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 readingTag: political theory
Writings of J. Todd Ring: Rebooting Canada, eh!
Tax the rich. That would be a good start. Close the loopholes, implement capital flight controls, tax financial speculation, tax the richest 1% and the large, profitable corporations, along with the heavy polluting industries, and put a reasonable royalty fee on oil, gas, water and forestry product exports. That would
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 readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Guiding Lights In A Collapsing World
Who are some of the guiding lights in terms of what must be done? I would suggest Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Emerson, Thoreau, Chomsky, Vandana Shiva, Bookchin, EF Schumacher, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Erich Fromm, Alan Watts, Allan Wallace, Joseph Campbell, Einstein, Bohm, Spinoza, Dickens, Blake, Anthony J. Hall,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Decentralization Or Collapse
To halt the decline of our civilization and stop our race toward ecological, economic and social collapse, we must sow and create a paradigm shift, a shift in the dominant world view, a shift in consciousness. That requires consciousness raising, media activism, and education. But we also need a fundamental
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: 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 readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Top 12 Books For Understanding The World
Or, Why A Critical Reading of History Is Now Critically & Urgently Needed The details are important, but an understanding of the major patterns of history are even more important. I don’t think that is possible without giving due credence to the quiet revolution which occurred in anthropology in the
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Hollow Men Encounter The Spirit of Capitalism
And We Recoil In Horror Before The Reality Is Anything More Than A flickering and Fleeting Perception, Which Can Be Easily Denied, and Swept Aside “We are the hollow men, the stuffed men” Weber’s, The Protestant Ethic & The Spirit of Capitalism remains the most important text in sociology, and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Who’s Side Are You On?
It is very easy to not see the forest for the trees. In fact, it is nearly universal. For example, it took millenia before people broadly began to question whether certain genitalia naturally bequeathed social status and moral superiority, or whether such bias was simply a social habit, born of
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: A New Social Contract: The Parable of the Happy Kingdom
A brief preamble: The old social contract, the last social contract, has clearly broken down. That was the New Deal, which was a compromise between the business elite and the 99%, which lasted between the late 1930s until the 1970s. The business elite, with increased global powers, decided in the
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Compromise or Collapse
The elite always do the same thing. They have repeated the same failed patterns for millennia. They never learn. They could be wealthy and powerful, virtually in perpetuity, or at least, for a very long time – if they were willing to compromise. They are not. Instead, they fall into
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Are We Serious About Human Health? The Rhetoric and Gestures Say Yes, But The Evidence Says No
The government pretends to care deeply and profoundly about human health, using police state measures in a time of crisis, justified by their supposed great concern for health. Yet, the federal government has repeatedly slashed health care funding for the past 40 years. The blatant and extreme hypocrisy and deceit
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Taoist Political Philosophy – Or, How To Not Make The World Worse, By Good Intentions Gone terribly Wrong
The modern world, and particularly the modern Western world, which has now, as of these past few decades, successfully, and tragically, exported itself to become the basis and norm of the modern world globally, is clearly and indisputably in great and severe crisis, on multiple levels: sociologically, politically, economically, psychologically,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: What Must Be Done: The Briefest Possible Sketch
We must educate and inform ourselves and others; speak up and stand up for both compassion (ie: public health) and freedom; sow non-violent democratic revolution to dethrone the sociopathic corporate oligarchs; nourish ourselves, our families, and our communities in body, mind and spirit; build networks of community, solidarity, cooperation, mutual
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Averting Fascism
Fascism is rising – here is how to avert it. A short video talk, linked below, sparked these thoughts, which I will share. May they bless us with the courage, and the presence of mind, to avert the rising of fascism once again – which, make no mistake, is indeed
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