| Notes for "The Homestead Manifesto" 1. Although, more than likely, the cause and effect are reversed, with the media feeding the public coverage and the people following along, even adopting the point-of-view of those who present the issues. Return to Page 1 2. That is not to say that such factors are NEVER considered. Occasionally a benevolent soul in a powerful position will do the right thing, but generally those who become powerful enough to do such good deeds in a capitalist system have only reached such heights by turning a blind eye to morality. 3. Only in the last of these, disease, has modern technology had an effect, and even here the manner in which people are impacted by healthcare and pharmaceuticals depends on their economic class. Further, it seems that some of the positive result of antibiotics such as penicillin are being negated by bacteria that naturally mutate to become immune to the medicine, so the overall effect of such remedies may be just a blip on the historical medical radar. Add to that the fact that, as time goes on, more and more evidence lends support to home remedies that people have used for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years. I am not suggesting that we return to �bleeding� patients, but only that advances in medicine�which are the linchpin argument for those advocating �progress��are questionable as the keystone argument, especially in light of what industry and technology have done to the detriment of the health of all of us and of the planet. 4. At this juncture, I will be accused of being a hypocrite, as those critical of my arguments will point out that I have used modern technology as much as the next person. It is true that I do own a car, an air conditioner, a personal computer, a television, and various other products developed using modern technology and manufactured and sold by big corporations. One of the main thrusts of this essay is that I have come to understand the problems with such a lifestyle, and I am moving away from it. 5. Henry David Thoreau wrote: �The world is a place of business. It is nothing but work, work, work. I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself, than this incessant business. The ways by which you may get money almost without exception lead downward. Cold and hunger seem more friendly to my nature than those methods which men have adopted and advise to ward them off.� Return to Page 2 6. In the aftermath of the stolen election of 2000, we all know that a candidate can have fewer votes and still be elected president if chosen by the Electoral College. In addition, state legislators originally picked members of the US Senate, and it is still the case that the president appoints members of the Supreme Court. So, the framers of the Constitution constructed a system in which only one half of one branch of the government�the House of Representatives�is chosen directly by the people. They included these anti-democratic structures because, as James Madison wrote, such a system is "sometimes necessary as a defense to the people against their own temporary errors or delusions." 7. British poet Wilfred Owen, before dying on the front lines in World War I, ended a powerful anti-war poem by quoting the Roman poet Horace��Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori� (�It is sweet and proper to die for one�s country�)�and referring to those words as �the old lie.� 8. We always hear and read the phrase �the economy� and treat it with reverence, but to a large degree the phrase refers to the wallets of the ruling class, not to the well being of the rest of us. 9. A recent blatant example of this is US behavior following the decision by some allies not to support an American invasion of Iraq. Despite the fact that sovereign states exercised their right by voting in the United Nations�a deliberative body that exists to prevent war�and despite that the citizens of these countries were overwhelmingly against the attack, the Bush Administration vilified them, most notably France. 10. Major General Smedley Butler, of the United States Marine Corps, realized later in his life that he had been �a high class muscle man for Big Business, Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.� He went on to write: �War is a racket. It always has been. A racket is best described as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small �inside� group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. I helped make Mexico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.� 11. Christine Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Elaine Chao, Ann Veneman, Gale Norton, Donald Rumsfeld et al. For a complete list go to: http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm2001/01may/may01bushcc.html. Return to Page 3 12. Thomas Jefferson, referring to Christianity, wrote: �I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in ours one redeeming feature. They are all alike, founded upon fables and mythologies.� 13. The first Biblical quotation is from Ephesians 6:5-8, while the second is repeated in various Gospels. In addition, we have these gems: �Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh,� (The First Letter of Peter 2:18) and �All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God's name and our teaching may not be slandered. (The First Letter of Timothy 6:1-2). Return to Page 4 14. Particularly, of course, Thoreau�s Walden, but also a number of his essays and other works; Berry�s The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture; the Nearings� Living the Good Life and Continuing the Good Life; the music of Ani DiFranco; some of the ideas expressed by Daniel Quinn in Ishmael and Beyond Civilization; the magazines Resurgence and Orion; and other books, magazines, internet sites, and conversations. 15. There is private property to reckon with. Either one owns land and becomes responsible for paying taxes on that land, or one is on someone else�s land, and has to pay rent, or squat. As I wrote earlier, land should not be a commodity. The land belongs to all of us, as well as to the other animals, plants, oceans, mountains, lakes, rivers, etc., that are here with us. All human beings should be able to live where they please, not just those who have amassed wealth on the backs of others. 16. Not to mention, of course, millions around the world, by choice and as a result of where they were born. 17. Some estimates run as high as 560 species lost each day, or over 200,000 a year. 18. As opposed to working for money, which is then used to purchase a living. 19. Rather than being part of trends that come and go with the seasons. 20. There have been times in America when a person could just find some unoccupied land and settle on it. Early in the nation�s history (after the land had been appropriated from the Native Americans, of course) and also under the Homestead Act of 1862, which was not repealed until 1976. Today, unfortunately, we have to talk about buying land. Return to Page 5 21. Straw bale, cob, adobe, rammed earth, and other methods are gaining in popularity. 22. See http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/sawdustoilet.html and check out the sample right below the building instructions. It�s quite nice looking! Return to Page 6 23. Part of the homesteading tradition is to welcome all guests, and I hope that some will take the time to come and visit me. 24. I am free of any debt, which is often listed as a first step for homesteaders. 25. The commitment to my current job extends to that point. 26. Italian activist Ginetta Sagan wrote that, �Silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the oppressor." Return to Page 7 |