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Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics |
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Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics |
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Here's an article submitted for "Holy Smoke" online journal that I thought you might find
interesting. It needs some editing for clarity, but Paul has his finger on the problem. He's living
in Amsterdamn, but coming home soon.
*** Submitted to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for consideration under the 1503 procedure. Written by Paul J. von Hartmann, Director, Project P.E.A.C.E. As governments routinely compromise environmental viability to perpetuate an obsolete, chemically -based global economic system, it is increasingly obvious that political addiction to "growth economics at any price" threatens the sustainabiltiy of life on Earth. Global economics based on toxic energy violates ancient principles of the Natural Order and subverts fundamental human rights aspired to by our society2. By institutionalizing conflict over unevenly distributed resources, the business of war is assured. Fifty years after the International Declaration of Human Rights was signed in hopes of establishing a foundation for a peaceful society, the environment, the economy and our society continue to exhibit symptoms of accelerating, radical imbalance 2 , 6. Because political decisions are made according to priorities set by increasing consumption of toxic, unevenly distributed resources, it is unlikely that human society will evolve beyond the environmental reaking-point established by extinctionistic economics. Politiconomic inertia is carrying us further away from harmony with natural systems and evolution of a conscious, sustainable global economy. Homocentric economics has created absurd, consumption-oriented values, elevating comfort, convenience, and economic abundance for a relative few, over the Laws of Nature. Distracted by the world view represented in the media, blindly trusting in self-serving assurances of the financially impacted elite, most people are too afraid or too busy to do anything except struggle to keep up with the herd, as if individual responsibility doesn't exist. Through deep, extended contact with nature, I have evolved a natural, individual spirituality. This has led me to feel strongly that knowing participation in chemical/nuclear/militarily economics, destroying the ecosystem of this planet, is a willing compromise of the integrity of one's soul. To economically support governments which actively oppose and subvert development of competitive, environmentally harmonious economic systems is no different than destroying our Mother Earth with one's own hands. For this reason I have exercised my right to question my participation in what I believe to be the unlawful and immoral tax system of the United States government. I believe that as an environmentally conscious, socially evolving individual, it is my choice to take responsibility for where my money and labor goes. It is my intention to consider the moral necessity of resisting voluntary support of any government that puts people in jail for making wise use of the Cannabis plant. "Every herb bearing seed" was given to all the creatures of this Earth by the Creator9. I believe that no government has the rightful authority to control Cannabis, or any other herb, in any way for any reason. Internationally prized and warred over for centuries as one of the most versatile, abundant, and environmentally beneficial crops on Earth, it is clearly sociopathic to prohibit cultivation of the most useful agricultural resource on the planet5. Instead of allowing Cannabis to compete in a truly free marketplace, the business of chemicals and punishment have been institutionalized instead, through prohibition. Exaggerated fears of drugs and crime are being used hide the truth, that the fake protection of marauding "drug czars" is actually creating the problems it claims to be solving. Desperate to fix a dysfunctional national economy, the American justice system has been perverted into serving as contract predator for the recently privatized U.S. prison industry. Unaccountable refusal by elected officials to acknowledge consistent recommendations made by every independent commission assembled to study the issue5, establishes the United States government as a rogue economic entity, unwilling to take responsibility for the truth about increased crime and drug abuse caused by the insane prohibition of the Cannabis plant6. As director of Project P.E.A.C.E. since 1990, I have attempted to demonstrate individual responsibility for the truth about "marijuana" by establishing a public record of the truth about Cannabis. Registered letters stating my position have been sent repeatedly to government officials (including Presidents Bush and Clinton), the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Tax Court. Unwillingness to acknowlege the truth about Cannabis by the U.S. government has made it necessary for me to challenge the illegal statutes prohibitiing Cannabis cultivation through public civil disobedience. I have taken individual responsibility for the truth about "marijuana" by planting Cannabis publicly in the United States, twice, demanding to be arrested for something that can't possibly be against the law. I was ignored both times. Each time I formally challenged the Attorney Generals of the States I was in (Hawaii and California) to debate the Constitutionality and rationality of illegal statutes prohibiting Cannabis cultivation, manufacture and trade. In Hawaii, I also phoned the Chief of Police and the County Prosecutor. They sent a helicopter to my home, to film me transplanting seedlings, then flew away. There was no response of any kind from either of the Attorney Generals, though, in Hawaii, Warren Price declared victory in the "drug war" and quit his job (as "drug czar" and Attorney General) seven days later. Because I have actively and effectively resisted participation in the economically motivated subversion of agricultural freedom in my country, I have been labeled a "tax protester" posing "groundless and frivolous" arguments2. The questions I asked the Tax Court were called "arguments" by the judge. Because of economic relationships between the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service it is impossible for a person in the U.S. to get an objective opinion from a U.S. Tax court judge. Appeals and jury trials are not allowed in U.S. tax cases. I trust the power of the truth to be greater than we can possibly imagine, but it must be heard. Time is the limiting factor in the equation of survival. Because of time-lags that preclude an accurate assessment of environmental decay (and delay meaningful, coordinated, international efforts to repair the ecosystem), by the time we realize it's too late to save the planet, it will have been too late for some time. Destruction of the ozone layer, species extinction and other invisible consequences of man's casual abuse of Nature continue long after the initial pollution has taken place. By default, synergy between Earth's operating systems is being disrupted, weather patterns are becoming violent and unpredictable. Increasing volcanic and seismic activity are further reducing the chances for sustainable existence. If active generation of oxygen and removal of carbon is not practiced soon (through wide-spread cultivation of hardy and efficient plants such as Cannabis), it may soon be said that we have nothing to fear but the atmosphere itself. Addiction to chemical/nuclear-based economics, the consumptive behavior patterns that go with it, and wars that result from uneven global distribution of limited resources, pose the ultimate threat to this Water Planet. Eventually, accelerated deterioration of synergy between environmental systems and the spread of knowledge about Cannabis will bring the sad realization that "Marijuana" has never been illegal -- except on acid-soaked, wood-pulp paper, written in petrochemical ink. Cannabis is in fact, more than "legal." The Cannabis plant is and always has been essential to our sustained existence, a fact obscured by man's limited understanding of ecology. It has only been for the past sixty years that avarice, ignorance and denial have hidden the essential nature of this generous miracle of creation. Solutions to symptoms of imbalance as diverse as petrochemical pollution, spousal abuse, population control, and soil erosion can be meaningfully addressed by referring to Cannabis. The unique nutritional value of fresh, fertile Cannabis seed is, by itself, reason enough to immediately terminate the prohibition of this plant. Cannabis is the only seed that contains three essential fatty acids in the proper proportions for long term consumption. The potential for nutritional disease prevention, treatment and cure is virtually unknown because most people associate Cannabis with smoking "marijuana". Because it grows so abundantly in so many soil and climate conditions, contains a high protein content and a digestive enzyme in the seeds, Cannabis is potentially the best available source of vegetable protein on the planet3. In spite of interference and pressure from the United States government, countries all over the world are beginning to develop Cannabis-based industries. Political interference in free scientific investigation is constricting man's ability to learn about Cannabis agriculture10. Scientific investigation of high THC strains of Cannabis are currently not allowed, and all positive research concerning Cannabis has been banned in the U.S. since 1976. Potentially, regionally autonomous economic systems based on abundance, rather than scarcity, are possible with the help of this versatile plant. Because Cannabis is globally adaptable and uniquely versatile, regeneration of damaged land and stagnant economics is feasible with a Cannabis renaissance. On behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves, I appeal to the United Nations to initiate global dialogue concerning the wisdom of continued Cannabis prohibition. Freeedom to investigate the plant more thoroughly is needed. The end of Cannabis prohibition will prove to be the beginning of environmental, social, and economic stability. In the current state of grace, during which global systems function despite man's behavior, the potential for evolving sustainable economics and a lasting peace, is only as great as our respect for and willingness to work harmoniously within the wholeness of Nature. *** Referenced Information:
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