Wednesday, February 22 at 7:30 pm

The Shock Doctrine

by Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross

This shocking film is the Directors’ interpretation of Naomi Klein‘s ground-breaking book, The Shock Doctrine.  The film focuses on Milton Friedman‘s philosophy of capitalism and shows how insidious it is.  With the strategies of war, economic upheaval, and the overthrow of foreign governments, the U.S. molds the rest of the world in its image.  And the rest of the world is beginning to look a lot like the predatory underhanded nations that the U.S. and Britain have become.  The film argues that big corporations in search of new markets benefit when foreign governments import the neoliberal economic system, often as a result of pressure from the U.S., — and this often has catastrophic consequences for ordinary people.  It contends that political leaders have turned to brutality and repression to crush protests against their ideologically inspired programmes of privatization, deregulation, and tax cuts.  This film is based on Naomi Klein’s breakthrough historical research and four years of her on-the-ground reporting in disaster zones.  It vividly shows how disaster capitalism — the rapid-fire corporate re-engineering of societies still reeling from shock — did not begin with September 11, 2001.  The film traces the origins of disaster capitalism back fifty years to the University of Chicago under Milton Friedman.  He and his Chicago school of economics produced many of the leading neo-conservative and neo-liberal thinkers whose influence is still profound in Washington today, where lagging behind the times and being out of sync with ordinary people is de rigueur.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/shock-doctrine/

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Sunday Meeting

Sunday, February 5 at 10:30 am

Darwinism and Spirituality

Presented by Sterling Bunnell

Darwin Day, the anniversary of Darwin’s birthday in 1809, is coming up February 12.  In honor of Darwin Day, Sterling’s talk this morning will be about Darwinism and spirituality.  Sterling will break out of the myopic bonds that usually hamper discussions on this subject.

All of Sterling’s talks manifest his brilliant command of both abstract explanations and historical examples — both theory and fact — and they exhibit the amazing broad scope of his mind, encompassing so many fields: the hard and soft sciences and earth and biological sciences, spirituality, psychology, philosophy, history, at alia. Sterling is a rare generalist, a philosopher, freely sharing his thoughts in our world of guarded specialists. Hear Sterling talk, participate in the group discussion, and get the education you might have missed in the course of your life!

Our Sunday talks are accompanied by optional pot luck refreshments. Please feel free to bring scrumptious food, organic and local, suitable for brunch. Our doors open at 10:00 am and talks begin at 10:30 am.

by

Joel Nakamura

To learn more about Sunday Programs held

at Humanist Hall

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Wednesday, February 22 at 7:30 pm

The End of Poverty?

by Philippe Diaz

This phenomenal documentary is breathtaking to watch, beautifully photographed with eloquent speakers — academics, activists, and poor workers.  It may be the best exposition on economics in film.  Everyone should see it to understand the history and intention behind our current economic debacle.  The film turns inside out the global economic system, capitalism — tracing its roots 500 years back and following it up to the present — as one that causes, enables, and preserves poverty.  Global poverty does not just happen.  It began with military conquest, slavery, and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals, and forced labor.  Today, the problem persists because of unfair debt, trade, and tax policies — in other words, wealthy countries taking advantage of poor, developing countries.  The film explains how today’s financial crisis is a direct consequence of these unchallenged policies that have lasted centuries.  Consider that 20% of the planet’s population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate.  At this rate, to maintain our lifestyle means more and more people will sink below the poverty line. 

The film should be understood in the context of dealing with two distinct historical periods:  European colonialism and today’s repackaged form of neocolonialism in the guise of a “neoliberal” model based on so-called “free market” principles.  The European empires were built on the riches stolen from the colonies and on cheap or fee labor provided by the slave.  In Kenya, at the end of colonial times, the white 1% owned about 50% of the arable land.  One of the legacies of colonialism has been that the poor countries of the third world export raw materials and the countries of Europe and North America produce and export finished products.  This stems from a practice that was developed long ago and the intention was that the countries of the Third World would remain backwards and dependent and would never be able to develop.  In the post World War II period, American economists conceived the “neoliberal” economic model which forced all economies to let the market govern everything.  This, our chosen economic model has created a global situation in which today less than 25 percent of the world’s population uses more than 80 percent of the planet’s resources while creating 70 percent of its pollution.  Can we really end poverty within our current economic system?  Think again.

http://www.theendofpoverty.com/

To learn more about Film Series held

at Humanist Hall

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Thursday, January 19 at 6:30 pm

Community Democracy Forum

with Occupy Oakland

Presented by Shawn McDougal

It’s time for us progressives to take our work to the next level — from agitation and defense to shifting the terrain of struggle altogether.  We’re looking for people interested in participatory democracy and building an effective, broad, high-impact movement for progressive change.  Let’s create a social life beyond the rat-race competition for scarce resources;  a broadly-shared sense of our interdependence, based on concrete experience and not just good intentions;  synergy between the hard-won wisdom of elders and the bold ideas of youth;  community that emerges from dialog across differences rather than static assumptions about “us vs. them;”   a politics of participation, interaction, and conversation, instead of the elite-driven politics of personality, performance, and spectacle;  an informed and vigilant public that will hold leaders accountable;  and a working model of collective power  emphasizing the regular actions of many over the extraordinary actions of a few.

Community forums, i.e., neighborhood assemblies, would not merely make recommendations to officials but they would actually make fundamental decisions.  They would decide the city budget:  what percentage of it should go to police, to youth programs, parks, transit, and so on.  How much of it do we provide for new programs;  which progams do we phase out?  Should we change our revenue stream?  And so on.  We would have strong participatory democracy  at the local level.  The neighborhood assemblies could be a scalable model for deepening democracy at the county, state, and national level.  Bringing people together to discuss, debate, and decide on concrete issues that affect our lives — this is exactly the kind of culture shift our society needs.

Tuesday, February 7 at 7:30 pm

Earth Awareness

and Climate Change Reality

for Science Fans

Presented by the Fellowship of Humanity

Our meeting this evening will feature a film of a talk by Alder Stone. It is the introduction to his Story of Gaia, an amazingly clear and basic, yet sophisticated exposition on the science of Gaia and the climate change that’s upon us.  Alder Stone is able to facilitate our learning the fundamentals of systems science and geophysiology by way of his clear exposition and memorable pictures and graphs — which everyone can understand.  Over time, in future meetings, we will show films of other filmmakers about climate change and we will show films about other authors in the field of Gaia science.  You don’t have to be a scientist to love science! All you need to understand the Earth in this new systems science way is to have enthusiasm for science!

Our meetings have three goals:

1) To understand the nature of the living Earth, and, in general, gain a deeper, intuitive, and awe-inspiring understanding for how nature works, including the nature of Life itself. This is not an intellectual exercise, but relevant to the survival of humankind.

2) To understand the abrupt, chaotic, extreme, and unstoppable 1-in-50-million-year climate-change event that has begun and will force a significant revision of civilization as we have known it no later than mid-century.

3) To discuss how we integrate our awareness of Earth and climate change reality into our own lives; to support one another around sacrifices we make and hardships we endure for the sake of our awareness; and to celebrate our successes in harmonizing with the Earth.

$5 donation

http://alderstone3.com/?p=1847

To learn more about Sunday Programs held

at Humanist Hall

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Sunday Meeting

Sunday, January 1 at 10:30 am

How Might We Save Knowledge and Culture

Over the Forthcoming Centuries?

Presented by Sterling Bunnell

Sterling’s talk this morning will be about how to save knowledge and culture over the forthcoming centuries when we and they may be threatened with extinction?

All of Sterling’s talks manifest his brilliant command of both abstract explanations and historical examples — both theory and fact — and they exhibit the amazing broad scope of his mind, encompassing so many fields: the hard and soft sciences and earth and biological sciences, spirituality, psychology, philosophy, history, at alia. Sterling is a rare generalist, a philosopher, freely sharing his thoughts in our world of guarded specialists. Hear Sterling talk, participate in the group discussion, and get the education you might have missed in the course of your life!

Our Sunday talks are accompanied by optional pot luck refreshments. Please feel free to bring scrumptious food, organic and local, suitable for brunch. Our doors open at 10:00 am and talks begin at 10:30 am.

by

Joel Nakamura

To learn more about Sunday Programs held

at Humanist Hall

click here

Wednesday, January 25 at 7:30 pm

Climate Refugees

by Michael Nash

There is a new phenomenon in the global arena called “Climate Refugees.”  A climate refugee is a person displaced by climatically induced environmental disasters.  Such disasters result from incremental and rapid ecological change, resulting in increased droughts, desertification, sea level rise, and the more frequent occurrence of extreme weather events such as hurricanes, cyclones, fires, mass flooding, and tornadoes.  All this is causing mass global migration and border conflicts.  For the first time, the Pentagon now considers climate change a national security risk and the term climate wars is being talked about in war-room like environments in Washington D.C.

To make his film, filmmaker Michael Nash visited nearly 50 countries in about 18 months to interview politicians, scientists, health workers, and victims of floods, cyclones, hurricanes, and droughts.  His film shows how people all around the world are already grappling with the social, economic, and environmental effects of climate change.  His conclusion is that major changes in climate are causing vast numbers of people to abandon their jobs, homes, and countries to seek better lives elsewhere, or simply to survive.  He poses a basic question:  What will become of the millions of people whose lack of access to food and clean water leads them to take increasingly desperate measures?   What type of strains will huge migration put on resources in more developed countries?  Whatever is causing the climate to change, people still have to deal with islands going under water and people running out of food.  The film shows how our new green values of sustainability are as economic and social as they are environmental.  And Michael Nash also interviews prominent leaders from the U.S. and elsewhere to point out that solutions — particularly in energy transformations — are possible and within our reach.

http://www.climaterefugees.com/

To learn more about Film Series held

at Humanist Hall

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Wednesday, January 18 at 7:30 pm

The Broken Moon

by Marcos Negrao and Andre Rangel

 
This deep, thoughtful, and very beautiful documentary is about the last of the Himalayan nomads.  Beyond the mountains of the Western Himalaya, Sonam, an old nomad man, lives with his tribe in one of the most adverse, remote, and isolated corners of the planet;  but a sudden change in the climate is drying most of the rivers and transforming several valleys into deserts.  As the sun beats down and the wind whips dust into his eyes, Sonam struggles across a desperate, arid landscape.  His region faces the most dramatic temperature rises on the planet.  The climate has changed, suddenly turning his once beautiful world into an endless desert.  Unable to survive in a traditional way and witnessing the collapse of his own people, Sonam starts a desperate quest to find answers and change their future.  Now he and his people face a desperate decision:  whether or not to leave their homeland forever or stay on and fight the increasingly extreme weather.  The story told in this film is a history of faith and sacrifice of a people who are already suffering the effects of climate change.

http://www.enigmafilmes.com.br/en/productions/productions/broken.html

To learn more about Film Series held

at Humanist Hall

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Sunday Meeting

Sunday, December 18 at 10:30 am

Life on Earth 6

Appreciating the Gaia Theory

By Florence Windfall

Florence’s talk this Sunday continues her appreciation of Lynn Margulis who recently died.  Florence shows how Lynn Margulis helped develop the Gaia Theory which was initiated by James Lovelock.  Florence will outline some of the basics of, and importance of, the Gaia Theory.  After her talk, Florence will facilitate a round-robin discussion on the issues she brought up.

Traditionally, Humanism did not officially include ecological or environmental awareness. Humanism was about humans, making humans central to its ethics and philosophy, rather than “God.”  But today Humanism does embrace the environment, or what used to be called conservation.  And what exactly do Humanists think they should do for the environment today?  Do Humanists expect to save the Earth, or some part of it, from environmental destruction today?  What do YOU think Humanists should be doing for the environment?  And what are you doing, or what would you like to be doing, for conservation today?

Our Sunday talks are accompanied by pot luck refreshments. Please feel free to bring scrumptious food, organic and local, suitable for brunch. Our doors open at 10:30 am and this talk will begin at 11:00 am.

by

Joel Nakamura

www.joelnakamura.com

To learn more about Sunday Programs held

at Humanist Hall

click here

Wednesday, January 11 at 7:30 pm

Stormageddon

Why Extreme Weather Is Hitting Us Today

by National Geographic Channel

Historic snows and bitter cold across North America;  massive floods in Australia and Pakistan;  deadly mudslides in Brazil;  epic drought and wildfires in Russia;  2010 was one of the most destructive years in human history — one of the worst years for extreme weather and one of the most expensive.  And 2011 is following in its footsteps, or perhaps, its flood waters.  National Geographic presents the dramatic images of this catastrophic weather year — and introduces the people who risked their lives to capture them on film.  National Geographic Channel’s program, Explorer, looks at some of the worst such weather and also the surprising cause behind much of it:  water, too much water.  All precipitation starts in the ocean with gaseous water vapor providing fuel for storms.  The sun transforms water into vapor, which increases first heat and then evaporation, with energy building up in the atmosphere, which further increases the potential for more extreme weather.  Water vapor is the most efficient transmitter of solar power, increasing energy steadily as we can see when looking back:  9 out of 10 of the hottest years on record have happened since 2002.  Nineteen nations set new record high temperatures.  2010 was also the wettest year on record.

In a single hurricane, the condensation of water vapor produces 200 times the energy of the total electrical production of the entire world.  Then, a storm surge brings its extra destructive power. Surge is important because of the oceans rising.  Thermal expansion is what happens when the water warms.  It expands, increasing evaporation and then vapor, and the ocean then rises, covering low-lying areas like Bangladesh for example.  It has been a difficult decade and there is worse to come.  Increased sea levels lead to increased severe storms, hurricanes, and destructive storm surges — all the result of a gradual warming of the planet, global warming.  It is easy to forget that the largest amount of greenhouse gas is water vapor, not carbon dioxide, even though the latter is a big contributor as well.

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-stormageddon

To learn more about Film Series held

at Humanist Hall

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