World Vision Dialogue - What YOU CAN DO TODAY

TAKING ACTION: Doing YOUR PART

Message from Costa Rica from Joshua Peace Seeker

Dear friends,

I have witnessed the world I want to live in.

I have seen what people can do to work together.

I have felt community.

It is time to follow your heart people. It is time to do what you know needs to be done to empower yourself and your community. I have taken the leap myself with this project in Coats Rica. We all have a different role to play in the revolution. So lets all make sure we do our part the way we can. Start today in fact.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
If you want to stop playing in the George Bush game, STOP. Get active right now with some local food production. This summer with the cost of food and fuel so high is a great time to start. Look into a Community Supported Agriculture project in your town. Buy a share of a farm and help the farmers produce local, organic foods. Just one step, but a huge step, towards freeing yourself.

Anyone who wants to learn and or teach how to get back to a better balance, please come visit our farm in Costa Rica.

Help us rebuild the forests.

www.verdenergia.org

Peace,

Joshua Hughes
VerdEnergia Pacifica de Lanas Kai
Costa Rica

IRAN: How can we allow another WAR?

Message from Costa Rica from Joshua Peace Seeker

Dear Friends,

The U.S. government is gearing up to attack Iran.

We simply cannot allow them destroy another sovereign country that has done nothing to harm the U.S.
This video came out about 9 months ago. You may have seen it, but take another look. (Unfortunately, the statistics it quoted back then are sadly have greatly increased.

http://www.lucasgray.com/video/peacetrain.html?

Please also review some updated statistics below. We need to take every action we can and speak to everyone we know to stop the horror and terror our country is inflicting.

No time to hope it will not happen.
The train is leaving the station.?  All aboard.

2,974 people died from attacks on 9-11
since then...

Numbers with a human face and human impact to consider...

In Iraq and Afghanistan:
4,858 American and coalition soldiers killed
55,840 American and coalition soldiers seriously wounded
30,000 Iraqi soldiers killed
90,000 seriously wounded
785,957 IRAQI CIVILIANS KILLED
1,414,723 IRAQI CIVILIANS SERIOUSLY INJURED

Source:
http://icasualties.org/oif
http://www.unknownnews.net/casualties.html

War cost in Afghanistan, Iraq - $2.4 trillion in next decade
http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/331905.htm

$8,000.00 for every man, woman, child and infant in the U.S.
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/Cost-of-War/Cost-of-War-3.html

War Costing $720 Million Each Day - $500,000.00 a minute.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/21/AR2007092102074.html

Peace,

Joshua Hughes

VerdEnergia Pacifica de Lanas Kai
Costa Rica

Those who do not move, do not notice their chains.

~Rosa Luxemburg

Re-foresting and Carbon Trading Program: Changing the world one action at a time

Message from COSTA RICA from Joshua Peace Seeker

Hola,
I hope all is well with you and your families. I have a few minutes in town were I can get online and I excited to share with you. We have come a long way at our farm in a short time. We have finished one house and we are starting to set up our organic gardens now. A LOT OF WORK. But it is very rewarding. The hardest part of this change is being far from so many loved ones. However we are making great friends with our whole new community here. I am learning Spanish quickly. My daughter is doing wonderful with this culture. She is rapidly learning Spanish.

We have planted over 300 trees in our re-foresting and carbon trading program. As people come to visit, we are having the best connections with everyone one of them.We are sowing the seeds of peace on a deep level with people. Without the noise of the U.S.A. for a few days people can really think.

Three LESSONS LEARNED SO FAR...
1. One must feel the world. Seeing it on TV or reading about other cultures is not enough.
2. Build something! From a desk to a garden, it is very rewarding to feel even a little self sufficient in todays world.
3. We are connected. All peoples are similar when you try to communicate on a heart level.

...almost forgot, there is a fourth lession, roosters are loud, EARLY!

I wish you all well and I will write again soon. If you want information; leave comments here. I will respond.

Peace,

Joshua Hughes

VerdEnergia Pacifica de Lanas Kai
Costa Rica

Those who do not move, do not notice their chains.

~Rosa Luxemburg

ECO FARMING-REFORESTING: LIFE in a NEW DIRECTION

Coming to you from rom Costa Rica...

As I stepped on a plane to leave The USA for a while I felt very sad. I found myself crying on and off for most of the flight to Costa Rica. I realized that my desire to do something new and different in a new country is a big step. I really struggle each day while I am participating in the war machine. However I truly love the people in my tribe. I truly love my neighbors in the USA.

My life is leading me into a new direction, one of planting seeds. Both in the ground and in peoples hearts. Many people I am meeting want to chat about why I left. As I try to explain I feel the need to not be negative about things. Their are so many reasons I am here but I am trying to talk and walk into light, not away from darkness.

I just started reading a new book by Thich Nhat Hanh called Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community and the World. I hope you find time to read it. He says both negative and positive feelings are just seeds planted deep in our hearts. What I feel for me is that the culture in the USA was watering and tending to the negative seeds. The weeds can overtake the fruit trees when they get all of the water.

The world is a small place and I know that each person must find how they can make it more peaceful. All I ask of anyone is to try and create peace, right now and every minute from now on. I have been blown away daily at how manifestation works in my life. After Burningman this year my tribe put ourselves into action. This eco farm and reforesting project has been molded from dreams. All you have to do is start doing what you have a passion for and things will come out good.

I read this quote today and it made me smile:

"Those who do not move, do not notice their chains."
~Rosa Luxemburg

Lets start moving and motivating ourselves to break those chains.

Peace and Love,

JoshuaPeaceSeeker

Heading South

My tribe is heading to Costa Rica!   We are putting our money where our mouths are.  Buying 60 acres and reforesting a large part of it.  We are also going to build a cob house village and eco retreat.  Teaching Ticos how to use there palm oils to run their vehicles will be a huge part of our adventure as well.

 

Many of my friends and family yearn for a chance to do something meaningful.  I have been spending my money and energy to help inspire those people to change.  We are going put ourselves in a position to not need the corporatocracy as much.  Hurricane Katrina was another awakening for me that the government is not looking out for us.  I could not find the money needed to build what I wanted in the States.  Places like Costa allow us to join/build a positive community for very little money.

If you have a dream to build something start making it happen now.  Our world needs us to take action.

Peace

Spelling Truth

I just got back from a few weeks at Burningman.  It was such a great time.  I really saw a community that takes care of itself.  I saw people living with free minds and bodies.  Getting back to the "real world" feels different then it did before I left for the desert.  I am motivated like never before to build the world I want. 

I have been getting out every day during the rush hours and holding up huge signs over the freeway.  In just and hour 10's of thousands of people are seeing my message.  Today I am going out with a 25 foot wide 4 foot tall sign that reads "BUSH = Terrorist".  Yesterday we held up a "9-11 Was An Inside Job" sign.

Please try this.  It feels great to get the word out to so many in such a short period of time.   It works sort of like a poll in your area, the amount of honks people give in support will blow your mind.

Peace

Helping the hopeless?

Taking action, no matter how big or small,

can seem futile.  People around us will say

things about how small actions make no

difference.  I even tell myself that hope is

not real!

But when I do that the powers that be have

already won.  Not the terrorists of the world,

but the fear mongers who profit the most

from the chaos.

Our brothers and sisters of the world are

fighting now, but they have fought before.  The

cycle seems endless.  I disagree that it

is endless.  I look at history and I see the amount of

energy and propaganda it takes the government to mobilize

people to kill on a massive scale.  The

masses are too lazy to walk to the T.V. much

less lace up and fight in the desert.  Only 1

out of 300 Americans has been in Iraq, and

Afghanistan.  We are all not lead into battle

so easily.  The media would have us believe

that outside forces are threatening our

security.  What has a Lebanese child ever do

to you?

We come together tonight to help ease the

suffering of a few people in a war torn

country.  I am proud of anybody who takes

time or energy to show compassion for

others.  But the work only begins here

tonight.  The changes we need to make as a

society are huge. 

Our community needs to stand together in

the streets and demand the truth be told!

 

Our Community needs to stand together and

Demand human rights before dividends!

Our government has failed us.  They have

let big business take over all aspects of our

national policy.  From the drugs your

grandma takes to the wars we fight.  Big

business has us by the throat, profiting from

every drip of our collective sweat and blood. 

Take some control, through co-op farming

in your neighborhood or purchasing locally

made bio-fuels, take back the power!

Much like Spider-man “with much power

comes much responsibility” our

American lifestyle requires us to take action. 

We have sat by while Bush and co have

stripped us of our rights.  You or I may not

feel those restrictions yet but they have

“loaded the gun” of oppression.  They are

ready to pull the trigger on anyone who tries

to get in the way of their lies.

Can you say coup de ta? If you are 

waiting for us to hit bottom you just need

to remember what happened in the 2000

election, then the 2004 election.  Our vote

are not counted anymore.  Over 3.7 million

votes were thrown out in the last election

Bush “won”  We have a dysfunctional

democracy.  A rich oilman was installed

and we did nothing.  Without elections what

options do we have left to get our views

expressed?  How do we change things?

 

Bush and Cheney had war plans for Iraq and

Afghanistan from day one.  They just needed

the nation to get behind them.  9-11, That

horrible day that almost sent me into the

Military.  I am greatfull for the few friends I

had that were willing to speak the truth

during an emotional time.

I think the time has come expose the lies of

9-11.    The people who attacked our

Firefighters, Policemen, janitors and stock

brokers are the same men running and

ruining our country now.

I can only hope that a fire gets lit under

more of our asses.  And soon!   If we as a

country let the blame for these wars fall in

the lap of a few thugs from a cave , we will

never fix the “problems”.  The threat to

empire will always increase as empire

abuses its power.

Suffering is not an abstract thing for our

families and friends in Lebanon.  WAR is

real to them now.  Lucky us huh.  Only

American made bomb get to feel the battle

not Americans. 

Gandhi or Jesus, the message was the same. 

1.  Take the side of the weak. 

2.  Stand up in the face of oppression.

3.  Don’t worry so much about yourself.

4.   Please just Do something!

Our grandparents got to be the greatest

generation.  The only people in the world

that can stop the madness are young selfless

Americans, We need to stand up and be the

next greatest generation!

Great websites

www.antiwar.com
www.informationclearinghouse.info
www.infowars.com
www.huffingtonpost.com
www.gatheringtogether.com
http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage
http://portland.indymedia.org/
http://www.loosechange911.com/
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/weblog/index.shtml
http://www.dailykos.com/
www.democracynow.org

Iraqi Oil

I would like to recommend Greg Palast's new book "Armed Madhouse".  He lays out the US governments infighting over how to divide Iraqi's oil wealth. 

While it may seem that it would benefit Big Oil to own and operate the oil fields that is not he case.  The corporate goal is to "enhance the relationship between the Iraqi Government and OPEC"   How would that make oil companies happy?  By keeping the OPEC quotas it increases the oil companies wealth without doing anything!  The reserves at the major oil companies have gone up trillions of dollars since Iraq was taken over.  If the oil fields were privatized the production would increase and prices would fall.  The Saudis and other OPEC countries have a great intrest in keeping Iraqi oil from flowing over quota.  If the US thinks it can crush OPEC they will be in for a suprise.  Saudi Arabia would up it's output, reducing the price of oil, and destroy Iraq's economy.

This is all such a confusing mess but we have some power in this.  We must reduce our needs on their products.  And that is not just gasoline.  It is everything made from oil.  If this all seems to big for you just control what you can, your desire for needless toys and needless waste.

Peace through action.

Bigger than me

It's not that I want to go through life concerning myself with negative things.  I could spend my days playing with new technologies or driving to a lake.  Instead I feel drawn into the quagmire that is Life.  The issues we face with war, pollution, scarce resources and dictators dressed as hero's, are in need of huge amounts of our constructive energy. 

I really love the toys of the day.  From Ipods to beautiful new cars.  I get it.  However, when I look at my daughter my heart aches a bit.  My awareness of the danger in her future overwhelms my desires for simple pleasures.

Many in America have an illusion that things have not gotten that bad yet.  I challenge that things are in peril just not in your neighborhood yet.  The cost of living alone is driving many of our brothers and sisters into poverty.  What can we do?

I think that one thing you and I can do.  Something that is positive but a little scary.  Take what this country may have blessed you with already and start following your heart and dreams.  If you have a house that has tripled in value in the last 5 years, and you don't just love your situation in life or the political climate, let it go.  Get yourself out of crushing debt, find a place in the world where you can apply your energy in a positive way. 

I just returned from a three week adventure in Costa Rica.  My tribe of friends and family are going to build an Eco friendly farm/retreat.  A farm is not for everyone but ask yourself what your dream is. Is what your doing now the answer?

When you are talking to your grandchildren don't you want to say you did everything you wanted and could do for the world?

Peace

FOOD and OIL: Do Your Part!

The first --- and what seems to be the hardest step in my actions to help people --- is just to open peoples' hearts to the truth about most of the common everyday things people do to work against the poor. Several thoughts come to mind:

Feeding people through homeless programs, food drives and other avenues is great, but to me, it is like putting a band-aid over your oil light in your car.

You still need to change the oil!

When we can truly stop being such a part of the problem with our personal choices, we WILL be making a huge difference. Oh, I love to help those who need food get it. Dealing with the systems this society creates is necessary while you are trying to cure the sickness.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE LATELY? Do more!

In all of the talk about what we can do to help. What have you done lately to help feed people that need it? I got my company to donate some of their services to the public for donation to the food bank. We raised thousands of pounds of food two weeks ago. And last month we raised $1,400.00 in one afternoon!

You can make a big difference in changing your behavior and using your creativity to find ways to help others, while we work to change the systems that work against the good of all.

Joshua Peace Seeker

France Shows the Way

I wanted to share this with you. It is a wake-up call for all of us to rethink and re-evaluate the world we live in and demonstrates how our actions can be a catalyst for change.

Joshua Peace Seeker

France Shows the Way

In a recent Newsweek column economist Robert Samuelson mocked the protests by French workers and youth against the proposed youth employment law known as the CPE or (what the protesters prefer to call) the Kleenex law. Samuelson, who seems to accept the aforementioned supremacy of the neoliberal marketplace (and its inevitable victory over all), wrote: "the student protesters in France think that if they march long enough...they can make the future go away. No such luck." He continued, enumerating the various global capitalist arguments against the so-called welfare state and its economic inviability in today's modern world. According to this mindset. the decision by many governments to dismantle their systems of national health care, public education, subsidized housing, and old age security is not a matter of choice, but one of necessity. If such cuts are not made, say the cuts' proponents, there will be no future.

Of course, this is simply not true. What this mindset's adherents really mean is that maintaining the current systems of health, education and general welfare for the general population would require bucking the system of international capitalist accumulation and profiteering. It would mean that all of that money being made by so very few corporations and banks would have to be put back into the various national economies from which it has been taken. The entire international economic system of the past sixty years would have to be re-examined and redesigned. In short, new choices would have to be made. Choices that put people, not profit first. Choices that would provide decent work for all of those wishing to work. This is what the French youth and workers are telling their government and the corporations that it kowtows to. This is what the last decade of protests against the WTO and the rest of the international economic system have been about. Poverty and war are not inevitable. Indeed, they are part of the reason why people leave their countries in the southern hemisphere to work in the northern one. On the other side of that coin, they are also underneath the reason nativist elements want to send immigrants back to their home countries and lock down the borders. The economics of neo-imperialism force the logic of the dollar on them all., causing the breakup of families and the growth of unreasonable fears. Fears that serve the interests of the financial masters behind it all. While immigration is certainly part of the natural evolution of human history, the economics of global capital have certainly forced many to leave the places they prefer to live. A system thtat pur people first would either leave those people alone or create good jobs where they live, not where capital goes.

The protests against the job law, the WTO and IMF, and totalitarian immigration laws are the results of conscious choices made by a relatively small number of the earth's inhabitants. The protests in France are a wake up call to all of us. It's time we started making our own choices. Because they are bound by their need for profit, the masters of capital have proven that they are incapable of doing so. A French student in Paris stated the situation quite clearly: "You can't treat people like slaves. Giving all the power to the bosses is going too far." (Reuters 3/28/06)

Ron Jacobs is author of The Way the Wind Blew: a history of the Weather Underground, which is just republished by Verso.

Michael Brown and Bush

Reuters just posted a story about Mike Brown saying that the video of the teleconference between Bush and his Homeland Security team vindicates him.  Reuters failed to point out how it directly contradicted his testimony to the senate last month.  I heard him say in to the senators that he did not know that the Super Dome was going to be used as an emergency shelter. 

Then today I heard him on the video saying that he thought it was a bad idea to put people their.  The point is, he DID KNOW that the Super Dome was a planned evacuation site.  I do give him credit for advising that it was a bad idea, but lying to congress and being negligent is still criminal. 

His inexperience was a huge part of the failures but the lion’s share of the blame should be placed on our focus on military and corporate power, while our infrastructure falls apart right under our feet.  Just not enough rich white feet yet.

We must do more to secure our own towns and lives from this system of corruption.  My bio diesel and recycling companies are up and running.  I am trying to help my area become more self sufficient and more efficient at the same time.  I am sure every city has its share of movers and shakers that need help right now.  It could be the difference if your town has hard times due to mother nature or George W. Bush.

What is my role?

The spin on the news from the U.S. government is always trying to sound positive.  When I counter peoples take on the policy decisions Bush makes, I am told I am just trying to find the negative.  When 30,000 children die each day from preventable issues I don’t care if I sound “negative”.  It is not negative to see and accept reality.  If it seems negative, we should fix the problems, not kill the messanger.

Unraveling the mess of information can be a daunting task.  Each and every one of us does not have the time to even begin to learn everything that needs to be done to heal our society and planet.  Change requires each of us doing what we can.  From a construction worker to an executive we each play a roll.  Make the best environmental decision you can with each project.  Push your management to end unfair or unclean acts.  If you are in mangament, stop letting profit be the only thing you think about.  Building a strong community is worth a lot more than your next year end bonus.

I have found myself compromising my beliefs more the older  I get, but each day I am trying to  reinvent myself.  You can do it too.  It is all just a decision. 

Joshuapeaceseeker Hughes

A Year to Change Your Consciousness

There are several things on my mind that I would like to talk with you about again. First, I feel a momentum in peace movement that I not only want to happen, but is necessary to sustain our lives. Secondly, I believe helping people learn how to economically convert their cars to bio diesel or how to sustain community farms are progressive steps in the right direction. What I’ve learned is that with everyday actions, education and honesty in business practices, we can start the healing process the planet needs. I look forward to continuing to talk with you about practical ideas for WHAT YOU CAN DO as an individual.

Here are three ideas to stimulate your thinking:

1. Recently, I had an opportunity to participate in a personal conversation with John Perkins, author of the bestselling book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. This book really touched me. Last year, after reading his book, I wrote, "Personal responsibility is my theme this year. I love how Mr. Perkins takes the blame. I take the blame as well. Everything I do to feed the machine has to stop. I have recently pulled all of my retirement from any companies that have to do with war or oil. I have also been investing in my home to reduce my own dependence on resources." I've made many changes in my life since then. Several members of the Global Dialogue Center community had a chance to talk with John Perkins about issues that were on our minds now a year later. Two things --- I hope you'll listen and be inspired to read the book and share it with your friends. It is truly a wake-up call for everyone. http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/johnperkins

2. I personally try to break down the walls of country or family or next door. When I over-identified with my country it got me into trouble. I started to fear others. I wanted my side to"win". The only way any of us win is if all of us win.

3. One of the ways I try to help change things is by changing my desires. I do not need the next greatest T.V. or car. I do not need to keep filling my life with debt and plastic! The getting arrested part is just a way to help open others eyes.

Peace,

Joshuapeaceseeker Hughes

My vision of cities is one that is green and edible

My family is part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Project. We buy a share of a 40 acre organic farm in the spring. Each Saturday from June through November we get a huge box of fresh veggies. Over 40 different kinds of fruits and veggies through out the year. It was a great deal, it averaged $21.50 per week for what would have cost $60.00 at a organic store. The farmers are protected financially when we come togather and fund them. They can focus on the farming this way and we can help harvest any time we want. Which also saves us money on the CSA total cost. Check it out here: http://www.gatheringtogetherfarm.com

Peace,
Joshua

Stop the War

What can we do to stop this war?  I met with Congressman Brian Baird from Washington State recently.  He is just as wishy washy about what the causes of the war are as Bush and co.  Our leaders are not going to stop this war.  They are all beholden to war because they take money from the corporations that build the war machine. 

I am going to spend a lot more energy this election year helping The Green party.  We must reach out to our friends about what their vote does mean.  I know many think that casting a vote does not matter, and they may be right, but we can show the major parties that they can not count on us to keep voting for the lesser of two evils.  Or as I like to call them, the evil of two lessers.

Please donate some time or money to a independent or progressive party candidate.  Any ideas on how to help?  Anything anyone has done to help local candidates win please let me know.

Follow the Leader

My Uncle wrote this and I wanted to share.

Joshua

Follow the Leader

Take a step back with me. Into the past of the human species. Keep going. Further into the past. Keep going until you can see the entirety of human history laid out before you. Now let go your biases. Let go your beliefs. Let go your religion, your politics, your color, your nationality and every other orientation you may have.

Quick, what is the first thing you notice? What do you see? Do you see a glorious panoply of advancement and growing enlightenment? A steady progression from the primitive hunter gatherer society to modern day attempts to live in harmony on this earth? Or do you see a history dominated by war, pestilence, aggression, fear. Filled with Attilas and Hitlers and torturers and genocide?


Has the human race been on a path to peace, understanding and harmonious community or have we barely taken a first small step into the light of day? Have we found new ways to kill larger and larger numbers of our enemies, or merely honed the torturer’s craft? Do we have horrible nightmares in our future? Or beautiful dreams?


In truth, human history is all of this, a grand mixture of monsters and saints. The belligerent greed of the Iraq War and the callous disregard of our poorest citizens in the rescue efforts surrounding Hurricane Katrina show us that our darker impulses are little changed from the Romans or Mongols or the Pharaohs or Aztecs. The valiant effort of ordinary citizens tirelessly rescuing people trapped by the flood show that the impulse to good is undiminished as well.


Some among us are driven to power, to conquest, to dominion over those weaker than ourselves. Others are driven to higher callings, from Buddha, to Jesus, to Gandhi to Martin Luther King. We sometimes follow psychopaths who feed on the suffering of the weak and sometimes we follow our exeplars and become rescuers and heroes. We sometimes die for the greater glory of despots and sometimes we give our lives that others may live.


What is not so apparent is the mechanism that allows the rise both of saints and of corruptors in all human societies and cultures. That mechanism is found in the will of the people being led. The people who become either the “good Germans” of the Nazi era, or the people of \South Africa who throw off the yoke of oppression. The people who either allowed evil to flourish, or the people who demanded of their leaders accountability and honesty. The people who either sat in their own privileged comfort while others endure deprivation and die needlessly, or the people who rebelled against ignorance, intolerance and greed.


We have spent thousands of years studying and yet not learning the lessons that could break this cycle. We keep expecting someone new to lead us to the promised land. Someone to speak for us. Someone to show us the way. It doesn’t seem to matter whether these saviors are interested in promoting a more compassionate society as did Jesus, or whether they wish to take us on voyage of conquest and violence, as did Attila, Hitler, and some who would lead us today.


The lesson that we must first learn is that when we become followers we give up responsibility for our own lives and our own actions. The next lesson we need to learn is how not to acquiesce to the temptation to be followers of the next leader that comes along, either for good or ill. We need to take responsibility for our own lives, to be our own “chosen ones.” To listen to our hearts and our consciences and to follow their dictates.


And how do we, who have been trained our whole lives to be obedient, and to seek the “wisdom” of those who know better, break the shackles of our compliance. We do this by any means at our disposal. We read alternative views of history. We widen our perspective. We search within ourselves to find our core values. We find within that which we have hitherto sough without. We discover our essential truths and then we begin to live them. We follow the path given to us by our heart connections. We rise to our own individual power and exercise that power to create the world we long for.


Example 1:

Do you love your children? If you do, what would you be willing to do to ensure their future safety? Would you advocate to end war? Would you ensure that they are given access to the richest learning environment possible? Would you be willing to be uncompromising in the love you give your children? And if you truly love your children, would you extend that love to all the children of the world, to the 30,000 that die each day from starvation and the effects of poverty? Would you be willing to stop buying products made with child labor and to demand an end to human rights abuses? Would you be willing to be uncompromising, to stand up to the “leaders,” to say no more?

Example 2:

Do you love nature, wilderness, the wide open spaces of the natural world? Would you be willing to be uncompromising in your actions to protect nature? Would you give up a life of concupiscence and material goods? Would you consider giving up your SUV? Would you consider dropping off the grid? Would you consider a change of profession and a change of location in order to be more in harmony with nature? Would you be willing to be uncompromising, to stand up to the “leaders,” to say no more?


We all are potential followers of both tyrants and paragons. If we are to change the course of human history we must break this cycle. Each and every one of us has a vital role to play in the deliverance and salvation of mankind. The question is, what will it take for each of us to choose our own direction, to find our own “honorable path?” To live as Buddha and Jesus did. To give up just being “good Germans?” Its our call.


Johnny Peaceseed

Simple life

This morning we at the World Vision Dialogue Center had a great talk with John Perkins (author of the best selling book "Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man") John speaks about indigenous cultures and how differently they view the world.  Thinking simple has really helped me keep my priorities in line.  If we can start collectively thinking simple what might we accomplish?  What if in a family we start only having one vehicle, that happens to run on alternative fuels, instead of two cars and a SUV?  I am working with my friends and family with ideas of community property.  We can own one good lawn mower between us or one leaf blower.  If you can come together to help with each others yard work it will make life easier for all.  This type of thing would save us all time and money. 

Thinking simple is hard after years of conditioning to consume.  I fight my own thoughts every time I see the newest widget.  Do I over spend?  Do I consume more resources?  Do I pay more interest?  Every day I get those urges less and less. 

Peace,
Joshua Peace Seeker

Freeing myself

My life is undergoing huge changes right now.  Selling the house.  Getting out of debt.  It is all very freeing.  We are simplifying everything and moving towards a much more sustainable lifestyle.  I feel that I must live the way I know to be the most peaceful.  Not just in spirit but in everyday actions and in the way we use the planets precious resources. 

I envision the world quickly moving into community based economies.  With the rising costs of fuels and the peeking of the oil reserves we are in for a shock.  I want to build on the strong movement of people everywhere that are working without impacting the ecosystem in such a negative way.  Millions of people are ready and willing to make the changes needed.

How can we ever be free if we have to work so hard just to keep filling our lives with unnecessary comforts while so many suffer with so little.  While at the same time they produce those products we need.  I can not keep holding people down with one hand and writing of peace with the other.

Please start really looking at the resources you require each day.  Really cut back and remove those toxic products and corporations out of your house and out of your pocketbooks. 

I have found freedom in walking the path away from needing so much.  I can only hope that in doing so I can motivate others  to make drastic changes as well.  We all need to breathe the same air and if only a few of us do what is needed of our generation we have failed.  Billions must decide that the long term health of the entire human race is a priority.  Not just making that extra dollar to pay for the new gadget.

When my grandfather died he spoke like so many do.  About not spending enough time focusing on family.  Not making money such a priority.  I was thinking recently that every one I know says just about the same thing when at deaths door.  Why don’t we ever listen?

Changing is easy

I speak with people all of the time about the change needed in the world.  Often I am told I should rise above it all  like Ghandi or like Jesus.  I do not disagree at all with striving to be like great enlighten leaders.  When I take it to the next level and speak of really following those examples by  leaving our material life, the conversation starts to fizzle.  It may feel good to think that you can remove yourself from feeling terrible about world events and ignore it, but what are you doing to stop it?  Are we giving anything up in our lives to create change or are we directly benifitng from the destruction?

If we are to ever really live like the great gurus of the world we must quit being such perpetrators on one hand and peace seekers on the other.  Would Jesus have bought products that came from the suffering of kids like we do when we buy products made in sweat shops?  Would he knowingly pollute the environment each and every day like we all do, to doom the next generation? 

I take responsibility for the things I do.  When I started taking blame change was easy.  When it comes to the state of the world now, it hurts less to change then it does to stay the same.