Swami for Precedent

Precedential Plank Five
Invest in A-Bun-Dance, Not Scare-City
How to Feed Two Birds With One Scone, and Make the Commonwealth Uncommonly Wealthy

“Let’s put our money into goods and services instead of bads and disservices.”

Of all of God’s creations facing extinction, perhaps the most serious threat is to our “common wealth.” For if this splendid planet is indeed the Creator’s creation then it belongs to no one . . . and to everyone. Together we the people of the world get to share — and manage — the common wealth for the common good of all.

Overmining Has Undermined Our Commonwealth
And the one practice that is most endangering our commonwealth is mining. That is when those who already have too much money and power take over and say, “This is mine, this is mine, this is mine.” Now this mining has gone on ever since the first brute used brute strength, and now our planet is overmined, and the vitality of the body politic undermined. Think about it. Those peons get tired of being peed on. Forget trickle down. You get pissed on, you’re gonna get pissed off. This leads to uprisings, which lead to downfalls, and all of this uprising and downfalling can be hard on the body politic — and expensive. That’s why the Gross National Product is so . . . gross. Because along with all of those goods and services, there are plenty of bads and disservices — all of the things needed to keep unhealthy “mining” operations going, and to deal with the inevitable uprisings and downfallings.

Which Future Are We Buying?
So we say, support the “alter native” economy — anything which alters us natives of Earth for the better. Let’s start measuring the Net National Product, that which creates lasting value and uses uncommon sense to make the commonwealth uncommonly wealthy. Instead of piling up weapons and investing in insecurities, let’s vote with our dollars and say, “Sorry, we’re just not buying it.” Everyone is selling futures nowadays, so let’s choose the future we buy wisely. Studies show there are at least 50 million Americans who prefer to feed the wolf of peace. If each of us shifted just $100 from supporting the “gross” national product into the alter native economy, that would be $5 billion. Now that’s just a drop in the bucket, but hey — it’s a start.

No Privatizing Without Mutual Consent, Please
And let’s stop this trend toward privatization of our God-given natural resources. We have to insist that those big, powerful companies stop using force to stick their privates where they don’t belong. In any case, there must be mutual consent. I don’t know about you, but where I come from, when you “privatize” people against their will, that is called rape. And when you do it to Mother Earth — well, there is a very impolite term for people like that.

Time for Corporations to Incorporate Personhood
As for the issue of corporate personhood, I can’t understand how those Banana Republicans being so imbedded as they are with the Religious Right can actually support this notion of artificial life. Heck, in most places, these artificial entities have more rights than real people! So I say, if these corporations want human rights, they must have a human heart. I recommend that corporations applying for “personhood” must show evidence of a heart transplant (that’s transplanted in, not out) and hire an ombuddhasman to make sure that the heart is always in command.

Vote for ABUNdance, Not Scare City
Finally, we the people must decide whether we feed the wolf of love with our dollars or the wolf of fear. Every monetary exchange is a vote. So we say, vote for “a bun dance” — that is where we all get up off our assets, move our buns, and dance together — instead of buying into the “scare city” currently being sold.
But Seriously, Folks . . . We vote not just with our ballots, but with our pocketbooks and our checkbooks.

What if we as individuals, as communities, as a society invested our money, attention, time and resources only in what is truly healing and helpful?

What if we encouraged and empowered more people and communities to get up off of their assets, move their buns and dance together to make the commonwealth uncommonly wealthy?

Why, we could reap a world win!

Exerpted from Swami for Precedent: A 7-Step Plan to Heal the Body Politic and Cure Electile Dysfunction. Order your copy here