- Written by: Kamran Mofid
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Earth Overshoot Day marks the point in the year when humanity uses more resources—timber, fish, crops, fossil fuels,...,than the planet can naturally replenish (or in the case of carbon dioxide, absorb from the atmosphere).
In a perfectly sustainable world, that date would be Dec. 31, or not arrive at all. This year, it’s July 29. Since 1970, when the project started, the day has crept steadily earlier each year—except 2020, when the pandemic cut global consumption and bought an extra month.
‘Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. In 2021, it falls on July 29.
'We know it can be overwhelming to think about the various impacts of global ecological overshoot such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and extreme weather events (to name a few). However, thriving lives within the means of our planet are not out of reach…’- Read more
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Thriving lives, meaningful living, socioeconomic progress and wealth creation within the means of our planet and what mother nature can offer, are not out of reach. Plenty of solutions exist, if we are guided by wisdom and love for life and Mother Nature
Photo: Petal Republic
Please see below for a selection of common-sense and practical solutions from our GCGI archive:
At a time of profound crises there must be an opportunity for new vision, new understanding and new thinking. There is a desperate need for new practical ways of relating in an increasingly interdependent global community: a time to re-introduce spirituality, ethics, civility, kindness, humanity and the common good into the debate on globalisation, economics, politics, business, education, international relation and much more.
Surely the time is now to rise and challenge the falsehood and the inhumanity of the ideology that since the early 1980s has cheated and humiliated us by monetising all aspects of our lives, and has stopped us from knowing what it means to be human:
We, the people, all around the globe, are slowly realising that our planet, our lives, and more are in desperate need for new measures to evolve humanly, environmentally, economically and politically towards a more cooperative, peaceful and respectful sense of interdependency.
While the urgency is being felt on all levels, too many feel disempowered with the potential to spark a change, make a difference or even perceive an ounce of hope for the future.
The task isn’t small. Indeed, the task is so great that there is only one way to succeed, and that is, all of us, coming together in the spirit of the common good, to empower and enable each one of us to become self-directed, and active in defining this time in the world as opportunity for positive change and healing and for the true formation of a culture of peace by giving thanks, spreading joy, sharing love, seeing miracles, discovering goodness, embracing kindness, practicing patience, teaching tolerance, encouraging laughter, celebrating diversity, showing compassion, turning from hatred, practicing forgiveness, peacefully resolving conflicts, communicating non-violently, choosing happiness and enjoying life. Carpe Diem!
This is the Path to Heal our Broken World
The Sweetness of Being Human
‘We have all of us one human heart.’- William Wordsworth
Neoliberalism, better known as Thatcherism, belongs in the dustbin of history.
Neoliberalism is the Virus. Neoliberalism is the Pandemic.
Photo source and read more: Neoliberalism and Climate Change: How It became the enemy of the Environment?
The time is now to replace the lies of Thatcherism , Milton Friedman and their cronies and let nature be our wisest teacher and the source of inspiration in all we do.
End the madness of the never ending economic growth
Noeliberal education, better known as values-free, for profit education, belongs also in the dustbin of history
Replace the selfishness and hatred of neoliberalism with Kindness
Replace the hopelessness of neoliberalism with Hopefulness
Replace the delusional and destructive neoliberal education with inspirational values-led Education
Replace the devastated neoliberal economy with Economy as if People Mattered
Replace the fake neoliberal ‘teachers’ and let nature to be your wisest Teacher
Throw away materialism and consumerism, ‘Black-Friday’ sales mentality, and opt for simplicity, simple living and be grateful for who you are, what you are and what you have
We are what we eat. Replace junk/fast food with Slow Food for the Common Good to save the World
Enjoy togetherness, family, friends and community. Ours should not be a caravan of despair, but the flame of love and hope
Crisis after Crisis: Ten Steps to Save the World
‘Nature and Me’: Realigning and Reconnecting with Mother Nature’s Wisdom- A Five Part Guide
Live Like a Bird: Philosophical and Wise
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It’s Now or Never: Do You Want to Know what Normal was before Wishing it Back?
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 709
‘Speaking truth to power is a non-violent political tactic, employed by dissidents against the received wisdom or propaganda of governments they regard as oppressive, authoritarian or an ideocracy. The phrase originated with a pamphlet, Speak Truth to Power: a Quaker Search for an Alternative to Violence, published by the American Friends Service Committee in 1955. Speak Truth To Power is also the title of a global Human Rights initiative under the auspices of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights…--Read more
‘For eight years, Australia has been taking refugees as hostages. It’s time to ask: who has benefited?’
By Behrouz Boochani, Via The Guardian*
Behrouz Boochani whilst incarcerated on Manus Island Source: AAP
‘Kurdish-Iranian born journalist and refugee Behrouz Boochani spent six years in Australian-run detention
on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. He now lives in Christchurch, New Zealand.’
Thank you Behrouz, the voice for the voiceless, for your continuing effort and struggles to highlight the inhumanity and the low morale compass of the neoliberal, populist politicians and their cronies. May all the people of goodwill, like yourself, come together and hold these lawless people accountable for their actions.
‘For eight years, Australia has been taking refugees as hostages. It’s time to ask: who has benefited?’
‘The offshore detention policy is a combination of hostage-taking, deception, secrecy,
corruption, populist propaganda and systematic torture.’
‘Eight years have passed since the Australian government mandated offshore detention for all asylum seekers who arrive by boat, which led to the banishing of more than 3,000 refugees to Nauru as well as Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
Since then, we have heard many tragic stories about the stranded refugees – stories of death, violence, child detention, family separation and countless violations of human rights.
We have heard the stories of the hundreds who have been traumatised and the 14 who were killed. We got to know about Reza Barati who was surrounded by a group of guards and beaten to death. We were told about Hamid Khazaei who developed a leg infection, ended up in a wheelchair and died while in custody. Faysal Ishak Ahmed also died in a Brisbane hospital.
When I think about the stories of these refugees, including myself, the first thought that springs to mind is the abduction of human beings on the sea. We were kidnapped and forcibly transferred to an island we had never heard of. We were robbed of our identity. We turned into a string of numbers through a carefully planned process of dehumanisation. We were led into an evil system which was designed to diminish our identity.
The offshore detention policy was a form of official hostage-taking. For years, the Australian government refused to accept us, while preventing us from being transferred elsewhere. Even when it succumbed to public pressure by signing a resettlement deal with the United States, the government prolongated the transfer process. After all these years, many refugees are still held in indefinite detention.
In addition to being a form of official hostage-taking, the policy provided a platform for the spread of populist ideas and false claims. Kevin Rudd, for example, announced this policy just before the 2013 federal election, while Scott Morrison went to the Christmas Island detention centre alongside a dozen reporters in 2019 and posed heroically against the backdrop of the sea.
They deceived the public into believing that the offshore detention policy was like a building that would collapse if one brick were to be removed from it. They warned against the invasion of boats on Australian shores, but no boats arrived. What boats anyway? They returned every single one to Indonesia.
This is a key point, because whenever the public has put pressure on the government since 2013, officials have highlighted the risks of opening up the borders. This turned out to be an outright lie. What the government has done is create unjustified fear while hiding behind the notion of national security.
The reality is they needed our bodies for retaining their political power. Along the way, they created a $12bn detention industry which has greatly benefited politicians as well as certain security and medical companies. The contracts signed with Paladin is the only instance leaked to the media, but I believe that is just the tip of the iceberg.
The Australian government has made every effort to preserve its detention industry. When thousands of refugees were transferred to the US, the government brought in a group of New Zealanders previously held in Australia. At the end of the day, human bodies are fuel to this money-making torture machine.
The offshore detention policy is a combination of hostage-taking, deception, secrecy, corruption, populist propaganda, and of course, systematic torture. It is sadistic, costly, and unnecessary. After all these years, Australians need to find the courage to look in the mirror and ask themselves, “What have we gained? What have we lost?” These are crucial questions.
It is time to challenge the foundations of this deceitful policy. In the last eight years, human values have been undermined, more than $12bn has been spent and the international reputation of Australia has suffered immensely. The key question to ask right now is: “Who has benefited from this policy?”
Written by Behrouz Boochani, adjunct senior fellow at University of Canterbury
Translated by Mohsen Kafi, a PhD candidate in literary translation studies at Victoria University of Wellington
*This article was originally published in The Guardian on Wednesday 21 July 2021
Lest We Forget
Not all politicians are heartless charlatans and foul-mouthed, mindless buffoons
‘Thank you New Zealand for your humanity welcoming Behrouz who had no friends but the mountains.’
This should serve as a powerful message to Australia and others like them:
"Injustice flourishes in soil where empathy has been uprooted.”
Photo: The Guardian
Behrouz Boochani is welcomed to freedom in New Zealand as he arrives at Auckland airport (14 November 2019).
‘Behrouz Boochani: Refugee who wrote book- ‘No Friends But the Mountains’- using WhatsApp and became the voice of the victims of Australia’s punitive detention system granted a visa to stay in New Zealand and work towards full citizenship after seven-year horrific ordeal, suffering pain, anguish and inhumanity by Australia’s offshore processing regime…’- Continue to read
And this is why every country needs a Jacinda Ardern to discover What it Means to be Human and Great
Jacinda Ardern:
Politics And Economics As If People Mattered To Focus On Empathy, Kindness and Well-Being
Jacinda Ardern campaigns in Christchurch.- Photo: Kai Schwörer/Getty Images Via The Guardian
Prime minister Ardern, has inspired love, kindness, empathy, trust and the common good…-Continue to read
And finally, when it comes to migrants and asylum seekers, there are two more global politicians that I wish to recognise.
They, too, have projected kindness, understanding and compassion towards those in despair and fear.
They are prime minister Justin Trudeau and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Canada and Germany respectively.
Photo: CTV News
Ardern,Trudeau and Merkel, they have become the voices of the voiceless. May God bless them all
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
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‘Fairest of the months!
Ripe summer's queen
The hey-day of the year
With robes that gleam with sunny sheen
Sweet August doth appear.’- R. Combe Miller
Photo:TheGoodnessandtheGreenman
‘Blessed be the Harvest,
Blessed be the Corn Mother,
Blessed be the Grain God,
For together they nourish both body and soul.
Many blessings I have been given,
I count them now by this bread.
Guardian of the East, I pray for your indulgence.
Hear me now as I request your aid in the cycle of life.
As your winds blow through fields of ripened grain,
Carry loosened seeds upon your back
That they may fall amidst the soil
That is our Mother Earth.’- Lammas Ritual
‘It is now high summer and the union of Sun and Earth, of God and Goddess, has produced the First Harvest. Lammas is the celebration of this first, Grain Harvest, a time for gathering in and giving thanks for abundance. We work with the cycle that Mabon or the Autumn Equinox is the Second Harvest of Fruit, and Samhain is the third and Final Harvest of Nuts and Berries.
- Congratulations Humans, You have finally done it: You have now suffocated the world!
- Do we love the world enough to look after it, to save it?
- Congratulations Humans, You have finally done it: From inside out You are now fully Plasticised!
- Congratulations Humans, You have finally done it: You have set the oceans on fire
- Congratulations Humans, You have finally done it: You have set the world on fire