PEGI EYERS
A Bill of Rights for Humans Who Are Destroying the World
[1] The right to a high-mobility, high-tech lifestyle with modern conveniences and non-stop experience, with the expectation that the generations to follow will receive the same benefits.
[2] The right to drive a car, take a bus, or ride a plane anywhere and anytime, without worrying that the technology of oil and gas is killing the planet. The right to refuse a hybrid car because it is too expensive. The right to refuse other technologies such as a cooking oil engine because it is too much hassle.
[3] The right to convenience in everything. The right to turn on the lights anytime and anywhere. The right to be warm when it is cold outside and cold when it is warm outside. The right to control the environment.
[4] The right to participate in the capitalist economy without complaint. The right to a job that is primarily about status and making more money, than those below us on the hierarchy of class privilege. The right to have a job that becomes our main identity. The right to take pride in the fact that we have given up our sovereignty to be part of something grander – that is, making money and acquiring status, as well as lovely homes, gorgeous furnishings and appliances, luxury vehicles, extensive wardrobes, deluxe food, art collections, body care and multiple trips and vacations.
[5] The right to turn on a tap and have running water – hot or cold – at any time, anywhere. In public washrooms, the right to use paper towels that are manufactured from trees on a deforested planet.
[6] The right to décor. The right to repeatedly change our carpets, drapes, paint colours, wall treatments and furniture whenever we want.
[7] The right to drive on smooth pavement, and the right to walk on smooth floor surfaces and pavement at all times.
[8] The right to entertainment. We are entitled to view the constant parade of new shows, movies, concerts and other products of the entertainment industry without considering our own creativity, or why we need to be endlessly stimulated and distracted.
[9] The right to an endless array of consumer goods in limitless permutations. Instead of a limited supply there are millions of dress styles to chose from. Instead of a few variations, there are millions of jewellery designs to choose from. Ad nauseum, without a care for the long-term costs of manufacture, or the futility of being a laborer in the consumer goods sector.
[10] The right to collect and hoard boatloads of “stuff” as a bulwark against future lack or shortage. We are not sure if the massive collecting of objects makes us better people, but the endorphin rush is worth it.
[11] The right for artists, designers and engineers to keep creating more and more elaborate and innovative toys, games, music, books, self-care products, cosmetics, baby care, furniture, fabrics, fashion, self-adornment, jewellery, art, décor, fake flowers, robotic technology and vehicles ad nauseum, even while the ecosystem of the Earth are on the edge of collapse. In the name of good design (and innumerable “special interests”) we have the right to add to the burden, instead of austerity or reducing the impact of our carbon footprint. “We are the champions of the world,” and we need to surround ourselves with the expressions of that dynamic.
[12] The right to take family wealth or inheritance, derived from mining, forestry, or other extraction industries, and the products or services related to that destruction, and pretend our business, entrepreneurship, or healthcare practice is “different and special” because it is based on a “sustainable or alternative worldview.” The right to continue building our business with all the benefits of techno-capitalism, and to infuse our leisure time with the wealth derived from resource extraction. We have the right to NEVER question this hypocrisy, or our ongoing complicity with Empire.
[13] The right to pharmaceutical drugs. We cannot imagine a world beyond civilization because our prescriptions would not get filled. Our illnesses depend on the continuance of pharmacy outlets within a capitalist system, and subsidized or for-profit healthcare.
[14] The right to demand plastic for countless objects and purposes. The right to manufacture more, even when we know that the oceans are clogged with plastics that are killing marine life, as there is no disposable, decomposable, or sustainable final resting place for plastic.
[15] The right to consider the trees that surround our dwellings as annoyances instead of living beings. We have the right to cut them down, or alter or destroy any part of nature that doesn’t suit us, because nature is just a collection of lifeless objects put there for our disposal.
[16] The right to witness the deliberate destruction of nature, and not care one iota. We have interests and obsessions that are far more important than the living green world.
[17] The right to witness the deliberate destruction of nature - the true axis mundi for soul and the location for magic in our world – and then stupidly believe that those same qualities, existent in nature for millennia, can somehow be conjured up by human beings.
[18] The right to believe our society is simply “expansionist” instead of murderous. And the right to remain silent, even when we become aware that techno-capitalism is a death culture.
[19] The right to belong to the most successful cult in human history. The right to allow techno-capitalism to manipulate us with various tactics and coercive techniques of control. The right to be indoctrinated into a cult that is designed to advance the goals of a wealthy elite, to the detriment of Earth Community.
[20] And finally, the right to wake up from mass delusions.
The right to reject the internalized beliefs and values we have adopted from Empire, and to heal the trauma and PTSD we are carrying from organizational control. Deconstructing and uncolonizing starts with the self, followed by collaboration in community. >Decolonizing the Psyche< The rewilding and ancestral skills movement hold the keys to rejecting Empire.
>Rewild.com<
From the rewild.com website:
Rewilding means restoring ancestral ways of living that create greater health and well-being for humans and the ecosystems that we belong to. Many things lead people to rewilding — concern over ecological collapse or economic uncertainty, health problems, a nagging sense of something missing in life, or a desire to “save the world” — but from those starting points we come together in a desire to rewild our homes, our communities, and ourselves. Rewilding learns from the examples of Indigenous people past and present provided by anthropology, archaeology, and ethnobiology. It means returning to our senses, returning to ourselves, and coming home to the world we never stopped belonging to.
[2] The right to drive a car, take a bus, or ride a plane anywhere and anytime, without worrying that the technology of oil and gas is killing the planet. The right to refuse a hybrid car because it is too expensive. The right to refuse other technologies such as a cooking oil engine because it is too much hassle.
[3] The right to convenience in everything. The right to turn on the lights anytime and anywhere. The right to be warm when it is cold outside and cold when it is warm outside. The right to control the environment.
[4] The right to participate in the capitalist economy without complaint. The right to a job that is primarily about status and making more money, than those below us on the hierarchy of class privilege. The right to have a job that becomes our main identity. The right to take pride in the fact that we have given up our sovereignty to be part of something grander – that is, making money and acquiring status, as well as lovely homes, gorgeous furnishings and appliances, luxury vehicles, extensive wardrobes, deluxe food, art collections, body care and multiple trips and vacations.
[5] The right to turn on a tap and have running water – hot or cold – at any time, anywhere. In public washrooms, the right to use paper towels that are manufactured from trees on a deforested planet.
[6] The right to décor. The right to repeatedly change our carpets, drapes, paint colours, wall treatments and furniture whenever we want.
[7] The right to drive on smooth pavement, and the right to walk on smooth floor surfaces and pavement at all times.
[8] The right to entertainment. We are entitled to view the constant parade of new shows, movies, concerts and other products of the entertainment industry without considering our own creativity, or why we need to be endlessly stimulated and distracted.
[9] The right to an endless array of consumer goods in limitless permutations. Instead of a limited supply there are millions of dress styles to chose from. Instead of a few variations, there are millions of jewellery designs to choose from. Ad nauseum, without a care for the long-term costs of manufacture, or the futility of being a laborer in the consumer goods sector.
[10] The right to collect and hoard boatloads of “stuff” as a bulwark against future lack or shortage. We are not sure if the massive collecting of objects makes us better people, but the endorphin rush is worth it.
[11] The right for artists, designers and engineers to keep creating more and more elaborate and innovative toys, games, music, books, self-care products, cosmetics, baby care, furniture, fabrics, fashion, self-adornment, jewellery, art, décor, fake flowers, robotic technology and vehicles ad nauseum, even while the ecosystem of the Earth are on the edge of collapse. In the name of good design (and innumerable “special interests”) we have the right to add to the burden, instead of austerity or reducing the impact of our carbon footprint. “We are the champions of the world,” and we need to surround ourselves with the expressions of that dynamic.
[12] The right to take family wealth or inheritance, derived from mining, forestry, or other extraction industries, and the products or services related to that destruction, and pretend our business, entrepreneurship, or healthcare practice is “different and special” because it is based on a “sustainable or alternative worldview.” The right to continue building our business with all the benefits of techno-capitalism, and to infuse our leisure time with the wealth derived from resource extraction. We have the right to NEVER question this hypocrisy, or our ongoing complicity with Empire.
[13] The right to pharmaceutical drugs. We cannot imagine a world beyond civilization because our prescriptions would not get filled. Our illnesses depend on the continuance of pharmacy outlets within a capitalist system, and subsidized or for-profit healthcare.
[14] The right to demand plastic for countless objects and purposes. The right to manufacture more, even when we know that the oceans are clogged with plastics that are killing marine life, as there is no disposable, decomposable, or sustainable final resting place for plastic.
[15] The right to consider the trees that surround our dwellings as annoyances instead of living beings. We have the right to cut them down, or alter or destroy any part of nature that doesn’t suit us, because nature is just a collection of lifeless objects put there for our disposal.
[16] The right to witness the deliberate destruction of nature, and not care one iota. We have interests and obsessions that are far more important than the living green world.
[17] The right to witness the deliberate destruction of nature - the true axis mundi for soul and the location for magic in our world – and then stupidly believe that those same qualities, existent in nature for millennia, can somehow be conjured up by human beings.
[18] The right to believe our society is simply “expansionist” instead of murderous. And the right to remain silent, even when we become aware that techno-capitalism is a death culture.
[19] The right to belong to the most successful cult in human history. The right to allow techno-capitalism to manipulate us with various tactics and coercive techniques of control. The right to be indoctrinated into a cult that is designed to advance the goals of a wealthy elite, to the detriment of Earth Community.
[20] And finally, the right to wake up from mass delusions.
The right to reject the internalized beliefs and values we have adopted from Empire, and to heal the trauma and PTSD we are carrying from organizational control. Deconstructing and uncolonizing starts with the self, followed by collaboration in community. >Decolonizing the Psyche< The rewilding and ancestral skills movement hold the keys to rejecting Empire.
>Rewild.com<
From the rewild.com website:
Rewilding means restoring ancestral ways of living that create greater health and well-being for humans and the ecosystems that we belong to. Many things lead people to rewilding — concern over ecological collapse or economic uncertainty, health problems, a nagging sense of something missing in life, or a desire to “save the world” — but from those starting points we come together in a desire to rewild our homes, our communities, and ourselves. Rewilding learns from the examples of Indigenous people past and present provided by anthropology, archaeology, and ethnobiology. It means returning to our senses, returning to ourselves, and coming home to the world we never stopped belonging to.
"Real Gold" by Eduardo-Paolozzi (1949)
Reject Empire / Uncolonize
To provide all humans on Earth with access to modern conveniences and amenities, civilization has converted pristine ecosystems into wastelands. By some massive miscalculation, stupidity or arrogance, Empire-building has destroyed our own life support systems. Now, the health of our entire Earth Community, including human beings, is being eroded by poisoned water, poisoned air, massive smoke inhalation and deadly heat. And is this insane trade-off, the legacy we are leaving behind?
To provide all humans on Earth with access to modern conveniences and amenities, civilization has converted pristine ecosystems into wastelands. By some massive miscalculation, stupidity or arrogance, Empire-building has destroyed our own life support systems. Now, the health of our entire Earth Community, including human beings, is being eroded by poisoned water, poisoned air, massive smoke inhalation and deadly heat. And is this insane trade-off, the legacy we are leaving behind?
| Pegi Eyers is the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores strategies for social justice, uncolonization, ethnocultural identity, building land-emergent community and resilience in times of massive change. Available from Stone Circle Press or Amazon |
