What Every Person Should Know

More details for each are available in the posts below.

1. We do not need to choose between capitalism (sociopathic and irreconcilable with justice) and Stalin or Mao style communism / socialism (which does not deserve to be called communism or socialism; some call such a system "state capitalism", others have started calling it "coordinatorism" since it is a hierarchical system dominated by a coordinating class, instead of a capitalist class). There is another economic system called ParEcon, also known as participatory economics.
2. No one -- and that includes you -- ever dies. The physical body dies, but our inner-essence (call it the soul if you like) exists eternally. And our true home (call it heaven if you like) where we spend most our existence is a realm of love (because the love comes from inside us, because in "heaven" we are in touch with our true loving nature). I do not have a religion; what I speak of is based on the experiences of thousands of people which have been documented by researchers and scientists.
3. Despite what most people seem to believe, it is possible for regular people to change the world and make it a much better place than it is now. History proves this.
4. Okay, I know I said only three things, but I just thought of something else really important. Find out for yourself by watching the free online video clip, only 10 minutes. http://www.meetyourmeat.com

More details for each are available in the posts below.

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1st Thing Every Person Should Know

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Here are some links

where you can learn more about

ParEcon

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For a short summary, approximately one page long:

http://vanparecon.resist.ca/whatisparecon.html

For in depth detail, including interviews, articles, and entire books which you can read online for free:

http://www.zmag.org/znet/topics/parecon

Here is the direct link to some books on ParEcon, SOME of which you can read online for free by clicking on their title (many of these books also available in your local library):

http://www.zmag.org/zmi/readparecon.htm

The Vancouver Participatory Economics Collective also has links to articles, etc., you can read online for free:

http://vanparecon.resist.ca/

To read what some prestigious figures (Noam Chomsky, Arundahti Roy, Howard Zinn, and others) are saying about ParEcon:

http://myspace.com/parecon

(You have to scroll down the page a bit, and look for the panel on the left side of the screen)

(Also, turn on your audio to hear co-conceiver Michael Albert give an introduction of what Parecon is about)

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For the Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participatory_economy

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2nd Thing Every Person Should Know

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Is There Evidence of Life after Life?

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- Do you have some sort of religious agenda?

- So what is your agenda?

- What about the evidence?

- What about the love, peace, and happiness?

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QUESTION: Do you have some sort of religious agenda?

No, I do not have any religious agenda here. I was raised an athiest. Although I now am convinced of the reality of life after life, I still do not have a religion, nor do I plan on ever converting to any religion. I have a detached respect for each religion; I admire the spirit of love that religions share, but I am also critical of the dogmatic side of religion.

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QUESTION: So what is your agenda?

I definately do have one! I believe that if everyone knew without a doubt that life is eternal, and that there is a realm of -- sorry for sound dramatic or cliche -- love, peace and happiness that awaits us (because the love that is inside of us but is usually burried when we're here in this life comes to the surface in "heaven"), then the amount of suffering on this planet would reduce extremely and we would co-exist in nearly utopian conditions. I believe that the main reason there is so much suffering in this world is because almost everybody is obsessed with trying to be happy. We think this life is our one and only chance at happiness, and we vow to achieve this happiness, by any means necessary! If this means we don't have time left over to help others, or if this means that we have to step on other people in order to reach the heights we want to reach, then so be it.

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But, I believe that if we knew our happiness was guaranteed (and it is!) then we would stop all this madness, and instead of being obsessed with making ourselves happy, we would shift our attention to the happiness of others.

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QUESTION: What about the evidence?

There has been much research done which provides mountains of evidence for life after life. The vast majority of this research has been done in the past half-century, though some of it goes back to the 1800s.

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Below are some books which I think every person (that means you!) should read on the subject. I honestly don't see how anybody could read the following books and still not believe in life after life! In my opinion the evidence is just too overwhelming.

And, of course, none of these books have a religious slant or agenda; they are all secular.

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• Journey of Souls: Case studies of life between lives (Michael Newton, PhD)
• Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation (Ian Stevenson, PhD) (also, by the way, a prof at the University of Virginia)
• Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind (Kenneth Ring, PhD) (prof at the University of Connecticut)
• Reliving Past Lives: the evidence under hypnosis (Dr. Helen Wambach)
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For more books, please email me and I can give you a list: harmonyisultraviolet@hotmail.com

All these books can be found at your campus library and also through the network of Toronto Public Libraries. For instructions on how to get a free Toronto Public Library card, or how to put boooks on hold so that they are delivered to your local library free of charge, email me.

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Similar information can also be found on the web, though it's not as in depth and the websites seem a little new agey and may be a turn off to some of you. Also, one particular website discusses things like psychic mediums and hauntings. This isn't really my "thing" and I know it might make all this loose credibility in some people's opinions. But I hope you don't disregard everything else just because of that. "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater" as they say.

http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/personalitystudies/ This site here is from the University of Virginia, so it is the one I recommend the most, since it does not have that new-agey vibe to it and is very respectable and scientific.

http://www.near-death.com/faq.html This site is frequently asked questions (answers included!) about near-death experiences, also known as NDEs. Go to the home page for an extensive website about NDEs in general.

http://www.victorzammit.com/book/index.html This is an entire book available to read for free online, entitled "A Lawyer Presents the Case for the Afterlife." It's great, but it's also the site I warned about which talks about psychic mediums, apparations, and so on.

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What About the Love, Peace, & Happiness?

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I mentioned that, not only do we live forever, but that our true home where we spend most of our existence (commonly refered to as "heaven") is a place of love and harmony where everyone loves each other and is not afraid to show and express it at every single moment. The self we are here in this life is kinda the same as in "heaven" except the love we have inside us is burried deeply, which is why there is so much cruelty and indifference here, but in "heaven" it is not at all burried. I won't give more details about it here. But if you want to find out about that aspect of it, I suggest the following books:

• Journey of Souls (Michael Newton, PhD)
• Destiny of Souls (Michael Newton, PhD)
• Life After Life (Raymond Moody, M.D.)

Or, get a quick summary online:

• http://www.victorzammit.com/book/chapter27.html

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3rd Thing Every Person Should Know

Most people think the problems of this world are too big, that we couldn’t change things even if we tried. But history proves that ordinary people, when they come together, can change the world.

In Western society, there used to be slavery, but no more. There used to be feudalism, but no more. It used to be that non-white people did not have their basic civil rights, but no more. It used to be that women couldn’t vote, but no more. It used to be that workers didn’t have the right to form unions, but no more. It used to be that there was no minimum wage or laws to ensure a 40 hour work week, but no more.

All this progress didn’t happen because The Powers That Be decided to be nice one day and end slavery, or end feudalism, or give women the vote, or let workers form unions, or anything else. No. It happened because people got together and they fought for it. It happened because people got together and they demanded it. It happened because people got together and they wouldn’t take no for an answer.

There are countless historical examples just like these. Many of them are big and can be found in encyclopedias. And there are countless more that are small but significant, little victories in local communities that will never make it into an encyclopedia but make a world of difference, nonetheless.

We can change the world, but we have to want it badly enough to turn off the TV. We have to want it badly enough to get out of the shopping malls. We have to want it bad enough to get out off the Starbucks patio. We have to want it badly enough to work for it, struggle for it, fight for it. We have to want it badly enough to devote our time, our energy, and even a little bit of our money.

You might think we can’t change the world. You might think the problems are just too big. And I agree that they are big; they’re very big. But just remember that the numbers of relatively privileged people like you and me who do virtually nothing to help save the world are even bigger than these big problems that we have. We number in the hundreds of millions. In fact, I would argue that the apathy and inaction of people like us is the biggest problem in the world. And if we can solve our apathy and inaction, we’re already over half way there.

And so since we do number in the hundreds of millions, all it would take is for each of us to do a little something on a regular basis. If we all gave $4 to charity every time we spent $4 on a tub of ice cream, it would add up. (In 1998 Europeans spent 11 million dollars on ice cream, while the 1998 UN Human Development Report estimates that it would cost only 9 million annually to provide everyone in the world with access to safe and sanitary drinking water -- which 29% of people lack access to.) And if we all spent one hour less a week on the phone or watching TV, and instead spent it doing volunteering and engaging in activism, that would add up, too.