Capitalism is about using money to make money for people who already have more of it than they need. Its institutions, by their very nature, breed inequality, exclusion, environmental destruction, social irresponsibility and economic instability while homogenising cultures, weakening the institutions of democracy, and eroding the moral and social fabric of society. – David Korten

The Miniature Earth is powerful piece of multimedia that shows us the statistics of life on earth. The message? = Be thankful for what you’ve got and help others, especially those you don’t know, by treating them as human beings no matter what the differences are. The world is not the way it is by accident. It is like this because of greed and fear. Greed is NOT what we need and fear should NOT be let near. Be bold, but be nice. Share.

This was sent to me by a friend on Facebook and duly passed around. But I need to put it here alongside some related videos, especially given the time of the year, as a reminder of how unjust this world is. Don’t close your eyes.

The Miniature Earth

Next up is a piece from Avaaz.org Avaaz (meaning “voice” or “song” in Hindi, Urdu, Farsi, and other langauges) is a community of global citizens who take action on major issues around the world. The video is made by Agit-Pop and features the music of Dj Spooky.

Stop the Clash of Civilizations

And the final word goes to Alan Watts, with the help of the animation skills of the South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Prickles and Goo

[click for bigger image]

I picked up a free copy of the Evening Herald in Bus Aras the other day. Unfortunately there was no recycling bins where I could dispose of this waste of paper so I left it on the bench to pollute someone else’s mind after me! Anyway, I could write an in depth piece about ‘free’ newspapers and the waste that they are, but I will save that one for another day.

This story is related though and it stems from this piece that I snapped from this free rag to pass the time while I waited for my bus. The article talks about Anti Social Behaviour and the photo cites graffiti as being such that. But yet, graffiti is not mentioned in the article and I wonder if it is in the report at all.

Now I’m not going to defend all graffiti here. Some of it, is of course rubbish. Tags could be seen as just the work of bored teens rather than a piece of art or a statement. I don’t really get tagging to be honest. Some of it is good, especially on a big scale where there is obviously preparation and thought put into the design. But some is just crap, the “I woz ere” or “BA luvs GB” variety, as much to say “I own this here bit of wall, look at me”. Now I know a lot of graffiti artists will disagree with me, but you have to draw the line somewhere and by that I mean where you don’t write on walls. For example, if it is going to piss someone off enough to start addressing their local politicians about cleaning up the neighbourhoods and imposing tough penalties on people who draw on the walls no matter if they are just inconsiderate bored teens or creative street artists. In other words, painting them all with the same brush.
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