Personal Emerging Politics

I will spare the story but in the past two years I have become increasingly political. Four real reasons: international injustice (do you know how many children die each day from preventable causes??), peak oil (people are way to ignorant of this), unsustainable corporations (co-operatives are so much better) and the quenching of community through consumerism (this hurts). All these reasons come down to a desire to see good and be part of good in the world.

I realize that some of these are already implemented, some of them are idealistic and likely will not happen and others maybe slightly incoherent.

So here are a list of political positions that are developing but not quite there:
- credit unions should be established and should charge non-profit interest (against Usury)
- > including national credit unions
- worker's co-operatives should be everywhere
- > along with this one of the priorities of government spending should be setting these up
- non-profit social insurance co-ops are needed urgently (Canada is facing a major crisis in a few years with it's spending)
- > along with worker's co-operatives should be funded by the governments but this is higher priority at the moment
- solar and wind energy driven economies
- > we can not survive on oil - the technology exists to go solar/wind
- > to do this a system of carbon taxes, renewable tax credits and laws for certain key sectors that must go renewable
- the IMF needs to change
- > be managed by a board of more equitable representation globally
- > SAPS need to have reasonable interest rates
- > SAPS should encourage the above mentioned government projects and not the selling off of major public works
- > heavily indebted countries need to be forgiven their debts immediately
- the nation-state model needs to be replaced with a continental union model,
- > the African union, the Central American union and the South American union are essential to get off the ground now
- expropriate the patents and rights to their GMOs from Monsanto
- make it illegal to buy non-fair trade purchases (just as Asbestos was made illegal)
- truth-and-reconciliation commissions should be set-up
- > between former colonial powers and colonies
- > between ethnic conflicts the world over
- > in the Great Lakes region of Africa
- > between North and South American post-colonial states and their indigenous peoples
- > between the United States and the various countries it lead coups in during the Cold War
- high-speed trains
- > several long projects within the new continental unions and across borders to create a new internationalism

Things I think about but have reached no solid ideas about:
- the environment - there is danger but what happens when we switch our energy sources?
- education - Illich showed me the disturbing reality of schooling which added to my own suspicion of the institution - where do we go from here?

MY DEEPEST CONCERN:

Community and consumerism - the point isn't to arbitrarily create wealth, although I believe my suggestions will create wealth in the long run. I worry that wealth might lead to excess consumerism and more breakdown of community - more isolated individuals living somewhat meaningless lives moving from place to place with no real friendships, enduring connections or hope for an intentional life.

It will be hell - the damned fires of satiation and excess, greed and loneliness.

That's why I started this blog. It is not that I have confidence in the good human soul but I believe with the technologies that exists a better political order can be founded. This is not some idealism, I believe there is the agency to do so. But hidden within that agency is a dark spirit that will rage a deep spiritual violence on people who live in political peace and economic prosperity but who are not living 'the good life' nor being form into the 'Imago Christi' having forgotten the Imago Dei.

Postmodern Monastaries?

This an older but still relevant and interesting post on Postmodern Monastaries.

What interests me is how this differs from other New Monastic communities in that it is (a) more Monastic in the emphasis on learned skills (b) its emphasis on technology and creativity is not really part of the New Monasticism which is more, well, Amish-y.

One life many stories

One New Years Donald Miller blogged about living a good story as an alternative to New Years Resolutions. I thought the idea was interesting and renewed thoughts in me concerning narrative theology. So I picked up a book of mine, Why Narrative?, and began to read.

What caught my attention was an essay on narrative and ethical theory. The gist of the paper was the importance of narrative as a category in ethics. The more I thought about this the more I wanted to engage with the reality of multiple narratives and the ethical self.

Although this surely is a postmodernist influence on me, that is thinking about the fragmented self, I believe it is important issue, especially for ethics. Personally my story is one that is both as a Christian,as a Canadian, as a member of my family, as a second generation-Canadian who is in Canada because of the actions of Communist Yugoslavia in the 1940s, as a reader of theologies, as a member of an intentional community... all this is me.

Now the question I want to explore is this: what does this mean, because of the many narratives which make up my life, in regard to my discussion on textual community?
I think a textual community needs to be aware of the other narratives that the community members hold to. I think the different ways of interpreting the sacred scripture needed to be informed by these others narrative. On top of that I believe interpretations can be then more intentional seeking to understand, critique and synthesize these other stories.

This is certainly not an end to these thoughts: what do you think?

Altruistic-Profit-Organizations?

Now the title I chose for this post is quite fecisious. I apologize for that.

This idea came to me a few days ago: now we have Non-Profits Organizations and then businesses but not really anything in between. What if there was some sort of legal entity that could be created that could function as a business, by selling some goods and services, providing a small amount of surplus for increased wages and expansion but with the main purpose of giving (most of) the profit away to charities, hospitals, third-world projects and other community-building exercises?

Imagine this: an electric car co-operative in Ontario employing two thousand people. Now as a legal entity they are allowed to use surplus cash to increase workers wages and to expand by a certain percentage but beyond that they must give it away. The co-op chooses to build wells in Africa with it's profits.

Now how is that for some legislation that could be past?

Prophets or Friends?

In "The Rivers North of the Future" Ivan lllich explains his views on prophecy. According to him to the NT form of prophesy has ceased but the function has not. According to him the function of prophecy in the early Christian communities was a warning against the Anti-Christ, which to him means a perversion of the gospel - an example of which is the institutionalization of hospitality.

Today the function of prophecies expresses itself, according to Illich, in the form of friendship.

This idea is a productive one. First of all, as someone who identifies with the missional church movement with a holiness background and having read the Prophetic Imagination and being anti-dispensalitionist I obviously have thought-through and continue to think through the role of prophesy. I would define a prophet and prophetic ministry differently. Nevertheless his emphasis on friendship is key.

Why is it key?

The idea that social change, wisdom and hospitality can come in the locus of something as organic, authentic and powerful as friendship not only fits into Illich's gospel Critique of institutions but it also makes sense from the perspective of social activists and others who believe the world social forums credo "Another World is Possible".

Some today criticize the Counterculture for being essentially hypocritical. In producing products to consume no change actually happens. Rather an illusive dreamstate instead or real political actions occurs.

I really enjoy the idea of the radical nature of friendship. As the new year dawns I will really have to consider this. I think it is this idea which goes under the more technical name 'networking' although I feel friendship itself is far more revolutionary.

Yet this returns me to the topic of Prophecy. What is prophecy? For the Church, who sacred scriptures are almost 1/3 prophetic and whose Messiah was executed partially on the charge of being a false prophet the foggy abiguities of what a prophet is shines through. More so because of the twin conservative-liberal re-defining prophets either as seers or activists respectfully. I believe that this type of binary opposition should be de-constructed.

In my last post I discussed become a textual community. By this I meant the Church honouring the text as authoritative above any actual interpretive reading of the text. Such a practice would both be out of humility and a beautiful ecumenical spirit. I believe friendship is an important part of coming together in, as John Milbank would say, harmonious difference.

And as Christians come together in harmonious difference I think a discussion on the nature of Prophecy, in relation to the old testament, the new testament and the present context is quintessential. To fall into the old binary of seer/activist would not be productive and we need to pray and dialogue together, as ecclesial textual communities, in order to understand prophecy in more depth so that we may live in greater heights.