POWER AND EMPOWERMENT

My relative affluence in association with age and life's experiences, no longer masks the inequities of the world in which I live. The disparity of wealth within our society and the world is increasing despite the rhetoric of development . The existing development paradigm is corrupt and Eurocentric. It is designed to maintain the inequities and inequalities of the world in favour of the First World nations and the elite within those nations. The hypocrites of the power elites inside government and the business community and the blatant stupidity of present debased debates and 'news' portrayed by the media no longer provides camouflage for the new world order. Too many people have died from the basic wants in life and their deaths are ignored, except in the rhetoric of government and as filler in the popular press. Assistance in the form of development for the disadvantaged is designed to benefit the business communities of donor countries. My conscience and sense of decency are assaulted and insulted by the power elite, almost on a daily basis these days through the corporatist media.

I am presently wondering about the shelf-life of Power. A few years ago I was of the mistaken belief that in general it is short, but of late am rather disparaged. Do we believe the lies that are told to us that more affluence on our part will alleviate the suffering of the poor and oppressed? It is through the media that the elite and their spokes-people tell us on a regular basis that all is well and more affluence on our part will eventually alleviate their suffering. This is despite the fact that the disparity between rich and poor has gotten worse over the last four decades and is deteriorating even further. Perhaps the answer lies not in their lies but in the frequency in which they lie to us. To lie so often must mean they are a bit scared of us and that perhaps we, the unempowered and disempowered do have power after all. In lying to us they are justifying their greed and quest for more power and this in turn is a result of their desire for respectability.

We who suffer the consequences of the decisions of power, may have the ultimate power after all. This is personal power which we can exercise each day in many and varied ways. It is time for us to exercise this personal power. While it may not destroy the 'Empire' or its hegemony, it will show that we expect a degree of decency and good will to be exercised and that those who do are rewarded for their solidarity with the less well off. An important starting point as Arundhati Roy stated for us is ' to create a universe of alternative information.' We have the capacity to develop local alternative media and information services. This newsletter is a good starting point, but we could produce more in the way of an alternative media. Furthermore we can examine our own consumption patterns and to change to consuming local produce, especially organic produce where we can reduce the fossil fuels tied up in our food supply chain and reduce the amount of chemicals in the environment. We can support local businesses and the community in which we live is small enough for us to get a grasp on who is fair dinkum and support them as there are local alternatives. As environmentalists we need to think, to research and act upon this knowledge. Each small step in activism will lead to positive change and emancipation from the dictates of power.

The snake oil merchants of the advertising and media world and lying politicians who masquerade as champions of democracy have perfected their art of lies since Goebbels goosestepped through Berlin. The National Socialists were swept from power at the cost of 40 million human lives. Why should we wait for such to plague humanity again? It is by working co-operatively and in solidarity with others that we can maximise the benefits of a human scale development for all of humanity rather than for the elite.

Any one interested in developing an alternative media through the CEC could you contact

Gary
on 66494 972 or
[email protected]