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Page added on September 2, 2016
Earth Church
On a hot day in late June, about ten of us,[i] and some of our children, gathered at the water’s edge of Lake Michigan. We had found a secluded spot, with a dry sandbar sheltered by willows reaching towards the water. Although a windless day, it was still cooler this close to the lake, and an occasional breath from beyond blew a wisp of colder lake air over us. The waves lapped gently in and out, as if only to remind us of their presence despite the stillness of the day. All of us had been heavily involved in Transition Milwaukee in its earlier days of inspiration and action, but some us had drifted and we had scarcely been together as a group in years. The children waded in the water and sat on a fallen branch giggling softly, while the adults began to chat and then share our deepest hopes in careful and muted tones. We listened intently, talked slowly, holding moments of silence longer than is customary in casual conversation.
This was the first meeting of what we have been calling “Earth Church.” We were all there because of our past connection through Transition, where work, struggle, joy, and disappointment, had weaved long but elastic lines of trust. Now, however we were looking and making something new and, it turns out, something beautiful. Some of us still followed Transition, while others had wandered away. What had endured beyond the strains of time, was the part of the Transition Movement that can, I think, only be called spiritual, whatever that in fact means.
None of us had given up on the hopes of Transition, or at least the values that gave substance to that hope; but our early expectations for some sort of social salvation–a revolution, complete with a widespread energy descent and community sustainability–were no longer holding us together. These hopes had been, if not dashed, at least cooled by the real inching towards Bethlehem we should have expected. I had watched with interest the way some of the group had found solace and rejuvenation with yoga, healing-circles and support groups, intentional communities, while others had pursued professional training in the healing arts, whether massage or acupuncture, or even song and dance. I had been doing my best to wed my own efforts of inner-change to a writing career. The core values of Transition had, I might say, been borne by wild and abundant tendrils towards the outskirts of the idealized Transition Town. Or like seeds scattering in the breeze, possibility had been sown in soils of self-care, mindfulness, and the exercise of both personal and cultural healing—or in my case into deeper philosophical reflection on modernity, the self, and cultural change.
I’ll say more in another piece about what brought me to this place where I wanted nothing more than quiet communing by the lake. But I’d like to risk capturing the beliefs and hopes we did share, without forgetting the hazards of appearing to speak for others. The experience of building Transition Milwaukee had, for all of us, excited a hunger for community. We don’t reflect too much on our laurels, but we had accomplished some awesome feats before our energy began to diffuse itself. In our work, the first Victory Garden Blitz in Milwaukee for instance, we had formed our sense of who we were, what mattered, and what we could do, though perhaps in part as a group whose puzzle pieces might still fit together. But now instead of new plans or events, we talked of the human need for ritual, ceremony, even sacrament.
Other religious traditions, which some of us still embrace, offer people things that people need, revealed perhaps in the endurance of religion, as well as its handmaidens of faith, trust, and hope. Being human is, even under the best circumstances, difficult work, if for no other reason than our foreknowledge of our own deaths and all the complications this fact rains upon our hopes and beliefs, and even every moment of being. Following the great Kenneth Burke, who said this about poetry, perhaps religions provided equipment for living (and for dying) that are often absent in activist cultures where progress and results remain the overriding goal. We, however, had grown more interested in embracing loss, sorrow, and grief, in finding acceptance and forgiveness, in holding a gentle regard for all of Earth’s children, including ourselves. Yes, the spiritual side has its political import, but we are not explicitly, or rather strategically, concerned with it. It was not to be our master, though we may still give Caesar what he has coming. Our intent with Earth Church, anyways, is to have something much more like a religious ceremony than a Transition meeting. There is no planning, logistics, or committees. Our events are themselves. There is no whiteboard.
To those deeply embedded in spirituality or are used to “being religious,” all this may all seem like the gropings of children towards the obvious, what some church, Mosque, Synagogue or Temple-goers live and breathe every day. “Look, look,” say the children. “look what we found–love and community and support. Let us sing and have ceremony!” But from the standpoint of most of secular liberal activist society, this is like learning to walk or see or smell for the first time again and against a backdrop normally shaded to highlight operations, initiatives, and campaigns
It is perhaps unfair to us for me to depict our congregation according to this metaphor of us as spiritual children. As a group we are well-enough versed and informed in the ways of formal religions. We are in fact borrowing heavily from our religious experiences, as we hope to construct a foundation for an inner-home built explicitly around care for each other, erected on love and support without judgment—a place where we would ask each other, “how are you?” and truly accept and expect the long and truthful answer. We were looking for a place where we could be vulnerable, where we could sing and dance and cry together. And grieve our own sorrows, and for the sorrows of the world. And celebrate our hopes. And express the joy of living when we could.
This may sound hyperbolic, like a good poetic line. Or maybe it sounds sappy. Perhaps it makes you cringe as I once would have as an on-fire Transition activist ready to shoot-off a barrage of critiques of consumer capitalism. It is none of those things for us, nor was it from that first moment when we sat in a circle by the lake and sang together, drawing close enough to each other to feel the vibrations of each other’s voices upon our chests. Since this time, we have held a few more ceremonies, including a lovely meditation based on renewing our senses, as well as a profound and moving grief circle. Many of us also engage in Ecstatic Dancing, and we are likely to include elements of full body expression into our small and slowly growing repertoire of ceremony.
Even though in the first baby-steps of Earth Church, there is a respect and reiteration of the many and powerful churches that worship sky-gods, or the less prominent ones that revive ancient earth-gods, none of us have been fully satisfied with our previous religious experiences. This discontent, if I may call it that, is for some only slight, while for others it is nearly absolute. This, I should say, includes Unitarianism, which we are not simply re-creating with a different name. We may, it turns out, be far too reverent and faithful for Unitarianism, though that is the topic for another reflection. For there is, somewhere within the invisible vines stringing us into one, a main focus for our sacraments and rituals. We are not just worshipping for worships sake or making ceremony because we believe people need them. We actually have something drawing us to worship, and it reverts back to our earlier Transition bonding. At some level (yet to be determined), we want to worship the earth and its natural systems, learn from them, follow them, embed them into our spiritual practices, daily lives, and our efforts of healing. We began our first meeting with a reading from Wendell Berry, where he praises the soil as the source and destination of all. Some of us may believe in a supernatural power, but here we are developing a sort of natural supernaturalism which makes the soil holy, sacred, and divine.
This of course is to admit that our ideas are not all self-invented. We all bring different source, experiences, and traditions to the circle. Wendell Berry and Thoreau are my patron saints; people like Jim Merkel an exemplary friar. But unlike most social movements, I will venture to say with some risk, we have a faith–a concept I will discuss more below or at a later date. Unlike other religions or churches, our faith is directed toward the sacred, healing, all-giving, yet fragile and suffering Earth. It is to the Earth and its creatures to whom we are responsible and to whom we are called.
This, of course, is my own interpretation of our common bonds. I am putting what I have heard and felt into my own language even as I try to borrow heavily on others’ words. I write this with their permission and hope others will describe our struggles and successes in their own tongue. But it is safe to say that we are as a group approaching this venture (which no longer feels like a venture, but already a spiritual home) slowly, and with caution. I think we agree that it should be allowed to evolve, and evolve at an unforced pace. It remains to be seen whether it grows, and what further songs and dances we find and invent to heal ourselves, praise the Earth, and spread joy to the ends of our reach.
26 Comments on "Earth Church"
John on Fri, 2nd Sep 2016 4:10 pm
It is definitely the end…
onlooker on Fri, 2nd Sep 2016 4:42 pm
I do not think we should worship anything or anyone. Simply love existence and all the positive aspects that comprise it
penury on Fri, 2nd Sep 2016 5:04 pm
It is always the same. As people fear the coming times, they will resort to religion. Count on it, religion and dictators, when people are afraid, they all want the strong leader to protect them
ghung on Fri, 2nd Sep 2016 5:22 pm
Meh… Human groups need some kind of ‘mythological’ structure; codes to live by; myths to provide context; transcendental heroes, all that. The Bill Moyers discussions with Joseph Campbell did a fine job of explaining The Power of Myth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLKUFYAOoRI&list=PLJC4RI_XGMqN30ft6OFd1QUrO01kc8AT1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Myth
makati1 on Fri, 2nd Sep 2016 5:49 pm
Religion is a sign of ignorance and weakness. Understandable in the uneducated ages and places, but today, there is no excuse. Another form of slavery perpetrated by the few on the many.
peakyeast on Fri, 2nd Sep 2016 6:06 pm
At 4 minutes to midnight the pond is almost empty – thats what we saw in the 40s. The world was endless. We had just started using fossil fuels.
What we see today is 1 minute to midnight – or less. And the pond is looking full.
You have to be a frigging retard not to understand the meaning of this change.
onlooker on Fri, 2nd Sep 2016 6:09 pm
Religion another way to make people reliant upon others and separate them from others
JuanP on Fri, 2nd Sep 2016 6:15 pm
I couldn’t finish this hopey changey spiritual crapola. I guess the author would call me an activist whatever that means to him. Today I spent five hours gardening and two hours studying botany. Yesterday I taught a composting seminar in the morning as part of my volunteering as a Master Gardener for my county’s extension office. Tomorrow I will garden and fish. Sunday I will volunteer at a local organic Permaculture farm from 9 am to 1 pm. Next week I will begin building a raised bed garden I designed for the Miami-Dade extension office’s garden. It was not my idea but I am the one that made it happen.
I like doing things and enjoy doing them, but I also like seeing results. Nothing wrong with simply chilling, though, that is what I do in between projects.
Apneaman on Fri, 2nd Sep 2016 7:18 pm
Good on ya, Juan. It’s good to create meaningful things in one’s life. For me it’s expanding the minds of peakoil.com visitors (y’all welcome). It’s especially important if you don’t believe in one of the many sky daddy myths or have children. I’ve heard many overly religious people claim that if there is no god then how can there be any meaning? MAKE IT UP! – same as the gods and nation states and all the rest of it. If there is no god does that mean your kids don’t matter anymore? Your mom? How about the wife and “all the girls I’ve loved before”? Would everything and everyone they ever cared about lose all meaning if they concluded that there is no god? I think if I’m going to blame the gods then I gotta lay it on Prometheus. Ever since they got that the fire the humans have been burning and burning and they are fastly approaching burnout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipqqEFoJPL4
Apneaman on Fri, 2nd Sep 2016 7:33 pm
Historically robust natural ecosystems could collapse due to climate change, human activity
Global change will strike the oldest and most complex ecosystems of the world hardest, regardless of their past stability. This alarming finding is reported in a JRC-led article published in Nature Communications.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160811101332.htm
Apneaman on Fri, 2nd Sep 2016 7:39 pm
Another big predator in Southeast Asia faces extinction
At best, just 2,500 Indochinese leopards survive today across Southeast Asia. They have been eradicated from 93% of their historic habitat by snares, poachers, deforestation and declines in prey. Can conservationists stop the bleeding before its too late?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2016/aug/31/leopards-tigers-asia-snares-poaching-endangered-extinction
too late? For some – yes. The only chance for these creatures and many others would be a massive human die back. The humans are just like a cancerous tumor. Death follows their presence.
Truth Has A Liberal Bias on Fri, 2nd Sep 2016 11:32 pm
….. And then they got in their cars and drove back their houses full of stuff. Amen!
Fucking retards.
the only transition in the pipe is famine.
Apneaman on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 12:13 am
This one is kind of funny. It’s about modern religionists – techno utopians who “believe” the humans will colonize Mars. Tell yourself.
Life In Outer Space Fantasies
http://www.declineoftheempire.com/2016/09/life-in-outer-space-fantasies.html
Apneaman on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 12:21 am
3 Zika-Carrying Mosquitoes Found in Florida
http://www.webmd.com/news/20160901/3-zika-carrying-mosquitoes-found-in-florida
Zika remains global emergency, virus still spreading, says WHO
Singapore reports 38 new cases of Zika virus
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/zika-virus-who-1.3745728
Oh! Hold it right there. No worries kids. We have the worlds best technology and Top Men on the job. Top men I say.
Zika spraying kills millions of honeybees
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/01/health/zika-spraying-honeybees/index.html
makati1 on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 1:41 am
Ap, if there are 3, there are likely 3 million. We may be seeing the carrier of our extinction. In a few years, the virus will be all over the world where these little beasts can survive, and mosquitoes are very adaptable.
Interesting that the breakout of the disease was in Brazil, the current target of the Empire. Coincidence? Maybe. Or is Mother Nature bringing out her heavy artillery? We shall see.
makati1 on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 1:44 am
BTW: Will the Zika virus’ effects even be noticeable in dumbed down America? One third of the US population’s reading ability is below the 4th grade level. I think even that level is being generous as some of them post here and obvious have not even achieved that ability. lol
Davy on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 3:28 am
Probably a good idea to hear what women and children and younger people think about meaning. If you listen to old white men many who are alone then you are going to reflect on life differently than women, children, and people of color. It appears to be agreed science is essential to meaning. Feelings and emotions are suspect. One said “Religion is a sign or ignorance and weakness” but then there is no offering of what is enlightenment and strength. I imagine what is implied is being strong and enlightened means thinking his way. I can relate to this one the best: “Human groups need some kind of ‘mythological’ structure; codes to live by; myths to provide context; transcendental heroes”. Doing meaningful things and expanding minds is important I read. I agree with that but what about when that becomes a conflict with others who have other ideas in this crowded world? One thing is certain we are in a time of alienation and drift. We are in a time of false prophets. We are in a time of blind faith when there is so much evidence to call into question that faith. We are in a time of decay, decline, destructive change, deflation, and soon death.
This is a great reference from a comment above that hints at how bad it is:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160811101332.htm
“Global change will strike the oldest and most complex ecosystems of the world hardest, regardless of their past stability…invasive species, the warming climate and environmental degradation have altered natural habitats so deeply that species adaptation to historical conditions may not be helpful under these new circumstances…when species become extinct in a sequence consistent with their degree of adaptation to the ‘natural’ environmental conditions within which they had evolved, their extinction has only a limited effect on the overall diversity of the community. Any deviation from this pattern however, may trigger extinction cascades, eventually leading to the collapse of the entire network.”
The above is what is happening today also with the spiritual side of man. Our human bonds at all levels are breaking down consistent with a “cascade of loss”. Our connectivity is fraying as we become more connected. We are exploring the deepest meaning of the universe and at the same time loosing ourselves. This points to an existential situation. Humans can’t handle the truth beyond a certain level because of physical limitations. Humans are hitting limits of meaning. Even the best of us who can get closer to the truth are mere mortals aging and decaying. When you approach the limits of meaning you are approaching the limits of what is human and that is dangerous. When you approach the truth you enter dangerous territory. Maybe this is because as you approach the truth you lose the truth so you end up mad. We are global now. Good luck hiding your precious meaning from the invasive species called modern humans. Good luck maintaining traditional meaning at the same time you try to understanding new meanings. Knock yourself out with finding the truth it may kill you.
We can always find meaning in force, strength, and conquest. All the gaming today revolves around it. The world is full of militarism. It somehow does not work well with soft things of value but it does give satisfaction to those who are “bad asses” who find meaning in kicking ass and taking names. This is why so many are in love with Mad Max and the ideas of a mean and cruel future of barbarism and cannibalism. The problem with these meaning is they are warped by Hollywood. They tend to destroy themselves and they are so much work. Ask any one back from a really good war front what they think of that world.
We can find meaning in civilization with art and we can rest a bit with fantasy so we maybe can face the meaning of no meaning when we leave that fantasy. We can indulge in all the various strong spirits to leave our miserable existence for a short time. Sex is a great way to find connection but unfortunately it gets mixed up with all the above and often becomes dirty and anything but transformative.
I don’t have answers. I mainly have reflections. I will say this it appears we have a short time to enjoy life if you are a lucky one that can manage that. It appears we are in an extinction event which can’t end well for any of us. We have science to tell us these things but science is also ripping apart meaning in our lives and offering little meaning in return. I personally find meaning in nature. It is working best for me. I enjoy these times I have with many of you debating what meaning is. The internet has made that possible. The internet will likely be gone soon so every day I can speak with you is important. I find meaning in sacrifice and effort to be mentally and physically stronger so I can face death. I like helping my fellow man especially locally. Of course I find innate meaning in my children. I know I am told children are bad by many but please explain why they provide me with probably my best meaning. We are likely going to have a great die off. Old white guys like me will go quickly when SHTF. It is the children that will carry on. If you have a few they may help you along in this process. If you don’t than maybe a few will adopt you.
I am finding meaning now in humility and downsizing with dignity. I am doing this in a surreal world of paradoxes and traps. I am doing this with pain and anxiety of knowing more than I should and the pain of carrying that on my shoulder when there are so many innocents oblivious to this. Sometimes I wish I was oblivious. I live preparing to die another day. This means embracing death while trying to live. Talk about incongruous juxtapositions of modern life. WOW WTF.
Cloggie on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 5:12 am
“Sex is a great way to find connection but unfortunately it gets mixed up with all the above and often becomes dirty and anything but transformative.”
All the result of the cultural influence of Sigmund Fraud and the rest of the Sanhedrin, who maintained that everybody is “sexually repressed” and that that should change. And oh boy it did. You can’t watch an add for a car or ice cream without the suggestion of copulation attached to it.
The situation is now so bad that we even have to resort to the good advice of [drumroll]… Pamela Anserson that we should watch less porn.lol!
http://tinyurl.com/zs6jzyh
The coming contraction of energy and economy will lead to the end of modernity that can’t come soon enough. The whole idea that the entire relationship between man and woman should be defined by sex and romantic love till death do us part, should be deep-sixed. Conservatism (“cuckservatism”) is not going to help us here, there is nothing worth to “conserve”. What is needed is some solid industrial strength archaism, not unlike displayed by our ISIS friends (OK, without the head chopping and the Sharia):
– no blitz divorce, certainly not in the case of young children present, like in the fifties.
– restraint behavior in display of sexual goodies that provoke desires “out of context” (marriage). No need for burka’s, fifties is just fine.
– purpose of marriage is achieving immortality through the continuation of your genes, not to produce ten buckets of yogurt in your lifetime.
– acceptance of the bean rule: if you put a bean in a jar every time you have sex during the first year of the relationship and you get one out again for every time you have sex after the first year, the general rule is that the jar will never get empty. No need to see a shrink, it is natural. But the pathologizing of this fact leads to endless breakups with disastrous social consequences.
JuanP on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 7:34 am
Ap, I know you’ve educated and expanded my mind, particularly with the links you post. We share many interests but I am very lazy about looking for info online so I really appreciate your links.
I agree that life has no intrinsic meaning and what your life means is up to you.
Zika has permanently established itself in Florida and will not be erradicated according to the latest research and projections made by UF biologists, entomologists, and epidemiologists. All Florida Master Gardeners are attending half day mandatory Zika seminars right now. I took the class two weeks ago. “What is Zika?” and “What can I do to avoid it?” are the two most common questions being asked to MG by people calling the state’s extension offices at this time. Zika has become one of the most common conversation topics among Floridians.
Cloggie on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 7:40 am
https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=zika,porn,trump
Apneaman on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 1:05 pm
Thanks, Juan. Zika and the others are not big killers as long as there are treatments and top men reducing their numbers, but soon we will be completely overwhelmed. What it’s already doing though is stressing an already stressed system and causing much individual stress. We now now have serious new and improved bug problems from Alaska, Siberia and Northern Canada (Pine beetles) to way down South America and all a consequence of AGW and “development”. AGW did not invent the bugs, but as with all things AGW, it jacked them up and expanded their range and season lengths. Those pine beetles have decimated much of the forests here in BC. It’s a big deal in a number of ways. It’s a real time example of evolution in action. As habitat changes new species will move in, some of the locals will have a population boom while the ones not capable of adapting will migrate or go extinct. Every ecological niche that can be exploited will be exploited. See, the humans only differ from the other life forms in their ability to exploit and their abstract no limits brain. Unfortunately for the humans they have changed the biosphere too such a degree that soon it will stop supporting them. Technology will only take you so far. Species extinction rates are going through the roof, but the bugs love it. They say “save the planet”, but the planet is not the one that needs saving. It’s like there is a mass eviction going on – old tenants are getting kicked out (one destructive one in particular) and new ones are moving in. The majority of new tenants will be bugs and microbes and weedy plants and jellyfish and the like.
Mosquito-borne Diseases on the Uptick—Thanks to Global Warming
Infection rates of diseases like malaria, dengue fever and West Nile virus are likely to rise as a warming climate creates more mosquito-friendly habitats
“According to Maria Diuk-Wasser at the Yale School of Public Health, the onset of human-induced global warming is likely to increase the infection rates of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, dengue fever and West Nile virus by creating more mosquito-friendly habitats.
“The direct effects of temperature increase are an increase in immature mosquito development, virus development and mosquito biting rates, which increase contact rates (biting) with humans,” she reports.”
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mosquito-borne-diseases-on-the-uptick-thanks-to-global-warming/
‘By 2050 half the forms of life we know will be gone’ – conservation biologist
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/358053-earth-humans-geological-age-danger/
JuanP on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 1:38 pm
Yes, Apnea, we now have West Nile, Dengue, and Zika in Uruguay, too. When I lived down there all you could get from a mosquito bite was a sting, but not anymore. I guess sooner or later our ticks will transmit Lyme disease, too. This shit really sucks. 🙁
Apneaman on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 2:44 pm
Juan, sucks indeed. It must be hell on parents. Terrified to let your children go outside? It was already a culture of fear (95% media created) and now the consequences of too many consumer humans is here. Everyone can forget about that 2100 shit. The shit is hitting now.
The life expectancy for a Canadian male is a little over 80 years. I’m scheduled to hit that in 30 years. Think I’ll make it? Do I want too?
Apneaman on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 3:04 pm
Interesting article by the historian examining techno religion and more.
Yuval Noah Harari on big data, Google and the end of free will
“Humanist thinkers such as Rousseau convinced us that our own feelings and desires were the ultimate source of meaning, and that our free will was, therefore, the highest authority of all.
Now, a fresh shift is taking place. Just as divine authority was legitimised by religious mythologies, and human authority was legitimised by humanist ideologies, so high-tech gurus and Silicon Valley prophets are creating a new universal narrative that legitimises the authority of algorithms and Big Data. This novel creed may be called “Dataism”. In its extreme form, proponents of the Dataist worldview perceive the entire universe as a flow of data, see organisms as little more than biochemical algorithms and believe that humanity’s cosmic vocation is to create an all-encompassing data-processing system — and then merge into it.”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/50bb4830-6a4c-11e6-ae5b-a7cc5dd5a28c.html?siteedition=intl
Apneaman on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 3:35 pm
How Many Conduits Do You Have
“Humans have found thousands of ways to channel the fossil fuel energy through the metabolisms of their technological cells (factories/workshops). For work performed in the cells, each human is given a stipend of paycheck with which to vote for their favorite products. Typically, instead of maximizing their own reproduction (children), they’ll instead choose from a variety of product-oriented mental masturbation and neural opioid release instead of pursuing the natural orgasmic opioid release associated with copulation and production of offspring. The variety of opioid possibilities has greatly expanded with technological civilization. Humans will defeat reproductive success, the only measure of success in the ecosystem, through the use of various barriers to conception. Instead of the limbic system tricking the cortex into pursuing sexual relations, the cortex can now trick the limbic system into providing the reward without the associated offspring. “What’s it going to be honey, another kid or a trip to Cancun every year for twenty years?” The typical human will choose the trips, even though they will be less represented in the species DNA in the future, if there is one.”
http://megacancer.com/2016/09/03/how-many-conduits-do-you-have/
Apneaman on Sat, 3rd Sep 2016 4:29 pm
I love this bit of dark humor from the Onion from 2012. One can already see the signs that it is starting happen.
Scientists: ‘Look, One-Third Of The Human Race Has To Die For Civilization To Be Sustainable, So How Do We Want To Do This?’
“WASHINGTON—Saying there’s no way around it at this point, a coalition of scientists announced Thursday that one-third of the world population must die to prevent wide-scale depletion of the planet’s resources—and that humankind needs to figure out immediately how it wants to go about killing off more than 2 billion members of its species.”
http://www.theonion.com/article/scientists-look-one-third-of-the-human-race-has-to-27166
Now here is a real one on from Great Britian today.
Obese patients and smokers banned from routine surgery in ‘most severe ever’ rationing in the NHS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/02/obese-patients-and-smokers-banned-from-all-routine-operations-by/
Oh it’s not real fast…..yet, but you can see the thinking behind it. It’s a cull by another name. Cull lite. Drastic measures, but of course toxic, cancerous, cigarettes (nicotine is the most addictive drug ever) are still a legal corporate product marketed to teens and adults. Many scientists have said that sugar is also addictive in many people. It releases big squirts of dopamine in the brain of many people. Just like cocaine, but not as powerful. Powerful enough to addict people. Food companies employ scientists to concoct the most dopamine releasing products. In the industry they call it the “bliss point”. The food companies are not all that different than any other drug dealer except the corporate food overlords start hooking you with baby food and the cartel waits until you are a teenager. The cartel hires chemists to cook up their product to make it as addictive as possible and so do the mega food corporations.
Sugar, salt, fat: How the food industry got us hooked on an ‘unholy trinity’
“Are we hardwired to love sugar, salt, fat?
Sugar is the most craveable. We have 10,000 taste buds and they’re all wired for the sweet taste and it goes directly, fast, into your brain. Kids are born liking sweet tastes. Fat is in some ways even more powerful. It has twice the calories as sugar and it’s in all kinds of forms and it’s deceptive to the brain. We’re not born liking salt. We develop a taste for it at about age six months. There have been recent studies that show that the food industry is hugely responsible for affecting our cravings for salt.
I’ve heard Canadians like it salty.
The food giants want to hit the “bliss point” – the amount of salt, sugar or fat that is just the right amount to send you over the moon. And when they hit it, the products fly off the shelves. They know that people have different bliss points geographically. There was a senior scientist at the old company General Foods, which morphed into Kraft some years ago. He was in China marketing Tang and as he moved south in the country he noticed people wanted sweeter and sweeter versions. It still remains a mystery why, but you often see people closer to the middle latitudes liking more sugar.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/sugar-salt-fat-how-the-food-industry-got-us-hooked-on-an-unholy-trinity/article8989855/?page=all