From the editor…
I was sitting around the other day, pondering upon the mysteries of the universe as I like to do. I try to keep my ruminations positive, as it’s important to maintain a cheerful attitude in this life, and to shy away from any pity parties, but sometimes stuff just flat-out annoys the heck out of me!
There’s a lot of fear and anxiety in the air these days about the economy and the future of our villages.
I believe we can rebuild and create the communities we truly desire, but it is up to us.
The government continually demonstrates that we cannot look to it as our saviour….in fact, it is obviously doing all that it can to get rid of us pesky and expensive small villages.
We need to really start thinking outside this trap of a box we’ve become prisoners of.
Everything is put into boxes, then labelled, then liked or disliked or is right or wrong and so it goes until we find ourselves trapped in boxes within boxes. This is why “outside the box’ is the way to live!
But, we’ve become so comfortable and cozy over the years that we’ve forgotten how to take care of ourselves.
We don’t grow our own food, and we buy endless streams of crap from China at discount stores.
Constant buying seems to soothe our souls, as if consumerism is our point for living but consumerism as a way of life is a fairly recent human development.
In the early part of the 20th century a man named Edward Bernays became a pioneer in the fields of public relations and propaganda.
Bernays was a nephew of Sigmund Freud, and he used his uncle’s psychological insights to write one of the most influential books of our era.
In 1928 this book, “Propaganda”, was published. Bernays regarded society as irrational and dangerous and he felt that common people in general were ruled by “herd instinct” and thus needed to be corralled and controlled into behaviours that would benefit the governing elites.
Up until then, people in North America had been fairly independent. Many people still lived on family farms, and people made what they needed, grew their own food and raised their own animals. Barter was a common method of exchange between folks, rather than using hard cash.
But Bernays introduced the idea that consumption was the key to happiness…not independence and self reliance…and so we find ourselves today trapped in a world where the constant consumption of goods that break and fall apart nearly the moment we purchase them becomes the norm.
Our current financial structure , with money that is created out of thin air and then distributed as debt, needs constant consumption to even stay afloat. But, as we see now, this pipe dream is coming to a screeching halt!
Constant consumption needs a constant flow of cash, and we simply do not have this any more because we consumers, on which this whole big house of cards depends, are running out of the money to pay for this lifestyle.
Jobs and industries have been outsourced to third world nations with the idea that we Westerners, living in North America, will continue to feed the system by buying cheap goods….but with what money?
This fantasy paradigm could not possibly last forever, it is a closed end plan, and the end of the game is at our doorsteps.
Which is why we all need to take a deep breath, step back, and start thinking for ourselves again!
We let our government rule our lives, and as it tightens its belt it also tightens the reins on our necks.
Think about it. At one time in the not too distant past, if you wanted to run a little business you simply set up shop. If you offered a good product or service at a decent price, you had customers and an income, or you traded for the goods you needed.
Now, it is nearly impossible for the average person to start a business. There are inspections, licensing fees, requirements and so many rules and regulations that most small business ideas never make it off the ground.
This is a truly pitiful state of affairs, and we accept it as if it’s all for our own good!
Right now the government of NB is spreading the hopium that the proposed crude pipeline and the fracking industry are going to make our province flush and prosperous again.
But, if we buy into this dream we will once again be handing over our future to corporate interests, instead of standing up on our own two feet. We’ve given our power and autonomy away for so long we’ve forgotten how to live as independent beings.
We need to rebuild our communities from within ….not by importing from without…by reasserting control over our own lives instead of expecting to be rescued and ruled by big business and the government.
Stephanie Kelley
