Imagine if cops had to wear cameras where the video is streamed to a public database. How would they act with an unblinking and unbiased witness forever leaving them open to the people’s scrutiny?
Here’s my prediction: there would be less abuse of power. Police misconduct happens when they know they can get away with it. But under and ever-present eye to watch them, they’ll find it much harder to abuse the authority they’ve been entrusted with. (more…)
Something wonderful is happening everywhere on earth. A people’s uprising is taking place, fueled by millions and millions of people who’ve awakened to see that a better future is entirely possible. Once it reaches fruition, this global social revolution will culminate in a redistribution of wealth and power, essentially liberating humanity from the shackles that far too many of us don’t even know exist.
The medium for this reformation is the online realm, which may soon prove to be the missing ingredient for a lasting freedom on earth.
With the threat of an upheaval looming, the stage is set for a huge struggle for dominance between the bulk of humankind seeking to be free and the system and its leaders desperately clinging to power. Our world’s tiny yet powerful minority (along with their cronies) will do everything they can to prevent their house of cards from toppling.
This means crushing internet freedom using a range of attacks, enhancing the already well-entrenched all-seeing surveillance system, and expanding the increasingly militarized police state, the end goal of which is to trap humans into perpetual servitude by eliminating all means of revolution.
But we wont let that happen now will we?
As long as we can keep our precious internet uncensored, we’ll be able to leverage massive populist sentiment into real political clout. Instantly interconnected social media is fostering what is essentially a real democracy, one that hears all voices and not just those at the top. And when the system caters more to everyone, what we get is a more just global civilization.
The whims and wants of a handful of wealthy tyrants will prove no match for tens or hundreds of millions of engaged individuals working towards a shared goal.
We are, on some level, transcending nationalities and cultures, expanding our own personal identities to include ourselves amongst the global village. One beautiful and amazing side effect of this great awakening will be the eradication of wars. Major armed conflicts will all but evaporate once enough of us see them for what it they really are us fighting ourselves.
With each passing day, what is becoming more evident is that the only enemies left for us to fight are the violent extremists seeking to hurt society and the oligarchs seeking to enslave us, both of which our species will be better positioned to confront the more united and empowered we all become.
As you can see, the whole world is waking up. The era of exploitation will soon be at an end.
Here’s a video demonstrating an effective way for security forces to diffuse a tense situation – back up a few feet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBa3V89Fx0o
And here is former Marine Sgt Shamar Thomas letting his voice be heard (while intimidating about 30 police officers):
There’s no turning back now. Even if these latest protests do – fate forbid – fizzle away, the lulls will only be temporary.
The movement will keep growing stronger and louder for as long as the root problems remain unaddressed. And that won’t happen until the 99% shake up the establishment and strip away much of the wealth and power from the tiny few who presently control it.
Women from a Filipino sewing cooperative ended armed clashes in neighboring villages by withholding marital relations from their husbands, reports the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees. The success of the “sex strike” allowed trade roads to re-open, letting families continue rebuilding their communities.
The Filipino women’s success mirrors that of Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian mother helped end her nation’s 14-year long civil war. Sick of the suffering caused by the prolonged fighting, Gbowee united her fellow females and encouraged them to withhold sex until the fighting stopped. Eventually, Gbowee’s efforts played a major role in the signing of a comprehensive peace treaty, ushering in a lasting peace to their land.
Don’t trivialize the importance of empowered women collectively closing their legs. Anything that brings an end to violence is a great thing, even if it takes one blue ball at a time.
Smart phones and other handheld devices have already dramatically reshaped the world around us, and the best is yet to come!
With a phone, you can access the fountain of knowledge on the Internet, join up with millions of like-minded individuals, and hold authorities accountable for their actions.
Within a decade or two, most of the world will have access to some kind of smart phone, taking humanity to a whole new level of empowerment.
The future is going to be AWESOME!
Are you sick of hearing about Israel’s continued human rights violations? Then do something about it!
If you’re hardcore, you could get involved with Freedom Flotilla III and attempt to break the naval blockade of Gaza. But if that seems a little much, then there are other things you can do.
If you’re already involved with grassroots communities, maybe this September you’d be interested in organizing a workshop in support of a campaign to end the Israeli occupation.
Not your thing? How about signing an online petition opting for UN recognition of the state of Palestine. It only takes a few seconds to complete, and your voice will be added to hundreds of thousands of like-minded individuals.
And if none of these options suit you, then I guess you’ll just need to figure out how best to contribute to the movement towards a more just global civilization.
There’s a fascinating essay over at Wikileaks Central which, as the author, I can say with complete bias that its eloquence is matched only by its poignancy. Here’s a sample:
The specter of totalitarianism is looming. A cyber-backed authoritarian regime, arising from the collusion between government and other powerful institutions, forever protecting the interests of the few from the threat of a free human race. Yet the solution to prevent this dystopian future can be found where it has been all along: inside every person.
The surest way to keep out tyranny starts with a voice inside that says “I can make a difference. My voice counts. I matter!” Whatever it is that makes someone feel like this, is precisely what is needed in larger amounts. Anything that takes an individual from feeling helpless and afraid to feeling hopeful and engaged is what will ultimately set humankind free.
Head over to WL Central for the whole piece.
Saving women from repression by patriarchal Islamic extremists was one of the rationales used to justify the US-led military campaign across the Middle East. Of course this is a lie, since the wars are really about money, power and control of resources, but the stated goal of empowering ladies sure has a nice ring to it.
A recent US Supreme Court ruling shows just how much the United States establishment really cares about gender equality.
In a class action suit against the world’s biggest corporation – Walmart – compensation was sought for the disproportionately lower wages earned by women as compared to their male counterparts. The suit was dismissed on the grounds that female Walmart employees, as a group, lack the necessities to be deemed a class.
American war rhetoric is about spreading liberty and freedom, but if they can’t get a functioning democracy at home, then what exactly can they hope to export?
In a bid for greater freedoms and equality, many Saudi women are participating in bold acts of defiance – driving a car. While the law doesn’t specifically forbid female drivers, local traditions prevent women from being issued licenses.
Today’s protest came in response to calls on social networking sites urging women to begin a mutiny against the male-only driving rules.
Senior clerics claim the driving ban protects against the spread of vice and temptation because women drivers would be free to leave home alone and interact with male strangers. (Yea, ’cause they can’t do that on foot!)
Really, the driving ban is about subjugating women and treating them as second class citizens.
Sexist, patriarchal nonsense like this cannot be tolerated if we want to bring peace to our planet. The actions of these brave Saudi women are bringing us one step closer to a more just global civilization.
One single tool, and we’ll end global poverty forever. Just one incredible machine will help us easily meet the basic needs of every single human.
This amazing device? A 3-D printer.
If you haven’t heard of 3-d printers before, they’re technological marvels that can take in raw materials (like metal and plastic) and build actual 3-dimensional objects. Sounds a bit like star trek, right?
Well, these things already exist! For about a thousand dollars, you can assemble your own from a kit. and make objects out of plastic. But today we have some high end models that can make things out of metals, like titanium.
At the rate we’re progressing, perhaps within a decade, 3-D printers will produce any tool we need: machines, solar panels, computers, you-name-it, anything we want, designed from blueprints we share online and constructed out of two of the most abundant elements on earth – silicon and carbon.
Now, if you consider how 3-D printers can be used to make even more 3-D printers, well, the implications are staggering. With a way to create and power any tool we need, we’ll be able to shift away from today’s centralized system of dependence, to a distributed system of self-reliance where we manufacture goods, grow food and generate energy all on the local scales.
3-d printers are set to make our world one of abundance and equality, which will be awesome. When we are no longer starving or living in squalor, we’ll find it easier to co-exist without murdering each other, at least not on industrial scales like we do with wars today, which may be about as much world peace as we humans can hope for.
So there you have it. Another great reason to be optimistic for the future.
