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Heartbeat 05
From cclash@web.net Mon Sep 16 15:48:48 1996
Date: Mon, 16 Sep 96 15:12:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Jocelyn J. Paquette Bob Ewing" <cclash@web.net>
To: ftp@etext.org
Subject: Heartbeat#5
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HEARTBEAT #5 a free weekly email exploration of late 1990s
culture both on and off the Net.
url: http://www.izad.com/cultureclash. published by
Culture Clash Communications
cclash@web.net
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EDITOR"S COMMENTS:
This issue of heartbeat focuses on corporate
behaviour and what we can do to make progressive changes.
The Restorative Economy
BY PAUL HAWKEN
_________________________________________________________________
In a restorative, "least cost economy," we move to that system
of agriculture, forestry, transportation, construction, and
communication that has the least cost to the environment. It's
as if we have been playing with half a deck since industrialism
was created. We say it's a capitalist system, but as it
currently operates, only some capital is valued the human made
capital. But the resources we have inherited, both renewable and
nonrenewable, have been treated as free goods,
valueless until they are transformed into products and
services.
In a least-cost system, those resources, our "natural
capital," are valued at their true replacement cost. Instead of
competing to
produce the cheapest goods in terms of price, we compete to produce
the goods and services we need according to which have the lowest
impact
on those resources, and thus the lowest cost to current and
future generations. For example, we now have cheap chemicals, and
cheap food, but we can't drink our water.
In the restorative economy, we still use the same basic
mechanisms of commerce: markets, competition, and value-added
innovation,
but the incentives are reversed so that instead of being rewarded for
producing things at the lowest price, business is rewarded for
producing at the lowest cost. The lowest-cost system is the
most efficient, in both industrial and biological terms, and is
better for the individual who is the customer, the worker who
manufactures it, the habitat from which it's drawn, and for the
generations
unborn.
Restorative economies increase the productivity of our natural
capital and use fewer and fewer resources to provide equivalent goods
and services. When you increase the productivity of natural
systems instead of the human productivity of industrial systems, you
get a complete reversal of the deteriorating social and
environmental conditions we see today. It takes more people to farm
organically, to practice sustainable forestry, or to create closed-loop
industrial systems where all materials are reused and nothing is thrown
away or wasted.
In other words, the intelligent manufacturing systems of the
future that sharply reduce our impact on the environment will create
a resurgence of meaningful employment around the world. And this
is of critical importance, because not only are one-third of the
world's workers unemployed or unable to support their families, but
there will be another two billion people coming into the workplace
within
the next 20 years.
ACTION PLAN:
Tips on How to Oppose Corporate Rule
By Dr. Jane Kelsey
[The business takeover of Canada's economic and political systems
is generating
a buildup of opposition by both progressive organizations and
individuals.
One of the strongest critics of the corporate agenda is Dr. Jane
Kelsey of the
University of Auckland in New Zealand. An excerpt from her book on the
corporate
takeover of New Zealand--"Economic Fundamentalism"--was published in
the March
issue of The Monitor.
Dr. Kelsey has devised what she calls "A Manual for
Counter-Technopols"--suggestions and ideas for actions that
challenge corporate
rule.
The following is a list of some of her proposed tactics and
strategies that could be adopted by Canadian "resistance" fighters.]
* * *
* Be skeptical about fiscal and other "crises." Examine the real
nature of the
problem, who defines it as a crisis, and who stands to gain. Demand to
know the
range of possible solutions, and the costs and benefits of each to
whom. If the
anwsers are not forthcoming, burn the midnight oil to produce the
answers for
yourselves.
* Don't cling to a political party that has been converted to
neoconservatism. Fighting to prevent a social democratic party's
capture by
right-wing zealots is important. But once the party has been taken
over,
maintaining solidarity on the outside while seeking change from within
merely gives
them more time. When the spirit of the party is dead, shed the old skin
and create
something new.
* Take economics seriously. Neo-liberal economic fundamentalism
pervades
everything. There is no boundary between economic, social,
environmental or other
policies. Those who focus on narrow sectoral concerns and ignore the
pervasive
economic agenda will lose their own battles and weaken the collective
ability to
resist. Leaving economics to economists is fatal.
* Expose the weaknesses of their theory. Neo-liberal theories are
riddled with
dubious assumptions and internal inconsistencies, and often lack
empirical support.
These right-wing theories need to be exposed as self-serving
rationalizations which
operate in the interests of the elites whom the policies empower.
* Challenge hypocrisy. Ask who is promoting a strategy as being in
the
"national interest," and who stands to benefit most. Document cases
where
self-interest is disguised as public good.
* Expose the masterminds. Name the key corporate players behind
the scenes,
document their interlocking roles and allegiances, and expose the
personal and
corporate benefits they receive.
* Maximize every obstacle. Federal systems of government, written
constitutions, legal requirements and regulations, supra-national
institutions like
the ILO and the UN, and strong local governments can provide barriers
that slow
down the pace of the corporate takeover.
* Work hard to maintain solidarity. Avoid the trap of divide and
rule. Sectoral
in-fighting is self-indulgent and everyone risks losing in the end.
* Do not compromise the labour movement. Build awareness of the
corporate agenda
at union local and workplace levels. Resist
concessions that tend to deepen co-optation and weaken the unions'
ability to
fight back.
* Maintain the concept of an efficient public service. Resist
attempts to discredit and dismantle the public sector by admitting
deficiencies
and promoting constructive models for change. Build support among
client groups
and the public which stresses the need for public services and the
risks of cutting
or privatizing them.
* Encourage community leaders to speak out. Public criticism from
civic and
church leaders, folk heroes and other prominent "names" makes
corporate and
political leaders uncomfortable. It also makes people think. Remind
community
leaders of their social obligations, and the need to preserve their own
self-respect.
* Avoid anti-intellectualism. A pool of academics and other
intellectuals who can document and expose the fallacies and failures
of the
corporate agenda, and develop viable alternatives in partnership with
community and
sectoral groups, is absolutely vital.
They need to be supported when they come under attack, and
challenged when they
fail to speak out or are co-opted or seduced.
* Establish an alternative think-tank. If one already exists, make
sure it is
adequately funded. Neo-liberal and neoconservative think-tanks have
shown how
well-resourced institutes on the right can rationalize and legitimize
the
corporate agenda. The need is obvious for one or more equally
well-supported
think-tanks on the left.
Uncoordinated research by isolated critics will not suffice.
* Invest in the future. Provide financial, human and moral support
to sustain
alternative analysis, publications, think-tanks, and people's projects
that are
working actively to resist the corporate agenda and work for
progressive change.
* Support those who speak out. The harassment and intimidation of
critics of the
corporate takeover works only if those targeted for attacks lack
personal, popular
and institutional support. Withdrawing from public debate leaves those
who remain
more exposed.
* Promote ethical investment. Support investors who genuinely
respond to
social and ecological concerns. Expose unethical investors who don't.
Boycotts have
proved a powerful force in environmental, anti-nuclear and safe product
campaigns.
Companies that ignore social and environmental concerns can be
embarrassed and
called to account.
* Think global, act local. Develop an understanding of the global
nature of
economic power, and those forces which are driving current trends. Draw
the links
between these global forces and local events.
Target local representatives, meetings and activities which feed
into the
global economic machine.
* Think local, act global. Actively support international
strategies for
change, such as people's tribunals, non-governmental forums and codes
of conduct,
and action campaigns against unethical companies and corporate
practices.
Recognize that international action is essential
to counter the collaboration of states and corporations, and to
empower civil
society to take back control.
* Develop alternative media outlets. Once mainstream media are
captured by the
right, it is difficult for critics to enter the debate, and impossible
to lead it.
Alternative media and innovative strategies must be put in place.
Effective
communication and exchange of information between sectoral groups and
activists are
essential, despite the time and resources involved.
* Raise the levels of popular economic literacy. Familiarize
people with the
basic themes, assumptions and goals of economic
fundamentalism. Convince them that economic policy affects everyone,
that
everyone has a right to participate, and that alternatives to the
corporate agenda
do exist.
* Resist market-speak. Maintain control of the language, challenge
its capture
by the right, and refuse to convert your discourse to theirs. Insist on
using hard
specific terms that convey the hard realities of what is going on.
* Be realistic. Recognize that the world has changed, in someways
irreversibly,
and that the past was far from perfect. Avoid being trapped solely
into reacting
and defending the status quo. Defending the past for its own sake adds
credibility
to the claims of the right and wastes opportunities to work for genuine
change.
* Be pro-active. Start rethinking visions, strategies and models of
development
for the future. Show that there are workable, preferable alternatives
from the
start. This becomes progressively more difficult the longer you wait to
respond to
the corporate agenda.
* Challenge the TINA ("there is no alternative") claim. Convince
people--individually and collectively--that there are real and
workable
alternatives. Present options that combine realism with the prospect of
meaningful
change. Actively promote these alternatives and have them ready to be
implemented
when the corporate agenda fails.
* Promote participatory democracy. Build a constituency for change
through
alternative information networks and media. Use community, workplace,
women's,
church, union, First Nations and other outlets to encourage people to
take back
control. Empower them with the knowledge they need to understand the
right-wing
forces affecting them and how they can fight back most effectively.
* Hold the line. The corporate takeover is not yet complete. Social
programs
have not yet been entirely dismantled. Unions have not yet been
destroyed. Not all
environmental protections have been eliminated. There is still time,
through
sustained and co-ordinated action, to hold the line.
-------------
BOOKS FOR CONSIDERATION:
David Korten's, When Corporations Rule The World.
VIDEO's
Bob Roberts
