Working less is better for everyone involved, including the employer. Iceland just ran a multi year experiment from 2015-19 to find out if a four day work week would damage productivity or improve it. Unsurprisingly, productivity didn’t go down and in some jobs it even went up. Tell your boss
Continue readingTag: freedom
Writings of J. Todd Ring: Reclaiming Democracy In Canada – And Around The World
In the 1960s, there was a cultural awakening which spread rapidly around the world, and Chomsky is right in calling it both a cultural awakening, and also, an outbreak of democracy. The civil rights movement, the women’s rights movement, the gay rights movement, the native rights movement, the anti-war and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Big Brother Is Watching You – and Yes, It Matters
I talked to my boy in the car this past weekend about what to do when he drives, if he has any problems; and he talked to me about the language learning, free software that he uses on his phone. Two days later, Virgin Mobile, now owned by Bell, sends
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: On Narcissism & Independence
The fourth of July….I realize only now, that is today’s date, as I finish writing this short reflection. How fitting. Independence Day. Now, let us talk about where real independence comes from. * The real pandemic, or one of the many that afflicts the modern world, is mass narcissistic regression
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Population Growth & The Environment
There has been a debate going on for over 50 years as to whether the primary cause of the growing environmental crisis is over-population or over-consumption. The debate still continues, even though the facts have been known conclusively for decades. Consider what we know to be the established facts. 60%
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Land Reform and The Birth of A Revolution
Half of the world’s people live in the countryside. Three quarters of the people living in poverty live in the countryside. Two-thirds of the income of the rural poor comes from small-scale farms and peasant agriculture. Meanwhile, peasant farmers and the rural poor produce two-thirds of the world’s food. Something
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Libertarian Socialism & The Rebirth of Freedom & Democracy
What is libertarian socialism, and why should we be interested? Libertarian socialism is a long term goal, I would say, agreeing with Chomsky, who is the most prominent libertarian socialist alive. That’s point one. Although, history is full of surprises, so it may be closer and more attainable in the
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The New Renaissance
There is a renaissance emerging now across humanity, as well as a paradigm shift in science; and a spiritual awakening is occurring, along with a political and cultural awakening. How do we best understand this historically pivotal shift? The trends are toward: 1. a non-dualist view of the interconnectedness, interdependence,
Continue readingThings Are Good: Three Years of Privacy Thanks to the GDPR
Three years ago today the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was enacted in the EU to protect you from morally questionable digital surveillance, and trust me, we’re all better off for it. Essentially the GDPR stops large companies from tracking you across the web and using that information to change
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: I Have A Dream
I Have A Dream: surely, and unquestionably, that great speech by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is one of the most important, and most beautiful, uplifting, empowering, ennobling, visionary and inspiring speeches ever given. Listen again to these words. These words were never more relevant than now. Unity
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Freedom of Speech: What Is To Be Done?
What is to be done about the issue of freedom of speech, and the current, deeply ominous trend of the closing down of Western society, and the inevitably linked rise of authoritarianism? The first thing to be done is to remind the people that there are, as Chomsky has said,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Stand Up To Corporate Fascism!
Massive new mural in Germany protests the wrongful imprisonment of whistle-blower publisher, and hero of free speech and the public’s right to know about the crimes of the power elite, Julian Assange. Speak up, people! Your democracy, your rights, and your freedom – yes, yours, and all of ours –
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Freedom, Democracy & Education
If you value compassion or human decency, then you should value education – not indoctrination. And if you value education, then you must value truth above comforting illusions or denial, and you must value freedom, diversity, individuality, curiosity and creativity, because education becomes indoctrination without them, and freedom becomes tyranny,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Knowledge vs Opinion, Enlightenment vs Delusion
As Plato said, everyone has opinions, but few have knowledge. It is important that we keep that in the back of our minds, if not the fore. Two levels, there are, in everything: there is the question of how to live, and how to construct a society that is just,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: What Must Be Done
Open letter to friends of freedom: Hi folks, People are beginning to realize that we need a different attitude and view with regards to how we see nature, life, humanity, and ourselves. Very few get past rudimentary first steps, however. Since this shift in paradigms and consciousness is essential and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Conspiracy Theory Revisited
We should remember that the cult of authority, the cult of obedience, and the cult of conformity, are profoundly anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-empirical, and anti-democratic, as well as extremely dangerous. And these three cults now reign supreme across the Western world, as Western societies close down, having imported the authoritarian model
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: From Bankers Ruling The World, To The People Ruling The Bankers
(And Rebuilding And Healing The World In The Process) “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.” – Thomas Jefferson “I pray we shall crush the moneyed aristocracy in its infancy, for already it bids defiance to our laws and seeks a contest
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Seven Virtues To Liberate and Heal The World
The following is a seed thought, a note to myself, for further elaboration in the future, and it is a note I will share with others, because it is a seed thought which is powerful, healing, and liberating. I will not go into any lengthy discussion, meditation or exposition of
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Freedom & Power
I am, for the record, perfectly comfortable with where and how I have positioned myself. I am passionately and steadfastly in favour of freedom, democracy, constitutional rule and human rights; liberty, equality and solidarity; and of course, as a result, I am passionately and steadfastly in favour of freedom of
Continue readingThings Are Good: Malaysia Stops Jailing Addicts, Helps Them Recover Instead
Addiction is tough and it can happen to anyone. In Malaysia they are changing their drug laws to reflect this reality by providing rehab for users instead of locking them up in prison. Malaysia has tried the now-classic and irrefutably irrational “war on drugs” approach and found that it didn’t
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