OpEdNews Article by Burl Hall May 18, 2014
Every one of us is faced with increasing levels of air, water
and land pollution. Not a one of us is going to escape the consequences of our
collective behavior. This is not an "us
and them" nor an "us vs them" situation.
We are at a point where the consequences of our actions scream to all of
us, "YOU need to change! Don't fight the
corporations. Stop living the lifestyle
they want you to live and which you buy into."
One of the changes caused by our lifestyle is our climate. For
example, consider the following graph regarding CO 2 levels from NASA:
Perhaps our planet is at-risk for becoming a desert void of any
life. Check out this video:
Canada Tar Sands: bradleydibble.authorsxpress.com/tag/oil-sands/
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dwwVo3CEFAQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Many say that the external world is a mirror to what is within
us. We project ourselves onto the
world. Think about this relationally. How does this image of the tar sands relate
to the way our children are being educated through the "no child left behind"
mentality. In that state, which boils
down to teaching to the test, what is happening to our children's minds? Are we creating a planet of wastelands, be
they of mind, matter or atmosphere?
All of these are one.
This planet is a hall of mirrors.
What are some of the drivers to this situation that cause us to
create such horrible wastelands? I would
state our philosophies of life that lead to our lifestyles, which are spurred by
corporations that tend to brainwash us into thinking that their products are
what we need. But, blaming the
corporations doesn't get us off the hook.
Ultimately, our first step is to say "no more" to several thousand years
of conditioning dating back to pre Greco-Roman civilization.
That's a lot of conditioning to go through. But, that's exactly what is needed. Ultimately, it's about our changing whether
the corporations and government do or not.
James Burke puts it beautifully at the end of his wonderful documentary,
"The Day the Universe Changed":
"If the universe is what you say it is, then please say!"
I doubt you would say "Make
it so" to a world of tar sands oil fields.
The only piece I would add is that first you have to look at what you
are currently saying.
Corporation-based schooling entices us into dependence through
getting us to believe that we need them to employ us, provide us with food and
shelter, and entertain us. Yes, folks await the stock market reports to declare
the health of the economy. Meanwhile we
embody their lie: Not living in line with corporations entails a sure death physically
and/or of a lifestyle that they have convinced us we need to survive. To reinforce this issue, how often do we
listen for statistics on the "job market?"
"The Lord giveth, and the
Lord taketh away" was not originally spoken of the Corporation. WE
have allowed that translation. What is
actually "too big to fail" is the
Earth not the banks. It is past time for
us to reconsider where our true livelihood comes from and where our true
allegiance lies.
Does it have to be this way?
Do we need to kill the Earth and ourselves? On a less intense level, do we need to work
hours on end for dwindling pay and benefits? Can we move beyond what is coming
to be out-and-out slavery?......
Interestingly, most ancient cultures lived in unison with the
land and each other. They were not apart
from the ecosystem in which they lived.
They were a part of it. Indeed,
the entire Earth was seen as what we today call the "Commons".
But, then came the Greeks and Romans. These folks created an
actual "legal" definition of the Commons.
As illustrated in the following:
The
concept of the commons dates back to Roman law. According to the Romans, property was divided
by distinct definition. One definition
was being private, which of course were things that people could own. The other was public, which was defined as
those things built by municipalities, governing bodies, and the government. http://www.environmentalcommons.org/commons.html
Of
course, this doesn't take into account what is natural, such as the air we
breathe or the water we drink. Nor does
it account for the wild animals, plants and landforms that provide us and other
creatures with food, shelter and companionship. Are any of these truly our
property? Is our wife or husband our property?
Are our children our property? Are the animals we bond with and help us
with survival truly ours?
These
are deep questions we need to ask ourselves.
It is interesting that Native American tribes often explored the ramifications
of a decision they were contemplating unto the 7th
generation. Our shortsighted corporations meanwhile tend
to look at their profits for one to five years and don't attend to the
future
generations. "Our children be damned,"
is the battle cry. Take another look at
the tar sands oilfields that will become our children's hell. Do we
remember the dust bowl of the 1930s? Do we understand that we are
headed to a
thousand times worse in the 2030s if we don't honor the commons?
Ultimately,
everything we do affects everything else.
Everything IS the commons. Even
breathing entails a dance of keeping a balance between oxygen and carbon
dioxide. We operate as one living
planetary system! Planet Earth is THE
Commons.
One of the primary champions of the Commons is David Bollier. David is an author, activist, blogger
and consultant who spends a lot of time exploring the commons as a new paradigm
of economics, politics and culture. David has written, co-authored or
co-edited thirteen books. In his most recent book, Think Like a
Commoner, David describes
the logic, worldview and ethics of the commons, and the burgeoning
international movement of commoners, especially in Europe and the global South.
He summarizes the book by stating it, "provides a succinct overview of the
great diversity of commons in the world and the many pernicious enclosures now
being fought." This masterpiece has received glowing endorsements from
the likes of Bill McKibben, Ralph Nader, Maude Barlow, David Korten, Michel
Bauwens and Peter Barnes. Some powerful folks there!
David also states, "the commons
is not so much a fixed, universal thing as a general concept describing
durable, dynamic sets of social relationships for managing resources -- all
sorts of resources: digital, urban, natural, indigenous, rural, cultural,
scientific, to use some crude categories. Each commons has its own
distinctive character because each is shaped by its particular location,
history, culture and social practices. The term commoning means to
suggest that the commons is really more of a verb than a noun. It is a
set of ongoing practices, not an inert physical resource."
Think of this "commoning" in terms
of Earth scientist James Lovelock's Gaia
Hypothesis which states that the Earth kindled biological life on this
planet by a system of interactions.
These interactions helped to unfold the potentials of the creatures and
plants that have inherited and populated this Earth. These interactions are not in conflict,
overall. Indeed, we breathe in oxygen
that plants breathe out and the plants breathe in carbon dioxide, which we
breathe out. It is by this relationship
that this planet works.
This planet is a Commons! While David may not say this blatantly, I
would bet he at least respects what I'm saying. Yet we sell our Soul, our
children's Soul, and the Earth's Soul to the Corporation. Or, as the song sings:
You
load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another
day older and deeper in debt!
Saint
Peter don't ya call me cause I can't go
I
owe my Soul to the company store.
(Lyrics taken from http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/classic-country/sixteen-tons---tennessee-ernie-ford-14930.html)
Does this song speak to you
regarding credit card debt and loans that take a lifetime to pay off? Are you just a sharecropper on the land the
bank owns in your name? Dare you continue being a standardized consumer being
manipulated by the "man behind the curtain?"
Who is that Wizard ultimately
spouting fire, smoke and abusive words at Dorothy (the Soul, Dor-thea, beloved
of God). The power is not in the man
behind the curtain for he is ultimately exposed as a farce. He is nothing more nor less than a living
human being. Who disclosed him? It's
none other than the little dog Toto (Dorothy's instinctual power). Dorothy
ultimately knows better.
Once we truly open our eyes, we
too will know better.
Who is our Wizard? Dare we expose him without and within
ourselves and move on? Or do we continue
to worship the illusionary "man behind the curtain?" How do we find him? "Just follow the yellow brick road," (i.e.,
the gold.) Follow the money and you will find the charlatan.
Is the Wizard truly the man
smoking the cigar? Or is the Wizard
about all of us, our shallow ego minds that are exclusive of nothing or no one?
Consider the following poem called "Mind Without Fear" in a collection called Gitanjali: Song Offerings by
Rabindranath Tagore:
Where the mind is
without fear and the head is held high;"Where knowledge is free;"Where the
world has not been broken up"into fragments by narrow domestic walls;"Where
words come out from the depth of truth;"Where tireless striving stretches its
arms towards perfection;"Where the clear stream of reason"has not lost its way
into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;"Where the mind is led forward by
thee into ever-widening thought and action---"Into that heaven of freedom, my
Father, let my country awake.
Ultimately, it is we
that need to change. We must discard the
holier-(wiser, wealthier, needier, worthier, stronger, better)-than-thou
curtain behind which we conceal our interdependent humanity and step out as "we
the (common) people." When we awaken,
the Earth come alive.
To listen to an interview of David
Bollier by Envision This, visit:
Online
Culture Radio at Blog Talk Radio with ENVISION THIS on
BlogTalkRadio
My wife and I have a copy of
David's book. The first person that
emails us with their address, we will be happy to send it to them. If you come in second or thereafter, I do
encourage you to read the book. I
did. It's a goldmine.
The Amazon site for David's book
is:
For your information, I'm copying
two reviews from David's Amazon Page:
"The Commons is among the most important and hopeful
concepts of our time, and once you've read this book you'll understand
why!"
---Bill McKibben, author Deep Economy
'Think Like a Commoner is a brilliant, accessible,
practical, path-breaking intellectual tour de force. A defining contribution to
the New Economy movement and an essential read for everyone who cares about the
human future. I expect to return to it as a basic reference for years to come."
---David Korten, author, Agenda
for a New Economy, board chair YES! Magazine, and co-chair, New Economy
Working Group
---
Burl Hall is an avid writer and publishes to
OpEd News. He is author of "Sophia's Web: Reclaiming Wholeness in a
Divided World," which has been accepted for publication by Pari
Publishing. Burl's primary passion is in the unity of world religions
to science and the holographic nature of the universe in which the part
mirrors the whole. Burl and his wife, Merry, are also hosts of a Blog
Talk Radio Show called "Envision This!"