howdy folks it’s my pleasure to be here
but I feel I have to stop and make a
slight correction you see I don’t think
of myself nor am ia liberal politician I
need to come clean I’m a straight-up
revolutionary y’all I don’t make any
bones about it now don’t get alarmed I’m
a non-violent revolutionary but I am in
fact a revolutionary you see I’m a
revolutionary because I believe we must
restructure this society I don’t believe
the world that I want to live in one
that’s based on peace and justice and
democracy and ecology sustainability we
can’t get to that world by tinkering at
the margins of a fundamentally racist
sexist class oppressive society and if
that’s not bad enough the huge
transnational corporations are literally
going to destroy the planet that we
depend upon for life itself
if we don’t interrupt it how am i doing
so far just want to make sure just what
an extra was in the right place you see
I always like to say that I’m a
revolutionary for two very important
reasons number one because it’s true
right and I think that we are living in
a historic moment today where the
ecological political and social crisis
are really multiple crises are coming
together so fast that we are literally
experiencing the beginning stages of
collapse we are in a full-blown crisis
but don’t get too alarmed about that
either because I want to remind you that
in the Chinese language where they use
symbols for words the symbol for a
crisis is also the symbol for another
word anybody know it opportunity that’s
right
we are literally living in a moment of
opportunity where we could literally
imagine restructuring society so
everybody has enough right we could
literally do that so I say I’m a
revolutionary because it’s true and
because I think that we need radical
honesty to talk about the reality that
we’re facing and the second thing the
second reason I say I’m a revolutionary
is because I’m looking for others I’m
looking for others we need to find each
other and if like me you believe we need
to restructure our society but you
haven’t yet given yourself permission to
admit that you’re a revolutionary here’s
your chance the reality is that if you
have been with me so far on this
conversation you two are a revolutionary
and embrace it right revolutionaries are
the people who are able to imagine
envision a completely different world
so I do believe that I am a
revolutionary I know I’m a revolutionary
I want to restructure this society
because I want to be clear this society
is in fact based on a narrative that I
don’t like it is fundamentally about
white supremacy imperialism patriarchy
and Empire
see that’s the meta context of reality
it’s the narrative that is told over and
over again because you know what we
don’t actually understand the world
through facts we understand the world
through the stories that we tell each
other and stories that are told over and
over again become the narrative the
cultural paradigm the frame of reality
well I’m here to tell you that the
narrative that human beings are
fundamentally selfish that we are
exploitive that we are oppressive that
we have to dominate and exercise power
over I don’t think that’s true and you
know what biologists tell us it’s not
true as well they tell us that we would
not even evolved as a species if we had
not actually collaborated with one
another if we had not been willing to
cooperate together in fact that is our
birthright and if you haven’t yet read
the chalice and the blade by Rhian
Eisler there’s a freebie for you it’s a
fantastic book that actually changed the
way I sort of thought about things so I
know that we don’t have to be power over
Dominator selfish exploitive oppressive
but that’s how our society operates and
you know why because our systems
incentivize them you see I think it’s
worth actually saying out loud I don’t
believe that human beings or angelic nor
demonic right I think that most of us
will basically replicate the society
that we’re living in and most of us will
tend to do the things that our social
systems and structures incentivize and
you know what’s really really wrong is
that our society is incentivizing
exploitation oppression commodification
right instead of love compassion
kindness and generosity and don’t you
think that we ought to talk about love
more often in politics I mean that’s
what we say that we want that isn’t that
what we teach our children that’s what
my momma taught me and I want to share
with you probably one of my favorite
stories those of you who know me know I
I’m not embarrassed about it I’m a
mama’s boy
I really have I love my mama I I am Who
I am in large part because of her and I
will never forget an early memory I was
maybe four or five years old and I was
arguing over a toy with my brother and
my cousin it was a little toy car right
and I remember so we’re we’re yelling
and if any of you have ever had low boys
you can imagine the yelling and the
screaming the anguish over that little
little toy and I remember that mama came
in mama came in because we’re low kids
on the floor and you know what I
remember I remember she got down with us
she got down on the floor with us and
she put her hands on us and first she
just calmed us down right and she gave
us love she let us know everything was
gonna be all right
and then she very calmly just said hey
look what’s going on Oh a toy
I know y’all like this toy but you know
we’ve learned a count
so let’s do it together there’s one
there’s two there’s three and the toy
there’s only one toy I don’t know well
you could share it one of the time but
then she looked around and said oh my
goodness but look look at all these toys
I’ve seen you play with before and she
just brought him into the circle one by
one and there were so many toys by the
time she was through when she said you
see kids all you have to do is share oh
you have to do is share you know what
that’s a 4 year old boy that made sense
to me it made sense to me then and it
makes sense to me now
all we have to do is share and we can
literally create a new world well I am
here standing before you to tell you
that I am beginning to work with others
in this community and across this
country and even the globe to begin to
transition our society in our very
economics into a solidarity economics
model we aim to prove that we can get
all of our needs met live a rich
fulfilling life without exploiting or
oppressing anyone without allowing
anybody to exploit or oppress us and to
be able to do it in an ecologically
sustainable manner that folks is
cooperation Humboldt I want to invite
you to the website cooperation Humboldt
dot o-r-g or cooperation Humboldt com
either one will get you to us and what
you’ll see is our vision of how to
actually do that what we’ve done is
begun to identify an inventory different
sectors of society food housing shelter
art and culture finance child care the
the different sectors of society and to
say what is already happening in the
manner of a solidarity economy that’s
not exploitive or oppressive or
destructive that’s already happening now
because anything that’s already
happening we want to amplify it we want
to lift it up we won’t want to compete
with it why would we that’s great
because there’s so much of that already
beginning to happen right now and we
don’t want to compete with that we want
to say thumbs up and let other people
know that it’s happening but we also
know all
from this process that there are many
gaps there or like for example I’ll just
take food right we know that in the food
production in a distribution system we
have fantastic community supported
agriculture there’s a Community Land
Trust there’s a number of things that
are we’ve got a food co-op here there’s
all these wonderful things but you know
what we don’t have a food forest I want
you to imagine for a moment that all of
the public spaces in Humboldt County are
fruit trees and nuts and that kale
instead of ornamental shrubbery is being
grown imagine a food wall in Arcada
or Eureka or Fortuna or any other places
where and by the way the food wouldn’t
be charged it would simply be free what
I’m telling you is this we can do that
that is possible and I want to conclude
by giving you the metaphor of the
butterfly because we know that the
butterfly begins actually as a
caterpillar how does that happen
scientists tell us that actually within
the DNA of the caterpillar is actually a
new recipe new ideas they’re called
imaginal cells and literally within the
caterpillar is an imagination a new
blueprint for what that organism will be
and in fact it shows the death of the
caterpillar and it spins the cocoon it
goes in the crystal chrysalis stage and
then those imaginal cells begin to move
around they look for each other they
find each other they say actually a
butterfly are you oh you’re a butterfly
too and they begin to coagulate they
begin to cohere together and then it’s
amazing because then they say we’re
butterflies but on the wing oh you’re a
thorax they think that so we’re axes are
down there oh you’re a leg there way
over here oh a wing – I’m a wing – and
they literally begin to recreate that
organism the imaginal cells have a new
vision for what that organism should be
so what I’m suggesting friends is that
we actually have within us the
imagination of a new world it’s actually
part of our DNA
the idea of cooperating and sharing and
doing it together and having a society
that actually is our birthright it’s
been stolen from us by a white
supremacist patriarchal capitalist
society but it is within us and I want
to suggest this that new world it’s not
just in our imagination in our heads
it’s not just in our hearts and our
desires that new world is literally in
our hands we can create that world
together it can be peaceful it can be
socially and racially just it can be
ecologically sustainable and it can be
genuinely democratic where we are
sharing power with each other and
collectively making the decisions
together so I invite you if this makes
sense to you come and talk to me come
and talk to cooperation Humboldt
talk to each other let’s find each other
together let’s have the conversation and
let’s create that world together peace
[Applause]
but I feel I have to stop and make a
slight correction you see I don’t think
of myself nor am ia liberal politician I
need to come clean I’m a straight-up
revolutionary y’all I don’t make any
bones about it now don’t get alarmed I’m
a non-violent revolutionary but I am in
fact a revolutionary you see I’m a
revolutionary because I believe we must
restructure this society I don’t believe
the world that I want to live in one
that’s based on peace and justice and
democracy and ecology sustainability we
can’t get to that world by tinkering at
the margins of a fundamentally racist
sexist class oppressive society and if
that’s not bad enough the huge
transnational corporations are literally
going to destroy the planet that we
depend upon for life itself
if we don’t interrupt it how am i doing
so far just want to make sure just what
an extra was in the right place you see
I always like to say that I’m a
revolutionary for two very important
reasons number one because it’s true
right and I think that we are living in
a historic moment today where the
ecological political and social crisis
are really multiple crises are coming
together so fast that we are literally
experiencing the beginning stages of
collapse we are in a full-blown crisis
but don’t get too alarmed about that
either because I want to remind you that
in the Chinese language where they use
symbols for words the symbol for a
crisis is also the symbol for another
word anybody know it opportunity that’s
right
we are literally living in a moment of
opportunity where we could literally
imagine restructuring society so
everybody has enough right we could
literally do that so I say I’m a
revolutionary because it’s true and
because I think that we need radical
honesty to talk about the reality that
we’re facing and the second thing the
second reason I say I’m a revolutionary
is because I’m looking for others I’m
looking for others we need to find each
other and if like me you believe we need
to restructure our society but you
haven’t yet given yourself permission to
admit that you’re a revolutionary here’s
your chance the reality is that if you
have been with me so far on this
conversation you two are a revolutionary
and embrace it right revolutionaries are
the people who are able to imagine
envision a completely different world
so I do believe that I am a
revolutionary I know I’m a revolutionary
I want to restructure this society
because I want to be clear this society
is in fact based on a narrative that I
don’t like it is fundamentally about
white supremacy imperialism patriarchy
and Empire
see that’s the meta context of reality
it’s the narrative that is told over and
over again because you know what we
don’t actually understand the world
through facts we understand the world
through the stories that we tell each
other and stories that are told over and
over again become the narrative the
cultural paradigm the frame of reality
well I’m here to tell you that the
narrative that human beings are
fundamentally selfish that we are
exploitive that we are oppressive that
we have to dominate and exercise power
over I don’t think that’s true and you
know what biologists tell us it’s not
true as well they tell us that we would
not even evolved as a species if we had
not actually collaborated with one
another if we had not been willing to
cooperate together in fact that is our
birthright and if you haven’t yet read
the chalice and the blade by Rhian
Eisler there’s a freebie for you it’s a
fantastic book that actually changed the
way I sort of thought about things so I
know that we don’t have to be power over
Dominator selfish exploitive oppressive
but that’s how our society operates and
you know why because our systems
incentivize them you see I think it’s
worth actually saying out loud I don’t
believe that human beings or angelic nor
demonic right I think that most of us
will basically replicate the society
that we’re living in and most of us will
tend to do the things that our social
systems and structures incentivize and
you know what’s really really wrong is
that our society is incentivizing
exploitation oppression commodification
right instead of love compassion
kindness and generosity and don’t you
think that we ought to talk about love
more often in politics I mean that’s
what we say that we want that isn’t that
what we teach our children that’s what
my momma taught me and I want to share
with you probably one of my favorite
stories those of you who know me know I
I’m not embarrassed about it I’m a
mama’s boy
I really have I love my mama I I am Who
I am in large part because of her and I
will never forget an early memory I was
maybe four or five years old and I was
arguing over a toy with my brother and
my cousin it was a little toy car right
and I remember so we’re we’re yelling
and if any of you have ever had low boys
you can imagine the yelling and the
screaming the anguish over that little
little toy and I remember that mama came
in mama came in because we’re low kids
on the floor and you know what I
remember I remember she got down with us
she got down on the floor with us and
she put her hands on us and first she
just calmed us down right and she gave
us love she let us know everything was
gonna be all right
and then she very calmly just said hey
look what’s going on Oh a toy
I know y’all like this toy but you know
we’ve learned a count
so let’s do it together there’s one
there’s two there’s three and the toy
there’s only one toy I don’t know well
you could share it one of the time but
then she looked around and said oh my
goodness but look look at all these toys
I’ve seen you play with before and she
just brought him into the circle one by
one and there were so many toys by the
time she was through when she said you
see kids all you have to do is share oh
you have to do is share you know what
that’s a 4 year old boy that made sense
to me it made sense to me then and it
makes sense to me now
all we have to do is share and we can
literally create a new world well I am
here standing before you to tell you
that I am beginning to work with others
in this community and across this
country and even the globe to begin to
transition our society in our very
economics into a solidarity economics
model we aim to prove that we can get
all of our needs met live a rich
fulfilling life without exploiting or
oppressing anyone without allowing
anybody to exploit or oppress us and to
be able to do it in an ecologically
sustainable manner that folks is
cooperation Humboldt I want to invite
you to the website cooperation Humboldt
dot o-r-g or cooperation Humboldt com
either one will get you to us and what
you’ll see is our vision of how to
actually do that what we’ve done is
begun to identify an inventory different
sectors of society food housing shelter
art and culture finance child care the
the different sectors of society and to
say what is already happening in the
manner of a solidarity economy that’s
not exploitive or oppressive or
destructive that’s already happening now
because anything that’s already
happening we want to amplify it we want
to lift it up we won’t want to compete
with it why would we that’s great
because there’s so much of that already
beginning to happen right now and we
don’t want to compete with that we want
to say thumbs up and let other people
know that it’s happening but we also
know all
from this process that there are many
gaps there or like for example I’ll just
take food right we know that in the food
production in a distribution system we
have fantastic community supported
agriculture there’s a Community Land
Trust there’s a number of things that
are we’ve got a food co-op here there’s
all these wonderful things but you know
what we don’t have a food forest I want
you to imagine for a moment that all of
the public spaces in Humboldt County are
fruit trees and nuts and that kale
instead of ornamental shrubbery is being
grown imagine a food wall in Arcada
or Eureka or Fortuna or any other places
where and by the way the food wouldn’t
be charged it would simply be free what
I’m telling you is this we can do that
that is possible and I want to conclude
by giving you the metaphor of the
butterfly because we know that the
butterfly begins actually as a
caterpillar how does that happen
scientists tell us that actually within
the DNA of the caterpillar is actually a
new recipe new ideas they’re called
imaginal cells and literally within the
caterpillar is an imagination a new
blueprint for what that organism will be
and in fact it shows the death of the
caterpillar and it spins the cocoon it
goes in the crystal chrysalis stage and
then those imaginal cells begin to move
around they look for each other they
find each other they say actually a
butterfly are you oh you’re a butterfly
too and they begin to coagulate they
begin to cohere together and then it’s
amazing because then they say we’re
butterflies but on the wing oh you’re a
thorax they think that so we’re axes are
down there oh you’re a leg there way
over here oh a wing – I’m a wing – and
they literally begin to recreate that
organism the imaginal cells have a new
vision for what that organism should be
so what I’m suggesting friends is that
we actually have within us the
imagination of a new world it’s actually
part of our DNA
the idea of cooperating and sharing and
doing it together and having a society
that actually is our birthright it’s
been stolen from us by a white
supremacist patriarchal capitalist
society but it is within us and I want
to suggest this that new world it’s not
just in our imagination in our heads
it’s not just in our hearts and our
desires that new world is literally in
our hands we can create that world
together it can be peaceful it can be
socially and racially just it can be
ecologically sustainable and it can be
genuinely democratic where we are
sharing power with each other and
collectively making the decisions
together so I invite you if this makes
sense to you come and talk to me come
and talk to cooperation Humboldt
talk to each other let’s find each other
together let’s have the conversation and
let’s create that world together peace
[Applause]
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