Spiritual Economics

Free is the Word!

Today while in Warsaw I was speaking about the activities of Food Not Bombs, a world-wide group of activists who make it their joy to feed people with food that would otherwise be thrown away. I recalled an incident in which the police in San Francisco prohibited the giving of the food away because it had been cooked and was not at the required temperature and therefore might cause food poisoning. They confiscated the food and threw it in a nearby dumpster. Having done their good deed they drove off. The hungry then immediately dove into the dumpsters to retrieve it and have their meal. Of course the police did not return to prevent that!


Having told that take one of the group then told me about a whole movement of people who are taking food dumpster-diving to another whole level—Freeganism. It seems that some people are making a lifestyle to rescue useable food from the garbage bins of grocers and other food sellers who often simply toss food that will not be useable the next day. 


Immediately I was intrigued to know more and getting back home googled it and was amazed to find out how and why people want to reduce the waste of modern society. Surprisingly, for some at least, it is not out of economic necessity, but out of moral outrage of a wasteful society. Honestly, I am so happy to hear of such people that have the moral courage to do such things.


From their website: "Freegans are people who employ alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed.

"After years of trying to boycott products from unethical corporations responsible for human rights violations, environmental destruction, and animal abuse, many of us found that no matter what we bought we ended up supporting something deplorable. We came to realize that the problem isn’t just a few bad corporations but the entire system itself.


"Freeganism is a total boycott of an economic system where the profit motive has eclipsed ethical considerations and where massively complex systems of productions ensure that all the products we buy will have detrimental impacts most of which we may never even consider. Thus, instead of avoiding the purchase of products from one bad company only to support another, we avoid buying anything to the greatest degree we are able."


Wow! Hat's Off!

It reminded me of when I was in charge of buying produce for the Hare Krishna temple many, many years ago. At the farmers market they throw out literally tons of food that is not salable for one reason or another. I would also get crates of tomatoes from the dumpsters, fruit, bananas, potatoes, you name it. Bad spots made it un-sellable, but cut that chunk off and the rest was perfectly fine.


Initially it takes some courage to get over the cultural conditioning of taking food out of the garbage bin, but apparently one quickly finds that much of it is not contaminated and is quite edible. In promoting the gift economy I never dreamed that such things would go on on such scale. 


Wouldn't it be nicer if it was indeed a gift, that these stores would just set it aside and offer it for free to whoever? As we were discussing this, one of the group told a tale of just such a good-hearted person in Warsaw. He had a bakery and at the end of the day whatever was unsold he would give away. Guess what? It seems the taxman found out about it and wanted his pound of flesh on the value of the give-aways, and in pursuit of his cut drove the benevolent giver crazy to the point where he quit his business. Let's hear it for Kali-yuga...Phhht!


Here is one short spot found on YouTube, but there is LOTS more to look at online. 

Continuing from the Freeganism website: "How much of our lives do we sacrifice to pay bills and buy more stuff? For most of us, work means sacrificing our freedom to take orders from someone else, stress, boredom, monotony, and in many cases risks to our physical and psychological well-being.

"Once we realize that it’s not a few bad products or a few egregious companies responsible for the social and ecological abuses in our world but rather the entire system we are working in, we begin to realize that, as workers, we are cogs in a machine of violence, death, exploitation, and destruction. Is the retail clerk who rings up a cut of veal any less responsible for the cruelty of factory farming than the farm worker? What about the ad designer who finds ways to make the product palatable? How about the accountant who does the grocery books and allows it to stay in business? Or the worker in the factory that manufacturers refrigerator cases? And, of course, the high level managers of the corporations bear the greatest responsibility of all for they make the decisions which causes the destruction and waste. You don’t have to own stock in a corporation or own a factory or chemical plant to be held to blame.

"By accounting for the basic necessities of food, clothing, housing, furniture, and transportation without spending a dime, freegans are able to greatly reduce or altogether eliminate the need to constantly be employed. We can instead devote our time to caring for our families, volunteering in our communities, and joining activist groups to fight the practices of the corporations who would otherwise be bossing us around at work. For some, total unemployment isn’t an option it’s far harder to find free dental surgery than a free bookcase on the curb but by limiting our financial needs, even those of us who need to work can place conscious limits on how much we work, take control of our lives, and escape the constant pressure to make ends meet. But even if we must work, we need not cede total control to the bosses. The freegan spirit of cooperative empowerment can be extended into the workplace as part of worker-led unions like the Industrial Workers of the World."

Ok, here is where I draw my limit. Why extend this idea into  the workplace that perpetuates wage and consumer slavery? Why not redesign the workplace altogether, as in Spiritual Economics and the gift economy? Why continue to play the game of money when it is rigged so that the 85% lose and the 15% win? The money game is not made in your favor! Take Freeganism to the MAX with the total gift economy! Not just food, but land, house, clothing, food, entertainment, etc., etc. — ALL of it. All that you have to do is 1) work that you enjoy, and 2) give the gift of your labor to others. By doing this we can free ourselves of the control game of money and the money masters. 


FREE is the WORD!