#economic sovereignty

[kesarijournal]

Europe on the Brink: Geopolitical Tensions and Strategic Shifts

Orbán Warns of Impending War Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has issued a dire warning, comparing Europe’s current trajectory towards war to a “train with a mad driver.” He stressed the need to prevent the EU and NATO from expanding the conflict in Ukraine and urged voters to support peace-advocating parties in the upcoming European Parliament elections.China-Russia Alliance In a bold…

[earaercircular]

Four surprises in the global race for green technologies

France is absent from the world podiums in the field of disruptive innovations likely to guarantee its economic sovereignty, according to a study by Fabrique de l'industrie[1]. All is not lost, however. Explanations.

At the time of the first progress report on the France 2030 program aimed at making up for the French industrial delay, the Fabrique de l'Industrie publishes a report[2] that serves as a warning. The conclusions that emerge from its examination of how disruptive technologies have emerged over the past decade are indeed bleak for France and the EU as a whole.

The United States and Asia in the lead

“We are immersed in the illusion that the EU is leading the way in the energy transition and the decarbonization of the economy. But the gap between the stated strategic ambition and the reality of the figures is striking,” underlines Vincent Charlet, general delegate of the ideas laboratory and co-author of the report of more than 70 pages.

An examination of twelve disruptive innovations, eight of which are directly linked to climate, reveals that it is the United States, Japan, South Korea and China that hold the upper hand. They are consistently among the four countries with the highest number of patents filed across all technologies examined.

Germany saves European honour

In agrofuels for aviation, quantum computers and messenger RNA[3], the United States alone holds more than half of the world's patents. Japan, China and South Korea are doing the same in hydrogen for transport, batteries for electric vehicles, photovoltaics and spintronics, even nanoelectronics “within a percentage point”, specifies the report.

There remain four areas where European countries occupy the top spot: offshore wind turbines, recycling of strategic metals, low-carbon steel and biological recycling of plastics. They are also in the leading quartet in eight out of twelve cases. But this is in six cases thanks to Germany alone.

Denmark, Finland and Sweden certainly stand out in offshore wind power and sustainable fuels for the aviation sector. But these two technologies are the lightest weights of the sample in the sense of the total number of patent filings granted. France for its part does not appear on any podium, moving from 5th to 9th place in the world.

The size of the country is not decisive

All is not lost as the authors of the report emphasize that it is not a question of size but of determination. They point to South Korea as proof: the undisputed leader in the twelve technologies studied, it is only twelfth in the world in terms of GDP and its economy is 1.6 times smaller than that of France.

In the eyes of the authors, the latest investment plan (PIE4)[4] outlines this determination by adopting a logic called “directed innovation” towards sectors and technologies deemed priority. Focusing on the criterion of rapid job creation would, however, threaten to result in sterile scattering, he warns.

The myth of the start-up nation

This plan must also be based on the right actors. The opportunity for the authors to twist the neck of the popular start-up nation concept. “The idea that start-ups play a decisive role in the emergence of disruptive innovations is undermined by the data: they rarely appear among the main patent applicants” and never in South Korea, Japan or in Germany, they warn.

On the other hand, they point to the preponderance of large companies, except in France where the large public research laboratories are leading, undoubtedly due to past deindustrialization. “When large companies give up, the ecosystem becomes fragile and start-ups are the first to suffer,” they conclude.

Source

Ninon Renaud, Quatre surprises dans la course mondiale aux technologies vertes, in: Les Echos,7-12-2023 ; https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-services/energie-environnement/quatre-revelations-sur-limpitoyable-course-mondiale-aux-technologies-vertes-2040016

[1] La Fabrique de l’industrie was created in October 2011 under an associative status under the 1901 law. Our board of directors brings together representatives of our financiers: the UIMM, France Industrie and the GIM. We also benefit from critical insights from the members of our orientation council: business leaders, representatives of trade unions and professional organizations, academic experts and media observers. They are the guarantors of the scientific quality, relevance and diversity of our work. https://www.la-fabrique.fr/fr/qui-sommes-nous/

[2] Sonia Bellit et Vincent Charlet : L’innovation de rupture, terrain de jeu exclusif des start-up ? L’industrie française face aux technologies-clés, Les Notes, 07/12/2023 ; https://www.la-fabrique.fr/fr/publication/linnovation-de-rupture-terrain-de-jeu-exclusif-des-start-up-lindustrie-francaise-face-aux-technologies-cles/

[3] In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of synthesizing a protein.

[4] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/investment-plan/

[dailyanarchistposts]

Forest gardens are collections of diverse and useful plant species that are modeled on the structure of a young forest. As a horticultural pattern, forest gardening is found throughout the world, particularly around the tropical rainforest belt. [1] Temperate climate forest gardening is still practiced in parts of China, and there is much to suggest that the forest garden pattern may once have been found throughout the world’s temperate forests, prior to the arrival of agriculture. [2] Practiced in diverse environments, by widely different cultures, the forest garden pattern can vary greatly in detail. The common characteristics by which the general pattern can be recognized are:

Vertical stacking of different species (forest architecture mimicry)

High plant diversity (200 — 400 species per garden is common)

Typically established on small parcels of land (1/4 — 3 acres) [3]

The use of mostly perennial plant species

Producing a diversity of yields to meet a wide range of human needs (geared more toward subsistence than an exchange economy)

Low energy inputs, especially as concerns on-going maintenance

Forest gardens are largely self-fertile and self maintaining (ecosystem mimicry)

Unlike most horticulture and almost all agriculture, which is, by contrast, very two-dimensional, forest gardens are collections of plants arranged both vertically and horizontally. The vertical partitions of space are referred to as “layers,” and the utilization of these layers by the gardener is modeled on the vertical structure of young forests, or forest edges. While tropical gardens sometimes feature up to nine distinct layers, most forest gardens comprise seven layers:

the canopy, consisting of the largest trees in the garden

a sub-canopy of smaller trees and large shrubs

smaller shrubs

herbaceous plants

horizontally spreading plants covering the soil surface

vining plants climbing through all of this

and the “rhizosphere,” the soil layer, from which roots and mushrooms may be harvested and upon which all the other layers depend.

Here in the northeast, a forest garden canopy might comprise walnut, chestnut, hickory, or sugar maple; with a sub-canopy of persimmon, plum, pawpaw, saskatoon, or hazelnut; making their way into the sub-canopy are the vines: grapes, hops, hardy kiwi, groundnut; underneath these in the shrub layer, raspberries, currants, and blueberries; then nutritious and medicinal herbaceous plants and perennial vegetables such as jerusalem artichoke, nettle, milkweed, lovage, or echinacea; and finally, protecting the soil surface, a carpet of strawberries, lingonberries, oregano or mint.

The utilization of vertical space within the forest garden allows for a large number of plant species to be grown in relatively small areas. The number of species found in traditional tropical forest gardens can be truly astonishing: 200 or more plant species, of direct and indirect use to humans — not to mention, birds, insects, and small mammals — is typical on a ¼ acre of forest garden. But even in temperate climates, the species diversity can be very impressive, and 200 — 300 species over an acre or two is not uncommon. The diversity of species in forest gardens makes them very resilient to pest and disease infestations, as these usually only effect a small number of related species at any given time — if a few things fail, there are many more to make up the loss.

In contrast to annual-centric horticulture and agriculture where, every year, seeds are planted and after some months, food can be harvested, the forest garden, with its large diversity of perennial species, makes harvest throughout the year – or, here in the north, throughout the spring, summer, and fall – possible (though even here we begin harvesting tree sap in late winter). The gardener intentionally selects species to provide harvests for as many months of the year as is ecologically possible, and thus, avoids the need to grow any one species in large enough quantities that it may be stored as a primary staple food for the entire year.[4] Harvesting from many species at different times of the year makes the forest gardener’s way a particularly robust and resilient way of growing, food.

Forest gardens provide much more than just food, though. As already mentioned, a characteristic of forest gardens around the world is that they are geared more toward subsistence than an exchange economy. That is not to say that cash crops are never grown in forest gardens, but the gardens are typically planted with such a range of species as to allow the gardener to meet most, if not all, of her needs from her forest garden. There are plants for food, yes, but also plants for medicine, for fuel, for fiber, for dye, for building, woodworking and basketry materials, and also plants whose place may be primarily in providing ecosystem functions, such as nitrogen fixation, or attracting certain types of insects, necessary to the overall health of the garden.

Tropical forest gardens tend to be planted on small plots of land, often only ¼ to ½ acre in size. In the tropics, as there is a year-round growing season with more intense sunlight, and many more shade adapted plants, forest gardeners are able to plant very large numbers of species in small areas. While in the tropics, a ¼ acre of forest garden may be sufficient for a household,[5] in temperate regions with less sun and fewer plants that remain productive in shade, more space is required to allow for wider tree spacing, which, in turn, allows more light to reach the understory, keeping the plants there productive. Temperate climate forest gardens, geared towards the needs of a single household tend more towards 1 to 2 acres in size.

In forest bioregions, the land, if left alone following disturbance, will quickly move through successive stages of development until it is again clothed in forest: the forces of nature are always tending toward a forest ecosystem. If working in opposition to this natural tendency, hefty energy inputs required to maintain the land in a non-forested state, and the further from forest one goes, the higher the. requirements become. Thus, agriculture – keeping a field where there would otherwise be forest, dependent almost exclusively on annual plant species where there would otherwise be perennial species – is the most energy-intensive way of meeting our needs: it requires the most labor (or the most fossil fuels).

The forest garden works with the natural tendency of the land. In some forms of forest gardening, the garden literally hitches a ride, as the site is cleared, planted, and then let revert to forest at its natural rate, a new garden site being opened elsewhere as the forest canopy closes.[6] In many forms of forest gardening, reversion to mature forest is arrested prior to full canopy closure, largely through the selective harvesting of trees to re-open the canopy.

In the forest garden, the major energy input comes in the establishment of the garden – the clearing and preparation of the garden site and the planting of the garden. As the planting is of mostly perennial plants, the planting only needs to be done once, not every year (though plantings are typically added to or changed, and replacements of varieties are made – after all, it is gardening, and gardeners are potterers). Clearing and preparing of the site, in sedentary models of forest gardening, can also be done but once. In shifting models, typically found in large tropical forests, the clearing and site preparation may be done as often as every five years. Following establishment, the main activity of the forest gardener (or forage gardener) is harvesting.

As the forest garden closely approximates a stage of natural forest succession, it can, like the young forest it mimics, be self-fertile and thus largely self-maintaining. The normal processes that fertilize the forest, such as the decomposition of woody organic matter and leaf litter by fungi, insects, and soil organisms, are also present in the forest garden. And significant quantities of bird, insect, and animal manure are to be found, as they are in young forests. The use of many leguminous nitrogen-fixing species by forest gardeners — to improve soil conditions for the surrounding plants — is a mimicry of the ecosystem function of pioneer species. Pioneer plants, present in the early and mid stages of forest succession, enrich the soil and nurse the young trees that will later become the canopy of the mature forest, protecting them from wind and animal browse.

Like a forest, yet unlike agriculture, the underground space of the forest garden is partitioned as well. In monocultures, the plant roots are all down at roughly the same depth in the soil and looking for exactly the same minerals and nutrients as their neighbors. In the highly diverse perennial polycultures of forest gardens, different soil depths are occupied and the precise needs of the plants (being different species) differ, thus plants may be grown in close proximity to each other without resulting in soil depletion and excessive competition between plants.

It took the monocultural minds of Westerners a good while to recognize that the chaotic mess of vegetation surrounding homes and village sites in such diverse places as Sri Lanka, Tanzania, or southern Mexico was, in fact, an ecologically-sophisticated way of meeting most of the essential needs of the gardeners. Yet agroforestry, the agricultural approach to three-dimensional perennial polycultures that came into being in the early to mid-twentieth century – large scale, machine-harvestable, market-oriented – when it recognizes forest gardening at all, sees it only as a distant and difficult relative.

The revival of forest gardening in the west is due largely to the experiments of Robert Hart, a Tolstoyan anarchist, author, and small-hold farmer. In the 1970’s, Hart developed an interest in agroforestry — in particular, the system of “three dimensional farming” developed in the l950’s by Toyohiko Kagawa — and began his own experiments with (what was to later be called) forest gardening, on 1/8th of an acre of old orchard. On this tiny piece of land, Hart developed a productive garden (yielding food and basketry materials mainly), far more ecologically complex than any form of agroforestry then being practiced, and far closer to the chaotic tropical forest gardens that agroforestry sought to simplify. This is hardly surprising, as agroforestry is focused on production for a market-economy, whereas Hart sought a decentralized and de-industrialized society where households and villages would be largely sell sufficient. The great irony here is that Hart was conducting his experiments in the Welsh border lands of Shropshire, England, the precise place where the industrial revolution began. Hart’s vision of the forest garden was one of raising the self-sufficiency of households to facilitate economic down-sizing and a return to highly localized economic activity, of creating sites of practical education for children in the life skills of feeding and sheltering themselves through co-operation with diverse species in living systems, and of a means of re-greening the forest environments that agriculture and urbanism had denuded.

Robert Hart’s work has inspired a subsequent generation of neo-forest gardeners, particularly in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. While Hart’s forest gardening idea is often thought to be synonymous with permaculture, it was pioneered independently of permaculture,[7] and if the practice has been widely adopted by permaculturalists, it is because, in many ways, it could be considered the quintessential permaculture technique of production: an ecologically regenerative/benign, low-labor, solar-powered, self-maintaining, resilient production system that is directed toward household and community self-sufficiency. While there may be some problems with the way forest gardening has been incorporated into permaculture practice, such as a focus almost solely on the production of food, rather than the full range of things needed for a subsistence life, it should nevertheless be acknowledged that many of the techniques used in temperate climate forest gardening by neo-forest gardeners, particularly those of design and site preparation prior to the establishment of a garden, are the fruit of decades of research, experimentation, teaching, and networking by permaculture practitioners.

Hart’s pioneering work has inspired not only some spectacular gardens but also some very good texts on forest garden theory and practice. The most notable of these are Marlin Crawford’s Creating a Forest Garden, and the two-volume set, Edible Forest Gardens, by Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier. The former is, in my opinion, the better introductory text as it clearly lays out the basics of temperate climate forest garden theory, design, and implementation, and it is authored by the person who has created what is, by popular consensus amongst forest gardeners, the finest example of a temperate climate forest garden in the western hemisphere. But once hooked and eager to take up the art of forest gardening, the Jacke and Toensmeier texts become indispensable, particularly if you live in the northeastern United States. the region where these two forest gardeners reside and upon which the volumes are focused. These are encyclopedic tomes: the first volume is a thorough exploration of forest ecosystem theory, while the second contains detailed explanations of site assessment and design processes, forest garden implementation and maintenance, and includes a near-exhaustive list of useful perennial plants for temperate climates. There is so much information in these two volumes that I fear, for the uninitiated, they may make forest gardening appear ridiculously complicated, which it is not. Forest gardens, as close mimics of natural forests, are complicated beyond our understanding, and therefore, the gardener need not attempt to understand everything as the scientist seeks to, but rather, through observation and participation in the evolution of this ecosystem in miniature, can develop and depend upon the craft and intuition usually associated with the artist, or master gardener. There are a few fundamental ideas and techniques that need to be thoroughly grasped before planting a forest garden, but only a few. On the other hand, to become a master forest gardener will likely take a lifetime.

Finally, there is also Robert Hart’s Forest Gardening, not a how-to manual so much as a poetic exploration of Hart’s vision of the forest garden and how he came to it. As the focus of neo-forest gardeners has largely been on technique, it is good to remind ourselves that, at least as Hart saw it, the real fruits of the· forest garden were self-sufficiency and autonomy.

Works Cited

Anderson, M. Kat:

2005 Tending the Wild: Native American knowledge and management of California’s natural resources. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Crawford, Martin:

2010 Creating a Forest Garden: Working with nature to grow edible crops. Totnes: Green Books.

Hart, Robert:

1996 Forest Gardening. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green.

Jacke, Dave and Eric Toensmeier:

2005a Edible Forest Gardens, Vol. One: Ecological vision and theory for temperate climate permaculture. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green.

2005b Edible Forest Gardens, Vol. Two: Ecological design and practice for temperate climate permaculture. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green.

Lawton, Geoff:

2008 Personal communication.

Workman, Dion:

2011 — ‘Natural Farming in the Philippines: Traditional farming systems and local efforts to save them.’ Unpublished manuscript, originally appearing on the now defunct natural farming website, Terraquaculture.

2013 — ‘Jomon Horticulture: “Incipient agriculture” or forest gardening?’ Lecture given May 5, 2013 at Shikigami forest garden, Japan.

[1] Forest Gardening is still practiced in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Tanzania, Nigeria, central America, and the Amazon. (Hart; Crawford; Lawton; Workman)

[2] This claim, based upon a slightly broader definition of forest gardening than I have given in this article, includes practices that might better be called, as Dave Jacke has, “gardening the forest,” or, as M. Kat Anderson has called them, “tending the wild.” Examples of this more extensive approach to “forest gardening,” include the Jomon, indigenous to the Japanese archipelago (Workman 2013), indigenous peoples of the eastern forest bioregion of North America (Jacke 2005a: 14), and the indigenous peoples of California (Anderson). In Europe, traditional coppice practices and the cultivation of hedgerows comprising many useful forest-edge species are certainly forms of “agroforestry,” but may also suggest older practices of tending the wild.

[3] Forest gardens are “over-yielding” systems, meaning that multiple harvests of different crops are possible from the same piece of land. The implication of this is that, while forest gardens cannot produce yields of a single crop comparable to agriculture, they can produce overall yields, from a given piece of land, far higher than that achieved with agricultural techniques. Thus, when geared toward subsistence, forest gardens need only take up relatively small areas of land.

[4] While in the tropics it may not he necessary to store food for any length of time, in temperate climates, particularly the further north or south you go, it is. Thus, temperate climate · forest gardeners do generally grow crops suitable for long term storage — nuts, in particular, but also fruits, seeds and tubers — however, they can do this by spreading the quantities needed, or desired, across as large a number of species as possible. This approach creates resiliency against crop failure in the forest garden.

[5] It should be noted that tropical forest gardeners often also have access to much larger forest areas and so it should not be thought that everything is corning from the forest garden. Many wild foods, medicines, materials, and particularly firewood will often be gathered from outside the forest garden.

[6] This practice, often derogatorily referred to as slash-and-burn agriculture, when viewed in the light of what ecologists have called the patch dynamic theory of forest succession (Jacke 2005 : 268) — in part, the idea that a forest, rather than taking a single, linear path towards a static, climax state, is rather continuously cycling through all stages of succession across different parts of the forest — may in fact be a very sensitive mimicry of natural forest disturbance patterns. Naturally, such disturbances might occur when a large tree falls in the forest, taking a good number of surrounding trees with it, some uprooting and disturbing the soil, leaving a clearing where primary and secondary stages of forest growth will now manifest. Other natural occurrences such us windstorms and wild fires can also create such patches. The size of the patch that can be created by a large tree falling in a forest is not dissimilar to the size of many shifting forest gardens.

[7] As practitioners view permaculture as a “toolbox” of techniques, as well as a design system, they have the tendency to label anything that resembles it, or is useful to it, as “permaculture.” While this infuriates some horticultural innovators who do not want to be thought of as permaculturalists, Robert Hart seems to have been only too happy to be included in the permaculture fold.

[sparksinthenight]

Why we need Land Back

We should talk about current issues Indigenous people face.

In Canada at least there are many problems still happening.

Indigenous children are being ripped away from their loving families and put into foster care simply because the families are poor or the parents struggle with mental illness or something like that.

Women are being forcibly sterilized against their will.

Girls, women, and 2 spirit people are being kidnapped and sold into sex slavery and are also getting murdered and raped and their bodies are being thrown into the landfills.

The land that Indigenous communities need for their cultures and livelihoods is being destroyed by resource extraction companies that cut through the landscape and leave open wounds, that pollute the land, air, and water, and destroy the biodiversity and health of the ecosystems.

There is police brutality against Indigenous people, and people are killed by the police every day. There are hate crimes against Indigenous people.

Social services on reserves, including education, healthcare, utilities, housing, etc, are horrifically underfunded, and are funded much less well than the same social services off of reserves.

There’s discrimination in employment, in healthcare, in pretty much everything. And Indigenous people are kept in poverty and homelessness by the discriminatory society.

We need Land Back.

Land Back will allow Indigenous people to stop their land from being destroyed. Their cultures and livelihoods and mental health and spiritual health and well-being is so deeply tied to the land/nature. And actually, having them be able to effectively protect the land helps all of us because all humans are dependant upon the land even if we don’t realize it.

It will also allow Indigenous communities to force the government to stop discriminating against them by giving them worse social services. It will allow them to force the government to give them the same social services everyone else gets.

It will also allow them to force the government to stop taking their children. All children deserve to be with the families who love them and they should not be ripped away from their families, because this causes deep and devastating lifelong trauma.

It would allow Indigenous communities to stop rapists and traffickers and murderers from entering their communities. It will allow them to force rapists and traffickers and murderers out of their communities. And it will allow them to make sure every case of people getting raped or kidnapped or trafficked or killed is properly investigated and the victims are saved and the perpetrators get justice. Same with other hate crimes.

It will allow Indigenous people to have the power necessary to push back on police brutality and build better models of law enforcement, including community-ventured models.

Indigenous communities will also likely get a flow of money that they can use to lift their people out of poverty. They’ll have the power to stop healthcare discrimination and forcible sterilization. And they’ll have the power to force us to give justice to unethical healthcare professionals and to force systemic change in the healthcare system so that medical mistreatment doesn’t happen.

Indigenous people would also have the opportunity to do more outreach to settler communities and teach them about Indigenous culture and values and stuff, so that people learn to be less racist and discriminatory.

Land Back will help pretty much every marginalized community because stopping racism and discrimination for one race usually leads to there being decreased racism and discrimination for other races too.

Ultimately Land Back is about giving Indigenous people and communities the power to keep themselves and each other safe in a society that is actively against them. It is also about keeping the ecosystems that we all rely upon safe, and about stopping discrimination and racism.

Giving Indigenous people power to protect themselves and their communities isn’t going to prevent any other community from protecting themselves. It will create more equality and social justice for everyone in Canada.

I support Land Back. I’m a settler girl and I support Land Back, and you should too.

[tmarshconnors]

STOP HELPING UKRAINE!

The war between Russia and Ukraine has dragged on for over a year now, and the West, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom, has poured billions into military aid, equipment, and financial assistance for Ukraine. The argument has been that Ukraine needs our support to defend itself against Russian aggression, which, in theory, could pose a broader threat to Europe and even global security. But is this endless funding truly in the best interest of our nations? I argue that it is not.

Unintended Consequences: Economic Strain on the West

Let’s start with the practical issue: the economic toll on our countries. We are facing significant domestic challenges – from economic recessions and rising inflation to unemployment and energy crises. Yet, despite these struggles, billions of taxpayer dollars and pounds continue to flow out to fund a conflict halfway across the world.

Consider the impact on everyday citizens. Energy prices have skyrocketed, in part because of sanctions on Russian oil and gas, but also due to our funding of this seemingly never-ending conflict. Instead of investing in infrastructure, healthcare, or education at home, we’re propping up a country that, quite frankly, needs to take responsibility for its own survival.

What’s Really at Stake?

While it's easy to frame this war as a moral crusade against tyranny, it’s far more complex than that. Ukraine is not a perfect democracy, and its issues with corruption are well-documented. Are we truly supporting a nation based on democratic ideals, or are we merely caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war with Russia? Either way, the continued funneling of funds is draining resources that could be better spent elsewhere.

Moreover, the West has already armed Ukraine to the teeth, providing advanced weaponry and training. The Ukrainian military is now well-equipped to hold its own. So why are we still providing an endless cash flow? At what point do we say, "Enough is enough"?

Ukraine's Responsibility to Defend Itself

At some point, we must allow Ukraine to stand on its own two feet. Nations throughout history have had to fend for themselves in times of crisis, and Ukraine should be no exception. This is their fight, after all. If they wish to preserve their sovereignty and independence, it’s their duty to do so.

One might argue that cutting off funding would be abandoning Ukraine to a Russian takeover. But that's an oversimplified view. Ukraine has proven its resilience time and time again. They have the will to fight; what they now need is the determination to do so without relying on endless Western support. The question isn't whether they can defend themselves – it's whether they will if left to their own devices.

Western Nations Need to Prioritize Their Own Citizens

The well-being of our own citizens should always be our primary concern. Our governments are elected to serve ourinterests, not to act as the world's police force or charity. With millions struggling to make ends meet, is it really fair to continue sending our hard-earned money to a foreign conflict?

We need to refocus on issues that matter at home: rebuilding our economies, strengthening national security, and addressing the energy crisis. Instead of being distracted by far-off wars, let’s direct our efforts toward solving our domestic problems.

The Risk of Prolonging the Conflict

Finally, there's the risk that by continuing to fund Ukraine, we are merely prolonging the conflict. If both sides know that Western money and weapons will keep flowing, where's the incentive for peace? By stepping back, we encourage diplomatic solutions rather than an endless military stalemate.

It’s time for the West to rethink its role in the Russia-Ukraine war. While supporting Ukraine was initially seen as a moral and strategic necessity, the continued funding is proving to be more of a burden than a benefit. Ukraine has the means to defend itself. Now it must find the resolve to do so independently. Our priorities should shift back to addressing the needs of our citizens, and it's high time we let Ukraine face Russia on its own terms.

After all, every nation must ultimately be responsible for its own survival.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Kyle Mantyla at RWW:

Right-wing activists and members of Congress are currently spreading a conspiracy theory that the Biden administration is preparing to hand over American sovereignty to the World Health Organization. It’s not true, but among those sounding the alarm is Oklahoma state Sen. Dusty Deevers, a far-right pastor and unabashed Christian nationalist who literally wants to see this nation taken back to the 1600s. On Tuesday, Deevers joined other far-right activists like Frank Gaffney, John Bennett, and Paul Blair at a rally demanding that the Oklahoma legislature pass a bill that “would deny the WHO, WEF and UN any jurisdiction in Oklahoma.” In keeping with Deevers’ rabidly Christian nationalist approach to governing, the speech he delivered spent little time discussing the legislation so that he could focus primarily on making the case for theocracy.

Oklahoma State Senator Dusty Deevers (R), a Christian nationalist fave, joined up with other far-right cranks on Tuesday night a rally against the nonexistent erosion of “health sovereignty” in support of SB426.

[bisexualdinahlance]

I mean it's not just a tourist destination, though the problems that come from tourism are what's in the news the most and is their largest industry.

It's a military base. It's why we colonized Hawaii in the first place, among other current and former US colonies in the Pacific. The article acts like it was just for better access to trade (which that was part of it), but it was formally annexed during the Spanish-American War due to its strategic placement.

There's 14 military bases in Hawaii. Like 15% of the population of Hawaii is military, former military, or their families and it's the second largest industry in the state. Incredibly important to remember when talking about Hawaiian liberation.

I don't think it's a radical ideal for the want of Hawai'i to become their own independent country. It should have never been taken over by the US in the first place. For a country whose entire foundation is based upon "separation from a colonial country" it's laughable that they made an entire population that was self governed into a state. It's insulting. It's already blatantly obvious that this whole country was based on lies and blood, and it only continues to perpetuate that. I'm shocked that the Hawai'ian sovereignty movement isn't mainstream even though they have been fighting for it since 1997. Fuck the American government.

[consuetudinari0]

A Factor for U.S. Control and Potential Armed Intervention

─“Rebecca Gordon, It Didn’t Work in Afghanistan, So Let’s Do It in Mexico” In the article “It Didn’t Work in Afghanistan, So Let’s Do It in Mexico”, published on 22 March 2015 on TomDispatch.com, Rebecca Gordon provides a deep and critical analysis of the United States’ tendency to export failed military policies to other contexts. Specifically, the text explores how strategies that proved…

[firstoccupier]

Tensions Rise in West Philippine Sea: Latest Developments

Dateline: December 23, 2024, Baybay City, Philippines In significant developments over the past 24 hours, tensions have escalated in the West Philippine Sea as reports emerged indicating that the Philippines dispatched supplies to a warship currently grounded at the contentious Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll claimed by both the Philippines and China. The Chinese Coast Guard has responded…

[rodgermalcolmmitchell]

Would you trust a baker who doesn't know the differences between salt and sugar?

It often isn’t easy to determine whether information falls into the “miss-” (unintentional) category or the “dis-” (intentional) category. For instance, Fox News has promulgated faulty information of the “dis-” sort, while your addled neighbor usually mouths “mis-“. I have the infinite ability to create U.S. dollars just by pressing computer keys, but I want you to give me more dollars and keep…

[kesarijournal]

Europe on the Brink: Geopolitical Tensions and Strategic Shifts

Orbán Warns of Impending War Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has issued a dire warning, comparing Europe’s current trajectory towards war to a “train with a mad driver.” He stressed the need to prevent the EU and NATO from expanding the conflict in Ukraine and urged voters to support peace-advocating parties in the upcoming European Parliament elections.China-Russia Alliance In a bold…

[bitcoinversus]

Africa's Bitcoin Adoption is Moving Forward: Machankura Enables Bitcoin Transactions Without Internet

Machankura is revolutionizing #Bitcoin adoption in Africa, enabling transactions via basic mobile phones without internet.

Bitcoin adoption in Africa faces unique challenges, particularly due to limited internet connectivity. About 30% of Africans have access to the internet, making it difficult to leverage traditional Bitcoin platforms. Kgothatso Ngako, the founder of Machankura, addresses this issue by enabling Bitcoin transactions via basic mobile phones using USSD technology. This service allows users to send…

[dailyanarchistposts]

The morning’s farm activities include: milking the goats, carrying hay out to the horse, feeding the chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, etc. and collecting eggs, and tending the rabbits. Later on, gathering vegetables and flowers for market day, checking the fruit trees and associated beehives, tinkering with the tractor, preparing the baler for the last cutting of hay, etc., etc. All the familiar farm chores...only these are all being done in the heart of the City of Detroit, almost within sight of the smokestacks of the giant Ford complex. This farm is located on the converted playground of one of the city’s public schools, the Catherine Ferguson Academy (CFA).

And CFA is not the only farm in Detroit. By my count, there are now at least six micro-farms within the city limits ranging from about an acre to several acres. Even more important, there are now scores of productive community and school gardens, along with hundreds of family gardens, which are providing fresh fruits and vegetables for their neighborhoods and for sale at various farmers’ markets around town. And the urban farming movement is growing here faster each year, strengthening people with healthy produce, and re-energizing communities with shared planning, work, and celebration. It is becoming a movement of urban farmers worthy of linking up with the readers of Small Farmer’s Journal. But how did this movement come about?

Detroit, as everyone knows, was “The Motor City,” the auto capital of the world, home of the GM, Ford, and Chrysler. But in the mid-1970’s, the first of the oil crises hit Detroit like a tsunami. Plants downsized and closed, leaving tens of thousands of Detroiters out of work and neighborhoods devastated. People started leaving the city in droves. That exodus left broad swaths of open fields where vibrant neighborhoods stood a few years earlier. By some estimates there are now in total about 40 square miles of vacant land inside the city limits of Detroit. And as the people left, this new prairie land was rapidly repopulated by pheasants, rabbits, and raccoons, ’possums and songbirds, along with the occasional fox or coyote. But it also brought some determined new urban farmers. As a result, by the early 1990’s, the Detroit Agriculture Network (DAN) came into being to provide a forum for exchange of information, resources, seeds, etc., among these new farmers.

[theadaptableeducator]

From Chaos to Harmony: Reimagining Global Order Through Hobbesian Insights

Thomas Hobbes, in his seminal work “Leviathan,” describes the state of nature as a “war of all against all,” where life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” He argues that in order to escape this chaotic state, individuals enter into a social contract, surrendering some of their freedoms to a sovereign authority in exchange for security and order. Hobbes’s ideas provide a useful lens…

[tmarshconnors]

French Revolution Constitution

The French Revolution resulted in several significant constitutional changes, marking the transition from the Ancien Régime to a series of revolutionary governments. Here is a brief overview of the constitutions developed during the French Revolution:

1. The Constitution of 1791

The first constitution of France, adopted on September 3, 1791, established a constitutional monarchy.

Key Features:

Limited Monarchy: King Louis XVI retained the throne but his powers were considerably reduced.

Separation of Powers: The government was divided into three branches: the executive (the King), the legislative (the Legislative Assembly), and the judiciary.

Legislative Assembly: A single-chamber assembly with 745 members elected for two-year terms.

Voting Rights: Limited to "active citizens" who paid a certain amount of taxes, thus excluding a significant portion of the population.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: Incorporated into the preamble, asserting fundamental rights and freedoms.

2. The Constitution of 1793 (Year I)

Adopted on June 24, 1793, but never implemented due to the ongoing war and internal strife, this constitution was more radical and democratic.

Key Features:

Republican Government: Abolished the monarchy and established a French Republic.

Universal Male Suffrage: All male citizens aged 21 and over could vote.

Direct Democracy: Frequent referendums and primary assemblies where citizens could propose and vote on laws.

Rights and Welfare: Strong emphasis on social and economic rights, including the right to work and education.

3. The Constitution of 1795 (Year III)

Implemented on August 22, 1795, this constitution established the Directory, marking a shift to more conservative governance.

Key Features:

Bicameral Legislature: Consisting of the Council of Five Hundred and the Council of Ancients.

Directory: A five-member executive body chosen by the legislature.

Limited Suffrage: Voting rights were restricted to property-owning men, reversing the universal male suffrage of 1793.

Stability Measures: Designed to prevent the rise of another dictatorial power and address the chaos of the previous years.

The Constitution of 1791 (Excerpt Translation)

Here is an excerpt translation from the Constitution of 1791, focusing on key articles that outline the new political structure:

Preamble: The National Assembly, wishing to establish the French Constitution on the principles it has just recognized and declared, abolishes irrevocably the institutions which were harmful to liberty and the equality of rights.

Title III - Public Powers:

Article 1: The sovereignty is one, indivisible, inalienable, and imprescriptible. It belongs to the nation; no section of the people nor any individual may attribute to themselves the exercise thereof.

Article 2: The nation, from which alone emanates all powers, can exercise these powers only by delegation. The French Constitution is representative; the representatives are the Legislative Body and the King.

Article 3: The legislative power is delegated to a National Assembly composed of temporary representatives freely elected by the people to serve for a given period.

Article 4: The government is monarchical; the executive power is delegated to the King, to be exercised under his authority by ministers and other responsible agents, in the manner and to the extent determined by the legislative power.

These documents reflect the evolving political philosophies and tumultuous changes during the French Revolution, capturing the struggle between democratic ideals and practical governance.