This
Saturday I am meeting with a small group of people and if you ask me
what brings us together I fear that any attempt I make will fall way
short of encapsulating what this is all about. But I'll give it a
shot. We, the members of this group, have looked at the world as it
stands today and where it is heading, we have awakened to the
devastating crisis that looms and we have decided to do something
about it. We believe that humans can and should do something rather
than letting nature take its inevitable course.
People
often ask "so what you been up to lately?", and I admit to
feeling a bit lame, even embarrassed, to simply say "I've joined
a group and we are going to save the world!" On the other hand
when I talk openly with people about what I do think about the world
I mostly find that others generally agree that something is not quite
right and that it can't keep going on like this forever. Not many
people can, after some reflection, deny that we are consuming
ourselves out of existence and that while the party is going on some
are having a much better time than others.
Sadly
what I encounter, in most people though, is a resignation that there
is nothing that can be done about it. Some admittedly are preparing
the lifeboats. Most though open there eyes for an occasional glimpse
of the undeniable reality but quite happily go back to sleep so that
they can get on with life. So the dream state in which so many of our
people, institutions and systems operate persists. Perhaps the
saddest part of all is that a significant number of people don't want
to fully confront the situation that we find ourselves in because
they genuinely believe that human nature is such that greed,
competition, gluttony, selfishness, tribalism, war and violence will
always dominate or at least sabotage any attempts to create a world
of sharing, cooperation, moderation, selflessness, equality, peace
and love.
Essentially,
and being a bit more forgiving of ourselves, mostly people are so
trapped by the current modus operandi that they simply do not have
the time to contemplate the necessity, the beauty and the possibility
of a world that is sustainable and equitable. A world that would
allow all of us to be wholly human.
Over
the last few months, having the luxury of more time than usual for
contemplation, as I have been waking up to the dire situation that
humanity finds itself in and investigating the current level of human
response and activity, I have come to realise a few very sobering
facts. Firstly, that a full understanding of the crisis, it's causes
and essential required changes have been well known and openly
documented for many decades. Similarly, so have efforts to stop the
rot and save the world. Furthermore, some very eloquent and well
respected individuals and some well supported and financial groups
have been shouting loudly from the rooftops. For one example, read
David Suzuki's Declaration of Interdependence and then consider for
how long and how far this man has been spreading this ineluctable
message. Also, consider the Earth Charter, launched in 2000 after a
decade of world wide cross-cultural participation and it's widely
endorsed call to to action. Finally, have a look at Paul Hawken on
Youtube presenting to an ecstatic crowd the launch of the Blessed
Unrest at the Bioneers Conference in 2006. If there are hundreds of
thousands of groups around the world working for the environment and
social justice and six years later the environment continues to be
destroyed and human suffering continues unabated can you please tell
me what is worth celebrating. None of these people or groups have by
any measure ignited a global people movement that is effecting any
serious outrage or systemic change. The world is in a much worse
state now than when it started navel gazing at it's finite nature and
limits to growth some decades ago. If you want to argue with me on
that point go to www.worldometers.info/ and do a few minutes of clock
watching!
So
the point I am trying to make is this - if any group of people is
working on saving the world, then what must be considered upfront, is
that this is a mission to get over 7 billion humans to wake up to the
errors of our current ways of thinking and acting and to make what
essentially is a 180 degree about turn. Others smarter, richer and
more influential have failed in the recent past, so we also must
accept that there is no point simply repackaging the same message and
modes of action and expecting that it will work this time. To create
the change, that we and others envisage, will require a brand new
irrefutable world view, an irresistible destination and frictionless
path of action that is bigger and better than ever before. Otherwise
we are just pissing in the wind!
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