April 18th, 2008 pri
1) GE/UAS event May 8th, 2008:
Objective: Focus on “Eco consciousness and Social Dynamics”. Note: that this event is being organized and publicized by Urban Alliance For Sustainability and Global Exchange.
Status: Approved.
Day: Thursday, 6pm
Location: Global Exchange’s office 16th and Mission, San Francisco, CA
2) Democratic Party Event May 9th, 2008:
Topic: “The Bolivarian Revolution Of Venezuela: Successes, Failures and Practical Solutions”
Status: Confirmed
Day: Friday at noon
Location: Holiday Inn Hotel, 1st and 101S, Sanjose, Ca.
Objective: Introduce various invitees from Stanford University, Latin America interest groups and Democratic party members to the
revolution, Prout and Alternative solutions. The good news is that, this event is being paid for and publicized by the Party
itself, and all the invitations are going out on-behalf of the California Democratic Party and Stanford’s alumni list!
3) Open House/Talk May 9th 2008:
Topic: “Another World Is Possible: Prout’s New Vision”
Status: Confirmed
Day: Friday evening
Goal: Networking opportunity with guest’s from the non-profit sector and open house for guests from all other speaking engagements.
The audience would include guests from leading non profit’s in the education sector and lawyers.
Location: Mountain view
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April 16th, 2008 pri
Community Sharing Vehicle – a proposal for study and development
by Dada Vimaleshananda
People transportation in USA is facing the challenge of oil price rising and a general economic downturn that risks to reduce the availability of transportation through individually owned vehicles. Public Transportation has its own limitations and does not constitute an appealing alternative to individually owned vehicle transportation. CSV (Community Shared Vehicle) offers a convenient option for families and individual members of communities that wishes to share the expenses for maintaining their own vehicle.
CSV is a proposal for study and development based on Prout (Progressive Utilization Theory) a proposed model of economy in which individual ownership is gradually socialized in order to allow a more rationale distribution of resources among members of the community and of the society at large.
Becoming a CSV member-As a CSV member you will receive a list of car owners that agree to share their vehicle. The list is community based and includes owners that are living in the same geographical area. There will be a fixed enrollment fee and also a utilization fee that will be paid directly to the car owners. Example of utilization are:
- personal pickup and delivery
- individual use of the car in place of the owner
- ride share
If you are a car owner you may add a visible sticker that identify your car as a CSV car. You will sign the CSV agreement for car owners. CSV members will be able to contact you for sharing your car according to the modalities agreed upon.
The CSV proposal allows a flexible use of the owned car that may overlap with traditional services like cub service or ride share service. It is conceived as a community based service and allows a very flexible use of vehicle transportation.
The agreement for car owners may vary from community to community in order to match better with the type of utilization more suitable or convenient. Membership cost is meted to cover the costs for the administrative and organizational costs of the system. Utilization fees might be indicated in the car owner agreement but they can be overruled by individual agreement and ad hoc situations.
CSV is a proposal for study and development. The Quest Center in Northern Eastern Pennsylvania is looking for a partnership with an academic institution for making a feasibility study and a test implementation of the proposal.
Quest Center
RR 1 Box 1366
Hop Bottom, PA 18824
Ph: 570-289-4021 – Cell: 918-864-4713
Email: questcenter@epix.net
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March 24th, 2008 pri
Summary of the Introduction to the ‘comprehensive guide to the study of Prout’ found at http://www.prout.org/TableofContents.html submitted by Alexis Gault
Intro: The old ways of society are not working, as evidenced by moral & environmental decay, poverty, illness, etc. We have a wealth of abilities and opportunities which give us the tools we need to create a better society.
Communism offered security and freedom from responsibility, but didn’t recognize the human need for Spiritual life.
Capitalism isn’t working, except for the few at the top. The extreme hedonism and consumerism of Capitalism have tried to sell the idea that fulfillment comes from owning material goods. Any tv advertisement demonstrates this “sale,” of purchasing a given product that makes you attractive to the opposite sex, a good parent, a successful career person, etc. “. . . radical hedonism postulates that happiness can be achieved by the fulfillment of any material or sensual desire whatsoever, and that in order to fulfill these desires, egotism, greed and selfishness have to be encouraged. The achievement of sensory pleasure has been sold as the achievement of harmony and peace. Radical hedonism, it should be known, is the philosophy of rich people.” (p. 1). I love this quote! It really breaks down what is wrong with the pseudo-culture. The system is so beneficial to those at the top, who have great wealth and almost absolute power, that they have created a brilliant system to keep those at the bottom unaware of their enslavement and latent power.
Wages are so low for those at the bottom of the hierarchy; people have to work two jobs to survive leaving them too exhausted to protest their conditions. In addition, the drugs of TV, sugar, and constant messages that anyone could become rich at any moment through lottery, game shows or other miraculous intervention all keep the people from protesting their abuse by those in power.
Also, those in power assure that the poorest have little or no adequate education by keeping funding for schools too low to attract the best teachers, purchase materials or create adequate buildings for students. An ignorant population is a submissive population. The uneducated are less likely to participate in elections, protest when their civil rights are abused or become employed in jobs that allow them to break out of the cycle of violence.
And then there’s the lack of healthcare and nutrition. Only in the direst emergencies do the poor seek a healthcare professional, and then often permanent damage has already been done. For example, a simple ear infection, untreated, often results in hearing loss in poor children.
The big corporations make huge profits selling “food,” items with no nutritional value. It could be argued that they are making money by starving Americans on a high calorie, nutritionally deficient diet. As a result, the poor suffer from low energy, depression, obesity, diabetes and other nutrition related illnesses that keep them from fighting the system that is destroying them.
For a great investigation into this phenomenon, read Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, Nickel and Dimed—On (Not) getting by in America, This brave reporter leaves behind her comfortable middle-class life, her credit cards, her money, the benefits of her higher education, and all her social support and enters into the world of the American minimum wage worker. What she discovers is a life of great struggle among the uneducated American underclass. A group of people who support one another through friendship and kindness, but often have to share small living spaces, spend large portions of time commuting via poor public transportation, and seem exhausted and beat down by a life with little joy, nature, beauty, exercise, or satisfaction in their work, much less spirituality. Her book gives an excellent first-hand account of how Capitalism isn’t serving even the basic human needs of most Americans. But I digress. Back to the effort to summarize the introduction to the study guide. The point is, the “ism’s” of the past haven’t worked to provide people with basic survival needs, much less the higher spiritual, emotional, and psychological needs. On the other hand, Sarkar’s Spiritual Humanism, as practically applied through PROUT can provide for all human needs, not to mention the needs of the planet to allow it to survive.
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February 24th, 2008 pri
“Batra predicted the hi-tech meltdown of 2000. And all Greenspan had to do was utter the words “irrational exuberance” and trillions were wiped from share values around the world. Some investors still haven’t recouped their losses.”
The recent article published on Toronto SUN mentions several economic predictions for the year 2008. Read more ….
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