It would be great if you could say WHY this is not "just" a progressive conference...
Garda: "Again, Cathy, it's hard for me to answer this unless I can put myself into the mind of a "progressive." I can only speak for myself and say that I clearly am driven almost by forces beyond my understanding. No rational person would use personal credit cards to fund a national conference without any guarantee of return. I don't know any progressive who would take this kind of huge personal financial risk. So perhaps that's a difference right there. It may also be my personal determination to find some way to ensure that this is not just another conference, progressive or otherwise.
In my mind, something *concrete* must emerge. My vision is for it to be the seed of a revolution that must take place here in America. Demonic forces (literally) have taken our country in a radically downward direction, and now radical action is required to move our country back to a status where it can once again be included amongst the civilized nations of the world. So it's about bringing strong moralists together in one location and then mapping out strategies to create one mass movement to fight for political and socio-economic Justice.
In another year we will likely face an economic meltdown none of us could have imagined. Today an article talked about gas next year being $10 a gallon. Other articles are talking about food rations - something we associate only with "third world" countries. So who is the third world country now? And when that happens, we can be pretty sure that our government will not be there for us, will not help us. Rather, we will be left to fend entirely for ourselves."
I was intrigued by the name chosen for the World Prout Assembly Event being held in Radford, VA later this month, "Building A New World" Conference. Can you please tell me why WPA feels we need to build a new world?
Garda: "Well, our present world is really on the verge of collapse. Numerous articles attest to this and keep warning us. We can talk about ecological/environmental collapse, drastic climate changes which millions are not going to survive. Then there's economic collapse, already on the horizon, and finally military collapse, as due to the economic collapse the Empire will no longer be able to sustain its hundreds of economic colonies around the world.
Essentially, we are watching capitalism in its death throes. So we need to be super alert now and be ready to provide solutions to the people. Solutions like forming cooperatives and spreading workplace democracy, creating local, self-sufficient communities. This is the future, and it's up to us to educate people. It's time to start our own vegetable and fruit gardens because in the coming collapse we just won't have money to buy produce imported from Chile, Brazil and other countries. Many people write about the woes of the world today. This is good. We need to educate people about how they're being exploited. But at the same time we must provide solutions, and primarily economic solutions."
Whose idea was it to do the conference? How did the idea come about?
Garda: "Out of intense frustration with the status quo, I started the WPA website in January, 2005. Its goal is to expose injustice and work for Justice in all spheres of life. Its vision is also to join the struggle to wrest economic power from corporations and hand it to the people."
Is this the first conference of its kind that WPA has organized?
Garda: "Yes, it is. WPA is a two year old fledgling, grassroots NGO [Non-Governmental Organization] built on dreams for a better world."
The ideology and mission of WPA is a way of thinking that most Americans have probably never been exposed to before. Can you please tell me where and how this ideology originated?
Garda: "It may well have originated from suffering in my own life. When we suffer, we can do one of two things. We can focus on our suffering, dwell on it forever, keep reconstructing it in our mind. Or, we can merge our suffering with the suffering of entire humanity. We can reach out to feel the suffering of other human beings around the world. In most instances, we will find that the suffering of others is far, far greater than our own suffering.
I've lived in quite a few countries, including six years in UAE [United Arab Emirates], seven years in India, a year in Singapore, nine years in Canada, a year in Germany, several months in UK, and have traveled to many other countries. In each place I made it a point to merge with the local people. For example, in UAE, I sat for hours with the local Bedu women, learning enough Arabic in the process to be able to understand the joys and pains in their hearts. For this very reason, the US imperialist wars in the Middle East are heart-breaking to me. You cannot find a more hospitable, more affectionate, more generous people than the Arabs of the Middle Eastern countries. It is they who embody the real meaning of the term 'civilization'."
How is the WPA set up and funded? Is it a 501(c)(3) non-profit?
Garda: "It is funded almost entirely by myself, for the simple reason that I keep forgetting to ask for donations on the site, as I get so engrossed in the news articles I am posting. I love studying and learning more than anything else. WPA is in the process of becoming a 501(c) (3) non-profit. Hopefully, that paperwork will be completed by the end of this year."
