Guidelines

Where did this world go wrong? What happened to social responsibility, compassion, care, and the willingness to contribute something to the natural world, conserving the resources and maintaining the beauty and integrity of the environment, instead of constantly and continuously robbing it?

WARP is intended to be a coaching guideline serving to point towards reasonable consumption goals so that not only will our consumptive generated pollutions lessen, but we – as a conscious community – will have both our awareness levels and our personal fulfillment feelings heightened.

Many of us do not realize it, but we were all raised, educated, and essentially trained to be cogs in a huge conspirational consumptive machine. These powers that depend on us for their existence. They care nothing for the state of Mother Earth, nor for any of the other denizens who ride spaceship Earth with us.

They care only for profits which they garner by selling to us their products, most of which are non-essential, but which we purchase and accumulate and show off and then discard, because as part of the brainwashing, we believe that such behavior will make us, somehow, happy.

As a matter of fact, polluting Earth’s precious and precarious eco-systems is a criminal act, under a non-recognized Universal Law, and as such makes us the opposite of happy. So, shedding that illusion is a first step, along with conscious caring, towards behavior that does provide not only happiness, but actual life meaning. A good start, indeed!

We will never get anywhere if we don’t start to change individually. Personal growth and purpose (non-materialist, non-profit-oriented purpose) leads to ecological awareness, followed by material simplicity and, finally, a greater opportunity to live on a smaller, more human – sustainable – scale.

“Without greater simplicity, it seems unlikely that we will be able to cope successfully with the problems engendered, for example, by scarcity. And, unless inner learning expands, it seems unlikely there will develop the degree of internal maturation necessary for the human species to act as wise trustees of conscious evolution on this Earth” (Elgin & Mitchell 1977).

Brain washing is never easy to clean up, even once it is understood and acknowledged that we ARE, indeed, washed of our brains. And then it has not been easy because true education is not easily available historically, and there have not been ways to reasonably join in community to effect Change. Now there is and here it is.

WARP–OK, after publishing these guidelines, will then proceed to generate a list of companies and products that are OK. We understand that this will take some time and are relying on YOUR help to get it done. How? By submitting consumer reports to us so that we can research and then publish.

We start with personal consumptive guidelines, and we start tamely, as befits a revolution of this grace-filed essence.

 

NOVICE WARPer

begins by evaluating every purchase to see if it is either essential, or allowed for the time being – during the acclimatization stage that attends any radical behavior change.

Essentials? Food, shelter, clothing, foot wear, medical and personal care needs, transport, and here is the warm turkey item (as compared to going cold turkey) – fun, but a new, and of course warped, definition of fun.

FOOD. Buy locally and pay a little extra for organic, because you thereby lessen the transportation pollution and help the local community, and since organic denotes a lack of chemicals etc, you are helping ecosystems as well.

SHELTER. If you have a beginner castle, consider down sizing which means less to clean, less to heat or cool, less to maintain, and less to equip for ego purposes. Consider turning your outdoors into a garden or orchard. Avoid lawns and all the care involved.

CLOTHING. Trade your old clothes for someone’s old clothes. Buy used whenever possible. Do NOT be fooled by fashion – one of the stupidest tricks ever foisted on silly people. Forget it totally and be surprised how accepted you will be in any meaningful gather. Use wool, cotton, leather and silk over petroleum products which, somehow, steal energy from you on contact.

FOOTWEAR. You only have two feet – be reasonable.

MEDICAL AND PERSONAL CARE NEEDS. Be aware that a lot of these “needs” are not essential, especially in the light of new feelings which will be engendered with aware behavior.

TRANSPORT. Try to walk or hike whenever possible. Avoid buying new vehicles, and get rid of any vehicle that does not get good mileage. Spend some energy looking for a ride or offering a ride. Try to live near your work. Plan with your community to build trails for non motorized movement.

FUN. Go ahead, novice, and give yourself a break. It is your call as to what you want to include in this category – just keep awareness at the helm and don’t necessarily do it because “they” have promised that it will be fun. A cruise ship is a perfect example of this as there is hardly any fun involved in being in a herd at trampled ports, prey to sales booths of meaningless baubles, and over eating at every meal.

Read ‘Voluntary Simplicity’ (1977) by Elgin & Mitchell, a book about people who are living a simpler life, and why they are doing it. What’s the appeal there, hello, it’s the Millennium! It’s different from the back-to-nature movement that entails moving to a rural community, living without electricity, and milking own cows (that’s the next step!). Instead, voluntary simplicity is about incorporating sensible practices into an ongoing – and even urban – lifestyle and creating new, healthier, ethical habits.

DETERMINED WARPer

Good for you. All of the guidelines for the novice apply of course, and here are some determined additions;

FOOD. Start under-eating. That’s right, you see the stomach has a little time warp in that it stays hungry for a few moments even after it has been filled up. And it is those durned extra bites that contribute to being overweight with attendant medical and psychological challenges. Go for slender and fit, lithe and lean – make of your body a temple and also a walking advertisement for WARP.

SHELTER. Consider sharing space. Use a fan, not AC. Turn the thermostat off and learn to live with the weathers. Insulate like crazy, including inexpensive window coverings even if they are not attractive, who cares?

CLOTHING. Learn to mend and be proud of your patches. Organize community sharing events, free stores etc.

FOOTWEAR. Get creative. Tires, for example – used ones obviously.

MEDICAL AND PERSONAL CARE. The body usually does a fine job of repairing itself given time. Give it a chance and open doors for better health via these behaviors. Forget things like deodorants, shaving creams, and unguents of all ilk and cost. Even toothpaste is a spoof.

TRANSPORT. Don’t own a motorized vehicle. OK, own one, but care fully – like a little motorcycle, and own it with a group of compatible carers. Jog to work, or windsurf, or hitchhike. Remember when hitchhiking was an adventure? Well the new hitchers will be WARPers, so pick em up.

FUN. See how much fun you have with these behavioral changes and watch how your community responds.

Although this lifestyle has some roots in austerity, restriction, and spending less money, it’s not about the money or the spending. It’s about a different, spiritual, ethical path – understanding why this is necessary, and agreeing to it.

This lifestyle clears the path for ‘creative simplicity’, and freedom from dependence on stuff. The unbearable lightness of being! Wouldn’t you agree that spending time on introspection is more beneficial for growth and personal development?

“Life is occupied in both perpetuating itself and in surpassing itself

If all it does is maintain itself, then living is only not dying”

– Simone de Beauvoir

GAUCHO WARPer

So, we had fun putting together the first couple of weaning categories, now let’s go extreme and see how much real fun we can have. (Hint; the ecosystem is being dealt death strokes – THAT is extreme!)

The gauchos of Argentina were famous for their ability to, and love of, living with very little. Living in, and with, Nature.

FOOD. So gardening, orcharding, animal husbandry, bee keeping, foraging, hunting and gathering all come to the fore in different venues. Tribalism works well here, so create a tribe – or maybe just a family for starters.

CLOTHING. Tan hides, spin wool…… get creative and build you some costumes. Including footwear.

SHELTER. Make a friendly, win win, deal with a landowner, offering value for housing or a place to erect your funky (and fun) hovel.

MEDICAL AND PERSONAL CARE. Look at the animals – they lick their wounds and tough it out. Don’t like that? OK, make a deal with a doctor, take an online course, figure it out.

TRANSPORT. Invent never touching a motorized vehicle again. (cheat from time to time, of course)

FUN. Now it is all fun. Re-define “suffering”.

It’s all fun because there is a balance between inner and outer growth found when following the lifestyle of “non-consumerism – based on being and becoming, not having” (Elgin & Mitchell 1977). Obviously, it means buying and relying on less ‘stuff’ and, in turn, it helps individuals be more in touch with the self and our abilities, as opposed to being oblivious – and, indeed, we are mostly completely oblivious – to how much energy and resources are spent on us and our lifestyles.

 

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TOWARDS A                   KINDER WORLD

COMMUNITY

There is a consistent and continuous interconnectedness and interdependence of people and resources. No man is an island. You are a whole mechanism in itself and you require your own support system. You are dependent on collaboration and on the global village you live in.

So act like it.

Get involved with tax dollar projects.

Campaign to switch from polluting machines for labor, to human and horse labor – make it happen and make it fun – people getting exercise and digging or trenching, not always a knee jerk employment of big un-hearted and criminal machines.

The unemployed, the youth, the workout gym goers – get them involved. Those unable to work can serve lemonade and prepare lunch.

Play music while you work.

Don’t buy anything extraneous, superficial, trendy etc…

Align your desires with necessities.

Produce less waste.

Compost.

Reuse stuff for different purposes.

Borrow and share things.

Don’t turn on artificial air-conditioning, instead dress for the weather, challenge your blood circulation.

Re-sell and donate what you no longer need.

Commute strictly by bike or on foot, only occasionally relying on public transportation or carpooling for an odd long-distance journey.

Bikers – forget the flockish “uniform” – those silly streaky helmets and stretch pants. Use cut offs and don’t fall off your bikes. In the history of biking there are 2,787,270 miles ridden without a fall. Then someone falls, usually a novice child, pushed by pa, and another couple of million miles are ridden without incidence or injury. AND in those falls, very seldom would a helmet do any good. One time, back in the eighties, a fellow fell, and his helmet rolled off his head before impact and he suffered a slight head injury.

Be in touch with nature and aspire to pursue practices that contribute to its conservation.

Animal testing needs active happy disdainment. Obviously.

But there are other animals who are suffering the mindlessness of humans. Horses are built to move and need to run when they want to, and also to eat some natural feed.

Find a way to approach the owner of barned horses and to offer to take the animal out daily for a walk in the park, having worked it out with the park officials and making sure to leave no traces. The manure has value and can be marketed or given away.

Same with dogs who are left tied up. Take them for walks and runs.

You can already imagine the personal returns which will waltz in with this behavior. There is even an income available here for the Gaucho WARPer.