WisconsinRepublic.org
"The blessings of a free government can only be maintained by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles."
-Article 1 Section 22, Wisconsin Constitution.
-Article 1 Section 22, Wisconsin Constitution.
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Part Four: Environmental Degradation
Humans have the unique ability to truly appreciate the world. We don’t just look at a beautiful sunset, free of any emotion, like it’s any other ordinary thing. We can feel it. We can take pleasure in it. Children are especially gifted with this ability. To a child a tree, a leaf, the sky, even a fort made out of garbage in the dump where they are living can be a beautiful thing. Their innocence allows them to be filled with wonder. As we age we somehow tend to loose this sense of wonder. We become apathetic about our environment and insensitive to the ramifications of our impact upon it. But take a moment and consider how truly magnificent the opportunity to just be alive really is. We are currently residing on a planet that is hurling through deep space. Just a few miles above the earth the temperature is near absolute zero, there is no pressure and we would literally explode if we were placed there. We are able to see billions of lightyears away with the hubble telescope, and nowhere else that we have yet found is capable of supporting human life.
Humans have the unique ability to truly appreciate the world. We don’t just look at a beautiful sunset, free of any emotion, like it’s any other ordinary thing. We can feel it. We can take pleasure in it. Children are especially gifted with this ability. To a child a tree, a leaf, the sky, even a fort made out of garbage in the dump where they are living can be a beautiful thing. Their innocence allows them to be filled with wonder. As we age we somehow tend to loose this sense of wonder. We become apathetic about our environment and insensitive to the ramifications of our impact upon it. But take a moment and consider how truly magnificent the opportunity to just be alive really is. We are currently residing on a planet that is hurling through deep space. Just a few miles above the earth the temperature is near absolute zero, there is no pressure and we would literally explode if we were placed there. We are able to see billions of lightyears away with the hubble telescope, and nowhere else that we have yet found is capable of supporting human life.
We face a myriad of environmental concerns, each of which will have enormous impact upon the sustainability of our society. Modern industrial farming practices are leading to the depletion and erosion of the topsoil while issues of overfishing, deforestaion, and freshwater depletion continue unaddressed. The planet is burning over 31 billion barrels of oil annually. We are polluting our air, water, soil and food and causing the extinction of species throughout the planet. All the while undermining the system that sustains us.
Underpinning the environmental degradation of the earth is the voracious appetite of Western consumer culture and media driven corporatism. Large corporations have bought off our elected leaders and used them to pass legislation that enhances their profits at the expense of the long term sustainability of the planet. Government subsidy of oil, to choose one example, causes the price to be artificially reduced. This increases demand above what it otherwise would be and discourages the development of alternatives. This governmental policy effectively locks us in oil dependency and secures profits for the oil companies.
The same policy holds true in other areas as well. Corporate biased government legislation makes it difficult for small farmers to compete with government subsidized agribuisness. These same gigantic agribusinesses now have government granted monopoly patent rights over genetically modified plants and animals they have created in their labs. Approximately 75% of foods consumed in America have been genetically modified in some way, yet only one in four people know whether they have ever even eaten GM foods. Companies are genetically mixing the DNA of our food with bacteria and insects and are now growing crops that produce their own insecticide right in the food. Does this sound healthy to you? They introduce terminator genes into seeds so that the seeds will only produce one generation. In this manner companies seek to control and profit from all food on earth. Little is known about the long term safety of eating GM foods. There are studies that suggest they may have serious health risks such as allergies, infertility, hepatorenal toxicity and cancer. Any studies showing GM foods safety have been conducted by the companies themselves and are not available to the public. Even discounting the possible harmful effects of GM foods, the biodiversity of the planet is under attack by these gigantic corporations. Diverse ecosystems are strong and resistant to collapse. Monocultures are inherently unstable. Historically, indigenous South American cultures cultivated over 4,000 types of potatoes. In America today there are only three primary types of potatoes grown. It was the lack of genetic diversity that was one of the major contributing factors to the Irish potato famine in which approximately 1 million Irish citizens starved to death when a fungal disease wiped out the whole potato crop.
Much of our GM food is fed to cattle to satiate the desire for big macs. Government subsidy of corn lowers the price of beef as well as making for cheap corn syrup. This makes soda often cheaper than water, feeding the epidemic of obesity, heart disease and cancer which is currently ravaging the western world. The production of our grain crops is now separated from the raising of our cattle. The manure builds up on gigantic industrial cattle farms causing run-off and pollution of our waterways. This natural fertilizer is also unavailable for use in helping our crops to grow, necessitating the use of synthetic petroleum based fertilizers in their stead. Once grown, our food is often shipped great distances before coming to market. It now takes almost 15 calories of energy to produce 1 calorie of useable food. It takes 400 gallons of oil a year to produce, process, package, distribute and prepare food for one American for one year.
For all the politicians talk of "stopping global warming." They do nothing to address any of the fundamental issues. Although their words sound so sincere, the agenda continues to be set by big business. A system in which the political agenda is set by and for the benefit of corporations is certainly not democracy. It would more precisely be called Corporatism, or economic Fascism.
Underpinning the environmental degradation of the earth is the voracious appetite of Western consumer culture and media driven corporatism. Large corporations have bought off our elected leaders and used them to pass legislation that enhances their profits at the expense of the long term sustainability of the planet. Government subsidy of oil, to choose one example, causes the price to be artificially reduced. This increases demand above what it otherwise would be and discourages the development of alternatives. This governmental policy effectively locks us in oil dependency and secures profits for the oil companies.
The same policy holds true in other areas as well. Corporate biased government legislation makes it difficult for small farmers to compete with government subsidized agribuisness. These same gigantic agribusinesses now have government granted monopoly patent rights over genetically modified plants and animals they have created in their labs. Approximately 75% of foods consumed in America have been genetically modified in some way, yet only one in four people know whether they have ever even eaten GM foods. Companies are genetically mixing the DNA of our food with bacteria and insects and are now growing crops that produce their own insecticide right in the food. Does this sound healthy to you? They introduce terminator genes into seeds so that the seeds will only produce one generation. In this manner companies seek to control and profit from all food on earth. Little is known about the long term safety of eating GM foods. There are studies that suggest they may have serious health risks such as allergies, infertility, hepatorenal toxicity and cancer. Any studies showing GM foods safety have been conducted by the companies themselves and are not available to the public. Even discounting the possible harmful effects of GM foods, the biodiversity of the planet is under attack by these gigantic corporations. Diverse ecosystems are strong and resistant to collapse. Monocultures are inherently unstable. Historically, indigenous South American cultures cultivated over 4,000 types of potatoes. In America today there are only three primary types of potatoes grown. It was the lack of genetic diversity that was one of the major contributing factors to the Irish potato famine in which approximately 1 million Irish citizens starved to death when a fungal disease wiped out the whole potato crop.
Much of our GM food is fed to cattle to satiate the desire for big macs. Government subsidy of corn lowers the price of beef as well as making for cheap corn syrup. This makes soda often cheaper than water, feeding the epidemic of obesity, heart disease and cancer which is currently ravaging the western world. The production of our grain crops is now separated from the raising of our cattle. The manure builds up on gigantic industrial cattle farms causing run-off and pollution of our waterways. This natural fertilizer is also unavailable for use in helping our crops to grow, necessitating the use of synthetic petroleum based fertilizers in their stead. Once grown, our food is often shipped great distances before coming to market. It now takes almost 15 calories of energy to produce 1 calorie of useable food. It takes 400 gallons of oil a year to produce, process, package, distribute and prepare food for one American for one year.
For all the politicians talk of "stopping global warming." They do nothing to address any of the fundamental issues. Although their words sound so sincere, the agenda continues to be set by big business. A system in which the political agenda is set by and for the benefit of corporations is certainly not democracy. It would more precisely be called Corporatism, or economic Fascism.
An independent Wisconsin republic could be the birthplace of an exciting new movement of sustainable agriculture and clean energy. Tax law could be changed to end the subsidy of mega farms and return profitablity to smaller family operations. This could increase biodiversity and quality, leading to a more vibrant economy and healthier citizens. A smaller more accountable government could ensure that decisions about energy policy take place on a level playing field where local and renewable energy is allowed to flourish.
So here we reside. We float atop continental islands on a gigantic sphere of molten metal. The vast majority of human life takes place in a thin film only 15 feet thick surrounding the planet. We grow our food in the first one foot of topsoil. We live, work and breath in only the first few feet of atmosphere. The whole web of life, the plants and animals that sustains us, share this tiny strip of space with us. We are all dependent on this ecosystem for our continued survival. What a miracle it is! And what a responsibility to ensure that we do not destroy it.
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Secession, Secession, Secession, Secession, Secession, Secession, Secession, Secession! Wisconsin, Wisconsin!
The Case for Wisconsin Sovereignty: