiting to hear if their number gets called.  You can also see the other parents and children in the background nail-bitingly attending each utterance from the announcers hoping the next name or number called is theirs.  As the number of names called grows and the available seats reduce, the sense of desperation on their young faces makes you want to rush in and rescue them all.  You hold on to hope to the last number, because that’s how all movies resolve the climax—at the last minute, and in the favor of the protagonist.  Not in this case.  It’s real life and most of the featured kids don’t get called.  The shattering of hope for the kids makes it difficult to hold back the tears.  Then, the realization on the parents’ faces that not only have their children missed an important opportunity to improve their lives been lost, but that they, the parents, have let their kids down.  Mommy can’t make it better.  She can’t throw money at the problem and make it disappear.  Their daily fight with the cruel market world, against which they try to insulate their kids, is a losing battle.  The system is king, and they are the pawns.  Somehow, they must summon all remaining strength not to let their sense of defeat, worry, and despair spill over onto their kids.  They have to console their children because it is their pain that takes priority at that time.  Despite every Herculean effort to shield their kids from the continuous battle to provide a better life, their kids know.  The kids know that their parents can’t protect them from the harsh world.  They know that the impact of this lottery is not just about where to go to school, but a lottery about how their lives will turn out, and it’s looking less and less favorable. 

These are the unsparing sacrifices we make to perpetuate our outdated, insufficient, and barely-above-savage social system.  All those people who work so hard to critique a resource-based economic model to find any unpleasantry, any objection, any difficult challenge that would be faced in an RBE amaze me in that they seem to overlook all the heartache of our current system.  It’s like they measure an RBE against a fictional utopian standard, in which everyone gets everything they want and problems are extinct.  They use that to argue against an RBE, without noticing that their measurement should be against our current system.  Proponents of an RBE do not expect utopia, just a life and planet a lot better off than what we have now.   With all the road kill caused by our current system, it feels like there must be a thousand better options, which is all we need—better!  And it sure is time for better, unless we want to continue to watch lives hinge on the outcome of lotteries.  

Regarding The Educational Imperative

It is commonly understood in the Zeitgeist community that education is the means by which we can move into a transitional economy, which will evolve into a transformed society that respects and advances each person’s well being. By educating people, we intend to promote the value shift that becomes necessary to survive on this planet—the shift we have all experienced through recognition of certain vital facts that dismiss outdated understandings of human nature and faith in the monetary-market regulating paradigm.  After being disabused of these cultural myths, and comprehending a unifying perspective that twines the seemingly disparate strings of planetary suffering into the rope and noose of a core social danger, we are compelled to share with each other.  Such is the sensible response.  Like the sentinel meerkat warning its playful clan that danger threatens them all, we cry out in hopes that we will be heard and our clan will act.

Our clan is stubborn, though.  Many will not listen, and some will react violently.  The pugnacious status-quo defenders already notice that something is “wrong with the world,” but their ideological helmets constrain the expansion of their perspectives.  They’ve already committed themselves to this battle, so deeply entrenched in a worldview where war is the only means to resolve the problems.  To peer above the trench is not an opportunity to see if the war is worth fighting; it’s just a risky move that will end with a bullet to the head.  To be exposed to the body of evidence gathered under the Zeitgeist library beckons the inner skeptic, anthropologist, and psychologist to lay bare a history of woe and a “self” identified with that woe.  Make no mistake! Even those who have been most advantaged by this system have at least some awareness that their profit has come at the cost of their conscience.  Wounded are we.

Those that do not listen because they “have better things to do” are generally too busy “keeping their heads above water,” not realizing the forces that conspire to drown them.  Or they have an artificial divide between their lives and the rest of the world.  This lack of awareness may be natural in the sense that we are not born with a mature understanding of the complex relationships that exist in, around, and between us.  It does not mean that no effort should be made to displace that ignorance.  Humans are not born literate, but we make considerable effort in educating people to become so because it provides them with unceasing access to useful and entertaining information.  Similarly, every effort should be made to foster people’s understanding of the ecological framework in which they live their lives, and the ways in which nature circumscribes our behavior. When we have a better grasp of what limits nature sets, we actually gain more freedom from what our minds conceive as “the limit.” Nature is a much bigger thinker than we are, which is why scientists discover unimagined life forms, cosmological marvels, and invisible realities.  Charles Darwin recognized this when he stated, “We are not here concerned with hopes or fears, only with truth as far as our reason permits us to discover it” (Descent of Man).

The goal of the Zeitgeist Movement to educate is necessary and logical.  We cannot create a new, sustainable, and emergent society without a comprehensive education to allow the maturation of ecological perspective (I use the term ecological in the broadest sense possible, inclusive of the interconnections among earth, society, and psyche).  The predominant conception of “education” needs to be examined.  When people discuss education, there is a somewhat narrow view that it means sharing written or verbal intellectual information that will stir one to question their own ideas and revise when reasonable.  We intuitively know that this isn’t always effective, but we persist anyway.  The Zeitgeist Media Festival and Media Project are addendums to the educational campaign that seek to connect emotionally with people.  

Ultimately, the movement is concerned with accelerating a value shift, and my purpose in writing this article is to encourage members to embrace an omni-directional approach to “education.”  Some people will be moved by the plentiful intellectual output, and some by the artistic output, but for this movement to reach critical mass, it will need to reach a very diverse population of different motivations.  A common conclusion is that either people wise up or they will have to deal with painful bio-psycho-social disasters.  Various forms of protest, so-called “sustainable community” projects, and cooperative farming are seen as outside the scope of the Zeitgeist Movement.  Alternative currencies like time banking or community-based “dollars” are properly criticized as corruptible and inadequate for accomplishing the lasting change we need. 

I understand and appreciate these criticisms and they serve to remind us—repeatedly—that we should not lose sight of the bigger picture.  However, such community-based initiatives can be seen as a learning tool to show members of our communities that we can and should work together.  Strengthening social bonds and social responsibility will give us pause before rewarding behavior that is loyal to the prevailing “golden” rule: profit over people.  Rampant misguided individualism, ideologically driven by “freedom from society” and “my property” are colossal barriers to the value shift that is necessary for a new society to take root.  Scientific evidence will compel a definite segment of the population to overhaul its value system, but as we can see with religions, reasoning alone will not suffice.  Direct experience in real situations that challenge people’s beliefs regarding human nature and social systems requires them to reach beyond their conditioned reflexes and ideas.  Protests, community projects, and alternative currencies may provide those challenges at different levels of meaning for a greater variety of people.  There are, no doubt, many other forms of situational challenges, but it is important to ask if a particular situation can serve as a transformative educational tool.  So, let’s not get stuck in confined paths of “education” and be open to a broad, multi-layered approach. Besides that, people will want to be activists in various ways, and that is the promise of a resource-based economy: people contributing in ways that fulfill them with an understanding that social interest and personal interest need not be in conflict with one another.  When we help each other, we help ourselves.