“If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it” US President Lyndon Johnson, 1964, signing the Wilderness Act.
My blog host keeps updating software running my site but missed updating my SSL certificate. As a consequence, in the last post there were a couple of links that failed to work properly – my apologies. The links to the Coca Cola ad and the song spin-off for comparison are here (ad and song) for anyone wanting to know what they actually were. The key point about this jingle is the narrative meme that appeals to people. It is really about deep spiritual core values being expressed that resonate with people everywhere.
Values form our beliefs and knowing them can transform how we look at the world and form new worldviews that are truly ours and not just the conditioning we think is real. While I have covered this many times within this blog (e.g, see links 1, 2, and 3), a short reiteration might help here. Many people at this time are ‘waking up’ and realizing that the very values they thought defined them are being eclipsed by situations and events that are revealing their true core values that are emerging. If we are to create a true Sustainable Future, we need to recognize our true core values about the kind of world we want to see.
For example, some people are caught up in a consumer driven mindset with a hedonistic focus having a wild time of life when something literally stops them in their tracks. Sometimes an accident and sometimes an unexpected illness gives them time to stop and reflect from a deeper sense of self on what they were doing and whether it was bringing them any true joy, happiness, or meaning to their lives.
We are trapped in an illusion – I might say delusion – about the concept of growth. Our whole economic way of life is predicated on the idea. Financial wonks and economics experts bemoan when growth is not happening. I have talked about Steady State systems previously (e.g, see link). It is crucial to understand that Steady State isn’t about stagnation, but quite the opposite, it is about dynamic balance. Environmental Scientist Donna Meadows, was a supporter of the Steady State, “‘Growth’ is one of the stupidest purposes ever invented by any culture. We’ve got to have an enough.’ Always ask: growth of what? And why, and for whom, and who pays the cost, and how long can it last, and what’s the cost to the planet, and how much is enough?”
Interesting question, how much is enough? I add, and why are we addicted to the need for more? When our values are fixed within a ‘Scarcity Culture’ we strive to be comfortable by hoarding in order to make it through the next foreshadowed lean period. In effect, our current core values are always running a high stakes gamble mindset of competition with ‘predation’ as an acceptable modality of behavior. It sets the tone for our principles or beliefs that we hold most dear and that are of central importance in our lives. It also covers what you believe are important in the way you live and work. Competition is therefore a core value that needs to change. But is competition the true human way?
Yes, it is the way we have been conditioned over the past many millennia, but are your current core values really a testament to your true self? What does that little voice in your head that tell you about what you whether or not to care about something and how you should prioritize your time in a world that is not competitive but collaborative and sharing? Consider that for a few minutes. How would your values change if you were in a community that shared and cared and where you had the time and options to be the real you? I mean the you that would be the hero or heroine of your ideal sustainable living story.
When everything around you is changing, when the world is difficult to understand, and when you are riding up and down an emotional rollercoaster, your core values will always be there for you. But be sure they are your values and not simply conditioned dog-eat-dog world values. You’ll find your true values are more spiritual than material. Now, in adulthood, you may realize you’re passionate about many things that seem just fanciful dreams, but what if you could actually live them? It’s not a bad thing to share deep unspoken core values with those around you, but living a life that doesn’t honor those core values once you’ve identified them can be detrimental to your overall physical and psychic health – stress is a nasty teacher.
Core values are important because they act like a compass to help you lead the most amazing life that you can imagine, no matter where you find yourself in this world. Psychologists report that, “Having the right core values can improve your decision-making, your productivity, your achievements and perhaps most importantly, your ability to love and be loved. They’re kind of a big deal. And it isn’t just us saying this, studies have shown core values to have a whole host of other benefits.”
When you can identify your values and make choices that align with them, life suddenly becomes a little easier. But when you’re running on autopilot and not allowing your values to coincide with your choices, you can find yourself becoming incredibly unhappy, and maybe you don’t know why. And that seems an all too common thing these days. Few people are living authentic lives.
In a sustainable world that I envision, everyone will be able to be their authentic selves. But what might this world look like? While I have covered this earlier (see link) I have been reading a lot about Gene Roddenberry of Start Trek fame. He really was a visionary. In one of my earlier posts I used a quote from an astrobiologist called David Grinspoon, commented on ‘Trekkies (supporters of the shows and films), “If you really want a Star Trek future, it’s not just going to space in cool machines. It’s building a society with respect for all life, sentient & otherwise, applying science wisely, and pursuing principles of justice, fairness, and reason. Let’s build that and ride it to the stars.”
Roddenberry made it a point to challenge the social norms of the 1960s by incorporating many ‘new; things into his shows to help people recognize that the future would be more equitable. The TV censors didn’t like much of what he did (they challenged restrictive social morals of the day), but he managed to slip them in under the radar so to speak. We might think them tame today, but in the context of the times, they were revolutionary. What we need to do now is no less challenging. To push society into accepting new values that create unity and harmony.
For example, in one of the original Star Trek episodes (“Balance of Terror” Dec 1966) when the Enterprise is damaged, Captain Kirk order the navigator to go to Phaser control and calmly orders Lt Uhura (a black woman) to take over the navigators station, which she immediately does without any second thought because she is a fully trained and qualified officer of the bridge. What makes it unique and how Roddenbery does it so subtly was to play the scene “played perfectly straight, with just a lingering camera shot for emphasis. No obnoxious moralizing, no heavy-handed finger-wagging, or clumsy brute force to spoil the effort.”
As given in a Star Trek review, “Star Trek showed us a better version of ourselves, one that we could aspire to, and it showed it to us in the best way; realistic people behaving realistically in a futuristic setting, without regard to superficial differences. And it was effective and groundbreaking precisely because of that.” And not only that, Star Trek is also famous for the first biracial kiss, between Lt Uhura and Captain Kirk, which was very controversial at the time and offended many closed-minded and bigoted people. Now it is acceptable to most people. But it emphasized a change of values needed at that time. We are now at a juncture of changing values again, and what we do to change them to ones that fit a sustainable future will decide the future of humanity. We will become sustainable or as a species we will hit the proverbial wall of human (and planetary) progress.
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