Peak Oil, War, Poverty, Global Warming... Hope
What can we do to make the future better?
Better is a relative term. Better means that the earth is cleaner and healthier than before... basically, imagine the perfect vision of Eden, and then imagine the world moving, as a whole, toward that. A better world would mean that this was the goal of everyone; and that systems were in place so that not only individuals, but all groupings of people would also be moving toward this.
Over the past five years or so, I've opened my eyes to what is going on in the world. I think I started really wondering what was going on in the world back in 2001 when I couldn't understand why anyone would fly jetliners into skyscrappers on purpose. I was very upset to discover that no one that I knew could give me a good answer. So, I started digging and eventually I found out about the long history, the tangled web, that binds me to those that died in the crashes.
You see, I participate.
Yes, I participate in 21st century culture, and I do so with very little concern as to the consequence of my participation. I am like the sheep in the middle of the crowd. I can't see the outside world, or what is going on around the edges, so I merrily trot myself behind those in front, trying not to get in the way of those behind, and smiling pleasantly at those to my sides.
I can't say that being a sheep is an idea that I enjoy thinking about.
And yet, here I am, doing what I have done for my entire life, participating in this society that is causing all of the ills that take us farther from Eden. Global warming, oil depletion, poverty, disease, environmental destruction, suffering, and on, and on, and on...
How do I participate? Am I dropping bombs on targets I know nothing about? Am I polluting the soil, the water, and the air with my the ick from my industrial animal company? Am I enslaving, enprisoning, and killing people to get information or to protect my way of life?
Yes, yes, yes.
I am an American. And as a "good" American, I participate. And I do it all from the comfort of my very average job, in my very average town, in my very average life. How do I do all this?
I pay for it. First, I go to work and make sure not to say anything about what is really going on in the world. I make it seem as if everything is A-OK. Then, I accept my average paycheck, and the average contributions to the government via taxes. The rest of the money, I dutifully spend on all sorts of things, following the whims of popularity, and trying always to save a buck by shopping for the lowest price. I burn up gasoline and oil, I use electricity, I drive the roads, I take the trash to the curb. And I imagine that everything is going along just fine.
And yet, that isnt't the case, is it?
Let me first say that I oppose violence in all of its forms. Given that, I clearly oppose the war that I am waging against the people of the war, particularly in the middle east. I am opposed to it, and I will speak out against it, and even vote for people who I hope will oppose it as well, and yet hundreds of my tax dollars go directly to supporting the people that are doing this.
The other large fraction of the taxes goes to social programs, which is mostly money spend quickly by retirees, and those dollars quickly make it back to the government in the form of even more taxes. Add to that all of the taxes that go to the government within a few exchanges of me purchasing something, and its fairly apparent that I am doing exactly what I don't want to be doing... paying to kill and destroy.
So what is a person to do? The problem is that once that if the money isn't physically in my hands or possession that I have no control at all over it. In fact, the only way I could truely not participate is if I were to have the money and never use it. Because no matter how I would use it, once the money leaves my fingers, its totally out of my control as to how it is used.
There are problems with doing that... 1. How do I take care of my basic and extended needs? 2. How do I encourage others to do the same?
Better is a relative term. Better means that the earth is cleaner and healthier than before... basically, imagine the perfect vision of Eden, and then imagine the world moving, as a whole, toward that. A better world would mean that this was the goal of everyone; and that systems were in place so that not only individuals, but all groupings of people would also be moving toward this.
Over the past five years or so, I've opened my eyes to what is going on in the world. I think I started really wondering what was going on in the world back in 2001 when I couldn't understand why anyone would fly jetliners into skyscrappers on purpose. I was very upset to discover that no one that I knew could give me a good answer. So, I started digging and eventually I found out about the long history, the tangled web, that binds me to those that died in the crashes.
You see, I participate.
Yes, I participate in 21st century culture, and I do so with very little concern as to the consequence of my participation. I am like the sheep in the middle of the crowd. I can't see the outside world, or what is going on around the edges, so I merrily trot myself behind those in front, trying not to get in the way of those behind, and smiling pleasantly at those to my sides.
I can't say that being a sheep is an idea that I enjoy thinking about.
And yet, here I am, doing what I have done for my entire life, participating in this society that is causing all of the ills that take us farther from Eden. Global warming, oil depletion, poverty, disease, environmental destruction, suffering, and on, and on, and on...
How do I participate? Am I dropping bombs on targets I know nothing about? Am I polluting the soil, the water, and the air with my the ick from my industrial animal company? Am I enslaving, enprisoning, and killing people to get information or to protect my way of life?
Yes, yes, yes.
I am an American. And as a "good" American, I participate. And I do it all from the comfort of my very average job, in my very average town, in my very average life. How do I do all this?
I pay for it. First, I go to work and make sure not to say anything about what is really going on in the world. I make it seem as if everything is A-OK. Then, I accept my average paycheck, and the average contributions to the government via taxes. The rest of the money, I dutifully spend on all sorts of things, following the whims of popularity, and trying always to save a buck by shopping for the lowest price. I burn up gasoline and oil, I use electricity, I drive the roads, I take the trash to the curb. And I imagine that everything is going along just fine.
And yet, that isnt't the case, is it?
Let me first say that I oppose violence in all of its forms. Given that, I clearly oppose the war that I am waging against the people of the war, particularly in the middle east. I am opposed to it, and I will speak out against it, and even vote for people who I hope will oppose it as well, and yet hundreds of my tax dollars go directly to supporting the people that are doing this.
The other large fraction of the taxes goes to social programs, which is mostly money spend quickly by retirees, and those dollars quickly make it back to the government in the form of even more taxes. Add to that all of the taxes that go to the government within a few exchanges of me purchasing something, and its fairly apparent that I am doing exactly what I don't want to be doing... paying to kill and destroy.
So what is a person to do? The problem is that once that if the money isn't physically in my hands or possession that I have no control at all over it. In fact, the only way I could truely not participate is if I were to have the money and never use it. Because no matter how I would use it, once the money leaves my fingers, its totally out of my control as to how it is used.
There are problems with doing that... 1. How do I take care of my basic and extended needs? 2. How do I encourage others to do the same?