Years ago, when I first started teaching environmental science, it seemed a lot simpler (although anything environmental has always been an uphill struggle) with mainly a push for non-polluting green technology, trying to get business to adopt a better set of practices (e.g., Triple Bottom Line), and a need to reduce the consumer mindset. But as the years rolled by, I came to see that it was much more than simply modifying our behaviors and technology, and nothing less than revamping our whole way of thinking and interacting with each other and the natural world.
The biggest problem is simply money. It has become the central value for which everything on our planet is measured and from which decision are made. The most destructive aspect of our modern world is the way we wantonly go to war to resolve problems and secure resources. While the twentieth century saw the devastating two world wars that claimed about 87 million lives, since 1945 there have been around 2300 small wars around the world. While overall battle deaths have declined since the 1950s and overall numbers of wars diminished since 2000, the record is still not a positive one with major conflicts still occurring. The main reason we go to war is simple – the illusion of separation that creates low level emotions in which differences are seen as reasons to dehumanize others. And our mainstream media thrive on telling us about the differences to instill fear that drives hatred, envy, resentment, vices, lies, ambition, selfishness, sadness, and distrust.
There is a scene in the film All Quiet on the Western Front (1939) when the character Kat is telling his comrades about why we fight. It is about the elites disagreeing with each other that sends millions to fight and die on their behalf. Kat comments that a fairer way to settle international disputes would be to round up the elites, put them all in a big field and have them fight it out. The winner would be the next boss. In Catch-22, Captain Nately, is trying to convince an old Italian peasant about the power of his country. The peasant tells him that all empires and great countries are ultimately destroyed, but the people just go on doing what they do regardless of who is in charge. Our media would have us believe that we are all part of great international crusades when in reality we are all simply living every day doing what we do in small communities associated with other communities living our everyday lives with our families and friends. It’s the same everywhere in the world whether it is the USA, China, Afghanistan, India, Norway, or any other place anywhere in the world. People raise families and hope their children will do as well if not better than their parents. People everywhere just want to live quiet peaceful existences enjoying life and having fun.
Think about peace. What does the average person get out of any conflict? Who does a conflict ever benefit? My parents went through the Second World War. I don’t ever think I ever heard them refer to it with any positive comment, ever. I have many friends who have fought in the military and they never talk about it as being a positive experience. For most soldiers, coming home alive, intact, and managing to ignore the nightmares of combat is about as good as it gets. The elites make money, gain more power and control, even funding both sides of a conflict, but the common person doing all that dirty work for them rarely gets anything beneficial. Why do we fight? – because we are manipulated into it. Plain and simple. Once convinced through false narratives, we have all manner of reasons and excuses for answering the impulses of our worst devils. We can answer the better Angels of our nature just as easily and get a positive outcome every time. Transformation comes when we choose to let go past conditioning and choose Love and Compassion rather than Hate and Anger.
We are naturally spiritual, and all want to be happy with lives that interest us. Yet, we spend so much time in suffering and anguish trying to attain things merely to impress others as if status is the be-all and end-all of it all – that is just the ‘rat-race’ of trying to keep up with the Jones’s. If we lived for NOW and stopped lusting after desired outcomes, we might find ourselves in that wonderful place of balance with ourselves and each other. Take some time out and play some music that will lift you up and make you feel good now. Even if you don’t have a great voice (and who really cares), sing and express yourself, and dance if you want. You remember that old maxim, ‘dance like no one is watching, sing as if you’re alone in the forest. Do some deep breathing. Wear what is comfortable and in whatever color you want and don’t give a damn about anyone else’s opinions. Light candles and incense to bring fragrance to your home. Hug your family, friends, hug and stroke your dogs, cats, and anything other animals (and plants if you like that) – get the Oxytocin fix (e.g. see earlier post Reality 2 – A Spiritual perspective – How your thinking affects your reality {September 2018}). Meditate or pray not to supplicate for things you want but to find your inner calm. Get out in nature, sit, walk, run, whatever, just get outside, whatever the weather. Do whatever it takes to change all that negative energy to positive energy because the effects are immediate. Stop being judgmental to the point that it is negative to relationships. Stop expecting perfection – the imperfections are what make life unique. You don’t expect a tree to be perfect even when they have ideal shape and growth, so why do expect everything else to be perfect? How about ‘Good Enough for Now’ and then as we go along, we can always improve further?
Our human history of the past 5000 years is a record of empire building, and endless conflict and wars, but it is not what describes truly us. Why do we extol heroes? Because they did something selfless to help others. It’s that connection we have to inspire and protect each other. Once we remove the conditioned biases that conflicts bring, we find unspoken hero’s all over the place in our everyday lives doing things that help people. Why do we feel good when we are able to help others? While certain core beliefs may define us for now, most of our beliefs and worldviews are not static but change as we move through differing situations in life as we grow, yet at any one time we seem all to eager to fight those whose beliefs conflict with our own. Once you recognize just how many of your beliefs are just conditioned (induced) responses you can begin to show more acceptance of other beliefs and exhibit more compassion for others perspectives even if you do not completely accept them. A joke my wife told me was that if women ran the world, we would have 27 days of calm followed by 4 days of intense negotiation every month (Estrogen based). Maybe if we negotiated more readily, we wouldn’t need to fight about our differences (Testosterone based).
So instead of using ‘temporary’ beliefs (often because of false narratives pushed on us) to justify conflict would it be so bad to simple show compassion and negotiate. Admittedly, some small percentage of beliefs are so radically rigid and underscored with fear we might be best just staying away from those kinds of belief structures for now, but overall, the vast majority of us could see past the 5% differences that have been polarizing us and agree to focus on the 95% similarities for a more peaceful, harmonious and equitable world. Not a perfect world but certainly a better one than the one we are currently bequeathing to our children and grandchildren. What kind of world do you want to see created and what kinds of relationships do you wish to see coming out of the turmoil that is presently our option to change and improve now?
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