We have passed on such a culture of greed, that it sounds evil to put things in perspective. Holding the ultra rich to task for their behavior may make a few friends here and there if you find someone who subscribes to a spiritual tradition that honors community and detests depravity. However, most people still seem to feel that power and wealth are honorable in and of themselves. When we take the next logical step, advocating penalties for the moderately wealthy, it becomes a difficult concept indeed. Most people want to see themselves as "good". There are infinite justifications for even the most heinous crimes. Never mind that we all built and lost fortunes by riding the same "wave of prosperity" that we have just seen crash on the shore.
The status quo has not worked. As the stimulus checks continue to flow to outmoded sectors of the economy, it is hard to conceive of a way to make the changes we need to get on course. I'm not too old, or young to remember Reaganomics. When the brakes came off the banking industry, it was just a matter of time until the wheels came off. Do we need any more proof than what we have seen in just the past two years? Who will reign in the most powerful when we still share the collective (but illogical) dream of winning the proverbial lottery? Our cultural mythology asserts that we might all join them if we play our cards right. When we raise each successive generation to want more, and assure them that the sky is the limit, why do we despair when children move away, leaving their parents alone and lonely? When we praise money over people, how can we not expect children to pay for their future without caring for us? We need to reestablish a connection to one another that cannot stand for greed, theft and lies perpetrated on others in pursuit of dollars.
Capital is not inherently good, bad or neutral. It just is. Humans created it to represent something. Initially it was meant to represent commitment. Say I want something from you, if I had put in enough hours, working for capital, I could just give it to you in trade for that thing. Of course we would have to agree on the relative value. In most situations we would both walk away happy. What we have done is sold things without knowing their true worth, and traded things for them that we had no idea what they would truly cost! This would be like playing poker without having any symbols or numbers on the cards. No one said that homes would lose thirty percent or more of their value three years ago, or no one would have purchased any mortgages. Why so much big money is still in the construction trades is baffling. Like road building. The long term costs don't seem to warrant the short term gains. If a few can make money now, it doesn't seem to matter if we will all have to pay later. The spin we have had on capital in the past must shift and in some respects spin the other way. What if we asked the exact opposite question? How can we make some people pay now, so that everyone would reap benefits in the future?
I am reminded of the story of Icarus and Daedalus. The father and son who used beeswax to attach feathers to their arms. The wise old man said, "Don't fly too close to the sun." The youthful and imprudent son just laughed until the sun melted the wax, plunging him into the sea to meet his demise. There is a way to transcend our limitations. It lies in having vision, being creative, and respecting physics. Having it all, at least the way we have been doing it requires that some go without, or have theirs taken away. We must not shudder, and look away, from justice being done. Whether something is illegal or not, certain things are just wrong. In a perfect world, those who flew too close to the sun would have already drowned. Instead, we have all paid for and delivered a posh life raft, well provisioned to these criminals. As our dollar loses value, we all feel the pain that would be over already if we had just pulled the plug. We need to walk away from things that cost too much, not devise ways to prop them up. When people disregard others, or take from our collective future, we must hold their feet to the fire.
When the AIG bailout was about to happen, I asked a fellow who had all his insurance with them..."What would you do if AIG went bankrupt?" His response was enlightening. "I'd buy insurance from someone else." I heard two fellows talking about the demise of the auto industry and the same thing was discussed. What if there were no more US auto industry? We would buy cars from Korea. If they made them. Or China, or wherever. As long as the oil holds out. We have been duped into thinking that the same people who didn't make good choices in a good economy will learn from their mistakes if we just give them another chance. I'm here to tell you that I am paying daily for mistakes that will have lasting effects for decades. We are not dealing with children, who were unaware of what they were doing. These are the most wealthy, and often the best educated individuals in our nation, even their minions are making more than eighty percent of the rest of us. It is time to let these people fail, reorient our economy, and retool for the coming crash of commercial real estate. We need to take capital back, rather than squandering it on the irresponsible who value objects over people.
We do not have to look far for solutions to our current economic woes. In fact, there is a dearth of wisdom on this subject that we have overlooked for centuries. In nature there is no waste. There is no worship of power, capital or greed. There are no tax breaks for advertising, no cable TV. There are no road builders, each individual is tasked with only one objective, to either survive, or help the community survive. Riches do not accrue to individuals, and windfalls are shared amongst the community. When hardship befalls a species, all individuals amongst the species take the hit together. In a functioning, and interconnected world, we must not stand for gated communities. In the sustainable world of the future, the "haves" must help the"have-nots". I'm not advocating mindless giving or charity. These usually lead to either dependence or exploitation by the greedy anyway. What I am speaking of is a real compassion, that will allow us to find ways to help others find their way to a better life, micro loans, access to capital, that when mixed with creativity and sustained effort can grow into security and improved lifestyles.
Imagine if we sent each of our young men to Afghanistan armed with only one hundred fruit and nut trees. Promising to let them come home when they found someone willing to help care for them until they would provide their harvest. Who would shoot at them? If we honestly could face people and say that when we leave, you will be better off than when we came, and here are the tools to prove it. What a difference we could make! Ask your neighbor if he needs a hand the next time you see him toiling. You might be surprised where it will lead. Give of yourself as if others mattered. I think you will find that at first many will distrust you, because they have been indoctrinated into a mindset of greed and lack. Persist and you will find many more who will take and take, but never give anything back. They too have their eyes clouded by despair and a sense of lack. When you leave them behind and keep giving, you will find a fertile soil of like-minded folks who truly want to recreate Eden, and with them continue to plant the seeds of harmony with nature, rewarding important work with respect and being able to live much better on far less than anyone ever imagined.
We can turn the tide of environmental and economic destruction, but only by obeying the laws of nature. When people make terrible mistakes, they should also pay terrible consequences. When we find a way to live better on less, we should shout it from the rooftops. As long as we try to defy the laws of nature, we will continue to be left out in the cold, experience the boom and bust of our own creation, and be left empty and alone when we need others the most. Please, don't forget that we all rely on the same planet, we have all received gifts from our ancestors, and we all want to pass on a live-able world for our children. Do what thou will, but first do no harm.
Blessed Be!
The status quo has not worked. As the stimulus checks continue to flow to outmoded sectors of the economy, it is hard to conceive of a way to make the changes we need to get on course. I'm not too old, or young to remember Reaganomics. When the brakes came off the banking industry, it was just a matter of time until the wheels came off. Do we need any more proof than what we have seen in just the past two years? Who will reign in the most powerful when we still share the collective (but illogical) dream of winning the proverbial lottery? Our cultural mythology asserts that we might all join them if we play our cards right. When we raise each successive generation to want more, and assure them that the sky is the limit, why do we despair when children move away, leaving their parents alone and lonely? When we praise money over people, how can we not expect children to pay for their future without caring for us? We need to reestablish a connection to one another that cannot stand for greed, theft and lies perpetrated on others in pursuit of dollars.
Capital is not inherently good, bad or neutral. It just is. Humans created it to represent something. Initially it was meant to represent commitment. Say I want something from you, if I had put in enough hours, working for capital, I could just give it to you in trade for that thing. Of course we would have to agree on the relative value. In most situations we would both walk away happy. What we have done is sold things without knowing their true worth, and traded things for them that we had no idea what they would truly cost! This would be like playing poker without having any symbols or numbers on the cards. No one said that homes would lose thirty percent or more of their value three years ago, or no one would have purchased any mortgages. Why so much big money is still in the construction trades is baffling. Like road building. The long term costs don't seem to warrant the short term gains. If a few can make money now, it doesn't seem to matter if we will all have to pay later. The spin we have had on capital in the past must shift and in some respects spin the other way. What if we asked the exact opposite question? How can we make some people pay now, so that everyone would reap benefits in the future?
I am reminded of the story of Icarus and Daedalus. The father and son who used beeswax to attach feathers to their arms. The wise old man said, "Don't fly too close to the sun." The youthful and imprudent son just laughed until the sun melted the wax, plunging him into the sea to meet his demise. There is a way to transcend our limitations. It lies in having vision, being creative, and respecting physics. Having it all, at least the way we have been doing it requires that some go without, or have theirs taken away. We must not shudder, and look away, from justice being done. Whether something is illegal or not, certain things are just wrong. In a perfect world, those who flew too close to the sun would have already drowned. Instead, we have all paid for and delivered a posh life raft, well provisioned to these criminals. As our dollar loses value, we all feel the pain that would be over already if we had just pulled the plug. We need to walk away from things that cost too much, not devise ways to prop them up. When people disregard others, or take from our collective future, we must hold their feet to the fire.
When the AIG bailout was about to happen, I asked a fellow who had all his insurance with them..."What would you do if AIG went bankrupt?" His response was enlightening. "I'd buy insurance from someone else." I heard two fellows talking about the demise of the auto industry and the same thing was discussed. What if there were no more US auto industry? We would buy cars from Korea. If they made them. Or China, or wherever. As long as the oil holds out. We have been duped into thinking that the same people who didn't make good choices in a good economy will learn from their mistakes if we just give them another chance. I'm here to tell you that I am paying daily for mistakes that will have lasting effects for decades. We are not dealing with children, who were unaware of what they were doing. These are the most wealthy, and often the best educated individuals in our nation, even their minions are making more than eighty percent of the rest of us. It is time to let these people fail, reorient our economy, and retool for the coming crash of commercial real estate. We need to take capital back, rather than squandering it on the irresponsible who value objects over people.
We do not have to look far for solutions to our current economic woes. In fact, there is a dearth of wisdom on this subject that we have overlooked for centuries. In nature there is no waste. There is no worship of power, capital or greed. There are no tax breaks for advertising, no cable TV. There are no road builders, each individual is tasked with only one objective, to either survive, or help the community survive. Riches do not accrue to individuals, and windfalls are shared amongst the community. When hardship befalls a species, all individuals amongst the species take the hit together. In a functioning, and interconnected world, we must not stand for gated communities. In the sustainable world of the future, the "haves" must help the"have-nots". I'm not advocating mindless giving or charity. These usually lead to either dependence or exploitation by the greedy anyway. What I am speaking of is a real compassion, that will allow us to find ways to help others find their way to a better life, micro loans, access to capital, that when mixed with creativity and sustained effort can grow into security and improved lifestyles.
Imagine if we sent each of our young men to Afghanistan armed with only one hundred fruit and nut trees. Promising to let them come home when they found someone willing to help care for them until they would provide their harvest. Who would shoot at them? If we honestly could face people and say that when we leave, you will be better off than when we came, and here are the tools to prove it. What a difference we could make! Ask your neighbor if he needs a hand the next time you see him toiling. You might be surprised where it will lead. Give of yourself as if others mattered. I think you will find that at first many will distrust you, because they have been indoctrinated into a mindset of greed and lack. Persist and you will find many more who will take and take, but never give anything back. They too have their eyes clouded by despair and a sense of lack. When you leave them behind and keep giving, you will find a fertile soil of like-minded folks who truly want to recreate Eden, and with them continue to plant the seeds of harmony with nature, rewarding important work with respect and being able to live much better on far less than anyone ever imagined.
We can turn the tide of environmental and economic destruction, but only by obeying the laws of nature. When people make terrible mistakes, they should also pay terrible consequences. When we find a way to live better on less, we should shout it from the rooftops. As long as we try to defy the laws of nature, we will continue to be left out in the cold, experience the boom and bust of our own creation, and be left empty and alone when we need others the most. Please, don't forget that we all rely on the same planet, we have all received gifts from our ancestors, and we all want to pass on a live-able world for our children. Do what thou will, but first do no harm.
Blessed Be!
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