I don't get a newspaper and I don't watch TV. Right now, it is a sunny day here on the central coast of California, with a slight breeze and clear skies. Everything seems pretty hunky-dory(sp?).
Even though I don't go to a regular news outlet for my news, I still hear about all the big stuff. Earthquake in China kills 68,000; Obama clinches the democratic nomination (though not yet officially); gas at $4 a gallon; etc. Are these things affecting me right now? The answer is truly NO. Perhaps they will affect me very soon - when I go to buy something at a store, or want to take a trip somewhere, or don't want to pay my taxes next year, but at this very moment, none of that stuff is affecting me. My laptop runs on a battery, my internet rarely has issues, and even if the power went out, I could still be sitting here, typing this, totally disconnected from the grid.
How then, with the outside world playing no role in my current day-to-day activities, am I supposed to care about all of the things that people are trying to convince me to care about?
How am I supposed to care about the things that truly are going to affect me in the future, if I can’t even see them?
How is Joe Shmoe in the middle of America supposed to care about rainforest deforestation in Brazil? How is he supposed to care about food shortages in Africa or earthquakes in China? Or the lack of clean water for 2 billion people around the world? How is he supposed to care that Wal-Mart puts a few people out of business in the next town over, if he doesn't even know who those people are?
And yet people do care.
I care because I am able to look beyond this moment in time. I care because I can see that my actions as well as the actions of every other speck of matter in this universe will affect my future, as well as the future of every other living thing on the planet. I care because I know that my actions can make a difference, because I read scientific studies about the effects of human activities, and because I want to have healthy, happy grandchildren someday. I care because I know that if I sit around and let the world pass me by, then it will become a worse place due to my negligence, and I will not let that happen. It is a call to action, a moral duty to do what I can to make the world a better place because I know that some of my actions are affecting others negatively. I care because I am educated, thoughtful and compassionate, and I have the ability to improve things. I care because if I don’t take action, then I am NOT an innocent bystander, I am guilty of watching the world and life as we know it (including ourselves) slowly and methodically murdered by mankind.
The question is, why do some people not care?
And more importantly, why don't people DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT if they do care?
Of course other priorities get in the way, most predominantly: Making sure you and your family have enough food to eat, clean water to drink, and a safe place to sleep. But ultimately, these priorities are the same priorities that I have for current & future generations. What if all of our food and water is poisoned, our homes are threatened by severe climate disturbances and massive migration due to war and famine, and we can't get food from a store because shipping costs due to high oil prices go through the roof? Then why are we so stuck on taking care of these smaller, more immediate needs that MOST people, especially in 1st world countries, have already met and exceeded?
The truth is, most of us who have the power to make change have already met our basic needs, and we have surpluses of time & energy with which to take on a truly meaningful calling. Many of us will look at the statement "surpluses of time & energy" and scoff, but if we took the time to analyze what we actually spend our time and money on (both of which can often be equated to our labor), we would realize that much of it is drained into a system which has more negative impacts than positive ones. Who are you helping when you buy a new TV? Where does the money go when you spend it on gasoline? How many hours do you work in a week, and whom are you helping with your work?
Are you making the world a better place for yourself and future generations? If not, then why not?
"In every deliberation we must consider the impact on the seventh generation... even if it requires having skin as thick as the bark of a pine."
- Great Law of the Iroquois
It is difficult to change our way of life from thinking about money and retirement and material things to thinking about the future health of our species and the health of our environment. It is difficult, but necessary. The seventh generation into the future depends upon it.
The question then, that I come back to is: How can we ensure that every Joe Shmoe knows that his/her own healthy survival, as well as that of the seventh generation, depends upon his/her actions?
And if the people don’t care about survival, family, and health, then what do they care about?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hey Greg,
I think most people in this world are too worried and scared to face their own problems to move on to other peoples' problems. Some people use other peoples' problems as an excuse for escapism. I think we need to encourage people to take hold of their own life, and empower it to the extent that they have capacity to reach out and help out others.
Well said. I got a degree in psychology to help people figure out their problems. I figured, why save the world if the people in it aren't even able to enjoy it? Have to make sure the world is worth saving first, which means helping the people. Oh, the complexities.
Post a Comment