All posts by Casey

About Casey

Casey is the national coordinator for TZM Australia and has a passion for educating on a variety of topics, organising and participating in a range of TZM projects and events and connecting with other like-minded individuals.

02May/17

Z-Day Global 2017 – Brisbane, Australia

Events, Projects, Science, Sustainability, Technology, What's New, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

DAY ONE

Zeitgeist Movement supporters started pouring in from chapters all around the world as the doors opened to the very appropriately named New Globe Theatre in Brisbane, Australia, Saturday morning on the last weekend of March.

Organisers scurried excitedly, setting up the various areas, including: the merchandise space; the questions for PJ booth; the vegan food buffet; the bar; the workshop space, scattered with comfy chairs and recommended readings; and of course, the main stage, where presentations would be continuously running over the first two-day Z-Day main event.

Check out this great overview of Z-Day – Day One – by one of the very talented New Zealand coordinators, Wiri Te Moni.

The volunteer technicians, and chapter coordinators – Jason Lord from LA and Michael Kubler from Adelaide, worked tirelessly, making sure we had quality recordings of each presentation for later viewing on the TZMGlobal YouTube Channel. Audience members got comfortably acquainted and seated. (Links to presentation recordings will be added to this post as they are uploaded.)

Photos by Michael Kubler @kublermdk, Renee McKeown, and Jason Lord

As soon as everything was ready to go, Z-Day Global kicked off, starting with my opening presentation, where I spoke about the theme of this year’s Z-Day: Towards Global Unity and Abundance, as well as advice on creating a sustainable and successful chapter, the amount of work involved in making Z-Day happen, ways to avoid economic bigotry, and concluding with a certain framing of encouraging a unified quest to understand the nature of reality rather than personal ambition to win over your perceived opponents.

Casey Davidson, Australian National Coordinator

This was followed by the very knowledgeable and insightful Franky Müller, National Coordinator of the German chapter. Franky shared TZM Understandings – important information about The Zeitgeist Movement, refreshing our minds and filling in important gaps in knowledge for those still learning about the tenets and train-of-thought.

Franky Müller, German National Coordinator

See Franky’s presentation here.

 

After Franky, the second of our presenters, Cameron Reilly entertained the crowd with a tongue-in-cheek questionnaire asking the audience about their own psychopathic tendencies and giving them the opportunity to measure it according to their results. He talked about the specific traits of psychopaths, touching on the idea that people who fit into this personality type are not changeable and will always be born. Additionally, the system we have created actually encourages people with these tendencies to acquire positions of power, hence the title of his presentation, the Psychopath Economy.

Simultaneously, we had set up a workshop space in the adjacent room for Z-Day participants who were more interested in being involved in activities and discussions. The first of these workshops came from Caroline Rentel, author and activist, who shared ideas about a relatively new writing genre, Solarpunk, basically based in a future society beyond scarcity and hierarchy, where humanity, nature and technology are integrated.

Caroline Rentel, Solarpunk author

Caroline and Cameron’s presentations lead into lunch time, where a selection of delicious vegan foods were provided as part of the Z-Day ticket. Curries, cakes, sushi, burgers and snacks were available for all participants served on eco-friendly plates with serviettes and cutlery. Thanks to the lead food volunteer coordinator, Vicky Syme and everyone else who worked so hard to make food available for everyone. For future Z-Day organisers, I would suggest that having food available at the venue is very important in keeping the audience members together to collaborate and be on time for the presentation straight after lunch.

Vegan chefs Vicki and Margarita

Lunch time!

Our first presentation after lunch came from Rich Penney, who we flew in from Toronto, Canada. Rich has attended several Z-Days as one of the most intruiging and informed presenters within the Movement. This year he shared the very clear Contradictions of Capitalism, in a way that allowed us some insight into Rich’s life living with disability, as well as intellectual gifts that can’t be easily monetised in this society. This is a fantastic introductory presentation to help people understand the core problems of the way we have structured society.

We were next graced with the presence of two of the very talented guys from acclaimed Aussie band, Dead Letter Circus, Kim Benzie and Luke Williams. As I have personally been a long-time fan of DLC with their unique sound, emotionally evoking and incredibly conscious lyrics which fall in line beautifully with the tenets of the Zeitgeist Movement, it was amazingly awe-inspiring to hear Luke and Kim talk about their personal experience and journey as artists against oppression. The uplifting conclusion of their presentation of their song ‘While You Wait’, together with lyrics and the comically-titled ‘anti-establishment drum solo’ moved the audience to a standing ovation.

Luke Williams, Dead Letter Circus Drummer

Kim Benzie, Dead Letter Circus Vocalist, Z-Day 2017

While these presentations were going on, Oliver Koslik from Canada presented interactively in the workshop space on Emotional Suppression: A short course on how to recognise and deal with gas-lighting/ambient abuse.

Oliver Koslik

The fun continued on the main stage as we introduced the next of our international guests, Euvie Ivanova from the Future Thinkers Podcast. As a co-host of the Future Thinkers Podcast, Euvie promotes technology, science and consciousness for social concern.

Here is a quick overview of the premise of the Future Thinkers Podcast.

Euvie’s presentation was particularly focused on consciousness development, as she spoke pragmatically about ways in which we can explore our consciousness using methods from a variety of doctrines. This was particularly interesting to the audience as something that hasn’t been discussed in detail in regards to TZM.

Euvie Ivanova Future Thinkers Z-Day

The other half of the Future Thinkers Podcast, Mike Gilliland, followed Euvie’s presentation. Mike shared his thoughts on the potential of blockchain technology, beyond the limitations of bitcoin. Topics such as decentralisation, security and developing intelligent management systems were explored.

Mike Gilliland from Future Thinkers at Z-Day 2017

During Euvie and Mike’s presentations, the Melbourne chapter coordinators Brad Cini and Sonny Vice sat with an intrigued group in the workshop space as they spoke about their upcoming Zero Waste/Minimalisation project they are in the process of creating, and hopefully recreating in cities outside of Melbourne.

Sonny Vice and Brad Cini from the Melbourne Chapter

Everyone was ready for another break to debrief and snack, before moving into the final presentation of the day from ex-Italian coordinator and futurist author Federico Pistono. Federico presented Ethics of Technology, sharing an alternative look at the world’s state of affairs, suggesting ways in which technology is already shifting humanity forward, and new ethical considerations that need to be taken into account regarding this. He shared some controversial topics for discussion that lead into his concluding statement about exponential empathy.

Federico Pistono at Z-Day 2017 Brisbane Australia

Just before the panel, Gilbert Ismail shared a brief update on the global chapters administration and new website. Mark Enoch shared his method for marketing the RBE message in the workshop space, followed by Matt Peddie and Vera L Te Velte from the CryptoParty who showed audience members ways to make their devices more secure.

After all the presentations, I was fortunate enough to lead the Day One Panel, where audience members had the opportunity to ask the speakers questions from the first day’s presentations on the main stage. This included a lively discussion where panellists authentically shared their thoughts on activism within TZM, as well as a range of social, economic and environmental concerns and ideas for consideration.

Panel from left:
Casey Davidson, Franky Muller, Rich Penney, Luke Williams, Kim Benzie, Euvie Ivanova, Mike Gilliland, Federico Pistono, Gilbert Ismail

Day One Z-Day 2017 Panel

Day One Z-Day 2017 Panel At front: Casey Davidson Back from left: Franky Muller, Rich Penny, Luke Williams, Kim Benzie

Z-Day 2017 in Brisbane was the first Global event to have presentations as well as workshops. It was also the first with evening performances. A big thanks to the beautiful Anita Diamond for MCing and organising the evening’s performances. Roger Smith shared his spontaneous outbreaks of reason, with his passionate funk/blues/rock sound, bringing urgency to the message of the Zeitgeist Movement. This was followed by other local artists including Aceso and The Duke. The evening was complete with DJ SAMARI, coming in from Auckland, New Zealand who shared his Zeitgeist Anaglyph.

Aceso

DAY TWO

Enthusiastic minds entered the New Globe Theatre for the second and final day of the Z-Day weekend with presentation and Q & A from Zeitgeist Movement founder and Zeitgeist film creator Peter Joseph. For a quick overview of the second day, check out Wiri’s vlog below.

 

Californian coordinator Jason Lord, kicked off Day 2 with his presentation, Defining Root Causes – a short tour through common surface associations where people fall victim to seeing “persistent problems” as individual outcomes that need fighting or resisting. Jason’s presentation explored how to see these problems as symptoms – pointing to a systemic problem and helping people see how the system view can help shape your actions when it comes to activism and discussion with peers.

Jason Lord, California TZM Coordinator

Jason then introduced Peter Joseph, TZM Founder, who started with his concise presentation titled “Train of Thought” before delving into questions I took from the PJ booth and the audience. Just some of the topics discussed include adapting to natural laws, the victims of our structure – particularly our social system, human nature, white imperial self indulgence, biodiversity, how every life support system is in decline, abundance producing mechanism, corporations, techno-capitalist apologists, structural violence, discussion about the Interreflections trailer, managing the Movement and its role in activism, philanthropy and consciousness.

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Watch Peter’s Q & A in the video below.

 

After Peter, the audience once again enjoyed a delicious vegan lunch, before coming back for the final presentations, which were focused around the fight and the build towards the Zeitgeist Movement’s ultimate vision of a Resource-Based Economy (RBE). Richard Ostmason of the Money Free Party New Zealand, shared the work he has been doing within the political establishment to engage people into thinking about the potential of actually seeing an RBE in the short-term, particularly in New Zealand.

Richard Ostmason, Money Free Party NZ, presenting at Z-Day 2017

Next, Adelaide coordinator, Michael Kubler’s presented about the Price of Zero Transition, making a very important point that we can’t wait for collapse and then expect to grow the world we want to see out of the ashes (coined the Phoenix Model). Rather, we need to start making systemic changes now in a variety of ways if we truly want to see an RBE.

Michael Kubler presenting at Z-Day 2017

This was followed by Ziggy Tolnay of the Sydney chapter, who shared a concept called the RBE10K project, about creating a physical community in which people could participate in as a transitionary method towards a global RBE.

Ziggy Tolnay presenting at Z-Day 2017

By this stage, the crowd was growing exceedingly weary after two full days of learning and sharing, but were very fortunate to be jolted back to the present – with the very talented and insightful Eleanor Goldfield, with her emotionally evoking and painfully accurate spoken word performance about capitalism and activism. This was followed by her presentation, which rounded up the whole two days worth of events as she shared her very honest and authentic thoughts on the importance of the fight and the build that needs to happen as we work towards a post-capitalist society, making clear that capitalism will die, but whether we die with it is up to us.

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During the main stage presentations, a generous portion of the audience had made their way into the workshop space to engage with a very interesting and important presentation with one of the most experienced, thoughtful and knowledgeable ethics and systems designers, Richard Mochelle. Richard shared his thoughts on a tangible way to acquire land for a Resource-Based Economy, outside of the current methods of land acquirement, which requires submission to the current economic paradigm. Richard suggested that this land could be acquired through creating an RBE trust, in which baby boomers ultimately give their land to a cause in which promises are made to care for their land and not sell it back to the banks.

Richard Mochelle and Casey Davidson

The audience had another quick break before joining us again for the final panel with Day 2 presenters, including Peter Joseph. A range of topics were once again discussed including UBI, as well as other concerns and questions regarding transition.

Day 2 Panel Z-Day 2017

I’d like to put out a big thanks to Vince and JV, who have attended every Z-Day Global since its incarnation, and have worked on the door every year, providing a significant help to coordinators, including myself.

JV and Vince Z-Day 2017 Brisbane Australia

A big thanks also to my wonderful local chapter team who managed the merchandise stand, who helped set up and pack up the venue, who managed the workshop space, and generally made everything run smoothly. Particularly to James Pauly, Karl Hansen and Lara Jordan. Thanks also to the New Globe Theatre for providing the wonderful space.

James Pauly

TZM Merchandise

Thanks also to the lovely vegan activists who spent two full-days at the event sharing their knowledge about the environmental and personal benefits of a direct active change Zeitgeist Movement advocates can make towards ethical consumer choices, including a vegan lifestyle.

Vegan Stall at Z-Day 2017

Thank you also to all of the other people behind the scene who found the power within yourself to volunteer your time and energy and provide assistance without any expectation of personal gain, but purely for the message of TZM. This includes those who lent and donated needed funding, anyone who bought a ticket, anyone who was offered a free ticket due to your circumstances, anyone who asked a question, participated in any way, who offered an idea, a question, who bought merchandise or a drink, who offered their assistance in any way shape or form, or even sat passively as an audience member. Bums on seats count, and matter particularly to organisers, presenters and performers. Thanks also to our global online audience who made a weekend of it by participating in the online streaming from afar.

Paul Doyle from Frequencies TV Life Streaming for ZDay Global Brisbane

Another big thanks to Jason Lord, Michael Kubler and Paul Doyle who made sure the video content including streaming and videos for later viewing would be available to our global audience who couldn’t make the big trip to Brisbane. This is a significantly huge job and anyone with technical skills is always encouraged to help in this regard to make sure our content reaches a larger audience and forever into the future.

Jason making sure everything is running smoothly

Michael Kubler, usually behind the camera

I’d also like to extend my gratitude to all of the other people behind the scene who found the power within yourself to volunteer your time and energy and provide assistance without any expectation of personal gain, but purely for the message of TZM.

Z-Day 2017 Group Photo

Z-Day 2017 Setting up for Group Photo

A special mention to Zac Syme for your support – as well as opening your home for the presenter social night and providing a home for so many people leading up to, and over the event. Thanks to others who opened their home to travelling guests, including Simon Cole, Caroline and Karl, Ricky, Grant, Anita and Tim, James, Lara and Jack.

Zac Syme, Queensland TZM Coordinator and Federico Pistono, Author, ex-Italian Coordinator Photos by Michael Kubler

Thanks again to Paul Doyle for offering your studio ‘Frequencies TV’ where we recorded podcasts with coordinators and the Future Thinkers Podcast hosts Mike and Euvie, as well as for the public social night on Friday night before the event. More photos of the Pre-Z-Day Party here.

2017-03-24th Pre ZDay global public event at Frequencies TV, Brisbane Photos by Michael Kubler @kublermdk

Regardless of how far the Movement may or may not have come, we still have significant momentum, and your support however much or little you can give makes a differences to our ability to spread the message. I’m eternally grateful for all of the support and truly believe with the mindset of the participant’s in this year’s Z-Day we can make the drastic change we need to see to truly create a unified, abundant world.

More photos by Michael Kubler and others here.

Peter Joseph (TZM Founder) and Casey Davidson (TZM Australia Coordinator)
Article by Casey Davidson

05Oct/16

The Zeitgeister going to Mars

Brisbane, Critical thinking, Science, Sustainability, What's New, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

We have been exploring beyond the Earth’s surface for more than half a century.  We have sent spacecraft to near and distant planetary objects.  And man has travelled to the moon.  It seems logical that the next place beyond Earth’s orbit to explore is our neighbouring planet, Mars.

And although the non-profit foundation based in the Netherlands, Mars One has faced some public scrutiny for its methods in establishing a permanent human settlement on Mars, they have succeeded in bringing some very important questions to the focus of public attention, and some very inspirational and thoughtful people to the general public. One of those people, Natalie Lawler, a 38-year-old healthy, intelligent and positively energetic woman who supports The Zeitgeist Movement, has volunteered for this courageous one-way mission. Natalie has been selected as a top-100 candidate in the mission.

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The next stage of the selection process will reduce that number to twenty-four candidates who will receive formal, full-time training for the next decade before the first planned manned mission departs. We asked Natalie to share a little about herself, her enthusiasm for space exploration, and why she supports the Zeitgeist Movement.

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When did you first hear about The Zeitgeist Movement?

I was introduced to the first two Zeitgeist films in 2010 and attended the official screening of Zeitgeist Moving Forward in Lygon St, Melbourne in 2011.  Since moving to Brisbane in 2013 I have been an active member of the Brisbane chapter.

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How did you hear about the Mars One program? 

I first read about Mars One in 2013 on a science website and thought that it may be a hoax.  After doing some research I found that Mars One has some prominent ambassadors and advisers. I then volunteered for the one way mission.

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What made you decided to volunteer?

If we imagine the 4 ½ billion years of Earth’s history compressed into a 24 hour day, humans emerge 1 minute and 17 seconds before midnight. Archaeological evidence suggest our place of origin was Sub-Saharan Africa and that we dispersed from Africa over the past 100,000 years.  We have been exploring the planet ever since.  And now we find ourselves here, in this fraction of Earth’s history, where our curiosity and nature to explore makes leaving Earth to live on another planet a very near reality.

We can chose not to stand around and say….why didn’t someone go, because we are someone!  We have the knowledge and the resources to become a multi planetary species now.  And I put myself forward to help make it happen.

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What do you think the benefits of going to Mars will be? 

Search for life; We apparently have microbes on Earth that can withstand vacuum pressure, freezing temperatures and even survive when bombarded with radiation.  Yet conditions on Earth don’t require them to sustain this.  Could life have started on Mars and spread to Earth after an asteroid impact, or is it just inevitable given the right conditions?  Are we all descendants of Martians, or could we find new life forms that don’t share our DNA? Discoveries await, including the very real possibility of finding life on Mars.

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Technological advancement; Many technologies used on Earth were first pioneered in space exploration. Technological knowledge generated for a Mars mission, would yield many innovations that could benefit the public.

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Inspiration; People remember seeing the first steps on the Moon but very few got excited about the landing of NASA’s Curiosity rover.  Humans on Mars will inspire generations of young learners to invest in the knowledge of science and the wonder of space.

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Sustainability; Mars One aims to be self-sustainable by producing oxygen and water, recycling all waste, using solar energy and growing food.  It will however take significant time to create an entire supply chain on Mars to become sustainable – but if we can prove we can live on Mars sustainability perhaps it’s possible to live sustainably on Earth too.

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Unity; A famous quote by an air Force pilot who flew aboard a space shuttle mission reads; “The first day or so we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we were aware of only one Earth.”  Perhaps it won’t be until we leave Earth to settle on another planet that humanity can come together and see ourselves as one.

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Understanding; We aren’t separate from each other as we were all formed from stars.  We are part of our universe yet we know very little about it.  What sort of value can you put on gaining a better understanding of the Universe?  Robotic missions have shown that Mars has characteristics and history similar to Earth.  When humans read the history of the rocks on Mars, and build on the knowledge, we may discover far more than we even want to about future of our home planet.

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Destiny; Mars has a solar day a little over 24 hours.  It has polar ice caps and an axial tilt giving it seasons.  It has mountains and canyons, volcanoes, and evidence of ancient rivers and lakes. We know it has water, critical for life.  Whilst it is cold it is far more liveable than Venus and there is enough sunlight to power solar panels.  Gravity on Mars is 38% that of Earth which is predicted to be sufficient for the human body to be able to adapt to.  Since the Apollo program we have been dreaming of the next giant leap and our neighbouring planet awaits.

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What are your beliefs?

I don’t normally accept or have confidence in something without scientific evidence. I believe in current scientific findings or consensus’ until new evidence is presented and tested.  Do I believe in gravity?  Yes.  Do I believe in Unicorns?  No.   But I may change my belief that Unicorns don’t exist if you can present me some proof.

The theory of God cannot be tested.  Scientists can’t prove a god doesn’t exist and religion can’t prove that it does.  I accept the power and value of logic and rational consideration of evidence in forming the belief that supernatural beings, including God, don’t exist.

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Do you follow a vegan diet and if so why?

When I eat something I ask myself three things;

1) Is it good for me?

2) Is it good for the planet?

3) Is it good for the animal?

I don’t eat meat, eggs or dairy products because I cannot answer “Yes” to all three questions.

Take a piece of bacon;

1) Is it good for me?  There is enough scientific evidence for the World Health Organization to classify processed meat (including bacon) as a human carcinogen ― in the same category as tobacco and asbestos.

2) Is it good for the planet?  A large amount of energy and water goes into raising pigs.  Then there is the production and distribution of the bacon that also adds to the carbon footprint along with environmental pollution from piggeries.

3)  Is it good for the animal?  Piggeries I have visited were inhumane.  Pregnant sows were locked up in tiny stalls to breed the bacon that people eat.  The pigs never got to see daylight.  And I believe an animal shouldn’t have to die just so I can have a snack.

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What Zeitgeist principles do you want to take to Mars?

The sort of home Mars may become will depend upon the first settlers and I would like to influence that and implement decision making models based on minimal opposition voting rather than majority rules and ensure that any economy that develops is a Resource Based Economy.

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What legacy do you hope to leave behind in doing this?

I don’t aspire to leave a legacy.  This mission is not about any individual.  It is about all humanity taking the next step in our evolution.

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26Mar/16

A memorable and empowering day for Zeitgeist Australia – Z-Day 2016

Events, Projects, Science, Sustainability, Technology, What's New

We walked into the iconic underground New Globe Theatre at 9’clock last Saturday to prepare for the much anticipated Z-Day. Excitement was high as we set up the tables, information, registration, the stage and technology before our guests started arriving at 10am. With our two new big Zeitgeist banners, big posters, paintings, cards and brochures, the place was pumping with positive vibes ready for The Zeitgeist Movement’s biggest event of the year, and Brisbane’s biggest Z-Day event ever.

People were pouring in at 10am, and before I knew it, I was introducing Z-Day with an opening presentation, “The biggest threat in the world”. My aim was to send out a message of empowerment and connection, to get everyone on the same level for the day. Videos will be available on the TZMAustralia YouTube channel in the next couple of weeks.

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After a little housekeeping, I introduced the beautiful Filippa Araki, who shared her experience as a Non-Violent Communication advocate and facilitator. It was a perfect opening presentation, which encouraged people to think empathetically and carefully about what they said and how they interpreted other people’s words. Filippa runs Compassionate Communication workshops at Currumbin Eco-village and can be contacted at filippa.araki@gmail.com.

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Quite incidentally, Filippa was followed by her sister Deborah Oberon, who presented an initiative to empower Australian indigenous communities through innovation in solar power and storage. Check out AllGrid Energy for more information.

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Next was the much awaited presentation by James Pauly, who shared his years of experience converting cars to electric. James talked about his journey to the U.S., learning from the leaders in the industry, and shared some great stories and many insightful and interesting facts about having an electric car. Find out more on his facebook page and website, Traction EV.

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Just before lunch, we were fortunate enough to have Sabrina Chakori talk about economics and how we could eventually achieve a new economic system more inclusive of social and ecological dimensions.

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This was great food for thought before our hungry audience were given some real food for thought! Veggie patties and salad burgers on whole grain/meal buns, a big pot of spinach fettuccine with artichoke hearts, capers, tomato, red beans, sage, thyme, oregano, onions and garlic, as well as a big pot of brown rice risotto with roasted sweet potato, pumpkin, shredded kale, sprouted lentils, onion and garlic. Not to mention the incredible vegan Z-Day cake for dessert. Thanks to Zac and the team for putting this together.

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The break felt surreal, as The Flumes poured out their psychedelic melodies over stylin’ rhythms laced with soulful vocals, while over 100 Zeitgeisters mingled, laughed and shared in meaningful and interesting conversations, and planned future events and projects. A film crew from the university also came along to film the event, as part of their upcoming film on Natalie Lawler, a top-100 Mars One candidate and Zeitgeist Movement friend and advocate.

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After lunch, we kicked off our afternoon program with the very charismatic and thoughtful Rion Hunter, who shared his vision, Atlas Unite. Rion included the audience in a discussion about creating a platform to inspire people to get more involved in volunteer work.

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Following Rion was the amazing Luke Reade, sharing his project, Energetic Communities – an innovative idea to empower people to implement renewable energy systems into their community, without having to be wealthy enough to afford solar panels.

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Tom Miller enlightened the audience with his presentation on the new crypto-platform, Ethereum, a decentralised system with massive potential to change the way we conduct business and and manage resources. Tom’s vision is to empower people to facilitate transactions in new ways that challenge the status quo and possibly change the world. Register for a follow-up free presentation this coming Wednesday night.

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We were very fortunate to have Mark Darwin and A.B. from the Truthology Foundation come along. Mark confessed his past as a banker who became disenfranchised after the 2008 recession and began a journey to discover the truth about the economic system. From there, Mark changed his life and organised many successful events, including the Freedom Summit, held annually in Byron Bay. He came along to Z-Day to talk about his latest project, Bhula Bhula – a sustainable community connecting people back to the earth, where members can buy-in using their superannuation and are guided along the way to do so.

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Liese Coulter was next, sharing her knowledge about the effect of climate change and how we are going to cope with it. She talked about attitudes towards this important issue, not just deniers, but people who say things like “I’ll be dead by then” and how these attitudes will impact our future. She did however, carry a strong message about enjoying life now, while it’s good – enjoying the nice weather. Thank you Liese for your patience through some technical problems too!

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While Mark and Liese were presenting, Natalie Lawler and I were invited to partake in an interview with the film crew for Greenhouse Studios. We discussed the profound impact humans would have living on Mars for people back on Earth, fears and objections, our long-term shared vision for the future and what the Zeitgeist Movement is. The crew continue to follow Natalie around in her daily life for the next couple of weeks, before beginning the editing process which could take a couple of months. Stay tuned for updates on Greenhouse Studios’ project.

Simon Cole introduced the next presentation with Doone and Carol from Bindarrabi who had travelled in to Brisbane to talk about the work they are doing to create a vibrant, environmentally-conscious community on the New South Wales/Queensland border. They also organise a yearly sustainability education festival, last year themed “The Healthy Happy Simple Living Festival”. TZM Brisbane connected with Bindarabbi as part of the Community Tours project.

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Markus Eich was our final presenter for the day, a researcher from ARC Centre of Excellence for Robotic Vision, who enlightened us on Robots: What they are, what they know and what they can do. This was a great way to finish the day, which left us with some questions about the way we run our society and what we need to be prepared for, as well as some very interesting philosophical quandaries.

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After some quick finishing remarks, we travelled over to The Burrow in West End for the Z-Day afterparty. Some awesome conversations, guitar and xylophone playing, delicious food and local drinks were had. Thanks to the lovely and amazing Zoe from The Burrow for having us.

Thanks again to everyone involved in making Z-Day Australia a wonderfully successful, fun and empowering event. Videos of presentations will be available in the next couple of weeks.

21Mar/16

Z-Day Success!

Events, Projects, Science, Sustainability, Technology, , , , , , , , ,
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MORE than 100 people made their way to Brisbane’s New Globe Theatre recently for Z-Day, the Zeitgeist Movement’s annual sustainability symposium.
It was one of many Z-Day events scheduled across the globe to celebrate and raise awareness for The Zeitgeist Movement.
The advocacy group encouraged guests to explore ideologies to create a more environmentally, socially and economically fulfilling lifestyle and future.
Zeitgeist Movement Australia national coordinator Casey said things were really starting to take off for their chapter and this was their biggest Z-Day on record.
“I feel grateful people are starting to think about these concepts and changing the way they think about the world,” she said.
“I knew that it would eventuate because it’s something that’s so important.”
Speaking on the day were non-violent communicators, energy experts, members of sustainable communities and other interesting speakers on climate change, robotics and peer to peer sharing.
The Brisbane chapter hosted the event and have been busy connecting and building the movement and coordinators from across the country flew in to attended.
Z-Day is held in or around March each year and the main event will be held in Athens, Greece on Saturday 26th March.
More information about the day will be available soon.
20Nov/15

For the open-minded critical thinkers

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Two weeks ago, I was lucky enough to have a legitimate reason to visit beautiful Byron Bay. Not that you ever really need one to visit one of the most progressive small towns in Australia… and some of the most scenic beaches, home to pods of dolphins and visiting whales.

Thanks Kyle Taylor "Hey Byron Bay, this photo was taken by me during a freedive in winter shot with the GoPro Hero 4." Follow Kyle on Instagram www.instagram.com/kylextaylor

Thanks Kyle Taylor
“Hey Byron Bay, this photo was taken by me during a freedive in winter shot with the GoPro Hero 4.” Follow Kyle on Instagram www.instagram.com/kylextaylor

Nestled in the most Eastern corner of the Australian mainland, Byron Bay seems to attract a range of forward-thinkers – artists, sustainable entrepreneurs, activists and innovators. Byron hosts two Steiner Schools, a council that is working towards 100% renewables, passionate buskers who have independently made it big-time, and stories of people who were once so terribly caught up in the current zeitgeist you would have thought it impossible for them to find their way out… but did. People like Steph and Mark Darwin, who started the Truthology Foundation, which lead to the event I actually came to attend – The Freedom Summit. As described on their website, it’s “an engaging selection of international and local speakers covering topics including civil rights, sovereignty, money & debt, the government corporation, food safety, the environment, climate, consciousness, sustainability, health and well being”.

As a disclaimer, in previous years, Mark has said to come to this event with an open mind. Now, as the adamant Zeitgeist Movement supporter I am, I’ve obviously been on the journey of discovering the truth about our social, political and economic system, so I believe once you’ve made it to this stage you need to have a somewhat ‘open mind’.10382213_932123330156808_3946799193995422186_o

However, I have found in a fondly satirical sense that Zeitgeist supporters such as myself do often seem to have more of an inclination to jump on logical fallacies and poorly researched claims very quickly, to protect ourselves and others from supporting any particular could-be charlatan. Which I must say, makes us look like a bit like a bunch of pessimistic sceptical critics at times… not the open-minded peace-loving activist we’d like to portray. And I’m not denying that this distinct characterisitic of the Movement isn’t essential, but it can sometimes intimidate other people outside the Movement who DO actually understand where the core problems of our system stem, but are exploring some of these controversial issues.

I’m talking about highly debated issues like vaccines, chemtrails, alternative medicine, GMO’s etc.

Whose blood is already boiling?

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Well, mine isn’t. I don’t want to start a discussion about these particular topics – but more about ways of thinking. I’ve decided to take Mark’s advice on this one – apply an open mind – not to shonky science, poorly researched claims or evidence, logical fallacies or bullshit slogans – but to other people who are on our side, who have gone down the rabbit hole and understand that our economic system is a fraud, and take that default position in NOT trusting the government.

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I want to create bridges between those of a similar mindset – not barriers. Noam Chomsky said it himself – “The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum….”

It seems at the beginning of this journey, it’s all about discovering the problems, but it gets old and repetitive after awhile. I’m now more interested in meeting motivated people, connecting people with complimenting skills, and to work on things that we do agree on – which is building a community of people who want to find solutions… and to make them happen. And I found that generally the people who attended and spoke at the Freedom Summit were like this – solution-focused.

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One inspirational activists I met there was Kip Andersen, the creator of the Cowspiracy documentary, who shared in an entertaining way, how detrimental the cattle industry is to the environment, and discussed the real implications of consuming beef and dairy products. After his presentation I was fortunate enough to have a quick chat with him (before going for a quick dip in the ocean) about my struggle with transitioning from vegetarian to vegan. I told him how much I love cheese – and he insightfully shared how addictive cheese actually was. His approach was empathetic and understanding, but very encouraging. It was a pleasure to be able to connect with someone who has worked so hard in uncovering the negligence in Greenpeace’s environmental campaigns.

Kip Andersen

Me with Kip Andersen, Cowspiracy Filmmaker

Other notable presenters included Damon Gameau from That Sugar Film, who talked about the negative effects of the hidden sugars in so many popular food products; Max Igan, who shared heart-wrenching stories from Palestine and his research on ISIS and Israeli military funding; Paul Madden, who brought to the forefront the outrageous mass genocide going on in West Papua all in the name of profit; Nicky Mih who gave us an update on her Free to Shine project protecting girls in Cambodia from the sex trade industry; and Gunham Badi Jakamarra who spoke of his experience uncovering the fraud of the Crowns’ claim to Sovereignty over the tribes of Australia.

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Unsurprisingly, but much to my disappointment, the Australian government wouldn’t allow one of the most anticipated speakers into the country – Ken O’Keefe, an ex-marine who renounced his U.S citizenship after becoming fed up with injustices, and now spends a great deal of his time sharing his knowledge on false flag operations, including 9/11. Check out one of his interviews here.


Fortunately, he was able to skype in for fifteen minutes from Bali, carrying a powerful message of empowerment and positivity.

IMAG1799I also met other activists in the stall area who were promoting their Earthship courses, books, health products, organic foods and much more.IMAG1766

I was only able to attend for the Friday and Saturday so I finished the eye-opening experience with the most enlightening and well-prepared presentations I’ve ever seen, by Lyn White of Animals Australia. Lyn shared her experience as a police officer, then as an investigator of animal cruelty especially in factory farming, live exports, puppy factories and greyhound racing. Her presentation was underpinned with the fact that animals feel how we feel and suffer how we suffer. That the acts of violence in the name of meat production produce mass suffering… and that we have a responsibility to make change. I was moved by her dedication to the cause and motivated to continue striving to make the planet better for other earthlings too.

IMAG1800A big thanks again to all people involved in organising and supporting this enriching and powerful event. Click here for more information on the Freedom Summit.