Drugs in a homogenised world

                       

I have traveled the world all my life and one of the common characteristics to all the cultures I have met is – that all cultures have some substance that they use to wind down from the trials and tribulations of life.

To put it in more simple words – every society has an accepted drug, which is used by the people, and in many ways that drug defines that society

With the advent of globalisation or more so, the Americanisation of our world, the commonly accepted drug amongst most societies has become alcohol.

And of course, this is part of the scam of the mono world. Wear the same clothes, eat the same food, think the same thoughts and get the same high.

Though there is another reason I am about to tell you this story, and this one has affected millions of people worldwide, and the victims have mainly been women.

When I first traveled to India many years ago, the common high was THC. In every street, you could find a shop selling charras, ganja, and opium. To those of you not aware of these terms; every street had a shop selling hashish and marihuana. The government licensed these shops, the quality of the drugs was graded and they paid tax.

At the time most laborers in India made around 30 Rupees a day, and with an exchange rate of 8 Rupees to the dollar they made more money 33 years ago, then they make today.

So, back to the main reason for this story. Well, after work, the common laborer would pass by the ganja shop, buy a small piece for about half a Rupee, get stoned and go home.

Within Indian families, it is the woman that usually holds the money, so when the man comes home, the wife would ask him for the money and the stoned man would happily hand over his hard earned daily earnings and sit for a cup of chai with his wife and family.  Being high on ganja, the man is relaxed after his hard day at work and his wife is happy that 98% of what he earned is left for the family to use.

It is important to mention that at the time alcohol was illegal in most parts of India.              

In 1984 under a Ronald and Nancy Reagan initiative, and with great pressure put on them, India criminalised drugs and legalised alcohol in most parts of the country. With this, traditions which have been alive for thousands of years have been cast aside for the sake of so-called modernity and assimilation into the new world order.

So now we turn into the second current day scenario. These days an Indian laborer earns around 150 Rupees a day, which with the current exchange rate of about 65 Rupees to the dollar, is much less then what they earned 33 years ago. After a hard days work, the tired laborer stops by the now government licensed alcohol shop, and buys a small 250 ml bottle of whiskey for around 70 Rupees. He drinks it in the spot and arrives home drunk. When the wife asks where is the money he punches her and is abusive to the rest of his family. Half his wage has gone to his post work relaxation compare to at the most 2% 33 years ago.

What does a stoned man do? Well he relaxes, sleeps, listens to music or takes his wife to bed to make love to her passionately.

What does a drunken man do? A drunken man who has just spend half his families bread? He is angry, mostly with himself.

Welcome to the modern world: change the drug – change the people.

Domestic violence has shot through the roof since the introduction of alcohol in India with most of the victims being women. These women have been demonstrating in many parts of the country, many times burning the alcohol shops.

At the same time, multinational grog companies have been descending on the country like vultures, eager to open shop in what could eventually be the biggest market in the world for their products.

Perhaps this has something to do with it…alcohol is man-made while herbs such as ganja are gifts of nature.

Now let me be very clear. I am not writing this as a pro-smoking anti-drinking essay.

Not at all!!!

I am writing this as a call to respect that an Indian might smoke ganja and a South American Indian might chew on coca leaves and each culture has its way.

I am sharing this in order that we respect that every culture is different and these differences should be celebrated, rather than eradicated. What is good for white Anglo-Saxon people is perhaps not so good for others

And more so. Drugs can be instruments of control. Does alcohol make you think nicer then Ganja? Is it healthier for you> of course not, and just because something is not the way we are used to, doesn’t mean its wrong.

And in truth, if I had to choose between groups of drunken people or stoned ones, I know where I would go and sit.

So let us stop this hypocrisy of enforcing the white man’s way on the rest of the world.

Another way is possible, a way of tolerance and acceptance

FEAR vs MONSANTO

A couple of days ago, a friend told me he would not participate anymore in the Anti GMO campaign. He said that it was negative and sowed fear in the hearts of people. He wanted to be more positive and he wanted to go to the root cause of things rather then be involved in a fight.

It wasn’t the first time I heard talk like this and probably it won’t be the last.

It feels like some New Age disease, excuse, or perhaps just some beings being misguided or maybe it is the fear speaking out rather then the understanding.

Was Gandhi negative and sowing more fear into the world when he resisted the British occupation of his country.

Was Dr martin Luther king negative and in fear when he fought the injustice done to African Americans and when he called on his people to resist the war in Vietnam. Actually in his famous speech he said, “A time comes when silence is betrayal.”     

And my friend feels that high moral ground is persevered by keeping mum on the subject.

So, I wonder if my friend thinks that the struggle against GMO and Monsanto is of a different nature, since what is at stake is only the future of humanity.

Are we being negative when we are attempting to save the butterflies and the Bees?

Are we being negative when we are concerned with the well being of future generations and we are willing to stand up and be counted?

Are we adding fear into the world when we are standing up for true democracy, which is food democracy rather then allow a multi national corporation take control of our food for the sake of profit.  

The strange thing is that my friend is an organic farmer – doesn’t he understand that with enough GMO pollen in the air, organic farmers will sooner then later turn into museum exhibits rather then be a thriving reality offering a healthy and sustainable way of living.

We are standing up against the tyranny of the corporations, wishing to manipulate and control all life forms, and the same time we are offering solutions which are holistic, democratic and benefit all rather the elite few.

So perhaps my friend is adding fear to the world by choosing to know but not to act, to be aware and to hide. Perhaps he is talking about his own fear of dealing with the complexities of life, and the fact that at times life does include a struggle and a quest to weed out the injustices in order to create a better future.

If not, why have so many admired Gandhi, Jesus, M L King and many others who stood up to the powers that be in order to offer a better life for future generations.     

Life is in balance at present time. The forces of greed and fear are rising as well as the energy of love and trust.

Another world is possible, though we have to make her happen and staying back at home wishing it would all change without taking and tangible action, isn’t going get us anywhere.

So please my friend, and all of you my friends who have retreated from standing up in the name of positivity. Be honest with yourselves and feel the life around you…and how it’s calling all of you – all of us – to act – right here – right now.

this is a link to my recently published anti Monsanto - pro life poetic Novel...check it out

https://www.facebook.com/JamanTree

' I Crow River ' Book release

What’s a book? A narrative? A story? Possibly it’s just an excuse to share a dream, a vision and a tool to fire up a revolution in the hidden passages of our mind. Perhaps it is a prayer that we do evolve into a species that actually cares about each other more then we desire to accumulate ‘things’.

     At last, I Crow River is out, ready to meet and greet you with a roar.

     And sure, Nobi the Crow is in your face: to challenge, to probe, to ask questions, to make you wonder and perhaps go and wander. 

     It could be a stand-alone book since it really does not fit into any genre. 

     Both Fiction and non Fiction; an Ecological/ Spiritual/ Physical/ Metaphysical thriller, and of course, a Love story as well.

     I Crow River is available now in digital format at all main distributors such as Amazon Kindle, I bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Baker & Taylor and many more. It will take a couple more months before it’s available on paper. And anyway, let’s try and save some trees. So if you have an e-reader, go for the digital version.

You can also follow I crow River on Facebook and check for sample chapters, comments and the evolution of the vision

https://www.facebook.com/JamanTree

     If you like the book, if you learned something from it, if it supported or inspired you – let others know of your experience.

I Crow River is more than a book, it’s a movement of people who care and share, who dare to dream and have the courage to walk the journey.

Preface

Some years ago I was sitting on the banks of the river Ganga in a place called Rishikesh in northern India.

     It’s a place that has always been a source of inspiration for me; you might call it a sacred site or a power spot.

     I had this idea to write a book based on some of my past work with sustainability and organics. The title was going to be Organic Farming for Fools.

     After a week of sitting in front of my laptop, I couldn’t get past page one. It just felt stuck, even though I already had much of the material ready.

     Then one night I just gave up.

     I walked outside and sat by the river, enjoying the calming effect of flowing water and the light of an almost full moon.

Suddenly I heard the river talk—no joking, I heard her voice. Now anyone that knows me would vouch that I am quite a grounded person. Though that night the river did talk to me, and what she said was: “Start writing, don’t worry about the book you were planning to write, write the book I am going to give you.”

     I went back to my room and commenced typing and it just flowed, one page after the other. I never knew what the story would be, what the next sentence would be, though I trusted it was coming—the river did say it would.

     In a few weeks, the whole story was there, though it took a couple more years to polish the rough edges.

     So this was the birth of I CROW RIVER, and I promise you, it wasn’t me, it was the river.

The Book

Into the night flies an elder crow speaking the voice of the earth mother. What takes place next is an epic journey of the soul as humanity and nature face one another in the form of the man narrating the story and our bird tribe brother.

     Page by page we witness the unfolding of an extraordinary saga - from fear to love, from me to we, from a self-centred world to a universe, which includes all living beings.

This book will ignite a spark of change in your heart.

https://www.facebook.com/JamanTree

https://www.amazon.com/author/jamantree

A nation rises up to defend its women

A few days ago while many were preparing to celebrate the solstice and a significant cosmic event, a girl was gang raped in a moving bus in Delhi and then thrown of the bus. She is now fighting for her life in critical condition in hospital. (we now get the sad news that she has passed away)

It is not the first time a girl has been ganged raped in India and unfortunately, it probably won’t be the last. Every 20 minutes an Indian woman is raped and this is counting only the reported cases. It is known that more cases go unreported, for fear of the social stigma and having to deal with the police, who often rape the victim again.

 What followed this rape though is something new.

 Hundreds of thousands of youngsters, all over India, came out to the streets to voice their anger and outrage.

 As I write this article. The police are in pitch battles with thousands of students on the streets of Delhi.

 The young people have had enough. They don’t want to live anymore in a society and a culture that somehow sanctions that a woman’s place is at home, and once she is out on the streets, she does it at her own risk.

 I truly salute this young generation of Indian’s, who are brave enough to stand up in the face of police violence and make their voices heard, laud and clear.

What is truly disturbing is the brutality by which their protest is being suppressed and the biased media coverage associated with this.   

On the first day the media supported the public outrage, and as though outrage has a timeline and should be contained for a short brief media appearance – the media has shifted sides.

 Off course they did; the media is a puppet of the corporations and prolonged protests disturbs economic activity.

 India is a very complex democracy and in many ways is not democratic at all. More then half members of parliament have criminal cases registested against them – some of them rape cases.       

It is common knowledge in India that any girl would be terrified to go to the police to complain about rape, in fear that the police would rape her as well or just dismiss the case.

 A woman in India once told me, that the men she really feared, when it came to crimes like rape are the police.

 And now the police blame ‘anti social elements’ for inflaming the anti rape protests. Sounds very familiar, as we in the west use ‘terrorism’ and a ‘threat to national security’ as a reason to suppress any meaningful dissent.

 What is wrong with these politicians? Don’t they have hearts that beat like our own? Is their blood of a different colour? For how can they condemn the outrage of nation, irate by the vile attack on one of its daughters!

 Off course, in the name of law and order these protests will be suppressed, though in the name of law and order, rape still goes on unchecked and mostly unreported.

 As these protests goes on, the Russian prime minister in town, signing arms deals worth billions of dollars, while half the children in India go to sleep hungry. Isn’t this rape too? Rape of the lives of children who go to sleep crying in hunger night after night, mostly girl children, as the male child is always looked after with more care, in a society that kills millions of girls while they are still in the womb.

And yes, this is the Russian Prime Minister who imprisoned 3 brave girls from a band called ‘Pussy Riot’, for standing up to his dictatorial ways.  

We will never stop the rape of our women, while we continue to rape the earth, rape our freedom, rape our society and starve our children…all in the name of the creatures called economy, power, greed and fear.

 Another world is possible, and yes, we may have to take to the streets, again and again, until the ones in power start listening.

Here are two out of many disturbing articles in the mainstream Indian press

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/UP-rape-victim-raped-by-cops-probing-case/articleshow/17748777.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rape-victim-should-have-been-careful-Andhra-Pradesh-Congress-chief/articleshow/17748819.cms