Mark Boyle, an economics major, ran into Gandhian thought and it changed his life. From the usual “how much can I get” he switched to “how much can I give, how many people can I make smile today. . .”
“Until the soldier of peace becomes as brave as the soldier of war, nothing is going to change. And we’re all soldiers of peace. Whatever your beliefs, move them from words into action and you will change the world.”
From my notes:
“Economy has to do with meeting our needs. Not necessary with money. I set up a free economy, now in 150 countries. It’s all based on “pay it forward.” Why did I take such an extreme action?
Money enables economy of scale and division of labor, etc., but it has inevitable consequences that has little or no attention in the MSM.
Reasons:
1. an initial realization that all the social and ecological destruction we face today stem from our delusion that we are separate from nature, as well as between the consumer and consumed. We don’t have an appreciation of the embodied energy, and the embodied suffering, that goes on at every level of production.
If we had to make our own tables and chairs, we wouldn’t chuck them out when changing decor. When we had to get our own water, we wouldn’t pee in it.
Until we connect with what we consume, and from nature, we won’t solve these problems. We need to localize.
2. Money has replaced community as a primary source of security. Over the last fifteen years, I’ve witnessed this in Ireland. We are not independent. We’ve got to get away from this illusion of independence.
3. I believe that prostitution is to sex as buying and selling is to giving and receiving. Completely different feeling in the exchange. Imagine a world where we give, just because somebody needs help? That world already exists between family and friends.
Food? I forage and grow my own food, and barter for a few things, like grains. ”
And much much more . . .
