The Public Square

Ames Gilbert on Elena and blog

2012-02-02T20:11:00.004-05:00

151. Ames Gilbert - January 21, 2012

Regarding #117-147 and those related,
I guess it comes down to something we have discussed several times on past pages, along the lines of, “What is the purpose of the blog?”

Personally, I find it more useful to have direct discussions about Robert Earl Burton and “Fellowship of Friends” / “Pathway to Presence” / “Living Presence” / “Being Present.org”, what led us to become involved in such, and what enabled us to leave, rather than about Nigel Harris Price, and details about his life and mental conditions, unless directly relevant. IMHO, apart from the fact that he was a member for a while, there is little relevance in total and so, for me, little interest. So I come to the same conclusion that Paul Gregory and others have reached, that the sheer volume of Nigel’s contributions mostly just clog up the works and are tiresome even to scroll past. Something I don’t understand is, if he is compelled to share everything he has found on the internet, why can’t he just offer the links and leave it at that. Even better, a week’s worth of links in one weekly post, even if it has to be moderated (there is little or nothing of such urgency it can’t wait a day Steve to moderate it). That way, those sympathetic or interested can plough through them, folks like myself can skip them. I think the suggestion that he start his own blog is excellent; Elena did the same, and she is running a very successful monolog running to thousands of entries (ninety percent of which she has also copied from the web), and seems perfectly happy.

In a former post, I put forward what I felt were the purposes of this blog. I made this list trying to imagine what would be immediately useful to someone who was doing due diligence about the Fellowship, or would be useful to someone thinking about leaving the Fellowhip.
• First, to alert present and especially prospective members that there are alternate viewpoints; examples being the sleight of hand where the FoF presents itself as a 4th Way ‘school’ while actually proselytizing ‘Burtonism’.
• Second, how crime and corruption spread from the center to permeate the organization, including the indulgence of Burton the sexual predator. 
• Third, to collect human stories about experiences, positive and negative, in the Fellowship. 
• Fourth, to show present members that there is indeed ‘life after the Fellowship’, with practical examples of how people have moved on, healed, or found new pathways.
• Fifth, as a very limited medium to help healing, and within reason, a venue for occasional venting.

Elena:

I must have hurt this man deeply to find him still trying to justify himself.

Nigel may be repetitive but he's alive in his own particular way. How afraid you are of being banned like Elena although you're barely tolerated. At least once there was love between us.

It's strange that nowhere in Ames' points, is the aim to stop the cult no matter how much they've looked at its crimes. I guess brainwashing takes more to come off than one can even suspect.

A long time has passed and I am well. I am actually happy! It's taken five years now but for the first time I can say that most of the ill effects of the cult have gone. There is more sorrow than anger with both the cult and the blog and even the sorrow has given way to "something that happened". I continue to work and no longer publish what I am working on my blog because there is no feedback. I'm more interested in a dialogue at this point but still publish material that I find relevant to my understanding of the times.

I have apologized many times for my excesses in the fofblog but not for my thoughts. It has been good to be able to explore and state my understanding without having to argue with a lot of people unwilling to share their soul and hurting out of disagreement with essential principles. I stand still by everything I said even while recognizing the overdose with which I said it. We got into the personal and that was alright too. I made many mistakes, the ego became as rough as that of others but some recognized that I was defending myself.

All is well as it is.

The people in the blog and cult might not have heard me but the 99% occupying the Public Squares of the World already knew it. That is much more than I ever expected. It not only gives me joy, it gives me peace.

For the love of life! Thank you to all these people

2012-02-02T17:34:00.000-05:00

350.org activists join Occupy Wall Street. (photo: 350.org/flickr)

Climate Change Fight Is Down to the 99%

By Naomi Klein, Guardian UK

10 October 11

Our movement differs from previous anti-globalisation protests. To change society's values we must stay together for years.

f there is one thing I know, it's that the 1% loves a crisis. When people are panicked and desperate, that is the ideal time to push through their wishlist of pro-corporate policies: privatising education and social security, slashing public services, getting rid of the last constraints on corporate power. Amidst the economic crisis, this is happening the world over.

There is only one thing that can block this tactic, and fortunately, it's a very big thing: the 99%. And that 99% is taking to the streets from Madison to Madrid to say: "No. We will not pay for your crisis."

That slogan began in Italy in 2008. It ricocheted to Greece and France and Ireland and finally it has made its way to the square mile where the crisis began.

Many people have drawn parallels between Occupy Wall Street and the so-called anti-globalisation protests that came to world attention in Seattle in 1999. That was the last time a global, youth-led, decentralised movement took direct aim at corporate power. And I am proud to have been part of what we called "the movement of movements."

But there are important differences too. We chose summits as our targets: the World Trade Organisation, the IMF, the G8. Summits are transient, they only last a week. That made us transient too. And in the frenzy of hyper-patriotism and militarism that followed 9/11, it was easy to sweep us away completely, at least in North America.

Occupy Wall Street, on the other hand, has chosen a fixed target. And no end date. This is wise. Only when you stay put can you grow roots. This is crucial. It is a fact of the information age that too many movements spring up like beautiful flowers but quickly die off. It's because they don't have roots. And they don't have long term plans for how they are going to sustain themselves. So when storms come, they get washed away.

Being horizontal and deeply democratic is wonderful. These principles are compatible with the hard work of building structures and institutions that are sturdy enough to weather the storms ahead. I have great faith that this will happen.

Something else this movement is doing right: You have committed yourselves to non-violence. You have refused to give the media the images of broken windows and street fights it craves so desperately. And that tremendous discipline has meant that, again and again, the story has been the disgraceful and unprovoked police brutality.

But the biggest difference a decade makes is that in 1999, we were taking on capitalism at the peak of a frenzied economic boom. Unemployment was low, stock portfolios were bulging. The media were drunk on easy money. It was all about start-ups, not shut-downs.

We pointed out that the deregulation behind the frenzy came at a price. It was damaging to labour standards. It was damaging to environmental standards. Corporations were becoming more powerful than governments and that was damaging to our democracies. But to be honest with you, while the good times rolled, taking on an economic system based on greed was a tough sell, at least in rich countries.

Ten years later, it seems as if there aren't any more rich countries. Just a whole lot of rich people. People who got rich looting the public wealth and exhausting natural resources around the world.

The point is, today everyone can see that the system is deeply unjust and careening out of control. Unfettered greed has trashed the global economy. And we are trashing the natural world. We are overfishing our oceans, polluting our water with fracking and deepwater drilling, turning to the dirtiest forms of energy on the planet, like the Alberta tar sands. The atmosphere can't absorb the amount of carbon we are putting into it, creating dangerous warming. The new normal is serial disasters: economic and ecological.

These are the facts on the ground. They are so blatant, so obvious, that it is a lot easier to connect with the public than it was in 1999, and to build the movement quickly.

We all know, or at least sense, that the world is upside down: we act as if there is no end to what is actually finite: fossil fuels and the atmospheric space to absorb their emissions. And we act as if there are strict and immovable limits to what is actually bountiful: the financial resources to build the kind of society we need.

The task of our time is to turn this round: to challenge this false scarcity. To insist that we can afford to build a decent, inclusive society - while at the same time respect the real limits to what the earth can take.

What climate change means is that we have to do this on a deadline. This time our movement cannot get distracted, divided, burned out or swept away by events. This time we have to succeed. And I'm not talking about regulating the banks and increasing taxes on the rich, though that's important.

I am talking about changing the underlying values that govern our society. That is hard to fit into a single media-friendly demand, and it's also hard to figure out how to do it. But it is no less urgent for being difficult.That is what I see happening in this square. In the way you are feeding each other, keeping each other warm, sharing information freely and providing health care, meditation classes and empowerment training. My favorite sign here says "I care about you." In a culture that trains people to avoid each other's gaze, to say "Let them die," that is a deeply radical statement.

We have picked a fight with the most powerful economic and political forces on the planet. That's frightening. And as this movement grows from strength to strength, it will get more frightening. Always be aware that there will be a temptation to shift to smaller targets - like, say, the person next to you. Don't give into the temptation. This time, let's treat each other as if we plan to work side by side in struggle for many, many years to come. Because the task before us will demand nothing less.

Let's treat this beautiful movement as if it is the most important thing in the world. Because it is. It really is.

This is a version of a speech delivered on Thursday, that first appeared in print in the Occupied Wall Street Journal.

Comments

+21 # chick 2011-10-10 20:14

Oh how true this is. That is the one thing the Republicans are always trying to do, to make us fight each other and distract us from the real issues.

We have got to stick together if we want the change we all crave.

The Public Square

Ames Gilbert on Elena and blog

For the love of life! Thank you to all these people

Climate Change Fight Is Down to the 99%

Comments

Elena on the actualization of being in the law.

"Our constitution already makes it clear that no person may be owned by another person. Under that precedent, Wells Fargo would never have been allowed to acquire Wachovia. Newscorp, Disney, Viacom, CBS, Time Warner and GE wouldn't have been allowed to conquer the media."

Occupy Phase II: The Supreme Court

Occupy Phase II: The Supreme Court

To the few of you who come here often and take what you find of use, happy new year.

The new blog and it's shortsightedness

FELLOWSHIP OF FRIENDS DISCUSSION - LATEST COMMENTS

BLOG ARCHIVE

LABELS

"DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL" PART 1

"DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL" PART 2

LINKS

"ton's" Story

"ton's" Story

http://robertearlburton.blogspot.com

Elena vs the Fellowship of Friends

THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2008

A former believer takes on the leader

Richard Wolff: Eurozone Woes Result from Mating of Our "Dysfunctional" Political, Economic Systems

Richard Wolff: Eurozone Woes Result from Mating of Our "Dysfunctional" Political, Economic Systems

Communicating is part of our being

Julian Assange: Internet Has Become 'Surveillance Machine'

Comments

“We found each other.”

Occupy Wall Street: The Most Important Thing in the World Now