The now…
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.......
Words and Music by Bob Dylan, 1963… the conscience of our time.
The time is upon us, where we need to change or change for which we are not prepared, will be forced upon us…. What we're witnessing and experiencing with the many crises the world is facing is a paradigm running out: an entire framework of reality that can no longer contain the problems that it creates, nor can it solve them. A paradigm is a way of saying a shared idea about life, but it's an idea with incredible momentum and many people trying to hold it up, the status quo.
To me, it's becoming obvious through the 2008 financial crisis, its current effects, the impending new financial crisis… and this oil mess (there are plenty of others), are a wake-up call for all of us… that the profit motive is not the best thing to have running at the core of our civilisation. Greed is not spiritual, it's not sustainable and it's not even useful; and we are feeling the devastating results of a culture based on this selfish self-serving principle.
Similarly, just because we have always lived a certain way doesn’t mean it will continue, the way we live is not sustainable, in fact in business we learn to change and evolve continually – we need to change as it is part of the very philosophy for our present and future relationships…the way we live now, is not a substitute for love or for trust, yet it's the way we most often try to coexist – we basically live in hope, that “she will be right or there’s no problem” and so we accept – I do not think we accept voluntarily, we accept because we cannot see an alternative…. so that we accept is too strong a word… we are in fact apathetic towards what is so apparent – but because we, who are part of the paradigm – we do not perceive it as a immediate threat to confront – so we do nothing. We do not look for alternatives, or initiate change (even in ourselves) we just stumble from one disaster to another… In general our current approach to life and the living of this paradigm does not contain the reality of our relationships, for our Spiritual, emotional or social needs.
My sense is that there may be an upside; a positive aspect of this disastrous oil spill, that's threatening to kill aquatic creatures in the Gulf ( its early days, who knows what the final result will be – if the Oil gets into the Gulf stream - what then ?), actually this event could herald an environmental awakening.
The possibility of saying goodbye to the shores of much of The Gulf and the Caribbean as we remember them, unspoilt beautiful azure crystal clear water… abundant life …. This event may be the first step to wake us up to re-evaluate where we are going – and do we really want to go there…. There is a huge risk to our home if we continue down this path.… this hoped for revelation or perhaps even an epiphany if you like, must be built and revealed within each of us, from person by person as part of our own individual choices, then through the coordination of our individual choices to become those of our families, our communities, then onwards a forceful movement with a louder voice, from community to community, until one day it becomes the new world paradigm… Perhaps we can start very simply by being conscious of the way we use energy, water and make a conscious commitment to use less plastic and fuel every day.
If you are thinking about your neighbour and not just your own insular world, then these events, and the ones to come do seem destined to wake up enough people to the simple truth that as a society, we have run out of ideas about how to live, and we will now be shown that there are consequences to this, if we don’t resolve to change. What we are witnessing does seem destined to stir people to make a difference -- not necessarily a lot, but just enough. I'm not speaking from my unshakable faith in humanity (unfortunately) to take care of itself, but rather the way that aspects develop and unfold.
Another strange possibility that may have contributed to this disaster, or perhaps the next one, may be that the Gulf of Mexico is a favourite dumping ground for the US military who have dumped tens of thousands of tons of old, expired or unstable munitions, bombs and the suck like… you know … the old adage…out of sight, out of mind… I wonder if the explosion was caused by a left over bomb or other explosive device…? I remember from my childhood when we lived in the Solomon Islands… Guadalcanal in fact… aside I was told then of the ammunition stored at Hell’s point after World War 2, as well thousands of tons of war equipment, such as tanks, trucks, jeeps, air-planes, and munitions were just dumped in the sea…
Perhaps the best way of understanding this need to change, is to start at home, we need to dump a huge bag of our normal household rubbish onto the back porch and figure out what's in there and how it got there and what we can do about it. We literally need to question everything
We all know there is a problem and many people I know, feel powerless, where to start? However at the same time they feel that time is running out. We have been living with this feeling for some time, and perhaps we will be for as long as we live. To do something constructive would be in our own best interest, as it would be for the world.
Within our own sphere of influence (our relationships, family) we need to make choices, and communicate those choices … even if they seem to be piecemeal, minuscule – only a shuffle forward … it is all positive. Perhaps the reason that so few do, is the feeling that these attempts appear hopeless bearing in mind the enormity of the task of saving our home … we need to have some responsibility back into our hands, and put us into contact with the truth that we are part of the world in which we live, and that it is part of us.
For those people we meet today or tomorrow may be a new beginning of relationships that turn out to be truly significant, perhaps we may meet and find our planets and all of its inhabitant’s true identity and then gather with others with that knowledge, and make changes.
This time should be an awakening for us, so many things have gone wrong, are going wrong… is it all coincidence that all these worldwide problems are happening at the same time… the huge Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, that has a potential to turn the beauty of Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean effectively into a toxic waste dump.. by dumping 5000 barrels of crude daily into the Ocean… Now that blood-coloured crude oil has soaked the Gulf of Mexico, it will cause irreparable damage to the wetlands, and now threatens to wash up on beaches from the Gulf of Mexico at the moment, perhaps travel up the entire East coast of the USA with the Gulf Stream - so I wonder how many people will have the foresight to travel to their beaches to say goodbye to this once unspoilt beauty.
Each of us, needs to make changes, in a positive way, no matter how small, so we will have the opportunity to partially redeem our current learn thinking, which is based on using non-sustainable resources, with our own knowledge that this disaster is an opportunity to right many wrongs.
The problem when an old paradigm runs out is that most people do not have a clue as to what's happening, and don't take a creative role in what happens next. Perhaps it’s because they don’t know what to do next… no concept or even where to start…. But I think that it is simpler than that, I think we're being called right now to do both: to notice, and to make adjustments to our thinking and then in our behaviour, our economic patterns (what we buy how we spend our money) and in our relationships to the fill the current spiritual void of greed with a change to the current paradigm to that of one that supports all creatures, great and small.
Perhaps if we decided to travel less, use Public transport more, not buy anything that is wrapped in plastic… and where necessary, use bio-degradable products only, make constructive and positive changes in the way we use the simple things such as water … because water may well be the next Global challenge, definitely a new way of thinking is needed. Together with the deforestation of many old growth forests, we are setting the seeds for our own destruction, and thanks to us… the Armageddon is growing very well… we need to stop it…
If we say use Public Transport more, those which are electric powered, some may say that this just moves the pollution from the cities to the coal fired power generation centers are … so new technology to generate peak load power is urgently needed – so we also need to invest in our future – and stop these new sustainable energy and water saving inventions being buried by being sold to Corporations and governments who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.
Thoughts come from many different directions from Max Whisson, and his machine that just uses wind power to provide fresh water from the humidity in the air around us... to his fresh water river from sea water.... the thoughts are all out there... keep your eyes open...
We have some serious thinking to do, to work out what it is we want, and what sort of society we want for our children and their children… in time, a movement will start formerly, a huge grounds well of dissatisfaction is growing with the current paradigm, this new feeling and movement will be made up of normal people, who realise we have to change the way we relate to each other and the rest of the world… and will be based upon a huge dissatisfaction with the status quo. In time (hopefully a short time), this movement will be followed by a vocal response to change Governments by making those Governments and corporations that create this oil dependency and the fact that have effectively killed alternative fuel opportunities, and have goaded us into wars funded by our stupidity and lack of moral courage – based on the scarcity principle, to maintain the fiction that we need to maintain the status quo… we should be spending more on alternative energy sources, such as way to naturally grow Hydrogen as a fuel (currently the manufacturing process is not sustainable), aside from heat, it seems to be the current hope, it seems to be the nearest thing to a portable clean fuel… then fuel cell technologies, and some insist of major resources into finding a clean non-nuclear way of providing peak load power… there are innumerable options in the search for alternative power generation … the answers are there, we need new innovative thought, we need support for these new ideas, and we need leadership …. We won’t get this leadership from our present political structure as they only want to sustain the status quo. What innovative thoughts ever come out of a Nations Politicians and capitals – very few, I cannot think of any… let’s face it..
But change will happen, hopefully over time, but at the very least a spiritual revolution will happen, is happening in the way we need to live our lives, but this change will not and is not flourishing within the current paradigm we live in.
Albert Einstein said…
”The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
We need innovative thought, from our children, some may have the insight into this new world paradigm that is waiting for us.
We will need to make new adjustments every day, even as we shuffle forward… if you or I are one of the people to step up, that are summoned by time and events to do something, my first step forward is to live in a open highly conscious way, aware of the effect on our relationships, and our planet and how we influence the world. I think we are being summoned to “Care”, to give a dam, and to stop being so passive and accepting about the direction our politicians are leading us – let’s remember that they have few original ideas in general, if the leadership must come from us, by putting those people in power that can actually move us in the right direction, then lets us make it so – the old political them and us doesn’t cut it anymore… its all of us… who need the same thing to survive.
I have a suggestion: don't waste your time waiting for anyone else. This is about you. As soon as you accept that it's about you, then it can become about us, and we can make something positive happen as humanity as a whole.
The human costs associated with maintaining the status quo are too horrible to comprehend, such scenarios realistically include societal collapse on a huge scale, and in the worst case the death of our planet… and naturally our own.
Question: 500 years after societal collapse what do you think our descendants will see as our legacy … everything made of steel will have turned into dust, perhaps the concrete roads may still be visible through the vegetation, assuming of course that the steel reinforcing hasn’t broken down… and after the inevitable wars and anarchy we will return to the basics we need for survival to that of the basic human needs, food, water and shelter - we will have returned to our lives as hunter gatherers and hopefully we are advanced to a stage where we can farm - and grow our own food. What do you think someone would think of a computer, who have never seen one before, and there was no power to turn it on... a book stop... or perhaps something to keep the door open...
We are not currently spiritually aware and certainly not responsible enough to realise this is not only about us….
We have a chance, for our descendants sake, to envisage a new world, and its new paradigm where we are able to live in the relationship with our world, as a partner, not in our current role as a needy dictatorial sociopath, who cares nothing for the future of the world or the people in it.
We are at a fork in the road, (in fact I really think we are past it ) ... I entreat you to please choose carefully - and start making a different in your life, if not for you, then to minimize the effect of you children and the coming generations....
Once the societal collapse comes, aside from the anarchy.... the social breakdown, the breakdown of law and order, and the rule of law... many people who in this world who are dependent on drugs to maintain their health will not survive, probably myself included.. Charles Darwin strikes again ... the strong, the fit and the healthy will survive.
You need to take action... dig up the back garden, mulch your leftovers, and start growing your own food... because you will need it... install water tanks, a move your life towards sustainability, do it now before that day comes when there is no food in the supermarkets, and no water in the pipes
Know this, change is coming, prepare for it of be consumed by it .... let’s stop and think now… we cannot sustain the
way we live life… make positive changes as many as you can in the
transformation of your life to sustainability… if enough of us do this,
it will result in a shift in priorities and a change in how you live
your life... and it will force us all to confront the need for worldwide
change in how we live our lives. After this, add time... and
governments will follow. Otherwise when change comes .... you will have
no way of surviving.
x
Stumble It!
