Patrick, my brother, you're ready for the Big Time in publishing your work, and I'm standing behind you as perhaps your biggest cheerleader. Let's move you from Substack to the Big Time. You've got a voice our world needs in a larger pond than this one.
Jan 13, 2023·edited Jan 13, 2023Liked by Patrick Mazza
"Thus, I would distinguish myself from my secessionist friends and call myself a confederationist."
Even though I'm basically an anarchist in my political philosophy, Patrick, I actually agree with you -- but only....
But only if we can make swift transformations in the centrifugal direction and within sound ethical principles that probably most Americans would agree with.
And thanks for the use of the word "centrifugal". It's a word -- alongside 'centripetal' which (in relation to how political power functions) ought to receive a hell of a lot more attention in all political discourse in today's crummy world of political discourse.
If we do not move -- swiftly -- in a centrifugal political direction then I'll throw my voice behind succession -- but reluctantly. Secession would likely be a bloody mess in the British sense of the word. And it may be a bloody mess in a literal sense, too. And I'm a peaceful anarchist if ever you've met one!
Much appreciation to you for your hard thinking and necessary writing, my brother!
Great article: I explored the idea of novel, emergent biocultural regions in my book Earth Emotions (2019). I called them 'sumbioregions' (sumbios =living together and a root word for symbiosis). In the book I argued:
"The resistance to regionalism or micro-nationalism by the nation state has also been demonstrated in recent history. We have seen a long-term secession movement in the Basque region of Spain and, in 2017, within Barcelona in the region of Catalonia. Both secession movements have been strongly resisted by the National government of Spain. While recognizing racism and anti-immigration as primary factors, asserting one's own unique identity in the face of strongly homogenizing forces (e.g., the European Union and the UK Government) was also an issue in the Brexit vote in Great Britain in 2017. Prior to that, there has been a revival of Scottish Nationalism in the UK, and Wales has always been a place that celebrated its regional difference to the rest of Great Britain. There are even occasional secession movements in Western Australia, since geographic isolation from the other States of Australia, its own distinct way of doing things, an economy that works independently of the rest of the continent, plus a highly endemic biogeography, combine to assert independence from the rest of Australia. Similar 'secessionist' tendencies have been seen in the U.S.A., with 'Cascadia' based on the bioregional affinities among West Coast states and a revived Calexit movement in California, after the election of President Trump in 2016." .... and
"We need to go beyond older conceptions of bioregionalism in order for the new emergent order of places to be understood, then made viable for habitation. The past, culturally and ecologically, lies hidden just below a new layer, the dominant strata of the Anthropocene. The older layers will need to be re-discovered, valued and appreciated alongside the emergence of new but intimately related culture and ecology. New biomes will emerge in this process and they will generate new forms of endemophilia in the people who live within them.
To give expression to this emergent idea I define a 'sumbioregion' as an identifiable biophysical and cultural geographical space where humans live together and engage in a common pursuit of the nurturing, re-establishment and creation of new symbiotic interrelationships between humans, non-human organisms and landscapes. More fine-tuned self-sufficiency within sumbioregions ipso facto means less global destruction. More emotional 'grounding' in the local, and people will be more secure. Terroirism just might also be a counter to terrorism and war. More democracy within regions will phase into sumbiocracy, as that which is inherent and endemic to a sumbioregion is perceived to be valuable and must be conserved. Confederations of sumbiocracies can form larger units of collaboration and there is nothing stopping that process going global scale. The United Nations (UN) will be replaced by the United Sumbiocracies (US). "
I asked the editors at Resilience.org to republish this, with Patrick Mazza's permission. They agreed to publish it, and did so today.
Here's the comment I made there following the article today.
"This got me to thinking about the key differences between independence movements which seek a land of Pure Whiteness ... or Biblical Government (etc.) and those which seek regional self-determination in order to better care for people and ecosystems in an integrated fashion.
The former movements are not really rooted in observable natural facts, whereas the latter is rooted in observable natural facts. This may be our great divide here. After all, I believe the best framing for understanding our present moment in history is the frame which narrates our present in terms of a waking up to the obsolescence of our present material and economic culture. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a thing as 'obsolete' when it is either (a) no longer in use, or (b) no longer useful. It is in the latter sense that our present dominant mode of material and economic culture is obsolete. Automobiles are obsolete. Jet planes are obsolete. Economic globalization is obsolete. Mass global tourism is obsolete. Industrial agriculture is obsolete. Oversized, under-utilized houses are obsolete. Consumerism is obsolete. In short, an economy and material culture which depends on gigantic per capita inputs of materials and energy is obsolete. This obsolescence is an observable natural fact. And I think it is right that we have a political bifurcation at the fault line between those who understand this obsolescence and those who do not.
Whether the USA should remain "intact" is a big question. It's an interesting question. But far more important is whether it is not yet too late to keep the biosphere intact, and how we might do so. I'm neither for nor against creating some sort of independent ecotopia in Cascadia. But my patience for living in an obsolete dystopia grows thinner as the years grow longer. Maybe I'll join with the ecotopian leavers? Who knows?"
The citizens of the newly independent states can not expect to draw benefits as they are now members of a country that has withdrawn needed financial support of the program(s).
This would be very different than , say moving to Mexico or Thailand, and collecting benefits. You would be attempting to collect benefits from a residence that has withdrawn support for the program.
In a sane world, it would not be allowed to happen.
To be very frank, I think all bioregions in the world ought to seek independence -- including and especially economic independence. Whether they can and should do so within a federation of currently existing nation states is the only remaining question, one worthy of discussion. But we ought to derive our basic material needs where we live, for the overwhelmingly most part.
Fair trade with other bioregions is fine, provided it is for stuff like coffee and tea, which doesn't grow everywhere. But bananas and tropical fruit ought to be very rarely consumed in regions where it doesn't grow. And if we live a thousand miles from the sea, our consumption of sea food should reflect this fact.
Russian oil? Oh no! Never. (Russia is a criminal oligarchy run by an anti-democratic criminal gang of brutal thugs and dictators -- rather like China.)
And since I said that let me also call for a boycott of all Chinese goods ... and of Israel.
And while we're at it, let's also boycott American, Canadian and Saudi oil, and all oil, and all fossil fuels, and all dictatorial governments and oligarchies.
I recommended this article for republication to the editors at https://www.resilience.org.
Patrick, my brother, you're ready for the Big Time in publishing your work, and I'm standing behind you as perhaps your biggest cheerleader. Let's move you from Substack to the Big Time. You've got a voice our world needs in a larger pond than this one.
"Thus, I would distinguish myself from my secessionist friends and call myself a confederationist."
Even though I'm basically an anarchist in my political philosophy, Patrick, I actually agree with you -- but only....
But only if we can make swift transformations in the centrifugal direction and within sound ethical principles that probably most Americans would agree with.
And thanks for the use of the word "centrifugal". It's a word -- alongside 'centripetal' which (in relation to how political power functions) ought to receive a hell of a lot more attention in all political discourse in today's crummy world of political discourse.
If we do not move -- swiftly -- in a centrifugal political direction then I'll throw my voice behind succession -- but reluctantly. Secession would likely be a bloody mess in the British sense of the word. And it may be a bloody mess in a literal sense, too. And I'm a peaceful anarchist if ever you've met one!
Much appreciation to you for your hard thinking and necessary writing, my brother!
The damned machine would not allow me to edit my own words -- again. By "it" I meant to say secession ... would likely be a bloody mess.
I posted this ... and then it made the correction -- late.
Great article: I explored the idea of novel, emergent biocultural regions in my book Earth Emotions (2019). I called them 'sumbioregions' (sumbios =living together and a root word for symbiosis). In the book I argued:
"The resistance to regionalism or micro-nationalism by the nation state has also been demonstrated in recent history. We have seen a long-term secession movement in the Basque region of Spain and, in 2017, within Barcelona in the region of Catalonia. Both secession movements have been strongly resisted by the National government of Spain. While recognizing racism and anti-immigration as primary factors, asserting one's own unique identity in the face of strongly homogenizing forces (e.g., the European Union and the UK Government) was also an issue in the Brexit vote in Great Britain in 2017. Prior to that, there has been a revival of Scottish Nationalism in the UK, and Wales has always been a place that celebrated its regional difference to the rest of Great Britain. There are even occasional secession movements in Western Australia, since geographic isolation from the other States of Australia, its own distinct way of doing things, an economy that works independently of the rest of the continent, plus a highly endemic biogeography, combine to assert independence from the rest of Australia. Similar 'secessionist' tendencies have been seen in the U.S.A., with 'Cascadia' based on the bioregional affinities among West Coast states and a revived Calexit movement in California, after the election of President Trump in 2016." .... and
"We need to go beyond older conceptions of bioregionalism in order for the new emergent order of places to be understood, then made viable for habitation. The past, culturally and ecologically, lies hidden just below a new layer, the dominant strata of the Anthropocene. The older layers will need to be re-discovered, valued and appreciated alongside the emergence of new but intimately related culture and ecology. New biomes will emerge in this process and they will generate new forms of endemophilia in the people who live within them.
To give expression to this emergent idea I define a 'sumbioregion' as an identifiable biophysical and cultural geographical space where humans live together and engage in a common pursuit of the nurturing, re-establishment and creation of new symbiotic interrelationships between humans, non-human organisms and landscapes. More fine-tuned self-sufficiency within sumbioregions ipso facto means less global destruction. More emotional 'grounding' in the local, and people will be more secure. Terroirism just might also be a counter to terrorism and war. More democracy within regions will phase into sumbiocracy, as that which is inherent and endemic to a sumbioregion is perceived to be valuable and must be conserved. Confederations of sumbiocracies can form larger units of collaboration and there is nothing stopping that process going global scale. The United Nations (UN) will be replaced by the United Sumbiocracies (US). "
I like this thinking. Thanks for adding this. Regions joining in confederations from the bottom up is a vision well worth considering.
I asked the editors at Resilience.org to republish this, with Patrick Mazza's permission. They agreed to publish it, and did so today.
Here's the comment I made there following the article today.
"This got me to thinking about the key differences between independence movements which seek a land of Pure Whiteness ... or Biblical Government (etc.) and those which seek regional self-determination in order to better care for people and ecosystems in an integrated fashion.
The former movements are not really rooted in observable natural facts, whereas the latter is rooted in observable natural facts. This may be our great divide here. After all, I believe the best framing for understanding our present moment in history is the frame which narrates our present in terms of a waking up to the obsolescence of our present material and economic culture. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a thing as 'obsolete' when it is either (a) no longer in use, or (b) no longer useful. It is in the latter sense that our present dominant mode of material and economic culture is obsolete. Automobiles are obsolete. Jet planes are obsolete. Economic globalization is obsolete. Mass global tourism is obsolete. Industrial agriculture is obsolete. Oversized, under-utilized houses are obsolete. Consumerism is obsolete. In short, an economy and material culture which depends on gigantic per capita inputs of materials and energy is obsolete. This obsolescence is an observable natural fact. And I think it is right that we have a political bifurcation at the fault line between those who understand this obsolescence and those who do not.
Whether the USA should remain "intact" is a big question. It's an interesting question. But far more important is whether it is not yet too late to keep the biosphere intact, and how we might do so. I'm neither for nor against creating some sort of independent ecotopia in Cascadia. But my patience for living in an obsolete dystopia grows thinner as the years grow longer. Maybe I'll join with the ecotopian leavers? Who knows?"
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2023-01-24/while-regional-independence-gains-traction-we-need-to-consider-our-interdependence/
What about: Social Security and Medicare?
The citizens of the newly independent states can not expect to draw benefits as they are now members of a country that has withdrawn needed financial support of the program(s).
This would be very different than , say moving to Mexico or Thailand, and collecting benefits. You would be attempting to collect benefits from a residence that has withdrawn support for the program.
In a sane world, it would not be allowed to happen.
I won't even mention military bases/equipt.
To be very frank, I think all bioregions in the world ought to seek independence -- including and especially economic independence. Whether they can and should do so within a federation of currently existing nation states is the only remaining question, one worthy of discussion. But we ought to derive our basic material needs where we live, for the overwhelmingly most part.
Fair trade with other bioregions is fine, provided it is for stuff like coffee and tea, which doesn't grow everywhere. But bananas and tropical fruit ought to be very rarely consumed in regions where it doesn't grow. And if we live a thousand miles from the sea, our consumption of sea food should reflect this fact.
Request: permission to re-publish this in The R-Word.
Granted
Russian oil? Oh no! Never. (Russia is a criminal oligarchy run by an anti-democratic criminal gang of brutal thugs and dictators -- rather like China.)
And since I said that let me also call for a boycott of all Chinese goods ... and of Israel.
And while we're at it, let's also boycott American, Canadian and Saudi oil, and all oil, and all fossil fuels, and all dictatorial governments and oligarchies.