What kind of governing structure do we live in? A democracy? A dictatorship? Socialism? Anarchy? According to author, Gary Brumbach, none of those terms captures the essence of our world. Instead we live in a corpocracy. The corpocracy is the "Devil's Marriage," which consists of the unity between powerful corporations and patronizing politicians. This corpocracy is the dark and sinister husband that we-the-people have hopped into bed with in Brumbach's mind. As such, his book is titled The Devil's Marriage: Break Up the Corpocracy or Leave Democracy in the Lurch. To divorce ourselves from this marriage, Brumbach proposes a "Chamber of Democracy," a revolutionary but civil, peaceful force to break up the corpocracy.
According to Brumbach, America is becoming a "ruiNation." I would take his statement further and say it IS bringing about the rui-Nation of the planet and quickly deteriorating into ruination that may be beyond regeneration. After all, cancer is a progressive disease. And, this is exactly the state we are in. In the growth-without-end mentality exhibited by the corpocracy , we have become a cancerous growth upon the face of the planet (my analogy, not Gary's).
Brumbach's book beautifully drives home the truth that the primary force behind this cancer is the corpocracy, which has resulted in the "Devil's Marriage" between powerful corporations and the politicians they patronize. It is within this context that the corporations can live out their greed-full intents of growth-without-limit. Can we produce a spontaneous remission by deciding to stop being a cancer? As if to intuit my analogy of corporate behavior to cancer, Brumbach proposes his Chamber of Democracy. This would then lead back to governance that is by the people, for the people, and of the people. Thus, we become catalysts of the cancer's remission rather than proliferating cells of the cancer itself.
To
take this thesis further, Eric Fromm points out in his classic,
Escape From
Freedom ,
that we have surrendered our freedom. Why do we continue to do this?
We have been caught up in this dynamic for the past several thousand
years and appear to be quite content in staying stuck in this
pattern, even though we are close to destroying ourselves and the
planet by our surrender to the external powers of government and
corporations. We need to take a hard look at ourselves and really
focus on why we continue to surrender our power over to others who
abuse it for their own gain. Instead, we can make the choice to take
charge of our own lives within stable and loving communities. These
communities would understand that the individual's well-being is a
reflection of and necessary part of the community's well-being.
Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and The Blade and The
Real Wealth of Nations, states in her review of The Devil's
Marriage that the thesis of Gary's book is reflected in his
passion "for social and economic justice that shines through
every page of his book. He tells it as he sees it, mincing no words.
He shows how essential it is for us to change the rules of the game
so that we may break the ties that bind corporations and government
-- and move to a more equitable and sustainable future."
Some of this work towards an equitable and sustainable future is being done. For example, The Bovine reports that in 1999, 35 million small family plots produced 90% of Russia's potatoes, 77% of vegetables, 87% of fruits, 59% of meat, 49% of milk! In other words, we don't NEED the corpocracy to feed us. And the Bovine article updates us from 1999 by saying, " it seems things have only gotten better when it comes to small-scale agriculture in Russia. " This particular Bovine article ascribes much of this agricultural movement in relationship to the mystic set of books called the Ringing Cedars. And, indeed, the series of books is known about, mentioned and oftentimes used in movements such as Permaculture in the United States.
As I have pointed out in past articles, we have movements in the United States such as Permaculture and Transition Town which are moving us towards this same end. In other words, we do have another husband to marry. That husband is much more loving and caring about our welfare and the welfare of our children than the current abusive and addicted one we are currently in bed with.
The spiritual affinity within the communities of the Russian Ringing Cedars movement lies in their " vision of re-establishing the 'Motherland', an eco-culture where every person is fulfilling their role as a Divine Co-Creator. " As readers go deeper into the series, the heroine--almost Goddess--Anastasia, begins to reveal the path back to the state of a Creator-Being, teaching about "The Science of Imagery," of empowering our creative ability with pure thought, feelings, and a loving relationship with Nature. She does this by sharing her stories about the history of the People of Earth, of the priests who led us into the Occult Age that is just now ending, and of the Beauty that was found in the gardens and rituals of an ancient Vedic race.
In other words, we have the power within us to neutralize the corpocracy on a grassroots level. Here I diverge from Gary's more traditional systemic solution of creating a new, above-the-ground Chamber of Democracy, analogous to the Chamber of Commerce that works for the corpocracy. I see another analogy that I think may be more fruitful: We may function more like mushrooms. As spelled out at http://www.allaboutmushrooms.com/mushrooms.htm, the " mushroom is the reproductive organ for the fungus. This means that by picking a mushroom we do not harm the fungus itself, because the main body of the organism lies underground in the form of a network of minute threads called 'Hyphae'." (This relates to Jung's Collective Unconscious.) " When two compatible hyphae meet they join together to form another network called the 'Mycelium' which grows quietly and unseen under ground for most of the year until the conditions are right for fruiting and that's when we get to see mushrooms. " I see our mycelial networking as likely to be less vulnerable and more resilient than a political entity such as Gary's Chamber of Democracy. It may well be that this isn't an either/or choice but the kind of both/and strategy that Mother Nature is so good at producing within ecosystems.
It may be interesting for some to take note of this movement in relationship to the ever-increasing writings regarding the end of the Aztec calendar and it's marking of the dawning of a new age. Could this dawning be our awakening to the power that is within us? It is to this power, lying asleep underground like a seed or mycelium, that we must germinate, awaken, and bring to fruition. What are Brumbach's book, website, and Envision This interview if not another kiss from the Prince to awaken his Sleeping Beauty?
Links/References for More Information
The interview with Gary is at http://www.blogtalkradio.comenvision-this/2012/10/04/break-up-the-corpocracy-or-leave-democracy-in-the-lurch
Please visit Gary's website at http://www.uschamberofdemocracy.com/
Amazon link to Gary Brumbach's The Devil's Marriage: http://www.amazon.com/The-Devils-Marriage-Corpocracy-Democracy/dp/1456712608/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1349340666&sr=8-4&keywords=Corpocracy
Amazon link to Riane Eisler's book: http://www.amazon.com/Real-Wealth-Nations-Creating-Economics/dp/1576756297/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349342374&sr=1-2&keywords=riane+eisler
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