Vital Needs-Interference

All life needs certain things, food/energy, water, space and security. They need a place to feed, to feel safe, and to fornicate, otherwise, their kind die out. These are what are known as vital needs. Interference are those ecological limits, situations, ethics  that present impediments to fulfilling vital needs. Many of the problems that we face are because vital needs are undermined and resources needed for the fulfillment of those vital needs are being withdrawn, withheld or damaged for the profit and sustenance of an elite, so thoroughly in control as to be nearly invisible. The "needs" of these elites are unfathomable to the rest of us, because these tiny fraction of humanity dominate so much of the resource use. For instance, take transit. There are those who commute by helicopter, burning hundreds of times the amount of fuel that the average commuter does. The "Jet Set" as they used to be called are dominating the energy use characteristics of all of us, because their draw down on reserves per mile traveled is the greatest. The waves and gyrations caused in the wake of unfathomable amounts of wealth is usually the only physical evidence of their ethereal yet powerful hand. I write often of how control of our vocabulary limits our ability to discuss issues with the precision necessary to solve and disarm threats to our peace and security. This is just one of the reasons that oligarchies and their crippling grip on our planet are so devastating.

We are sold bills of goods at every turn and although we have been made aware of the concept of "buyer beware" for thousands of years. What we forget is that even when we accept language, if it flawed, we will never get what we bargained for in the transaction. Security is a good word to start with. The monied interests and the ones who have stacked the deck in their favor for hundreds of generations say that it is the result of a police force, and killing. They have a version of reality that allows them to envision security as flowing from the end of a gun. The vast majority define security as having more to do with peace and less to do with defending commercial interests of the vast empires that drive warfare around the globe.

The planet has more than enough of everything we need to meet all of the needs of humanity, but the majority of our wealth and productivity is owned by the banks, the insurance companies, Wall street or your local stock and bond exchange. It is owned increasingly by energy companies, media magnates, mega-churches and associations of those who believe that their version of "events" and "circumstances" are more cogent and astute than the rest of us and that they should and deserve to be in charge of ever-more power and influence. It is not possible for them to admit that they are driving the entire planet down a road to ruin, to do that they would have to admit that other people, other ideas and other realities are operating beyond their perception. The funniest thing is that they are thoroughly convinced that we need them, that they are vital to our existence, but in reality, they are the greatest threat to our survival.