We’ve reached the moon, split the atom, probed outer space and the inner workings of our bodies; the achievements of us humans seem immense. But there is one triumph that still eludes us – saving the human race from itself.
You see we’ve conquered the world, laid claim to every last strip of land and subjugated every other species but haven’t yet mastered ourselves. The human race is out-of-control, cannibalising its own home in an orgy of consumption.
How does this show up? Looking around we see that our industrial processes are using up the natural capital of the planet faster than it can be replaced, and pouring out our toxins into what’s left. That’s showing up in a bunch of ways, peak oil, peak water – in fact Peak Everything – as well as climate change, the problem which is grabbing the headlines right now.
If we look at the human family within this, we’ve just exited the bloodiest century ever, with a world population that is doubling every 50 years or so, massively divided into horrifying extremes of poverty and wealth – with billions of people denied the basics of food, water, shelter, healthcare and education. And all of this is worsening year-on-year.
For those of us in the resource-poor part of the world our concerns are likely to be fairly basic and immediate, survival for ourselves and our families. In the other parts of the world, where we enjoy some degree of privilege, our accumulated wealth and our lifestyles of choice and comfort still aren’t buying us peace of mind – our spirit just knows somethings missing, or just not-right in all of this.
And until sometime last year that’s how the self-inflicted problems were showing up, as issues of the environment or social justice or spiritual malaise. Then in 2008 the impact of how-we-live-now showed up in a whole new way that grabbed our attention as never before, biting us where it hurts most – in our wallets. The global financial crisis is another, very urgent symptom of the same problem, the core problem which lies at the heart of all of our issues – our way of living is unsustainable, it can not last.
And the root cause – our thinking is off-track. You see our thoughts shape the world – and the thinking which underpins the way we live in the majority of the world right now is badly faulted. Our thinking is acquisition, greed, consumption, my-gain-at-your-expense, convenience all of which creates a culture of shopping, celebrity worship, addiction and excess.
The root solution – is to change our thinking. As soon as we can get off the limited thinking of personal gain fuelled by industrial growth without regard for the consequences then we will be able to focus our enormous ingenuity, creativity and focus on crafting a Future Worth Choosing.
That’s where you and I come in. When we make a stand for a world which is environmentally sustainable, socially just and spiritually fulfilled, and when we line our lives up with this stand, when we take the choices that deliver a peaceful, just and sustainable world we will be living a Future Worth Choosing now.
