End Capitalism

All environmental studies indicate that the tiny steps people can take will have a minimal effect. The real problem is industrial pollution, mass pillaging of the planet by greedy companies, etc. In the U.S., no serious environmental progress can be made because the politicians are owned by the corporations. The corporations do not want environmental restrictions or penalties.

Within the Republican party, they are mostly anti-environmental, because ALL Republicans at the State and Federal levels are financed into office by corporate-interest groups. Their policies and legislation are dictated to them by organizations like ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council). You can Google ALEC and begin research on the extent of their corruption. They literally have taken America hostage.

There is really little hope for the planet until human beings have the courage and intelligence to remove all the corrupt individuals, throw them in prison, and build an economic and socio-political system that allows humanistic interests to dominate over private moneyed interest.   IMO

I posted some nice videos at the end of this:

What I know is that the situation has developed because Muslims have been remiss in their duties for the last 600 years. Today, the "muslim" has no concept of duty beyond making Salah.

Do I think human beings will accomplish anything without the Help of Allah...no, of course. Do I think Muslims who don't do anything will ever accomplish anything at all...No, of course!   

The point to the post is direct people's attention to the exploitative nature of capitalism, the extent to which peoples' lives are being dictated by a system of corruption and exploitation, and that without standing up to address the wrongs at the very heart of the system, minor steps to protect the environment are ALMOST meaningless. They should still be done, but should include addressing the larger issues.

Of course, 2 of the main problems within the Muslim community are that most Muslims don't have a sense of responsibility, and the ones who have some sense feel that they are incapable of making change. However, if they don't try, they'll never know, AND they'll still face Allah to be judged.

I recommend for any conscientious Muslim to start a community project for those special interests she/he has. Develop some presentation materials, maybe a blog site - then start talking to others in their community. If they find others willing to work on the project, then they put their heads together and figure-out how to expand the project. I recommend for the group to be leaderless to avoid the usual "power" struggles. They should work on a consensus basis. IMO

Some excellent, short videos:
The Story of Stuff - http://tinyurl.com/cbvneedhttp://tinyurl.com/893lhyr
The Story of Bottled Water - http://tinyurl.com/7nyavex
The rest of SoS videos:http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/

Regarding water bottles:

There are massive flotillas of garbage caught in oceanic gyres in the middle of the Pacific. Here's a link:
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/translating-uncle-sam/stories/what-is-the-great-pacific-ocean-garbage-patch

Regarding apathy:

I recently read Neil Postman's Education as a Subversive Activity. Postman wrote many books afterwards, but this is the first one where he began explaining his theory on apathy.

He believed that the rapid lifestyle changes brought about by post-industrial technological advancement;, well, basically humanity got run-over by rapid change. Things changed so fast that human beings could not adapt quickly enough and basically gave-up trying to resolve their conscience(which was obviously troubling them). They just couldn't keep up.

Additionally, he says that TV, Radio, and newspapers have also compounded the problem of apathy. The problem with them is they are only 1-way communication tools; you have no way to respond to what you see and hear. Screaming at the television doesn't help, so people are brutalized daily by events they can't touch, yell about, or alter. The human being just caves-in internally under such conditions.

So, in addition to his recommendations on education(that our schools will never implement), he also gives strong recommendation for bringing back the "town meeting", even if it's just as many people as you can gather yourself. In this way, activist groups can be formed and expanded.

Here's a link to read Education as a Subversive Activity     : http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/smedcohort/files/2009/07/Teaching-as-a-Subversive-Activity-Postman.pdf

My 2 pennies...   [IMG]smileys/smiley2.gif"

Edited by MustafaHoward - 29 May 2012 at 8:48pm

The problem isn't a free market economy as such, it's unrestrained laissez-faire capitalism.