Some of my thoughts on the ecological impacts of the ubiquitous spiritual poverty that is perpetuated by the religion of statism / modern industrial civilization and the public education system
Encapsulates the "Social Engineering" This substack articles spells it out so well how the demoralization on values of the family, spiritual guidance and leadership came into play at the machinations of 'Think Tanks' with the purpose of promulgating a new genre of attitude and well also the creation of "Generation Gaps."
I highly recommend we all read this 1986 Venice Declaration - it completely opens the perceptualizing and indoctrinations via "Social Engineering" over systemic domains that overlap and ensures no aspect of human life remains 'OUTSIDE SCIENTiFIC JURISDICTIONS' over these 11 Domains which do not function as independent spheres of ethical considerations BUT as an integrated apparatus for consolidating "Scientific Governance" across all aspects of the human experience.
The 11 Domains affected are: 1/Culture, 2/Politics & Governance 3/Law 4/Economy & Business 5/Industry 6/Education 7/Faith & Morality 8/Territory & Land Management 9/Science & Research Integrity 10/Media 11/Health...
It exposes how we are being manipulated into a divisive world and how people are not able to defend an opposing view and why that has occurred like a nightmare suddenly overnight it seemed.
I kowtowed to everything at school, I was scared, and hated it. Being a very energetic child I hated sitting still for hours on end (Coercive obedience education in action!). Back in the 50s English education was violent and nasty if one had the bad luck of getting a sadistic class teacher, and there were quite a few of them around, but thank goodness some angels also.
Related to 'educations' affect on people, my Grandfather was a 'good' Prussian Cavalry Officer in WW1 and I have a couple of photos of him at a very young age already suffering from the repressive Prussian education system, he looks cowed, but obviously had the spirit to use the system to make a good life for himself, but he firmly believed in the system,
He was born a Jew, but was baptised Christian in order to be able to 'get ahead' more easily. Jews had, by the late 1800s, been given the freedom to become German citizens, and that's all so many of them wanted, to just be accepted and allowed to earn a good living and utilise their talents to do so, talents that were channelled by the Prussian system into vocations that suited the regime. My grandad became a German High Court Tax Judge.
Regardless of the fact that his education taught him well how to obey, when came Hitler demanding of my Grandad to speak up on the behalf of the Nazi regime he dared say 'no'. His 'education' had not completely destroyed his morality and ethics. Luckily he was baptised, luckily he had married a blond haired Aryan, but he was fired from his position, and luckily able to flee to England. He did however consider the Prussian system a good one because it had given Jewish people the ability to hold their heads high as German citizens. Some of us humans don't ask for much, hey!
I'll add another titbit to the 'education/brainwashing story. The English Catholic church. back in the 14 or 15 hundreds apparently decided that the sons of the rich, having been sent abroad by their parents to gain a wider knowledge of life (education) came back with what the church considered to be very heretical ideas and decided 'education' should be in the hands of the church, they knew what was best. Private Jesuit tutors for the rich to begin with. That's how the English education/brainwashing system came into being, the church not being quite as broader minded as some parts of it have now become.😊
My family were farmers and ranchers for generations... not only in America, but in the countries they immigrated from as well. It's hard to say how many hundreds of years my family tended the land and livestock. The younger generations have a warped view of farming and ranching. The education they receive seem to be clips from the Discovery Channel and other propaganda arms that show pictures of industrial farms and feed lots where animals are standing in their own feces and huge tractors are tilling the soil with plumes of dust flowing from behind them. The fact is, the small farmer typically doesn't treat the land, or the animals the way it's portrayed in the "media". Our land and animals were always treated/tended with love and care. It's only when centralization become the trend that animals and the land began to be treated with such disrespect. This is such a frustrating subject for me because so many people (mostly those who are in the cities which is the majority) don't see the truth. Farmers and ranchers are some of the most caring when it comes to the land and their animals. Most of them also have spiritual lives as well and take the command to "tend the land" very seriously. Those who think we need to shut it all down and "re-wild" the land don't realize what they are asking for. How many of these same people would like to have to worry about mountain lions and vicious wolves roaming the streets of their cities? It could, and probably would, happen as all of the fences are torn down and farmers and ranchers are kicked off the land. I'm not sure what the answer to all of this is. As long as the majority of the population thinks their food magically just "shows up" at the grocery store and as long as we have people like Bill Gates who are pushing all of our food being created in a lab we are going to be fighting this stuff. It's one of the reasons I advocate for *everyone* to grow some of their food! Even if it's just some Basil in a kitchen window.
I was introduced to you through your appearance on The Corbett Report. Your work is of the utmost importance at this time. I have been a gardener for the bulk of my adult life and have experienced immense gratification from the entire process, but it wasn't until I read 'Braiding Sweetgrass' by Robin Wall Kimmerer that I finally understood that plants are our teachers. Being a big fan of trees since childhood, I am currently fortunate enough to spend a great deal of time receiving their spiritual and physical gifts. I believe that if more of us were able/willing to spend time in the forest daily, the 'reverence for life', which indigenous people the world over understand full well, would be substantially restored and our way forward on a more sound footing. Best wishes for continued success. Keep On Truckin' Gavin!
Have you read "The Unlikely Peace at Cuchumaquic: The Parallel Lives of People as Plants: Keeping the Seeds Alive" by Martín Prechtel ? If not, I highly recommend it.
"I believe that if more of us were able/willing to spend time in the forest daily, the 'reverence for life', which indigenous people the world over understand full well, would be substantially restored and our way forward on a more sound footing."
Well said.
It is also worth noting that each and everyone of us has indigenous ancestors (regardless of skin color and genetic make up) it is just for some of us, we have to look wayyyyy back through millennia of generational trauma, "witch burnings" (aka indigenous medicine and spiritual knowledge keeper mass murdering operations) and propaganda from statist institutions to re-member our ancestral place based roots.
Thanks for replying to my comment Gavin. I have the luxury of having plenty of reading time these days and operate under the premise that there is always another good book I need to read. I will definitely read the book you've recommended. On that note, I would recommend to you the work of two very different individuals whose ideas have had a significant and lasting impact on how I view the world.
The second individual is Iain McGilchrist. His latest work, The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World, is a 2021 book of neuroscience, epistemology and metaphysics. It is a lengthy read but entirely worth the effort. It sheds a brilliant light on why we moderns act/think as we do and how to regain the harmonious use of our thinking faculties.
If you can afford the time to have a look I would be very interested to know your opinions about them. Just out of curiosity, have you come across the term Zero Point Technology (ZPT) and, if so, what is your take on it?
P.S. If there is a more appropriate avenue to respond to you please let me know.
I am happy to discuss here when I have time (so others can potentially benefit from the info too) or we can communicate via email if you prefer.
Either way, I am working intense hours on physical projects right now (community food forest plus a day job, plus a home garden, plus packaging shipping books etc) so a full response may take some time.
I am familiar with Victor Schauberger. I admire his work and have applied some of his concepts in my food forest designs that are adjacent to rivers and streams for managing erosion and keeping water "living". I touched on some of his work in this book review linked below:
I am not familiar with Iain McGilchrist so thanks for introducing me, i`ll add his work to my reading list for when I have time.
Regarding energy generation/extraction systems that tap into the quantum vacuum (aka "zero point field") I have known a couple guys that worked on compartmented R&D operations that contract for the military that worked on that kind of tech. I have also done a moderate amount of research on the subject myself, but given that I am not an engineer and I am better with trees, soil and fungi than machines, I do not focus my time on the subject.
Excellent points! Imagine what the world would be like if "education" was focused on understanding, sustaining, and enhancing life and natural systems instead of compliance and conformity with statist agendas to put people to work making money for them.
I can and do imagine what you describe and my efforts to actively plant the seeds for that form of holistic learning and cultural revival/re-birth is articulated here:
Wow, YEAH. Great, great post, GM. In fact, I downloaded the MP4 with James Corbett. I remember years ago, I was listening to some guy, I forget his name now, who wrote BOOKS about how humans are "a cancer" on the planet... I questioned something he said at some point and he flew into a RAGE and freaked out so much that I figured he was a bit nuts and stopped having anything to do with him... He's the complete opposite of you! I'll tell you his name if/when I remember it, but he wrote several books and was quite popular... uck.
Thank you for this!! I so need to learn to garden and learn the names of plants... I LOVE plants, I photograph them, they are literally EYE CANDY to me... Nature is everything to me. It's HOLY.
While I may agree with the fact spiritual poverty exists, I decided to look at the deforestation component as a causal factor. The US has 7.5% of the world's forests, or 800 million acres out of total land acreage of 1.9 billion acres. US Farmland constitutes about 870 million acres. Private timberlands included in the 800 million number, amount to more than 103 million. I'm not seeing a "deforestation" picture, especially on a global basis?
While I cannot speak to what the author of the article (Neal) was referring to when he used the term "deforestation" in his piece, I can tell you that the most pernicious, nefarious, and soul corroding type of deforestation (which I refer to in the majority of my work on the subject) is the clearcutting of primary forests (as in ancient biodiverse old growth forests, which have never been clearcut before by machinery).
There is a lot of chicanery, mind fuckery, Orwellian definition morphing and flat our lying that goes on with regards to terms like "old growth forest" as governments and logging cartels keep attempting to brainwash people into thinking there is more left than there actually is via changing the meaning of terms (to justify more clearcutting).
I discuss and highlight some of those psychological warfare tactics and expose a promoter of said fallacies in this post:
Some people have become so brainwashed by the corporate logging narratives that keep changing definitions that they are actually cheering for clearcutting the last few patches of Primary Ancient Forest let on this continent "for the economy". Elizabeth Nickson (the lady I quoted via the link above) is one such ecocidal idiot.
Here is some info on how they are gaslighting people in her neck of the woods (BC, here in Canada)
The reality is that primary forest is a totally different thing than second growth and it is universes apart from a monoculture planted tree farm planted after a clearcut.
Many of the statistics you linked above pertain to second growth (or third growth) as well as tree farms in their definition of "forests".
Less than 4% or under 40 million acres of America’s original forests remain in existence. According to the World Resources Institute, less than 1% of "Frontier Forests"--large, contiguous primary forests with all the species intact--still exist in the lower 48 states.
Of the original 1.04 billion acres of primary old growth forest in the U.S., over 96% has been cut down (indigenous people harvested trees but only a handful of wayward cultures here clearcut whole blocks of old growth, so the ancient trees that perpetuate the biodiversity largely, remained intact until the 1600-s).
Most of these last original forests are found on National Forest land and other public lands.
Most of these remaining public forests have no legal protection from clearcut logging.
America’s natural forests were once filled with magnificent trees, up to 400 feet tall—as high as a forty-story building.
America’s forests used to contain millions trees from 500 to over 2000 years old.
The U.S. Forest Service continues to log hundreds of thousands of acres of forests per year, including primary ancient forests.
RE: "I'm not seeing a "deforestation" picture, especially on a global basis?"
Do you live in a city? Have you ever been to a freshly clearcut old growth forest? I have, it is a war zone. Think Gaza, but the beings murdered and sprawled out all over the ground are over a thousand years old.
Tree farms are not forests, and much of the data you will find regarding how much forests exist on earth include those monoculture plantings of one tree species (which are biodiversity deserts). Those tree farms are not doing the many jobs that a forest does and was designed to do by the Creator. Thus, the quantity of primary biodiverse forests we have chopped down out of want, and for profit (not need) is a serious problem and we need to take action to protect that which is left.
Since you asked, I do live in a city but I also travelled for about forty years. Just driving in Northen Michigan you can see nothing but trees once you're past Midland on I-75. I've also travelled in about half of the contiguous states and there are long drives all you see are farms and trees. I've also travelled to Mexico, Canada, China and South Korea. The fact you can fit the entire population in the city of Texas (giving each person at least ten square feet, says a lot about how large the world is). I also follow companies like Weyerhauser, Rayonier, Boise Cascade and am overwhelmed by how large their operations are - no shortage of lumber here. I've also exmained the list of private land owners (Emmerson family, Ted Turner, John Malone, et al who own millions of acres. I still don't see it... and citing a Grand Rapids, MI lawyer's awesome story, well ....
When you say things like "no shortage of lumber here" it illuminates the mentality behind your assessment of what you are describing as forests.
You are looking at intelligent rooted beings as though they are inanimate objects and "resources" to be quantified and allocated for "sustainable" extraction.
Looking at the living Earth from that mentality will render the beauty, majesty, soul nourishing substance and ancient libraries of knowledge (that are old growth primary forest) invisible to you.
Forests are not 2x4s waiting to be sold to enhance the GNP, they are communities of life we depend on not only for the air we breath, soil we grow our food in and to attract the rain as well as clean the water, but also to provide poetry for the senses and food for the soul.
You seem to not be discerning between ancient forests and mono-culture tree farms and second growth (biologically weakened and diminished forests) thus, it is not surprising that you "still don't see it".
Are you an advocate of clearcut logging old growth forest to create jobs and increase economic growth?
I am not sure what you mean by personal attacks. That was not my intent when I put that previous comment. Can you elaborate on what you perceived as such?
My question at the end was in earnest, I honestly want to know if that is something you think is a good idea.
If you unsubscribe that is your prerogative, though just know that even if we have different opinions, you are still welcome to share your thoughts here.
Wishing you all the best what ever path you choose.
Thanks for that. Tragic, but I feel it is important we honestly look at this reality. There is medicine in the acknowledgement that Dana describes in this page from her book: https://archive.org/details/landhealing/IMG_2914.JPG
Regardless of that, radiation is killing everything very slowly. And that's the PLAN. We have much work to do, and that is the First Thing, I'd say... once we take back our power from these insane Globalist Nihilistic Anti-human freaks...
“To whom will the sublime beauty of a sunset or a Ninth Symphony of Beethoven reveal itself, but to him who approaches it reverently and unlocks his heart to it? To whom will the mystery that lies in life and manifests itself in every plant reveal itself in its full splendor, but to him who contemplates it reverently? But he who sees in it only a means of subsistence or of earning money, that is, something that can be used or employed, will not discover the meaning, structure, and significance of the world in its beauty and hidden dignity.” ― Dietrich von Hildebrand, The Art of Living
(there is some other stuff in the song that is no longer relevant in my life but still some great lyrics compared to all that materialistic and ego based mainstream rap!)
I should probably clear this up. I got annoyed with you a long while back for dissing Canada. You could mistake me for a statist from that.
I've been all over this country and I love them all but I am an anarchist, possibly a voluntarist, but I'm not exactly solid on the definition of that. All western governments need to go, and they do not need replacing. Shove your perceived authority over me where the sun don't shine.
Encapsulates the "Social Engineering" This substack articles spells it out so well how the demoralization on values of the family, spiritual guidance and leadership came into play at the machinations of 'Think Tanks' with the purpose of promulgating a new genre of attitude and well also the creation of "Generation Gaps."
I highly recommend we all read this 1986 Venice Declaration - it completely opens the perceptualizing and indoctrinations via "Social Engineering" over systemic domains that overlap and ensures no aspect of human life remains 'OUTSIDE SCIENTiFIC JURISDICTIONS' over these 11 Domains which do not function as independent spheres of ethical considerations BUT as an integrated apparatus for consolidating "Scientific Governance" across all aspects of the human experience.
The 11 Domains affected are: 1/Culture, 2/Politics & Governance 3/Law 4/Economy & Business 5/Industry 6/Education 7/Faith & Morality 8/Territory & Land Management 9/Science & Research Integrity 10/Media 11/Health...
https://escapekey.substack.com/p/the-venice-declaration?publication_id=1710745&post_id=165819959&isFreemail=true&r=7c7si&triedRedirect=true
It exposes how we are being manipulated into a divisive world and how people are not able to defend an opposing view and why that has occurred like a nightmare suddenly overnight it seemed.
Brilliant article! Lovely!
I kowtowed to everything at school, I was scared, and hated it. Being a very energetic child I hated sitting still for hours on end (Coercive obedience education in action!). Back in the 50s English education was violent and nasty if one had the bad luck of getting a sadistic class teacher, and there were quite a few of them around, but thank goodness some angels also.
Related to 'educations' affect on people, my Grandfather was a 'good' Prussian Cavalry Officer in WW1 and I have a couple of photos of him at a very young age already suffering from the repressive Prussian education system, he looks cowed, but obviously had the spirit to use the system to make a good life for himself, but he firmly believed in the system,
He was born a Jew, but was baptised Christian in order to be able to 'get ahead' more easily. Jews had, by the late 1800s, been given the freedom to become German citizens, and that's all so many of them wanted, to just be accepted and allowed to earn a good living and utilise their talents to do so, talents that were channelled by the Prussian system into vocations that suited the regime. My grandad became a German High Court Tax Judge.
Regardless of the fact that his education taught him well how to obey, when came Hitler demanding of my Grandad to speak up on the behalf of the Nazi regime he dared say 'no'. His 'education' had not completely destroyed his morality and ethics. Luckily he was baptised, luckily he had married a blond haired Aryan, but he was fired from his position, and luckily able to flee to England. He did however consider the Prussian system a good one because it had given Jewish people the ability to hold their heads high as German citizens. Some of us humans don't ask for much, hey!
I'll add another titbit to the 'education/brainwashing story. The English Catholic church. back in the 14 or 15 hundreds apparently decided that the sons of the rich, having been sent abroad by their parents to gain a wider knowledge of life (education) came back with what the church considered to be very heretical ideas and decided 'education' should be in the hands of the church, they knew what was best. Private Jesuit tutors for the rich to begin with. That's how the English education/brainwashing system came into being, the church not being quite as broader minded as some parts of it have now become.😊
66 years, never voted
I just listened to this again, after hearing it a while back...
Someone needs to inform this gal that "cholesterol" is not a disease. 😖
My family were farmers and ranchers for generations... not only in America, but in the countries they immigrated from as well. It's hard to say how many hundreds of years my family tended the land and livestock. The younger generations have a warped view of farming and ranching. The education they receive seem to be clips from the Discovery Channel and other propaganda arms that show pictures of industrial farms and feed lots where animals are standing in their own feces and huge tractors are tilling the soil with plumes of dust flowing from behind them. The fact is, the small farmer typically doesn't treat the land, or the animals the way it's portrayed in the "media". Our land and animals were always treated/tended with love and care. It's only when centralization become the trend that animals and the land began to be treated with such disrespect. This is such a frustrating subject for me because so many people (mostly those who are in the cities which is the majority) don't see the truth. Farmers and ranchers are some of the most caring when it comes to the land and their animals. Most of them also have spiritual lives as well and take the command to "tend the land" very seriously. Those who think we need to shut it all down and "re-wild" the land don't realize what they are asking for. How many of these same people would like to have to worry about mountain lions and vicious wolves roaming the streets of their cities? It could, and probably would, happen as all of the fences are torn down and farmers and ranchers are kicked off the land. I'm not sure what the answer to all of this is. As long as the majority of the population thinks their food magically just "shows up" at the grocery store and as long as we have people like Bill Gates who are pushing all of our food being created in a lab we are going to be fighting this stuff. It's one of the reasons I advocate for *everyone* to grow some of their food! Even if it's just some Basil in a kitchen window.
Well said, Rob D.
Thanks , I listen to the real shamans , everything else is new age bs .
I am not very well versed in the tenets of shamanism, how would you define a "real shaman" ?
Also, why do you follow others as opposed to looking within to directly perceive and experience the truth for yourself?
I was introduced to you through your appearance on The Corbett Report. Your work is of the utmost importance at this time. I have been a gardener for the bulk of my adult life and have experienced immense gratification from the entire process, but it wasn't until I read 'Braiding Sweetgrass' by Robin Wall Kimmerer that I finally understood that plants are our teachers. Being a big fan of trees since childhood, I am currently fortunate enough to spend a great deal of time receiving their spiritual and physical gifts. I believe that if more of us were able/willing to spend time in the forest daily, the 'reverence for life', which indigenous people the world over understand full well, would be substantially restored and our way forward on a more sound footing. Best wishes for continued success. Keep On Truckin' Gavin!
Thanks Nochoice!
That book was a game changer for me too.
Have you read "The Unlikely Peace at Cuchumaquic: The Parallel Lives of People as Plants: Keeping the Seeds Alive" by Martín Prechtel ? If not, I highly recommend it.
"I believe that if more of us were able/willing to spend time in the forest daily, the 'reverence for life', which indigenous people the world over understand full well, would be substantially restored and our way forward on a more sound footing."
Well said.
It is also worth noting that each and everyone of us has indigenous ancestors (regardless of skin color and genetic make up) it is just for some of us, we have to look wayyyyy back through millennia of generational trauma, "witch burnings" (aka indigenous medicine and spiritual knowledge keeper mass murdering operations) and propaganda from statist institutions to re-member our ancestral place based roots.
I talk about that pathway more in this post:
https://open.substack.com/pub/gavinmounsey/p/designing-bio-cultural-refugia?r=q2yay&selection=46540f8b-b717-4988-acac-9f59838c3093&utm_campaign=post-share-selection&utm_medium=web
Thanks for the kind, insightful and genuine comment.
Thanks for replying to my comment Gavin. I have the luxury of having plenty of reading time these days and operate under the premise that there is always another good book I need to read. I will definitely read the book you've recommended. On that note, I would recommend to you the work of two very different individuals whose ideas have had a significant and lasting impact on how I view the world.
The first individual is Victor Schauberger. He is described in a wiki page as: an Austrian forest caretaker, naturalist, philosopher, inventor and pseudoscientist. His life's work was documented in a four part series of books by Callum Coats. A good starting point is this book: https://archive.org/details/callum-coats-living-energies-viktor-schaubergers-brilliant-work-with-natural-energy-explained-2001. His understanding of the forces of nature were, quite frankly, astounding!
The second individual is Iain McGilchrist. His latest work, The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World, is a 2021 book of neuroscience, epistemology and metaphysics. It is a lengthy read but entirely worth the effort. It sheds a brilliant light on why we moderns act/think as we do and how to regain the harmonious use of our thinking faculties.
If you can afford the time to have a look I would be very interested to know your opinions about them. Just out of curiosity, have you come across the term Zero Point Technology (ZPT) and, if so, what is your take on it?
P.S. If there is a more appropriate avenue to respond to you please let me know.
I appreciate the thoughtful response.
I am happy to discuss here when I have time (so others can potentially benefit from the info too) or we can communicate via email if you prefer.
Either way, I am working intense hours on physical projects right now (community food forest plus a day job, plus a home garden, plus packaging shipping books etc) so a full response may take some time.
I am familiar with Victor Schauberger. I admire his work and have applied some of his concepts in my food forest designs that are adjacent to rivers and streams for managing erosion and keeping water "living". I touched on some of his work in this book review linked below:
https://open.substack.com/pub/gavinmounsey/p/thespiritofthetrees-book-club-review?r=q2yay&selection=0c2400cc-a1c9-460e-907e-fdf309330830&utm_campaign=post-share-selection&utm_medium=web
I am not familiar with Iain McGilchrist so thanks for introducing me, i`ll add his work to my reading list for when I have time.
Regarding energy generation/extraction systems that tap into the quantum vacuum (aka "zero point field") I have known a couple guys that worked on compartmented R&D operations that contract for the military that worked on that kind of tech. I have also done a moderate amount of research on the subject myself, but given that I am not an engineer and I am better with trees, soil and fungi than machines, I do not focus my time on the subject.
I shared some pertinent intel and links in this post ( https://open.substack.com/pub/gavinmounsey/p/childhoods-end?r=q2yay&selection=3deeaea6-481b-471b-93fe-253a7f410da8&utm_campaign=post-share-selection&utm_medium=web ) pertaining to how that type of technology is utilized by both interstellar capable non-human civilizations and in human back-engineered (often sadly, weaponized) versions of that tech.
Thanks for the thoughtful comments.
Excellent points! Imagine what the world would be like if "education" was focused on understanding, sustaining, and enhancing life and natural systems instead of compliance and conformity with statist agendas to put people to work making money for them.
Thank you Carolyn.
I can and do imagine what you describe and my efforts to actively plant the seeds for that form of holistic learning and cultural revival/re-birth is articulated here:
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/designing-bio-cultural-refugia
I appreciate you really reading and taking the time to understand the post and thoughtfully commenting.
Wow, YEAH. Great, great post, GM. In fact, I downloaded the MP4 with James Corbett. I remember years ago, I was listening to some guy, I forget his name now, who wrote BOOKS about how humans are "a cancer" on the planet... I questioned something he said at some point and he flew into a RAGE and freaked out so much that I figured he was a bit nuts and stopped having anything to do with him... He's the complete opposite of you! I'll tell you his name if/when I remember it, but he wrote several books and was quite popular... uck.
Thank you for this!! I so need to learn to garden and learn the names of plants... I LOVE plants, I photograph them, they are literally EYE CANDY to me... Nature is everything to me. It's HOLY.
While I may agree with the fact spiritual poverty exists, I decided to look at the deforestation component as a causal factor. The US has 7.5% of the world's forests, or 800 million acres out of total land acreage of 1.9 billion acres. US Farmland constitutes about 870 million acres. Private timberlands included in the 800 million number, amount to more than 103 million. I'm not seeing a "deforestation" picture, especially on a global basis?
https://www.statista.com/statistics/196104/total-area-of-land-in-farms-in-the-us-since-2000/
https://www.stateforesters.org/timber-assurance/legality/forest-ownership-statistics/
https://www.landthink.com/largest-private-timberland-owners-and-managers-in-the-u-s-and-canada
Thanks for the comment and links.
While I cannot speak to what the author of the article (Neal) was referring to when he used the term "deforestation" in his piece, I can tell you that the most pernicious, nefarious, and soul corroding type of deforestation (which I refer to in the majority of my work on the subject) is the clearcutting of primary forests (as in ancient biodiverse old growth forests, which have never been clearcut before by machinery).
There is a lot of chicanery, mind fuckery, Orwellian definition morphing and flat our lying that goes on with regards to terms like "old growth forest" as governments and logging cartels keep attempting to brainwash people into thinking there is more left than there actually is via changing the meaning of terms (to justify more clearcutting).
I discuss and highlight some of those psychological warfare tactics and expose a promoter of said fallacies in this post:
https://open.substack.com/pub/gavinmounsey/p/a-few-books-i-am-currently-readingre?r=q2yay&selection=b6817134-9ca3-45f5-921d-60c1ae4ae7cf&utm_campaign=post-share-selection&utm_medium=web
Some people have become so brainwashed by the corporate logging narratives that keep changing definitions that they are actually cheering for clearcutting the last few patches of Primary Ancient Forest let on this continent "for the economy". Elizabeth Nickson (the lady I quoted via the link above) is one such ecocidal idiot.
Here is some info on how they are gaslighting people in her neck of the woods (BC, here in Canada)
https://thenarwhal.ca/b-c-old-growth-data-misleading-public-ancient-forest-independent-report/
The reality is that primary forest is a totally different thing than second growth and it is universes apart from a monoculture planted tree farm planted after a clearcut.
Many of the statistics you linked above pertain to second growth (or third growth) as well as tree farms in their definition of "forests".
Less than 4% or under 40 million acres of America’s original forests remain in existence. According to the World Resources Institute, less than 1% of "Frontier Forests"--large, contiguous primary forests with all the species intact--still exist in the lower 48 states.
Of the original 1.04 billion acres of primary old growth forest in the U.S., over 96% has been cut down (indigenous people harvested trees but only a handful of wayward cultures here clearcut whole blocks of old growth, so the ancient trees that perpetuate the biodiversity largely, remained intact until the 1600-s).
Most of these last original forests are found on National Forest land and other public lands.
Most of these remaining public forests have no legal protection from clearcut logging.
America’s natural forests were once filled with magnificent trees, up to 400 feet tall—as high as a forty-story building.
America’s forests used to contain millions trees from 500 to over 2000 years old.
The U.S. Forest Service continues to log hundreds of thousands of acres of forests per year, including primary ancient forests.
RE: "I'm not seeing a "deforestation" picture, especially on a global basis?"
Do you live in a city? Have you ever been to a freshly clearcut old growth forest? I have, it is a war zone. Think Gaza, but the beings murdered and sprawled out all over the ground are over a thousand years old.
Tree farms are not forests, and much of the data you will find regarding how much forests exist on earth include those monoculture plantings of one tree species (which are biodiversity deserts). Those tree farms are not doing the many jobs that a forest does and was designed to do by the Creator. Thus, the quantity of primary biodiverse forests we have chopped down out of want, and for profit (not need) is a serious problem and we need to take action to protect that which is left.
Since you asked, I do live in a city but I also travelled for about forty years. Just driving in Northen Michigan you can see nothing but trees once you're past Midland on I-75. I've also travelled in about half of the contiguous states and there are long drives all you see are farms and trees. I've also travelled to Mexico, Canada, China and South Korea. The fact you can fit the entire population in the city of Texas (giving each person at least ten square feet, says a lot about how large the world is). I also follow companies like Weyerhauser, Rayonier, Boise Cascade and am overwhelmed by how large their operations are - no shortage of lumber here. I've also exmained the list of private land owners (Emmerson family, Ted Turner, John Malone, et al who own millions of acres. I still don't see it... and citing a Grand Rapids, MI lawyer's awesome story, well ....
Thanks for the candid response.
When you say things like "no shortage of lumber here" it illuminates the mentality behind your assessment of what you are describing as forests.
You are looking at intelligent rooted beings as though they are inanimate objects and "resources" to be quantified and allocated for "sustainable" extraction.
Looking at the living Earth from that mentality will render the beauty, majesty, soul nourishing substance and ancient libraries of knowledge (that are old growth primary forest) invisible to you.
Forests are not 2x4s waiting to be sold to enhance the GNP, they are communities of life we depend on not only for the air we breath, soil we grow our food in and to attract the rain as well as clean the water, but also to provide poetry for the senses and food for the soul.
You seem to not be discerning between ancient forests and mono-culture tree farms and second growth (biologically weakened and diminished forests) thus, it is not surprising that you "still don't see it".
Are you an advocate of clearcut logging old growth forest to create jobs and increase economic growth?
I apologize for hurting your feelings, and see no need for personal attacks. I will unsubscribe and end this pitiful diatribe.
I am not sure what you mean by personal attacks. That was not my intent when I put that previous comment. Can you elaborate on what you perceived as such?
My question at the end was in earnest, I honestly want to know if that is something you think is a good idea.
If you unsubscribe that is your prerogative, though just know that even if we have different opinions, you are still welcome to share your thoughts here.
Wishing you all the best what ever path you choose.
You might want to take a look at this. https://blog.richmond.edu/livesofmaps/2022/04/18/map-of-the-week-american-deforestation-over-the-years/
Thanks for that. Tragic, but I feel it is important we honestly look at this reality. There is medicine in the acknowledgement that Dana describes in this page from her book: https://archive.org/details/landhealing/IMG_2914.JPG
Regardless of that, radiation is killing everything very slowly. And that's the PLAN. We have much work to do, and that is the First Thing, I'd say... once we take back our power from these insane Globalist Nihilistic Anti-human freaks...
Re: mitigating the harms of the ubiquitous artificial EMFs (for anyone new here that missed it):
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/radioprotective-radiomitigative-and
Thanks!
an empowering article, fantastic!
Thanks my friend, I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment :)
Good perspective.
“To whom will the sublime beauty of a sunset or a Ninth Symphony of Beethoven reveal itself, but to him who approaches it reverently and unlocks his heart to it? To whom will the mystery that lies in life and manifests itself in every plant reveal itself in its full splendor, but to him who contemplates it reverently? But he who sees in it only a means of subsistence or of earning money, that is, something that can be used or employed, will not discover the meaning, structure, and significance of the world in its beauty and hidden dignity.” ― Dietrich von Hildebrand, The Art of Living
I love that!
It immediately gave me a flashback to an underground hip hop track I used to listen to back in the day with the lyrics:
“If so beautiful your mind is
Your money or you mind which is timeless?
Most seek fortune but it's rare that you'll find
One millionaire of ten with a beautiful mind
You can't buy youth when you're old or food for your soul
Friends when you're lonely or a love that's grown cold
The wealthiest person is the poorest at times
When compared to the one with a beautiful mind”
from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NGsm6qAK4M
(there is some other stuff in the song that is no longer relevant in my life but still some great lyrics compared to all that materialistic and ego based mainstream rap!)
I should probably clear this up. I got annoyed with you a long while back for dissing Canada. You could mistake me for a statist from that.
I've been all over this country and I love them all but I am an anarchist, possibly a voluntarist, but I'm not exactly solid on the definition of that. All western governments need to go, and they do not need replacing. Shove your perceived authority over me where the sun don't shine.
Ah, one of MY tribe, lol. xo
Hey man, thanks for the comment! I was thinking of you and your forest recently when I was propagating some maple, birch and oak trees.
I hope to be able to visit later this year.
Hoping to get up there soon to see my mostly seasonal streams rage. Still snow covered.
You're US? Any chance you're near/in WA?
No, I'm a filthy Canuk.
Well, you smed okay.