(Pogonomics was initially published in In Context journal, #26. This three-part series is being printed with the permission of the Road Map Foundation)

While no one was paying much attention, economics replaced religion as the touchstone of human life. Like religion, economics has priests and rituals. The purpose of these priests and rituals is to interpret the meaning of events while keeping the people in confusion. Any effort on the part of the masses to connect directly with the realities behind the rituals is considered a sacrilege.

There is supply-side economics, Keynesian economics, invisible-hand market economics -- but none of these deal with the real driving force behind economics. The following simple explanations will put you in direct contact with this essential driving force.

ECOLOGY: The mutual relations between organisms and their environment.

ECONOMICS: The mutual relations between human organisms and their environment, The Dismal Science that investigates the conditions and laws affecting the production, distribution and consumption of resources. The material means of satisfying human desires. Since humans appear to be insatiable, that last definition is obviously an oxymoron; therefore, antonym: enough.

EARTH: Our home planet, mother, source of all sustenance, resource base, host, life support system, teat.

RESOURCE: Everything in, on, or above Earth that we can consume, use up, destroy, annihilate, violate or deprive others of. We accomplish all this with the use of money (see below).

CONSUME: Use up, devour, destroy, waste, squander.

CONSUMER: One who uses up, devours, destroys, wastes, squanders.

DEMAND: To claim as just or due. In economics, the desire to consume, combined with the ability to ignore one’s conscience.

ENVIRONMENT: That which results from the consumption of resources.

EMPLOYMENT: Activity by which one exchanges one’s human resource (life-energy)) for money. A vital step in the conversion of a resource into environment. Also, contemporary man’s (and increasingly, woman’s) primary purpose for existence and primary means of identification -- e.g., "I am a ____"(lawyer, plumber... etc.).

MONEY: That which we spend one-third of our adult lifetimes acquiring, One-third disposing of, one-third recovering from the acquisition and disposal of, and the rest of the time bemoaning the lack of. Money is a lien on Earth’s resources.

DEBT: In ancient theology, a sin or trespass. in modern sociology, a euphemism for incarceration, as in "He paid his debt to society." In the social practices resulting from the contemporary theology of economics, a highly respected way to repay your children for the suffering they have caused you. A device for keeping people trapped in employment, thus creating more environment.

SAVINGS: The results of a practice, now obsolete, whereby money (or resources) was set aside to provide for when employment was not available or advisable, due to its deleterious effect on the consumer or on the Earth. Antonym: debt.

ENOUGH: A condition apparently experienced only by lower animals, plants, galaxies and primitive hominids of the Pre-lndustrial Revolution era (the latter were said to have enough after spending only a few hours per day acquiring resources).

VALUE: (n) Monetary or material worth; cost, expense; (v) to prize, esteem.

VALUES: What we profess to be truly important guiding principles in our lives.

INTEGRITY: The state of being complete, undivided; unity, concord, harmony; congruity; wholeness, completeness; alignment between values and behavior.

POGONOMICS: "We have met the enemy and he is us."

ECO-ECONOMICS: The interactions of all of the above.

In Part 2, Joe Dominguez will talk about Economics and Pogonamics. In Part 3 he will conclude with Eco-economics. _