Your Life or The Planet's? Battling Human Nature from Inside-Out
There are lots of problems, but no solutions, in the new DVD release "CNN's Planet in Peril". The program examines various problems facing our civilization, including mass extinction, species loss, habitat destruction, deforestation, water pollution, climate change, chemical pollutants, overpopulation, etc.
One of the most gripping stories was of a nun who traveled from Ohio to the rain forest of Brazil to help a village learn to live sustainably within the forest. The nun began receiving death threats, because she was helping the village to protect their land from illegal logging. One day, on her walk home from the village, two young man confronted her and shot her to death. After being caught, they confessed to the act, and admitted that their motive was money, some $25,000 provided by the owner of the local logging company.
The Tragedy of Money
This is where the program loses a golden opportunity to educate the public to the actual issue that is facing our civilization, the failure of our global economic system: the tragedy of money.
The two young men were clearly saddened about the choice they made, but why did they do it. Perhaps they needed the $25,000 to live, or to help their family live. In this way, their motive is general regarded as "good". After all, what would you do if your child would die without an expensive medical treatment? Would you kill to save your son or daughter? Would you kill in "self-defense" in order to protect yourself, your family, or your property?
If so, then the only difference between you and these two young men is that they were actually in the situation, and they were presented with the solution.
One solution could be to help everyone on the planet to follow the commandment "Thou Shall Not Kill", no matter what fate may befall oneself or one's family. This seems utterly unrealistic in the short term, so let's look more deeply at this case.
The young men would not have had a motive to kill, had it not been for the ample funding from the lumber company owner. Was his behavior unethical? Perhaps he too was motivated by the need to sell more lumber, least he lose his company, be put out of business, and be unable to care for his family. Or, perhaps, he just became accustomed to a certain lifestyle. Whatever the reason, his values were also flawed, because he was willing to pay to have someone killed.
Let's take one more step. More likely than not, this lumber fellow actually had a legitimate business that did primarily "legal" logging. His illegal clear cutting was probably a secret from not only many of his employees, but also from his customers.
His customers are the ones that gave him the $25,000 in the first place. Are they innocent in all of this? What if they had bought the lumber elsewhere? Would they have been able to find a lumberman with whom they could be assured that no illegal cutting was done? Would he be unable to find a buyer?
In reality, he would sell the lumber, and the person to blame is the buyer of the lumber. These individuals are clearly to blame because they know (or should know) that illegal logging is being carried out, and to buy lumber puts money in the hands of an industry that is, as a whole, doing illegal deeds.
But where did these customers get the money to do this unethical purchasing? Were they employees of some company? Did they own their own business? Why would anyone employ someone like this, or indeed, buy anything from such a business owner?
This series of questions can continue indefinitely. By following the dollars, we see that several things are coming into play. The money currently in your control will end up causing illegal, unethical, unsustainable, damaging, and other "bad" behavior. This may be five transactions from you, or ten, or fifteen, but eventually, your money will motivate this behavior. Looking back in time, at where your money came from, perhaps it was to pay you to do something unsustainable or unethical or illegal or questionable... or perhaps the money came into your hands from an employer that takes money from those that do unethical deeds. The more degrees of seperation between you and the unethical behavior, the less likely you are to know about it, and yet we know it is there, not only in the past, but also in the future. We are simply the hands that hold the money for a short time, and then pass it on to motivate future behavior.
As long as there is a person willing to do bad things, and another person willing to pay that person to do those things, and they are able to find one another, then the bad thing will happen.
But what are the solutions? "Planet in Peril" offers none, and yet there are choices.
The Universal Value
The problem is not only the global economic system, but also the very value system of our civilization. The problem with the value system is that it does not exist. Without a universal value system, anything goes, and money makes sure that it happens. So, what do we get? A Planet in Peril. That is the result of our failure to identify the root cause of the problem, and to take action to fix it.
What is the universal value system that we would need to follow?
The most important goal of humanity is to ensure the survival of life on earth. Next to that, is the survival of as much biodiversity (number of species) as possible. Then, the actually amount of pristine and natural area of the planet. Of the land (and sea) that was once pristine and full of life, only a fragment remains. The major part has been destroyed, and converted into homogeneous simulacrum's of living systems. Beyond this, the goal is to increase the number of acres of pristine natural area, by slowly and methodically removing restoring the land to nature. This includes not only stopping our unsustainable emissions of carbon dioxide, but also ending all pollution, and working to eliminate the pollution that we have already caused. Finally, our goal is to preserve humanity itself, and a coherent global civilization, that can ensure that sustainability and restoration continue to be the top priorities of humanity.
This top universal value most outrank all other values, including the value we hold most dear, freedom itself. We no longer can be free to do what we will, to destroy nature, to alter the atmosphere, to kill the soil, to pollute the water. Absolute freedom has brought us to the place we now are, and only we can admit that accept that there are things that are more important than freedom.
The most difficult to swallow aspect of this universal value system is that the life of oneself, or a loved one, can not be chosen over sustainability. This is an extremely difficult adjustment to make. Imagine that your child would die, but would live if you clearcut the single acre of pristine land. How does one reconcile the instinctive urge to protect one's family against the essential goal of protecting life itself? There is only one way. It must become part of the culture of our civilization that we love nature, the pristine, the planet... we must love it and value it more than humanity, more than ourselves, and more than our children. It is a concept that is directly in opposition to our very instinctive nature, contrary to our deepest feelings, and repulsive to our very essence. And yet here we are, the first species that must overcome its own nature in order to preserve the greater community of life.
Related Articles
Peak Oil and the Vision in the Mirror
You Thou Shall Not Kill Murder - Lo Tirtzach - Lo Tirtzack
You are at War with Me
Environmentalism: The Fable of the Apple, and the Fable of the Tree
Freedom of Speech - Do you have it?
Life, Human Nature, and the Value System
Earthlings and the Tragedy of Money
On Truth and Of Those Who Speak It
Philosophy of Life and the Message within Reach of All
The Ten Commandments - A Twenty-First Century Draft
Vision and Mission
Michigan Local Future Network (The Big Picture)
The Future Value System
Fast Track From Hell
Death, The Void, and the Bit of Life that Preceeds It
The Search for a Sustainable Value System
One of the most gripping stories was of a nun who traveled from Ohio to the rain forest of Brazil to help a village learn to live sustainably within the forest. The nun began receiving death threats, because she was helping the village to protect their land from illegal logging. One day, on her walk home from the village, two young man confronted her and shot her to death. After being caught, they confessed to the act, and admitted that their motive was money, some $25,000 provided by the owner of the local logging company.
The Tragedy of Money
This is where the program loses a golden opportunity to educate the public to the actual issue that is facing our civilization, the failure of our global economic system: the tragedy of money.
The two young men were clearly saddened about the choice they made, but why did they do it. Perhaps they needed the $25,000 to live, or to help their family live. In this way, their motive is general regarded as "good". After all, what would you do if your child would die without an expensive medical treatment? Would you kill to save your son or daughter? Would you kill in "self-defense" in order to protect yourself, your family, or your property?
If so, then the only difference between you and these two young men is that they were actually in the situation, and they were presented with the solution.
One solution could be to help everyone on the planet to follow the commandment "Thou Shall Not Kill", no matter what fate may befall oneself or one's family. This seems utterly unrealistic in the short term, so let's look more deeply at this case.
The young men would not have had a motive to kill, had it not been for the ample funding from the lumber company owner. Was his behavior unethical? Perhaps he too was motivated by the need to sell more lumber, least he lose his company, be put out of business, and be unable to care for his family. Or, perhaps, he just became accustomed to a certain lifestyle. Whatever the reason, his values were also flawed, because he was willing to pay to have someone killed.
Let's take one more step. More likely than not, this lumber fellow actually had a legitimate business that did primarily "legal" logging. His illegal clear cutting was probably a secret from not only many of his employees, but also from his customers.
His customers are the ones that gave him the $25,000 in the first place. Are they innocent in all of this? What if they had bought the lumber elsewhere? Would they have been able to find a lumberman with whom they could be assured that no illegal cutting was done? Would he be unable to find a buyer?
In reality, he would sell the lumber, and the person to blame is the buyer of the lumber. These individuals are clearly to blame because they know (or should know) that illegal logging is being carried out, and to buy lumber puts money in the hands of an industry that is, as a whole, doing illegal deeds.
But where did these customers get the money to do this unethical purchasing? Were they employees of some company? Did they own their own business? Why would anyone employ someone like this, or indeed, buy anything from such a business owner?
This series of questions can continue indefinitely. By following the dollars, we see that several things are coming into play. The money currently in your control will end up causing illegal, unethical, unsustainable, damaging, and other "bad" behavior. This may be five transactions from you, or ten, or fifteen, but eventually, your money will motivate this behavior. Looking back in time, at where your money came from, perhaps it was to pay you to do something unsustainable or unethical or illegal or questionable... or perhaps the money came into your hands from an employer that takes money from those that do unethical deeds. The more degrees of seperation between you and the unethical behavior, the less likely you are to know about it, and yet we know it is there, not only in the past, but also in the future. We are simply the hands that hold the money for a short time, and then pass it on to motivate future behavior.
As long as there is a person willing to do bad things, and another person willing to pay that person to do those things, and they are able to find one another, then the bad thing will happen.
But what are the solutions? "Planet in Peril" offers none, and yet there are choices.
The Universal Value
The problem is not only the global economic system, but also the very value system of our civilization. The problem with the value system is that it does not exist. Without a universal value system, anything goes, and money makes sure that it happens. So, what do we get? A Planet in Peril. That is the result of our failure to identify the root cause of the problem, and to take action to fix it.
What is the universal value system that we would need to follow?
The most important goal of humanity is to ensure the survival of life on earth. Next to that, is the survival of as much biodiversity (number of species) as possible. Then, the actually amount of pristine and natural area of the planet. Of the land (and sea) that was once pristine and full of life, only a fragment remains. The major part has been destroyed, and converted into homogeneous simulacrum's of living systems. Beyond this, the goal is to increase the number of acres of pristine natural area, by slowly and methodically removing restoring the land to nature. This includes not only stopping our unsustainable emissions of carbon dioxide, but also ending all pollution, and working to eliminate the pollution that we have already caused. Finally, our goal is to preserve humanity itself, and a coherent global civilization, that can ensure that sustainability and restoration continue to be the top priorities of humanity.
This top universal value most outrank all other values, including the value we hold most dear, freedom itself. We no longer can be free to do what we will, to destroy nature, to alter the atmosphere, to kill the soil, to pollute the water. Absolute freedom has brought us to the place we now are, and only we can admit that accept that there are things that are more important than freedom.
The most difficult to swallow aspect of this universal value system is that the life of oneself, or a loved one, can not be chosen over sustainability. This is an extremely difficult adjustment to make. Imagine that your child would die, but would live if you clearcut the single acre of pristine land. How does one reconcile the instinctive urge to protect one's family against the essential goal of protecting life itself? There is only one way. It must become part of the culture of our civilization that we love nature, the pristine, the planet... we must love it and value it more than humanity, more than ourselves, and more than our children. It is a concept that is directly in opposition to our very instinctive nature, contrary to our deepest feelings, and repulsive to our very essence. And yet here we are, the first species that must overcome its own nature in order to preserve the greater community of life.
Related Articles
Peak Oil and the Vision in the Mirror
You Thou Shall Not Kill Murder - Lo Tirtzach - Lo Tirtzack
You are at War with Me
Environmentalism: The Fable of the Apple, and the Fable of the Tree
Freedom of Speech - Do you have it?
Life, Human Nature, and the Value System
Earthlings and the Tragedy of Money
On Truth and Of Those Who Speak It
Philosophy of Life and the Message within Reach of All
The Ten Commandments - A Twenty-First Century Draft
Vision and Mission
Michigan Local Future Network (The Big Picture)
The Future Value System
Fast Track From Hell
Death, The Void, and the Bit of Life that Preceeds It
The Search for a Sustainable Value System