The “revolution” in recent films

Jesse Epp-Fransen

In the last number of years there have been a slew of movies that look at the theme of revolution. Movies such as the Matrix, V for Vendetta, Aeon Flux, and Equilibrium all share in basic style and theme. Each claims to be a picture of a triumphant revolution over an oppressive government and the possibility of Utopia. These films use philosophical language to give them the appearance of added depth. For the most part their attempts to be philosophical boil down to the idea of the “free individual.”

A couple of things worry me about this. For one, is not the “free individual” what we are told we are today? Isn’t that the reason that the West has gone to war with Iraq? To uphold and promote democracy? This rhetoric of individualism highlights a second problem with these films, that they are entirely reactionary. Our so-called “freedom” needs to be protected from attack by what is often a fascist right wing state. The secret message of these films is that there is no revolution needed today because we are not currently being oppressed, and even more that any attempt to change the status quo should be resisted as a move towards oppression. These films all assume a radical change in the world happening in the future and the heroic remnants of humanity fight to get us back to what we have now.

The ironic secret message of these films is “don’t revolt, be passive, the revolution will come later.” This revolution in the future is also a violent one. It is the opposite of the peaceful revolution. The peaceful revolution is not passive but active, is not reactive but creative, is not destructive but radically faithful to a new vision of the world. And the peaceful revolution is not sometime in the future but instead the peaceful revolution is now.

 

It ain’t cheap!

Ellen Paulley

You’ll have to forgive me. I’m new at this. Living greenly, that is. Sure, I’ve incorporated bits and pieces into my life - I’ve grown up recycling, I try to take reasonably short showers, and I use energy efficient light bulbs - but I’ve never been hard core.

I came across a book recently (there seem to be plenty like this) with tips to living a greener lifestyle. Some I thought interesting: buy a hemp shower curtain - they’re machine washable and naturally mildew resistent. Buy organic cotton or bamboo sheets. Use only shampoos that are made with natural or biodegradable ingredients. These were some that struck me as something I could do so I did a little investigating.

• Hemp shower curtain = $90.
• Twin size organic cotton sheets = $140/set.
• Natural ingredients shampoo = $10/bottle.

Now, of course we all agree that saving the earth is priceless. There’s no doubt in my mind it’s up to us, now, to take care of the earth and to start living in more sustainable ways. This type of mindset requires some changes in the way we think. Sometimes significant changes. But what do you do when you’re ready to make the change but can’t afford to do so? So I ask the question: where am I going to get the green to live green?

Vietnam all over again

Angela Klassen

Gene Stolzfus, former director of Christian Peacemaker Teams, recently wrote a blog entry comparing myths present in Vietnam to those used in the Iraq war.  The myths he identifies are:

• Blame the Victim
• If We Believe we are Helping it must be OK
• War Helps Human Rights
• Our Exit Brings Greater Violence
• These People Have Always been at War

I think some of these same myths are present in the war in Afghanistan that Canada is highly involved in.  I find Gene’s descriptions of the Vietnam era very helpful (especially as someone who was born after that whole debacle).  There is a pattern, and the people in power who are defining these wars have a system.  Would you pull the troops out if you were in charge?

Read Gene’s entire post.

 

Peacefully protesting

Jared Martin 

“One, Two, Three, Four,
Afghanistan is not our war!
One, Two, Three, Four,
Afghanistan is not our war!”

We’re marching, a group of maybe 60-80 assorted students, professors, and community members.  This is the Guelph Peace Alliance March, the first event from a brand-new non-hierarchical network that has no official status. We’re walking right in the middle of the street - well the middle of the right lane of the street - where cars usually go. Where cars line up behind us, patiently or otherwise, and the occasional urban road warrior whizzes close by, honking the horn and gunning the engine. I resist the urge to spit at them.  This is thrilling. We’re not supposed to be here, there’s no permit for us to hold up traffic, we feel like rebels. Eyes peeled for police presence see a peaceful street devoid of cruisers or bike-cops. I’ve never done this before, not many of us have, we don’t know what to expect. Adrenaline pumps through my veins, as someone yells, “What do we want?”
“PEACE!” I roar along with the crowd.
“And when do we want it?”
“NOW!”

Why did I decide to try to help organize, promote, and attend a march and rally for peace? It would have been much easier to just not do it, and go home and watch American Idol. But I was brought up in a pacifist church that took “Thou Shalt Not Kill” seriously, and by a mother that tried to pick the guns out of my Lego toys. When I studied political ideas, I decided that killing is killing and war is murder, and that there is little moral difference between a school-shooting psycho and a uniformed soldier laying down a landmine field, or between a suicide-bomber who blows up a bus and an air-force pilot who drops incendiary or nuclear bombs to destroy the life below. I learned in the racist and sexist brutal anarchy of the schoolyard that violence is always the strong against the weak, is always pain and fear and anger, that ’self-defense’ invites retaliation until the most brutal side which is willing to deal the most harm will always win.

Earth Hour

Earth Hour has become a worldwide movement with a whack of cities taking part.  Find out what’s going on in your city, or just make sure that you turn off your lights at 8pm tomorrow.  Even Nelly Furtado will “turn off the lights” and join in the fun.

Originally started by the World Wildlife Fund, this event helps us all remember how darn important our world really is, and the damage we are doing to it.  Post a comment if you did it, think it’s pointless, or just want to express your view.

Energy Matters

Darren Kropf

Recently I was approached by a young man after preaching at a church on environmental issues. He told me about a study he was involved with at the local university. It concluded that standard of living was directly proportional to access to and consumption of energy. Further, in order to raise everyone in this world to an acceptable standard of living, we’d need to build and complete a new nuclear reactor plant every day…for the next 26 years. I have no idea if his statements are accurate because I didn’t read the study. But it certainly gets me thinking.

My first thought is to question how they determined standard of living. Secretly I hope they just used the GDP, because I can easily argue that there’s more to living well than cycling as much monetary value through our economic system as possible. Many societies in the past, and even some present day aboriginal communities, have lived comfortable lives without money. But what if their calculations include a whole host of factors beyond cash economics, including access to education and health care, food and water security, self-governance, cultural expression? Does this mean our best way to eliminate poverty is to invest massive amounts into energy technologies?

In attempting to live sustainably I’ve always strived to do with as little energy as possible. Less electricity, less gas for transportation, etc. And I have always secretly imagined how wonderful life would be living in a society that doesn’t have electricity. A lifestyle built around the natural cycles of the sun and the seasons sounds quite nice compared to our light-everything-all-night-long-never-stop-to-rest society. But is that even possible? Can no one live well without electricity?

The point isn’t really whether the source of energy is “green” or not, though that certainly matters. The point is that we don’t seem to be able to live happy, secure lives without forcing the earth’s energy into wires, batteries or gas tanks. Given the near impossibility of actually increasing our energy supplies by the amount this man suggested, it seems to me like we need to figure out some new ways of living well on this earth that are less energy dependent.

Early Retirement?

Rachael Wellwood

With the advice of my bank representative, I made an appointment to learn about the ‘ins and outs’ of starting an RSP fund. I am just now coming up to my 23rd birthday, but they say it is smart to begin saving now if you want to someday enjoy what we like to call ‘retirement’.

I have mixed feelings about the idea of hoarding money away for the future. There must be a better way to ensure substantial provisions for when ‘retirement’ comes around. I have no doubt that I should start now. However, dependency on financial savings to look after my future is a fairly modern and elitist idea.

I have a suspicion that there is a more sustainable method of building ‘retirement savings’. Why not invest in a sustainable lifestyle: one less dependant on finances and consumption. If I start now, building the knowledge and skills necessary to depend on the goodness of the earth, there will be less need for ‘cold hard cash’ both now and when I am old. What would your life look like if, instead of working it away to enjoy a financially bountiful retirement, you invested in family and friends, a garden and your creativity. I believe it is possible to live on very little if you take the time to learn, and I also believe that life was not meant for the pursuit of money. The environment, your well-being, and an overdrawn pension plan system will probably thank you.

Is early retirement only for those who work in the glass towers? I’d like to think that I will ‘retire’ just as soon as I learn how to reduce my financial dependency. I never intend to retire from work that I love- but from the rat race? ASAP.

Still young, I cannot tell you that my ideas are tried and tested, but I do intend to test them; Sixty years down the road I will have more credible insight on the matter.

Living with Dissonance

Nicole Bauman

I finished classes at Goshen College last December, and I now find myself thrown full force and spinning into a full-time position as the case manager at the local homeless shelter. My relationships with our guests consistently provide me with a dissonant set of experiences. I’m loving the people I meet, the getting away from what can be a cloistered, pompous, posh campus life. My heart is torn wide when I witness the quick solidarity that forms between the (mostly) women thrown into this intense living experience; friendships sprout rapidly and support is handed out liberally – what else is there to offer in such a situation, besides empathy, besides sisterhood? I’m impressed over and over again and humbled every time I’m invited into these vulnerable places and stories.

But then this is where the dissonance happens. I get invited into these stories and the pain and injustice smash me in the face and begin to creak into my soul. These realities are dirty. And now they have names and faces and personalities and homelessness has become not just an issue but my issue. Not just an issue, but a very crippling way of life binding and tripping up my friends. This stuff is real. This stuff is awful and thoroughly messed up. This stuff is heartbreaking and entirely unfair.

Avoiding Computers as Non-Violence

Lucas Redekop

For various reasons I do not own a computer. These reasons include not having enough money, my technological incompetence, and the fact that I can survive without one. Not to say I do not use computers, I am using my parents’ computer and internet to post this blog, and I use the computers of friends and computers at the public library. But not having my own computer limits the time spent on a computer and thus limits my dependence on this particular technology.

Furthermore my computer resistance is not a blind Ludditism but stems from my pacifist beliefs. For many technologies, not only electronic, result, whether directly or indirectly, from military research. We often think of military expenditures focusing solely on arming people but millions, probably billions, is spent beforehand on designing and innovating ways to better kill people. After advancing military endeavors these technologies often filter down, in different forms, to civilian–use technologies resulting in improvements to transportation, modern medicines, innovative surgical practices and personal computers. Now I realize and believe that swords can be turned into ploughshares and military technologies can be used for positive means but conversely I think it is important to acknowledge the connection between the many technologies we use everyday and their beginnings in military research.

So for me, living simply or avoiding certain technologies, is a daily Christian practice that reminds me of the subtle existence of the military in everyday life and consequently I am reminded of the importance of living a pro-actively non-violent life everyday.

Pierced with many griefs

Robin White

Climate change is the issue of our time. But what about other issues – terrorism, war, family values, crime and poverty…? When we seek to prioritize issues, are we really being more responsible, or are we really just unconsciously seeking to protect lifestyles that need to change…

Recently, in recognition of their efforts to raise awareness on climate change, the Nobel Peace Prize went to Al Gore and the UN’s scientific advisory body on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Awarding the prize to Gore and the IPCC recognizes that efforts to promote global peace will need to address climate change, which is projected to cause water shortages, flood coastal cities, destroy ecosystems, compromise food security and strain relations between nations.

Climate change is linked to all previously mentioned contemporary political issues. Climate change is predominately caused by the burning of fossil fuels, such as oil –often at the centre of wars and terrorist activities. Moreover, climate change is ultimately a symptom of a system of greed, materialism and over-consumption that encourages us to value possessions above people. The result is broken families, crime and little disposable income to share with the poor.