And now – BIOPOLITICS FOREVER.... The Armageddon Factor is a new book by Marci McDonald about “How Canada’s Christian Right was Built.” Skeptics insist that a truly influential religious right could never take root in Canada the way the American movement has done. That one has taken shape over 3 decades and has now infiltrated nearly every level of government - from school boards to the Senate.

This is copy for the first segment of POWER TRIPS... -- a radio and podcast project I'm currently working on. The Mother Earth Power Works project is in the works, but held up by a few details that must be figured out before I can go ahead with it. mc

SARAH PALIN is now a mainstay in the news. She is darling of the Tea Party – the right wing, populist movement which has eclipsed the neocon’s long domination of the Republican Party. She endorses political candidates, contributes to Fox news, promotes her books and children and manipulates the media and public to buy into her ideas of what is important in American life and everywhere else. And that would include Canada.

Statement of Goals

Why are we doing this? Why are we interested in this? Because it is the right thing to do considering what we already know.

“For the planet there is no Plan B.”

Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of England (19 October 2009)

Our Own Attitudes About Power

This project has developed as a result of my own personal interest in power. Power is always with us – all of us – yet seldom considered in terms of its own specifics, which is what makes it so fascinating.

It is important to reiterate that feminism stands in direct opposition to patriarchal power. Patriarchal power dominates our lives, as do its “eternal verities,” which range anywhere from the ill-conceived, stupid, distorted and self-serving to the corrupt, lying and murderous. Any feminist, therefore, has first-hand experience in thinking through at least some of the many aspects of this vast subject.

MEPW: Power Analysis

For some time now, I have been doing a study on power. Perhaps because of the nature of the phenomenon itself, it appears that everyone attempts to define it from the point-of-view of their own agenda. For instance, economic theory (get the money), leadership (take control), war (who should win or lose), legitimacy (who has the right to dominate), policy (why we must tow the line), ideology (who has the right ideas). Shrinks and sociologists codify power within pseudo-scientific theories, philosophers according to other wobbly ideas and criminals base their concepts of power on weakness and gullibility.

Group Efforts

Members of MEPW will become part of a group of their choice. Each group will concentrate on one particular issue (see list of 12 topics in blue box at top of Home Page). The group’s first task is to make a clear statement of the people, organizations and power elements, arrangements and actions which are contributing to the problem.

Cooperation among members of the group is key. Powerful attachments are formed in cooperative groups, which can yield up many jewels of inspiration, speculation and creativity.

MEPW: The Focus is Power

The focus of the project is to understand power as it relates to the earth’s crisis – its uses and abuses. And to consider new concepts of power – a force which has been, and continues to be, virtually exclusive to the world of men. Women are still trying to fit into the way men run the world.

In the future, generations will have to know that at least some people did everything they could to avert the earth’s disaster. This project is one small effort in an attempt to meet that inevitability.

MEPW: Membership

MEPW is open to all women interested in joining forces in an attempt to meet that challenge. There are a few essentials to bear in mind:

• The desire and commitment to develop and exercise power to protect the earth.
• The Feminine Principle (see Blog #6) is the underlying principle of this project.

Lipstick Feminists

In the forces of resistance, certain young women stand out as the third main group. These are the “I’m not a feminist, but....” Or, “We’re feminists – but different. We wear lipstick and high heels!” Said one about my generation: “I do feel it’s time for those feminists to step aside....It’s like, we’re grateful for what you did, but it’s time for you to hand over. We’ve got a different world-view, and we might have something different to say.” [Source: “The New Feminists: Lipstick and Pageants,” by Gemma Soames, The Sunday Times, 21 December 2008.]

The Uninformed

The message of the backlash is that feminism is bad. But such is not the problem. The absence of feminism is the problem. Where some see feminism as a failure, it has been a verifiable, qualitative and quantitative success. A working knowledge of feminism and feminist history allows us to expand on our ability to see the truth of our own reality from all angles – intellectual, moral, psychological, emotional, political and philosophical – and to imagine ways to change our individual situations for the better.