Madeira Consorcio

66 Meeting Madeira Consorcio 13.11.2014

66 Meeting Madeira Consorcio 13.11.2014

We had another inspiring meeting, and although we touch on some difficult thruths, I think we all came away with some good insights.

In regards to the Association for the promotion of Madeiran Culture and Nature, U. told the group about S.P., He is a retired owner of a shipping business . He created a socio-cultural foundation for Madeira in a renovated building  with an art gallery, housing his own permanent collection and offering the space to artists (this would be good for Ri`s photos and S`s paintings) The Uniao Budista da Madeira had a meditation workshop in there recently. Mr. P.give the space for free. He seems eager to fill the house with other social and cultural events. U. will set up a meeting with him, to introduce Ri, who could have an exposition of this wonderful photos – he showed us some –and maybe get his support for his planed book and movie. Mr. P. might also be interested to support such initiatives with funds.

The idea of the Association in itself is to promote such events which preserve the history and nature of the island. However, the group is not keen to undergo the process of creating an association – too bureaucratic – and keep it simple as an informal group.

U. said that the “Clube de Praticantes”, also a legal entity in Portuguese law, has a much easier set up but is only allowed for sports organizations. It would be filling a gap for small groups to establish an identity by opening this array to other non-sportive groups, something to be suggested to the Simplex initiative.

We talked about Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com) to obtain funds for the film Ri. has in mind. Kickstarter is a platform to get funds from individuals for individual projects which don`t have to be repaid. Usually the applicants pledge to give their donors a small token of appreciation, e.g. a Pottery company may send them a coffee cup after the projects is up and running. It is important for this to have a good exposé on the website to explain the project with a few words and good photos and to get the donor community excited.

We spoke about the upcoming tax on plastic bags in the supermarkets. This may be to educate people to avoid using the bags, it may be to get money for green projects (probably not true). In U`s view, this might be an opportunity to boycott the state: by not buying the bags, this way the state would not obtain any extra income from it.

U. is looking for the point on which the Portuguese will really start a revolution; she sees much discontent and anger.

The (mostly illegally built) houses on several islands in front of Faro may turn into such a powder keg soon; there the poor people are supposed to have their illegal housing destroyed, and the well-off are going to keep theirs.

An.is of the opinion that the majority of people are content and that such a revolution will not come along, and that the population should not be compelled to think into this direction. The motivation isn’t there.

D. said that people who are annoyed with the situation in Portugal and the lack of social mobility, and can leave, leave the country. Only the poor and more or less ignorant stay behind, and they are easily manageable.

S. said that we live in a feudal society, like hundreds of years ago. E. knows of an important person in Valor Ambiente who successfully sabotages an OmegaEco (http://www.omegaeco.com/) Project for Funchal because he is afraid to lose his comfortable spot and salary.

We spoke of the EcoVillage idea. U. said that these villages have to have rules, An. is against it, he says such communities can work on a organic self-organized level. One example is Scoraig (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoraig and www.scoraig.com). An.visited the place and lived there for some weeks.

Such places are self-organized, technically they are anarchy but not a chaos (Wikipedia: “Anarchy refers to a society without a publicly enforced government”)

This is an interconnected and informal society where all members pitch in together, for instance to fund a boat ferry to the mainland, to pay the postman, the school teacher etc. All members are responsible for the whole community. A person’s good name is important, if a person doesn’t return a borrowed tool, the others will stop borrowing to him/her

Note from U: Daniel Quinn is the author of several philosophical books (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_%28novel%29). He describes the life of the “Leavers” who do not interfere and abuse nature, such as in Scoraig (and in my view, also the Amish), and the lifestyle of the “Takers” who dominate our so-called “civilization”. She strongly recommends to click on the Wikipedia and read the excerpt: She thinks this summons up what Scoraig and the Amish communities are about.

E. has Daniel Quinn`s book “My Ishmael” at the moment; it may be freely borrowed by others in the group!

E. introduced M.the Potter, and showed his replicas of the “Römertopf” which can be used to bake bread. M.needs a 15 m2 space to work (the kiln is somewhere else); An. will see if he can give him a space in the Quinta.