You know the answer to why we are in this shit-hole called a global crisis? It is because of this: "Do we need it? No. Do we want it? Yes." The whole bases of our existence has been because we need it. We need food, water, air, and yes, we need fire. The thing is we want so much more than we need. The unhinged desire to get stuff and more stuff. And when we get the stuff we want different stuff. We replace stuff we have with more stuff. The rapid decline of the Earth is not due to sustenance living but rather our pursuit of having more. It seems we are powerless to stop the devouring of the Earth. Who really is to blame for all this carnage? Well we can point at the Capitalists for sure. We can also look at the roles of the power systems, like religious institutions. We can say it's the corruption of governments. In the end we know it is the monster we know as Greed, individual greed.
It will be always come down to the actions of individuals.
As a 12 year old kid I stole cigarettes from my Mom and Dad. The cigarettes where the blue package called Rothmans. I gave out cigarettes to kids around our area. One of the younger kids, Earl Laforte (he is a good guy, he was just a kid, he would kick my arse if he saw his name) told my Mom. I was in the yard with some friends and my Dad came out and grabbed me. He dragged me around by the arm and whipped me with his belt. I could see my friends melt away into the ditch by the road. The whipping didn't bother me as much as the embarrassment of being hit in front of the other kids. I think a whipping is a private thing. My individual actions of stealing (and getting caught) got me the belt whipping. It is for sure what I deserved - you reap what you sow; a kid does wrong, they should be whipped and shamed.
The thing with ugly actions of individuals is there are not enough whippings and not enough shame for our actions.
We may know the kids who need a good whipping: the Oil Companies, the Financial Institutions, the Mining Industries, the Big Meat producers, the Big Forest companies, the mega-huge retail giants, and the corrupt government individuals who "suck on tit" for their own gain. Will it happen? Will the greedy financial institutions get a whipping? We have seen this does not happen. The opposite; the government gives them money if they want it and makes laws so the financial kids can operate without any fear of being whipped or being shamed. All of these big bad kids feel they reap what they sow. Only they feel they are being rewarded for their actions. They fly in their private jets, eat only at the most expensive restaurants, bed the most gorgeous folk, and wear clothes no one sane person would spend money on. They live life without shame, without fear of being whipped and shamed. Many of them are just faceless powerful greedy sock puppets. Many an individual wish they had the life of the rich greedy kids. Who wouldn't sell their old Auntie and Uncle off for a taste of the what the rich kids have; to have the freedom to go anywhere you want, to buy anything you want? To fulfil all our greedy thoughts?
People admire the obscenely rich. People see the obscenely rich as having no worry, no problems and no fear of reprisal, no fear of the kid being whipped. It is true for the most part, we do see them as having the diplomatic immunity from the everyday struggles and pains. It is not true, they will reap what they sow. There is the notion of Karma; where those who do something bad will have something bad happen to them. Society has corrupted and simplified the meaning of Karma by saying "those will get theirs" and believe it to be an empty cliche or saying. Karma has a deeper and more profound foundation: "This deeper understanding of Karma rests upon our essential identity as souls -- spiritual beings who are animated by a vital and divine force. As souls we are spiritually held accountable for what we create, promote, and allow in our lives. We are constantly in the process of accruing and/or balancing our karmic debts of responsibility for our creations. Karma is not physical, it is spiritual, and we carry Karma forward through time within a given lifetime or as some believe, from one lifetime until the next."
Indigenous people believe similar concepts. The Anishinaabe for example, have the Teachings of Gi Doonjinaay. Gi Doonjinaay is the belief and truth that if you do harm to another Living being, harm will also come to you. This is a fundamental belief when the Anishinaabe society was reliant on their environment, their eco-systems and their communal way of living. Elder's, Uncles, Aunts, parents would scold you if you were mean to animals. Animals were part of their well being and important for being able to survive and live. So if you upset the balance of life with selfish actions, you took the chance of being hurt in some divine interaction. Maybe you hurt your leg while you were out in the bush trapping or hunting. This hurt leg could be catastrophic; not only to you but to those who counted on you to provide food for sustaining them. The concept of Gi Doonjinaay was prominent in Anishinaabe living, you could not live being selfish greedy and mean spirited; your actions had consequences. You were called on your actions because your actions not only affected you but could affect others as well.
The ultra-wealthy may not believe in Karma, in Doonjinay, or accountability but let us be very clear, they are going to pay, they are reaping what they sow. The current state of the world is their comeuppance. Their actions of greed, of nothing needing it, but wanting it has doomed society. Like Gi Doonjinaay the actions not only affect them individually but affect others. The rich breathe the same air as Homeless Carl on the streets of New York City. The senseless pursuit of having more stuff has caught up with them. Sure many will die with enormous cheques in their shirt pockets as they lay stiff in the casket but the children and children's children will carry the weight of their actions. Their kids will be getting a whipping by the Earth for the endless plunder. The Earth is carrying out their punishment with fires, droughts, and storms. Insurance industry, a staple of the rich, are feeling the pain because of the Earth's fight against them. Even the rich are feeding on the rich. The greedy want more and in their lust for more, they get burned. The rich have money and they want more so they take the money and try to have it grow into more. Ironically their greed is preyed on by the greed of other rich folk, who swim in the corruption of financial institutions (can we say Bernie Madoff). The rich eat their own young and throw them in the sewers filled with rats. We see the faith of the ultra-greedy and it is burning in the hills of California. We expect the Earth will not die, but the animals who rely on the Earth will die and they will die because of one thing: Do we need it, no, but do we want it, absolutely. As the Elder's say, Gi Doonjinaay, you will be hurt if you hurt an animal.
Right minded people get it, they know the whippings which come from bad actions. Why is it, the greedy individual, does not get it?
