Dear fellow TVP followers, supporters and volunteers,
With a heavy heart I must inform you, that as a result of the recent incidents, I have come to the conclusion that I can no longer continue to be a part of TVP Activism (TVPA) or support The Venus Project (TVP).
And to make it absolutely clear, I still fully support the idea of a sustainable future, and will continue to work on bringing it closer to a reality in any way I possibly can. However, I strongly disagree with the methods TVP and TVPA use to carry out their operations.
I could say a lot about what I see is not ‘right’ with either one of the before-mentioned organizations, but will save the more detailed analysis and possible discussions until later (should some of you be interested in participating in such discussions), as of right now I don't have the time nor the energy to compile such documentation out of the numerous bits and pieces of material that I have access to + I also don't see it serving a purpose if presented to you as a stand-alone document.
Instead, I will try to briefly address some of the recent incidents, and hopefully shed some light onto them, as I believe most of you are pretty much unaware of what's been going on lately. So, here goes.
For months now there's been a growing sense of alarm in my mind regarding the viability of both TVP, and especially TVPA as a way of making tangible changes that would take us closer to a sustainable way of living. I have voiced most of my concerns related to TVPA and how it's being run to the admins, mostly to no avail. I've also discussed these concerns with other POCs and activists, and as a result of those conversations, a group of like-minded people was formed. In that group we discussed possible ways of improving things within TVPA, which lead into proposing changes - which in turn have mostly been discarded or watered-down by the admins.
Because of these activities of ours (which I still in no way see as any kind of ‘threat’ to TVP/TVPA or as something we as activists/volunteers are not allowed to take part in), the admins have chosen to see and treat us - and especially one of us, Steven Black - as some kind of troublemakers, who act in discordance with TVP/TVPA. When in fact we've been trying very hard to help and collaborate. And without a doubt Steven has been one of the most active and productive members of TVPA, when it comes to attendance, organizing activities, creating realistic proposals, possible improvements and solutions. But from my personal perspective it seems like this kind of active engagement and attempts to make things happen is not acceptable within TVPA, especially when such activities do not follow the beaten path, but instead include bold, new ideas, that address the needs of people now - instead of focusing on some distant future time that may or may not ever happen the way it has been presented by TVP. For me the best possible solution to problems has always been (and still is) prevention - not waiting until something has already gone terribly wrong. Therefore I have been actively collaborating with others in order to create a solid, research and evidence based foundation for intentional communities that are focused both on meeting people’s needs and also addressing the many problems the world is facing now.
To make a long story short, this has lead to a campaign of attempting to smear (so far only) Steven's reputation, question his intentions and integrity, without providing evidence to support the claims - which has resulted in some rather unpleasant incidents and activities, into which I will not go in any more details at this point. Suffice it to say that in my mind such activities could not be further from being intelligent, mature, or even in any way show any ability or willingness to collaborate and seriously consider different options. But they have brought into light the fact that some of the TVPA members have a long way to understanding how an efficient and truly collaborative team or a community would function.
The culmination point for me personally was Thursday, October 30th, when one of the TVPA admins, Sue Everatt (also known as VixiReturns on FB), sent a link to a document called TVP Activism 103 - which to me is mostly incomprehensible rubbish. I fail to see the purpose of the document - unless it's some sort of an 'offense is the best defence' approach, in which case it suddenly makes at least some sense. I also don't agree with how various things are presented in it. Since Steven already touches upon many of the questions, problems and contradictions in his response / letter of resignation, I won't repeat them here. Instead, I invite you to take a close and hard look at all of this yourself, ask questions and be adamant about finding adequate answers to them, and draw your own conclusions - hopefully based on the evidence before your own eyes.
I have tried very hard to be a ‘good team player’ and adjust to the prevailing environment & atmosphere within TVPA, but I do have my limits. And as a result of all of this + many other things we are going to bring forth in the near future, I have reached those limits, and can no longer continue to be a part of TVPA. I never wanted to burn any bridges (and still don’t) but I also have to take responsibility of my own health (physical, mental and emotional), and because of that I feel I need to distance myself from an environment I experience as toxic and unproductive - not to mention going against TVP’s own core teachings. If this causes some kind of emotional disturbance to some of you, and as a result of it you choose to remove, block, ban or unfriend me at the various social media & communications platforms, I'll try to understand...
Should you be interested in staying connected and/or learning more of what I might have to say regarding to what has already happened, and maybe even more importantly, what is going to take place in the future, do stay in touch... one way or another. My door is always open to you, and I welcome your possible questions, comments, feedback and criticism - as long as they are presented in a mature and a reasonable manner.
Riitta Veijalainen
Skype ID: riittavirolainen
P.S. For those of you who are interested in digging deeper into things, here’s a link to a document where the POC and TVP Activism Restructuring document (referred to in the TVP Activism 103) is being analysed: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I-S0raiz4OVXOrxhafiiB-v7tzoXKHsnZeDdvqnDSEk/edit?usp=sharing
