[k_semler]

Having long had the feeling that our society in the US has went beyond capitalism into corporatism, I decided to look up the definition of corporatism on Wikipedia. Not surprisingly, our society fits almost exactly with the definition of corporatism. Here is the definition of corporatism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatism . Remember, the supreme court of the US has ruled that corporations are considered legal persons under the 14th amendment, and have all of the rights of individual citizens. We exactly fit the definition of a Consumerism society. Here is the definition for consumerism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism . Here is a site about the "Overcoming Consumerism" movement that is starting up, and if you ignore the enviro-freak stuff, it is a pretty good site. I will warn you that the site layout could use some improvement. http://www.verdant.net/ .

[Bud Dwyer]

Attacking every issue at the core.

Only "I and I" will prevail.

. Yeah, I guess we are made up of two parts- The mind and body. You have a mind that can't be touched or seen, unless you see it as a motion like dancing or drawing or anything. Your mind is actually the same mind as your mother's and father's and theirs and theirs and everything before and after. Your brain is not your mind. It is part of your body. And the way your mind fits into the shape of your brain- your mind thinks that it or "I" is the "body". Your body is pretty much an automatic mathamatical pattern of matter. It only exists to sustain it's "self". Some people's minds are more free and others are less free. A great example of a free mind would be a monk on fire and sitting there not struggling but content with the pain. An un-free mind might only serve themself, thinking they are actually a seperate form. This is because their mind is so shaped by their body that it is actually the will of the body that controls their every action, and the will of the body is to serve its"self" first and formost. Everything else comes after that- corruption, sytem of self-interest, wealth/poverty.
. Your mind only wants to "dance" or "play". It's like a fire. Your body is just the wood that fuels it. It will keep burning as long as you feed it. Think of how free flowing a fire is. If you've ever said anything that just comes out at the same time you think it- it's basically called a "free-style". If you think what to say and then say it- when you say it- your body says it.
. There's this musician called "Q-bert" who is a turntablist. Which means he makes music with sounds on records in real-time. You could say he is pro. Anyways I heard him say in a documentary somthing like, "At first there is me, and I'm the musician and I controll "the instrument."" (when he gets really into it...) "Then I become "the instrument" (and this may sound kind of crazy, but) then "The Universe" is playing ME.
. I call good art- "flowing". When it almost feels like it drew itself. The flow feels natural. That's when the "mind" draws it. The "I". The flow that has allways existed and will never stop. The only infinite enery: creative energy. If you feel your acting entirely from the flow and feel what you are doing or saying is not comming from your own body- then you are practically a "prophet"... Oops that's a dangerous thing to say.
. How do you know if your mind is free or contained in your brain and body? It's really hard to tell. If you find yourself in habbits and find your days and weeks are becoming "re-runs" you might be being controlled by your body.
. Here's somthing everyone should try:
Ask a friend that you know, trust, and respect to punch you in the face as hard as they can. Don't fear the pain or focus on getting pissed or worry about damaging your pretty face. Just feel the pain and be content with it. Works well if you both of you do it. It will help get the mind out of YOUR brain.
. Since al lot of problems in the world are because of greed (the mind trapped in the body thinking it IS "the body") and the deglect of the reality that you and me are the same person (in different shapes) or neglect of "I and I", then I strongly advocate something, the first and second rule of which I'm not supposed to talk about.

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"Reality is bad for business."

[Aaron]

http://peakoil.com/fortopic228.html

"Imagine," Tyler said, "stalking elk past department store windows and stinking racks of beautiful rotting dresses and tuxedos on hangers; you'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life, and you'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. Jack and the beanstalk, you'll climb up through the dripping forest canopy and the air will be so clean you'll see tiny figures pounding corn and laying strips of venison to dry in the empty car pool lane of an abandoned superhighway stretching eight-lanes-wide and August-hot for a thousand miles."