CSAs Are Not New

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There is an old ideology called ‘Collective Agrarianism’ that is being presented as something new to replace Capitalism by left-wing ideologues.  (In Canada it is called Community Supported Agriculture, acronym: CSA)  As an offshoot of ‘Agriculturalism’ it harkens to a peasant-utopian-communalism as advocated in ancient Chinese philosophy.  It over-romanticizes the tilling-of-the-soil and labouring-in-the-fields while de-emphasizing modern farm-commerce modalities.

Not to be confused with communism, communalism shares many of its same attributes.  The two definitions are barely delineated from each other;  “….communalism is the common ownership of property, while communism is any political philosophy or ideology advocating holding the production of resources collectively.”  (1)

Older folks can still recall the repercussions of China’s abrupt turn to the countryside and Communism in “The Great Leap Forward”, where from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s it contributed to tens of millions of Chinese citizens starving to death. (The death toll is estimated as high as 45 million in some records).  It was documented as the largest famine in recorded history.  (2)

Following these horrors was China’s “Cultural Revolution”, a concerted effort to preserve and enforce Communism, which saw hundreds of thousands of city-dwellers forcibly sent to the countryside to labour in the fields, ostensibly to learn Agrarianism, in an effort to curb capitalist ideology and individualism.  Economic activity came to a standstill, history was erased, cultural material destroyed, and young people were employed to ravage and radically rebel against society and violate any citizen deemed bourgeois.  “Struggle sessions” were used as a form of psychological humiliation, persecution, and torture in the effort to reform minds.  (2)

In China, what was in antiquity penned as a utopian philosophy, guided by benevolence, became in modern times a regime of oppression under an iron fist.  History shows that Collective Agrarianism and Communalism may sound ideal at first, but their tendency to transgress into Communism does not bode well.

(1)  Wikidiff.com – accessed Aug 15/21
(2)  Grada, Cormac 2007, “Making Famine History”
Journal of Economic Literature, JSTOR 27646746, Wembeuer
Felix and Dikotter, Frank 2011, “Sites of Horror: Mao’s Great Famine, The Chinese Journal.
Wikipedia.com –  accessed Aug 18/21,
Pachen, Ani and Donnelley, Adelaide 2000, “Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun”,
Kodasha

Who is Steven Guilbeault?

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Steven Guilbeault is a French-Canadian, schooled in political science.  He is interested in preserving French culture and language.  In 1992 in his early 20’s he attended Rio de Janeiro’s Earth Summit, along with Laure Waridel, Sidney Ribaux, Patrick Henn, Francois Meloche, and Beth Hunter.  In 1993 on the heels of the Earth Summit, Guilbeault, along with these five individuals founded the organization “A SEED”; “Action for Solidarity, Equity, Environment, and Development”.  It was incorporated as a non-profit in 1995 and officially changed it’s name to “Equiterre” in 1998.  Guilbeault sat on the board non-consecutively for many years.

(Earth Summit was formerly called “UNCED”; United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.  They are the group that outlined Agenda 21)

In 1997 Guilbeault joined Greenpeace Canada, in charge of their climate-change division.  He was a campaign director and in 2000 was a bureau chief.  In 2001 he was arrested for mischief for climbing the CN Tower in Toronto ahead of a conference on climate change.

In 2005 he coordinated the climate campaign for Greenpeace International.  He resigned from Greenpeace in 2007.  In 2008 he returned to Equiterre, where he stayed until 2018, before running for office in 2019.

Equiterre has been employed by the Quebec and Canadian federal governments as a certified body to conduct “energy audits”.   (ironically, the Trudeau administration is currently looking at doing energy audits for private residences)

Equiterre also managed a community-supported agriculture system (CSA – also called communal Crop Sharing) of farms and consumers, including households and institutions.  It is noted that CSA’s principles have many similarities to Communist ideology.

The research shows that, amongst other concerns, CSAs are not fair to farmers.  They are based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, encouraging new forms of property ownership where land is held in-common by a community, which leases the land to farmers (very much like a tenement farm system).  Steiner encouraged the idea that a network of human relationships should replace the traditional system of employers and employees.  That the economy should not be based on profit.    Actual profits are then to be called “rents” and trade is to be in “shares” – similar to a barter system.  “Shares” of a CSA originally and predominantly consist of produce and farm products.  The consumer pre-pays to the farmer and receives food in return annually.  “Shares” may also be traded by “free labour” to the farm.  Where have we heard all this before?

Since Guilbeault only left Equiterre in 2018, it is reasonable to assume he endorses this type of Marxist economy.   From Earth Summit and Agenda 21, to Equiterre, Greenpeace, and communal CSAs, Canada’s Heritage Minister has an interesting history.

The Transition Network

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What is The “Transition Network” ?

The Transition Network is a global organization appearing to disguise itself as an environmental movement “transitioning” from “Peak Oil” to alternative energy. It was founded by Rob Hopkins, a U.K. activist, in Totness England in 2007. It presents itself as compassionate, enlightened, and progressive, but once you research the organization and discover its underlying principles, you soon learn that it is not.

It is in 50 countries, including Canada, and plans to turn communities in those nations into “Transition Towns.” Victoria, Duncan, and Nanaimo have all been certified “Transition Towns.” Becoming a Transition Town means that the Transition Network provides collectivist practices and politics according to a well-established plan. They do not present themselves as Marxist, but their principles are far left and often directly Marxist.

Communalism and collectivism, as well as re-education, are fundamental practices of the Network. These are, of course, Marxist strategies.  Some local activist special interest groups deeply imbedded in Cowichan Valley politics, are connected to the Transition Network. Declaring “Climate Emergencies” and receiving grants and funding for their leftist education programs is fundamental to their work.

The Transition Network is anything but benign. Although they present cleverly, they have a well documented and formulated plan to alter our society beyond recognition along “green” “collectivist” and Neo Marxist lines. Like so many other similar organizations, the Transition Network’s collectivist mandate is a threat to free enterprise.