An Eco-Humynist Manifesto for the 21st Century
by Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez

Whereas human beings have acted in a dominating fashion towards each other and towards other living species on this planet, using the excuse of difference to justify aggressive and destructive behavior;

Whereas competition has been used as a rationale for economic systems based on hierarchical systems of power;

Whereas social exclusion and systematic discrimination has been seen as the normative right of dominant groups;

Whereas privileged groups have felt entitled to take more than their fair share from the environmental commons, and to deprive less powerful groups, whether human or of other species, of the resources necessary for well-being;

Whereas it is quickly becoming apparent, in the age of climate change, that the dominant paradigm of capitalist patriarchal social relations is resulting in the dangerous destabilization of the entire natural ecosystem;

The time has come to take action to change this paradigm in the following ways:

Move from a top-down hierarchical system to a horizontal, egalitarian model of social relations based on inclusivity across all of the traditional boundaries used to keep different groups apart, including race, class, gender, sex, nationality, ethnicity, religion, and also opening up the possibility for cross-species collaboration based on respect and stewardship;

Shift the worldwide economic system to a model of global cooperation and collaboration, with the focus of human industry and government on providing a baseline of well-being for all life forms on this planet, regardless of geographic origin or antiquated ideas of relative importance (ie, who is to say that a human being is more important than a songbird, or a sardine?);

Tailor the education system to teaching the history of the destructive cultural practices of homo sapiens up to the 21st century, and opening up constructive conversations across disciplines, where alternatives to these traditions can be envisioned and developed;

Model egalitarian, collaborative, respectful social relations in the private sphere of the family as well as the public spheres of education, the profession, government and law;

Shift from a violent conflict and punishment model of resolving disagreements to a peaceful persuasive model, with the goal always being the well-being of the community as a whole first, and secondly each member of it.

Destroy all weapons of mass destruction, as well as all bio and chemical weapons, and their blueprints.

No one person’s or minority group’s interests (with rich people and businesses or industries rightly being considered minorities) should be allowed to take precedence over the interests of the majority, including the non-human majority on this planet.

Develop an appropriate representative global governing council to administer these principles.

In the name of Mother Earth and ALL of her children, I call on the peoples of the world to act without delay to become the stewards of the planet and the collaborative, respectful individuals we were always meant to be.

I assume it has been noticed that the Bill McKibben piece is inverted? It’s doubtful this was an oversight, but is there a creative reason for this? Is a new version upcoming?

Dave
Madison, WI

Update:
I forgot to put the conclusion to my article I mailed to you earlier. What it means is that the Republicans now have an unfair advantage due to “Citizens United” saying For Profit Corporations can give limitless Campaign Contributions. If there are no Strictures placed upon Capitalism being intertwined with Government( as the Church used to be with government/monarchies during the Divine Right of Kings” era– then to Level the Playing Field/Restore the Balance of Power– we should get rid of the following law:

Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code prohibits nonprofit organizations, including churches, from intervening in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public office.

In other words… nonprofit organizations, including CHURCHES( and Environmental Groups, etc. )… should now ALSO be able to give political campaign contributions just as “Citizens United” says For Profit Corporations are able to do. They should retain their tax advantaged situation, without penalties– to offset the “System” of “For Profit” Corporations… because per person people “Get Something” versus smaller amounts from MORE people in Churches– are CONTRIBUTIONS where people receive no durable goods or food required in everyday living( in “Their” System vs. the Capitalists ) = a Level playing Field of fewer capitalists with more money per person vs. more people but who have very little money( and receive nothing from contributions to Church therefore the tax advantage remains… & = everything out ).

Thomas Edward Burton III

If you would like to publish my article here– you have my name, I’m at 1512 St. Charles Ave., Lakewood, Ohio 44107 U.S.A…. & my phone # is (216) 702-8486.

This is to help against the “Citizens United” ruling– hopefully.

Everyone knows that Separation of Church and State have served us well since the
founding of our country in 1776. However, the last two Revolutions that
took place( LATER ) in what are now Industrialized Countries were the
French Revolution in the late 1800′s and the Bolsheviks in 1917 in
Russia. These were over “Economic Ideology”. Also( aside from voting and
Freedom, etc. ), the entire Cold War pretty much had at the tops of the
Pyramids of each nation( in
terms of priorities ) either “Capitalism” or “Communism”. I DO believe
in about 90 % Capitalism to motivate people to work & to reward
those who work smarter or harder a little more than others. This, plus a
“Socialistic Safety Net” of 10 % for those with disabilities or one
parent families, etc.. However, it seems to me that America has lost
it’s way in terms of WHAT, exactly, is our Credo. Baby Boomers came back
from the war & “The American Dream” phrase was coined. That is,
every couple striving for and attaining the house with the white picket
fence, two to four kids & one and a half dogs = the newer definition
of success because the America that they were fighting for is the Land
of Opportunity. The Republicans ran with that and translated it to mean
that the Title or Stamp which we ALL should aspire to is Capitalism.
They stamped it above the Pyramid on our dollars and sold Americans on
the idea that what it means to be American( and
what our country stands for ) is to be a Capitalist. “Greed is Good”.
Never mind what the Bible says about valuing the Pursuit of Greed( and
all the wreckage that it entails when it comes to the Environment, some
people’s lives, etc. ). People have lost their way. People have
OVERcompensated because of their fear of Communism( which, once again,
has to do with human rights violations, lack of Freedom… not Just a
Monetary System ). In other words… we now have money as a problem
affecting our Political System. Let’s step back and view things as
“Systems”. They can be circles in a Venn Diagram. We don’t want these
circles to “Cross Over” and Influence each other. My point is that:

First
we had Separation of Church and State. Two Systems( Political and
Religious ) that are each represented by a circle. There’s an invisible
line between these two circles– and we haven’t wanted them to
overlap… and it’s served our country well for over two
hundred years. However, as I mentioned earlier– more Current Times
have seen Revolutions because of the overlapping of the Systems of
Politics and Capitalism( Corruption, Rigging the Voting Process
unfairly– due to the Nature of Money itself… “It Is Self Evident”(
Thomas Jefferson– who also said that “From Time to Time The Tree of
Liberty Needs to be Refreshed from the Blood of Patriots and Tyrants(
Greedy Capitalists )), calling a Corporation a Person through Corrupt
and biased legalease/Judicial Power that was previously thought of as
one of our Bastions of Fairness and Impartiality in what we thought was
an impermeable three Institution Checks and Balances System(
Judicial,Legislative and Executive, etc. )… which has now proven
itself to be Fallible after all. Why? Because Guns Don’t Kill People…
People Kill People: because Institutions such as our Judicial
Institution don’t make Unfair/Biased Laws… PEOPLE make Unfair and
Biased Laws. For all our Ideology– the System we’ve set up breaks down because people
inhabit these systems and Some people are corrupt, some people aren’t
smart enough, all people are Irrational/emotional human beings who are
not perfect/Fallible. Now Rich people are influencing our Political
System to take more than their fair share of the pie– which means
relatively less for others. This tells me to think out of the box a bit.
Get a more distant and objective perspective on things. Since Separation
of Church & State has worked so well– yet recent Revolutions( as I
mentioned earlier ) have been Class Wars…
how about trying something like Separation of Capitalism and State. Let’s remind people that the original American Dream is Ellis Island( Liberty ). “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit Of Happiness.” The Pursuit of Happiness
for some is Family, Friends and Church. We’ve kept Church out of Gov’t.. Others Pursue money. So, let’s keep money out of Gov’t, too.

The ancient Athenians who originated Democracy allowed no so called “Special Interests” to Cloud or Corrupt their political process.

Long ago a major problem was the “Divine Right of Kings”( or “Religious Right of Kings” )– where the Power of the Church was an integral( Integral meaning, as most people understand– “self-reinforcing” powers of Church & State ) part of Monarchies. Since some power seems to have passed from the President to Corporations and wealthy people who have interests these Corporations( and are “Pulling the Strings” )– it wouldn’t be fair to our( U.S. ) Government or our President to make an analogy by describing the current system as being similar to a type of “Economic Right of Presidents” or “Capitalistic Right of Presidents”. Rather, let’s zero in on the Correct target( Orwell was Close– but not Exactly on target ) by starting to refer to our current system as exactly what it is. I believe that our current system runs as and can be best described as a type of “Capitalistic Right of Corporations”( once again, bearing in mind that some wealthy people have vested interests in these corporations… or even unseen and/or unknown interests in these Corporations ).
Thomas Edward Burton III