Book Project: Return to Eden (future)

Humanity’s purpose on this planet could be, and should be, to recreate as closely as possible the “garden of Eden” of myth and legend–and possibly of past and/or future history. The goal of this project is to pull together new and existing articles that, together, help to define a path towards that possible reality.

Introduction

Each of us undoubtedly has a Utopian vision of some kind. It may be personal — a vision of the life we would like to lead. Or it may be social — a vision of how we could live together in peace and harmony.

In reality, both these visions interact. The kind of life we lead is directly impacted by the society we live in. The way we choose to live also impacts society, but society tends to limit our choices in ways that are much more concrete than any impact we can have on society.

The one exception is education. When the vision of the life we want to lead includes teaching (and learning!) then the impact we can have on society becomes very large. As teachers, we can make a significant contribution to the world. As students, we can make that contribution effective by choosing to use it in our own lives.

My personal goal is to teach people how to lead happier, healthier lives. I’ve been trying to learn how to do that myself for most of life! This collection of essays is an effort to share with others some of things I have learned, discovered, or have been inspired to conceive.

Motivation – Developing the Capacity to Care

• What if Reincarnation is Real?
• The Theory of Random Reincarnation

Designing a Society

Environmental Engineering

• Return to Eden – Healthy Environment, Healthy Food
• Three-Dimensional Forest Gardening
• The Earthquake Solution

Community Engineering

• Building a Community with Music and Dance
• End the Car Pool Madness – A Plea for Sanity
• Mass Transit, the Way it Ought to Be
• Enabling Innovation in America

Health and Medicine

• Why Nutritional Healing is Effective
• Using Medical Practitioners Wisely
• Why You WANT Socialized Medicine

Health Activism

Achieving an Eden-oriented lifestyle is going to take a ton of activism. To start, we need to tame corporate greed for the sake of our health.

• Our Toxic Food Environment
• Death by Supermarket (book review)
• Killing for Profit: Tobacco Companies and Food Producers
• Poisoning for Profit
• What’s Wrong with American Foods?
• What’s Wrong with Trans Fat Labels?
• What’s Wrong with the FDA?
• You Should Know Better (Or Should You?)
• What’s Wrong with Modern Medicine?
• Boycott Hydrogenation!
• How to Carry Out An EFFECTIVE Consumer Boycott

Corporate Activism

• What’s Wrong with American Corporations?
• Where Marx Went Wrong
• The Proper Role of Government
• America’s REAL Corporate Tax Rate
• Justice: Paying the Real Costs of Corporate Crime
• Using Lawyers to Restore American Health
• Defending Civilization: The Threat of NAFTA Chapter 11

Political Activism

• Political Reforms that America NEEDs
  1. The Need for a Complete Overhaul
  2. Separation of Corporation and State
  3. Instant Runoff Voting
  4. Approval Voting
  5. Proportional Representation
  6. Elimination of Gerrymandering
  7. Elimination of Earmarks
  8. Voting Advice Systems
  9. Reclaim Corporate Governance
  10. A Progressive “Flat Tax”
  11. Constitutional Amendment for an “Equal Opportunity” Tax

Education

• Man-Made Rules vs. Natural Law (Morals & Ethics)
• Restoring a Healthy Attitude towards Sexuality

Economics

• Rights vs. Freedoms
• Giving Everyone a Fair Shot

Designing a Life

Spiritual Health

• Healing the Wounds of the Soul
• Towards a Science of Personal Transformation
• Achieving Balance: Work, Play, Exercise, Arts, Home, and Family
• Martial Arts and Sports
• Music, Meditation, and the Great Outdoors
• Work: Connecting with to Your Higher Purpose
• Loving What You Do: The Call to Excell
• Loving Another: The Call to Exalt
• Loving What You Have: Being Content
• Loving Yourself: The Foundation for it All

Diet and Health

• What’s Wrong with Partially Hydrogenated Oils?
• The Facts About Fats (A one-page poster. Freely distributable)
• The Role of Trans Fats in Disease and the Possible Effects of Fasting
• Oils and Essential Fatty Acids
• What’s Wrong with Fructose?
• What’s Wrong with High Fructose Corn Syrup?
• What’s Wrong with MSG?
• What’s Wrong with Wheat?
• What’s Wrong with Mono- and Di-Glycerides?

Exercise and Health

• Weight Management and Exercise
• Walking and Weight Training – Perfect Partners for the Perfect Shape

Aesthetics and Health

I imagine a community where I spend part of the day writing, part of the day in the garden, and where evenings are spent in a community gathering, with music, singing, and dancing (and maybe a little drinking).

• Dance, Paint, Sing
• Learning to Play By Ear
• Using Sheet Music Effectively
• Recording to Learn (a good recording makes it easier to learn)
• “Slow Sessions” (advice on sheet music, trading tunes, and accelerating the tempo)

Making a Living

• An MLM Warning: What You Need to Know

Acknowledgments

• To Dr. Champlin, my professor of political theory at Ohio State University, who encouraged the
  audicious plan of an undergraduate to write a series of books on the Nature of Utopia, the Nature of
  Political Power, and a Plan of Attack for getting to Utopia from where we are now.
• To David Smith, my mentor at a small company in Columbus, Ohio, named Dyserv, who taught me to think through implications with unwavering diligence.
• To Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim, who led me to connect with my life’s purpose and become the writer I was born to me.
• To my other mentors, past and present — Joe Gerard, Don Gilchrist, Tom Dinger, John Horan, and Debra Scott, who taught me most simply by being themselves.

Copyright © 2017, TreeLight PenWorks

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