"Criticism is easy when you do nothing else." GAIA.
As is the case with ethical consumerism, one has sift through the marketplace. If at the end there are no ethical sources to buy the product from, you have to settle on the best of the non-ethical. If, indeed, you can't live without it in the first place. As such, we are still searching for some ethical options regarding viewing videos online for free that aren't run or supported by the monopolizing big one.
It is always best to get from the source or view from the source, which we have tried to do. In this way you are, also, not polluted by the immense amount of trash and third party advertising that has dumb-downed the notion of the everyday film-maker or music-maker.
This is an on-going list and an on-going project, that may progress or may halt in light that we may have more pressing, exciting and enjoyable things to do than trawl the internet and up-date a web page (albeit GAIA's). But, we will try! We have so much, that, we would like to share that this page has the potential to be bigger tha the whole website altogether!
If you have any friendly tips and pointers towards possible ethical alternative websites.
"Never settle for second best. Always aim for third!" GAIA.
'Cold Dead Hand' by Jim Carey and Eels
We like this, because so many people have misinterpreted the American constitutional gun law. Misplacing the meanings of phrases and putting them out of context to the era that they were originaly written.
John Berger “Ways of Seeing” Penguin 1972. [Refer to page 11].
If anythig can open your mind to use your eyes to see, rather than your brain... This is the book.
Penguin Classics “The Little Red Hen” Ladybird Books Ltd 1966.
GAIA Unlimited in a nutshell!
The Kinks "Muswell Hillbillies" Pye 1971.
Because we are! We may not be in Muswell Hill any longer. We may not have seen the Black Hills of West Virginia. But, we are Muswell Hillbillies!
Carlos Castaneda “A Separate Reality” Penguin 1971. [Refer to chapter 5, page 80-81].
Paul Thompson “The Work of William Morris” Oxford University Press 1993.
Sometimes, left is best...
Ivan Illich “Deschooling Society” Calder and Boyars 1971.
School them young and keep them dumb.
Story Of Stuff
Stuff we can all do something about to make the world a better place. Not about guilt. Just about stuff.
Alice Miller “Pictures of Childhood” Virago Press 1995.
Sometimes the greatess thinkers, say the hardest things for us to bear. But, thank goodness they do.
Tom Schulman “Dead Poet’s Society” Touchstone Pictures 1989.
Some people seem to think, that, life as a campaigner and educator means we have no sensitivity. Not at GAIA, we cry all the time.
Gerard Hoffnung “Oxford Union Speech” BBC Records 1973.
Nothing so stupid has sounded so truthful.
Quentin Blake "The Green Ship" Red Fox 1998.
The most fantastic garden!
Anita Roddick "Body and Soul" Ebury Press 1991.
Forget what people have said about her 'selling-out'. She is the body and soul of the ethical movement. She can do what she likes, because whatever happens or she did she made the world a better place for the majority of people from east to west.
Sandy Irvine and Alec Ponton “The Green Manifesto” Optima 1988. [Refer to chapter 4, page 14].
Even 'Green' movements needs rules and policies. The stabilty of any building is the foundations.
James Lovelock “Gaia a New Look at Life on Earth” Oxford University Press 1979.
Eels “Bombs Away” Vagrant Records 2013.
Okay, so it doesn't look good recommended a song entitles "Bombs Away', when GAIA is founded by someone with Pakistani heritage. But, putting your prejudices aside, sometimes, just sometimes...
Victor Papanek “The Green Imperative” Thames and Hudson 1995. [Refer to chapter 11, page 223].
Utah Phillips & Ani Difranco “The Past Didn’t Go Anywhere”. Righteous Babe Records/Cooking Vinyl 1997. [Refer to tracks 7 and 9].
Bill Watterson “The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book” Warner Books 1995.
Brilliantly uncompromising in the face of possible commercial exploitation. Watterson is a true modern moral genius.
Robert Burchfield "Unlocking The English Language" Faber and Faber 1989.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Define a western world before Python.
R. L. Trask "Guide To Punctuation" Penguin Books 1997.
H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler "The Concise Oxford Dictionary" (First Editors) Oxford University Press 1911. (Original Year of Publication)
John Berger "Hold Everything Dear: Dispatches On Survival And Resistance" Verso 2008.
This is the first writings we have ever come across,that, truly expresses the view of from 'the otherside'.
Spike Milligan "The (Little) Pot Boiler" Dobson Books Limited, 1963.
Everything in the world is so absurd when you realise how normal the mind of Milligan is.
Michael Phillips & Sally Rasberry "Marketing Without Advertising" Nolo Press, 1997.
Dianna Rienstra "The Challenges Of Corporate Social Responsibility" The Philip Morris Institute.
Anita Roddick "Business As Unusual" Thorson, 2000.
E. F. Schumacher "A Guide For The Perplexed" Jonathan Cape Ltd., 1977.
Tony Schwartz "Media: The Second God" Anchor Books, 1983.
The White Stripes "Get Behind Me Satan" XL Recordings Limited, 2005.
Sometines is just great when the new sounds just like the old.
AccountAbility "AccountAbility (AA1000) Framework" Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability, 1999.
Howard Zinn "A People's History Of The United States): 1492 - Present" Harper Perennial, 2005.
History never sounded so honest.
Terry Allen "Lubbock (on everything)" Fat Records, 1979.
Love him or hate him, you've gotta love him. What does this guy not do!?
David Bowie "Hunky Dory" RCA Limited 1971.
The song 'Kooks' sounds just like Home Education. Throw your homework on the fire and take a drive down town!
Ani Difranco & Utah Phillips "Fellow Workers" Righteous Babe Records, 1999.
Anyone who looks like Santa Clause, sings like Woody Guthrie and talks like Joe Hill has got our vote for President!
Mother Jones "The Autobiography Of Mother Jones" Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 1980.
One of the last great campaigners.
Petra Kelly Any number of named articles or publications.
Even 'Green' movements need leaders...
John Lennon "Plastic Ono band" EMI Records Ltd., 1970.
ECRA "The Ethical Consumer Magazine" ongoing
The Housemartins "Me And The Farmer" Go! Discs Limited 1987.
Do we like this song, becasue we hate farmers?
George Harrison "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" Apple 1973.
'Hate' is a strong word...
Ricardo Semler "The Seven Day Weekend" Cornerstone. 2004.
There is another way. And we are not the only ones out there.
Francis Fukuyama "Our Postumnous Future" Profile Books Ltd. 2003.
The Kinks "Apeman" Pye 1970.
Arthur Koestler "The Lotus And The Robot" Hutchinson & Co Limited 1960.
Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy "Furniture Payment" Hal Roach Studios 1935.
Some people seem to think, that, life as a campaigner and educator is all about serious issues. Not at GAIA, we think life is about laughter too.
John Lennon "Nutopian International Anthem" EMI Records Limited 1971.
Right on sister!
Desmond Morris "The Naked Ape" Jonathan Cape Limited 1967.
Sri Krishna Prem "The Yoga Of The Bhagavat Gita" Element Books Limited 1988.
Everett Reimer "School Is Dead" Penguin Books Limited 1971.
There should be a song written with this title. Or, has Alice Cooper already done it?
Willy Schilthuis "Biodynamic Agriculture" Floris Books 1994.
Pete Seeger "The People Are Scratching" CBS 1966.
Someone who won't leave you standing alone during a campaign!
Michael Sharon "Complete Nutrition" Prion 1989.
Dyan Sheldon & Wendy Smith "A Witch Got On At Paddington Station" Hutchinson Children's Books 1987.
Jonathon Swift "Gulliver's Travels" Penguin Books 1982.
Sometimes we think, that, this is a great story, and sometimes we think it is an allegory about Depression.
Neil Young "Out On The Weekend" Warner Brothers 1972.
We think, one of the few who oldies who has retained credibility and sounds more pioneering and adventurous than most young new bands.
Patrick Whitefield "Permaculture In A Nutshell" Permanent Publications 1993.
The Who "Baba O'Riley" Polydor Limited 1971.
Sophie Andrews "The Allotment Handbook" Eco-logic Books 2001.
Richard Ballantine & Richard Grant "Richards' Bicycle Repair Manual" Dorling & Kindersley Limited 1994.
David Bowie "Aladdin Sane".
However Glam Rock, or Avant Garde he wants to be, he can't help but, putting in all those 50's 'Doo-Wap' backing vocals and layers of early 60's harmonies.
Billy Bragg "Take Down The Union Jack" Cooking Vinyl 2002.
Love the passion and the music. Less said about some of his mafia management who we had the unpleasant experience of having contact with many many years ago. Hope all that has changed, 'cos it still leaves a bitter taste in our mouths...
Raymond Briggs "Fungus The Bogeyman" Hamish Hamilton Limited 1979.
Julian Cope "I Come From Another Planet" The Echo Label Limited 1996.
We know it's not true, but, we love him all the same as there is nothing more extra-terrestrial about a human who confounds the normal rules.
Roy Genders "Edible Wild Plants" Van Der Marck Editions 1988.
Norman Greenbaum "Weird" RCA.
We don't go to school, we have got a little beard, we don't follow (other peoples') rules and we do have long hair... Weird! Ever thought a song was written about you and for you?
A. Guest "Gardening Without Digging" The Good Gardeners' Association 1949.
Aren't you just hoping we'll say, that, we 'Dig It!'?
George Harrison "Brainwashed" Parlophone 2002.
Forget about all of the contradictions about him and all the people around him who have tried to justify all these contradictions. He had the best of both worlds. One foot in both material and spiritual world. Hedging his bets. But, if he really believed he would have dumped the material world and truly lived in the spiritual. Put all this aside... What a great songwriter and trier!
Shirley Hughes "The Concrete Lorry" Walker Books Limited 1999.
If only life could just look like every Shirley Hughes book!
M. L. Manich Jumsai "Understanding Thai Buddhism" Chalermnit Press 1980.
Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger "Manchester Rambler" Cooking Vinyl 2000.
Alice Miller "Paths Of Life" Virago Press 1999.
Roger Phillips "Weeds" Elm Tree Books 1986.
No such thing as a weed? Maybe, someone who lets people get away with injustices.
Bertrand Russell [Any number of publications]
John Seymour "The New Complete Book Of Self-Sufficiency" Dorling & Kindersley Limited 2002.
Mary Shelley "Frankenstein" [Publisher unknown to us at time of publication] 1818.
How easilly the people in power, the news groups and our friends and family can make a monster out of us.
W. E. Shewell-Cooper "Soil Humus And Health" The Good Gardeners' Association 1986.
Nothing so simple has sounded so obvious.
Peter Singer "Writings On An Ethical Life" Fourth Estate 2001.
Joy O.I. Spoczynska "Self-Sufficiency In A Flat" Sphere Books Limited 1981.
This is the whole point of GAIA. You can do it anywhere! Being 'Green' and 'Ethical' isn't about prescribed rules and uniforms. You don't have to move to the country. You don't have to keep pigs. You don't even have to have a garden. Ethics and 'Green' living is about a living it where you are.
John Steinbeck "Of Mice And Men" Pan Books Limited 1974.
David Watkins "Urban Permaculture" Permanent Publications 1993.
Elisabeth Beresford "The Wandering Wombles" Ernest Benn Limited 1970.
If you even wonder what we look like at GAIA, then, just pick a Womble and think of us as one of them. Just like every character in A. A. Milne's 'Winnie The Pooh' Books are supposed to mirror any onebody. So, at GAIA, we think of ourselves as Wombles. 'Making good us of things other people leave behind'... And making (almost) groovy music too!
Charles Darwin [Any number of publications]
Bob Dylan "Subterranean Homesick Blues" Columbia 1967.
Bob Dylan "Idiot Wind" CBS 1974.
If you ever feel so angry at the idiot world, just put this on at the highest volume and let the world outside hear it. Then, put "Give Me The Truth" by John Lennon on after... Double 'A' side to put the world to rights.
Richard Edwards & Caroline Crossland "Ten Tall Oak Trees" Julia MaCrae 1993.
Albert Einstein [Any number of publications]
John Esmonde & Bob Larbey "The Good Life" BBC-Television 1976.
Bob Flowerdew "Complete Book Of Companion Gardening" kyle Cathie Limited 1995.
John Gray "Liberalism" Open University Press 1989.
There is the 'Left' and there is the 'Right'. People just can't get it, that, there is another space that isn't on the left or right. That doesn't even inhabit the centre ground. That has its own space, where no-one knows.
Lori Gruen And Peter Singer "Animal Liberation" Camden Press 1987.
Onion Inc. "The Onion Weekly Despatch".
If you believe what's written in hte Daily Mail, you'll believe what's written in The Onion!
The Professor "Angela - Portrait Of A Revolutionary" Sphere Books Limited 1971.
Kit Sadgrove "The Green Guide To Profitable Management" Gowe Publishing 1992.
E. F. Schumacher "Small Is Beautiful" Sphere Books Limited 1973.
Someone once said to us, that, nothing great ever came out of the 1970's. Well, here's one. Ivan Illich is another, John Seymour, James Lovelock, R. D. Laing...
Narada Thera "Buddhism In A Nutshell" U Myint Maung 1981.
Margaret Weaver "Accounting" Made Simple Books 1997.
Christopher Day "Places Of The Soul - Architecture And Environmental Design As A Healing Art" Thorson 1990.
Susan Forrester and Graeme Manuel "The Arts Funding Guide" The Directory Of Social Change 1989.
Susan Forrester and Graeme Manuel "The Environmental Funding Guide" The Directory Of Social Change 1989.
Jonathon Porritt "Seeing Green" Basil Blackwell Publisher Limited 1984.
Jonathon Porritt "Friends Of The Earth Handbook" Macdonald Optima 1987.
Ernest Wood "Yoga" Penguin Books Limited 1959.
Bill Mollison & David Holmgren "Permaculture One"
Angela Wright "Colour Psychology" Kyle Cathie Limited 1995.
R.D. Laing "The Politics Of The Family" Penguin Books 1976.
Alice Miller "The Drama Of Being A Child" Virago Press Limited 1987.
Adam Ant "Goody Two Shoes" CBS 1982.
Well, we don't drink, don't smoke, or follow fashions... We're just too cool for all that!
George Monbiot "Captive State" Pan Macmillan Limited 2000.
Naomi Klein "No Logo" HarperCollins Publishers 2009.
Victor Papanek “The Green Imperative” Thames and Hudson 1995.