Sound Of Sirens

This google thing has been working on me. You know, the thing with google’s intension to support positive change in the world. The competition…
Google is a corporation. In fact:

‘Google is the most popular search engine – it dominates the search engine market around the world. The newest statistics of the website efficiency analyzer Luna-Park show that Google has a market share of 95% in some European countries - for example in the Netherlands. 19 out of 20 Dutch use Google - a dangerous dominance. Whatever can’t be found on Google doesn’t exist – at least in Holland…. And an 89.2% market share in Germany and a market penetration of 90% in Poland and Bulgaria show that it is no different in other countries. The United Kingdom is an exception with a share of “only” 70%.’ (source stated below)

The goal of corporations is to make profit.
How does google make profit? Google is all about information and data. So now they call out to the world (in other words: the collective intelligence) to come up with ideas to help others. What is in there for them?
You cannot tell me they are just an innovative company and want to do good. They are not. If they want to do good, why do they cooperate with governments and military on censorship. There is a permaculture principle:

Information as a Resource:
Information is the critical potential resource. It becomes a resource only when obtained and acted upon.

Why do they inhibit this process?

Als ich ihn bei der Premiere von ‘We feed the world’ in Hamburg kurz gesprochen habe, hat er schon ganz aufgeregt davon erzählt:
‘Das ist absurd! In Deutschland zum Beispiel besitzen 10% der Bevölkerung 90% des Kapitals!’

Jetzt ist sein neuer Film also (so gut wie) fertig.
Am 30. Oktober hat ‘Money’ Premiere, in dem Wagenhofer die Auswirkungen unseres Geldsystems betrachtet.
Extrem wichtiges Thema, wie ich finde. Ich hoffe, dass möglichst viele die Absurdität und Ungerechtigkeit dieses Systems realisieren und entsprechende Konsequenzen daraus ziehen.

Hier noch ein Statement aus dem Jahr 2000 als ‘Appetitanreger’ zum Weiterforschen (mit der seitdem fortschreitenden ‘Globalisierung der Märkte’ dürfte sich das mittlerweile weiter zugespitzt haben…):

Die reichsten zwei Prozent der erwachsenen Weltbevölkerung besitzen mehr als die Hälfte des globalen “Haushaltsvermögens”. Im Gegensatz dazu halten die ärmsten 50 Prozent aller erwachsenen Weltbürger laut einer UN-Studie nur knapp ein Prozent in Händen.
Die Reichsten der Reichen - ein Prozent der Weltbevölkerung -teilen sich bereits rund 40 Prozent des globalen Wohlstands, das reichste Zehntel kommt sogar auf 85 Prozent.
World Institute for Development Economics Research von der United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) mit Sitz in Helsinki

und hier die entsprechenden Links:

letsmakemoney.at - offizielle Webseite zum Film
inwo.de
Initiative für natürliche Wirtschaftsordnung. Deutsche Site, auf der ihr Zugang zu basic know-how bzgl. unseres Geldsystems, zu möglichen Alternativen und mehr findet. Sehr engagierte, vernetzte und aktive Seite
margritkennedy.de
Site von Prof.Dr.Margrit Kennedy. Verschafft Einblick in unser momentanes Geldsystem, in die Idee von komplementären Währungen und mehr. Sie untersucht und erforscht wirklich neue/andere Arten mit Geld umzugehen, bzw ‘Geld’ zu denken
geldreform.de
grosse Info/Datenbank, die sich mit Geld, Zinsen und Schuldenfragen auseinandersetzt
gemeinschaftsbank.de
Bei dieser Bank ist euer Geld zwar noch insoweit im konventionellen System, als daß sie mit Zinsen arbeitet, aber wenigsten habt ihr ein bischen Kontrolle darüber, wozu euer Geld verwendet wird. (weil, die normale Bank macht schließlich Geld mit eurem Geld. Das liegt da ja nicht einfach im Safe… - und ziemlich häufig würdet ihr das wahrscheinlich nicht so ok finden, mit wem und wie die Bank ihre Geschäfte macht…)
freiheitstattvollbeschäftigung.de
Initiative, die sich mit den Problematiken der Arbeitsgesellschaft beschäftigt und die ein bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen für alle Bürger vorschlägt.
Die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema kann einiges an Offenbarungen bewirken…
‘Money’ - das Buch zum Film von Erwin Wagenhofer

The development and practices of Monsanto, the worlds largest corporation connected to GMO, pestizides and fertilizer are so outrages and stunning to me and touch on such vital issues for everybodies well-being, that I will continue to write about it and I will call the series ‘About food’ for now. I have the feeling ‘About water’ will follow…

Let’s start with some quotes of the documentary ‘The world according to Monsanto‘, which you should have a look at on youtube! (Note: For people in the US it is very hard to get this information, since ’somebody’ obviously does not want it to be revealed and continues to urge youtube to take the videos off their server…).

‘It shows an organization that is determinded to push its products into countries around the world and is determinded to destroy the reputation of anybody who stands in their way.’

‘They want to control seed. They want to control life.’

‘This is a bigger weapon than bombs.’

‘They are in the process of owning food. All food!’

‘The result is that Monsanto is depriving us of our food sovereignty, of our ability to feed ourselves and that we become dependent on their seeds and products.’

This is not science fiction and we are not talking ‘third world’, we are talking the US and Latin America, we are talking India and China, we are talking the British Islands, we are talking France and Germany, we are talking ‘next to you’.

“Last Friday, I had the pleasure of attending a conference hosted by UCLA covering a variety of business topics related to sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and ‘green’. This panel looks at how marketing executives are devising strategies for shaping and managing their brands’ eco-friendly profiles.
I videotaped the ‘Green Marketing Strategies’ session, and broke up the hour discussion into 8 segments for the viewing pleasure at your pace and interests:

• Opening & Introduction
• Consumer Profiles
• Greenwashing
• Branded Content & Connecting with Customers
• Power of Kids & Parents
• Cause Related Strategies
• Q&A - Internal Buy-In
• Q&A - Pricing Considerations

Moderator:
Beverly Macy, Managing Partner/Co-Founder, Y & M Partners, LLC

Panelists (from left to right):
Joe Hartnett, Principal Consultant, Hartnett & Associates
Brenda Lynch, Senior Vice President, Rogers Group
Barbara Manconi, President & CEO and Founder, VERT Brands”

That’s what Mario Vellandi said.

As you can see, the marketing-guys are getting more and more involved into green issues - well, i know that’s not fairly new - the big thing is: it’s getting harder to seperate the companies that really care from the greenwashing others…

“One of the hurdles to making sustainable products is figuring out what the term sustainability means for different materials and ingredients.
Jason Pearson, president and CEO of GreenBlue, a research and design institute, spoke with GreenBiz Radio about how companies are using metrics such as recyclability and renewable energy when determining the quality of products, and what efforts are underway to make cleaner supply chains.”

Again we provide you an insight into how industry treats and thinks about sustainability.

“brought to you by bp” - thank you ;)

via: ClimateBiz

Update: Take a look at the Future Supply Chain Study as well, which [...] “presents a new integrated supply chain model that takes into account sustainability parameters such as CO2 emissions reduction, reduced energy consumption, better traceability and reduced traffic congestion, as well as traditional measures like on-shelf availability, cost reduction and financial performance.”

It’s about style, it’s about status and it’s about opportunities deriving out of a ‘consumer-oriented look at the next 12-18 months’:

“Eco-friendly goods and services sporting bold, iconic markers and design, helping their eco-conscious owners show off their eco-credentials to their peers.
At the heart of ECO-ICONIC is a status shift: Many consumers are eager to flaunt their green behavior and possessions, because there are now millions of other consumers who are actually impressed by green lifestyles.”

For those of you who are not familiar with this stuff: This is called a trend-briefing. Here you find the whole thing of may/june 08: www.trendwatching.com/briefing/ Have a look where we’re heading…

People working in this field are called Consumer-Ethnographers. And sometimes I get the feeling that they look at ‘consumers’ a bit like the old ethnographers were investigating ‘the brutes’ back then…quite similar notions and quite similar blindfolds sometimes… Interesting species, these ‘consumers’, aren’t they. And if investigated properly the knowledge of their behaviour will make you rich (first and foremost) and better than the others.

Doesn’t change much, the way of perceiving and thinking, does it. I figure, burned down to the basics, again you’re at growth, competition and expansion oriented folks, manipulating, instrumentalizing and exploiting people and nature. As eco and sustainable you call the development, as ‘eco-embedded’ it would ‘have to become’ - in my book there won’t be any sustainability as long as there is an ethnographer investigating a consumer in order to…

This is nowhere near an understanding of our interconnected nature with our surroundings. This is repeating the same patterns.

But check the trendwatching site - and see for yourself how you feel about this stuff…