What if American society had a one-degree shift in Consciousness? What if a critical number of us not only realized but acted upon the understanding that all Life is interrelated, and that any harm done to any portion is harm done to the whole? Does anyone recall, "Whatsoever ye do to the least of these ye do to Me?"
By decimating forests and rain forests all over the world we are profoundly impacting the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. It's as if, as one pundit put it, "We are cutting the very branch on which we are sitting." How can we imagine this is good for us? It seems like mighty questionable behavior for a society that holds itself in such high regard: that considers itself 'intelligent' 'advanced' and 'civilized.'
Exactly how intelligent is it to pollute land, sea, and air—which results in pollution of organisms at every level of the food chain, which results in disease and illness so prevalent as to be endemic, which results in the consumption of substances that may ameliorate the symptoms but might also produce a kitchen sink of side-effects that further undermine health?
Any 'intelligent' being would consider this self-poisoning to be suicidal and even insane—so who exactly considers this an 'intelligent' thing to do? The people who are suffering from these diseases and cannot afford treatment? Unfortunately these folks have been blinded by the powers-that-be and the media with the illusion that what is being done is meant to provide them with comfort and convenience: the 'good life'—and further deluded into believing that 'the good life' means consume until you puke— both literally and figuratively—resulting in a society sated to a stupor and drugged to oblivion—in a literal trance.
No. Those who consider it okay to deliberately pollute and ravage our entire ecosystem are simply those who profit the most, motivated entirely by an overweening and overwhelming greed: short term profit with no consideration of the long term loss.
But the rest of us are responsible because we allow it to happen, either through laziness, ignorance or myopia.
What is needed is for We the People to make a one-degree shift in Consciousness. A shift from 'my' to 'our'—a shift from short-term profit to long-term stewardship. A shift that recognizes we have become a global village and that our family is now the Family of Man. Not only because we are only a plane ride away from being infected by some new mutated virus, but because we recognize that (to paraphrase the Buddha) "when a butterfly flaps its wings in China, the effect is felt around the world."
Consider this: if every family treated their property in the same way we are allowing the planet to be treated, we'd be living in a sewer.
And this: if working class America had to live in the conditions prevalent for millions around the world who are treated like slave laborers so we can buy cheap goods—most of it unnecessary junk that turns into clutter all over the house and fills our closets, attics and garages to overflowing—there would be rioting in the streets.
And this: enough money has been spent every year for decades to clothe and accessorize Barbie to feed a third-world country: is this what we call intelligent?
With only one degree of expanded Consciousness we could change the world. If we shifted from 'How to Look Good Naked' to 'The Big Give' it would be a good start.
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