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Bolivia's War On Globalization
(Living on Earth, July 21, 2006 interview with William Powers)
I want to just stress one thing, that we need to get over our obsession with Morales as a threat, and Bolivia as a threat to our way of life, which you see so much of in the main stream media. If anything it's an opportunity. It's an opportunity to engage a new kind of a vision that can benefit Bolivians and reduce the inequality and create more stability. So, it's just a question of being open-minded and viewing Morales in a new way. . . . Bolivia actually, in my view, challenges the myths that third world countries are too poor to be green. Here's a country that's full of superlatives. They've got the world's first debt for nature swap, the world's largest protected dry tropical forest, the world's largest forest-based Kyoto experiments. This is a country that has leaders, environmental entrepreneurs, Bolivians, who fight for their areas. And it's kind of a beautiful thing to be a part of that. And I think now with this Morales government there's a lot of hope that Bolivia could pursue an agenda that continues to be even more green, and especially around ecological tourism. The country has vast and beautiful areas. So, there's more and more tourists coming, especially now that they know there is a democratic government. And there's hopefully going to be more stability. And I think there is a lot more interest in Bolivia now, which will continue to grow. . . . Well, that's a beautiful story that Salvador told to me in a jeep, on a 24-hour jeep ride. And there's a tree, according to the mythology of the people in that area, that holds up the world. And it holds up the Amazon's seven skies. And each of the seven skies has a world similar to ours with pampas and waterfalls, and burochi wolves and all kinds of creatures. And you don't want to cut down just any tree in the forest because it may be the tree that holds up everything and the seven skies could come crashing down on our heads. So, the Indians in that area ask permission of the spirit owner, or Amo, of the particular tree before cutting it down. So, it's a rich, a rich and fertile cosmology. . . . to them nature is not something that can be abstracted or taken out of us and sliced and diced. It's a concept that's completely integral to them. So there was no word for that, no sort of term. The closest term may have been 'the shimmering forest.' And I think that says a lot about the way they view the world. . . . William Power's new book is called Whispering in the Giant's Ear: A Frontline Chronicle from Bolivia's War on Globalization.

posted by LoZo 3:42 AM

 

By what name will future generations know our time?
The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community
by David Korten

Will they speak in anger and frustration of the time of the Great Unraveling, when profligate consumption exceeded Earth's capacity to sustain and led to an accelerating wave of collapsing environmental systems, violent competition for what remained of the planet's resources, and a dramatic dieback of the human population? Or will they look back in joyful celebration on the time of the Great Turning, when their forebears embraced the higher-order potential of their human nature, turned crisis into opportunity, and learned to live in creative partnership with one another and Earth?

[NOTE by Lorenzo: Please take the time to read this entire essay (click link above), which is an overview of David C. Korten's new book, The
Great Turning. I believe you will find it well worth the time. Here are some of the issues covered:

MAIN TOPICS:
A defining choice "We face a defining choice between two contrasting models for organizing human affairs."

A turn from life "The wisdom of the elder and the priestess gave way to the arbitrary rule of the powerful, often ruthless, king."

Paying the price "It is axiomatic: for a few to be on top, many must be on the bottom."

Troubling truths "Unfortunately, we cannot look to imperial powerholders to lead the way."

Beyond denial "Within the frame of historical reality, it is perfectly clear: they are playing out the endgame of Empire, seeking to consolidate power through increasingly authoritarian and anti-democratic policies."

Global awakening "Perhaps Empire’s greatest tragedy is that its cultures and institutions systematically suppress our progress to the higher orders of consciousness."

Break the silence, end the isolation, change the story "To change the human future, we must change our defining stories."

Story power "Changing the prevailing stories in the United States may be easier to accomplish than we might think. . . . Our nation is on the wrong course not because Americans have the wrong values. It is on the wrong course because of remnant imperial institutions that give unaccountable power to a small alliance of right-wing extremists who call themselves conservative and claim to support family and community values, but whose preferred economic and social policies constitute a ruthless war against children, families, communities, and the environment. . . . In these turbulent and often frightening times, it is important to remind ourselves that we are privileged to live at the most exciting moment in the whole of the human experience. We have the opportunity to turn away from Empire and to embrace Earth Community as a conscious collective choice. We are the ones we have been waiting for.

posted by LoZo 5:13 PM