“The greatest form of activism is to be a living example of the type of people you’d like to see walking this Earth” Ebonee Davis.
Recently a friend asked me a question about why I thought that we could not just manage our technology to resolve the myriad environmental/ecological issues to get to a sustainable world. That is the focus of my whole blog, so let me summarize what is a complex answer, again in a succinct way, as I responded to him.
“As simply as possible, our issues have their roots in the scientific-materialism of the Medieval Renaissance. It can be seen as the separation of humanity as connected to the natural world. The core of the issue is the loss of spiritual connection to the ecosphere. If nature’s value is seen merely as a source of utilitarian material, then its inherent value is disregarded. Now the question could be why couldn’t a fully embraced and scientific ecological understanding give the same need to use nature more effectively. If a dominance mindset is primary, then nature’s value is always utilitarian. If as Aldo Leopold said, we see ourselves as members of the ecological system then we find values that respect the life (and hence the spiritual value) of every other species as part of the larger system. It has nothing to do with religion but recognizing we are a very small cog (even if one that can mess up the whole system) in a very complex system” Jurin.
As long as we maintain a materialistic and utilitarian mindset about the human role within the world, we will continue to treat it as merely something inert. It is possible that we could use a completely ecological mindset of total efficiency, but if there is a hint of capitalism within this mindset then the natural world will be a resource to be exploited, only within tight limits with strict regulations. As I said to my friend, “You can regulate technology but regulating attitudes only works as long as the enforcement, incentives, or punishments are tightly enforced” Jurin. To me that all sounds a lot draconian. As we can see from law enforcement anywhere in the world, while there may be general compliance, there is nevertheless still all manner of crime and corruption.
Hence my view that we cannot tweak our way to a sustainable future; we have to completely change our story of what it means to be human within a sustainable world and the values inherent within that story.
That story begins and concludes with values. Are we a greedy, uncaring, and competitive species in a world of scarce resources, prone to violence to resolve our issues seeing humanity as the planet’s peak predator because of our intellectual ability? – that is the story we currently tell ourselves. OR, are we the reverse of all that, a caring, sharing, cooperative species that thrives on peace and happiness that values life in all its myriad forms, and humanity merely as an intellectual steward of the planetary gifts it uses? The competition story has brought us to the abyss within just a few short centuries. Yet humanity has existed in its current biological and intellectual form for over 300,000 years. And it isn’t capitalism that is the prime problem, just the economic model we use.
We once told ourselves a different story and thrived. What changed? We started developing technology, and built an economic model framed from exploitation. but that wasn’t the real problem. It was our story that got corrupted a mere 6 millennia ago by a small hierarchical group we trusted to lead us and look out for us. They didn’t conquer us, they merely got us to believe a different story that suited their agenda, and within a couple of generations we were hooked as life without the hierarchy was forgotten by the majority. But indigenous groups that lived outside the influence of the hierarchies lived and kept that knowledge of our past story alive.
As spiritual and futurist blogger Rami Dhanoa says, “Why should we expect the best, when we don’t fundamentally allow ourselves to live for what the human spirit craves most? When our cities are designed for cars, why should we believe human consciousness is sacred enough for a culture to cultivate for free? Practically every cultural value system from A to Z needs an overhaul. It’s so backwards that money, the lifeblood of Dharma itself, is demonized by seekers!… The other is for all of us to become on board with the prospect of using money to support Dharma, rather than “worldly” money being separate from some “spiritual” realm of purity untouched by the market. For we are the market.”
Just over a week ago was the 25th anniversary of 9/11. While that day was a horrific event, what I recall from that time was the deep collective (global) emotional event that followed. The outpouring of Peace and Love that was evident throughout the USA and Canada in the week following 9/11 was incredible. It was turned into a quest for vengeance and a never-ending war by the powers-that-be, but for that first week after the event we had a rare glimpse of a new world that can emerge out of the old dark order. While much hate and anger were generated, it is wise to consider the Love and Kindness for that short time, from one person to another, that was witnessed again a week ago during the 25-year remembrance. If we remember the feelings of Love, Peace and Kindness that prevailed immediately after 9/11/2001, then we, the people of Earth, can prevail and use those feeling to build the ‘New Earth’ we want. But WE have to do that work, and make those choices, now, and every day from now onwards.
I find myself often discussing mindsets that trap us in ways of thinking. Living in the USA but having grown up in the UK, and having travelled internationally, I find myself at odds with how many people see their countries. The cultures vary widely but the story of civilized societies is the same. All too often people have been trained to dogmatically focus on Standard of Living without actually being able to describe what apparently makes it so ‘good’? When I look at western societies, especially the U.S. I see the mindsets as that of corporate structures. We think that modern living is ‘enlightened and civilized’ but I see it all as a corporation model. Almost nothing we do sets us up to promote a sustainable future. We have had over a century of conservation plus environmentalism and now lots of talk about sustainability, but what is the path we are following? Even spiritual seeking itself is now commodified, especially in most developed countries and spirituality has become a new egoic form of public social media attention seeking.
WE must be good stewards of the planet. Individually we make choices for sustainability, and when we collectively make those same choices, we get the solutions we want. That’s how harmony occurs. But we have to be truly realistic. Doomerism merely allows the powers-that-be to take us over the edge of the abyss. Blind optimism, while useful, has us merely wearing blinkers as we continue to behave as though technology will create solutions such that everything will somehow fall into place and we are saved. This ignores the problem of seeing that it was technology used unwisely that created the problems in the first place.
I like this piece on realism, by blogger Richard Lowenthal; “What makes a person a “realist”? Forget the dictionary definitions. Being a realist entails embracing everything about humanity and life on earth — the good, the bad, the beautiful, the banal, and the ugly. This doesn’t imply liking everything, just acknowledging and, most importantly, not denying anything about life.
Yet, what do we see all around us today? Major denial is rampant and running wild throughout humanity, especially in the West. Our business-as- usual world keeps humming merrily along, as our societies increasingly implode and ecological collapse accelerates.
Humans truly are capable of wondrous and beautiful things. This leads me to a frightening conclusion: Humanity as a whole has already made its ultimate choice, and that choice is now irrevocable. We have chosen to continue our ignorant, destructive ways and also deny we are doing any such thing — which guarantees that ecological and social collapses will keep accelerating and spreading. It’s impossible to ignore and deny reality forever. Absent a realistic, denial-free international plan to turn our societies around and curb our rapacious ways, our personal, family, and local realities will soon be all we have left to rely on.
And I must insist that this attitude is not doomerism or dark pessimism; it is balanced realism. Despite its grimness, this take on our situation also offers a glimmer of hope — for in the end, all that truly matters anyway is our personal lives, our relationships, our connection to nature, and our contributions to our local communities.”
I like that term, Balanced Realism. I believe (and know) that globally, people everywhere are already making those changes. The question is whether we are a collective will stop at the abyss and turn around, or just act like the proverbial lemmings and mindlessly rush off the edge. Mindfulness comes from seeing the story we live now and how that story needs to change now.
To Be Continued ……………
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