It is impossible to live pleasantly without living prudently and honourably and justly, and it is impossible to live prudently and honourably and justly without living pleasantly
Epicurus (341-270 BCE)
If only it was so easy! Perhaps it is?Ecoclub is a green portal established in 1999. We aim for an ecological, democratic and socially just tourism and world! Inspired by Epicurus and the Global Greens Charter, and committed to attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, we try to bridge green tourism with the global green movement. We believe in a gradual, peaceful transition to a better and happier world, a world with more freedom and justice, with fewer borders, class divisions, violence, exploitation and oppression, that respects human rights and animal rights. Examples and good practices of this better & happier world already exist and new ones pop-up every day, so we try to promote and propagate them.
The Four Ecoclub Criteria are:
Ecological Wisdom, Social Justice, Grassroots/Direct/Real/Economic Democracy and Nonviolence.
Green Living, Work & Travel and a Greener World: The ongoing global environmental, socio-economic crisis and humanitarian-refugee crisis combined with the current Coronavirus pandemic, is of no recent historical precedent in terms of endangering our presence, let alone our well-being, on this planet. While technological and medical progress has allowed the human population to grow, despite hundreds of treaties and fanfare, progress is agonisingly slow in terms of reducing poverty and inequality and increasing environmental conservation, social justice and human rights. The problem, equitable distribution of decision-making and resources, goes all the way back to the dawn of the Anthropocene, to the first agricultural societies where accumulation, surplus, debt, money, markets and human-made pollution first emerged and have since been inextricably linked to the basis of human civilization, so there are no quick fixes that would not involve mass starvation and mass violence. It is also not realistic for 7.5 billion people to retreat back to the countryside, the forests and to a nomadic-mode of survival, nor should they, as cities can be the most eco-friendly environments, saving space and resources. But we believe that it is credible to argue, and practical to aim, that the prevailing globalised, socioeconomic system can be peacefully, gradually and radically transformed if a handful of key changes are introduced, in particular changes in how money, energy and food are produced, distributed and stored, and in the light of the Coronavirus crisis, how work is defined, organised, conducted and remunerated. At the same time we need to achieve quality, free education and health for all. For these changes to occur we need on the one hand progressive governments and on the other to help each other and do things differently, each and every day, at the grassroots. Not everything that counts can be quantified and accurately measured, and vice versa, but, we believe that professionals and small businesses in particular, should do their part by fully meeting quality green standards.
Ecology, Democracy, Social Justice and International Cooperation can help us move forward in the 21st century. We need synthesis and practical solutions rather than endlessly stating the problems, ignoring the problems or proposing impractical or violent paths. A steady, peaceful path towards change can only be ecological, voluntary and gradual and be based on scientific facts and technological progress. For Humanity to survive, let alone to progress further, we need, on the one hand, to constantly identify and oppose ecocidal aspects and actors of the global system, and on the other hand, to recognise and encourage ecological trends, currents and movements. We believe these include Green Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure that can create quality, meaningful & pleasant jobs where no other options exist and, as importantly, in opening hearts and minds, in greater mobility between nations and within societies, in re-distributing wealth peacefully, effectively and more equitably between and within countries without further harming the planet. We do not advocate less travel and more expensive travel for the privileged few. On the contrary, we consider Mobility, Leisure, Travel and Tourism as human rights and thus advocate better, greener, democratic travel for all!
We have no time to waste, yet this will probably be an Ultramarathon. The transition to a fully-civilised, peaceful, global socio-economic system and the full humanization of humanity (if it is ever to arrive - it could be that some cosmic accident or human-induced blunder puts an abrupt end) could take another 10,000 years (since the first agrarian societies emerged) or even another 4 million years (since Australopithecus afarensis walked upright!). However, we should remember (Lao-Tzu) that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" and (Cavafis) that "when you set out for Ithaca ask that your way be long...". The simple truth is that, apart from inertia, nothing really prevents us from helping each other today and every day, from "living prudently and honourably and justly" and thus "living pleasantly", today and every day. Ecoclub, as a latter-day, virtual Garden of Epicurus, aims to unite progressive and open-minded citizens of the world who share the above ideas and are active or would like to become active in Ecotourism/Sustainable Tourism or other Green Economy sectors. Ecoclub is also a genuine example of the sharing economy. We share resources, information, knowledge, ideas, opportunities and we also share the costs of maintaining Ecoclub through very reasonable fees for green tourism businesses that want to be promoted.
Our Logo: The colour (teal) is one of a few colours named after an animal (a duck, the common teal, whose eyes are surrounded by this colour). The smiling sun symbolizes a pragmatic, positive, non-violent, non-sectarian, non-dogmatic, philosophical attitude to life which combines the Epicurean "LATHE VIOSAS" ("ΛΑΘΕ ΒΙΩΣΑΣ" = get through life without drawing unwarranted attention) and "ATARAXIA" (ΑΤΑΡΑΞΙΑ = tranquillity) with the will to assist others, solve real problems, "to get up again and start over", rise up every day, in a peaceful, daily revolution in all our individual and collective dealings; it also symbolizes solar power - renewable energy in literal and figurative terms and light - the light of science, enlightenment.
Join us today!
Ancient Greek Writing Tablet, Red figure Kylix by Eucharides, 480 BCE (U. of Pennsylvania Museum)Recommended Reading:
- Nicomachean Ethics - Aristotle (350 BCE)
- Principal Doctrines - Epicurus (341-270 BCE)
- Life of Diogenes - Diogenes Laertius (c. 3rd century CE)
- Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch - Imannuel Kant (1795)
- What is Property? - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1840)
- The Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels (1848)
- Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution - Peter Kropotkin (1902)
- Ithaca - C.P. Cavafy (1911)
- What is Mutualism? - Clarence Lee Swartz (1927)
- Charlie Chaplin's Final Speech in "The Great Dictator" (1940)
- Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, Joseph Schumpeter (1942)
- The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943)
- The Open Society and its Enemies - Karl Popper (1945)
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights - UN (1948)
- Why Socialism? - Albert Einstein (1949)
- Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell (1949)
- The Rebel - Albert Camus (1951)
- The Revolution of Everyday Life - Raoul Vaneigem (1967)
- Imagine - John Lennon (1971) - Lyrics - Video - Original Demo
- Ecology and the Critique of Modern Society - Herbert Marcuse (1979)
- The Rising Tide of Insignificancy - Cornelius Castoriadis (1979-1996)
- New Libertarian Manifesto - Samuel Edward Konkin (1980)
- The Magnificent Seven - The Clash (1981) - Lyrics - Video
- Critique of Economic Reason - Andre Gorz (1983)
- What is Social Ecology? - Murray Bookchin (1986)
- Social Ecology versus Deep Ecology - Murray Bookchin (1987)
- The Democratic Worker-Owned Firm - David Ellerman (1990)
- Violence and Human Nature - Howard Zinn (1990)
- Direct Action Manual - Uncompromising Nonviolent Resistance in Defense of Mother Earth - Earth First! (1997)
- Green Liberalism: The Free and the Green Society - Marcel Wissenburg (1998)
- Global Greens Charter (2001)
- An Ecosocialist Manifesto - Joel Kovel & Michael Löwy (2001)
- Change the World Without Taking Power - John Holloway (2002)
- Bali Principles of Climate Justice - International Climate Justice Network (2002)
- Ecoclub Interview with Megan Epler Wood - Antonis Petropoulos (2003)
- Creating a Life Together, Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities - Diana Leafe Christian (2003)
- Economic Democracy: A Grand Strategy for World Peace and Prosperity - J.W.Smith (2006)
- Ecoclub Interview with Arq. Hector Ceballos Lascurain, the 'Architect of Ecotourism' - Antonis Petropoulos (2006)
- Ecoclub Interview with Prof. Trevor Sofield - Antonis Petropoulos (2006)
- Ecoclub Interview with Prof. Harold Goodwin - Antonis Petropoulos (2007)
- Studies in Mutualist Political Economy - Kevin Carson (2007)
- Ecoclub Interview with Martha Honey - Antonis Petropoulos (2008)
- For All The People: Uncovering the Hidden History of Cooperation, Cooperative Movements, and Communalism in America - John Curl (2009)
- Ecoclub Interview with Brian Tokar - Antonis Petropoulos (2009)
- Ecoclub Interview with Kevin Carson - Antonis Petropoulos (2010)
- Crises of Capitalism - RSA Animate / David Harvey (2010)
- Human Happiness & the Environment - Speech by José Mujica at the RIO +20 Summit (2012)
- The Cambridge Declaration on [Animal] Consciousness - Philip Low (2012)
- How Democracy Works in Nature - Jason G Goldman / BBC Future (2012)
- Hope for Humanity - Speech by José Mujica at UNASUR (2014) Text - Video
- Interview: José Mujica, The Philosopher President of Uruguay - Martin McQuillan (2015)
- Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - UN (2015)
- An Ecomodernist Manifesto - Various Authors (2015)
- What kind of creatures are we? - Noam Chomsky (2015)
- How Animals Vote to Make Group Decisions - Jan Hoole (2017)
- Prosperity without Growth: Foundations for the Economy of Tomorrow - Tim Jackson (2017)
- Xenos: Jacques Derrida on Hospitality - Peter Benson (2017)
- The future: either green or dystopic - Antonis Petropoulos (2018)
- Post-work: the radical idea of a world without jobs - Andy Beckett (2018)