NO MORE ALPHABET SOUP ... or

We gotta do something about this Alphabet Soup that has taken power- MAI, WTO, NAFTA, GDP, GNP, TNC, MNC, IMF, NAIRU, BCNI, SAP, IIA, ETC. With 6 months notice we can get out NAFTA. I'm hereby giving my notice now. Won't you join me? It's time to starve the mega-corporations that invented NAFTA. You can exercise power by spending responsibly.

MAI is planned to be binding for 20 years. That'll ruin your life. Global capitalists are already breaking the MAI down into its parts and trying to sneak each bit through separately. Better get reading, thinking and talking. You can mobilize people you know and write letters to your local media.

I'm not saying sit back and expect government to fix things, but we must make our representatives accountable to us. There must be a public outcry in all aspects. We must take action against this alphabet soup and the policies that protect financial-corporate power-mavens, the ones who dish out that thin, pesticide-ridden alphabet soup to the common people all over the world, including right here in Canada.

"Money makes the world go round" is only true if you put money at the centre of the system, and tie all power to money. Global capitalists have been trying to do this: put money above democracy. NAFTA and the WTO are partial success. However, we can create a sustainable society by putting concern for genuine well-being at the centre.

Measuring Well-Being is a Canadian initiative on putting sustainability on the political agenda. A federal MP wants to bring this to parliament. Check out the site and if you agree, get your MP to be one of the 100 needed to ensure this a place of discussion as a private member's bill.

This initiative supports values directly opposite to the ideals of such vampires as the MAI and NAFTA, opening a path for action on sustainability. Also, it is sufficiently fundamental to be able to to bring together diverse streams of labour, social justice and environment. I hope you will get in your canoe - let's paddle together and keep Canada afloat.

As for free speech, use it or lose it. We have been losing it here in Canada. However, we are not yet powerless. If we choose to be zombified by tv and the wishy-washy daily newspapers and buy into the cult of consumerism, we may feel powerless. But as James Brown sang from the heart, "Get up, get into it, get involved." Lots of community groups are out there exercising democracy and changing things.

My unasked-for advice: turn off the tv - deal with life. Ask questions; get answers. Get more answers. Imagine a sustainable future. Lots of other people want it too. Then go tell your elected representatives you want it. Then, a month or two later, tell 'em again. And again, and again.


Links to inspire action
Links between environmental, labour, social justice and other community groups
Genuine Progress Indicator simply explained by Redefining Progress
Eco-forestry - the future of forestry
Temperate Rainforest Research Project
Forest Action Network

Nuxalk Nation
Alternative Energy Resources - Exhaustive list
The ultimate McDonald's eyeopener.
MAI-NOT homepage and an essential newsgroup that may not be on your server
A conference to repeal NAFTA and a link to MAI-NOT!
This international union has realized they need to link up with environmental groups. EXCELLENT!
No compromise in defense of the earth. And they really mean it.
Fair trade helps small farmers claim their rightful share of coffee profits
Fuel for outrage: Newspaper editor/publisher assassinated in Canada
Greening the tax man
Corporate Watch - learn to research, get news info, and more
Eco-slide show. The first two images haunt me.
Apparently questioning ownership of the earth makes one an anarchist or a Marxist

Desert Dreams - my personal page take a trip to desert dreams and teaching stuff

Last Updated on Jun 17/2K by a.w., who can be emailed here

Thanks for being visitor # (humans since June/98)