And, as one young man in this trailer says, it’s hard work! We can’t just sit around and meditate. We need to get off our butts and dare to go out and cooperate with others in discussing what already works, what doesn’t, what might work with a bit more tinkering, and what needs a thorough overhaul. And more than anything else, we need to learn that our differences with others can be sources of diversified strength for the community, rather than irritants. In other words, what has to transform more than anything else is our attitude. Cultivate gratitude, rather than complaint, and the world opens.
We are at the beginning of a new attitude towards the future. Not just “what awful thing is coming at us that we need to duck in place?”, but what can I, as I unleash my own unique unbridled nature, share with others? How can I be of service? How can I help? And how can I learn from each experience? How can I begin to recognize and honor any “failure” for what it is, yet one more stepping stone along the way.
Over a dozen years ago, when I was rejected for prized year-long residency program that would have skyrocketed my “reputation,” I heard a small, feminine voice say, very gently, “Good, now I can be myself.” Applying for that program — and then being refused — was the kick in the butt that I needed to catapult me out of a small section of the matrix that had — after six decades! — still held me in trance. So grateful!
Introducing “The Spark”
April 9, 2014
by Tony Cartalucci
“The Spark”(Facebook / Vimeo) is an interesting and ongoing grassroots project that fits in well with an older article featured on LocalOrg titled, “Decentralizing Big-Retail.” The article illustrated the waste, disparity, and exploitation promoted by the current “big-retail” monopolies and the consumerist paradigm modern society is dependent on, and suggests as an alternative the leveraging of technology to replace entirely this paradigm with local solutions.
It featured a combination of projects from urban farming to technological havens called “makerspaces” or “hackerspaces” working in tandem to turn a city block into a sustainable, self-sufficient economic unit driven by open source collaboration, technology, and local entrepreneurship.
“The Spark” (trailer below) is a documentary covering real world examples of people doing just this. The documentary features the previously covered Open Source Ecology and their “Global Village Construction Set,” as well as urban gardeners attempting to change mindsets as well as their current food paradigm.
The similarities between each project’s philosophy illustrates that while one is involved in building technology and the other in growing food within their community, both can work together toward a common goal — a future determined by us not at the ballot box or the local protest rally, but by our own two hands. Another term the comes up frequently is “post-scarcity,” or the creation of material abundance through the use of technology that zeroes out resource scarcity.
This illustrates that the visions of those involved in “The Spark,” as well as the solutions in “Decentralizing Big-Retail” are not communes where people convince themselves to be happy with less, but the daring dash forward into a future where politics and protests are replaced by technological pragmatism and progress.
It will not happen overnight, and as those who view “The Spark” will see, it will not be easy. But it will work — which is more than anyone can say about the political hamster wheel humanity has been running on century after long century.
Tony Cartalucci’s articles have appeared on many alternative media websites, including his own at Land Destroyer Report, Alternative Thai News Network and LocalOrg.
