andescircle's Homepage

andescircle's Homepage http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:48 EST Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:48 EST Zorpia.com 20 MONTHLY REVIEW / SEPTEMBER... http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/1084209 20                MONTHLY REVIEW / SEPTEMBER 2004 â€“ARGENTINA <img title="Cartell_lletres" alt="Cartell_lletres" src="http://nor.zorpia.com/0/310/1989042.7f2e7e.jpg" border="0" />â€“ Economy and Social Democratic Proposals â€¦ the economy has now recovered with dazzling incomes for the enriched minority. But the afflictions of the majority have not been reversed and have even dramatically worsened for many. Official statistics indicate that 60 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, 20 percent are unemployed, and 44 percent of those working have only informal, temporary, and very low-paying jobs. Government officials affirm that "the social agenda is pending," but they don't say when it will come about. In fact, they expect, without any foundation, a long-term recovery of employment and salaries. They are betting on continued support from what, for all their efforts, would be several poverty-stricken generations resigned to a miserable fate. We find this resignation unacceptable. This is the reason why, instead of celebrating the capitalists' benefits and hiding the people's sufferings, we propose a program based on the immediate recovery of the purchasing power of workers, the unemployed, pensioners, and other popular sectors. This plan is based on three pillars: the funds now placed in service of the public debt, a progressive fiscal reform, and an extraordinary tax on recent exceptional gains attained by big business groups. Universal Grant for Food and Education The first measure for a popular economic plan is to put into practice without delay a universal plan to offer food and education to all the population. The monthly cost of a basic basket of food for a two-child family is officially estimated to be 327 pesos (us$113). A guarantee of this minimum right to the entire population has to be the first step for any project aiming to reverse the social disaster. This amount should be complemented with a 45 peso (us$15.50) allowance for each child to make it possible for families to pay the basic costs of education.To establish this subsidy-which many organizations argue should be around 380 pesos-it is vital to make the "right to live" a reality. To eat every day is a fundamental right, and it cannot be made to depend on the contingency and uncertainty of employment. This undisputable basic right must be assured through a universal subsidy. The absence of this right in a country such as Argentina-the fifth leading food exporting country-is particularly reprehensible. Implementation is urgent, because, since the big devaluation in December 2001, prices have risen 46.7 percent and family food product prices have gone up by 74.9 percent. It is estimated that 35 percent of the population is not getting enough food. Worse yet, experts are detecting a new generation of "socially caused small persons," meaning people whose height has decreased compared with prior generations because of the cumulative effects of malnutrition. The grant could make possible the immediate elimination of the indigent state of 25 percent of the population and should totally replace the existing plan, called the Head of the Family Plan (Plan Jefes y Jefas de Hogar), with a universal system that abolishes the arbitrariness of the existing system. Social insurance must not depend on the goodwill of public officials or the calculations of political bosses.The government rejects the implementation of this primary right because it gives priority, in the disposition of its growing resources, to paying public debt. In addition, a universal system is not consistent with the system of patronage crucial to the traditional political parties. And finally, official opposition to a universal grant is supported by the employers, who fear that the subsidy could be a serious hurdle to keeping wages and salaries depressed. If all families could be assured of 380 pesos, no one would work for less. To keep a big part of the population in absolute misery is a premeditated aim of business sectors opposed to any recovery in wages. Rightwing sectors are devoting great energy to a campaign against "unemployed vagrancy." The government reflects this pressure and supports a proposed grant of 150 pesos per newly employed worker as a subsidy for those firms hiring unemployed persons. This initiative is supported with enthusiasm by the "free market" champions from the World Bank and is presented as an alternative to the universal subsidy. Any progress toward the universal grant for food and education would be a great victory for the people. The costs of the plan are affordable. If to the actual 2,000,000 beneficiaries of the Head of the Family Plan are added those 900,000 who are registered but not receiving any benefits, 9.5 billion pesos (us$3.275 billion) would be needed yearly to guarantee its total implementation. This should be the real public priority as opposed to insatiable debt payments (12.5 billion pesos), the amount provided to cover losses suffered by the banking sector (20 billion pesos), or the vast subsidies provided openly and covertly to big local and foreign economic groups. Four Ways to Create Genuine Work AlternativesAlthough the government had intended to mask the cruel social drama by claiming that the beneficiaries of the Head of the Family Plan are not unemployed, official statistics place the unemployment rate at 21.3 percent. Even during last year's record-breaking recovery, the situation improved just marginally. This is evidence of the feeble relation between employment and GDP growth that is now a worldwide feature of capitalism and that acutely affects Argentina.A forecast prepared by international Labor Organization (ILO) experts indicates that at least 20 years with strong expansion would be needed to reverse the brutal reduction in employment suffered in the economic depression of 1999-2002. Recovery cycles do not restore employment in a dependent and peripheral economy to the same degree as in a core industrialized economy. The elasticity, i.e., the strength of the relationship, between employment and GDP has noticeably contracted in the last decades of deindustrialization and re-primarization of Argentina.Neoliberal economists, and some well-paid comfortable "experts" at various Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), have argued that an expansion of employment in the "informal sector" counteracts the horrors that have everywhere followed imposition of free market neoliberalism. But the terrible prospect of chronic unemployment cannot be reversed with the simple multiplication of informal undertakings. Even less by an impossible "return to the fields," as Argentina is one of the most urbanized societies in Latin America (over 90 percent live in urban centers). These informal undertakings are desperate (but dignified) survival schemes engaged in by millions of people hoping to offer some little comfort to their families. Even the best of these initiatives, organized as cooperatives, lack the necessary tools, credits, technology, and trade networks, and are strangled by the competition of big firms.The tragedy of mass unemployment cannot be solved spontaneously. However, the creation of genuine employment alternatives could be achieved, in four different ways:First, the eight-hour working day should be enforced at all employment levels. Ironically the lack of work suffered by "excluded" sectors is the other side of the coin to the overwork imposed on the "included" sectors. Working hours in Argentina (2,000 hours per year) surpass the average annual hours worked in Europe, Brazil, and Mexico. The strict implementation of the normal maximum eight hours of work could create immediately 900,000 jobs.<img title="Cartell_lletres" alt="Cartell_lletres" src="http://nor.zorpia.com/0/325/2083770.61d44c.jpg" border="0" />Second, a public works plan should be implemented, centered in construction, and financed by the three previously mentioned resources of the popular program (debt, fiscal reform, and emergency tax). The generally agreed estimate is that an expenditure of six billion pesos could mean the creation of 200,000 jobs.Third, a mechanism should be implemented that requires the expansion of employment in those firms with high profitability. Over many years, and with different programs and administrations, it has been demonstrated that "incentives" to promote employment (such as tax breaks and soft credits) have wasted public funds without improving employment levels. For this reason a radically different course should be followed that links profits to the creation of new jobs. The creation of productive work that meets social needs is a challenge to be met by all of society; it cannot and must not depend exclusively on the self-interest of managers or capitalists. It is unacceptable that sackings are synonymous with efficiency. The aim of any economic process should be the expanded organization of work to meet unmet social needs, and not the destruction of jobs in the name of profit.Finally, public support should be assured to workers' self-administrated factories and small enterprises. Experts in the Ministry of Social Development estimate that under existing conditions just 20 percent of these projects could survive, as most lack basic resources necessary to face capitalist competition. Nonetheless, in a context of genuine employment expansion these enterprises could play a very positive role. An Overall Improvement of SalariesThe inflation that followed devaluation provoked a general but unequal reduction of real incomes. Informal workers were hurt the most, as their average monthly income is 313 pesos (us$110), and the impact of major hikes in food prices has been terrible. This sector receives miserable wages and is not covered by social security, retirement, or health plans. They are not protected by the laws that govern working conditions and compensation. The world of informal employment that involved 25 percent of the workforce at the beginning of the 1990s is now the fate of 45 percent of all workers. Poverty affects, then, not only the "excluded" but also nearly half of the "included."To end this situation, it is necessary to force the legal registration of all workers. This step is vital to correct the brutal division of the labor market. Without the incorporation of these workers into the formal universe of social and legal protection, no official measure will have any real effect. The highly publicized announcements of marginal minimum wage increases, absent this step, will continue to reach no more than 20 percent of all workers. The aim of the popular economic program should not be to legalize the existing misery, but to reverse it through a real increase in minimum salaries. The increase should mean an effective floor for all workers. This level cannot remain at the existing 350 pesos (us$121) established by the government. It must be near the 716 pesos (us$247) officially recognized as necessary to cover a basic total basket of goods and services-the lowest amount needed not to be classified as poor. It makes no sense to speak of a "minimum salary" at any lower level. Another sector is composed of formal workers, whose average salaries are estimated nowadays to be 718 pesos (us$248). For them the postdevaluation deterioration was not as harsh as in the informal and excluded sectors; some compensation was granted to them. It is estimated that their wages have fallen around 20 percent since the end of 2001. Meanwhile, during the same period, the benefits of the vast gains in productivity that have been observed in most sectors have been completely absorbed by the employers. Wage costs for firms are at the lowest level since 1990.Public employees comprise another sector. Their salaries have been kept strictly frozen at the demand of the IMF. The fiscal surplus program was established and maintained with this restrictive condition, unmodified in the face of the unexpected increases in public revenues.A popular economic program must be centered in the recovery of purchasing power. An immediate 20 percent salary hike in the private sector and 30 percent in the public sector, together with the proposals set out above, would engender a recovery that could cover the whole population.It is false to claim that "there is no money for everybody." More than enough resources are available if debt payments cease (12.5 billion pesos), a progressive tax reform is introduced, and a tax is levied on recent extraordinary profits.EDI has also elaborated proposals to cope with other basic aspects of Argentina's economy, such as the situation of privatized firms, the collapse of the private financial sector, the situation in the farming and industrial sectors, the problems of the regional economies, and the need to introduce without delay an investment plan addressed to the decaying basic infrastructure. Our commitment is to study alternatives not only as to what must be done, but also how to do it.  A Contribution to the Popular Movements The current political context in Argentina is very different from that of early 2002, when we put forward our first document (published in English by Monthly Review, April 2002). The country is neither living through an explosion such as that of the end of 2001 nor the gigantic collapse of all economic activity that marked 2002. Nonetheless, the misery and suffering of the majority of the population remains the same, and for this reason our proposals are timely and relevant. The members of EDI have set out to analyze the distinct pattern of each phase of the process that has Argentina in its grip, observing cyclical behavior, the evolution of the productive system, and trade and financial trends. We do not aim to compete with any foundation or consulting firm, to quantify variables, or to make short term forecasts. Our goal is different. We aim to contribute positively to the extensive movements fighting against neoliberalism and capitalism. We gather proposals, programs, and local publications that arise from the popular resistance, and develop their content. Our aim is to transform concepts in programs and local announcements into solid proposals. We seek to offer arguments against fashionable but regressive economic opinion, particularly those presented as "progressive" but justifying exploitation, unemployment, and the degradation of working people. This ideological battle is much more important (and much more complex) now that the governments of Latin America hide their actions with anti-neoliberal rhetoric, though maintaining the same basic anti-popular political, social, and economic models. As economic free-market orthodoxy has lost leverage, heterodox ideas have taken their place continuing to justify the status quo as inevitable, natural, and without alternative. The members of EDI reject this naturalization of misery and openly oppose those economists who are applauding the existing course. We continue to promote debate of those measures that could make possible economic reconstruction in favor of the popular majority. This is a favorable moment to advance this project because the dominant classes have partially restored political stability and economic growth but have not been able to deactivate social protest. A new movement to battle for basic social change based on labor, the unemployed (piqueteros), and the parties of the left is today a vital and real possibility. We present this document of the Economistas de Izquierda as a contribution to the elaboration of a common economic program.Signed by Luis Becerra, Jose Castillo, Eduardo Crespo, Alfonso Florido, Guillermo Gigliani, Eduardo Lucita, Claudio Katz, Jorge Marchini, Andres Mendez, and Pedro Resels --  Buenos Aires, April 2004<img title="Cartell_lletres" alt="Cartell_lletres" src="http://nor.zorpia.com/0/325/2083771.ace9c3.jpg" border="0" /> Personal http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/1084209 Thu, 17 Mar 2005 12:36 EST Tsunamis of Environmentalism's Death: Thefts... http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/1054815 Tsunamis of Environmentalism's Death: <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> Thefts and Tricks of the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> Narrow Leftists<o:p></o:p> By Rachel Guevara and Jason Martin<o:p></o:p> 1800-2000 wds â€“ (Revised March1, 2005)   *** -See Newest MER Release: The Call to the International for Post-Capitalist Participatory Democracy and Revolution   <A href="http://real-left.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=635738">http://real-left.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=635738</A>   (See Intro in comment section below)     Further righteous attacks on US-EU moderate activism, the Democratic Party or the vagueness of anti-globalization protesters is not necessary. Enough of the people in these groups will see history unfold rapidly in the next year and they will likely grasp the gravity and direction of their actions. Tariq Ali, Hugo Chavez, James Petras and the first two papers in this series: Lessons Learned, have pointed out enough reasons why most groups are lost and dysfunctional.   Due to the large financial rewards up for grabs in the US-EU we will document only one more of these serious black holes in thinking and alternative institution building found in the corners of the Empire's last bastions of claimed morality: Environmentalism ( activism en toto?). (2)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> In the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> the situation of revolutionary consciousness is much worse than in most of the world. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> A Great Debate rages among the Enviro and Narrow Left elite over the meaning of activism in the USA-EU. The Death of Environmentalism and how to enhance the charade of fighting global warming is the agenda. Three to five billion dollars in donations and the world hang in the balance. <o:p></o:p>     <o:p></o:p>  The ecological time bombs of trade (invasive species) and global warming are ticking away. The environmental movement has failed and should die so something better can take its place. We need to address the â€œrealâ€ issues  which Ted Nordhaus and Mark Herstgaard have brought to light:   The world cannot change in time to stop global warming. (NOTE 1) <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The leaders of USA environmental groups (Enviros) and the US social change groups (Narrow Left) (NOTE 2) will not connect the issues of the poor, the environment, the global economy or the wars of US imperialism because that would require that they risk their careers and lives. Real change violates their  idea of change: slow, cautious and all inclusive. Giving the rich essentially vetoesâ€¦ each day it looks more like the Enviros want the problems to get so big that they can trumpet: â€œWell we tried, but now it is too late.â€ <o:p></o:p> Technical fixes aren't sufficient to deal with climate change, species loss, deforestation or other environmental threats. The global economy has to be transformed which is a bigger problem than environmentalism has faced in the pastâ€¦ Ditto, the single-issue constituencies: labor, women, civil rights. They're faltering and need to think of themselves as a political movement, figure out what values they share and ways to organize accordingly. <o:p></o:p> In "The Death of Environmentalism" Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, question the strategies of the US Enviros and the Narrow Left. This is a â€œdouble agent attack on single issue politics from the right wing of the Narrow Left.â€ Nordhaus (Apollo Alliance) pretends to be a broad coalition of groups and ideas but the focus is labor unions, jobs and national political power though elections. Nordhaus only once mentions â€œAddressing a post-Global Warming worldâ€, but his proposals fit snuggly into the G W Bush program of global domination and surviving a post-Global Warming world. (NOTE 5). <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Without a rapid decline in consumption in the rich countries all environmental issues are hopeless and the chances of meaningful social change are non-existent. Resource wars and wars of imperialism will be the only issues left. These are the challenges and time limits that we face (NOTE 8) "It would be foolish to underestimate the challenge of checking the consumption juggernaut," concludes Christopher Flavin. "But as the costs of unbridled appetites grow, the need for innovative responses becomes clearer. In the long run, meeting basic human needs, improving human health, and supporting a natural world that can sustain us will require that we control consumption, rather than allow consumption to control us." -- State of the World 2004. (NOTE 10) <o:p></o:p> Key Points for Understanding the Death of Environmentalism and Single-Issue Politics USA Enviros have failed to build political, social or moral power around global warming. They have mis-educated the people about trade, invasive species, mega cities, industrial farming, economics and the trade-offs between growth and sustainability. These are all intimately linked. Disconnected education is everywhere in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> â€“ in the peace, justice, poverty and the border/immigration campaigns. These groups are failing and the failures are causing the problems to get worse. Average people and many activists have given up on trying to understand what must be done â€“ what is meaningful and worth risking their lives for. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Nordhaus agrees with these points, but the debate over the Death of Environmentalism is a con job â€“ a â€œGood cop / Bad copâ€ trick â€“ with both groups (Enviros (Sierra Club)/Apollo Alliance) worried that if they donâ€™t make some noise and act like they are on top of their game then the funders could move on or the gullible members, donors and progressives might figure out how badly they have been tricked and robbed. Citizens might even tie this billion dollar scam into the con jobs done by Democrats for decades.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Fake environmentalists pretend to struggle with Narrow Leftists over billions of dollars in donations and grants (acquired from Imperialism!) Fascist US presidents and â€œradicalsâ€ alike praise democracy (even US-styled democracy) and they all pretend happily â€“ or not so happily â€“ that there is nothing else that can be tried. The real radicals and the Real Left (Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution) are attacked or ignored by their natural allies. Greens form coalitions in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region> with capitalist narrow lefties (SPD) and in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> with right wing Democrats. Greens almost everywhere sell out on what they stood for â€“ especially on awareness and education. Political parties almost everywhere except in the <st1:place w:st="on">Andes</st1:place> move to the right and no one hardly comments. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The planet is heating up rapidly as is the Global Economy and somehow these issues are kept separate. Technocrats trot around to Global Warming or <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kyoto</st1:place></st1:City> ceremonies knowing they are less than silly rituals, while youth and many radicals are mesmerized by the groovy concept of Changing the World without Seizing the Power... <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> If Enviros cannot address the need to reduce consumption in the rich countries then they are assisting the destruction of the planet by misleading people into thinking that tinkering (recycling, bike-riding, ) or cleaning up air and water pollution in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> is helpful. The way that the <st1:country-region w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region> has so far cleaned up its air and water is by shifting its pollution to other regions (<st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Korea</st1:country-region>, Mesico, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region> or the <st1:place w:st="on">North Sea</st1:place>). Critics of the Enviros, such as Nordhaus or Hertsgaard, want to continue these fraudulent educational programs with the  objective to forge political campaigns (unite single issue groups) so that they can continue to consume/pollute the world. Instead of Nimbyism (not-in-my-backyard) within the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> they will institutionalize national Nimbyism (not-in-my-country). <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> From an environmental perspective, the most striking thing about the Sierra Club/Pope (and the Apollo group's) response is their love of consumption growth (stability for the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> auto industry!). Rather than move the Enviros to the center-right wing of the defunct Democratic party, the Real Left would build a great coalition around a plan for changing the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region>, and thus the world, based on massive aid to revolutions in the Andes and elsewhere in Latin America and the <st1:place w:st="on">Caribbean</st1:place>.             <o:p></o:p> US Anarchists, radicals and  Change the World Without Taking the Power advocates lack class consciousness or an appreciation (sympathy, information) of global struggles. They reject alternative economics because that would be planning. They do almost nothing to resist their own countryâ€™s plunder and pillaging because they might have to work with communists and the like. The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> is a political void with two right wing political parties and near zero international or class consciousness. This near sightedness has spread to the World Social Forum where John Holloway practices his numbing and now academic power-avoidance, academic because delusions of fighting (waiting) for a perfect revolution makes little sense when survival is in doubt. Resisting the disasters of US Imperialism and ecological collapse are preeminent concerns. (NOTE 14). <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> One cannot have just a simple-minded plan of how the world works or how to resist â€“ not against the uncouth <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> corporate elite. You have to feel it out when to join with others, when the threats are too great or when to stand for principle when the moment is right. Right now the moment requires that everyone in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> and Europe work hard for the Andes and the revolutions throughout <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>. These are strategic battles â€“ pre-emptive resistance â€“ to the Bush and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> plans for domination and extortion. <o:p></o:p> Everything has to come together â€“ the earth, the sky and the waters and fire. This will happen slower in some ways in <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>, though in many ways the Spirit of Resistance there has never weakened or separated. The poor of Latin America (250 million), the descendents of slaves (100 million) and especially the indigenous people (40 to 80 million) see the current struggle, as well as the struggles they have faced for 500 years, as deep, serious, desperate and fateful. In the West (the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> and EU) the struggle actually does have to bring everything together now! If our efforts fail to stop the right wing Nordhaus-Apollo Alliance theft of billions of dollars in charitable donations, then GW Bush and his clan will accelerate his poisoning of the world and the poisoning of the minds of millions more people in the US. (NOTES 16)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Even if the US joined the Kyoto protocol, that would be only a symbolic step since the agreement only prescribes that the most important industrial states reduce their emissions of six greenhouse gases five percent by 2012 compared to 1990. According to the data of science, a 50 percent reduction by 2050 is necessary. An 80 percent reduction would be necessary if the right of third world societies to catch up in industrialization were considered. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The time of warnings has now expired unused. The catastrophe is at our door. The ecology problem cannot be separated from the economy problem. â€¦An ecological awakening from the middle of society is crucial. This happened in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region>, but the Green impulse failed.. The German chancellor rejoices that German corporations are developing <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> into an auto-society. How can the Greens contradict themselves in this way? : (NOTE 15)<o:p></o:p> The Greens wanted to change the consumer mentality of the masses. They discussed the questions about living- and working conditions less dependent on cars and whether less meat consumption leading to less methane output with less livestock breeding wouldnâ€™t be welcome on account of the better health of consumers. All this seems forgotten...                                               KEY POINTS <o:p></o:p> 1. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> Enviros have killed the environmental movement and the Narrow Left strategies of single issue campaigning have failed. 2. There is no way to avoid the catastrophe of global warming because the capitalist model of consumption growth and rampant pollution to reduce costs combines with US greed to guarantee massive increases in greenhouse gases. <o:p></o:p> 3. To survive in this post-global warming future of brutal US imperialist wars, the few remaining moral people in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> and Europe should fund revolutions in the Andes to create an alternative model and a counter to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> hegemony. 4. There are billions of dollars in potential funding up for grabs in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> and <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>. The deceptions and failures of the Narrow left and the Enviros has created a vacuum where people are looking for something positive to invest in. <o:p></o:p> 5. There is a process or hierarchy of resistance and movement building that can guide our efforts to stop imperialism and protect the environment. The basis of this hierarchy is that we must be honest and probing about our goals (near term and long run); about the strategies that could achieve them; and deeply open to debate and to clearer thinking than in the past. The Real Left needs to make sense â€“ AND be understandable, with real solutions to all of the linked problems. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> NOTES Part II: 1.)) NOTES I.: Part 1 of the Series Lessons Learned: From The Failure of Politics and Vision in North America To the Steady Victories of the Social Movements in South America â€“ George W Bushâ€™s Eternal Triumph or The Andes to the Rescue of the World - http://mer130.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=606875 http://newswire.indymedia.org/en/newswire/2005/01/818213.shtml http://margotbworldnews.com/archive/2005January/Jan25/rescue.html 2. )) NOTES II. : a.) In this paper we refer to the largest groups of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> environmental movement (the big 20 Eco Groups) and their leaders as Enviros. <o:p></o:p> b.) For a view of some Enviro leaders see St.Claireâ€™s book review at: http://zmagsite.zmag.org/JulAug2004/mclellan0804.html â€œ Jon Roushâ€™s salary is $125,000 annually. He is president of the Wilderness Society whose <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> headquarters cost $6 million a year to lease. Roush logged his 80-acre, $2.5 million ranch in <st1:State w:st="on">Montana</st1:State> â€œat precisely the moment,â€ says St. Clair, â€œwhen environmentalists across the country had their backs to the wall, against a ferocious assault in Congress on federal laws protecting <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>â€™s forests.â€ Fred Krupp at EDF commands $125,000 a year. Jay Hair who â€œkeeps his limo running at all times, the air-conditioner grinding ozone at full-tilt against the moment he emerges from his office on an eco-mission or deal-making sortie,â€ makes a quarter-million at the National Wildlife Federation; while Peter Berle at the Audubon Society pulls in $200,000â€¦â€ c.) We use the term Real Left to denote leaders and groups that make sense in the world of 2005. The standout examples of this type of thinking are the people of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region>, Quispe in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Bolivia</st1:country-region> and James Petras of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>. d.) We refer to the leaders and groups working on single or narrow issue social change issues as the Narrow Left. Most of the old left falls into this category too, because of its lack of environmental understanding and its failure to factor in social issues and perspectives. Much of what is referred to as the New Left should also be categorized as the Narrow Left because of their general fuzziness and lack of a well worked-out plan. The only exception we have come up with were the Sandinistas of Nicaragua ( 1978-1990 ) who seemed to have had a very workable and comprehensive plan but were thwarted by massive <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> terrorism. The Cuban communists have much to be praised for in their efforts, but 40 years of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> hostility and mis-placed Soviet (USSR) advice has impacted their overall achievements. e.) Examples of this fuzzy or narrow left in the US are: Global Exchange, CPUSA, the US Green Party, Ralph Nader, WILPF, Move On, Answer, Narco News, Fair Trade Network, Indymedia, Global Action, many more (all?) and many aspects of the WSF. f.) What is the Organizersâ€™ Collaborative? Information Clearinghouse (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=US+social+change+groups) Though there are 30,000+ social change groups in the US, these groups often do not feel sufficiently connected to the movement they are a part of. ... www.organizenow.net/pdf/brochurec.pdf For a huge list of social change activities in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> see: http://democracygroups.org/ 3.)) NOTES III.: January 19, 2005; http://www.circleoflife.org/blog/julia/ 4.)) NOTES IV. .) a.) Mark Hertsgaard see: http://www.markhertsgaard.com/Articles/2004/EnviroChallenge/ b.) "The Death of Environmentalism,â€ presented to a grant makers meeting, October 2004, by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Schellenberger (S and N) : http://www.thebreakthrough.org/images/Death_of_Environmentalism.pdf This report would not have been possible had many of the countryâ€™s leading environmental and progressive leaders not been courageous enough to open up their thinking for public scrutiny: Dan Becker, Phil Clapp, Tim Carmichael, Ralph Cavanaugh, Susan Clark, Bernadette Del Chiaro, Shelly Fiddler, Ross Gelbspan, Hal Harvey, David Hawkins, Bracken Hendricks, Roland Hwang, Eric Heitz, Wendy James, Van Jones, Fred Keeley, Lance Lindblom, Elisa Lynch, Jason Mark, Bob Nordhaus, Carl Pope, Josh Reichert, Jeremy Rifkin, Adam Werbach, Greg Wetstone, V. John White, and Carl Zichella. We are especially grateful to George Lakoff for teaching us how to identify category mistakes and to Peter Teague for continually challenging us to question our most basic assumptions, b.) â€œThe institutions that define what environmentalism means boast large professional staffs and receive tens of millions of dollars every year from foundations and individuals. Given these rewards, it's no surprise that most environmental leaders neither craft nor support proposals that could be tagged "non-environmental." Doing otherwise would do more than threaten their status; it would undermine their brand. Environmentalists are particularly upbeat about the direction of public opinion thanks in large part to the polling they conduct that shows wide support for their proposals. Yet <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> is a vastly more right-wing country than it was three decades ago. The domination of American politics by the far-right is a central obstacle to achieving action on global warming. Yet almost none of the environmentalists we interviewed thought to mention it.â€ c.) S and N: â€œPart of what's behind America's political turn to the right is the skill with which conservative think tanks, intellectuals and political leaders have crafted proposals that build their power through setting the terms of the debate. Their work has paid off. According to a survey of 1,500 Americans by the market research firm Environics, the number of Americans who agree with the statement, "To preserve people's jobs in this country, we must accept higher levels of pollution in the future," increased from 17 percent in 1996 to 26 percent in 2000. The number of Americans who agreed that, "Most of the people actively involved in environmental groups are extremists, not reasonable people," leapt from 32 percent in 1996 to 41 percent in 2000. The truth is that for the vast majority of Americans, the environment never makes it into their top ten list of things to worry about. Protecting the environment is indeed supported by a large majority -- it's just not supported very strongly. Once you understand this, it's much easier to understand why it's been so easy for anti-environmental interests to gut 30 years of environmental protections.â€ d.) S and N: â€œTalking about the millions of jobs that will be created by accelerating our transition to a clean energy economy offers more than a good defense against industry attacks: it's a frame that moves the environmental movement away from apocalyptic global warming scenarios that tend to create feelings of helplessness and isolation among would-be supporters.â€ e.) S and N: â€œConsider what would happen if we identified the obstacles [to stopping Global Warming] as: The radical right's control of all three branches of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> government. Trade policies that undermine environmental protections. Our failure to articulate an inspiring and positive vision. Overpopulation. The influence of money in American politics. Our inability to craft legislative proposals that shape the debate around core American values. Poverty [ Nowhere a mention of reduced consumption in the OECD or the problems of increased consumption in the rest of the world].â€ g.) S and N: â€œAnd if the political prospects for action on GLOBAL WARMING appear daunting in the U.S., don't look to China for uplift: the 1.2 billion person country, growing at 20 percent a year, intends to quadruple the size of its economy in 30 years and bring 300 gigawatts -- nearly half of what we use each year in the US -- of dirty coal energy on-line. The challenge for American environmentalists is not just to get the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> to dramatically overhaul its energy strategy but also to help developing countries like <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Russia</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">South Africa</st1:place></st1:country-region> do so as well. That means environmental groups will need to advocate policies like technology transfer, ethical trade agreements, and win-win joint ventures. The carbon threat from China and other developing countries drives home the point that a whole series of major policies not traditionally defined as "environmental," from industrial policy to trade policy, will be needed to deal with GLOBAL WARMING.â€ h.) S and N: "The major national environmental groups focusing on climate -- groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the World Wildlife Federation -- have agreed to accept what they see as a politically feasible target for 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide ... [That] may be politically realistic, it would likely be environmentally catastrophic." In our interview, Gelbspan told us that environmentalists' failure to achieve more is "because they operate in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> and they accept incremental progress. If they can get two more miles on a CAFE standard that would be a huge accomplishment for them. But compared to the need to cut emissions 70 or 80 percent it's nothing. They're scared they'll be marginalized by calling for big cuts. They are taking the expedient route even as we see the scientists sounding the alarms and saying it's too late to avoid the significant disruptions." i.) The debate is serious when even the British Economist carries it: Hotting up - Feb 4th 2005 http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3630425 5.)) NOTES V.: a.) How Apollo snuggles up to GW Bush world domination: http://www.apolloalliance.org/strategy_center/a_bold_energy_and_jobs_policy/ten_point_plan.cfm The Ten-Point Plan for Good Jobs and Energy Independence 1. Promote Advanced Technology & Hybrid Cars:[ Technology always benefits the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> military. Hybrid cars are a good ploy for soothing the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> publicâ€¦] 2. Invest In More Efficient Factories: [Helps keep US competitive, the population assuaged and prepares the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> for embargoes and terrorist retaliation against US firms overseas.] 3. Encourage High Performance Building: [To save energy since most of the world will embargo <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> oil sales soon. Also will be combined with high security options on new building to prepare for domestic terrorism/Homeland Security] 4. Increase Use of Energy Efficient Appliances: [See responses 1,2,3] 5. Modernize Electrical Infrastructure: [Great idea to protect vulnerability of US to domestic terror attacks and a big subsidy to nuclear weapons manufacturers like GE] 6. Expand Renewable Energy Development: [Great domestic PR and would have been a great idea â€“ if implemented â€“ 10 or 20 years ago before Bush (s) went to war in Middle East â€“ now it can only serve as a reminder of our follies and as a defense against energy embargoes/disruption. Renewables outside of hydropower are a tiny fraction of power â€“ many so-called renewables â€“ forests, agricultural biomass fuels and even wind are not really renewable as they require soil mining or a huge industrial infrastructure!] 7. Improve Transportation Options: [Jobs for votes and loyalty- National morale and defense] 8. Reinvest In Smart Urban Growth: [see response 3] 9. Plan For A Hydrogen Future: [Corporate subsides and to help the big oil companies that will go broke when their assets are nationalized or destroyed] 10. Preserve Regulatory Protections: [Thrown in to hold on to the quasi-Green vote, only to be implemented as a moderating growth strategy] BONUS: # 11. Build 50 Nuclear Power Plants [Not one of their proposals (yet?) â€“ but one they will have to swallow if they do not reduce consumption and energy use 50- 80 percent in the OECD â€“ or the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> for sure! b.) http://www.apolloalliance.org/strategy_center/podestadoc.cfm â€œAfter all, there are more than 220 million cars, trucks and SUVs in this country logging more than 15 trillion miles annually. The auto industry in this country is responsible for 6.6 million jobs nationwide. What happens to those jobs -- and what happens to the workers and the families who depend on those jobs -- if <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> reduces its reliance on oil? For a long time the environmental movement didn't have very good answers to those questions. Too often, some talked as if automobiles were the problem in and of themselves when, in fact, the problem has never really been cars, but the fuel they use and how they use it.â€ [WRONG, WRONG! â€“ I have shown this statement to several moderate environmentalists and they all laughed without me telling them what point I was interested in. Most people have already debated this when the fuel cell â€“ hydrogen issue came up a few years ago. The underlying problems are not population growth, what kind or how much fuels (or carbon) are burnt â€“ but instead the whole lifestyle of consumption, wealth chasing and the car culture that makes Wall Marts, commuting, sprawl, travel and trade possible and necessary. c.) NOTES â€“ The Apollo Alliances supporters show how deep this right wing conspiracy reaches and probably what gullible fools many groups are: (Bold De-notes conspirators, Italics denote those whom we hope are just naive) (http://www.apolloalliance.org/about_the_alliance/) (It would be nice to know why groups like World Watch and the Nature Conservancy did not sign on to Apolloâ€™s industrial proposals) Supporters include:  Senator Maria Cantwell, MS Congress (D-WA); President Leo W. Gerard, The United Steel Workers of America; Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., US Congress (D-IL); Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club;  Phil Angelides, California State Treasurer; President Andrew Beebe, Energy Innovations, An Idea Lab Company; Chairman Julian Bond, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); President Thomas Buffenbarger, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; Henry Cisneros, former Mayor of San Antonio, Texas ; Jan Hartke, Executive Director, EarthVoice; Vice President Gerry Hudson, SEIU Local 1199 Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA); Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus Systems and Mitchell Kapor Foundation; Bill Lucy, Secretary/Treasurer, AFSCME; William Lynch William McDonough, Architect, Author, Educator; Kathleen A. McGinty, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Energy; President Terence M. Oâ€™Sullivan, Laborersâ€™ International Union of North America ; Art Pulaski, Secretary-Treasurer, California Labor Federation; Governor Ed Rendell, Pennsylvania; Anthony Thigpenn, Executive Director AGENDA; President Danny Thompson, Nevada Labor Federation; AFL-CIO; AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council (IUC); National Heavy and Highway Alliance; Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Intl. Union (BCTGM); Boilermakers Union (IBB); California Labor Federation Graphic Communications Industrial Union (GCIU); Illinois AFL-CIO; Indiana AFL-CIO; International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT); International Union of Electrical Workers (IUE-CWA); King County Labor Council, AFL-CIO; Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA); Minnesota AFL-CIO; Paper and Allied Chemical Employees (PACE); Pennsylvania AFL-CIO; Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) Transportation Workers Union (TWU); United Automobile and Aerospace Workers (UAW); United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW); United Mine Workers of America (UMWA); UNITE!; United Steel Workers of America (USWA); Blue Water Network; Center for Environmental Citizenship; Center for Environmental Health; Ceres; Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Conventions; The Detroit Project; Environment 2004; Environmental Law and Policy Center; Greenpeace USA; Healthy School Network; Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy; League of Conservation Voters; National Wildlife Federation; Natural Resources Defense Council; Project Democracy; Rainforest Action Network; Republicans for Environmental Protection; The Sierra Student Coalition; South Carolina Coastal Conservation League; Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS); Alternatives (AGENDA); Black Farmers USA; Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU); Jim Hightower; Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy; South Carolina Coastal Conservation League; Urban Agenda; Agnus Gund; Beldon Fund; The Belvedere Fund; The Bullitt Foundation; Nathan Cummings Foundation; The Energy Foundation; The Ford Foundation; French American Charitable Trust; General Service Foundation; The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; The John W. and Clara C. Higgins Foundation; John Hunting; Move On; New Land Foundation; The Overbrook Foundation Rockefeller Financial Services; Tides Foundation; Town Creek Foundation The United Nations Better World Fund; The Wallace Global Fund; The Institute for Americaâ€™s Future; The Center on Wisconsin Strategy; The Common Assets Defense Fund; The Breakthrough Institute (Michael Shellenberger (The S in S and N) is Executive Director of The Breakthrough Institute; Carol/Trevelyan Strategy Group d.) For a view of a complex and slightly hard to label character see: http://www.nathannewman.org/log/archives/001957.html Apollo was no unique victim of the Kerry campaign. I donâ€™t blame Kerry for the campaign he ran. Iâ€™ve come to realize that the election was lost years ago.... The obstacles we face are the same obstacles any â€œprogressiveâ€[bold and quotes by ed.] faces when trying to explain the need to think differently about problems and solutions to liberals who insist on putting all problems and solutions in traditional, single-issue categories.... 6.)) NOTES VI.: a.) Michael Crichton and the end of radical environmentalism; http: //www.seacoastonline.com/news/dover/01282005/editoria/61389.htm b.) http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_17589.shtml State of <st1:State w:st="on">Fear</st1:State>, by Michael Crichton, the best-selling author of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Jurassic</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Park</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> and creator of the TV show â€œER,â€ compares scientists who warn of global warming to advocates of eugenics who said that the mixing of races would ruin the world's genetic stock. c. For a more balanced skeptical analysis, see: Hotting up - Feb 4th 2005 http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3630425 7.)) NOTES VII.: Anarchists and US activists first attacked Chavez for being authoritarian. When that proved untrue they said he was a popularity seeking old male. When they realized that it is not a sin to be popular or male â€“ and hard not to be both in a Latin American nation, the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> and Carnival Activists attacked Chavez over pollution and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region>â€™s dependence on a polluting oil industry. We await the anarchistâ€™s analysis of how <st1:country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region> can fight the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>, keep a democracy and stop pumping oilâ€¦ Their response would typically be something like: â€œWe don not believe in planning and designs, but we just know that oil is bad so they should stopâ€¦â€ Yeah, right! A few still continue their attacks â€“ recently over Chavezâ€™s unhappiness with students/anarchists knocking down a statue! 8.)) NOTES VIII.: a.) How could ENVIROS or anyone imagine winning political majorities behind real reform or environmental issues anytime soon â€“ especially anytime soon enough to do anything meaningful about Global Warming? They canâ€™t, they wonâ€™t and all of this is a clever con to raise money, protect ENVIRO and Narrow Left careerists and to keep an enraged public from cutting off money or switching their donations to groups that really could do something positive; groups like FSA (See: www.andescircle.facces.com) b.) http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1E2507FE-1F0E-499F-8057-B28917BEE59B.htmThe Kyoto Protocol requires industrialised signatories - excluding the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>, which says the deal is too costly for its oil-dependent economy - to trim output of six greenhouse gases by a deadline of 2008-2012. But scientists say this effort is puny compared to what is needed if we want to avert climate change that could be potentially catastrophic and long-lasting. 9.)) NOTES IX.: .: a.) August- September 2002, Political Economy of a Narco-Terror State, Zmag by Rachel Guevara or see Znet link at: http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=2261 The Colombia article was begun by Marcel Idels who asked Jason Martin to assist with fact checks and footnotes. Rachel ended up re-writing and re-formatting the whole thing. The credit was to go to Ecosolidaridad Andes â€“ as the web link shows, but Rachel got the print credits â€“ which she totally deserved. She has been the brains and the details behind many of the articles published by myself and other groups on www.Anncol.org and in Earth First Journal for several years. 10.)) NOTES X .: a.) http://www.worldwatch.org/press/news/2004/01/08/ b.) <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> went from zero oil imports in 1990 to three million barrels per day in 2001. China is now the third largest oil importer (after Japan and US) In 10 to 15 years when Chinas car fleet is as big as the US fleet China could be consuming more oil than the US and the price (even without wars) could be as high as $200 a barrel! c.) http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-9-14/23084.html <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>â€™s oil consumption in 2003 makes it the world's second largest consumer of oil after the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>. According to last year's figures from British Petroleum, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> increased its oil use by 11.5 percent, consuming 6 million barrels per day. d.) http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/nts42259.htm 11.)) NOTES XI : a.) income of a few ENVIROS and their Grantors: Greenpeace: Income $25,152,770 (2001) Earthsave : Income $330,353 (2002) Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy : Income $3,623,577 (2001) Sierra Club: Income $75,441,137 (2001) Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) : Income : $49,298,504.00 (2002) Union of Concerned Scientists: Income: $8,113,136 (2002) Tides Foundation: Income: $151,637,364 (2001) Agnes Gund Foundation: Grants awarded : $6,225,764. (2003) Bullitt Foundation: Grants awarded: $6,802,772 (2002) Audubon Society: Income: $ 80,717,000 (2003) Nature Conservancy: Income: 865,831,000 (2004) Sources: IRS form 990s; American <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Institute</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Philanthropy Above</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> from - http://www.activistcash.com/organization_financials.cfm/oid/19 <o:p></o:p> Additional Enviro Groups: American Canoe Association; The American Canoe Association (ACA); American Rivers; American Water Works Association (AWWA); American Whitewater Affiliation (AWA); Earth First!; Environmental Defense Fund; Environmental Support Center;  Environmental Working Group;  For the Sake of the Salmon; Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics;  Freshwater Society; International Rivers Network;  Izaak Walton League; Know Your Watershed; League of Conservation Voters; National Wildlife Federation  Rainforest Action Network 22. River Management Society; River Resource; World Stewardship Institute; Zero Water <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> c.) Income of environmental groups: $1.8 billion in 1982 and $3.5 billion in 1999 (http://www.sacbee.com/static/archive/news/projects/environment/graphics/graphic1a.html) http://www.houstonmarineseminar.com/pdfs/2001/Pyne.pdf. d.) http://www.sacbee.com/static/archive/news/projects/environment/20011021.html Information gathered by The Bee, though, shows the volume of federal support for environmental groups is substantial, and growing. Last year, about $137 million flowed to 20 major environmental nonprofit groups -- an average of $377,000 a day -- up 27 percent from 1999. Since 1998, more than $400 million in federal money has been granted to environmental groups. Four groups -- The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the World Wildlife Fund -- have gotten more than two-thirds of the money since 1998. More than 15 nonprofits received $1 million a year or more. Most large environmental groups take government grants, but some -- such as the Sierra Club and Greenpeace -- do not. More than half of the money is used to help groups purchase, restore or protect land and species. That process, which often involves mingling federal and private dollars to maximize their impact, has achieved dramatic results for fish, wildlife and open space across the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Conservationists say such teamwork is vital to preserving the biological diversity of life on Earth. "When you look at what it is going to cost to protect biodiversity, it far exceeds our capability, even as one of the wealthiest conservation groups," said Mike Horak, a spokesman for The Nature Conservancy, which last year received $37.3 million in federal funds -- the most of any group. 12.)) NOTES XII.: a.) There Is Something Different About Global Warming; Carl Pope (Sierra Club); http://grist.org/news/maindish/2005/01/13/pope-reprint/ Our favorite Pope â€œpapal pap smear is: â€œKyoto is an attempt to start down the road that everyone knows will have a very large bill, without ever deciding who will pay for the bill. Which is why, in my view, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kyoto</st1:place></st1:City> has gone nowhere in the U.S. Confronted with a potential liability, as long as I think I wonÃ‚Â¹t have to pay the bill, I'll hire my lawyer. That's what the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> carbon lobby has done. They know carbon is a liability. They don't want to pay the bill. This understanding that global warming is mainly a problem about who is going to pay -- which in turn depends on who we assume owned the sky to begin with â€¦ But if we frame global warming as pollution, and assert that the polluter should pay, then suddenly this otherwise completely abstruse, overly technical problem becomes much easier for the public to understand. We can then get people to recognize that you [WHO?] shouldnâ€™t be electrifying villages in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> by hanging copper wires between them. You should be electrifying them with methane generators and windmills -- and the polluters, the emitters of carbon, ought to be paying for them [AND who is Pope to tell these people what to do after the West spent 200 years polluting and doing things the cheapest way possible â€“ including slavery!]. See the debate between Pope, S and N and the Real Left at: www.mer130.tripod.com b.) As if the limp ideas found on his website were not enough to condemn Adam Werbachâ€™s Narrow Left thinking (a friend of S and N) (http://www.3nov.com/images/awerbach_ied_final.pdf) as hewn from the same fabric as Pope, Werbach's goes on to say â€“ â€œSierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope recently wrote that â€œenvironmentalism is part of a broader progressive movement.â€ If that were true, then we would: 1. Hold ourselves, not immigrants, accountable for the problems we create; 2. End the environmental movementâ€™s population program; 3. Start a new campaign to enhance womenâ€™s right globally â€“ for that is the only ethical, causal way we know to slow the growth of the human population. I proposed this in 1997, in 1998, and then stepped down from the presidency, frustrated that the organization would continue to invite these attacks until they let die the overpopulation fantasies within the Club. These attacks continue to grow in strength and frequency because this cancerâ€¦â€ But to think that you are solving the problems of ecology or of consumption by : â€œStart a new campaign to enhance womenâ€™s right globally â€“ for that is the only ethical, causal way we know to slow the growth of the human population.â€ Is to utilize the same backdoor thinking that Pope criticizes. It is the economic system of Capitalism and the logic of growth that is the problem not population per se (though Capitalism also causes this as it impoverishes people and kills off their children). Increased consumption by <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> is a much bigger problem than Chinese population growth! <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>â€™s population increases at around 2 percent a year â€“ its economy is growing at 10 to 15 percent per year, which causes more environmental damage? 13.)) NOTES XIII.: a.) Tariq Ali: http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1223 b.) http://www.isreview.org/issues/33/tariqali.shtml THE THEME at the World Social Forum was "Another World is Possible." One of the things that seem to plague the Left is a lack of a vision. Itâ€™s very articulate and clear about what it doesnâ€™t like. It doesnâ€™t like globalization, it doesnâ€™t like imperialism and it doesnâ€™t like American hegemony. What about projecting some genuine alternatives? I THINK this is very important. Itâ€™s a point I stress often. We have a very large movement against global injustice but thereâ€™s no vision as to what should replace it. I often say to people that it can always start in a small way. When 45 years ago a bunch of neoliberal economists in Chicago, inspired by Frederick Von Hayek and Milton Friedman, began to articulate the theories of neoliberal economics, all the Keynesians and socialists were just laughing at them, mocking them, calling them nutty. Well, these completely nutty people, Iâ€™m afraid, have conquered the world. They utilized the regimes of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher and got close to power and their policies began to be applied. I say we have to get a group of people who actually sit down and work out an alternative plan. Simply stalking the summitsâ€“whether the G8, the G10 or whateverâ€“is good, but itâ€™s not going to solve our problems. The most worrying thing for me is the following: When Argentina collapsed, everyone was triumphant, saying it shows the bankruptcy of neoliberal policies. Argentine politicians stood up and said, "We did everything we were told to do by the U.S. Treasury Department, by the IMF [International Monetary Fund] and the World Bank. Everything weâ€™ve been asked to do for 10 years, weâ€™ve doneâ€“and this is the result." Fine, but whatâ€™s the alternative? The alternative is not an easy one but the glimmerings of it are there. We have to argue for states in this region not to abdicate their responsibilities to international institutions, to take them on and say, "We are going to fight because thatâ€™s what our people need." It should be a very minimal program to start off with. "We donâ€™t care what the IMF and World Bank say. We will intervene to provide free health care, free education and subsidized shelter for the bulk of our populations. And if you donâ€™t do that, weâ€™ll take you on. Come and occupy our countries directly and rule them." This is the demand of <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>, a whole continent in revolt. You had a Bolivian revolt against water privatization. You had in <st1:City w:st="on">Cuzco</st1:City>, in the interior of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Peru</st1:place></st1:country-region>, in one of the most culturally backward areas, peasants fighting really hard against electricity privatization. Why? Because they know instinctively, if not intellectually, that when these things are privatized the cost for them becomes unbearable. Especially when the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.< Personal http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/1054815 Tue, 22 Feb 2005 15:33 EST 1. MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS ; The Search... http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/1050812   1. MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS ; The Search for Understanding; by Janet A. Simons, Donald B. Irwin and Beverly A. Drinnien; West Publishing Company, New York, 1987 Maslow has set up a hierarchic theory of needs. All of his basic needs are instinctoid, equivalent of instincts in animals. Humans start with a very weak disposition that is then fashioned fully as the person grows. If the environment is right, people will grow straight and beautiful, actualizing the potentials they have inherited. If the environment is not "right" (and mostly it is not) they will not grow tall and straight and beautiful. Maslow has set up a hierarchy of five levels of basic needs. Beyond these needs, higher levels of needs exist. These include needs for understanding, esthetic appreciation and purely spiritual needs. In the levels of the five basic needs, the person does not feel the second need until the demands of the first have been satisfied, nor the third until the second has been satisfied, and so on. Maslow's basic needs are as follows: Physiological Needs These are biological needs. They consist of needs for oxygen, food, water, and a relatively constant body temperature. They are the strongest needs because if a person were deprived of all needs, the physiological ones would come first in the person's search for satisfaction. Safety Needs When all physiological needs are satisfied and are no longer controlling thoughts and behaviors, the needs for security can become active. Adults have little awareness of their security needs except in times of emergency or periods of disorganization in the social structure (such as widespread rioting). Children often display the signs of insecurity and the need to be safe. Needs of Love, Affection and Belongingness When the needs for safety and for physiological well-being are satisfied, the next class of needs for love, affection and belongingness can emerge. Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation. This involves both giving and receiving love, affection and the sense of belonging. Needs for Esteem When the first three classes of needs are satisfied, the needs for esteem can become dominant. These involve needs for both self-esteem and for the esteem a person gets from others. Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect, and respect from others. When these needs are satisfied, the person feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world. When these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless and worthless. Needs for Self-Actualization When all of the foregoing needs are satisfied, then and only then are the needs for self-actualization activated. Maslow describes self-actualization as a person's need to be and do that which the person was "born to do." "A musician must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write." These needs make themselves felt in signs of restlessness. The person feels on edge, tense, lacking something, in short, restless. If a person is hungry, unsafe, not loved or accepted, or lacking self-esteem, it is very easy to know what the person is restless about. It is not always clear what a person wants when there is a need for self-actualization.   The hierarchic theory is often represented as a pyramid, with the larger, lower levels representing the lower needs, and the upper point representing the need for self-actualization. Maslow believes that the only reason that people would not move well in direction of self-actualization is because of hindrances placed in their way by society. He states that education is one of these hindrances. He recommends ways education can switch from its usual person-stunting tactics to person-growing approaches. Maslow states that educators should respond to the potential an individual has for growing into a self-actualizing person of his/her own kind. Ten points that educators should address are listed: We should teach people to be authentic, to be aware of their inner selves and to hear their inner-feeling voices. We should teach people to transcend their cultural conditioning and become world citizens. We should help people discover their vocation in life, their calling, fate or destiny. This is especially focused on finding the right career and the right mate. We should teach people that life is precious, that there is joy to be experienced in life, and if people are open to seeing the good and joyous in all kinds of situations, it makes life worth living. We must accept the person as he or she is and help the person learn their inner nature. From real knowledge of aptitudes and limitations we can know what to build upon, what potentials are really there. We must see that the person's basic needs are satisfied. This includes safety, belongingness, and esteem needs. We should refreshen consciousness, teaching the person to appreciate beauty and the other good things in nature and in living. We should teach people that controls are good, and complete abandon is bad. It takes control to improve the quality of life in all areas. We should teach people to transcend the trifling problems and grapple with the serious problems in life. These include the problems of injustice, of pain, suffering, and death. We must teach people to be good choosers. They must be given practice in making good choices For a short discussion on limitations of Maslow see: <A href="http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/maslow/">http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/maslow/</A> RELATED IS ERG THEORY (BELOW) <A href="http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/erg/">http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/erg/</A>   Thom Hartmann writes: When Abraham Maslow wrote Motivation and Personality back in 1954, he didnâ€™t have the advantage we do now of a reasonably thorough knowledge of neurochemistry. He observed people and the way they interacted with the world, and developed his theory of the "hierarchy of human needs," which ranged from the need for safety to the need for social interaction to the need for what some may call religious experience. But Maslow had his own particular neurochemistry, which colored his observations...and caused him to overlook a critical point. This overlooked basic human need may, in fact, be so critical to an understanding of human nature that understanding it gives us a revelatory flash of insight into the nature of personality disorders and specifically attention deficit disorder (ADD). This is what I call "The Need To Feel Aliveness," and it also explains why some people have multiple jobs, mates, and lifestyles, whereas others settle into one fixed routine and stay with it their entire lives, apparently quite happy in their stasis. To understand how Maslow could have overlooked a fundamental human need which drives the behaviors of as much as 30% of our population, itâ€™s important to first understand how a part of the brain is wired. [Ed. Note: We suspect that this ADD neurosis and the lack of meaning "Need to ZFeel Alive" are modern and artificial problems (ie. symptoms of the general neurotic nature of existence in modern dis-connected/alienated ives) not commonly fouind in humans and not relevant to a sustainable future. ] <A href="http://www.thomhartmann.com/maslow.shtml">http://www.thomhartmann.com/maslow.shtml</A> Personal http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/1050812 Fri, 18 Feb 2005 13:32 EST Voices From A Real Left: Tariq Ali, James... http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/1046278 Voices From A Real Left: Tariq Ali, James Petras and the Cry of the Excluded<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> <o:p>    </o:p> <o:p>[ A DRAFT ]</o:p> A Primer for Part III. The Series Lessons learned: <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  The Real Left is Defined by Decentralization<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p>By Mundo de Escuelas Revolucionarias (MER)</o:p> <o:p></o:p>  MARCEL MIRANDA: INTRODUCTIONS: The <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on">Andes</st1:place> <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place><o:p></o:p>  Mountain regions are often poor areas involved in border or ethnic/indigenous conflicts. Popular movements in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Peru</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Ecuador</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Colombia</st1:country-region> and in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bolivia</st1:place></st1:country-region> are insurgent - rising up and demanding participatory democracy and a trade economy that benefits all of the people,  national sovereignty, environmental sustainability and stability. Most of the citizens of these countries (and many others) are opposed to the US Free Trade Agreements. in Amid rising political instability these deals smell of  US coercion and financial/political aid for the regions elite (oligarchies). <o:p></o:p> (See Breakdown in the <st1:place w:st="on">Andes</st1:place> -- Michael Shifter, Foreign Affairs Journal, Sept./Oct.2004)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The US is militarizing the Colombian borders with Venezuela and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ecuador</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> military bases are expanding and the failed drug war goes on and on. This tragedy is a poorly thought out experiment that utilizes Colombian-government death squads to terrorize and burn villages; attack organizers and anyone who speaks out; and sprays chemical fumigants over millions of acres of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The headwaters of the Amazon, Magdalena and Orinoco rivers are being poisoned and degraded as enough money to eliminate poverty in the <st1:place w:st="on">Andes</st1:place> region is wasted on a war designed to fail. The price of cocaine remains the same in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> and prisons and hospitals fill up from the carnage of the war and of worldwide drug abuse. <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> The Global US policies of trade (WTO) are a great disaster and so they seek to penetrate the economies of each region and offer them big investments and trade deals if they go along with the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> plan. One cannot separate <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> trade policy from its foreign or military strategy. AFTA is designed to prop up the right wing political parties or the business community or anyone friendly to the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> and to cushion these allies from the impacts of the drug war, the vagaries of economic globalization and the anger of a people betrayed.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> ALBERT ACOSTA: A global cry against "globalization"! <o:p></o:p>  "Globalization", in quotation marks, is not a new phenomenon. Neither is it a strategy in itself. It is a process which is part of the globalization of capitalism. And as a consequence, the current phase of this process, when one looks at the results, turns out to be fragmented and fragmenting. Thus, globalization as a goal, if we extrapolate from this process as it presents itself today, is impossible: from an ecological standpoint alone, it is impossible to duplicate the standard of living of the wealthiest on a global scale; nor, in the logic of the system, is there productive employment for all the planet's inhabitants.<o:p></o:p> Nevertheless, through the massive diffusion of elite consumerism - assisted by the media -, and in a pirouette of absolute perversity, its values have infiltrated even those groups without any access to this consumption, those excluded from equity, from clean air and water, from peace, from employment, from rights, from land, from their future, from the media themselves... Nearly all of society has been inoculated by a kind a of global illusion; a phantasm that creates and recreates exclusion, which feeds competition by destroying solidarity, that rewards inhuman wealth. If employment increases - seen as a premonition of inflation - the stock market falls and financial performance suffers, as is happening now in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p> If we naively take the perspective that everything is being globalized and that all that remains is for us to globalize ourselves, we fall into a trap. We have known for a while that the world is round, but it seems we don't grasp that its capitalist roundness is exclusionary..." <A href="http://movimientos.org/grito/show_text_en.php3?key=242">http://movimientos.org/grito/show_text_en.php3?key=242</A> <o:p></o:p>  <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  TARIQ ALI: In an interview (January 2004), the editor of the New left review, Tariq Ali said that he was inspired by the Romain Rolland quote that Gramsci used: Pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will. "We have to be hard-headed and realistic. In the past there was a lot of fantasy politics. The 1960s were great times. I donâ€™t regret anything we did then. There was a craziness as well. There was this notion by the Weather Underground and the Black Panthers that by challenging the empire by force you could win. It was crazy. You cannot win unless you win over a majority or at least a sizable segment of the population. We have got to win over that consent to our side. Otherwise, we lose. Even when it goes against us, we have to tell the truth, not raise false hopes. Capitalism is not cracking up today, and it may take a long while. It wonâ€™t disappear until people see an alternative with which to replace it. The one alternative they saw from 1917 to 1989 was the false dawn of Communism." â€“ Tariq Ali;   <A href="http://www.isreview.org/issues/33/tariqali.shtml">http://www.isreview.org/issues/33/tariqali.shtml</A> <o:p></o:p>  <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  JAMES J. BRITTAIN: "WHILE STRONGLY SUPPRESSED, information is out there ... examining the social and political dynamics within <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. It is interesting, those persons who have known for years that the corporately-owned-controlled mediums of so-called information manipulate awareness, but these persons still fail to critique capitalist forms of knowledge. Those who divulge reality should be those examined [the real Left] instead of those who propagate imperialism. Hopefully this will lead persons like Jose Saramago to understand that which they do not know." (commenting on Nobel Prize wining Saramago's US-lackeyism for blaming the FARC-EP guerrillas for violence in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region>.) link -- <A href="http://www.anncol.org/side/1071">http://www.anncol.org/side/1071</A> <o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p>  <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>           Smoke and Mirror Attacks Beyond the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> Narrow Left <o:p></o:p>  By Marcel Miranda (MER) <o:p></o:p>  On June 18th, 1954, United States-backed Colonel Carlos Castillos Armas attacked <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Guatemala</st1:place></st1:country-region> under the guise of liberating the country from communism. The military coup, fought by CIA-trained mercenaries, overthrew the democratically elected president, Jacobo Arbenz, forcing him into exile. The catalyst for the attack was the decision by Arbenz to expropriate all uncultivated land under the Agrarian Reform Act, passed in 1953 by the Guatemalan congress (McCann 45). This decision to nationalize the land, effectively distributing the fertile land to working-class Guatemalans, was vehemently opposed by the United Fruit Company... United Fruit acted as â€œa state within a state, owning Guatemalaâ€™s telephone and telegraph facilitiesâ€¦ monopolizing its banana export,â€ and one of its subsidiaries, International Railways of Central America, â€œowned 887 miles of railroad track in Guatemala, nearly every mile in the country... The majority of United Fruit stock was held by American holders. General Walter Bedell Smith, a friend of Dwight Eisenhowerâ€™s and a former Director of the CIA sat on the Board of Directors... The United Fruit coup did not liberate <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Guatemala</st1:place></st1:country-region> from communism, it only exploited the norms in place at the time, and secured its own self-interests as the creator of a banana republic. The billionaires of the world today and all of their United Fruits are turning the whole world into their own special banana republic inc. Wake up peasants... fate awaits your strengths.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  The Last Scramble for Legitimacy and Power<o:p></o:p> A number of power-political-ideological tendencies have come forward of late to state the harder truths about the political failures on the Left, the certainty of the global warming catastrophe and the dark designs of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> imperialism. Either they sense the end of the world, the end of options approaching or they recognize the equally grave condition of the right wing religious nuts in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> believing that the prophesized Armageddon is over due.                            â€œThe end of all things is near.<o:p></o:p> From the religious standpoint, the annihilation of our planet comes by fire.  2 Peter 3:10 says, "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up."   I take the religious manâ€™s side and believe that though the world will be consumed,  humans will have a choice whether to partake in that consumption. I believe everybody secretly wonders when that day will come, but I know that no one will expect it. And when these things begin to come to pass then look up and lift up your heads .... for your redemption draws near.â€  -- A poor white American waiting for a bus who commented on how he hated Bush but could not vote for the Baby-Killers, the Democrats..<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  During the Andean-US Free Trade Meetings, December 2004, a group of writers named United Students launched their attack on US-based activism. Before the Seattle WTO protests in 1999, we had tried to raise the issues of goals, planning and a method for prioritizing the revolutionary factors of  agency and threat. At the Cancun WTO we witnessed the difficulties in formulating joint global statements and the shock among many EU and third world participants at the near complete ignorance of many US and Australian activists.<o:p></o:p> We still hold out the hand of open debate and we sincerely seek an honest appraisal of the various movements. But as Ted Dornhaus found there are no avenues for discourse among environmentalist ( or anyone working on change in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>), "We emailed all these guys after the article came out and asked if they'd be willing to have a dialogue and the silence has been deafening. ...it's like, God, please disagree with us. We would be honored. There is no place for public debate in the environmental movement. Even librarians have much fiercer public debates and dialogues than the environmental community<o:p></o:p> <A href="http://grist.org/news/maindish/2005/01/13/werbach-reprint/">http://grist.org/news/maindish/2005/01/13/werbach-reprint/</A> <o:p></o:p>  If activist groups in the US-EU are honest then they will admit they have no meaningful goals and that their strategies of education or mobilization cannot overcome the strong right wing drift of US political culture. Clinging to outdated techniques of organizing or resisting against such a force is to make yourself and your power meaningless and impotent... Everyone should cease working politically at any level in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>: The Death of  Activism  (ecological, social (and cultural?)).  Instead, put all of your energy, skills and finances into groups in South America â€“ specifically groups in the Andes and in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region>. ... Yes, the only activity of any real value to changing the world â€“ to defeating capitalism and militarism â€“ is to form a fundraising group." <o:p></o:p>  James Petras extends the critique to many of the new quasi-left regimes in Latin America: "History will note 2004 as the Year of Infamy, not only for the crimes and plunder committed by the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> but for the active and consequential collaboration of a new group of client rulers in most of the biggest countries in <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>.  As a consequence of the failures of the Left these new clients of <st1:State w:st="on">Washington</st1:State> were able to gain power, embrace <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State>'s strategic agenda while at least temporarily dividing, disorienting and demoralizing a substantial sector of the burgeoning mass movements. The Left leaders have their place in this Year of Infamy, even as it is the urban and rural poor who have and are paying the price." [7] <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  Anti-imperialist advocates around the world level similar complaints against the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> and EU anti-globalization movements and the assorted followers of the Zapatistas who think that you can change the world without seizing the power. "I have to be very blunt hereâ€”they [imperialist US-EU] donâ€™t feel threatened because there is an idealistic slogan within the social movements, which goes like this: â€˜We can change the world without taking power.â€™ This slogan doesnâ€™t threaten anyone; itâ€™s a moral slogan. The Zapatistasâ€”who I admireâ€”you know, when they marched from <st1:State w:st="on">Chiapas</st1:State> to <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico City</st1:place></st1:City>, what did they think was going to happen? Nothing happened. It was a moral symbol, it was not even a moral victory because nothing happened.... the Venezuelan example is the most interesting one. It says: â€˜in order to change the world you have to take power, and you have to begin to implement changeâ€”in small doses if necessaryâ€”but you have to do it. Without it nothing will change.â€™ <o:p></o:p>  So, itâ€™s an interesting situation and I think at <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Porto Alegre</st1:place></st1:City> next year [2005] all these things will be debated and discussedâ€”I hope.... [The] Global Social Justice movements ...  have no alternative! They think that it is an advantage not to have an alternative. But, in my view thatâ€™s a sign of political bankruptcy. If you have no alternative, what do you say to the people you mobilize? The MST[1] in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Brazil</st1:place></st1:country-region> has an alternative, they say â€˜take the land and give it to the poor peasants, let them work it.â€™ But the Holloway [2] thesis of the Zapatistas, itâ€™sâ€”if you likeâ€”a virtual thesis, itâ€™s a thesis for cyber space: letâ€™s imagine. But we live in the real world, and in the real world this thesis isnâ€™t going to work. Therefore, the model for me of the MST in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Brazil</st1:country-region> is much much more interesting than the model of the Zapatistas in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chiapas</st1:place></st1:State>. Much more interesting.... So itâ€™s something that people in the Global Justice movement have to understand, this is serious politics. Itâ€™s pointless just chanting slogans, because for the ordinary people on whose behalf you claim to be fighting getting an education, free medicine, cheap food is much much more important than all the slogans put together."<o:p></o:p> Tariq Ali: <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region>: Changing the World by Taking Power<o:p></o:p> <A href="http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1223">http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1223</A> <o:p></o:p>  Why He Crushed the Oligarchs: The Importance of Hugo ChÃ¡vez, By TARIQ ALI<o:p></o:p> <A href="http://www.counterpunch.org/tariq08162004.html">http://www.counterpunch.org/tariq08162004.html</A>   <o:p></o:p>  <o:p> </o:p> Raise the Banner of Investigating for Truth<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  James Brittain (Ph.D. candidate in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>) deserves applause for his strong feelings expressed on the seeming delusion of Portuguese Communist Party member Sarmago who has attacked the Colombian guerrillas for not being real revolutionaries. Brittain recommends a number of writers for those  people who want to learn reality, among them Stan Goff who encourages people to reexamine the doctrine of â€œimperialist moralsâ€ which construct misunderstanding or comprehension of organized class-based revolution in an imperialist and exploitative circumstance.â€<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> JAMES PETRAS: US Presidential elections: a view from the left  <o:p></o:p> "The most significant aspect of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> Presidential elections is the dramatic shift of the entire political spectrum to the Right. Fundamental reactionary changes in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> constitution, social legislation, international politics and law, as well as historical experience have become the common language of both major candidates in this election, without any mass popular demonstrations or intellectual protest from the majority of the Left.  The collapse of the left in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> is not merely a question of a presidential campaign. Because if either Bush or Kerry win, they will pursue with renewed vigor the bloody colonial wars that they promised, and the Left would have lost its credibility and respect. Faced with a future of wars, repression and social regression the question becomes when, where and how long will it take for a new political generation to emerge which refuses to become complicit with imperial wars and speaks truth to power â€“ about Palestine, the Iraqi resistance, the impoverished Haitians and the need for a new political-social movement in the US.<o:p></o:p> The Patriot Act in its original and revised versions effectively eliminated the Bill of Rights, and the protection of citizens from arbitrary arrest by the State. Both major candidates and Parties endorse it. The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">National</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Security</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> is the centerpiece of both partiesâ€™ Presidential campaigns.  http://www.monthlyreview.org/0502petras.htm<o:p></o:p> <A href="http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/wsf/petras-wsf.htm">http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/wsf/petras-wsf.htm</A> February 17, 2002<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  ALEXANDER COCKBURN: "Year after year the womenâ€™s movement, labour unions, the mainstream environmentalists, civil-liberty watchdogs, liberal advocacy groups and public-interest networks stayed mute, as Clinton triangulated Republican positions and sold poor single mothers, working people, forests, mountains and constitutional protections down the river.<o:p></o:p> Ross Perot and his Reform Party actually cost George Bush Sr his re-election in 1992, yet Perot never drew a tenth of the abuse for his presumption that Nader does. [20] Of course the Democrats richly deserve the challenge. Through the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Clinton</st1:place></st1:City> years the party remained â€˜unitedâ€™ in fealty to corporate corruption and right-wing class viciousness; and so inevitably and appropriately, the Nader-centred independent challenge was born, modestly in 1996, strongly in 2000 and now again in 2004. The rationale for Naderâ€™s challenge was as sound as it was for Henry Wallace half a century earlier. The central political issue in America today is the decay of the political system itself, and of the two prime parties that share the spoils." -- Alexander Cockburn â€“ Anybody but Bush?  (<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Clinton</st1:place></st1:City> the Worst President)<o:p></o:p> http://www.newleftreview.net/NLR26301.shtml<o:p></o:p> http://www.counterpunch.com/cockburn10282004.html<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  If Alexander Cockburn Tariq Ali, Jeffery St. Claire, Hugo Chavez, the MST in Brazil and Bolivia, Felipe Quispe,  JamesPetras, Walden Bello, Vandana Shiva, Arhundati Roy, Ken Livingston, Ward Churchill, someone from the German (or EU) Greens, maybe the Uruguayan Leftists, the Chilean Communist Party, Ruben Zamora, the Cubans, radical ecologists and other activists and professors (Global Exchange?) would come forward with all of their power to support a clear plan for a new type of participatory socialist â€“ or solidaristic economy â€“ then many people, activists and movements would come together from around the world to promote this vision. The deadlock of US-world politics would be broken and with some luck and hard work the South would begin to construct the vibrant models that are possible there. (Who else could help??) <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  TARIQ ALI: "I think it will be useful if the Global Justice movementâ€”and there are many different strands in itâ€”came and saw whatâ€™s going on here. Whatâ€™s the problem? Go into the shantytowns, see what the lives of the people are, see what their lives were before this regime came into power. And donâ€™t go on the basis of stereotypes. You cannot change the world without taking power, that is the example of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region>. ChÃ¡vez is improving the lives of ordinary people, and thatâ€™s why itâ€™s difficult to topple himâ€”otherwise he would be toppled. So itâ€™s something that people in the Global Justice movement have to understand, this is serious politics. Itâ€™s pointless just chanting slogans, because for the ordinary people on whose behalf you claim to be fighting getting an education, free medicine, cheap food is much much more important than all the slogans put together.<o:p></o:p> <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> is an example which the Americans wish to wipe out. Because if this example exists, and gets stronger and stronger and stronger, then people in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Brazil</st1:country-region>, in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region>, in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Ecuador</st1:country-region>, in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Chile</st1:country-region>, in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bolivia</st1:place></st1:country-region> will say â€˜if Venezuelans can do it, we can do it.â€™ So <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region>, from that point of view, is a very important example.<o:p></o:p> <A href="http://www.counterpunch.org/tariq07242004.html">http://www.counterpunch.org/tariq07242004.html</A> <o:p></o:p>  <o:p> </o:p> MARCEL MIRANDA: "There is no way to fix the whole world, the choices are:  whom to help.  This is the big lie behind the Enviro and other Narrow Left groups in the US-Eu wastelands.  This silence, the lack of debate and the contrived difficulties of organizing are both masked and recreated through the false slogans that are key to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> ignorance and apathy. We need to attack all of these numbing myths and twists of logic â€“ Small is Beautiful, Local global, No Logo, Fair Trade, War without borders." â€“ Think and Act Local and Global â€“ figure out what makes sense and link all of the problems and slogans together. <o:p></o:p>  <o:p> </o:p> HUGO CHAVEZ: "Imperialism not invincible" <o:p></o:p>  Chavez added that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> imperialism is not invincible. "Look at <st1:country-region w:st="on">Vietnam</st1:country-region>, look at <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iraq</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on">Cuba</st1:country-region> resisting, and now look at <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region>." In reference to the recommendations of some of his close advisors, he said that "some people say that we cannot say nor do anything that can irritate those in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State>." He repeated the words of Argentine independence hero JosÃ© de San Martin "let's be free without caring about anyone else says."<o:p></o:p> "The south also exists... the future of the north depends on the south. If we don't make that better world possible, if we fail, and through the rifles of the U.S. Marines, and through Mr. Bush's murderous bombs, if the is no coincidence and organization necessary in the south to resist the offensive of neo-imperialism, and the Bush doctrine is imposed upon the world, the world will be destroyed,"<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Chavez warns of drastic weather changes that would bring catastrophic events if no action is taken soon, in reference to uncontrolled or little regulated industrial activity. Chavez added that perhaps before those drastic changes take place, there will be rebellions everywhere "because the peoples are not going to peacefully accept impositions such as neoliberalism or such as colonialism."<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> "Everyday I become more convinced, there is no doubt in my mind, and as many intellectuals have said, that it is necessary to transcend capitalism. But capitalism can't be transcended from with capitalism itself, but through socialism, true socialism, with equality and justice. But I'm also convinced that it is possible to do it under democracy, but not in the type of democracy being imposed from <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State>," he said. <o:p></o:p>  Chavez said that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> is trying to implement a social economy. "It is impossible, within the framework of the capitalist system to solve the grave problems of poverty of the majority of the world's population. We must transcend capitalism. But we cannot resort to state capitalism, which would be the same perversion of the <st1:place w:st="on">Soviet Union</st1:place>. We must reclaim socialism as a thesis, a project and a path, but a new type of socialism, a humanist one, which puts humans and not machines or the state ahead of everything. That's the debate we must promote around the world, and the WSF is a good place to do it." <o:p><A href="http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1486">http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1486</A></o:p> <o:p></o:p>  http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/cocha/indexfr.htm<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p>  End Notes: <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> 1. </o:p>  http://margotbworldnews.com/archive/2005January/Jan25/rescue.html<o:p></o:p> 10617<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p>2.</o:p> Below an analysis of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">PERU</st1:place></st1:country-region> â€“ FTA â€“ http://newswire.indymedia.org/en/newswire/2005/02/818538.shtml <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p>3.</o:p> Persons interested in reading constructive material surrounding the revolutionary processes being tangibly carried out in Colombia must make certain to acquire materials written by Nazih Richani (Kean University â€“ New York, U.S.), Jim Sacouman (Acadia University â€“ Nova Scotia, Canada), Henry Veltmeyer (Saint Maryâ€™s University â€“ Nova Scotia, Canada), Timothy Wickham-Crowley (Georgetown University, Washington D.C., U.S.), the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) (Canada), Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) (Canada), Garry M. Leech (Colombia Journal), Green Left Weekly, Counter Punch, Justice for Colombia, Colombia Peace Association<o:p></o:p> http://www.anncol.org/side/1071<o:p></o:p> <o:p> <A href="http://www.anncol.org/side/1057">http://www.anncol.org/side/1057</A></o:p> <o:p></o:p>  <o:p>4. Articles in Spanish about the Heroic Struggle of the FARC-EP:</o:p> <o:p></o:p>  <o:p><A href="http://www.anncol.org/side/1176">http://www.anncol.org/side/1176</A></o:p> <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p>  <o:p>5. </o:p> In 2004, from the oil industry budget we utilized $4 billion in social investments, education, health, micro-credits, scholarships, and housing, aimed at the poorest of the poor, what neoliberals call waste of money. But that is not a waste of money because it is aimed at empowering the poor so that they can defeat poverty. He added that "that money before stayed out of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> or just benefited the rich." He criticized privatizations by saying that "privatization is a neoliberal and imperialist plan. Health can't be privatized because it is a fundamental human right, nor can education, water, electricity and other public services. They can't be surrendered to private capital that denies the people from their rights."<o:p></o:p> <o:p><A href="http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1486">http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1486</A></o:p> <o:p></o:p>  <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> 6. </o:p> <o:p> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=740 align=center border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD width=6><IMG height=1 src="http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/images/p.gif" width=6></TD> <TD style="WORD-WRAP: break-word" vAlign=top width=468> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" bgColor=white border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="WORD-WRAP: break-word" vAlign=top width="100%"> <DIV class=Tsmall>Speech by President Hugo ChÃ¡vez, at the opening of XII G-15 Summit Monday, Mar 01, 2004</DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/docs.php?dno=1011<o:p></o:p></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> Travel and Volunteer Opportunities: <o:p></o:p> 1. Global Exchange Reality <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tours</st1:place></st1:City>: <o:p></o:p> Personal http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/1046278 Mon, 14 Feb 2005 14:13 EST HERE IS A DRAFT of the long - braod - deep -... http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/1039688   HERE IS A DRAFT of the long - braod - deep - and crazy debate that we want   to get going -  will post soon to a site with better dialog boxes - etc...                      Intro Readings and Musings:     1.) International Taskforce: Global Warming Close to Tipping Point <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> By J.R. Pegg http://www.ens-newswire.com/<o:p></o:p> <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">WASHINGTON</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">DC</st1:State></st1:place>, January 25, 2005 (ENS) â€“ Time is running out for the world to halt global warming, the International Climate Change Taskforce warned Monday. Dramatic efforts are needed in the next decade, the taskforce said, if the world is to avoid the rising sea levels, agricultural losses, increased water shortages and widespread adverse health impacts expected from global warming.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Latin American debt doubled since  1986 â€“ 200 million people in <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place> are poor ( very poor ) and over half of these are children<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 2.) David Brower Epicenter<o:p></o:p> The building could be turn out to be nice looking, relatively speaking,<o:p></o:p> from the drawings, but as Jim Doherty says (Culture Change's Bike<o:p></o:p> Blogger), "the building would crowd the sidewalks."  What's more, he<o:p></o:p> reminds us, the plan may violate the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Berkeley</st1:place></st1:City> creeks ordinance, and the<o:p></o:p> building would be right near a serious earthquake fault.  Hence, Jim calls<o:p></o:p> the proposed complex "the David Brower Epicenter."<o:p></o:p> >From the architect's website:"Named after the Sierra Clubâ€™s founder [sic] , David Brower, the project houses 90 apartments, arts space, a restaurant, underground parking [and above ground parking - ed.], and... (to read remainder of this essay and<o:p></o:p> see photos, go to <HTTP: e-letter-BrowerCenter2.html#cont www.culturechange.org>)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 3.) Adam Werbach's<o:p></o:p> http://www.3nov.com/images/awerbach_ied_final.pdf<o:p></o:p> Time to say what we now need to do. Some will say that the expansive role I propose is not the job of the environmental movement, that our job is to protect THINGS, like redwoods and parks. If you are one of those people, you have missed the point of my speech tonight. Our role is to bring our core belief â€“ interdependence â€“ to every man, woman, child, politician, institution, investor, corporation, funder, regulator and bureaucrat. I was taught by my grandfather, a deeply religious man, that to be Jewish was to be chosen. Not chosen as in more special, or more important than anyone else, but chosen for the responsibility of tikkun olam â€“ the repair of the world. Likewise, I say to you tonight, that the environmental movement is chosen as well. Our founding principle requires that we break out of our narrowness and inspire the world, the Democratic Party, and every citizen in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> with our call to recognize our collective interdependence.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p>Autopsies begin with these words: Hic locus est ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitae<o:p></o:p> Translated from Latin, this means: â€œThis is the place where death rejoices to teach those who live.â€ <o:p></o:p>  I tremble at them, because this is not an easy speech for me to give. I know in my mind that to forego the examination of death is to fail to honor the dead. But all I can think about right now is my love for what environmentalism was. Nobody enjoys an autopsy, and yet its value to life is indisputable. The word â€œautopsyâ€ means to "see for yourself.â€ An autopsy is the key tool that doctors use to determine whether their diagnosis was correct, and to see if the treatment was effective. In the past, autopsies were common â€“ in the 1950s, 50 percent of deaths had autopsies performed. Today, that number is barely 10 percent. (<A href="http://www.3nov.com/images/awerbach_ied_final.pdf">http://www.3nov.com/images/awerbach_ied_final.pdf</A>)â€<o:p></o:p>   We need to fight hard to stop the Right from turning back the clock, but resistance won't be enough. If we don't want four -- or eight or twelve -- more years of the same, it's time to be honest with ourselves and ask tough questions about how we helped create the mess we're in. And we need to follow up this soul-searching not with big, amorphous happy dreams but with the pragmatic idealism of Machievelli's skillful archer, who seeing that the object he would hit is distant, and knowing the range of his bow, takes aim much above the destined mark; not intending that his arrow should strike that high, but, in flying high, it may land at the point intended.<o:p></o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p>  Here are some first steps for us to take:<o:p></o:p> Choose your side: Are you a progressive or a conservative? If youâ€™re a conservative, and believe in dismantling our government, selling off our common assets, and endless war, but you still love nature, we wish you well, but we need you to leave this movement. We invite you to attack the conservatives, but donâ€™t try to make us ignore the plight of immigrants, stay out of gay rights or stay silent on the war. You are making us weak. If you think youâ€™re a conservative and you donâ€™t believe<o:p></o:p> in these destructive ideas â€“ you are not. Join us if youâ€™re willing to question everything.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Dismantle Environmental Programs in Foundations: Easy money reinforces bad behavior. If our end goal is to change the way Americans think, we need to fund strategic initiatives that move the publicâ€™s values. Itâ€™s time for the rest of the philanthropic world to start funding long-term strategic initiatives that are measured by their effectiveness at changing the publicâ€™s values, not by<o:p></o:p> protecting a particular thing.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Create a Culture of Learning: Our institutions need feedback mechanisms. They need to become what Peter Senge calls â€œlearning institutions.â€ In the words of columnist Richard Luov , environmentalism has become a tradition, not a movement. The ad hominem attacks that Iâ€™ve witnessed on my friends and colleagues Michael Shellenberger, Ted Nordhaus and Peter Teague for writing the paper Death of Environmentalism: Global Warming Politics in a Post-Environmental World, have made me embarrassed for the environmental movement. I welcome the thoughtful critiques of that paper and this speech. Movements want to move forward; traditions hold on to the past for a sense of security. We need to move forward.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Fire our Lobbyists and Policy-Makers: Our task is not to affect the current Congress â€“ they know what they think, and no amount of nifty policy language will convince them to reduce our carbon output by 70 percent. Leave a few troops to play defense. But, when your R&D department turns out 20 years of losing ideas, itâ€™s time to fire them. Watch The Apprentice if you need some help. Every board should also put their executive director up for review. My board has done it to me.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Make executive directors go to a red state and try to explain environmentalism to the average American. If they donâ€™t have a plan to activate the values we share in the majority of Americans, then they need to move on.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Take over the Democratic Party: We have been deluding ourselves into believing that â€œeveryoneâ€supports the environment. The Republican Party â€“ as an institution â€“ has declared war on us. The Democratic Party claims to be our ally, yet fails us. Itâ€™s time for us to drop our veil of bi-partisanship and fight to fix the deeply broken Democratic Party.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> GUEVARA Response: As if these limp ideas were not enough to condemn  Adam Werbach's (a friend of S and N) as hewn from the same fabric as Pope, Werbach's goes on to say â€“ <o:p></o:p>  â€œSierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope recently wrote that â€œenvironmentalism is part of a broader progressive movement.â€ If that were true, then we would:<o:p></o:p> 1. Hold ourselves, not immigrants, accountable for the problems we create;<o:p></o:p> 2. End the environmental movementâ€™s population program;<o:p></o:p> 3. Start a new campaign to enhance womenâ€™s right globally â€“ for that is the only<o:p></o:p> ethical, causal way we know to slow the growth of the human population.<o:p></o:p> I proposed this in 1997, in 1998, and then stepped down from the presidency, frustrated that the organization would continue to invite these attacks until they let die the overpopulation fantasies within the Club.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> These attacks continue to grow in strength and frequency because this cancerâ€¦â€<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 4.) http://zmagsite.zmag.org/JulAug2004/mclellan0804.html<o:p></o:p> St. Clairâ€™s examination of the sorry evolution of environmental organizations is trenchant. The Gang of Ten including, among others, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Friends of the Earth, and the League of Conservation Voters. These once esteemed defenders of our air, water, and ecological diversity have become largely compromised and ineffective. A recently perennial idea of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), for example, is a â€œmarket orientedâ€ approach to the environment that includes selling and trading â€œpollution credits.â€ Tacit resignation and surreptitious deal making are the hallmarks of the big greens, says St. Clair. For example they often collude in deals protecting these resources, looking the other way at the depredations of others; often subsequently turning the tables and advocating a trade of the mined, drilled, or clear-cut land for other valuable wilderness. Their modus operandi is such, for example, that they roar at the threatened drilling of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, because it is a fundraising cash cow, says St. Clair, but are silent about the equally threatened and ecologically sensitive nearby 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Alaska</st1:place></st1:State>.   <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The leaders of these groups are real charmers. The salary of G. Jon Roush is $125,000 annually. He is president of the Wilderness Society whose <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> headquarters cost $6 million a year to lease. Roush logged his 80-acre, $2.5 million ranch in <st1:State w:st="on">Montana</st1:State> â€œat precisely the moment,â€ says St. Clair, â€œwhen environmentalists across the country had their backs to the wall, against a ferocious assault in Congress on federal laws protecting <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>â€™s forests.â€ Fred Krupp at EDF commands $125,000 a year. Jay Hair who â€œkeeps his limo running at all times, the air-conditioner grinding ozone at full-tilt against the moment he emerges from his office on an eco-mission or deal-making sortie,â€ makes a quarter-million at the National Wildlife Federation; while Peter Berle at the Audubon Society pulls in $200,000 a year. St. Clair lauds Greenpeace, about which he contemptuously quotes Berle as saying: â€œAudubon doesnâ€™t have a reputation as a confrontational organization.â€   <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> http://www.worldwatch.org/live/discussion/63/<o:p></o:p> 5.) Michael Renner: Gasoline consumption by automobiles is one of the biggest contributors to what  --  The US has, since the 1930s, made a substantial, and rapidly growing commitment to establishing and maintaining political domination of the <st1:place w:st="on">Persian Gulf</st1:place>. That has translated into establishing bases, having the 5th Fleet headquartered in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bahrain</st1:place></st1:country-region>, transferring massive amounts of weaponry to our allies, and intervening directly at times. I suppose this policy could be carried out even in the absence of nuclear weapons. You are right to say that the peace movement has to take a serious look at the issue of oil addiction. There is considerable overlap in the concerns and interests of the peace and environmental movements. And part of the argument has to be that change is possible. [ Without defeining what is possible or which concerns of the Enviros and the "Peace" movement overlap, Renner commits the same (purposeful?) mind warping as the other activists in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>.]<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>   6.) UNDER REPORTED DISASTER STORIES â€“ DR No Borders - <o:p></o:p> <A href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4458401&sourceCode=RSS">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4458401&sourceCode=RSS</A><o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 7.) Notes from the article Part 2 â€“  NOTES ( FIn) <o:p></o:p>  1.)) <?xml:namespace prefix = st2 ns = "urn:schemas:contacts" /><st2:Sn w:st="on">NOTES</st2:Sn> <st2:Sn w:st="on">I.</st2:Sn>: Part 1 of the Series Lessons Learned: From The Failure of Politics and Vision in <st1:place w:st="on">North America</st1:place> <o:p></o:p> To the Steady Victories of the Social Movements in <st1:place w:st="on">South America</st1:place> â€“ George W Bushâ€™s Eternal Triumph <o:p></o:p>  or The Andes to the Rescue of the World - http://mer130.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=606875<o:p></o:p> http://newswire.indymedia.org/en/newswire/2005/01/818213.shtml<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  See St.Claireâ€™s book review at: http://zmagsite.zmag.org/JulAug2004/mclellan0804.html<o:p></o:p> http://zmagsite.zmag.org/JulAug2004/mclellan0804.html<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  DEATH OF ENVIRONMENTALISM  THE D E B A T E ::     Nation magazine (Jan. 3, 05, "Challenge to Enviros," by Mark Hertzand). I saw words that I had uttered and written many times for 20 years: "<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s environmental movement has failed and should die as soon as possible so something better can take its place... Technical fixes simply aren't sufficient to deal with climate change, species loss, deforestation or other major environmental threats... The entire global economy has to be transformed... which is a much bigger problem than environmentalism has faced in the past."  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  "You could write a similar report about all the single-issue constituenciesâ€”labor, women, civil rights," Shellenberger says. "They're all faltering now. They all need to think of themselves as part of a larger political movement, figure out what vision and values they share, and find ways to frame their messages and organize accordingly." The only way forward, the authors argue, is for environmentalists to abandon their small-bore, politically neutral approach and launch a more expansive strategy aimed at building a political majority in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> that will support not only environmental but other progressive values.   Guevara: This attack on the eviros by Nordahus is an attack from the right. Their points are eminently valid, but rather than move the envors into the center-right wing of the defunct Democratic party, the Real Left would build a great coalition around a plan for changing the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> and thus the world based on aid to revolutions in the Andes and elsewhere in Latin America and the <st1:place w:st="on">Caribbean</st1:place>. <o:p></o:p>  Given the sophistication of the Sierra Club and big ecos and their foundations it should surprise on one if it turns out that this debate is a con job â€“ like good cop â€“ bad cop â€“ with both groups worried that if they donâ€™t make some noise and act like they are on top of their game then the funders could move on â€“ or the guilable US members, donors and progressives might figure out how badly they have been tricked and robbed. They might even tie this eco- phoniness scam into the con job done by Democrats for several decades.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p>Interestingly many anti-imperialist advocates around the world level similar complaints against the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> and EU anti-globalization movements and the assorted followers of the Zapatistas who think that you can change the world without seizing the power. <o:p></o:p>  <o:p> Tariq Ali: </o:p> "I have to be very blunt hereâ€”they [imperialist US-EU] donâ€™t feel threatened because there is an idealistic slogan within the social movements, which goes like this: â€˜We can change the world without taking power.â€™ This slogan doesnâ€™t threaten anyone; itâ€™s a moral slogan. The Zapatistasâ€”who I admireâ€”you know, when they marched from <st1:State w:st="on">Chiapas</st1:State> to <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico City</st1:place></st1:City>, what did they think was going to happen? Nothing happened. It was a moral symbol, it was not even a moral victory because nothing happened.... the Venezuelan example is the most interesting one. It says: â€˜in order to change the world you have to take power, and you have to begin to implement changeâ€”in small doses if necessaryâ€”but you have to do it. Without it nothing will change.â€™ So, itâ€™s an interesting situation and I think at <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Porto Alegre</st1:place></st1:City> next year all these things will be debated and discussedâ€”I hope....  [The] Global Social Justice movements ...  have no alternative! They think that it is an advantage not to have an alternative. But, in my view thatâ€™s a sign of political bankruptcy. If you have no alternative, what do you say to the people you mobilize? The MST[1] in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Brazil</st1:place></st1:country-region> has an alternative, they say â€˜take the land and give it to the poor peasants, let them work it.â€™ But the Holloway [2] thesis of the Zapatistas, itâ€™sâ€”if you likeâ€”a virtual thesis, itâ€™s a thesis for cyber space: letâ€™s imagine. But we live in the real world, and in the real world this thesis isnâ€™t going to work. Therefore, the model for me of the MST in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Brazil</st1:country-region> is much much more interesting than the model of the Zapatistas in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chiapas</st1:place></st1:State>. Much more interesting.... So itâ€™s something that people in the Global Justice movement have to understand, this is serious politics. Itâ€™s pointless just chanting slogans, because for the ordinary people on whose behalf you claim to be fighting getting an education, free medicine, cheap food is much much more important than all the slogans put together. <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Guevara: We maintain that if any of these groups are honest, then they will quickly admit that they have no meaningful goals and that their strategies of education or mobilization cannot overcome the strong right wing drift of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> political culture.  To apply outdated techniques of organizing or resisting against such a force is to make yourself and your power meaningless and impotent. ... We posit that everyone should cease working politically at any level in the USA â€“ that they should refrain from all currently known forms of activism in the USA ( ecological, social or cultural) and instead put all of their energy, skills and finances into groups in South America â€“ specifically groups in the Andes and in Venezuela. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Yes, the only activity of any real value to changing the world â€“ to defeating capitalism and militarism â€“ is to form a fundraising group.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> USA people give almost 5 billion a year to environmental and social change groups, in the last year people gave the democratic party over 1 billion in dollars or assistance. â€“ Imagine if just 10 percent of this money went to actually building resistance in <st1:place w:st="on">South America</st1:place> â€“ 300 million dollars !!! <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> James Petras extends the critique to many og the new quasi-left regimes in Latin America: "History will note 2004 as the Year of Infamy, not only for the crimes and plunder committed by the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> but for the active and consequential collaboration of a new group of client rulers in most of the biggest countries in <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>.  As a consequence of the failures of the Left these new clients of <st1:State w:st="on">Washington</st1:State> were able to gain power, embrace <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State>'s strategic agenda while at least temporarily dividing, disorienting and demoralizing a substantial sector of the burgeoning mass movements. The Left leaders have their place in this Year of Infamy, even as it is the urban and rural poor who have and are paying the price. [7] <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Guevara: "Without examples â€“ we get the same old vagueness â€“ political majorities ?? â€“ anything worthwhile would take 20 years â€“ except of course perhaps <st1:place w:st="on">Andes</st1:place> aid... <o:p></o:p> Besides we already had a POLITICAL movement like Authors suggest â€“ Ralph Nader and the Green Party â€“ barley left and barely progressive â€“ but pretty feeble even if it got twice the level of votes as in 2000. (4 percent? â€“ would need to get around 20 percent to have a positive effect â€“ and that could take 8 years to achieve and then that is just the beginning of the struggle, as the right wing would â€“ and will anyway - win even more elections, nominate even more judges and institutionalize things that help their cause ( vouchers, homeland check points â€“ national ID , the Draft... etc â€“ many more â€“ WTO plus plus... ) ) )) <o:p></o:p>  Of course the response of the eco-grant fascists denialers is typical -  Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust and a critic of the essay.  â€œthe last way to influence people is to start by saying everything you're doing is wrong." <o:p></o:p> It is this type of thinking â€“ immature and evasive that is at the root of the fascism of the West. Any not mentally ill person would address the content -  the challenges and the issues  - not the style â€“ the demented ghost of Susan Sontag haunts our culture well â€“ she was another champion of style over content. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Of course the authors (S and N) of this fine salvo do not have much spine either â€“ they think that you can reform the obese fact-cat enviros â€“ any high school kid could see â€“ even before reading the article that these pretend environmental groups need to disappear as fast as possible- and with at least a few sincere apologies.   <o:p></o:p>  The authors say that environmentalism's allegiance to single-issue politics and technical-fix solutions is the problem, but we are sure that either when they wrote the article or surely by now after listening to the childish responses of Poe et al â€“ that they would agree â€“ if they could (fear of ostracism, monetary loses, etc)  -  that the real problem is some kind of mental deformity common in US people and nurtured for decades by the left, the greens and the single issue (simple-minded) US way of learning, living and thinking. " <o:p></o:p>  Guevara response: â€“ Ha! â€“ Of course the enviros and everyone else in the US shies away from tackling the TRANSFORMATION OF THE ENTIRE GLONAL ECONOMY â€“ because that means class war, prolonged struggle and â€¦ and well they do not want to talk about he real worldâ€¦   <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p> Anarchism and the decentralized future that the real left pursues are not different things - they may be different times...  right now anarchism is decentralization â€“ of decisions and government (power). That is all... or that is all that is different from it and the left, the piqueteros of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region>, the miners of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bolivia</st1:place></st1:country-region> or the Bolivarian Circles... They/We all want decentralization and pretty much the same things that the anarchists want â€“ but they (the real left)  know that it will take awhile to reach these lofty goals for the majority of people â€“ and so they are clever and fight for the space to create options such as anarchism â€“ rather than wait ( forever?) for everyone to suddenly figure it out... It is a process this revolution against the dead ends of free trade capitalism.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  Guevara: One can not have just a simple-minded plan of how the world works or how to resist â€“ not against the behemoth and uncouth <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> goons. You have to feel it out when to join with others  - when the threats are great â€“ or when to stand for principle when the moment is right. Right now the moment requires that everyone in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> and Europe work hard for the Andes and the revolutions throughout <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>. These are strategic battles â€“ pre-emptive resistance â€“ to the Bush and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> plans for domination and extortion. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  Everything has to come together â€“ the earth, the sky and the waters and fire. This will happen slower in some ways in <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place> â€“ though it has never separated in many ways â€“ they see the current struggle, as well as the struggles they have faced for 500 years, as deep, serious, desperate and fatefull. In the West â€“ the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> and EU â€“ the struggle actually does have to bring everything together now!  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> There are many instances of this â€“ the letters from Tarij Ali, James Petras, MOrEO MORE  - and Alexander Cockburn and Almond â€“ trying to show the movement masses that the leaders of US and many EU groups are diluting the seriousness of these times and not deciding how to form a coalition  - both internally in their own nations and globally everywhere. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>    Guevara: Our thesis is that only through extending our conceptions of politics â€“ which is another word for Power â€“ extending it beyond the imaginary borders of nations can we create a better world. <o:p></o:p> There is nothing political that any <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> people can do. To work with a political party or vote in anything that the Democrats believe in is not positive. Go back to square one and build a base through aiding Andean children â€“ or be creative and send us your ideas.   <o:p></o:p> Nowhere could this perspective be more true than in the realm of free trade talks. The only <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> politician in modern history to be consistently anti- NAFTA or trade was H. Ross Perot. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> [7] <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>: Political Re-alignment and Empire (An excerpt ) by James Petras<o:p></o:p> http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=7961<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Shellenberger: The movement has been unable to prevent George W. Bush's rollback of environmental protections; it is not making enough progress against the overarching threat of global climate change. Shellenberger adds, "we've lost all three branches of government to the hard right, which is hostile to the entire environmental project."  <o:p></o:p>  The only way forward, the authors argue, is for environmentalists to abandon their small-bore, politically neutral approach. What's needed is a more expansive strategy aimed at building a political majority in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> that will support not only environmental but other progressive values. "You could write a similar report about all the single-issue constituenciesâ€”labor, women, civil rights," Shellenberger says. "They're all faltering now. They all need to think of themselves as part of a larger political movement, figure out what vision and values they share, and find ways to frame their messages and organize accordingly."   The authors interviewed 25 advocates and funders with the intention "to start a discussion about the limits of the environmental movement as it's currently conceived." Bill McKibben, (The End of Nature, 1989) applauds the authors for "trying to figure out how environmentalists can do better" and says their essay will be a focus of discussion at a conference on climate-change solutions he's helping to organize in January at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Middlebury</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">College</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.    <o:p></o:p>  Little formal response emanates from the environmental movement's largest organizations and the foundations that support them. Peter Teague (Nathan Cummings Foundation) and Josh Reichert (head of the Pew Charitable Trust's environmental program, a major funder of climate-change activism) have declined to comment. Nor has the Green Group, a coalition of large environmental organizations working in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Washington</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">DC</st1:State></st1:place>, says Rebecca Wodder (president of American Rivers).   An exception to the silence is Carl Pope (Sierra Club's executive director), who issued a blistering critique in a 6,650-word counter-essay2 that he sent to funders. Deeply disappointed and angered, he called Shellenberger and Nordhaus's essay "unfair, unclear and divisive" and said it would make the essential task of rethinking the movement's strategy more difficult. Pope accepts that "fundamental changes are needed" in how the movement approaches climate change. He complains that the authors construct a straw man when they say environmentalists must broaden their political alliances on the basis of progressive valuesâ€”that's something the Sierra Club and others have long recognized, and practiced. <o:p></o:p>  "But this is a case for modernizing the left, not for killing environmentalism," Pope writes. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Replies Shellenberger. "He agrees with us that we're losing and we need to rethink things. But he ends his paper by suggesting the same kind of solutions environmentalists have proposed for forty years: pollution controls and a series of NIMBY ["not in my backyard"] campaigns to stop global warming." <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Other environmental leaders echoed Pope's claim that they already practice what Shellenberger and Nordhaus preach. "It was unfortunate Michael and Ted framed it the way they do [because] much of the movement already agrees that we have to speak in positive economic language and focus on values that connect us to the American people," says Bracken Hendricks (executive director of Apollo Alliance). <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Ironically, Shellenberger and Nordhaus invoke the Apollo <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Alliance</st1:place></st1:City> (a two-year effort to align environmentalists, unions, state and local governments and businesses behind a green jobs and growth strategy) as an example of the new thinking that's necessary. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Hal Harvey (heads the Hewlett Foundation's environmental program) says that if Shellenberger and Nordhaus's "strategies were five times stronger and their invective five times weaker, they would have much more effect." <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  "The implication is that had we tried nicely to have this debate, everything would have gone fine," responds Nordhaus. "Bullshit! This was the only way to get their attention. We're saying there's a dead body in the room, and it's starting to stink. They're saying it's not dead. Did we stir things up? Yes. And we're proud of it."   <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p><o:p>"The implication is that had we tried nicely to have this debate, everything would have gone fine," responds Nordhaus. "Bullshit! This was the only way to get their attention. We're saying there's a dead body in the room, and it's starting to stink. They're saying it's not dead. Did we stir things up? Yes. And we're proud of it."   <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p>   A SAMPLE of ENVIROS AND CRITICS   <A href="http://grist.org/news/maindish/2005/01/13/little-doe/">http://grist.org/news/maindish/2005/01/13/little-doe/</A><o:p></o:p>   Death Wish<o:p></o:p> An interview with authors of the controversial essay "The Death of Environmentalism"<o:p></o:p> By Amanda Griscom Little (Q) <o:p></o:p> Q: Your criticisms echo those we're hearing about the progressive movement at large -- criticism that liberals focus too much on precise policy prescriptions rather than communicating a broader values message.<o:p></o:p>  Shellenberger: A critique similar to the one we've made on environmentalism could be made of many other single-issue movements -- women's rights, abortion rights, anti-war, criminal justice, labor, and so on. Each of those so-called movements has turned itself into a special interest in defining the problem so narrowly and offering technical policy solutions instead of an inspiring vision.<o:p></o:p> Nordhaus: Consider this: Most of those local lawsuits are litigating the Endangered Species Act or the National Environmental Policy Act. Meanwhile, under the new Republican-dominated Congress, it's not inconceivable that we're going to lose the ESA and NEPA. So while we may win a few more local lawsuits, the entire regulatory framework could get repealed. <o:p></o:p> Shellenberger: Our argument is that you could win all your little lawsuits, we could pass all the legislation we have on the table locally and nationally, but we would be no closer to achieving our larger objectives. Think about how devastating of a critique that is: If we got everything we wanted right now, we would still Personal http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/1039688 Tue, 08 Feb 2005 20:38 EST This is: Short Version Part II of the Series... http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/1037702 <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>  <o:p> This is: Short Version Part II of the Series Lessons Learned</o:p>   See Part I of Series Lessons Learned at: <A href="http://mer130.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=606875">http://mer130.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=606875</A>   By Jason martin and Rachel Guevara <o:p> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Palatino; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN">CONTACT:<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN">   <A href="mailto:Jasonmartin7@lycos.com">Jasonmartin7@lycos.com</A> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN"> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN"> Tsunamis of Environmentalismâ€™s Death:   <o:p></o:p> The Theft and Tricks of the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> Narrow Leftists<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> (See long version at: http://mer130.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=620562) By Jason martin and Rachel Guevara - CONTACT: Jasonmartin7@lycos.com <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  The ecological time bombs of trade (invasive species) and global warming are ticking away. The environmental movement has failed and should die so something better can take its place. We need to address the â€œrealâ€ issues  which Ted Nordhaus  has brought to light: The world cannot change in time to stop global warming. (NOTE 1) <o:p> </o:p> The leaders of USA environmental groups (Enviros) and the US social change groups (Narrow Left) (NOTE 2) do not want to connect the issues of the poor, the environment, the global economy or the wars of US imperialism because that would require that they risk their careers and lives. Real change violates their  idea of change: slow, cautious and all inclusive. Giving the rich essentially vetoesâ€¦ and each day it looks more like the Enviros want the problems to get so big that they can trumpet: â€œWell we tried, but now it is too late.â€ Technical fixes aren't sufficient to deal with climate change, species loss, deforestation or other environmental threats. The global economy has to be transformed which is a bigger problem than environmentalism has faced in the pastâ€¦ Ditto, the single-issue constituencies: labor, women, civil rights. They're faltering and need to think of themselves as a political movement, figure out what values they share and ways to organize accordingly. <o:p></o:p> In "The Death of Environmentalism" Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, attack the strategies of the US Enviros and the Narrow Left. This sophisticated maneuver is a â€œdouble agent attack on single issue politics from the right wing of the Narrow Left.â€ Nordhaus (Apollo Alliance) pretends to be a broad coalition of groups and ideas but the focus is labor unions, jobs and national political power though elections. Nordhaus only mentions â€œAddressing a post-Global Warming worldâ€once, but his proposals fit snuggly into the GW Bush program of global domination and surviving a post-Global Warming world. (NOTE 5). <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> His eloquent critiques are on target but the motives and the eventual goals of this effort exists (safely) beyond the analysis of most people. These bait and switch tactics follow those of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party who have given up on reducing greenhouse gases and are now planning for a post-catastrophe world. Only the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> public remains ignorant of the future and the evil which their consumption has created and perpetuates. People in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> still believe the 20 years of propaganda by the Republican Party and their paid-for scientists who claim that global warming is a hoax. (NOTE 6) Illustrating their disconnection from the resistance rising up around the world, US activists and many in Europe do not appreciate the changes underway in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region> and the <st1:place w:st="on">Andes</st1:place>. Some are so naive or middle class-programmed that they attack minor or transitional aspects of the efforts of Chavez and the Bolivarian Circles. (NOTE 7) Enviros and the funders of social change groups want the support of political majorities in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>! They do not understand the world of politics/power in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> (& little beyond). Without a rapid decline in consumption in the rich countries all environmental issues are hopeless and the chances of meaningful social change are non-existent. Resource wars and wars of imperialism will be the only issues left. These are the challenges and time limits that we face (NOTE 8) <o:p></o:p> Or, perhaps these Enviros and their critics do understand all of this (the double agent thesis). I gave an early draft of this paper to Rachel Guevara who has often been my savior when I was stuck with a complex issue and the need to cut through the jargon and our jargonized minds She made me see how deep this big lie of the Enviros, the Narrow left and the pretend critics extends. (NOTE 9). "It would be foolish to underestimate the challenge of checking the consumption juggernaut," concludes Christopher Flavin. "But as the costs of unbridled appetites grow, the need for innovative responses becomes clearer. In the long run, meeting basic human needs, improving human health, and supporting a natural world that can sustain us will require that we control consumption, rather than allow consumption to control us." -- State of the World 2004. (NOTE 10)  <o:p></o:p> Key Points for Understanding the Death of Environmentalism and Single-Issue Politics USA Enviros have failed to build political, social or moral power around global warming. They have mis-educated the people about trade, invasive species, mega cities, industrial farming, economics and the trade-offs between growth and sustainability. These are all intimately linked. Disconnected education is everywhere in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> â€“ in the peace, justice, poverty and the border/immigration campaigns. These groups are failing and the failures are causing the problems to get worse. Average people and many activists have given up on trying to understand what must be done â€“ what is meaningful and worth risking their lives for. Nordhaus agrees with these points. <o:p></o:p> Inspired by my colleague Guevara, I felt the tsunami of clarity smash and re-forge a few of the barriers and structures in my brain. This crystallized enlightenment washed over my perspective and cleansed it as it sucked back out to sea, just like the tsunami carries much of its destruction out to sea as it retreats. Given the sophistication of the Sierra Club and the big Enviros (and their foundations) it should surprise no one that the debate over the Death of Environmentalism turns out to be a con job â€“ like a â€œGood cop / Bad copâ€ trick â€“ with both groups worried that if they donâ€™t make some noise and act like they are on top of their game then the funders could move on or the gullible members, donors and progressives might figure out how badly they have been tricked and robbed. Citizens might even tie this billion dollar scam into the con jobs done by Democrats for decades. The jobs of a few hundred highly educated and well-honed hucksters would be threatened. The response of the eco-grantor denialers: Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust  (a critic of the Nordhaus essay) â€œthe last way to influence people is to start by saying everything you're doing is wrong." This thinking â€“ immature and evasive - is at the root of the fascism of the West. A healthy person would address the content, the challenges and the issues, not the style of a critique. The ghost of Susan Sontag haunts the culture of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>. (NOTE 4.a and b.) To Carl Popeâ€™s fear that â€œ[Nordhaus and Schellenberger are] self serving because, given that the chosen audience of the paper was the funders, it will be hard for many readers to avoid the suspicion that the not so hidden message was "fund us instead," <o:p></o:p> We in the Real Left say: â€œNo! Fund us instead!â€ <o:p></o:p> (See: The <st1:place w:st="on">Andes</st1:place> to the Rescue of the World - http://mer130.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=606875) (NOTE 12) <o:p></o:p> "â€¦ groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the World Wildlife Federation -- have agreed to accept what they see as a politically feasible target for 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide ... [That] may be politically realistic, it would likely be environmentally catastrophicâ€¦. In our interview, Gelbspan told us that environmentalists' failure to achieve more is "because they operate in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> and they accept incremental progress. If they can get two more miles on a CAFE [car mileage] standard that would be a huge accomplishment for them. But compared to the need to cut emissions 70 or 80 percent it's nothing. They're scared they'll be marginalized by calling for big cuts. They are taking the expedient route even as we see the scientists sounding the alarms and saying it's too late to avoid the significant disruptions." ( NOTE 4.h) This is the millennial world of 2005 that we live in: Fake environmentalists pretend to struggle with Narrow Leftists over billions of dollars in donations and grants (acquired from Imperialism!) Fascist US presidents and â€œradicalsâ€ alike praise democracy (even US-styled democracy) and they all pretend happily â€“ or not so happily â€“ that they are doing their best â€“ that there is nothing else that can be tried. The real radicals and the Real Left (Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution) are attacked or ignored by their natural allies. Greens form coalitions in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region> with capitalist narrow lefties (SPD) and in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> with right wing Democrats. Greens almost everywhere sell out on what they stood for â€“ especially on awareness and education. Political parties almost everywhere except in the <st1:place w:st="on">Andes</st1:place> move to the right and no one hardly comments. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The planet is heating up rapidly as is the Global Economy and somehow these issues are kept separate. Technocrats trot around to Global Warming or <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kyoto</st1:place></st1:City> ceremonies knowing they are less than silly rituals, while youth and many radicals are mesmerized by the groovy concept of Changing the World without Seizing the Power, by drugs, self-nihilist music and hedonism. What a party! If Enviros cannot address the need to reduce consumption in the rich countries then they assist the destruction of the planet by misleading people into thinking that tinkering (recycling, bike-riding, ) or cleaning up air and water pollution in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> is helpful. The way that the <st1:country-region w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region> has so far cleaned up its air and water is by shifting its pollution to other regions (<st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Korea</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region> or the <st1:place w:st="on">North Sea</st1:place>). Critics of the Enviros, such as Nordhaus or Hertsgaard, want to continue these fraudulent educational programs with the objective to forge political campaigns (unite single issue groups) so that they can continue to consume and to pollute the world. Instead of Nimbyism (not-in-my-backyard) within the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> they will institutionalize national Nimbyism (not-in-my-country). US Anarchists, radical environmentalist (like Earth First!) and even Animal liberation arsonists lack class consciousness or an appreciation (sympathy, information) of global struggles. They are super Nimbys! and Narrow Lefties captive to their own single issue near-sighted visions. Most <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> activists still think of the old left or the New Left as focused on centralization and state control though this has not been true for decades. They think that anything structured or planned is authoritarian or worse. Whether you have a goal of a structured and planned world it would be foolish to think that one could contest â€“ let alone triumph over â€“ the economic system of capitalism and the USA Empire without structured analysis and a plan for the battle. (NOTE 13) These â€œ(en)counter-revolutionariesâ€ reject the efforts of the Weathermen, Sandinistas, the FMLN, the FARC-EP and the Cubans â€“ and yet they romanticize  Zapatistas (who also killed people)! This is the influence of the Carnival of Resistance â€“ Change the World Without Taking the Power types who reject alternative economics because that would be planning. They do almost nothing to resist their own countryâ€™s plunder and pillaging because they might have to work with communists and the like. The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> is a political void with two right wing political parties and near zero international or class consciousness. This near sightedness has spread to the World Social Forum where John Holloway practices his numbing and now academic power-avoidance.(NOTE 14). Nordhaus calls for environmentalists to abandon their small-bore, politically neutral approach and launch a more expansive strategy aimed at building a political majority in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> that will support not only environmental but other progressive values. Rather than move the Enviros to the center-right wing of the defunct Democratic party, the Real Left would build a great coalition around a plan for changing the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region>, and thus the world, based on massive aid to revolutions in the Andes and elsewhere in Latin America and the <st1:place w:st="on">Caribbean</st1:place>. The Enviros (and everyone?) shy away from tackling the TRANSFORMATION OF THE ENTIRE GLOBAL ECONOMY (as Nordhaus proposes so unrealistically â€“ like all of his proposals) because that would require class war, prolonged struggle â€¦ and well they do not want to talk about the real worldâ€¦ the world far beyond their coastlines that is increasingly threatened by US imports, armies and the economic model of unfettered WTO globalized capitalism. Excited by the attack on the Enviros and the Narrow Left presented by Hertsgaard in the Nation, I googled into Carl Popeâ€™s response knowing there would be plenty of meat to hack at and hoping that now the Enviros' twisted views would be opened for deeper attacks. Perhaps a real debate might ensue. Alas, it was not to be. Pope's response is elusive with no gem â€“ no smoking gun - to attack, just the exquisitely inane moderate <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> rap. Full of molasses and dead ends, There Is Something Different About Global Warming, is dense material apparently a collaborative scheme set down by lawyers, counter-deconstructionists and Clintonesque speechwriters... Pope says a lot and yet it is hard to separate the meat from his attacks on Nordhaus for the lack of citations or examples (about common knowledge subjects!). Pope's examples fail his own test and his response to valid criticisms is designed to be so boring and insider-based that no one will try to examine its meaning or portent. This is a classic political statement â€“ clever and designed to stymie thought. Welcome, Enviros, to the world of capitalist mass deceptions. <o:p></o:p> From an environmental perspective, the most striking thing about the Sierra Club/Pope (and the Apollo group's) response is their love of consumption growth (stability for the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> auto industry!). (See also: The Rambling ENVIRO Debate: Sierra club, Enviro Critics and the Real Left: <A href="http://www.mer130-.tripod.com">www.mer130-.tripod.com</A>******) <o:p></o:p>                                                     CONCLUSIONS: <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Useful Hierarchies and Strategic Thinking in Pursuit of Power One cannot have just a simple-minded plan of how the world works or how to resist â€“ not against the uncouth <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> corporate elite. You have to feel it out when to join with others, when the threats are too great or when to stand for principle when the moment is right. Right now the moment requires that everyone in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> and Europe work hard for the Andes and the revolutions throughout <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>. These are strategic battles â€“ pre-emptive resistance â€“ to the Bush and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> plans for domination and extortion. <o:p></o:p> Everything has to come together â€“ the earth, the sky and the waters and fire. This will happen slower in some ways in <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>, though in many ways the Spirit of Resistance there has never weakened or separated. The poor of Latin America (200 million), the descendents of slaves (100 million) and especially the indigenous people (40 to 80 million) see the current struggle, as well as the struggles they have faced for 500 years, as deep, serious, desperate and fateful. In the West (the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> and EU) the struggle actually does have to bring everything together now! If our efforts fail to stop the right wing Nordhaus-Apollo Alliance theft of billions of dollars in charitable donations, then GW Bush and his clan will accelerate his poisoning of the world and the poisoning of the minds of millions more people in the US. (NOTES 16)<o:p></o:p>     <st1:country-region w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region> activist like to tout: Peace, Justice and Environmental Sustainability So â€“ First comes the war against capitalism (which is mostly a mental war of rejecting the brainwashing they feed us) and then the establishment of sustainable-oriented governments in the Andes and then in all of <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>. Then there will come the wars against <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> aggression and Yankee invasions. Then we will be on the road to peace. Then we do years of education and experiments in new theories of economic development, then we will be on the road to justice. Then if there is an environment left we try to protect and restore it. Then we might be approaching the road to sustainable development. To help move this hierarchy of needs and evolution along people in the USA-EU can send dollars (or Euros) and many skilled specialists and trades people to the revolutions in the <st1:place w:st="on">Andes</st1:place>.  (NOTE 16)<o:p></o:p>   [ BELOW IS OPTIONAL or use complete passage NOTE 15 ** ed. ] <o:p> </o:p> â€Global warming will cause worldwide economic damage (two trillion dollars by 2015); tornados will come upon Germany soon; even if the US joined the Kyoto protocol, that would be only a symbolic step since the agreement only prescribes that the most important industrial states reduce their emissions of six greenhouse gases five percent by 2012 compared to 1990. According to the data of science, a 50 percent reduction by 2050 is necessary. An 80 percent reduction would be necessary if the right of third world societies to catch up in industrialization were considered. <o:p></o:p> The time of warnings has now expired unused. The catastrophe is at our door. The ecology problem cannot be separated from the economy problem. â€¦ An ecological awakening from the middle of society is crucial. This happened in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region>, but the Green impulse failed.. The German chancellor rejoices that German corporations are developing <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> into an auto-society. How can the Greens contradict themselves in this way? The Greens wanted to change the consumer mentality of the masses. They discussed the questions about living- and working conditions less dependent on cars and whether less meat consumption leading to less methane output with less livestock breeding wouldnâ€™t be welcome on account of the better health of consumers. All this seems forgottenâ€¦."  --  Michael Jager, (Ecological Prospects: Only a Radical Movement Can Help) : (NOTE 15) <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>                                                       KEY POINTS <o:p></o:p> 1. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> Enviros have killed the environmental movement and the Narrow Left strategies of single issue campaigning have failed. <o:p></o:p> 2. There is no way to avoid the catastrophe of global warming because the capitalist model of consumption growth and rampant pollution to reduce costs combines with US greed to guarantee massive increases in greenhouse gases. <o:p></o:p> 3. To survive in this post-global warming future of brutal US imperialist wars, the few remaining moral people in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> and Europe should fund revolutions in the Andes to create an alternative model and a counter to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> hegemony. <o:p></o:p> 4. There are billions of dollars in potential funding up for grabs in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> and <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>. The deceptions and failures of the Narrow left and the Enviros has created a vacuum where people are looking for something positive to invest in. <o:p></o:p> 5. There is a process or hierarchy of resistance and movement building that can guide our efforts to stop imperialism and protect the environment. The basis of this hierarchy is that we must be honest and probing about our goals (near term and long run); about the strategies that could achieve them; and deeply open to debate and to clearer thinking than in the past. The Real Left needs to make sense â€“ AND be understandable, with real solutions to all of the linked problems. â€œThe number of Americans who agree with the statement, "To preserve people's jobs in this country, we must accept higher levels of pollution in the future," increased from 17 percent in 1996 to 26 percent in 2000. The number of Americans who agreed that, "Most of the people actively involved in environmental groups are extremists, not reasonable people," leapt from 32 percent in 1996 to 41 percent in 2000. The truth is that for the vast majority of Americans, the environment never makes it into their top ten list of things to worry about. Protecting the environment is indeed supported by a large majority -- it's just not supported very strongly. Once you understand this, it's much easier to understand why it's been so easy for anti-environmental interests to gut 30 years of environmental protections.â€ (NOTES 4.e) The Five Part Series: Lessons Learned: From The Failure of Politics and Vision in North America To the Steady Victories of the Social Movements in <st1:place w:st="on">South America</st1:place>, <o:p></o:p> by Mundo de Escuelas Revolucionarias (MER) <o:p></o:p> <st1:place w:st="on"><?xml:namespace prefix = st2 ns = "urn:schemas:contacts" /><st2:Sn w:st="on">Part</st2:Sn> <st2:Sn w:st="on">I.</st2:Sn></st1:place> :<o:p></o:p> George W Bushâ€™s Eternal Triumph or The <st1:place w:st="on">Andes</st1:place> to the Rescue of the World, By Jason Martin; http://mer130.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=606875 (EXCERPTS) -- "It is misguided to protest Bush without an alternative. Feeling good just to be doing â€œsomethingâ€ is selfish and no substitute for real thinking." â€“ Jane Dole, a 30 year anti-capitalist veteran who now shuns anti-globalization and anti-war groups for being part of the problem. Social movements need to embrace a practical and focused goal of accumulating power in order to takeover governments. Conventional politics and left-thinking in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> are dead. Instead of growing frustrated with the defeats that are inevitable in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> (failure to change anything) and the reality that protests and lobbying can actually backfire and encourage the right wing or the ignorant voters to fight change more, activists can feel good and earn strategic victories. These People to People â€“ or <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pueblo</st1:place></st1:City> a People campaigns can be proud, positive and real. Move beyond political stalemate and make a real difference â€“ Forget politics as you knew it â€“ Do the politics of building resistance. Forget politics, lobbying â€“ forget all environmental, social justice and organizing in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> â€“ it will never work â€“ never change anything soon â€“ and it causes more problems than it solves. The Andes have a lot to teach us and a world to win - a dollar a year from every person in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> could make the difference. Take the power where you can find it! Conclusion â€“ To build a counter-power to the imperialist USA, activist groups need to reach beyond national boundaries to build strong alliances in Latin America with indigenous people (40 to 80 million people), workers in the Andes (30 to 40 million people), African descendants (100,000,000 to 120,000,000 people), and to finance aid programs with Venezuelan and Andean revolutionary groups. Solidarity with these groups and the 200 million Latin American people trapped in neoliberal (USA-imposed) poverty can yield huge dividends abroad and within the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <o:p></o:p> Key Points <o:p></o:p> 1. Social movements need to embrace a practical and focused goal of accumulating power in order to takeover governments. 2. Conventional politics and left-thinking in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> are dead. 3. The only practical or effective means of altering the balance of power in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> or the world are armed struggle; relocating activists and supporters of change to states in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region> where they can seize power; or my thesis of massive financial aid to the revolutions in the <st1:place w:st="on">Andes</st1:place>. Protests, lobbying and voting are stupid. They actually aid the power elite who want the appearance of democracy and opposition â€“ as long as it can accomplish nothing. 4. The cultish leaders of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> environmental and justice groups are the main barriers to change. Most analysts accept this and the real debate is whether to try new strategies or fall back on style and simply modify the current moderate strategy of weakly merging the various lefty issues together in a grand coalition with the moderate democrats â€“ a strategy where victory becomes as meaningless as defeat! (See Part II. Of From the Failure of Politics and Vision in North America to the Steady Victories of Social Movements in South America: Tsunamis Inside the Criticisms of the Left: <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> versus the Shams of the World or Notes 2 & 3) 5. The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> is an empire of corporate, trade and, military alliances. 6. Only through extending our conceptions of politics â€“ which is another word for Power â€“ extending it beyond the imaginary borders of nations can we create a better world. (Note 6) <o:p></o:p> PART III.)) The Real Left is Defined by Decentralization: A Political Economy of Hope and Participation (Available February 16, 2005) <o:p></o:p> PART IV.)) Why the <st1:place w:st="on">Andes</st1:place> is the Best Target: Pre-emptive Revolutions: Fighting For Poverty Against Neo-Slavery (Available March1, 2005) <o:p></o:p> NOTES Part II: Tsunamis and Tricks Inside the Criticisms of the Left: <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> versus the Shams of the World <o:p></o:p> 1.)) NOTES <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place>:a.)  Part 1 of the Series Lessons Learned: From The Failure of Politics and Vision in North America To the Steady Victories of the Social Movements in South America â€“ George W Bushâ€™s Eternal Triumph or The Andes to the Rescue of the World - http://mer130.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=606875 http://newswire.indymedia.org/en/newswire/2005/01/818213.shtml http://margotbworldnews.com/archive/2005January/Jan25/rescue.html <o:p></o:p> b. Links to Death of Environmenatalism: <o:p></o:p> http://grist.org/news/maindish/2005/01/13/pope-reprint/ http://mer130.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=620562<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 2. )) NOTES II. : a.) In this paper we refer to the largest groups of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> environmental movement (the big 20 Eco Groups) and their leaders as Enviros. The groups and some of their leaders are: League of Conservation Voters; National Wildlife Federation; Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); Friends of the Earth, Audubon Society; Wilderness Society; Greenpeace; Nature Conservancy; Sierra Clubâ€¦WWFâ€¦ b.) For a view of some Enviro leaders see St.Claireâ€™s book review at: http://zmagsite.zmag.org/JulAug2004/mclellan0804.html â€œG. Jon Roushâ€™s salary is $125,000 annually. He is president of the Wilderness Society whose <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> headquarters cost $6 million a year to lease. Roush logged his 80-acre, $2.5 million ranch in <st1:State w:st="on">Montana</st1:State> â€œat precisely the moment,â€ says St. Clair, â€œwhen environmentalists across the country had their backs to the wall, against a ferocious assault in Congress on federal laws protecting <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>â€™s forests.â€ Fred Krupp at EDF commands $125,000 a year. Jay Hair who â€œkeeps his limo running at all times, the air-conditioner grinding ozone at full-tilt against the moment he emerges from his office on an eco-mission or deal-making sortie,â€ makes a quarter-million at the National Wildlife Federation; while Peter Berle at the Audubon Society pulls in $200,000â€¦â€ c.) We use the term Real Left to denote leaders and groups that make sense in the world of 2005. The standout examples of this type of thinking are the people of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region>, Quispe in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Bolivia</st1:country-region> and James Petras of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>. d.) We refer to the leaders and groups working on single or narrow issue social change issues as the Narrow Left. Most of the old left falls into this category too, because of its lack of environmental understanding and its failure to factor in social issues and perspectives. Much of what is referred to as the New Left should also be categorized as the Narrow Left because of their general fuzziness and lack of a well worked-out plan. The only exception we have come up with were the Sandinistas of Nicaragua ( 1978-1990 ) who seemed to have had a very workable and comprehensive plan but were thwarted by massive <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> terrorism. The Cuban communists have much to be praised for in their efforts, but 40 years of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> hostility and mis-placed Soviet (USSR) advice has impacted their overall achievements. e.) Examples of this fuzzy or narrow left in the US are: Global Exchange, CPUSA, the US Green Party, Ralph Nader, WILPF, Move On, Answer, Narco News, Fair Trade Network, Indymedia, Global Action, many more (all?) and many aspects of the WSF. f.) What is the Organizersâ€™ Collaborative? Information Clearinghouse (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=US+social+change+groups) Though there are 30,000+ social change groups in the US, these groups often do not feel sufficiently connected to the movement they are a part of. ... www.organizenow.net/pdf/brochurec.pdf For a huge list of social change activities in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> see: http://democracygroups.org/ <o:p></o:p> 3.)) NOTES III.: January 19, 2005; http://www.circleoflife.org/blog/julia/ <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 4.)) NOTES IV. .) a.) Mark Hertsgaard see: http://www.markhertsgaard.com/Articles/2004/EnviroChallenge/ b.) "The Death of Environmentalism,â€ presented to a grant makers meeting, October 2004, by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Schellenberger (S and N) : http://www.thebreakthrough.org/images/Death_of_Environmentalism.pdf This report would not have been possible had many of the countryâ€™s leading environmental and progressive leaders not been courageous enough to open up their thinking for public scrutiny: Dan Becker, Phil Clapp, Tim Carmichael, Ralph Cavanaugh, Susan Clark, Bernadette Del Chiaro, Shelly Fiddler, Ross Gelbspan, Hal Harvey, David Hawkins, Bracken Hendricks, Roland Hwang, Eric Heitz, Wendy James, Van Jones, Fred Keeley, Lance Lindblom, Elisa Lynch, Jason Mark, Bob Nordhaus, Carl Pope, Josh Reichert, Jeremy Rifkin, Adam Werbach, Greg Wetstone, V. John White, and Carl Zichella. We are especially grateful to George Lakoff for teaching us how to identify category mistakes and to Peter Teague for continually challenging us to question our most basic assumptions, b.) â€œThe institutions that define what environmentalism means boast large professional staffs and receive tens of millions of dollars every year from foundations and individuals. Given these rewards, it's no surprise that most environmental leaders neither craft nor support proposals that could be tagged "non-environmental." Doing otherwise would do more than threaten their status; it would undermine their brand. Environmentalists are particularly upbeat about the direction of public opinion thanks in large part to the polling they conduct that shows wide support for their proposals. Yet <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> is a vastly more right-wing country than it was three decades ago. The domination of American politics by the far-right is a central obstacle to achieving action on global warming. Yet almost none of the environmentalists we interviewed thought to mention it.â€ c.) S and N: â€œPart of what's behind America's political turn to the right is the skill with which conservative think tanks, intellectuals and political leaders have crafted proposals that build their power through setting the terms of the debate. Their work has paid off. According to a survey of 1,500 Americans by the market research firm Environics, the number of Americans who agree with the statement, "To preserve people's jobs in this country, we must accept higher levels of pollution in the future," increased from 17 percent in 1996 to 26 percent in 2000. The number of Americans who agreed that, "Most of the people actively involved in environmental groups are extremists, not reasonable people," leapt from 32 percent in 1996 to 41 percent in 2000. The truth is that for the vast majority of Americans, the environment never makes it into their top ten list of things to worry about. Protecting the environment is indeed supported by a large majority -- it's just not supported very strongly. Once you understand this, it's much easier to understand why it's been so easy for anti-environmental interests to gut 30 years of environmental protections.â€ d.) S and N: â€œTalking about the millions of jobs that will be created by accelerating our transition to a clean energy economy offers more than a good defense against industry attacks: it's a frame that moves the environmental movement away from apocalyptic global warming scenarios that tend to create feelings of helplessness and isolation among would-be supporters.â€ e.) S and N: â€œConsider what would happen if we identified the obstacles [to stopping Global Warming] as: The radical right's control of all three branches of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> government. Trade policies that undermine environmental protections. Our failure to articulate an inspiring and positive vision. Overpopulation. The influence of money in American politics. Our inability to craft legislative proposals that shape the debate around core American values. Poverty [ Nowhere a mention of reduced consumption in the OECD or the problems of increased consumption in the rest of the world].â€ g.) S and N: â€œAnd if the political prospects for action on GLOBAL WARMING appear daunting in the U.S., don't look to China for uplift: the 1.2 billion person country, growing at 20 percent a year, intends to quadruple the size of its economy in 30 years and bring 300 gigawatts -- nearly half of what we use each year in the US -- of dirty coal energy on-line. The challenge for American environmentalists is not just to get the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> to dramatically overhaul its energy strategy but also to help developing countries like <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Russia</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">South Africa</st1:place></st1:country-region> do so as well. That means environmental groups will need to advocate policies like technology transfer, ethical trade agreements, and win-win joint ventures. The carbon threat from China and other developing countries drives home the point that a whole series of major policies not traditionally defined as "environmental," from industrial policy to trade policy, will be needed to deal with GLOBAL WARMING.â€ h.) S and N: "The major national environmental groups focusing on climate -- groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the World Wildlife Federation -- have agreed to accept what they see as a politically feasible target for 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide ... [That] may be politically realistic, it would likely be environmentally catastrophic." i.) The debate is serious when even the British Economist carries it: Hotting up - Feb 4th 2005 http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3630425 <o:p></o:p> 5.)) NOTES V.: a.) How Apollo snuggles up to GW Bush world domination: http://www.apolloalliance.org/strategy_center/a_bold_energy_and_jobs_policy/ten_point_plan.cfm The Ten-Point Plan for Good Jobs and Energy Independence 1. Promote Advanced Technology & Hybrid Cars:[ Technology always benefits the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> military. Hybrid cars are a good ploy for soothing the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> publicâ€¦] 2. Invest In More Efficient Factories: [Helps keep US competitive, the population assuaged and prepares the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> for embargoes and terrorist retaliation against US firms overseas.] 3. Encourage High Performance Building: [To save energy since most of the world will embargo <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> oil sales soon. Also will be combined with high security options on new building to prepare for domestic terrorism/Homeland Security] 4. Increase Use of Energy Efficient Appliances: [See responses 1,2,3 â€“ and it frees up more oil for cars!] 5. Modernize Electrical Infrastructure: [Great idea to protect vulnerability of US to domestic terror attacks and a big subsidy to nuclear weapons manufacturers like GE] 6. Expand Renewable Energy Development: [Great domestic PR and would have been a great idea â€“ if implemented â€“ 10 or 20 years ago before Bush (s) went to war in Middle East â€“ now it can only serve as a reminder of our follies and as a defense against energy embargoes/disruption. Renewables outside of hydropower are a tiny fraction of power â€“ many so-called renewables â€“ forests, agricultural biomass fuels and even wind are not really renewable as they require soil mining or a huge industrial infrastructure!] 7. Improve Transportation Options: [Jobs for votes and loyalty- National morale and defense] 8. Reinvest In Smart Urban Growth: [see response 3] 9. Plan For A Hydrogen Future: [Corporate subsides and to help the big oil companies that will go broke when their assets are nationalized or destroyed] 10. Preserve Regulatory Protections: [Thrown in to hold on to the quasi-Green vote, only to be implemented as a moderating growth strategy] BONUS: # 11. Build 50 Nuclear Power Plants [Not one of their proposals (yet?) â€“ but one they will have to swallow if they do not reduce consumption and energy use 50- 80 percent in the OECD â€“ or the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> for sure! b.) http://www.apolloalliance.org/strategy_center/podestadoc.cfm â€œAfter all, there are more than 220 million cars, trucks and SUVs in this country logging more than 15 trillion miles annually. The auto industry in this country is responsible for 6.6 million jobs nationwide. What happens to those jobs -- and what happens to the workers and the families who depend on those jobs -- if <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> reduces its reliance on oil? For a long time the environmental movement didn't have very good answers to those questions. Too often, some talked as if automobiles were the problem in and of themselves when, in fact, the problem has never really been cars, but the fuel they use and how they use it.â€ [WRONG, WRONG! â€“ I have shown this statement to several moderate environmentalists and they all laughed without me telling them what point I was interested in. Most people have already debated this when the fuel cell â€“ hydrogen issue came up a few years ago. The underlying problems are not population growth, what kind or how much fuels (or carbon) are burnt â€“ but instead the whole lifestyle of consumption, wealth chasing and the car culture that makes Wall Marts, commuting, sprawl, travel and trade possible and necessary. c.) NOTES â€“ The Apollo Alliances supporters show how deep this right wing conspiracy reaches and probably what gullible fools many groups are: (Bold De-notes conspirators, Italics denote those whom we hope are just naive) (http://www.apolloalliance.org/about_the_alliance/) (It would be nice to know why groups like World Watch and the Nature Conservancy did not sign on to Apolloâ€™s industrial proposals) Founding Board Members: Senator Maria Cantwell, MS Congress (D-WA); President Leo W. Gerard, The United Steel Workers of America; Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., US Congress (D-IL); Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club; Board of Advisors: Phil Angelides, California State Treasurer; President Andrew Beebe, Energy Innovations, An Idea Lab Company; Chairman Julian Bond, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); President Thomas Buffenbarger, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers d.) For a view of a complex and slightly hard to label character see: http://www.nathannewman.org/log/archives/001957.html Apollo was no unique victim of the Kerry campaign. I donâ€™t blame Kerry for the campaign he ran. Iâ€™ve come to realize that the election was lost years ago.... The obstacles we face are the same obstacles any â€œprogressiveâ€[bold and quotes by ed.] faces when trying to explain the need to think differently about problems and solutions to liberals who insist on putting all problems and solutions in traditional, single-issue categories.... <o:p></o:p> 6.)) NOTES VI.: a.) Michael Crichton and the end of radical environmentalism; http: //www.seacoastonline.com/news/dover/01282005/editoria/61389.htm b.) http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_17589.shtml State of <st1:State w:st="on">Fear</st1:State>, by Michael Crichton, the best-selling author of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Jurassic</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Park</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> and creator of the TV show â€œER,â€ compares scientists who warn of global warming to advocates of eugenics who said that the mixing of races would ruin the world's genetic stock.<o:p></o:p> c. For a more balanced skeptical analysis, see: Hotting up - Feb 4th 2005 http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3630425 7.)) NOTES VII.: Anarchists and US activists first attacke Personal http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/1037702 Sun, 06 Feb 2005 15:43 EST M. E.. R... -- Mundo de Escuelas... http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/998170 <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>   M. E.. R... -- Mundo de Escuelas Revolucionarias: <o:p></o:p>  Economics â€“ Resources â€“ Social Solidarity<o:p></o:p> Agrarian Reform | Participatory Decentralized Economics | Solidaristic Policies <o:p></o:p> Education & Radical Restructuring for a Solidarity Society <o:p></o:p>  ...  Un MUNDO Lleno de Escuelas Revolucionarias: Contact: mescuelas_revolt@yahoo.com<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Solidarity Economics is the macro study;  MER is the Micro-study-of-the-Macro (or some might say Policy Analysis) and Business Economics will become the study of Cooperative,; Community Banking/Investments and Planning Operations. The study of the Micro-micro is for: small businesses, entrepreneurs and innovation. A fourth COLLEGE would be EDUCATION For Solidarity Economics (Macro) and  MER (Micro) â€“ how to teach the administrative and practical skills for the New Economy. From this short list it is apparent that most of education would need to be re-organized. â€“ Jason Martin<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> AN APPEAL: <o:p></o:p>  We are seeking assistance in designing middle school and high school curricula that are relevant to the new world we are building. Our primary focus is economic and politics â€“ actually the heart of our project is to show how these two interact and compliment â€“ political economy. One leads the other in a virtuous or a bad circle. We feel that in order to teach students for a cooperative and solidaristic future â€“ that we need to have a well-defined economic program that reflects and teaches these values. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Thus, we have embarked on a project to piece together such an economic program drawing on the work of Hugo Chavez  (<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region> analysis.com), the Solidarity Economics blog of MER (http://www.angelfire.com/amiga2/andes)  and the efforts and writing of the MST in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Brazil</st1:place></st1:country-region> .<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> No one reads economics or about economic development, but maybe they should.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The MER approach rejects the capitalist notion that you simply socialize and train people to fill jobs determined by the market forces of big business and their government cronies. Without the market to tell us what to learn and what attitudes to develop, we have to have a plan for the kind of world we are fighting for and what kinds of skills will be needed in that world that we must win. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The experiments in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region> and in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Cuba</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nicaragua</st1:place></st1:country-region> are valuable investments that help us in designing better systems of participation for a people-centered development program. The economic program outlined in Caras Vuelvan for Solidarity Economics presents a philosophy of change, a description of a solidaristic society and macro-economic policies for a new economics. MER is expanding the scope and detail of its analysis of Venezuela, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Bolivia</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Peru</st1:place></st1:country-region>. We seek collaborators and have considerable projects for interns or interested people to engage in.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Isabel Rauber â€“   We are prisoners of concepts that hide the real world we are witnessing. In the poor countries when we talk of globalization we talk about robbing our countries and about the incapacitation of our opportunities; the break down of our productive systems â€“ and when we talk about production we talk about life; economic structures. The destruction of the productive system leads to the destruction of countries and the existing systems. Globalization, the WTO, the IMF etc. are behind this. We canâ€™t discuss this issue without mentioning them. The national-global dichotomy is false. The complicity of our national governments are implied.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> I. Introduction to Vuelvan Caras: The Economics of MER<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> To have Real Change one needs real development â€“ for real development to happen we need real change in existing instituions, laws and attitudes (values). You can call yourself a communist, anarchist or new age follower, these are all fine goals and may even come true someday â€“ after great struggles are won... What poor countries need right now are practical, functional economic plans for survival. Plans are needed that inspire and guide and prepare people for seizing power and designing structures to decentralize political and economic power for the long run. <o:p></o:p>  When people ask us what we think about John Kerry, Nationalized Medicine or US Foreign Aid (Tusnami disaster) we are bewildered and saddened. How can people grow up, be educated and watch so much information go by them without understanding how the thinking process works â€“ clueless that there are even clues. <o:p></o:p>  How strange of a world where 20 years ago there were basically two clear ideologies â€“ Western Capitalism versus Soviet Communism, and most of the world adhered to the dogma and doctrines of these two views. Answers were much easier to give in such a world. Now we are at the opposite extreme with no clear ideologies â€“ or people think they are somewhere in between the two. A kind of rainbow, new age, denial addiction has afflicted most people â€“ including those who once based their lives (or views) on the old ideologies. <o:p></o:p>  How people with little political or economic experience or knowledge can pretend to think or make decisions in such a world is amazing â€“ or bizarre. And yet, anyone can reasonably build their own ideology with only a few hours of thinking and later add some research to confirm and fleshout their views. We have tried to teach this process to people, but they are usually too fearful of what they will learn (that they are either fascists or socialists) to complete the process. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> THE PROCESS OF AWARENESS:  What kind of world do you want? <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> II. Mundo de Escuelas Revolucionarias: MER <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Solidarity Economics is the macro economics and the vision of our goals and hopes and direction. MER is the micro, the details and the types of direct policies that support a solidaristic society. In the MER program there is a market economy but the government at all levels â€“ directed by the peopleâ€™s budget prioritizations â€“ intervenes in the market to create sufficient basic goods and to satisfy basic needs within a sustainability guidelines.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> To have Real Change one needs real development â€“ for real development to happen we need real change in existing instituions, laws and attitudes (values). <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> There is no viable middle way in economics â€“ in the world we are in â€“ one either goes hog wild for free trade and working with the corporations or else you go strong toward an import substitution (ISE) and the solidarity economics program developed by MER.. Orient to the market and open up to foreign investment and control (secondary product/culture control, foreign policy manipulation, and brainwashing toward the US system.) â€¦ or else you follow an increasingly radical path of withdraw from international institutions (World Bank, US AID, UN) and dependence on your own nations skills, people and capital generation ( and a few friends â€“ maybe). <o:p></o:p>  Through capital controls, higher taxation and strategic spending, nations can avoid some of the effects of globalization (<st1:country-region w:st="on">Malaysia</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:place></st1:country-region>). But in the long-run,  especially with excessive corruption and  government waste (military, poorly bid contracts, foreign lobbying ... )  (mega projects, grand schemes...) and the redundant bureaucracies that seem so necessary to modern democracy and so reflective of its uncertainty and fears... â€“  this path still leads to stagnation, pollution and more corruption â€“ or at least limited development that could be called humane or consciousness raising... <o:p></o:p>  Foreign capital, corporate investments and privatizations of public utilities, properties and services are the mainstays of neoliberalism, but many natural resources will soon begin to decline if exploited rapidly and without planning that benefits the whole society into the future...  <o:p></o:p>  In the radical path of Solidarity and Agrarian Economics â€“ income, wealth, power, and prestige are all redefined and severely redistributed along lines of equity and poverty reduction. In a series of iterative (back and forth) planning and public budgeting sessions, regional and local agencies ( or elected bodies) direct local and national budgets to investments in social improvements: water, schools, food distribution and food for work programs. Skills training and health care â€“ especially for women and children â€“ would also be major priorities of  funding and local health officials would have some control over at least an emergency portion of the budget... <o:p></o:p>  Resources are carefully nurtured and developed with friendly aid or barter based trade used to build bridges and relationships with neighboring countries that are struggling along with you in developing new arrangements of mutual benefit and responsibility. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Yes to markets! No to CAPITALISMO! -- Many people have written about alternative forms of economics: from socio-economic democracy to green economics and agrarian based development. While we talked and dreamed the elite in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> built an empire of imperialism and war. Now the system is crumbling, the ecology is ruined and our choices are few and urgent. Trade and the global economy will soon not exist as we have known them because once the engine of growth slows down enough it all stops making sense â€“ it grinds to a halt under its own contradictions and profit loses. <o:p></o:p>  The idea say for <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Brazil</st1:place></st1:country-region> to become a social democracy with some state control, some worker control and some free market sounds good and it would have worked if done sooner and with some national and international support. The social democracy model may still be possible but it will not be easy to sustain. And yet it is urgently required that the revolutionary forces put forth practical alternatives for the people to believe in and to counter the elite call for a new fascism of order and control. <o:p></o:p>  For MER, the meaning or value of a new socialism â€“ or a new economics - means that through collective power and decisions things happen that would not otherwise happen as well. For example schools; if the people collectively decide that schools are a priority and their childrensâ€™ education is important then they can come together or pay money to build a school and to hire teachers. If this were not done collectively then schools might still happen, but they might cost a lot of money or use curriculums that do not educate for the kind of world that we want and need. <o:p></o:p>  Or take public water supply as an example; if the community comes together to build or pool money to build a good well and a distribution system then plentiful water of good quality can be available to all at low or zero price. If the community does not act collectively then there may be water for some and not for others, or the price may be too high for some and so they suffer to find cheaper water or they are forced to drink bad water and perhaps spread disease or else they are not very productive because of the costs, time or sickness caused by a lack of cheap water. Many more products and services experience similar needs for a local socialism of control and fair appropriation. <o:p></o:p>  Often socialism is associated with the government (the State) controlling everything or the commanding heights of the economy, industry and resources. The state does away with markets and proceeds to plan the economy as if it knew what was best for everyone. Better models of this sort have been tried and even some aspects of Soviet central planning were effective in providing health care, education and housing, but these are not the sort of models that we mean when we say a local power of â€œSocialismo of Communities.â€ <o:p></o:p>  In the Solidarity Program the state at the national level would not do very much except oversee research, planning and allocations to poverty stricken regions. The State would be a referee to assure that no region was violating the constitution or the norms which the whole nation had agreed to. They also collect some taxes at the main borders to help pay for their research and administrative efforts. <o:p></o:p>  In the MER - Solidaritstic Model,  power â€“ the ability to make and enforce decisions - would reside primarily in local assemblies of a few hundred delegates representing a few thousand people. For example in a town of a sector of a city with 4000 to 8000 people a hundred or two hundred delegates selected by their neighborhoods would take the issues and votes of their people to these larger assemblies where priorities would be established according the peoplesâ€™ wishes. (See <st1:country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region>â€™s implementation of Local Public Planning Councils (CLPPs):  http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1314 ; and articles on Popular Assemblies in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Bolivia</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Argentina</st1:place></st1:country-region>).  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The world is in the grip of several terrible evils. One is capitalism by which we mean the USA-backed corporate system of dominance that steals your traditions, common sense and your souls and replaces them with a very shallow materialism of you â€“ your family and your neighborhood first â€“ with little regard to the environment, the long term effects or the suffering such a system wrecks onto others. <o:p></o:p>  Another terrible evil is what goes under the rubric of reform, the alternative or progressiveness â€“ it steals your hope, your aspirations and your potential and replaces them with phony thinking, phony programs of ill defined terms and strategies that do not make sense. These are strategies that are designed to fail, to avoid pain, risk and any real challenge to the system of power dominating the planet. <o:p></o:p>  Another of the evils is what is called Leftism or state planning. These people come from an honorable tradition but they have not been able to adjust to the situation lived in everyday capitalist culture. They have not been able to inspire the masses or break out beyond the failed examples of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USSR</st1:place></st1:country-region> or Chinese socialism. The rich continue to kill or harass communist agitators and those who organize among the poor.<o:p></o:p>   These dilemmas drastically limit the space available to each of us for real dialog or creative thinking. We do not claim to know the only path to real change and the reduction of bad thinking, bad living and bad planning. We can claim to have the only insights on a way that could work â€“ or the only one that we know of... <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>         First let us examine the two models that have some legitimacy: <o:p></o:p> 1. The Alternative (Carnival of Resistance) or the anti-globalization model; <o:p></o:p> 2. The socially conscious model of Hugo Chavez and the real radicals in <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 1. The ANTI_ GLOBALIZATION POLITICAL ECONOMY <o:p></o:p>  Little challenge to the structures of power, the land ownership or the distribution of wealth...  reliance on volunteerism, mutual aid and slow change. But the social implications are profound. If the social movements can continue to grow (10 to 40 years) without major attacks by the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> or elite then powerful change is in sight... well on the horizon. Of course, so are global warming and world war.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 2. BOLIVARIAN REVOLUTION AND THE TRANSITION TO SOLIDARITY ECONOMICS <o:p></o:p>  The Venezuelan economic program has channeled wonderful increases in spending for education, the poor, health and nutrition programs among a few of its accomplishments. However, the government has not significantly entered the market to employ people and to protect the economy for the poor. Instead Chavez relies on the market, on the business community and the underground economy to employ people and provide most of the goods. Chavez uses global conflict/revolution as the necessary vision rather than relying on the power of the local and a New Economics of the local. Several of his programs will help build momentum toward a solidaristic society and greater changes.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> III. M. E.. R... -- Mundo de Escuelas Revolucionarias: <o:p></o:p>  Economics â€“ Resources â€“ Social Solidarity<o:p></o:p> Agrarian Reform | Participatory Decentralized Economics | Solidaristic Policies <o:p></o:p> Education & Radical Restructuring for a Solidarity Society<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Re â€“ Forming the MODEL of SUSTAINABLE LIVING  â€“  M E R ... <o:p></o:p>  There is a market, but the government at all levels subsidizes outputs of basic goods and things that are at a comparative advantage  - and thus good for trade (produced below the price of world market trends with eco and infrastructure costs accounted). Products important to neighboring countries would also be subsidized depending on the new policies in that country. So, lots of corn, soy, timber, herbs, dairy, local building materials (rocks, adobe, lumber or tile (roofs)  are produced in abundance. The government (local or regional) buys or produces some of this surplus, but doesn't have much else in agricultural subsidies or bureaucracy â€“ except for credit and extension. The government may choose to process ( add value) to this publicly owned surplus, give it to the poor, export it or the processed goods (local, neighbors, region, continental international hierarchy) for foreign currency earnings or use it as foreign aid or gifts/trades with neighboring countries.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Un Mundo de Escuelas Revolucionarias: Es un Mundo de Escuelas de la Economia Nueva Novela<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The MER Economic Model that we propose draws on aspects of the flawed models of Chavez and the Anti-Globalization authors, but that is mostly coincidence. In other words, many good ideas are sought to be captured by any models that attempts to make sense, but capturing a  good idea and integrating it into something that structures in common and social sense is a different matter. In fact, we are not aware of any enduring examples in human history.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  Radical Restructuring â€“ The Economics of MER <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Poor Countries and Revolutionary Movements cannot expect any help from anyone. They cannot wait for Chavez in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> or a worldwide movement of aid to attend to their needs. They must prepare for the worst: <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> invasions or sabotage and a collapse of economic relations with most of the world. The MER solidaristic economic program addresses this real world context and what countries must do. It is also meant as a guide for revolutionary groups to present workable and visionary manifestos of the path to a sustainable and equitable design for living. Our dreams are utopian, but we aim for real and enduring results. To re-build the foundation of a people start with education â€“ once you know what you want to teach... <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> I. A CONSTITUIONAL CONVENTION is held before or after the re-conquest of a government. The only invited full-participation attendees would be students, workers, soldiers, representatives of Indians/indigenous groups, soldiers' groups, young people, slum dwellers, poor workers, small farmers and landless farmers. <o:p></o:p>  1. Prioritize: The needs of the whole population for a new revolutionary/solidarity education; water for drinking and for crops; pure food; land; agricultural support; and participation.<o:p></o:p> Secondary priorities: Community and national defense through Fifth Generation Warfare Techniques; housing with long term use/needs taken into account (mostly rural and border areas); cooperative production units; Watershed restoration; and public spending for the sustainable development of natural and other resources.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  II. A NEW POLITICAL ECONOMY â€“ Structures and Guides <o:p></o:p>  Capitalism pretends that all needs are provided for by maximizing corporate profits. But despite huge expensive bureaucracies the rich countries still have serious social problems concerning health, education and crime. The MER Solidaristic Policies model maximizes food security; health and well-being; participation; a practical education; the values and benefits of cooperation; and a goal of many equalities. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> We are sure that such policies can produce enough (social) profits to satisfy basic needs for development: the people empowered. <o:p></o:p> 1. Extreme taxation of all foreign and elite owned businesses, bank accounts and resources to accomplish state takeover at the lowest cost and minimal disruptions.<o:p></o:p> 2. Extreme tariffs on the imports from all non-aligned nations.<o:p></o:p> 3. Extensive programs for the relocation of urban people to rural areas for production and for defense. <o:p></o:p> 4. Education for solidarity and revolutionary economics, society and consciousness.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Program of Revolutionary Takeover of a Country like <st1:country-region w:st="on">Bolivia</st1:country-region> or <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Peru</st1:place></st1:country-region> <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p>  I. Short Transition Period (First 3 Weeks) : Immediate Priorities<o:p></o:p> The development path for <st1:country-region w:st="on">Bolivia</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on">Ecuador</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Peru</st1:place></st1:country-region> is quite similar. The poor and their allies must seize most of the land and all valuable industries, assets and bank accounts.  The first thing that a new government does is to seize the banks, institute currency controls, and seal its borders to prevent capital or equipment flight. We assume that the armed forces and the police remain loyal to the people and all suspect individuals and units would be demobilized or jailed.<o:p></o:p>   Security and law and order are the next responsibilities. Soldiers and police not required for protection of vital installations should be assigned to neighborhood or regional assemblies to be deployed as requested by these local authorities (worker-soldier alliance). Lists of critical jobs should be drawn up by the assemblies and the positions necessary are filled. Garbage collection, water supply, electricity (rationed), and emergency medical needs are at the top with sewage disposal and heating or cooling next. The central government's primary role other than security is to seize all food supplies and critical parts (equipment) and to distribute it fairly according to need and circumstances (weather, poverty and breakdowns). The government should also distribute transport vehicles and fuel supplies as best it can.<o:p></o:p>   II. Phase II of Transition Period (First 3 months) : Beginning Long-Run Priorities<o:p></o:p> The two primary requirements during the first 3 months is to further develop and secure the neighborhood and regional assembly operations, effectiveness and organization; second to prioritize all productive factors (money, skills, workers and material) for long run production of basic goods and the factors required to produce them. Food, electricity, transport and water<o:p></o:p>   III. ECONOMIC POLICIES:  Slow Version â€“ <o:p></o:p>  This is macro - kind of - then the data and conclusions examine price and supply curves under these macro conditions - increased investment and increased consumption level - how to keep prices low - <o:p></o:p> 1. Credit controls<o:p></o:p> 2. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Public</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Land</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> give to organizations and sustainable farming coops.<o:p></o:p> 3. Modest Credit programs<o:p></o:p> 4. Increase taxes - corporations and the rich and idle lands - <o:p></o:p> 5. Partial decentralization<o:p></o:p> 6. Increase minimum wages<o:p></o:p> 7. Regional Employment<o:p></o:p> 8. Import Substitution <o:p></o:p> 9. Modest re-nationalization <o:p></o:p> Phase II - of Go Slow -<o:p></o:p> 1. All of above - but more â€“ and faster...<o:p></o:p> 2. More linkages that support import substitution - <o:p></o:p> 3. Military construction projects<o:p></o:p> 4. Links across borders - rural development<o:p></o:p> 5. Government purchases of lands and confiscations - <o:p></o:p> 6. Increase taxes on medium size farms and some small ( or income tax) <o:p></o:p> 7. Limits on land ownership<o:p></o:p> 8. Re-location projects to rural areas<o:p></o:p> 9. Urban Land titles and confiscations - purchases etc. <o:p></o:p> 10. Education for Solidarity<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Fast Econ Program - Do all of above quickly. Get rid of US $ and end trade with those aligned with the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>.  Fire most of the upper level military â€“ immediately! Put half of the military to work like in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> â€“ Plan Bolivar.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Many people have known about policies that would improve conditions for rural people. An example is found in the demands made by highland Indians in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ecuador</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Conaie and Ecuarunari led the Indian uprising of 1990, helped by Confeniae. From the platform that the occupation of the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Santo Domingo</st1:place></st1:City> church provided, the leadership disseminated a succinct program: <o:p></o:p>  1. Return of lands and territories taken from indigenous communities, without costly legal fees<o:p></o:p> 2. Sufficient water for both human consumption and irrigation in the indigenous communities, and an environmental plan to prevent contamination of water supplies<o:p></o:p> 3. No payment of the municipal taxes levied on the small properties owned by indigenous farmers<o:p></o:p> 4. Creation of long-term financing for bilingual education programs in the communities<o:p></o:p> 5. Creation of provincial and regional credit agencies under the control of Conaie<o:p></o:p> 6. Debt pardon for all debts indigenous communities have incurred with government ministries and banks<o:p></o:p> 7. Reform of the first article of the Ecuadorian Constitution such that it recognizes <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ecuador</st1:place></st1:country-region> as a multinational state<o:p></o:p> 8. Immediate delivery of funds and credits currently assigned to the indigenous nationalities<o:p></o:p> 9. A minimum two-year price freeze on all raw materials and manufactured goods used by the communities in agricultural production, and a reasonable price increase for all agricultural products sold by the communities, relying upon free-market mechanisms<o:p></o:p> 10. Initiation and termination of all necessary and priority construction of basic infrastructure in the indigenous communities<o:p></o:p> 11. Unrestricted import and export privileges for indigenous artisans and merchants of artisan-craft<o:p></o:p> 12. National legislation and enforcement in favor of strict protection and controlled exploration of archaeological sites under the supervision of Conaie<o:p></o:p> 13. Expulsion of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL, a missionary group), in accordance with Executive Decree 1159 of 1981<o:p></o:p> 14. Respect for the rights of children and the raising of consciousness in the government regarding the actual state of affairs extant among children<o:p></o:p> 15. National support for the practice of indigenous medicine<o:p></o:p> 16. Immediate dismantling of organizations created by the political parties that parallel governmental institutions at the municipal and provincial levels, and which manipulate political consciousness and elections in the indigenous communities (Hoy 6/29/90) [ Bold denotes policies related to the rural economy ]<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  The Mararikulam Experiment is an alternative to corporate dominated globalization.   It is an example of the kinds of policies that : <o:p></o:p>  1. show that poor people in the 3rd world can generate significant economic growth without international corporate investment;<o:p></o:p> 2. create an economy with substantial resistance barriers to corporate domination: the soap production and many other products will generate jobs that are insulated from multinational corporate practices of moving into a region and then leaving to escape upward wage pressures;<o:p></o:p> 3. make more efficient use of local raw materials than would a vertically integrated international corporate production process;<o:p></o:p> 4. reinforce local democracy, participation, and empowerment of ordinary people. The goals of the Mararikulam Experiment include developing an economy that is egalitarian and a political structure that allows for the greatest possible democratic participation of workers and consumers in designing their own products.<o:p></o:p> 5. provide an example to others of the power of cooperatives as engines of economic growth and development that simultaneously promote social justice and support communities. <o:p></o:p>  --  The Mararikulam Experiment:  Women-Owned Cooperatives in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Kerala</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>: A Peopleâ€™s Alternative to Corporate Dominated Globalization;  by Richard W. Franke, 2002. Local Democracy and Development: The Kerala Peopleâ€™s Campaign for Decentralized Planning. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Boulder</st1:City> <st1:State w:st="on">CO</st1:State></st1:place>: Westview Press.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> For the Preservation of Domestic Security and Self Defense:<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 1. Restrict travel by the wealthy (Venezuelans and others)  and require background checks of US, Colombian and Haitian citizens entering <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> (or other aligned places).<o:p></o:p> 2.Maintain strict currency controls and broaden investigations of tax paying by US and opposition connected businesses and organizations. <o:p></o:p> 3. Expose the connections between the Cisneros clan, the AUC/Colombian elite, the Miami-Cuban CIA mafia and Spanish rightwing drug dealers (and US and Mexican Banks!)<o:p></o:p> 4. Phase out US Embassies, all <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> government operations, most US NGOs and all <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> corporations and other related associati Personal http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/998170 Tue, 18 Jan 2005 20:04 EST December 28, 2004 Supplement to Venezuela... http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/934604   December 28, 2004 Supplement to Venezuela Information: <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  <o:p>See earlier article for # 1-5.</o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 6. -- The Bolivarian Circles were launched in December 2001. <o:p></o:p>   At the time of the coup there were only some 8000 Bolivarian Circles, each having around ten members and organised mostly along a territorial basis â€“ in streets and local communities - but also along sectoral lines. During the December 2002 battle for the PDSVA, Bolivarian Circles provided volunteer labour, groups to defend oil installations, and contacts to former oil workers and technicians. The Bolivarian Circles now organise around 2 million people, some 10% of the adult population. They function as autonomous organs of peopleâ€™s power capable of organising community campaigns, mobilising against capitalist sabotage and provocations and increasingly providing a forum for the development of the class consciousness and combativeness of the working masses. In April 2003 for example, the regional coordinators of the Bolivarian Circles in the 23 de Enero area of Caracas began to develop a Bolivarian School of Peopleâ€™s Power, with the aim of developing the political education of the movement. The ruling class rightly compare the Circles to the Cuban Committees in Defence of the Revolution in the scope of their role and the threat they pose to the institutions of bourgeois state power.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The self-organisation of Venezuelaâ€™s working classes is getting further impetus from the Chavez governmentâ€™s land reform. Eight Venezuelan families own land equivalent to 18 times the size of greater Caracas. The Ley de Tierras has set a maximum legal size for farms ranging from 100 to 5,000 hectares, depending on productivity. It also imposes a special tax on any holding that is left more than 80% idle. At the same time, any Venezuelan citizen who is either the head of a family or is between 18 and 25 years old may apply for a parcel of land and after three years of cultivation acquire a title that can be passed on but not sold. This is changing the balance of power in the countryside, undermining the political strength of the old latifundia. Violence is escalating from their part and in response rural workers and peasants are organising, including arming themselves.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> In the urban centres, where almost 90% of the population live, the government is pursuing initiatives to transfer the legal ownership of the barrios to the 10 million people (40% of the population) who inhabit them. Rather than leave this process to administrators, the governmentâ€™s law required families in the barrios to establish land committees, which sent representatives to the National Assembly to discuss and amend the Special Law to Regularise Land Tenancy in Poor Urban Settlements. Land committees are made up of seven to eleven individuals elected by a gathering of at least half of a maximum of 200 families for each committee. These committees are not only responsible for regularising the process of urban land title distribution but are also playing an increasing role as a framework for self-government and for the general transformation and empowernment of the barrios. Many of the committees have formed sub-committees to deal with all sorts of tasks â€“ such as assisting in municipal public works, organising cultural activities and organisation of security.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> As a result of the increasing level of organisation and class consciousness among the working class as a whole, the historic grip of social-democracy and clientalism over the trade union movement is now in terminable crisis. On March 29, 2003 a new national trade union federation was formed â€“ the Union Nacional de Trabajadores (UNT). The UNT was initiated with 56 national and regional federations and 14 national trade unions. It involves most of the key unions in the country, including petrol workers. The UNT is still in formation but already represents many more workers than the CTV supposedly does. The leadership of the UNT has formed in the heat of class struggle, during and after the events of December 2002. Its orientation is clearly independent and based on a class struggle perspective. It leaves the CTV totally exposed as a bossesâ€™ union and without any significant mobilising power.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> There is a growing political consciousness in the trade union movement. On April 13 for example, after months of struggle and having exhausted legal channels, the Fenix textile factory workers in San Juan de los Morros occupied the factory and started producing under workersâ€™ control. These sort of actions are being given massive stimulus by the discussion about workers control within the PDSVA. Workers are also aware that the government is behind them - on a number of occasions Chavez has come out in favour of workers occupying factories closed by the bosses.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  7. --  Interview with Hugo Chavez: <o:p></o:p>  â€œBolÃvarâ€™s image is worn on the chests of young peopleâ€<o:p></o:p> Stephen Oâ€™Brien interviewed him at the SÃ£o Paulo Forum in El Salvador in July 1996 for the CISLAC magazine Venceremos. The following is an abridged version of the interview. â€“ The <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> We pose the questions of independence and sovereignty by calling for a new continent-wide independence movement. The current political model is mortally wounded and no viable alternative can exist without breaking the bourgeois, neoliberal system that has operated in Venezuela since 1945. In our model of democracy, the people, civil society, are protagonists who participate in making political, even military, decisions. There are no half-measures on questions of sovereignty. There has to be direct democracy, peopleâ€™s government with popular assemblies and congresses where the people retain the right to remove, nominate, sanction, and recall their elected delegates and representatives.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> As well as political democracy there has to be economic democracy. If an elite owns and controls big business such as oil and the mines there can be no real democracy nor social equality. Control over the productive apparatus of society has to be distributed. This can take forms such as community ownership, self-managed enterprises and cooperatives. We call for a peopleâ€™s revolutionary constituent assembly to help reconstruct from below the republic, the state and the nation of Venezuela.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> As well as alliances with left and revolutionary forces, our strategy supports the idea of a peopleâ€™s civic-military movement which involves the democratisation of military power. We canâ€™t continue to tolerate the elite using the army against the people. We want to unite the people and army (like in Cuba where they have the concept of the people in arms) to create a civic-military alliance. This concept of people-army unity has to be part of a new continental alliance of defense and security and independence.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> We want to create strong poles of development by joining the Caribbean basin though railways and linking them with the great rivers such as the Orinoco, the Amazon and the Plata. These are the arteries of our continent. We have resources of energy, gold, silver, petroleum and steel. If we use national capital and process them here in Latin America we can sow the seeds of a new continent and a new development. Europe is moving towards unity. We need to at least develop regional blocks, such as between Brazil and Venezuela.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> There has been a resurgence of collective sentiments in Venezuela. The people are awakening and are in movement around a common project. Despite repression, people such as pensioners, school children and even the army have been prepared to go out of their houses into the street and not return until they have won what they are protesting for. SÃm6n RodrÃguez said that material force is in the masses. Moral force is with us. Fidel has said to us, "There you call the struggle Bolivarianism, here we call it socialismâ€. He also said something, which I never thought that I would hear from his lips, "If you called your movement Christianity I would even be in agreementâ€. We have taken up BolÃvarâ€™s anti-imperialist struggle. In the barracks if a reactionary officer hears a soldier mention BolÃvar the word is put about: "Watch that soldier who has been talking about BolÃvar!" Just the name BolÃvar scares them.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Our movement is gaining strength and very soon the world will know about the Venezuelan people. In Washington nobody mentions George Washington, in France no one talks of Napoleon, but in Venezuela the image of BolÃvar is painted on the walls and his image is worn on the T-shirts on the chests of young people.  [Translation by Stephen Oâ€™Brien.]<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Chavez summed up this new institutional reality in a phrase with strategic content: <o:p></o:p> â€œWe want to see in our ships, in our pipes, in our medicines, and in other goods the words, â€˜Made in Argentinaâ€™ or Made in Brazilâ€™ instead of â€˜Made in the U.S.A.â€™â€ <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> In 2003, the Venezuelan president said he dreamt of â€œbathing on a Bolivian beach in the Pacific,â€ in a clear gesture of support for the Bolivian claim against Chile, for access to the sea. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The agreed upon formula was that of the Economic Complementation Agreement (ACE, in its Spanish acronym). Under this agreement Bolivia joined in 1995, Chile in 1996, and Peru in 2003. Popularly this is known as the â€œfour plus oneâ€ formula. The four founding countries are Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay, on March 27, 1991, via the treaty of Asuncion. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> This would allow the Venezuelan economy, among other things, to trade with tariffs that are three times lower among a list of products that could exceed 500 in a first phase. In addition, it would facilitate special co-investment agreements in infrastructure and strategic projects such as satellites, ships, a TV channel of the South, medicines, food and combustibles. At this moment, 19 Argentinean businesses are negotiating with Venezuelan authorities for projects to install laboratories and industrial plants on Venezuelan soil. Five hundred business people from both countries will meet on Margarita Island on July 23rd, for the Venezuela-Argentina Mega Business Round. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The other salute <o:p></o:p> President Chavez could not pass through Argentina without making contact with the working and piquetero masses, who have an enormous amount of sympathy for him. This enabled an invitation from President Kirchner, so that Chavez may accompany him to a rally in Ensenada, an industrial town outside of Buenos Aires, where 8 ships are being constructed for Venezuelaâ€™s state-owned oil company PDVSA. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Before 12,000 workers and piqueteros, gathered in front of the worksops of the Rio Santiago shipyard, Chavez spoke for about half an hour. No one could believe it. Chavez promised to â€œbe briefâ€ because â€œit is very cold and I want to listen to companero Kirchner.â€ It was brief but intense. He earned 14 applauses in an about 30 minute anti-imperialist speech. He accused neo-liberalism of â€œwanting to destroy our dreamsâ€ and used as an example the shipyard where he spoke, which, until the 1970â€™s, was the largest of Latin America. â€œWe will help revive it. This is what we signed this morning with President Kirchner.â€ <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The enterprise that manages the shipyard needs to contract 3-4,000 more workers, above and beyond the 2,000 it has now, in order to fulfill its contract with PDVSA. The first stage will be to maintain the Venezuelan oil fleet. The second, which will begin with the signing of the financial agreement on July 23 in Margarita Island, will consist of the construction of eight tankers for PDVSA. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The cold Ensenada night filled with shouts when Hugo Chavez proclaimed, â€œWe want that it says, â€˜Made in Argentina.â€™!â€  Finally, the president announced that the $4 billion that PDVSA must pay in valves, components, and replacement parts for its industry, within the â€œPlan PDVSA 2005-2012,â€ whose total amount is $37 billion, will be offered to Argentinean and Brazilian businesses.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  8. -- James Petras was invited to Venezuela to participate in the "In Defense of Humanity" conference, held December 1-5 in Caracas - Credit: Jonah Gindin http://www.monthlyreview.org/0502petras.htm <o:p> </o:p> In â€˜Myths and Realitiesâ€™ you draw a parallel between former-President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt and President Hugo ChÃ¡vez.  Specifically you refer to ChÃ¡vezâ€™ â€˜BolÃvarian revolutionâ€™ as a set of â€˜New Dealâ€™ social-democratic reforms.  Is there no revolutionary content to ChÃ¡vezâ€™ movement? <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> There is a difference, ChÃ¡vez is very active in terms of stimulating organization, but Roosevelt legalized trade unions, he recognized the right to collective negotiation.  So there are differences, ChÃ¡vez is oriented towards the urban poor more so than towards already organized, unionized sectors.  I also think that ChÃ¡vez looks for policies that stimulate nationalist, anti-imperialist sentiment, while Roosevelt was on a specifically anti-Fascist wavelength.  So there is a parallel, Iâ€™m not saying they coincide in every respect, but they share a form of denouncing the oligarchy without transforming property relationsâ€¦ I say Roosevelt in the sense of promoting social changes without changing the structures of capitalism.  I donâ€™t think ChÃ¡vez has any intention of changing the relations between capitalism and the stateâ€”including foreign capital.  On the contrary, I think heâ€™s forging more links will different capitalists in different countries.  And he continues to pay the foreign debt, which is not a model for any government, whether theyâ€™re reformist or revolutionaryâ€¦I respect ChÃ¡vezâ€™ social programs that are raising the living standards of Venezuelaâ€™s poor.  But I think we must recognize the limits that define this politicsâ€¦ During the opposition oil strike in 2002-03 many companies acted as political agents, rather than economic ones. workers took over some factories that had closed in support of the strike.  And the workers began occupying factories, or at least protestingâ€”optimal conditions for intervention [by the government], and to transform them into self-managed, public enterprises, etcâ€¦ But [ChÃ¡vez] didnâ€™t do it.  Because itâ€™s not in his concept of how an economy should be.  He believes in a mixed economy.  The big difference with ChÃ¡vez is with social spending.  He thinks [corporations, the wealthy] should pay taxes, and he should provide social services.  But in my opinion the question is: how can this be?<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Given that the majority of the population works in the informal sector[2], after 6 years in government they have not made the necessary large-scale public investments to create new employment.  They depend on the private sector to make those investments and generate employment.  Venezuela is mired in unemployment and sub-employment, when they should invest the immense resources to generate employment through public works, instead of waiting for the private sector to do it for credits and incentives.  Because [the private sector] is not doing it, they are not disposed to make the large-scale long-term investments necessary.  Along with great advances [in Venezuela] in health, housing, education the problem of employment remains very grave.  Ultimately, this cannot be solved by social spending, it requires large-scale public investmentâ€¦..If workers continue working in precarious conditions, with low salaries, the families of these workers live poorly.  They live with better services, but they live poorly nonetheless.  Social services are essential, but I think we must address the root of the problem, we must provide well-paying, stable jobs, so that social services improve peopleâ€™s lives, rather than being substitutes for the structural changes necessary for them to have a decent lifeâ€¦. I think the left, like the right, exaggerates [ChÃ¡vezâ€™] degree of radicalism for two reasons.  First, in the face of what Latin America represents today, with Lula, Mesa, Guttierez [Presidents of Brazil, Bolivia, and Ecuador, respectively] obviously [ChÃ¡vez] is a person who is passing legislation beneficial to the popular sectors.  He has launched a land-reform, while in Brazil theyâ€™re stimulating agro-business.  And also in external politics is where I think we could say that ChÃ¡vez has consistently taken relatively radical positions.  Radical in the sense that they reject the aggressive policies of the US, criticizes and opposes the FTAA [Free Trade Area of the Americas], he is against the invasion of Haiti, and is looking to form some kind of alliance with other recalcitrant governments of Latin America. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p> [1] The color red is associated with ChÃ¡vez and his â€˜Bolivarian revolutionâ€™, so-named after the Latin American independence leader SimÃ³n BolÃvar. [2] Exactly 50% as of October, according to Ministry of Labor statistics. <o:p> </o:p> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 9. J. Petras: CON LA REELECCIÃ“N DE BUSH ESTAMOS EN CAMINO HACIA UN ESTILO CRIOLLO DE FASCISMO -- by Yasser Gomez Friday November 12, 2004 <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> James Petras, el intelectual norteamericano y militante de izquierda retornÃ³ al PerÃº tras un aÃ±o de ausencia, para ser el principal expositor en el Tercer Seminario Internacional de PedagogÃa organizado por el PedagÃ³gico San Marcos. En la conferencia magistral expuso su anÃ¡lisis sobre el ALCA, como nueva colonizaciÃ³n de la educaciÃ³n y pedagogÃa de la opresiÃ³n. En la segunda jornada del Seminario presentÃ³ su libro de cuentos DÃ©jalos comer saltamontes, minutos antes que se inicien las exposiciones, accediÃ³ a la entrevista con Indymedia PerÃº. 1.entrevistapetras.jpg, image/jpeg, 270x404 <o:p> </o:p> Sus primeros 20 aÃ±os, Petras los viviÃ³ en una ciudad industrial a diez millas al norte de Boston. EE.UU.. Luego residiÃ³ en California donde siguiÃ³ sus estudios de sociologÃa y filosofÃa en las universidades de Berkeley y California. Ha sido profesor en AmÃ©rica Latina y Europa, en la actualidad enseÃ±a en la Universidad del Estado de Nueva York en Binghamton. <o:p> </o:p> Antipi y Frank, sus padres, fueron emigrantes griegos en EE.UU.. Antipi era una maestra, muy estudiosa, muy nacionalista, sin complejos frente a los anglosajones, de ella le heredÃ³ el orgullo de ser parte de la tradiciÃ³n democrÃ¡tica griega. El profesor Petras confiesa sin chauvinismo, que, cuando sus ancestros griegos fundaban una cultura, los anglosajones todavÃa se pintaban el rostro de azul y vivÃan en Ã¡rboles. <o:p> </o:p> Cuando no viaja, ni estÃ¡ en conferencias o enseÃ±ando, James Petras disfruta de la pesca, las caminatas por los bosques y playas, ademÃ¡s, practica la gimnasia y el ciclismo. En literatura prefiere los autores rusos, franceses, y menciona a los del siglo XIX como Honorato de Balzac, Emile Zola y del siglo XX: VÃctor Serge y JosÃ© MarÃa Arguedas. AdemÃ¡s, asegura que disfruta de las novelas policiales. <o:p> </o:p> - Usted escribiÃ³ alguna vez que los foros son inconsecuentes, porque las decisiones del imperialismo europeo o norteamericano se resuelven en los campos de batalla como Irak, Colombia o Palestina Â¿Hasta que punto le parecen trascendentales los foros sociales? <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> - â€œEn primera instancia eran positivos los foros sociales, reunir, discutir, encontrarse, formar redes, aprobar alguna declaraciÃ³n, pero han pasado a ser, casi rituales, como un encuentro social, donde la gente se junta, invitan a algunos personajes, realizan una marcha y todos â€œvan a la casaâ€. Creo que ya perdieron este filo de rebeliÃ³n, de crÃtica. Analizando de manera retrospectiva, no ha tenido ningÃºn efecto. Por ejemplo un levantamiento en Bolivia tumba a un gobierno neoliberal, un gobierno derechista en Ecuador cae con presiÃ³n de los indÃgenas Â¿Y, quÃ© hace el Foro? Â¿Efectivamente, que leyes han cambiado? Â¿QuÃ© gobierno han tumbado? <o:p> </o:p> Â¿Acaso han detenido los ajustes estructurales? No veo nada concretamente, mÃ¡s allÃ¡ de intercambiar ideas, direcciones, correos electrÃ³nicos. Creo que debemos de reflexionar sobre las diferentes expresiones, porque ahora hay foros en todas partes. Algunos se repiten. Estuve en Porto Alegre, y, los hoteleros son los mÃ¡s grandes promotores del evento, porque con la llegada de cerca de 100 mil personas abarrotarÃ¡n los hoteles y restaurantes, siendo su mejor periodo de turismo. Entonces con esta actitud viene el fracaso de Lula, que termina convirtiÃ©ndose en el peor enemigo del pueblo brasileÃ±o en los Ãºltimos 30 aÃ±osâ€. <o:p> </o:p> - Lucio Gutierrez y Lula con sus conductas de complicidad con el neoliberalismo Â¿Son un traspiÃ©s para los movimientos populares que emergen en AmÃ©rica Latina? <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> - â€œEsa es una respuesta que necesita tiempo para contestar, pero obviamente hay un mal cÃ¡lculo, entre lo que podemos llamar movimientos populares o por lo menos los intelectuales, quienes han suspendido la capacidad analÃtica. GutiÃ©rrez nunca ha tenido historia de lucha de clases, sÃ³lo por accidente de la historia se encuentra metido en el levantamiento indÃgena. Tiene un discurso contradictorio, y, lo pescan para presentarlo como un lÃder, tanto los maoÃstas como el Movimiento Pachacutec. Obviamente hay gente que querÃa subir al gobierno de todas maneras. GutiÃ©rrez era un participante mÃ¡s, pero ponerlo como cabeza de un movimiento indÃgena-popular me parece extraÃ±o." <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 10. Venezuela's National Assembly (AN) gives the go ahead for the 2005 budget...<o:p></o:p> http://vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=23965<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Alia2.net Maitane Larranaga writes: The slight pro-government majority at Venezuela's National Assembly (AN) approved the budget bill and passed the Special Debt Contraction Act for 2005 ... which establishes a macroeconomic condition of 5% growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a significant figure, if it comes along with an improvement in the standard of living of the people in terms of higher employment rates and greater buying power. <o:p> </o:p> The sizable 69.3 trillion bolivares budget is the product of huge oil incomes and internal revenues, a result of an â€œoil boomâ€ in a country that, on the other hand, is not quite close to winning its war on destitution yet, according to recent reports from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cepal). <o:p> </o:p> The amount of the budget is equivalent to U$32.233 billion at the 2005 exchange rate of 2,150 bolivares per US$, which reflects a devaluation from the 2004 rate of Bs.1,920 per dollar. In nominal terms, the 2005 budget is 20% higher than the one initially approved of Bs.50 trillion for 2004 ($26.042 billion). To this amount, an additional stream of credit --authorized by the Assembly to cover several expenses -- remains to be added. In what has been the typical atmosphere in this type of discussions, the opposition deputies criticized the budget, deeming it â€œinsincere,â€ while the â€œchavistasâ€ praised its virtues and its focus on social spending. <o:p> </o:p> For Rodrigo Cabezas, president of the permanent National Assembly (AN) Finance commission, the budget and the Act for Contraction of Debts, guarantee a spending policy that is linked to national economic growth. According to the legislator, the growth rate will surpass 5%, since in the expense strategy, the investment budget is substantially increased compared to this yearâ€™s, thus stimulating added demand in the national economy and encouraging the private sector. <o:p> </o:p> Figures, for what and for whom: And as Chavez has said the figures in the national budget are meaningless if the resources donâ€™t reach the countryâ€™s poor majorities, who are part of unemployment and informal economy statistics, and who neither are able to, nor want to settle for handouts coming from the governmental missions. After all, many of the missions, which can not be criticized in their ultimate purpose of providing well being and satisfying some needs that had not been addressed, are currently being supported by streams of petrodollars. And despite what the government might say, if this flow of dollars ever stops, the missions will be sacrificed in order to pay the foreign debt. Cabezas noted that the 2005 budget is â€œtied upâ€ to a process of deceleration of the inflation rate, that as a result of fiscal and monetary spending, will be 15% in 2005, which will also benefit the Venezuelan population, particularly employees and blue-collar workers. This yearâ€™s inflationary index will be nearing 20%, below the 27.1% index for 2003, according to figures from the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), which have been criticized by some economists, claiming that they donâ€™t reflect the real impact of price increases that diminish the common citizenâ€™s buying power on a daily basis. In declarations to Venpres, the state news agency, Cabezas added that the budget has a social orientation, since spending increased to 44%. â€œThis is an example of the commitment of this process of changes to the excluded, to the poor,â€ he commented, in total agreement with the line of the government, which has admitted to have failed in its struggle against poverty and corruption, after six years at the head of the worldâ€™s fifth oil producer.  ...however, food prices keep rising <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Legislators of the opposition criticized the project. Some of them, like Elias Mata, claim that it sets a price per barrel below the value that is really expected by the â€œrevolutionaryâ€ government , which is handing out, in large sums and with few restraints, the surplus oil incomes. <o:p> </o:p> For the 2005 budget, the oil incomes were calculated on the basis of both an average exportation price on all oil products at $23 per barrel and a daily production of 3.5 million barrels per day, including the production from the Venezuelan state run oil company PDVSA, and from the strategic associations with foreign companies. The ex-minister of Finance, Tobias Nobrega, has admitted that the estimated price is â€œconservative,â€ and that Venezuela could receive $4 billion in extra oil incomes if, as expected, the price of hydrocarbons reaches U$5 above the official estimate. The ordinary incomes in the budget are 25.5 trillion bolivares for non-oil related tax collection, 26.1 trillion bolivares on oil business related tax collection, 3.1 trillion bolivares in current and extra incomes for profits and reimbursements, and 14.5 trillion bolivares for debt contraction. <o:p> </o:p> What is most important for the majority of people is their capability to afford food and other basic necessities. According to the National Institute of Statistics, the monthly value of the official basic necessities list in October of 2004 was Bs.335,959.69, which represents a Bs.1,767.04 increase over the value of this list September. In total, the accumulated variation of the basic necessities list during the January-October period was 18.05%, a figure below that of 2003, which was 24.44%. <o:p> </o:p> For citizens who earn below the official minimum wage (Bs.324,000), for the unemployed and for those who work in the informal economy, these variations are considerable when they affect their capacity to afford food, not to mention the rest of their basic necessities. <o:p></o:p> ( This article was originally published in the No.43 issue of Quantum) <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 11. Politics :  Venezuelan government approves Bs.3 trillion budget for health, social expenditures. -- December 20, 2004 Bylined to: David Cabrera Venpres (Marlitza Matheus): <o:p> </o:p> Health & Social Development (MSDS) Minister Francisco Armada says the National Executive has approved Bs.3 trillion for the financial year 2005. (Click here for the original Spanish text  ). Part of the budget will be allocated to payrolls for Mision Barrio Adentro personnel, who will receive their paychecks from the state governments and municipalities in which they are operating. <o:p> </o:p> Armada says the MSDS has multiple sources of financing at its disposal for Mision Barrio Adentro ... an advantage that will step up the process of setting up popular clinics in the areas of operations. The Ministry of Energy & Mines (MEM), along with Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), governorships and municipalities are the main sources of financing for Barrio Adentro. <o:p> </o:p> The MSDS Minister stresses that progress has been made toward coordinating all the financing sources into a joint body so as to improve the distribution of resources for Barrio Adentro projects. "This initiative will be progressive, but it will not happen overnight," Armada adds. Cooperation among financial sources for Barrio Adentro has been an interesting experience ... once the National Health System is completed, consideration will be given as to its direction under a single institution that will take care of finances.   Translated by David Cabrera <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>   12. En Espanol: Aprobados 3 billones de bolÃvares para el MSDS<o:p></o:p> Venpres (Marlitza Matheus): El Ejecutivo Nacional aprobÃ³ 3 billones de bolÃvares para el presupuesto del prÃ³ximo aÃ±o del Ministerio de Salud y Desarrollo Social (MSDS), informÃ³ la mÃ¡xima autoridad de ese despacho, Francisco Armada. <o:p> </o:p> Parte de ese presupuesto serÃ¡ destinado al pago del personal que labora para la MisiÃ³n Barrio Adentro, asegurÃ³ el titular de la cartera de Salud. <o:p> </o:p> Armada explicÃ³ que una parte de los recursos se otorgarÃ¡ directamente al personal que presta servicios en la MisiÃ³n y otra se transferirÃ¡ a los estados para que sean las gobernaciones y alcaldÃas las que se encarguen de cancelar al personal de Barrio Adentro. <o:p> </o:p> RecalcÃ³ que el MSDS tiene mÃºltiples fuentes de financiamiento para el funcionamiento de la MisiÃ³n Barrio Adentro, lo que a su juicio ha permitido un avance extraordinario, sobre todo para el montaje del primer nivel de atenciÃ³n que incluye los consultorios populares. <o:p> </o:p> =Estas mÃºltiples fuentes de financiamiento incluyen actores nacionales y regionales entre los que se pueden mencionar al Ministerio de EnergÃa y Minas, PetrÃ³leos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), gobernaciones y alcaldÃas-, sostuvo. <o:p> </o:p> AsegurÃ³ que en la actualidad se estÃ¡ trabajando para la integraciÃ³n de estas fuentes, lo que permitirÃ¡ mayor efectividad a la hora del desembolso de los recursos. "Esta iniciativa serÃ¡ progresiva y no puede hacerse de un momento a otro", acotÃ³. <o:p> </o:p> ResaltÃ³ que ha sido una experiencia interesante la cooperaciÃ³n que hay por parte de todos estos actores para el financiamiento de la MisiÃ³n. <o:p> </o:p> Luego que culmine el proceso de construcciÃ³n del Sistema Nacional de Salud se estudiarÃ¡ la posibilidad de dejar en manos de una sola instituciÃ³n el financiamiento de este programa bandera del Gobierno Nacional. <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  13. Venezuela: An inspiring example of struggle for all the Latin American peoples.<o:p></o:p> December 16, 2004; Bylined to: Cort Greene <o:p></o:p> http://vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=23988<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> At the end of November supporters of the Hands Off Venezuela campaign in London interviewed Zona Marginal ... a Colombian hip hop band that came to Britain invited by the Colombia Solidarity Campaign. <o:p> </o:p> Zona Marginal came to Britain to talk to young people like themselves about the current situation facing the youth of their country. John J told us that, "The plane ticket was paid by Amnesty International which wanted us to sing in a hip hop concert they had organized, but we have also been singing in various activities organized by other campaigns and giving talks in different universities and other places." Mark Thomas, the campaigning comedian has commented that, "Zona Marginal are at the forefront of the struggle for human rights. They are one of the few hip hop crews who genuinely sing about how to improve it. This is where art meets community action. They are inspiring and original." When did you start playing music? <o:p></o:p> "When hip hop arrived in Colombia in the mid 1980s we started to play this kind of music just because it was a trend among the youth. In 1995 we formed a group called New Power but in spite of the name we were still doing commercial music. We were called New Power but it lacked political meaning. When we started working with the â€˜Youth House Foundation' they gave us facilities to write and try out our songs and we also started to observe from closer the real social problems. Our songs had some social content but we were limited to just saying, "Don't kill", "We have no Jobs", "We are discriminated." But it is due to the training we were getting that we began to realize that the lack of jobs, discrimination and violence were created by the same causes. Then we educated ourselves politically and we changed the name. We started calling ourselves Zona Marginal. Why did we choose this name? Because we represent a social layer that has been forgotten and marginalized by the state policies. We've been playing for ten years. In 1999 we launched our first album, we produced 1000 copies and we sold them all. All songs had a very strong social content. Zona Marginal is more than a band. We do not just play gigs but we work with the youngsters in the neighborhoods organizing workshops and activities for them. That's Zona Marginal.   What do you wish to express with your music? <o:p></o:p> What we want to express is consciousness. We want the people to realise that it is possible to transform things which do not work and what we want to express to the popular classes, to our people, is that we must not tolerate everything they ask us to accept simply because of our social background. We cannot carry on standing by in the face of injustice and repression. What is the point of doing commercial music when you can do political music? We can express whatever we want and we also raise awareness among people who listen to us. Zona Marginal wants to give a cry of hope to the people who listen to us. Zona Marginal wants to send out a cry of rebellion and social consciousness. We say that we generate revolution from hip hop because we call on people to get organized and to fight and above all we do not limit ourselves to preaching; we also try to lead by example.   How do you see the political, social and economic situation in your country? <o:p></o:p> The situation in Colombia is in decay in all senses of the word. Despite the huge amount of natural resources we've got and in spite of the amount of exports, the country does not offer proper living conditions to its population. In Colombia the economic power is limited to 4 or 5 families and everything goes to them (...) We believe that the neo-liberal policies implemented by the ruling class needs the workers and poor to be kept in poverty in order to maintain their privileges. On the political plane the situation is a bit different. Currently the left is getting organized in different political parties and they are winning some positions like in the Colombian Congress. People are seeing that the alternatives are there and it's not always the same song. On the left a resistance network is being created (...) The national government which is a repressive government is following orders from the Yankees [laughter]. They've helped to spread poverty and misery, they've also implemented cuts in healthcare and education and they have invested in the war instead. This is quite useless because the government has not been able to smash the guerrillas, and in fact everyday the guerrilla groups are stronger. At the same time the communities are resisting more and more and there are more politically aware people. People are fed up. People cannot stand it anymore. On TV they always broadcast soap operas to make us forget about our problems and divert our attention but people are still asking themselves what's going on.   Do you have problems in Colombia in distributing your music? <o:p></o:p> Loads. We never get our singles broadcast on radio stations, we don't get loads of commercial sponsors or promoters. Sometimes we can get an article about us published in the local newspapers, but we have to go and look for the journalist. The radio stations never broadcast tour stuff. They do not care, even if the single is very good and people phone the radio station asking for it. They just do not broadcast it. There is a lot of discrimination against national hip hop, especially against political hip hop. If those who sing commercial rubbish never get on the radio stations [laughter] we have even less chance. However, we produced 1000 copies of our album and we sold them without any promotion. We are still working even if there is no support at all.   What are your views on the Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution and how do you think it can affect to the Colombian working class and youth? <o:p></o:p> This is one of the most important developments in Latin America in the last period. It is an inspiring example of struggle for all the Latin American peoples, and particularly for the Colombian people. Colombia and Venezuela have a similar history of oppression under the oligarchies going back a long time. In a democratic manner the political hegemony of the oligarchy has been broken. Amongst the activists the thinking is: "if this can happen in Venezuela it can also happen here." This new situation has created new ties of reciprocal friendship and solidarity between both peoples. I know some Colombians that have moved to Venezuela and some of them have even naturalized as Venezuelan citizens. Due to the new situation Colombians are better treated in Venezuela than before. In Europe we have always been mistreated but there is a 500 year long history of oppression and conquest. However, between sister nations it is even more unacceptable. Chavez has changed the situation. On the other hand there are loads of people who do not know what the reality is. There is no positive news in the media about the work being done by the Cubans (sports instructors and doctors, etc.) in the popular neighborhoods. None of the media talk about that. We only have news on the alleged violence of the Chavistas, the usual news on the alleged links of Chavez with the guerrillas and so on. However, this is normal because the mainstream media belongs to the oligarchy. This has to be counteracted because there are many people who do not know what is really going on. They do not know that behind this situation there is mass work.   We have to build the alternative media and grassroots organizations and start to raise awareness. Definitely, we see the situation with hope, brother. <o:p> </o:p> Personal http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/934604 Wed, 29 Dec 2004 14:12 EST CONTENTS: 1.) Bolivarian Alternative for... http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/929337 CONTENTS:   1.) Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on">Caribbean</st1:place><o:p></o:p>   2.) Participatory Democracy in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region>, part 3<o:p></o:p>   3.)Home-Grown Development   4.)Venezuela slam US Free Trade Area of the Americas    5.) Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) capitulates to President's $1 billion demand to help Venezuela's poor.   _______________________________________________________________________   ARTICLES:   1.) ALBA: Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the <st1:place w:st="on">Caribbean</st1:place><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> Friday, Jan 30, 2004; By: Teresa Arreaza <o:p></o:p>  This document is a summary of information on the ALBA published by the Banco the Comercio Exterior (Bancoex) --  The ALBA (Alternativa Bolivariana para las AmÃ©ricas), as its Spanish initials indicate, is a proposed alternative to the U.S.-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA, ALCA in its Spanish initials), differing from the latter in that it advocates a socially-oriented trade block rather than one strictly based on the logic of deregulated profit maximization. ALBA appeals to the egalitarian principles of justice and equality that are innate in human beings, the well-being of the most dispossessed sectors of society, and a reinvigorated sense of solidarity toward the underdeveloped countries of the western hemisphere, so that with the required assistance, they can enter into trade negotiations on more favorable terms than has been the case under the dictates of developed countries. <o:p> </o:p> By employing more effective mechanisms to eradicate poverty, ALBAâ€”as proposed by the Venezuelan governmentâ€”provides a counterweight to the policies and goals of the FTAA. This alternative model also identifies the most crucial impediments to achieve a genuine regional integration that transcends the prerogatives of the transnational corporations. One of the obstacles to confront is the deep disparity that exists in development between the countries of the hemisphere, whereby poor countries such as <st1:country-region w:st="on">Haiti</st1:country-region> or <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bolivia</st1:place></st1:country-region> are compelled to compete with the worldâ€™s leading economic power. In order to help overcome trade disadvantages, ALBA pushes for solidarity with the economically weakest countries, with the aim of achieving a free trade area in which all of its members benefit (a win-win alliance). <o:p> </o:p> Venezuela has voiced the need for identifying the economies with the greatest deficiencies and their principle requirements, arguing for a transfer of resources to the most underdeveloped countries so that these may develop the economic infrastructure they require to compete on more favorable terms with more developed economies. In order to do this, the corner stone in the design of the ALBA is the proposal for a â€œCompensatory Fund for Structural Convergence,â€ which would manage and distribute financial aid to the most economically vulnerable countries.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The ALBA favors endogenous development and rejects the type of employment that the sweatshop (maquiladora) industry generates because it does not contribute to the upsurge of the agricultural and industrial sectors of the poor countries and does not contribute to the elimination of poverty. <o:p> </o:p> While not operating as a mere export-oriented activity under ALBA statutes, agriculture instead would prioritize the food self-sufficiency of every country before focusing on profit-making processes. The agricultural sector cannot be deliberately subjected to market liberalization, while developed countries maintain policies based on multi-million dollar subsidies and high import tariffs to protect their own internal production, thus flagrantly contravening the principles of free trade. However, ALBA considers that even if these countries eliminate their protectionist policies, the agricultural output from the developing countries still would not be able to compete because farmers and the indigenous populations of agricultural areas would still be displaced from their sources of productive work, thereby increasing the pattern of social exclusion in countries with few resources. <o:p> </o:p> The ALBA is also opposed to the intellectual property rights regimes on the grounds that they only protect the areas of scientific and technological knowledge that developed countries control, while at the same time leaving unprotected those areas in which the developing countries have considerable advantage: the genetic biodiversity of their territories and the traditional knowledge of peasant and aborigine peoples. This fact also contributes to deepening the asymmetries that exist between countries. ALBA is particularly concerned with the case of medicines, since patent protection eliminates the possibility of distributing generic medicines at reasonable prices to sectors of society that have few resources in developing countries. Also, it ends the possibility of setting up businesses that produce generic medication, which generate badly needed employment opportunities. <o:p> </o:p> The Venezuelan government has vehemently denounced the processes of liberalization, deregulation, and privatization, which limit the ability of the state to design and execute policies in the defense of a peopleâ€™s right to have access to essential and high quality services at fair prices. In contrast, the FTAA advocates the liberalization and privatization of public services, thus implying that millions of people in the continent would be deprived of basic services that are needed for human survival. <o:p> </o:p> For the Venezuelan government the management of public services must be oriented toward fulfilling the peopleâ€™s needs and not the interests of businesses and private profit. As such, public services are indispensable for correcting social inequality. As a result, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> deems unacceptable any trade accord that implies the renunciation of the use of public policy instruments, such as the regulation of public utilities and the provision of subsidies to regulate domestic prices and to guarantee access to essential public services for the overwhelming majority of the population who cannot afford market-priced services. <o:p> </o:p> The labels of â€œMost Favored Nationâ€ and â€œNational Treatmentâ€ proposed by the FTAA seriously threaten the sovereignty of those countries determined to pursue policies better adapted to their national interests. The first provision compels a country not to give a less favorable treatment to a foreign company than any of the other foreign companies operating in it; and the second provision demands that transnational corporations be given the same preferences that are provided to national businesses, including those which are provided to small businesses and cooperatives. <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> _______________________________________________________________________</o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 2.) Participatory Democracy in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region>, part 3<o:p></o:p> Problems and Opportunities for Citizen Power in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p> http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1331 Dec 07, 2004 ; By: Sarah Wagner - Venezuelanalysis.com <o:p> </o:p> Merely echoing the virtues of participatory democracy will do little to advance its cause.  <o:p></o:p>  The potential for decentralized governance to increase accountability, enhance participation, redistribute power, wealth and resources, improve administrative performances, decrease bureaucracy, and to respond to the social needs of the people is enormous.  Participatory democracy has the potential to engender an active civil society, a socially just economy, and a democracy which serves to channel the interests of the people. Yet the particular model implemented in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> is not without its flaws. Merely echoing the virtues of participatory democracy will do little to advance its cause.  The Law of the CLPPs was passed over two years ago, in June of 2002.  It is important to question why this law remains in an embryonic stage of development and what are its possible future limitations for creating a Bolivarian society. <o:p> </o:p> There exist two principal schools of thought which recognize the value and necessity of participatory democracy and endorse the concept of the CLPPs yet are critical of the current form in which the law is implemented. The first, and more radical of the two, represented by long-time Venezuelan activist and former Vice-minister of Local  Planning Roland Denis postulates that the model is so fundamentally flawed that the only adequate solution it to abolish the Law of the CLPPs, redraft it and thus implement an entirely different model of participatory democracy.  Denis has worked with and supported the Bolivarian government since its inception in 1999.  Although he endorses the concept of participatory democracy, from his point of view the Law of the CLPPs is intentionally flawed in an effort by reactionary elements within Chavezâ€™ government who are trying to sabotage the goal of creating an active, participative political culture. <o:p> </o:p> According to Roland Denis, favorable conditions[1] for the implementation of a participatory democratic model do not exist for three reasons.  First, the geographic divisions of the municipalities and districts are inconsistent with the idea of participatory democracy and actually impede participation. Second, the distribution of resources is not based on population. Finally, the CLPPs are not valued at the same level as representative entities in government and thus do not have sufficient power to implement their decisions. <o:p> </o:p> Geographical Division <o:p></o:p> The geographical division of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> into municipalities and districts had a predominant political component. These divisions relate directly to the evaluation of the success with which the CLPPs are currently being implemented. Since a nation-wide survey of CLPPs is outside the scope of this article, only case studies within <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Caracas</st1:place></st1:City> were surveyed. <st1:City w:st="on">Caracas</st1:City> is divided into 5 municipalities:  Libertador and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sucre</st1:place></st1:City> are Chavista strongholds; together they have a population rapidly approaching 3 million, though in all probability it is far higher, while Baruta and El Hatillo have a combined population of less than half a-million and Chacao was carved out only 15 years ago and has only 75,000 habitants.[2] <o:p> </o:p> It is rather difficult to fathom a â€˜localityâ€™ composed of one or two million people. In fact, this oxymoron basically defeats the purpose. Even for a fraction of a million people to take part in local, decentralized, participatory governance on the level of a municipality would be challenging. As Roland Denis notes, â€œThere are a handful of people who represent their constituency but very few know who elected them and where they were elected.â€ As it stands, the ratio of municipalities to people as well as the uneven distribution of people within the municipalities impedes quality participation.  <o:p> </o:p> Granted, these five municipalities are further broken into districts. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Caracas</st1:place></st1:City> has a total of 32 districts. Libertador is partitioned into 22, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sucre</st1:place></st1:City> has 5, and Baruta is divided into 3, while El Hatillo and Chacao are each in and of themselves a single district. Yet the same problems pertaining to the municipalities are relevant on a district level. For example, a cultural council in San AgustÃn, a district in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">municipality</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Libertador</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>, was elected by an assembly composed of 12 people.  There is little legitimacy in that. <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p>  Distribution of Resources<o:p></o:p> The problematic ratio between population and municipalities and population and districts is also valid in terms of the distribution of resources. Taking into consideration that all of the municipalities receive the same budget (likewise with the districts), it is obvious that those with a lower population are able to tackle problems with a higher rate or success.  Denis notes, â€œThe Councils are able to function at the level of a small municipality such as Chacao, but in the large municipalities such as Libertador and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sucre</st1:place></st1:City> they will never workâ€. <o:p> </o:p> AndrÃ©s Eloy <st1:country-region w:st="on">Angola</st1:country-region> who lives in the district of Sucre, in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">municipality</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Libertador</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>, articulates this problem at a district level.  <st1:City w:st="on">Sucre</st1:City>, with a population of around 1.2 million inhabitants, is the largest district in all of <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>. Another district in Libertador, Santa Teresa, has a population of 150,000.  Yet Santa Teresa receives the same amount of money that <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sucre</st1:place></st1:City> receives[3]. â€œUp until now we have maintained ourselves as a district.  This is an issue that we have to update.  One of the hurdles that the CLPPs must take on is the organization of the districts. There has to be a discussion to update the amount of money that each district receives because the amount of money a district receives does not correspond to its population.â€ <o:p> </o:p> What is particularly troubling with respect to this geographical division of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Caracas</st1:place></st1:City> is that the municipalities are so easily identifiable as â€˜richâ€™ or â€˜poorâ€™.  Not surprisingly, the wealthy are generally concentrated in sparsely populated municipalities of Chacao, Baruta, and El Hatillo, while the poor reside in the outskirts of the city, in Libertador and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sucre</st1:place></st1:City>.  â€œThey made 3 districts for the rich and 2 for the poorâ€¦this had nothing to do with geography or cultureâ€¦it was the socio-economic segregation of the classesâ€ explains Denis. Walking down Francisco de Miranda, the main street in Chacao, one encounters numerous Centro Commerciales selling Prada handbags and Estee Lauder skincare products, street vendors subjected to rigorous hygiene regulations, apartment buildings guarded by 24 hour security guards and light-skinned children in neatly pressed uniforms building accompanied to private schools where they will study English and learn computer skills.  In contrast, the very mention of neighborhoods in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sucre</st1:place></st1:City> or Libertador is typically met with the widening of eyes and a dismal warning â€“ â€˜donâ€™t go there by yourself, even during the dayâ€™. <o:p> </o:p> As with every rule there is an exception, and the division of the municipalities and districts in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Caracas</st1:place></st1:City> is no different. One can see poor farmers in El Hatillo and clusters of four-story mansions with jacuzzis and six-car garages (albeit separated from the poor barrios by security systems worthy of a state prison) in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sucre</st1:place></st1:City>.  However these exceptions are by and large just that, exceptions.  It is completely reasonable as well as appropriate to draw such conclusions, not to mention of dire necessity to inquire as to why this is.   <o:p> </o:p> The strict geographical division of the city along class lines has caused some analysts to refer to a â€œclass-based apartheid,â€ which not only has consequences in terms of economic segregation but also with respect to participation.  The laws of the CLPPs were made for an educated society. They were not designed for densely populated barrios where the overwhelming majority of people have an elementary reading level, lack knowledge of politics and economics, are unemployed, malnourished and fighting to survive on a day to day basis. They work better in neighborhoods of the middle or upper class, in other words: Chacao, Baruta, and El Hatillo.   Lack of Power<o:p></o:p> Essentially the idea behind the Local Public Planning Councils is to change this reality by establishing popular power, redistributing resources, and empowering the Venezuelan people to challenge what for so long has been considered an insurmountable obstacle in Latin American societies. Yet the implementation of the CLPPs does not guarantee the creation of a new political culture or an invigorated civil society.  On the contrary, Roland Denis interprets the limitations of the law (in terms of the failure to re-direct resources directly into the hands of the people) as a reflection that this very empowerment is what the bureaucracy most fears. â€œThe State does not want to open the channels of participatory democracy because it is afraid of the power that this law potentially gives to the people,â€ says Denis. <o:p> </o:p> Sorting through the technicalities of the law and the emotion of the people is an ominous task, but the bottom line is that after the Councils draft a law or submit a budget proposal, they lack the power to approve it. Their proposals can be vetoed based on a lack of resources or they can be modified; in other words, the people do not have the ability to implement their plans in the form they wish, or in some cases, at all. <o:p> </o:p> This is contrary to their intended nature.  Article 2 of the Law of the CLPPs states that the Local Councils are part of the State and Article 10 further clarifies that they are a participative part, distinct from the representative part. Yet instead of being viewed as an entity of the State, these organizations are looked upon as neighborhood councils. <o:p> </o:p> Essentially, the form in which the law is implemented produces a hierarchy of sorts in which the participative part of government occupies a lower rung on the chain than the representative institutions. Despite democratically electing neighborhood officials, democratically voting on laws or budgets, in essence fulfilling the requirements of a participatory democracy, those with the last word in the matter are the elected officials of representative democracy. â€œThe Councils create a lot of hope,â€ Denis argues, â€œbut when they try to apply this law they are going to realize that it is flawed, I would even say that it is criminally flawed because now that the Councils are appearing it is becoming apparent that they donâ€™t have power or legitimacy.â€ Although the people are organizing and discussing what needs to be done, their role is essentially limited to a consultative one. <o:p> </o:p> The vast majority of the â€˜communityâ€™ problems raised in the CLPP meeting in Sucre cannot be tackled, let alone implemented, on a local level because they are actually macro or national problems. Funding, training and equipping a police force capable of significantly reducing crime, or extending the metro line into the outskirts of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Caracas</st1:place></st1:City> are proposals which necessarily involve coordination between local and national power structures.  They are by and large beyond the scope of local governments.  Yet, in order to reduce corruption by assuring that the people truly prioritize these large-scale projects as one of these most urgent needs and this is not a private contract between already excessively wealthy corporations looking to further increase their profits in useless endeavors, the power of approving the ventures should be allocated to a local level. As it stands, the relationship is reversed: the Councils present the plans and then ask permission from elected representatives for the financial resources to realize these initiatives. This fundamentally contradicts the idea of local power as articulated by the Constitution.  <o:p> </o:p> Denis argues that the government is aware of the impotence of the law. â€œThe law does not have the power to permit that [the impoverished] integrate themselves into society; it does not have the power. The government is aware of this.  However, there have been so many controversies that this has not been the priority.  The priority in this moment is the mobilization of the people, the creation and development of the popular movements, and the strengthening of the capacity to resist the former powers.â€ <o:p> </o:p> For Denis the only solution is the abolishment of the existing law and the drafting of an entirely new law at a grassroots level that opens networks between the different levels: the municipalities, the districts, and the barrios and integrates them nationally. These participative entities would have as much power as the representative institutions; they would be able to draft and approve laws, as well as influence the politics of the national government, would be able to fire civil servants and public officials of the State.  This basic structure would be autonomous, non-partisan, and it would be the direct instrument of peopleâ€™s participation. This new law would have to be drafted by a citizensâ€™ initiative and approved by a referendum; introducing it in the National Assembly would be futile due to the fact that the majority of Congressmen and women are not sufficiently involved in this process.  â€œThe majority of the popular movements are realizing that they must take the initiative and follow through on it or no one will,â€ says Denis.  <o:p> </o:p> Participatory democracy in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> still remains at a theoretical stage.  No country yet dared to initiate the necessary political changes required to transcend existing representative democracies at a national level. There are few that would deny the theoretical importance of the CLPPs.  The Local Public Planning Councils empower the people, give new meaning to citizenship, and highlight the interrelationship between political mobilization, participation and citizenship as necessary components in the equation of a democratic society. Yet their limitations are becoming increasing more apparent. CLPP vocero Andres Eloy <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Angola</st1:place></st1:country-region> commented that, â€œThe Councils have to be reformed.  The ordinance of the Councils has to be reformed. And we must hasten this discussion; we have to hurry to reform them.  This is essential.â€   Working with the base we have<o:p></o:p> The second school of thought, which also endorses the idea of the CLPPs but is critical of the form in which they are implemented, advocates working with the existing model and reforming it gradually. According to this model, the CLPPs have mobilized the poor to participate in what was previously a top-down two party political system. And there is undeniably tremendous momentum in the country among the people.  â€œThis was so interesting; there was a moment in which we were going so much faster than the law,â€ comments district committee President Lorenza Rodriguez excitedly. â€œWe started this job before they had approved the law of the CLPPs, even before they had approved the ordinance of the law.  Afterwards, we had to bear the wait.  After the law was passed, we organized round tables and discussion halls to discuss it.  We realized that the law had some defects that did not fit our community, but we proceeded to work with it as a base.â€ <o:p> </o:p> Political culture can only be redefined through citizen participation. Transparency will not increase and corruption will not vanish unless there is a mechanism in place which holds elected officials to a high degree of accountability. For political culture to evolve sufficiently to facilitate participatory democracy, citizens must participate actively in the local councils, which must be allotted a corresponding degree of autonomous power. <o:p> </o:p>   MarÃa Fernanda Pirona, spokeswoman for the district of Sucre notes, â€œWe are going to obligate ourselves to sit and discuss.  The moment that we learn to have this discussion together, as Venezuelans, we are going to change part of the Venezuelan culture.  We are realizing that community does not work when we think of ourselves as individualsâ€¦we are obligated to work in the best interest of everyone.  What happens to my neighbor can also happen to me at some point in time.  Pollution is affecting us all.  When we live in a community what happens to each member of the community affects each of us.  We are reviving this part of our culture; that one depends on another. We are reviving it with a law, the law of the CLPP; we are changing our way of being, our way of acting, and our way of looking at the problems our country faces.â€  <o:p> </o:p> This is a complex, time-consuming process that will inevitably be met with more initial failures than successes. At this point perhaps it would be detrimental to the enthusiasm of the people to wait x number of years until the structure is perfect so that the concrete structures of participation begin to be implemented. <o:p> </o:p> Working to implement change on three levels could change the nature of the CLPPs. First, it is necessary to further break down both the municipalities and the districts to a more equitable, manageable number of people. Secondly, the budget must be based on the population.  For example a district with a million people must receive a larger budget than a district of 150,000. It is also necessary to increase the resources â€“ and the control over those resources - allotted to the Councils.  This could be accomplished in a number of ways.  For example, the Councils must be given direct control over the resources of the Intergorvernmental Fund for Descentralization (FIDES), as well as control over a percentage of the sales tax, and a percentage of the national budget. Finally, popular participation in decision-making must be supported by all elected officials and institutions, governors, mayors, district councils, town halls, and of course, the national government. Without these reforms, the Councils will remain unmanageable, impotent entities.      The Future for Participatory Democracy in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p> The CLPPs not only have to contend with these internal shortcomings, but also with an international environment hostile to their revolution. This historical moment in which <st1:country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region> is living is threatening to the neoliberal economic integration and uni-polar world envisioned by the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> for two principal reasons.  First, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> has the capacity to spread this revolution to other Latin American nations[4]. <o:p> </o:p> The quite possible empowerment of millions of people who become educated, healthy, wellâ€“fed, capable of demanding decent wages and accountable politicians could quite possibly be Washingtonâ€™s worst nightmare. Second, Chavez has decreased production and increased prices of petroleum.  With post-war devastation in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iraq</st1:country-region> impeding production there, as well as increased demand from <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>, the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> is trying to take steps to ensure that the 5th largest producer of petroleum continues to bow to US corporate interests.  <o:p> </o:p> Through nine electoral contests, which Chavez and his Bolivarian project have won decisively each time, the Venezuelan people have time and again proven that they demand change. If based upon the foundation of a new political culture in which the inalienable right of popular participation reigns at every level of government, the CLPPs will undoubtedly bring Venezuela, and by example the world, that much closer to a society based on social justice and equality.  As Kees Koonings of Utrecht University (Netherlands) notes, â€œIn a continent where voicelessness and exclusion have deep roots and are often seen as rendering formal democracy hollow and meaningless,â€ Venezuela has taken a difficult, but flawed step in the right direction.   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------   [1] The new Venezuelan Constitution (1999) considers the law of the CLPP as a basic fundamental tool of participatory democracy.  In fact, Article 62 of the Constitution establishes that â€œthe participation of the people in the formation, execution and control of public matters is the means necessary to accomplish the protagonist that will guarantee their complete development, both as individuals and collectively.  It is the obligation of the State and the duty of society to facilitate the most favorable conditions for the practice of this.â€   [2] These figures are directly reproduced from the 2002 INE census.  However there is ample reason to believe that the populations of Libertador and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sucre</st1:place></st1:City> were considerably underestimated.  While surveyors go door to door in Chacao, Baruta, and El Hatillo individually counting heads, barrios in Libertador and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sucre</st1:place></st1:City> are often estimated, due to the fact that the shacks that people live in are sometimes not considered houses and there are no paths, let alone roads to access these residencies.    [3] This criticism is based on non-governmental sources.    [4] Jorge Jonquera, Chilean solidarity activist. <A href="http://www.resistance.org.au/campaigns/venezuela/venezuela_pamphlet.shtml">http://www.resistance.org.au/campaigns/venezuela/venezuela_pamphlet.shtml</A>   ________________________________________________________________________     3.) Home-Grown Development: Venezuela and Beyond <o:p></o:p>  Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, has taken advantage of high oil prices over the past several months. Petroleos de Venezuela, the state-oil company also known as PdVSA has, with record revenue coming in as a result of the price per barrel hovering in the high $30 to low $40 price range, devoted $2 billion for spending on infrastructure projects. The fund is to be used for revamping power plants, building roads and launching a state airline. In addition, PdVSA has earmarked an additional $1.7 billion from windfall oil revenue for adult literacy programs and free healthcare for the poor. The two combined social spending measures have created an uproar ahead of the referendum, despite the fact that PdVSA President Ali Rodriguez has estimated that, if the price of oil remains at current levels, the oil company's net revenue for the year will surpass $46 billion. There is little reason to doubt the veracity of this claim. Oil industry analysts have estimated the price per barrel of oil may in the near future go as high as $50, ensuring further windfall revenue to flow in (16). <o:p> </o:p> Chavez's plans have been met with virulent opposition from critics even as his supporters say he is the first Venezuelan president to work to improve the lives of the over 50% of the population living below the poverty line.In the past, this opposition has seriously destabilized the economy. Perhaps it is for this reason that the $2 billion fund is so contentious. The idea of using even a marginal amount of revenue from the nation's national resources to create jobs and put in place institutional alternatives to privately-owned enterprises may be seen as a serious threat to the Venezuelan elite. <o:p> </o:p> Chavez is using about $16 million from the development fund, to partly fund the creation of a small new state-owned airline, Conviasa, which will begin operations in three to four months. The airline plans to first fly between the Andean nations and eventually to most points around the world, save the U.S. and Canada. <o:p> </o:p> The Venezuelan government also recently said it would go forward with plans announced over a year ago to launch a state-run telecommunications company known as CVG Telecom on Aug. 10. The company will compete with a number of other providers including the CA Nacional de Telefonos de Venezuela, known as CANTV. The Venezuelan telecommunications market is an oligarchy led by CANTV, which is the largest privately owned telecom corporation in the country. The corporation's size (and therefore influence) within the greater Latin American corporate elite structure is worth noting. Shares of CANTV make up nearly 40% of all shares traded on the local IBC Venezuelan stock index and the company names as its largest stakeholder, US telecom giant Verizon Communications. Therefore, any major swings in the share price of CANTV, say in response to new competition, could affect the overall performance of the IBC. Among CANTV's 10-largest institutional shareholders are U.S. investment houses Lazard, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. (17) <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The building of these, relatively small, state alternatives to major industries within the Venezuelan economy can in the long-run serve as institutional alternatives to foreign-owned dominance of the country. If evidence of this foreign-owned dominance is ever a question, one should look no further than the US Treasury Department for answers. The department said recently that US investors bought $72 billion worth of foreign stock in 2003, a record that handily beat the previous record of US ownership in foreign markets of $63 billion, set in 1993. The pace is maddening. Based upon preliminary figures, US investors will own $90 billion worth of foreign stock this year (18). <o:p> </o:p> The sooner developing nations realize the tragic effects such ownership can have on their development schemes, the quicker such institutional can be undertaken. This recognition, on the part of the Venezuelan government, has made it a target. National alternatives, however, are not enough to fend off the pressure from the North for neoliberalism that has become common in the region. Nor are these economic measures enough to demonstrate the possibility of development without the overwhelming presence of institutions from the rich countries.   Regional Integration <o:p></o:p> By weaving together Venezuela's economy with its neighbors', the Chavez government is laying the groundwork for Venezuela to be part of an integrated Latin American economic bloc which could be less dependent on foreign money and less susceptible to traditional development pressures. Much of this integration has begun with Argentina, where president Nestor Kirchner shares Chavez's skepticsm about neoliberalism. <o:p> </o:p> Among many cooperative measures announced during July's Venezuela-Argentina Business Roundtable, was the creation of a credit card called Cabal for small businesses in Venezuela and a financing fund to provide credit guarantees to entrepreneurs. Also announced was the creation of a $1 million credit line with the help of government banks such as Venezuela's Banco de Comercio Exterior, and the Argentine government bank BCIE, to finance Venezuela's small industry exports to Argentina, according to a statement released by Bancoex. (19) Also according to the statement, the two countries foresee, in the long run, the creation of a South American bank that would promote business development in the region. <o:p> </o:p> The economic idea of comparative advantage - so often manipulated in neoliberal economic policy - has also found its place within the current Venezuelan-Argentine cooperation. The governments announced in July a plan to indefinitely extend this year's fuel-for-food accord, allowing Argentina to continue importing diesel and gasoil from Venezuela if its current natural gas and power shortages remain a problem. Argentina signed the $240 million contract with Venezuela in April 2004, allowing Kirchner's government to import around 1 million tons of diesel and gasoil. In return, the Venezuelans agreed that they could receive cash for the imports or request agricultural imports. <o:p> </o:p> The laundry-list of cooperative agreements between Venezuela and Argentina, as well as the confounding pipeline agreement between traditional rivals Colombia and Venezuela are a part of the larger picture of Venezuela's integration into the wider Latin American economy and the creation of a regional economic force to be reckoned with. <o:p> </o:p> After 8 years of lobbying, Venezuela was admitted as an "associate member" to the trading-bloc Common Market of the South (July 2004), also known as Mercosur. The importance of this institutionalization lies not only in the increased trade opportunities for all the member and associate countries - Brazil and Argentina are full members with Paraguay and Uruguay while Peru, Chile and Bolivia are associates - but also in the strategic and symbolic unity the bloc will offer Chavez and Venezuela. The attempts by U.S. and Venezuelan corporate media and government to portray Chavez as a firebrand "dictator" isolated from the rest of Latin America because of his "communist" policies, will be less successful given the risk of offending the economically important bloc.   The legacy the Chavez government leaves behind can form the basis for long-standing institutional alternatives to U.S.-backed development as well as a regional means to escape part of the heavy dependence on foreign direct investment needed to lift the citizens of poor nations out of poverty.   It is for this reason these substantive, lasting, institutionalized measures are clearly seen as a threat to U.S. neoliberalism in Latin America. Colombia, in its economic obedience, serves as Venezuela's doppelganger of sorts - the quiescent country that will haunt its counterpart. Whichever US administration is in power will forgive the one and pour vitriol on the other. Nevertheless, resistance to the US agenda abounds in both Andean countries, despite their varying forms. Families of disappeared and murdered, social organizations, and others raised their voices to yell "Neither oblivion nor pardon!" Movements in Colombia's cities continue to offer resistance in unexpected and spontaneous ways even more-established movements aren't expecting (20). CP Pandya (cppandya80@yahoo.com) is a freelance journalist, specializing in economic issues, based in the US.   Notes   1) See Martin Sanchez's story on Venezuelanalysis.com July 26, 2004 2) See Petras, 'Beware Jimmy Carter!', Counterpunch, July 14, 2004. 3) These quotes, and the account of the Uribe-Chavez meeting below, all come from El Tiempo (www.eltiempo.com), Colombia's main daily. Translations by the authors. 4) See Colombiaweek.org http://www.colombiaweek.org/, which cites the London Financial Times of July 19, 2004. 5) see Podur, "Colombia's Referendum", Oct 27, 2003 6) See Kerry's website: 7) See Podur, 'Terrorist Plot Foiled', ZNet May 10 2004 8) See Podur, 'The Final Answer Will be Given by the Tanks', ZNet June 19, 2004 9) The National Security Archive has unearthed documents from the United States Drug Enforcement Agency which, in 1991, called Uribe "A Close Personal Friend to Pablo Escobar", "Dedicated to Collaboration with the MedellÃn Cartel at High Government Levels", and among "Important Colombian Narco-Traffickers". See http://www.nsarchive.org. This corroborates information well-known by many. See this March 16, 2004 interview with human rights defender Padre Javier Giraldo. 10) All quotes are from the pages of El Tiempo July 14-15 2004 11) Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatistas discussed the plan in 2003. 12) See 'Asphalt and Jungle', the Economist, July 24, 2004 13) Michael McCaughan, 'The Battle for Venezuela', Latin America Bureau, 2004, pp. 137-140. An interesting review of some of the problems with this book can be found on Venezuelanalysis, but McCaughan is a good journalist and the review pointed out no reason to doubt the veracity of his claims about the Pemon experience 14) See CONAIE's communique of Sept 6, 2003- 15) Associated Press, July 31, "1 Killed As Landless Clash With Ranch Guards In Brazil". 16) Wall Street Journal article "OPEC Finds Its Power Has Limits," By Bahree, Bhusan, Wednesday, August 4, 2004 17) All share and holding information gotten from Reuters market data 18) The Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Investors Have Been Buying Foreign Stock At A Record Pace," By Craig Karmin, Wednesday, August 4, 2004 This article was originally published by the sources above and is copyrighted by the sources above. We offer it here as an educational tool to increase understanding of global economics and social justice issues. We believe this is 'fair use' of copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. AMERICAS.ORG is a nonprofit Web site with the goal of educating and informing. 19) Statement is online at http://bancoex.com/rueda_arg_ven/condiciones.asp 20) See Mondragon's March 5, 2004 article, 'Colombia Today' for some examples. <o:p> </o:p> <A href="http://vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=23963"></A><o:p></o:p>  ______________________________________________________   4.)  Cuba and Venezuela slam US Free Trade Area of the Americas  Dec 15, VHeadline.com; Reporters Russian PRAVDA: <o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p><A href="http://vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=23963">http://vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=23963</A>   <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0p Personal http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/929337 Tue, 28 Dec 2004 12:15 EST Andean Circles FSA: Fondo para Solidaridad... http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/871363                 Andean Circles FSA: <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>        Fondo para Solidaridad Andino (FSA) <o:p></o:p>   <o:p></o:p>                   The Fund for <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place>Andes</st1:place> Solidarity: <o:p></o:p>        â€¦Aiding  Future Leaders â€“ Activism  with Focus â€¦<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>                                     (<A href="mailto:andescircles@yahoo.com">Andescircles@yahoo.com</A>)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>               <o:p></o:p>             To all those caring people that want to be                 ...  part of something positive,<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Andean Circles/Fund for <st1:place>Andes</st1:place> Solidarity (FSA) needs to sign on groups in the <st1:place>Andes</st1:place> region that we can promote for fundraising efforts. We can promote these groups and also assist with their fundraising and grant writing proposals. Important revolutions are taking place right now in the <st1:place>Andes</st1:place> region.  If individuals and NGOs in the <st1:country-region><st1:place>United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> and <st1:place>Europe</st1:place> increase their assistance and fund the right organizations in the <st1:place>Andes</st1:place>, then a new force will take hold in this region. Combined with a focused plan to make trade much fairer, we can build a powerful alliance between many countries of <st1:place>Latin America</st1:place> and the progressive forces of the world. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Andean Circles is a group of writers and long-term activists in the <st1:country-region><st1:place>United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> and <st1:place>Latin America</st1:place> who have struggled to find effective ways of organizing, outreach and education. With the coronation of GW Bush the hope for change from within the <st1:country-region><st1:place>United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> is dismal and resistance has become unappealing to most people.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> We are pursuing a new tactic: <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> To identify medium-sized groups in the <st1:place>Andes</st1:place> region who are sincere and oriented in a radical way that we think is the future.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Send us your nominations for these groups. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> | Send us ideas on how to make this project powerful and effective. |<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> ---- Marcel Miranda, co-director, Fundraising Committee<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Attention:<o:p></o:p> We need organizations to sponsor our fundraising efforts with their non-profit status.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>               Thank You for caring â€“ bless you for tryingâ€¦<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p>          ACTIONS for EVERYONE: <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>             Visit our websites : <A href="http://www.andescircle.faces.com">www.andescircle.faces.com</A><o:p></o:p>                           Or â€¦â€¦â€¦.   Andeancircle.blogharbor.com<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Study the criteria and the list of nominations for funding. Submit your own nominations or comment on the list. Study the <st1:place>Andes</st1:place> region and tell your friends and neighbors about the issues and our efforts to make a difference.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p>        A Letter to the Hope and the Energy of the South <o:p></o:p>  We are students and professionals who believe that the best strategy in this grand intercontinental struggle between imperialism and the struggles in the North and the South is to finance promising activist groups in the <st1:place>Andes</st1:place> region, and to pay for technical help on their projects. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> We are looking for small to medium-sized social change groups in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region><st1:place>Bolivia</st1:place></st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region><st1:place>Peru</st1:place></st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region><st1:place>Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region><st1:place>Ecuador</st1:place></st1:country-region>. We want to raise money for these groups and send down free technical advisors and any kind of helpers that they want in order to grow and to be more effective. We are currently looking for groups who assist small farmers, textiles production, weavers, coca organizations, women and children, networking between small groups (conferences, travel assistance and translations) and with groups that are isolated or in special need. We are interested in supporting community communications projects like radio stations and anyone working on designs for new systems of solidarity economic development programs.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Please send us nominations or guidance in finding the right groups that can really benefit from infusions of money and technical aid at this time.  Get the ball rolling and start an interchange, a similacron/simulacrum that will direct us by making debate unnecessary as we become busy working together to raise funds, to design projects and to create real change on the ground and in all of our mindsâ€¦ <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> ________________     Project managers and groups who can help us by providing an umbrella <o:p></o:p> non-profit status should let us know as soon as possible.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p>                   A few more dedicated people can make this happen now.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> From <st1:place><st1:City>Cochabamba</st1:City>, <st1:country-region>Bolivia</st1:country-region></st1:place> to <st1:place><st1:City>Phoenix</st1:City>, <st1:State>Arizona</st1:State></st1:place> we wait for the day of coordinated actions between the youth of the world, the veteran activists and internationalistas everywhere. <o:p></o:p>                 Neither the FTAA nor the Free Trade deals may pass us!<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p>     Fondo para Solidaridad Andino                         (FSA)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>                                      <A href="mailto:andescircle@yahoo.com">andescircle@yahoo.com</A><o:p></o:p>                            <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>                   Una carta a la esperanza y la energia del Sur<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Somos estudiantes y profesionistas quienes creemos que la mejor estrategia en esta gran lucha intercontinental entre imperialismo y las luchas en el Norte y del Sur, es de dar asistencia economica a sus grupos y pagar por ayuda tecnica con sus proyectos. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Buscamos agrupaciones de la lucha que son pequenos o mediano en <st1:country-region><st1:place>Bolivia</st1:place></st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region><st1:place>Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region><st1:place>Ecuador</st1:place></st1:country-region>, Peru y Venezuela. Diganos los nombres de los grupos en sus paises que son fuertes, limpios, y serios, que ahora son pequenos pero que prometen ser mas grande en el futuro. Queremos levantar fondos para estos grupos y a una variedad de proyectos. Buscamos grupos Andinos que ahora dan ayuda a companas de agraria, coca, medios de comunicacion de la communidad (estaciones de radio y otros medios <st1:City><st1:place>como</st1:place></st1:City> publicaciones), tejedores, producciÃ³n de los textiles y organizaciones que trabajan ligando (unir juntos) a los grupos pequenos o de los grupos aislados o remotos. Tambien esperamos que todos grupos creen en la salud de mujeres y ninos <st1:City><st1:place>como</st1:place></st1:City> una de sus prioridades. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Siempre tenemos interes a grupos y individuales quienes estan desenando nuevos tipos de programs de economia solidaridad de los comunidades.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Por favor diganos recomendaciones de los grupos mejores y los que necesitan fondos y ayuda tecnica en este momento. Digale energia a estas ideas y nos esperamos que este inter-cambio del Norte al Sur sera una Simulacron que nos dirigara en una manera que le nega debate cuando todos estaran trabajando a levantar fondos y construiendo proyectas revolucionarias. Juntos cambiaramos una movimiento fuerte y de una corazon amplio y se reventando de posibilidades.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Gerentes de proyects y agrupaciones que pueden ayudarnos con un classificacion (titulo) de non-profit (no lucrative â€“sin impuestos) deben avisar nosotros imediamente.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>     ****  Recursos en Espanol son buenos : si no hay en ingles. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Diganos estudias o comentarias en espanol - mas gracias - y mas estudias de la lucha.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Desde Phoenix, Arizona a Cochabamba, los esperamos el dia de acciones juntos a los jÃ³venes activistas suec@s, la nueva America Latina y con todos los activistas y internacionalistas del Mundo, <o:p></o:p>                              <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>                   EL ALCA, NI EL TLC NO PASARAN !!  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> WEB LINKS (Enlaces):  <o:p></o:p>  The Colombia Civil War, the Andean War on Drugs and the movements of the Poor <o:p></o:p> and the indigenous peoples: <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <A href="http://www.Anncol.org">www.Anncol.org</A><o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> www.circulosbolivarianos.org<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <A href="http://www.venezuelaanalysis.com">www.venezuelaanalysis.com</A><o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> http://colombia.indymedia.org/news/2004/11/19496.php<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> http://www.worldwar3report.com/<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> For Spanish visit (Espanol) : <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> http://colombia.indymedia.org/<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <A href="http://www.prensarural.org">http://www.prensarural.org</A><o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <A href="http://bolivia.indymedia.org">http://bolivia.indymedia.org</A><o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <A href="http://ecuador.indymedia.org">http://ecuador.indymedia.org</A><o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> http://peru.indymedia.org/news/2004/11/12390.php/<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> http://www.movimientos.org/noalca/index.phtml.es<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <A href="http://www.aymaranet.org">http://www.aymaranet.org</A><o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> "You cannot change the world without taking power",   says Tariq Ali, who asks the Global Justice movement to come and see <st1:country-region><st1:place>Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s reality before making judgments based on stereotypes. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Tariq Ali says that <st1:country-region><st1:place>Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> is an example which the Americans wish to wipe out. <o:p></o:p>  "If this example exists, and gets stronger and stronger and stronger then people in Brazil, in Argentina, in Ecuador, in Chile, in Bolivia will say 'if Venezuelans can do it, we can do it'"   --   !  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <A href="http://venezuelaanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1223">http://venezuelaanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1223</A><o:p></o:p>                   <o:p></o:p>                                 CONTACT:  <A href="mailto:andescircle@yahoo.com">andescircle@yahoo.com</A><o:p></o:p> ________________________________________________________________<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> *** ( Mas Espanol abajo...) ***<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p>           >>>>  The following are nominations for the kinds of groups <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>                        that we believe <st1:country-region><st1:place>USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> people should support: <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> n     We have a short list of dozens of groups that we truly hope to fund  â€“ and we strongly believe that it is a crying shame on <st1:country-region><st1:place>US</st1:place></st1:country-region> apathy that we do not have 500 million dollars to fund them all right now.  â€“ However, being a pragmatic as this crisis allows we have tried to identify groups that make the very best use of our finances. <o:p></o:p> n     <o:p> </o:p>       â€“ Help Us: Make your comments!<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> We seek groups working in the following regions on the following programs:<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p>  <st1:country-region><st1:place>Ecuador</st1:place></st1:country-region>: Dollars & Border Wars $$<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 1. Groups working in the northern border region (Otavalo, Succumbios and Lago Agrio) to unite community groups for security and communications. Groups working in the weaving industry. Groups assisting refugees with special considerations for women and children.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 2. Groups working in the Pastaza region in local economic development, border issues or in networking between indigenous communities and affiliated groups.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Short List (likely candidates for funding) <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> * Note: In general we prefer not to fund political groups directly, <P c Personal http://www.zorpia.com/andescircle/journal/871363 Mon, 13 Dec 2004 17:51 EST