Zen Habits “We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.” - Thich Nhat Hanh By Leo Babauta I’m not a Zen monk, nor will I ever become one. However, I find great inspiration in the way they try to live their lives: the simplicity of their lives, the concentration and mindfulness of every activity, the calm and peace they find in their days. You probably don’t want to become a Zen monk either, but you can live your life in a more Zen-like manner by following a few simple rules. Why live more like a Zen monk? One of my favorite Zen monks, Thich Nhat Hanh, simplified the rules in just a few words: “Smile, breathe and go slowly.” However, for those who would like a little more detail, I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve discovered to work very well in my experiments with Zen-like living. “Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.” - Shunryu Suzuki Do one thing at a time. “Before enlightenment chop wood and carry water.
All About Anarchism This classic statement of anarchism was written by a diverse group of anarchists in Cardiff around 1980 and it is an interesting historical record of the optimism of mainstream anarchist thought at that time. There is probably more rubbish talked about anarchism than any other political idea. Actually, it has nothing to do with a belief in chaos, death and destruction. Anarchists do not normally carry bombs, nor do they ascribe any virtue to beating up old ladies. It is no accident that the sinister image of the mad anarchist is so accepted. The alleged necessity of authority is so firmly planted in the average mind that anarchy, which means simply 'no government' is almost unthinkable to most people. Yet there are a limitless range of possible societies without the State. Various sorts of anarchists have differing ideas on exactly how society ought to be organised. Very few people seem to understand anarchism, even though it is a very simple, straightforward idea. Large Scale Campaigns
La tiranía de la falta de estructuras LA TIRANíA DE LA FALTA DE ESTRUCTURASPor Jo Freeman Traducción: Fany RubioPublicado por Forum de Política Feminista - La organización de las asociaciones de mujeres.Subido a la red por Mujeres en Red En los años de conformación del Movimiento de Liberación de la Mujer, se ha puesto especial énfasis en lo que se llama grupos sin Liderazgo y Estructura, como la principal si no la única forma organizativa del movimiento. Sin embargo, la idea de la falta de estructura ha pasado de ser una sana contratendencia a convertirse en una idea de propio derecho. Los problemas no comenzaron a surgir hasta que los pequeños grupos de concienciación agotaron las virtudes de la concienciación y decidieron que querían hacer algo más concreto. Si el movimiento pretende expandirse más allá de estas etapas elementales de desarrollo tendrá que abandonar algunos de sus prejuicios sobre la organización y la estructura. Al contrario de lo que nos gustaría creer no existe algo similar a un grupo sin estructuras.
Anarchosyndicalism by Rudolf Rocker - Chapter 1 [Originally published in 1938 by Martin Secker and Warburg Ltd] Anarchism: Its Aims and Purposes; The Proletariat and the Beginning of the Modern Labour Movement; The Forerunners of Syndicalism; The Objectives of Anarcho-Syndicalism; The Methods of Anarcho-Syndicalism; The Evolution of Anarcho-Syndicalism. Anarchism versus economic monopoly and state power; Forerunners of modern Anarchism; William Godwin and his work on Political Justice; P.J. Anarchism is a definite intellectual current in the life of our times, whose adherents advocate the abolition of economic monopolies and of all political and social coercive institutions within society. In place of the present state organisation with their lifeless machinery of political and bureaucratic institutions Anarchists desire a federation of free communities which shall be bound to one another by their common economic and social interest and shall arrange their affairs by mutual agreement and free contract. Notes Go to Chapter 2
Atheist Quotes Anarchism: For & Against by Albert Meltzer Table of Contents Introduction Inalienable Tenets of Anarchism The Class Struggle Organisation and Anarchism The Role of an Anarchist in an Authoritarian Society Bringing About the New Society The Marxist Criticism of Anarchism The Social-Democratic Critique of Anarchism The Liberal-Democratic Objection to Anarchism The Fascist Objection to Anarchism The Average Person's Objection to Anarchism Introduction The Historical Background to Anarchism It is not without interest that what might be called the anarchist approach goes back into antiquity; nor that there is an anarchism of sorts in the peasant movements that struggled against State oppression over the centuries. In particular, we may cite three philosophical precursors of Anarchism, Godwin, Proudhon, and perhaps Hegel. Godwin is the father of the Stateless Society movement, which diverged into three lines. The third school of descent from Godwin is simple liberalism, or conservative individualism. The Class Struggle
Audio Anarchy Faith of Our ForeFathers December 2006 The Founders are once again in vogue. More than 35 books have been published about them just since January according to Gordon Wood, the foremost authority on that era. One of the sub topics of these books concerns the depth of the religious convictions of these men, particularly the Big Six: Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, and Adams. Authors coming from a conservative religious perspective believe that the Founders were highly religious and that the religious convictions of these men have been underestimated or deliberately ignored. Conversely, many liberal academics are equally fearful that the Religious Right is creating an inaccurate and distorted view of the Founders to promote their current political agenda. Major Founders George Washington Washington was clearly a "child of the Enlightenment" and as such was not a particularly religious person. Like most of the other Founders, Washington firmly believed in "the Hand of Providence." Benjamin Franklin
Constitution Myths Have you ever heard someone say, "That's unconstitutional!" or "That's my constitutional right!" and wondered if they were right? You might be surprised how often people get it wrong. You might also be surprised how often people get it right. A lot of people presume a lot of things about the Constitution. One critique of this page is that it is full of nit-picks. The Air Force The Constitution was ratified in 1787, long, long before the advent of the airplane. Congressional Districts Congressional Districts divide almost every state in the United States into two or more chunks; each district should be roughly equal in population throughout the state and indeed, the entire country. The Electoral College The concept of the presidential elector is certainly in the Constitution, but never is the group of people collectively referred to as "The Electoral College." Executive Orders Executive Privilege Freedom of Expression (Absolute) Freedom of Speech and Press God Innocent Until Proven Guilty
The Long Road to Revolution The term “revolution” has been so relentlessly cheapened in common usage that it can mean almost anything. We have revolutions practically every week: banking revolutions, cybernetic revolutions, medical revolutions and an Internet revolution every time someone invents a clever new piece of software. The commonplace definition of revolution has always implied something in the nature of a paradigm shift, a clear break, a fundamental rupture in the nature of social reality, after which everything works differently and prior categorizations no longer apply. It is this understanding of the concept that makes it possible for people to claim that the modern world is essentially derived from two revolutions: the French and the Industrial. The fact that the two have almost nothing in common, other than seeming to mark a break with what came before, rarely deters people from the theory. So what will it be? Revolution on a worldwide scale will unfold at a very slow pace.
Holocaust Timeline Jump to: 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1933 January 30, 1933 - Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany a nation with a Jewish population of 566,000. February 22, 1933 - 40,000 SA and SS men are sworn in as auxiliary police. February 27, 1933 - Nazis burn Reichstag building to create crisis atmosphere. Terms of use: Private home/school non-commercial, non-Internet re-usage only is allowed of any text, graphics, photos, audio clips, other electronic files or materials from The History Place.
Brave New World Revisited (1958) by Aldous Huxley Contents Foreword I Over-PopulationII Quantity, Quality, Morality III Over-Organization IV Propaganda in a Democratic Society V Propaganda Under a Dictatorship VI The Arts of Selling VII Brainwashing VIII Chemical Persuasion IX Subconscious Persuasion X Hypnopaedia XI Education for Freedom XII What Can Be Done? Foreword The soul of wit may become the very body of untruth. However elegant and memorable, brevity can never, in the nature of things, do justice to all the facts of a complex situation. But life is short and information endless: nobody has time for everything. The subject of freedom and its enemies is enormous, and what I have written is certainly too short to do it full justice; but at least I have touched on many aspects of the problem. I. In 1931, when Brave New World was being written, I was convinced that there was still plenty of time. The society described in 1984 is a society controlled almost exclusively by punishment and the fear of punishment.
Celines laws Celine's Laws are a series of three laws regarding government and social interaction attributed to the fictional character Hagbard Celine from Robert Anton Wilson's and Robert Shea's Illuminatus! Trilogy. Celine, a gentleman anarchist, serves as a mouthpiece for Wilson's libertarian, anarchist and sometimes completely uncategorizable ideas about the nature of mankind. Celine's Laws are outlined in the trilogy by a manifesto titled Never Whistle While You're Pissing. Wilson later goes on to elaborate on the laws in his nonfiction book, Prometheus Rising, as being inherent consequences of average human psychology. A piece entitled Celine's Laws appears in Robert Anton Wilson's The Illuminati Papers, which features articles written by Wilson under the guise of many of his characters from The Illuminatus! Celine's First Law[edit] National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity. Celine's Second Law[edit] Accurate communication is possible only in a non-punishing situation.