ECO has recently joined the Energy Resources Yahoo Group. The focus there is on the Fossil Fuel Depletion Crisis as well as Global Warming and Human Overpopulation.
ECO
On Wednesday, Ron Patterson of the ER Group asked the following question:
Eco, why should those who are able to control their numbers be forced to give all gained by such measures to those who breed like rabbits?
I answered: Why should those who developed the most prosperous nation in the world, while at the same time doing the most environmental damage than at any time in previous recorded history be allowed to take the rest down with them?
Isn’t environmental devastation the prime cause of our problems? And, isn’t it true that the prime cause of environmental devastation worldwide is caused by U.S. government and corporate policies? And that our consumption patterns support these policies?
Isn’t it true that with only 5% of the world population, the U.S. continues to use almost 40% of the world’s resources?—And that with only 25% of the world’s population the industrialized countries use 75 – 85% of the world’s resources?
Now that the ‘greedy bastards’ have used up all the resources, what you seem to be saying, and others as well, is that if we had less people on the planet we could continue to consume and pollute. So, let’s get rid of the non-polluters, so that we can continue with our bad habits. (Just like the drug addict that wants to contine to indulge.
Which is exactly what George Bush meant when he said ‘the American lifestyle is ‘non-negotiable’?
Yet, at the same time there are many people, quite a few of them here on this list, speculating that we, as the human race, are not going to survive this because of our consumption habits? So, everybody guilty or innocent gets to participate in the great die-off?
What kind of sick thinking is this?
Like David Korten wrote: “We are headed down a path where no sane person wants to go.” In my estimation, we are not just heading down this path, we are stampeding toward the Oldvai Gorge full speed ahead. And personally, I don’t believe that there is anything that is going to stop this ‘consumption power train’ that is driven by sex, money, greed, lies, and lack of emotional intelligence, before it takes us all over the cliff. A negative energy charge can be just as powerful as a positive one.
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Then last night I woke up as usual with thought that had become very clear. It centered around Ron Patterson’s phrase: “people breeding like rabbits” (referring to the people of the developing world) and my reply to him which countered with: people in the developed world “consuming like termites“.
Both are true, and are representations of systems that are very much out of balance, and which are contributing immensely to the destruction of our life support system. And rather than ranting to one another with accusations of “it’s your fault” “no, it’s your fault” like kids in the school yard, we need to set about, in an adult manner, to work cooperatively toward rebalancing both systems, using perhaps, as I suggested yesterday some ideas from Timothy Wilken’s ‘tensegrities’ to help accomplish this. (Ortegrity, a Human Organizational Tensegrity and GIFTegrity, a Help Exchange Gifting Tensegrity).
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Jay Earley, gives a good overview of what is happening as different organizations and individuals try to accomplish ‘problem solving’ and, I think we can see ourselves reflected in this overview.
As I consider this, I think about how much wasted energy is spent on the myriad of lists like Energy Resources, involving millions of people from around the world, and wonder as to whether or not there is some way we can channel this energy more productively so as to identify cause and design solution more quickly and applying it more effectively. As Earley points out in the above-referenced link, and we all know, we are under the gun to find solutions to the unprecedented in history, challenges we face today.
Problems in Identifying Cause and Designing Solutions
Problems. There are a variety of current social change efforts, such as activist organizations, non-profits, grass roots movements, and networks of transformative professionals, business and political leaders. However, they suffer from the following deficits:
1. Too many social change efforts are fueled by rage and rebellion, and are adversarial, divisive, and marginalizing.
2. Few of these efforts are focused on fundamental change.
3. There is a large potential constituency and support for social transformation, but it is mostly not recognized, motivated, or organized.
4. We are lacking an overall vision of what is needed to transform society, so most social change organizations don’t see how they could be part of a general movement toward fundamental change.
5. There isn’t enough practical, systematic understanding of the process of social transformation–how to get from here to a healthy society.
6. Many crucial social movements and transformative networks needed for success don’t exist at this time.
7. Much of what is known about group and organizational process has not been assimilated by social change groups.
Systemic Imbalances and Cause
What appears to be causing these systemic imbalances is the present Global Monetocracy System (GMS) which is currently driving ‘globalization’ which is but another form of ‘colonialization’ only on a much grander scale.
Colonialization was also driven by the GMS; however, since technology was still fairly ‘low key’ the affects were not as dramatic as they are today. Sophisticated PR firms now construct both flashy and low key advertising campaigns, broadcast through high tech multi-media outlets, which serve to manufacture consent and shape society to conform to the policies of the GMS.
Our educational system is also highly influenced by the GMS as it is geared toward turning out ‘products’ mainly for the corporate structure. And, the educational system itself is largely financed by the GMS corporate structure, a sub-division of the parent GMS. Scientific research also fits into this category.
In effect, the GMS has been able to design a ‘power train’ that is driving society. This power train appears to be fueled by several factors: 1)greed, 2)sex, 3)money, and the 4)desire for power. Things that may be inherent in all of us, but which, when they arise unmitigated by other qualities, such as community, belonging, equality, natural living, and belonging, may dominate our thinking in such a manner as to cause dis-ease and result in an emotional imbalance. When this emotional imbalance is exhibited by the majority of the members of a social system, the results can be disastrous as we are witnessing today.
ECO is a pseudonym of Marguerite Hampton, an activist and writer with the Turtle Island Institute.