1 The Ethical Need for Revolutionary Change Bill Ayers and Dada Maheshvarananda Recapturing Ethics Track Economic Democracy Conference Madison, WI - October 11-14, 2012

2 Recapturing Ethics Track These workshops will explore the values and "right living" needed for economic democracy: community solidarity, compassion, kindness, sharing, an ecological and spiritual perspective, and the urgent need for a revolutionary transformation of society. Our goal is a healthy and vibrant economic system that balances the needs of the individual, the community, and the planet itself, with a new ethics foundational to our collective future.

3 “At the risk of sounding ridiculous, I would say that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.”

4 Lack of Ethics American Psychiatric Association reports the most common factor among criminals is the tendency to lie. Lying is also done by some politicians, lawyers, corporation directors, accountants, advertisers, generals… Throughout history, ruling classes have created moral rules and laws to maintain power.

5 Conservative Frank Luntz Say ‘energy exploration’ for oil drilling, ‘government takeover’ for healthcare reform, ‘death tax’ for estate tax, ‘waste’ for government spending, ‘job creator’ for capitalist, ‘pay for performance’ for CEO bonuses, ‘economic freedom’ for global capitalism. Equating greed and the amassing of unlimited wealth as equal to human rights. In law, we grant individual rights only to the extent that they do not harm others.

6 Ethics for Liberation Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar ( ) spiritual master and social revolutionary. Asserted need to balance individual and collective interests. Re-interpreted 10 ancient yoga moral principles (Yama and Niyama) Rejected rules-based morality, absolutes as inadequate to solve ethical questions.

7 Cardinal Human Values honesty, courage, mercy, humility, self-restraint, compassion. protect the weak, avoid harming others, overcome selfishness.

8 1. Ahim’sá: Not to intentionally harm others with one’s actions, words or thoughts. Striving to avoid anger and hurtful thoughts. Yet living involves struggle and the use of force. Includes the use of force for self-defense or to defend others. One's intention is critically important. People have the right to resist invasion and structural violence.

9 5. Aparigraha: Not to accumulate wealth or indulge in comforts which are unnecessary for the preservation of life. Everyone wants love and happiness – material objects cannot give that. The physical resources of the planet are limited. If we share, there is enough for all. It is immoral to be filthy rich.

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11 Responses to Exploitation 1. Silence, due to fear or personal benefit. 2. Reform, gradual change 3. Revolution, to courageously end exploitation and save lives as fast as possible.

12 Ideal Leadership The world needs leaders with moral force, spiritual vision and courage to fight injustice and exploitation. Anyone can become an ideal leader by setting a personal example of honesty, self- discipline, sacrificing spirit and dedication to the welfare of humanity. “We must figure out how to become the people we have been waiting for.” - Bill Ayers Rigoberta Menchú

13 How to end exploitation? Frei Betto, Catholic friar, imprisoned 4 years during Brazilian dictatorship: “It is curious that the ones who decide the methods of struggle we use are not us, but rather the elite that governs Brazil. We can and should struggle legally and legitimately, and we should exhaust all those forms of struggle. But what determines if, at a certain moment, these forms of struggle are no longer possible? It is the government and the elite who control this country.”

14 What to do?  We want to end hunger, poverty and war as fast as possible.  We don't want to be stupid, we want to be effective.  Should we focus on ending the US Empire, on building an alternative economic democracy, or both?  What is a revolutionary lifestyle – physical, mental, social and spiritual – that will sustain a lifetime's struggle?

15 For more information New book, 390 pages, $19.95 Available from or amazon.

16 Bill Ayers “A constant theme of this book, a refrain that plays on almost every page, is the inescapable responsibility each one of us has to live our lives purposefully, to choose who we want to be and who we want to become in a shifting and complex world, to name ourselves and construct our identities in the noise and chaos of the whirlwind... Live your life in a way that won't make a mockery of your values.”